2025-10-25: A Coin for the Ferryman
- Log: A Coin for the Ferryman
- Cast: Hiroto Nakamura, Myunghon Yeo, Tamaki Uchida, Yukari Takeba, So-young Park, Tsubasa Seki, Saika Kikuchi, Umie Akabane, Hyousuke Suzuki, Remi Ryuuja, Moriko Kumamoto
- Where: Abandoned Warehouse, Konan Ward, Sumaru
- OOC Date: October 25, 2025
- IC Date: July 31, 2012
- Summary: The Rumormongers of Sumaru have gotten a tip from two hostess club employees, Hinata Hayashi and her brother Akira Hayashi, that they have obtained a flash drive they believe contains encrypted information connected to shady conspiracies. Any Rumormonger worth their salt can tell this is a real deal based off the breadcrumbs given. The Hayashi siblings will trade the flash drive for cash and protection, as they believe they're being hunted. Unfortunately, they're right. The Ferryman of the New World Order will stop at almost nothing to complete his accursed task. Unsuspecting, a meetup has been arranged with the Hayashi siblings... what will you get, and what will you lose?
<Pose Tracker> Hiroto Nakamura has posed.
A deal has been offered to the Rumormongers of Sumaru, primarily towards the Kuzunoha Detective Agency and the Cardboard Dragon. A flash drive containing sensitive information on potential conspiracies, in exchange for cash and protection.
Hinata and Akira Hayashi are two siblings, employees of Starlight Hostess Club. Hinata is a hostess, while Akira is a bouncer. According to Hinata, a high-rolling customer accidentally dropped the flash drive, and expecting a payday, Akira took a look at it and found some startling stuff on finances and corruption deep in the corporate world, among other things.
Ever since they found it, though, things have gotten strange. Being trailed. Their dog barking at night but being unable to find anyone. Threats left in mysterious places.
The Hayashis are scared, but they don't want to give it away for free. They've arranged a meeting at an abandoned warehouse in Konan at night, offering the flashdrive for a lump sump of hard cash and a promise to keep them safe until they can get out of town.
The background check has cleared for the Rumormongers investigating the two. This is unlikely a trap... for them, at least.
The warehouse is mostly bare, a large space where one has free movement, with pillars holding it up and providing some measure of cover. The front door's lock has corroded, allowing those entering an easy path. Large windows remain intact in the back wall, the moonlight shining down clear through them and the skylight overhead.
Akira is a tall man, with a thin black goatee and short hair. He's dressed in a summer jacket, hands in his pockets. Hinata is much shorter, brown hair in a bun and dressed in an even lighter jacket, hands often touching her neck anxiously. They're only in their early twenties.
It's too quiet. But for now, everyone is alone. Akira will speak first, trying to put on a tough guise, recognizing both Myunghon and Tamaki from his poking into Rumormongers.
"Do you have the cash?"
Hinata, for her part, is clearly worried, as she steps next to her brother. "This place freaks me out, onii-san... let's go somewhere less scary after this."
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
The deal the Hayashis were offering was a particularly tantalising one Myunghon couldn't just ignore, after running the background check with Tamaki from the Kuzunoha Detective Agency because -- quite frankly, this is too large a job for just the Cardboard Dragon crew alone and the information could benefit the both of them.
Rumourmonger Merry sent word out for assistance, branching out from their known contacts not only around the Cardboard Dragon crew but from others around Hirasaka and even Tatsumi Port Island -- emphasizing that this may very well become a dangerous task, and they're not particularly picky about who answers.
Even still, everything about this meeting just screams wrong to them -- they've always been more the type to use a crowd of people as anonymity and make it difficult for anyone who wants to attack them to do so in the face of public company, but the client insisted in a private meeting in supernatural space where even if an all-out battle broke out... none would be the wiser for it. They just had to hope that the Hayashis knew what they were doing.
They cleared the background check on the two, at least -- though they know that with their proximity to Remi, this could end up with Myunghon themself compromising their clients. Rumourmonger Merry arrives a little before schedule, and they've already canvassed the entire area, making sure to note down the points of ingress and egress -- from the top as well -- as well as possible ambush spots... and they don't particularly like how difficult it is to defend a warehouse like this. They've arranged for Mio to be their getaway driver, and there are several safehouses with multiple rendezvous points arranged ahead of time as well, but as they saw in Ebisu Beach, getting the client to the car can be a very, very difficult thing indeed.
Tonight, of course, Rumourmonger Merry is draped in their signature Cognitive Coat, which clings jet-black to their form and gives them a sense of grandness; underneath is the typical white dress shirt and tie, along with black dress pants and shoes.
"My associate has the cash on hand in a briefcase," Myunghon expresses confidently, gesturing towards Tamaki. "Inspect it as you require, however, I would echo your sibling's concerns -- this is not a particularly secure location."
They gesture towards a door in the back to say, "There is a car waiting and ready outside. A black Bonda MSX. In the instance that trouble descends upon us, I would have you both hurry there. We'll be in touch nonetheless."
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Tamaki is present, albeit with a far more somber and wary demeanor than usual. She's dressed as she usually is for work: striped business suit, prominent choker, running shoes. Tonight, she carries a briefcase as well as a sports bag slung over her shoulder.
With Todoroki's permission, Tamaki has, once again, dipped into the Kuzunoha Lucky Cat Statue Emergency Fund to provide (most of, if not all of) the cash. (Or at least that's the name she's referred to it as in jest. Truthfully, the lion's share of it came from cash on hand the Agency had from normal business, not donations. She just feels compelled to inject at least a little levity into the situation.)
As for protection, Tamaki's gone through her rolodex of contacts and asked for the help of a few people. If she doesn't know them too well directly, she's at least vetted them to consider them trustworthy enough for this task. She makes sure to express her thanks to anyone who comes along who's a new face to her.
The ones she does know more directly might still be on low ebb after investigating an Atelier the day prior. Or dealing with their own problems on a different front. Or Myunghon had already contacted them.
In response to Akira's question, Tamaki snaps open the briefcase to display the agreed-upon amount that the Detective Agency had promised them. No tricks -- it's exactly according to their agreement. With a nod, she replies, "The Kuzunoha Detective Agency has brought our part of the arrangement, sir," then snaps the briefcase shut again.
She gives Hinata a cordial bow. "Rest assured, we'll keep you safe, Hayashi-san." She rises, showing Hinata a pair of watchful and serious eyes. Tamaki well and truly means what she said: the flash drive is important, sure, but these two didn't deserve to get mixed up in all of this by simple chance.
Even so, the thought of everyone else involved in things weighs just as heavily on her mind as the Hayashi siblings do. If she made the choice to protect them at the cost of the information at stake here, could she bear to look at -- for example, Tatsuya or Umie -- in the eyes again? She prays she won't have to undertake that grim calculus in the first place.
"As for shelter ..." She looks over (and up, given their respective height difference) to Myunghon expectantly.
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
It's summer vacation! Andddddd Yukari is here in Sumaru City, looking into a conspiracy and people threatened. Go figure.
Instead of Sunny Okinawa, it's... here in a warehouse, having been tipped off by the Cardboard Dragon that a deal is going down.
And well, she's not going in alone. In fact, she's not going in at all. So instead, she posts up on a windowsill of a half-cracked open warehouse window, with her bow strung, in the S.E.E.S jacket, ready in case things go South.
"I'm gonna feel real ridiculous if nothing happens." Yukari murmurs to herself, "I already feel ridiculous enough. What am I, some sniper? Who would ever use a bow for that in this day and age?"
Still, she dutifully watches the exchange through the dusty old window. Wondering... worried... it's easy enough to imagine any number of ways that it could go wrong.
But she hopes not.
"... Really hope nobody is underneath me." She checks down again, the hazards of wearing a skirt is always worrying that any kind of elevation leaves you open to lecherous gazes.
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
--bam!!
"I brought souvenirs!" chimes an incredibly upbeat and gleeful voice as So-young Park blasts into the Cardboard Dragon with several pastel-striped gift bags under one arm, the sort that are likely to contain expensive sweet sets or in Myunghon's case something small and artsy. With exam season still in swing she'd whisked herself off to Okinawa for a short break, and now she's ready to--
Rejuvenated from her brief trip, she puts on a perfect actress-level pout as she slowly lifts the sunglasses from her eyes. In a break from tradition, they are red-rimmed and heart-shaped.
"... where is everyone?" she grumps.
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
Tsubasa visits the Cardboard Dragon a lot, but they're a youth who got into trouble; they're not the sort of person who does anything in the supernatural world aside from be a victim, apparently. There is, subsequently, no reason why Myunghon would involve them in these proceedings...
... except that they're pretty sharp, and when they ran into Mio gassing the car up and found their conversation suspiciously truncated, they went to Myunghon and asked a few more leading questions, and...
Look, they managed to localise the place they're not supposed to be to Konan Ward, so they're doing pretty good.
"Yeah, I dunno what I'm lookin' for," they admit, on a road which just so happens to lead to the Abandoned Warehouse. "But there's somethin' goin' down. Reckon someone's gotta be in deep shit. You sure ya cool comin' with me, tho', man? Might end up bein' a fight..."
<Pose Tracker> Saika Kikuchi has posed.
SAIKA KIKUCHI - KNOWN CONTACT - EARLIER
"Are you seriously sticking your sore butt into more trouble!? You're fricking right I'm gonna be there!!!"
SAIKA KIKUCHI - KNOWN CONTACT - NOW
Saika is not immediately apparent.
This is deliberate. Saika is leaning against a wall outside of the warehouse that Myunghon and Tamaki are in. She is not wearing anything too different from her usual daywear, although she does have one of those used and mildly-de-greased motorcycle chains wrapped around her right hand. In her left hand is a can of GEORGIA coffee, freshly popped open and being drunk down.
(She got it from the vending machine right adjacent to her.)
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
==EARLIER==
"I don't want to talk about it," is all Umie would say to Myungjon when she showed up with a still healing bruise on the lower right side of her face. Time and a good layer of foundation had taken care of a lot of the discoloration that remained, but some of the aches and pains still dogged Umie from her... unfortunate work shift at the Triple 7, a few nights ago.
Translation: Umie's still processing it, and what it means to continue.
Further translation: Umie has no inkling that any information she had from that night would shortly become quite relevant, and worse, she knows too much.
==NOW==
Wearing a black oversized hoodie and black shorts over matching leggings, the blonde's face is covered with a plain black mask, her hood up to obscure any hair that might give her another trait to go on.
Feeling the lack of any 'danger' that would allow them to summon their Personas, if needed, narrows down what can happen, yes, but it also means Umie's left just a normal person, trying to be a ninja. At least this is the same body that's done all those ninja things, so those muscles are still there.
Also there: those nice sneakers Shiryuu bought for her. It feels like a nice 'thank/fuck you' to use them here, and... they're quite nice. Big difference from the ones that were able to fall apart.
It seems Yukari's not the only one thinking to use a window, as Umie is quietly positioned at another.
.... Maybe she should have said something about her own attack?
.... Nah, that's the paranoia talking. It doesn't change anything, besides. If something happens, it will happen.
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
"You kidding?" Hyousuke said to Tsubasa, his tone as flat and matter-of-fact as it could be. "I'm not letting you go in there alone. She'd kill me if I did." 'She' being Ichika, of course. "Besides, gut's telling me that something big's happening. I don't know if all this is related to the other stuff we've been dealing with, but I'm not sitting this one out if I can get some answers about what the hell's going on." Thus far, he'd dealt with arsonists, murders, an attempted murderer, and the existence of a twenty-fifth hour. If he could get answers about any of that, few would have blamed him for wading into danger for them.
His disguise was not the most elegant of things, nor was it the most protective, but it at least did the job. A thick, long-sleeved shirt and trousers woven from some durable - if somewhat rough - fabric provided at least a modicum of protection, while the bandana wound tightly over the lower half of his face shielded his identity enough that the darkness could take care of the rest. He didn't much care for the all-black ensemble, but supposed that if it was dim enough, then perhaps it was for the best. "Got a plan if shit goes south? 'Cause if someone pulls out a gun, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do about that."
<Pose Tracker> Hiroto Nakamura has posed.
As the Hayashis are shown the cash, Akira inspects it briefly, but then nods. "Looks good. Alright. The driver's trustworthy?" He's just making sure!
Hinata smiles worriedly at Tamaki's statement. Hopefully, they could... "Thank you."
The others there give a sense of protection, but also worry... it could all go wrong so quickly.
As the Hayashis prepare to move with them, suddenly, everything does go wrong. A sensation washes over the area, a sense of uncannily disturbing unease, of corruption and magic and power and WRONGNESS.
The Mark has been used.
There could be an attack from the window in the back, or the front door, but that's not where it comes from. The skylight rapidly shatters, as a figure drops from the roof behind Akira. He lands in a three point crouch, rising swiftly and adjusting the tie of his salaryman suit, a black one with the symbol of a coin on it. His red mask is samurai-esque, depicting the lower-mouth of an oni, with prominent tusks. He wears a pair of square-angled glasses and two black gloves. His short brown hair is a little messy from the fall, and he could be Any Salaryman In The World with how generic he looks.
He is clearly the source of the Mark, as Akira and Hinata both start to panic. Before they can move, the Ferryman is grabbing Akira, twisting him around to face him.
"Akira Hayashi. Do you know why we are here?" The Ferryman says, calm, even. "You have stolen something that is not yours. You will now return it."
"Fuck, fuckfuckfuck," Akira starts, trying to back off, but the Ferryman's grip is strong, and his partner is on the other side. "Help!" he calls out, as the Ferryman steps on his foot, starting to crush it.
Akira's left hand flinches, as if grabbing something. The Ferryman's hand moves to rip it out of his jacket, before casually forcing him to open it. It contains the flashdrive, a small thumb drive full of data.
"Look, we didn't do anything wrong!" Hinata calls out, trying to defend her brother.
"I know. Now hand me the flash drive." The Ferryman's voice has a hint of sympathy, as Akira finally releases it into his hand. The Ferryman looks over it for a serial number, before swiftly putting it into his suit.
"Thank you." He releases Akira.
Taking a moment's breath, Akira seems relieved. But it's too soon, as the Ferryman flexes his knuckles.
"Unfortunately, loose lips indicate you have seen the contents. Secondary objective... clean up all witnesses."
Akira and Hinata's eyes widen.
"I'm sorry."
Suddenly, his hand rises, clenches, and there's a second dose of wrongness, if smaller. In a flash of red, a massive obol appears, the coin having a long uncanny ferryman with an oar on the front.
"Charon. Let's make it quick for him."
The coin suddenly launches a heavy blast of water straight for Akira's chest, launching him into one of the pillars with a loud crash. He slumps, still alive but badly injured, given his lack of a Persona-User's physiology. Hinata takes this moment to run, trying to cower behind Tamaki and escape the other NWO agent's range.
"Your toll will be paid. Consider it an apology from the Ferryman." He steps forward, moving towards the pillar at an average pace. He only stops to turn his head to the others, regarding them briefly before continuing.
He won't attack if you don't attack him, but if you do... be ready.
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
When the skylight shatters, thjere's not just one form that drops in from the sky, but two--and the second one may be familiar by now. A woman, clad fully in a form-fitting black fencing suit with a black fencing mask to match, drops in in front of the siblings, between the siblings and their would-be saviors. She rises to her full height, and stares down the heroes.
On one hip a rapier, on the opposite hip a holster with a dark metal revolver in it.
"Do not interfere," she intones darkly. "There will be no changing what happens this night, no matter how much you fight."
Myunghon in particular might be able to pick up a low-level note of despair in Tsurugi's voice.
With a smooth, practiced motion she withdraws her revolver and puts it to her head, pulling the trigger without a second thought. Blue flames and shattering glass swirl out and form an androgynous figure in a red leather straightjacket, wielding a blade that is chipped and worn, with a red hat that is also tattered.
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
"Yeah," Tsubasa sighs, rubbing at the back of their neck. "I oughta have called her, but I dunno if it's anythin'... an' it's a long trip back to Iwatodai."
Tsubasa doesn't want to make Ichika get stuck in a train with a bunch of coffins! What the fuck kind of freaky shit would that be?!
"It's just, man... Yeo-sama's done a whole lot for me. An'... the vibe was off, y'know? Like, I get it, it's vibes, but... if they're in trouble..." Listen, Tsubasa doesn't know shit and/or fuck, but their /heart's/ in the right place.
... they're not in a disguise, though, just their usual board shorts and strap top. "Man," they add, glancing over to Hyousuke, "If you don't wanna be seen doin' this shit, I oughta make ya somethin' nicer'n that."
Beat.
"Uh, an' if it's a gun, like, scatter? I ain't got no gun, dude, I ain't that real --"
POP QUIZ: What's worse than a gun?
A weird horrible feeling which Tsubasa has only ever felt after their Awakening at Aoba Park, because they didn't know it was choking out everything at Kasugayama that day, either.
"What the fuck, dude?!" Tsubasa yelps, wheeling towards the source of that feeling. "That the Joker Killer?!"
(Being fair to the Ferryman's own reputation, Tsubasa knows this feeling purely in the context of the Joker Killer.)
"Fuck, dude, it's like that?!" Tsubasa barks out, grasping at the side of their head. "Why couldn't it just be somethin' NORMAL like EXTORTION or some shit! Aight -- fuck -- listen --"
Tsubasa claps a hand on Hyousuke's shoulder, forcibly turning him towards them. "I'm gonna tell ya somethin', an' you cannot go blabbin' on this shit, jus', fuck --"
AND SO, SHORTLY AFTERWARDS:
Phoenix bursts in, right through the front door. Their flaming orange hood covers their head and their shoulders, feathers soft and downy as they cover the ninja robes beneath it. Their ankles, wrists and belly are bound with white bandages; their gloves are as orange as their hood. Across their face is a witch's hat of a mask, three-pointed and dark grey in colour.
And they drag alongside them a sword which must be as big as THEY are.
"You workin' for the Joker Killer, too?!" Is what they demand, as they charge on in, sword dragging sparks along the warehouse floor. "Hey guess what GET FUCKED!"
Who let this teenager in here?!
Who is going to take responsibility for this teenager with this sword which is way too big swinging it at the Ferryman as if it's his fault?!
AS: Weapon! Tsubasa Seki has used the Slash skill Greatsword Assault on Hiroto Nakamura! 2 Hits! AS: Aggression: Tsubasa Seki gains 1 Limit! AS: Tsubasa Seki regains 5 HP from Regenerate!
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
Yukari was grousing, until suddenly a heartbeat of antithesis pounds in her ears. The world flashes in that monochromatic wrongness.
She remembers this feeling from Ebisu beach, and almost stumbles off the windowsill as she feels it. "Oh no- why did I have to open my big mouth?"
When it comes to a deadly supernatural battle with demons and cop-killers, she'd prefer the embarrassment of nothing happens... marginally, she is a teenager after all.
And that's when she sees a man grab one of the people they're here for. The man yells for help, and she nocks an arrow.
His sister yells... and she can hear the man coldly offer his priorities. Her arm tenses on the bowstring and...
... then she goes cross-eyed. "Wait, why would I risk taking the shot from here? This isn't some police procedural... I have a Persona." Which is when she releases tension on the bowstring and grabs her Evoker.
She puts it to her head, and pulls the trigger.
Inside, the warehouse window blows out, as strong gusts buoy shards of glass away, the presence of a Persona that looks like a Bull Headed coffin, a girl chained to it from within.
Then a girl in a pink cardigan, black jacket, and mini-skirt floats down, what looks like a hand gun in her hand, with a bow being held by another. "Io!"
She puts it to her head, and pulls the trigger, and there's a sound of glass-breaking on a psychic level, as Io comes forth, and her Winds slam into the darkened figure in fencing garb with the rapier and their Persona, again, and again - with terrible typhoon force winds, intending to slam them away from the people they're protecting.
"Good to know?" She says in that teenage tone of being weirded out by their certainty, "Then you won't mind us trying anyway."
Before she then looks sidelong at 'Phoenix'... "Uhhh... I don't think they're with the Joker Killer. Pretty sure they're with 'Cop Killers'?"
AS: Persona! Yukari Takeba has used the Wind skill Consecutive Garula on Remi Ryuuja! 2 Hits! AS: Yukari Takeba regains 3 SP from Invigorate! AS: Block Worst! Hiroto Nakamura takes 37 Slash damage from Tsubasa Seki's Greatsword Assault. AS: Counter Best! Hiroto Nakamura takes 43 Slash damage from Tsubasa Seki's Greatsword Assault. Critical Hit! AS: COUNTER! Tsubasa Seki takes 38 Slash damage in return for their attack! AS: Avoid Worst! Remi Ryuuja takes 79 Wind damage from Yukari Takeba's Consecutive Garula. AS: Avoid Worst! Remi Ryuuja takes 79 Wind damage from Yukari Takeba's Consecutive Garula.
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
Yukari might feel ridiculous, but knowing that they're covered from above is a boon and a half to Myunghon. Perhaps the bona fide sniper of today must invest in skorts, however, Takeba. Of course, they have no idea that So-young is back from their trip, and also would not be involving unpowered teens like Tsubasa -- they don't know that they've awakened to the power as a result of being trapped in a burning art house, after all!!
That Phoenix guy is just... cool.
Saika, though, they're much more willing to ask because -- well, she's just... cool, okay. It's also important to buff up with vending machine drinks before the big fight, so that you're ready to FEEL THE HEAT. Umie's bruising does also bring concern to them -- but between Shinjiro getting sent to the hospital, Umie having her own experiences with bridge ninjas... if she doesn't want to talk about it, then they're not going to be pushy about it. And Hyousuke... they've encountered him back when they first infiltrated Eiji's Palace, but they might not know that with his mask on (and that he's outside with Tsubasa at present!).
"Yes. They're a comrade," Myunghon responds to Akira. Before they can move, however, that palpable sense of Wrongness fills the area, and there's a tch as Myunghon's Coat manifests outwards into its true Cognitive form as a supernatural space comes online with the Mark's presence.
"Look alive, everyone!" Myunghon calls out. "The priority is to protect these two!"
A moment later, the skylight shatters -- Merry grimaces and throws the Coat into a shielding position in front of Hinata and themself, but stares towards the salaryman with the oni mask that's just entered. Before they can even react, however, the masked man grabs Akira -- that's no ordinary salaryman with those reflexes, not that Myunghon was ever considering underestimating them.
Akira is coerced into giving the flash drive -- that all-important source of information, and Myunghon's eyes widen as it's confirmed that they're not leaving this place alive. But things go from bad to worse, because -- because as they feared, Tsurugi is here. And Myunghon now has to deal with the possibility that it's their unwillingness to push their friend away that might get someone hurt or killed.
... they've got to push that out of their mind for now.
They promised Remi they wouldn't turn her away.
They've got their hands full, however, because the masked salaryman summons his Persona, and the obol and ferryman both slams water into Akira, and Myunghon darts into a sprint to bodyblock between Akira and Hiroto. Fortunately, Phoenix barges in not long after, with their ninja robes and witch's hat-mask. "You...! You're the one who saved Tsubasa-kun, aren't you?"
No time to hesitate.
"Kudlak -- Estoma!!"
The vampiric Persona rises from out of their coat in a column of blue, and the Cognitive Coat lurches out with its gesture in a tandem attack as Myunghon first prepares a support spell that's designed to deter Hiroto from approaching, hopefully causing him to be in range of the coat grappling and grasping away at him to leech his strength.
AS: Persona! Myunghon Yeo has used the Almighty skill Estoma on Hiroto Nakamura! AS: Pressure: Myunghon Yeo gains 1 Limit! AS: Myunghon Yeo spends Limit on Exploit! Myunghon Yeo can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Persona! Myunghon Yeo has used the Almighty skill Feed on Hiroto Nakamura! AS: Pressure: Myunghon Yeo gains 1 Limit! AS: Take! Hiroto Nakamura takes 0 Almighty damage from Myunghon Yeo's Estoma. AS: Haze added! AS: Take! Hiroto Nakamura takes 0 Almighty damage from Myunghon Yeo's Feed.
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
Hyousuke had not felt entirely optimistic about tagging along with Tsubasa, but it was the same sense of trepidation anybody would feel when knowingly walking into a shady situation. What hit him once the mark was unleashed was not a mere sense of trepidation, however. It was outright dread. His blood ran cold at the mere thought of charging headlong towards the source. His every instinct screamed at him to flee, and not look back. His muscles seemed to tense as that feeling pierced into the depths of his soul, as if to protest moving closer. But his reaction was silent - gritted teeth and fists tightening into a white-knuckled clench. Tsubasa's more visceral one snapped him out of his state, and turned his attention away from spiralling.
The black-clad student was a rather stark contrast to the Phoenix. On one side was a costume crafted with skill, care, and purpose. On the other side was something thrown together with scraps fished out of a pile of creased and wrinkled clothing. Tsubasa was right about the need for a new outfit - Hyousuke had made no secret of it, and vaguely remembered mentioning it in the adrenaline-fuelled rush to get to the warehouse - but now was hardly the time for it.
"I don't care who they're working with!" He called out, his harsh tone echoing off the warehouse walls."We'll figure that one out after we kick their asses! Come forth... ACHILLESE!"
Metallic scraping sounded from behind Hyousuke, and from him emerged a titan clad in bronze Hoplite armour - a red-eyed general, his shield gleaming and his spear keen. Without a moment's hesitation, that shield was lifted high, and Achilles surged forward like a bolt of lightning, Hyousuke only a step behind.
AS: Persona! Hyousuke Suzuki has used the Strike skill Shield Smash on Hiroto Nakamura! AS: Counter Neutral! Hiroto Nakamura takes 24 Strike damage from Hyousuke Suzuki's Shield Smash. AS: COUNTER! Hyousuke Suzuki takes 10 Strike damage in return for his attack! Resist!
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
So-young had been completely ready to puff up into an aggrieved ball and curl up onto the couch, her glorious return (in her own words) dented by the lack of anyone around to receive her. But that in itself is a little unusual given the number of people typically coming and going from the Cardboard Dragon, and something makes the hairs on the back of So-young's neck rise in concern. Before she really knows what she's doing, she's looking to hail a cab as she quickly chews her way through her list of associate's phone numbers.
She's in the middle of attempting to wheedle information out of Mio - who she has identified as something of a soft touch when it comes to matters of Myunghon's safety - and has travelled most of the way towards Konan Ward when the feeling of the Mark, even from this far out, hits her like a brick. The nausea isn't much, as far out as she is, but the pull is unmistakable - as is the feeling behind it. She's suddenly aware she can probably get the rest of the way a lot faster than a taxi can.
"That's enough, here, here, here," she chatters as she throws some money towards the driver, too urgent to bother being polite as she slips out of the door and breaks into a run.
* * *
There's a sudden mechanical cry from overhead, one that is familiar to anyone who's been near So-young when she's practicing flight in the Dark Hour. That practice pays off now, as something swoops past the broken ceiling in a flash of piercing light and strange spindly motions, and then again, and then finally manages to pull to a stop as So-young identifies the right building mostly by the shattered glass.
"I go on holiday for _one week_," So-young yells, hanging onto Icarus' back for dear life as her Persona rears up to spread its wings. Fortunately, the conductor is a creature of snap judgments, because there's no time to really do anything else, and for a moment Icarus is silhouetted against the sky as if lit by an evening sun as its radiance - or perhaps its impending doom - filters down.
Someone's on the floor in a pile, someone else is in a black suit and a suspicious mask and that's always bad news if you ask So-young, and there's a familiar swashbuckler telling them not to interfere. Well, fuck that, So-young thinks, and eloquently adds: "Well, fuck that!" as a silver baton manifests in her hand with a sweep of one arm, flicking the swirling wind down and into the warehouse proper to propel the others forwards.
AS: Persona! So-young Park has used the Almighty skill Sforzando on So-young Park, Moriko Kumamoto, Tamaki Uchida, and Yukari Takeba! AS: Support: So-young Park gains 1 Limit! AS: So-young Park regains 3 SP from Invigorate! AS: Take! So-young Park takes 0 Almighty damage from So-young Park's Sforzando. AS: Crt_Up added! AS: So-young Park spends Limit on Shift! Yukari Takeba can use another Weak skill this round! SP +8! Healed 20! AS: Take! Moriko Kumamoto takes 0 Almighty damage from So-young Park's Sforzando. AS: Crt_Up added! AS: Take! Tamaki Uchida takes 0 Almighty damage from So-young Park's Sforzando. AS: Crt_Up added!
<Pose Tracker> Saika Kikuchi has posed.
Did glass just break? That makes Saika alert enough to focus, to tune in, to stop vaguely looking around and being kind of thuggish.
Saika does not know what it is, but there's a shiver. Something in the air. Something *rancid*. Even so, the shiver is not unfamiliar, and when Saika tilts her head up to finish the coffee, she looks different once she lowers it. "Ah," she says.
Saika can hear Myunghon and she turns and she slams her shoulder into the door--
And starts running!! Her chosen angle means it's a little bit of a ways, but just how big can a warehouse be.
As she's running in, she hears Remi -- "Appeal to authority," Saika says, more to herself than anything as her attention rests on Myunghon and past them, towards the Ferryman. She grimaces for a moment even as her head turns -- and she grins at Phoenix, a huge grin, one that threatens to split the seam at the edge of her mouth.
"Hey!" she shouts to Phoenix. "Go high!"
Why did she give this stranger (if not much of a stranger) that exact form of encouragement? It makes more sense when Saika leans further down, throws her hands forwards JUST before she'd be colliding into the Ferryman, and swings herself around to try and smash the lower body of that strangely middle-of-the-road guy.
AS: Persona! Saika Kikuchi has used the Strike skill Saika Body Attack on Hiroto Nakamura! 2 Hits! AS: Block Best! Hiroto Nakamura takes 37 Strike damage from Saika Kikuchi's Saika Body Attack. Critical Hit! AS: Block Best! Hiroto Nakamura takes 28 Strike damage from Saika Kikuchi's Saika Body Attack.
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Tamaki raises her hands to shield herself from the broken skylight's glass. When it settles, she lowers them to reveal a frustrated scowl, then retrieves her sabre from her sports bag. This is her first time feeling the Mark's Resonance, herself, and it takes her several moments more than she'd like to shake off the sensation as her head swims and her guts churn.
Tsurugi drops down shortly after -- between Tamaki's rusty-as-hell constitution and Tsurugi interceding, she can only watch in horror as the ferryman pockets the flash drive and sends their charge against a wall.
Something about the coin summoned by Hiroto causes Tamaki's blood to feel like it's freezing in her veins, some distant memory from the edges of her mind creeping back into conscious thought -- but it's swept aside by the urgency of the situation.
Tsurugi's assertion that nothing will change if they interfere does give Tamaki pause. She has no idea how to gauge the strength of these two, and this is a far cry from the stakes involved in her own high school days. Things may very well be truly hopeless, but ...
Things seemed impossible then, just as they might now. Like she spoke with Umie some time ago, she couldn't forgive herself if she doesn't damn well try. The gauntlet has been thrown. The challenge has been presented. She must answer.
Instead, she locks her fury-filled gaze onto Tsurugi for a moment, then hands the briefcase to Hinata before raising her sword point-in-line towards her fellow fencer. Still keeping her eyes ahead on Tsurugi, she says to Hinata, "Hold onto this. Keep behind us. Wait until we can secure you a route to the car."
For her part, Tamaki is blissfully unaware of Tsurugi's identity, though Remi would certainly recognize her training partner from the other day.
Tamaki's perfectly willing to overlook help coming from an apparent teenager for the time being if they're on her side. This applies to 'Phoenix', Yukari, and Hyousuke, regardless of whether she recognizes them or not. Hell, she's glad to have help from anyone. She gives So-Young a quiet nod at her exclamation of 'fuck that.'
It looks like Myunghon's already headed to Hiroto, so then ... to their gathered allies, she yells, "Keep them split up!" And with that, she places a hand on her necklace and summons Arianrhod amidst blue flames. The wing-armored broadsword wielder raises her weapon to the sky and brings it down to cause a local quake underneath Tsurugi's feet, hoping to disturb her footing.
AS: Persona! Tamaki Uchida has used the Earth skill Magna on Remi Ryuuja!
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
The skylight would have been a great place to set up. Unfortunate, without her Persona's assistance, Umie couldn't get up there.
So, when Umie's senses indicate a field opening up as that sickly feeling descends on her, it all comes together with the sound of shattering glass.
The hoodie-wearing 'shinobi' wastes no time as her own Persona becomes available; the black clothing, while picked for their utility, nonetheless do their job as Umie slips in.
She could just as easily do the smart thing and attack from afar, but no, she wants to prove a point.
Who are these people working for? Umie has an answer, regardless of whether or not it's true.
"_NWO dogs_." Nevermind that Hiroto never indicated on whose behalf he came on, in order to collect Umie's toll. There can only be one possibility in Umie's mind and heart.
"You caught me at a bad time a few nights ago, Ferryman. But right now, I'll show you where I'm at my *strongest*." The visage of Badb spins over Umie's form in a spiral of blue light, making her resonance, as well as her identity, all the more clear despite her shroud.
Instead of attacking directly, the ghostly Badb gestures her red claws towards those with her on this side of the fight, including the two do-gooders who've jumped in. (She should show her thanks to Hyousuke and Phoenix, besides, for their help during the Aoba Park incident.)
And by 'help', Umie means 'make the violence more plentiful, as a true Badb would do, as people will soon realize.
AS: Persona! Umie Akabane has used the Recovery skill Bloody Revolution on Saika Kikuchi, Hyousuke Suzuki, Myunghon Yeo, and Tsubasa Seki! AS: Umie Akabane regains 3 SP from Invigorate! AS: Take! Myunghon Yeo takes 0 Recovery healing from Umie Akabane's Bloody Revolution. AS: Atk_Up and Crt_Up added! AS: Take! Hyousuke Suzuki takes 0 Recovery healing from Umie Akabane's Bloody Revolution. AS: Atk_Up and Crt_Up added! AS: Take! Yukari Takeba takes 0 Almighty damage from So-young Park's Sforzando. AS: Crt_Up added! AS: Take! Tsubasa Seki takes 0 Recovery healing from Umie Akabane's Bloody Revolution. AS: Atk_Up and Crt_Up added! AS: Take! Saika Kikuchi takes 0 Recovery healing from Umie Akabane's Bloody Revolution. AS: Atk_Up and Crt_Up added!
<Pose Tracker> Hiroto Nakamura has posed.
As Phoenix barges in, the Ferryman's turning his head. His arm goes up as the sword swings at him, deflecting the brunt of the blade's damage but still cutting into his suit and slashing shallowly.
"No," he replies, before moving his arm again to match the second strike, this time using his force to divert the blade back into the Phoenix, trying to cut them for their troubles.
Then, with a flick of the fingers, Charon reappears, and a blob of water is launched from the coin's black, inky cracks, much like a kintsugi repair gone wrong. The blob launches itself at Phoenix, trying both to knock them back and to mitigate their ability to use that sword as effectively.
Myunghon comes forth with that coat, and the Ferryman is moving. While the Estoma weakens his physical assault, as the ribbons tear forth, he's leaping onto one, running across it to launch a kick straight into Myunghon's face, trying to bounce off of them and reach Akira's position.
Hyousuke comes forth with Achilles. Hiroto regards him only to counter a charging shield with an elbow, trying to force the shield back while taking the shock of it directly into his arm, and then twisting to stomp onto Hyousuke's foot to slow him from progressing towards Akira.
To make matters worse, Charon turns its baleful heads-side onto Hyousuke, and fires a burst of water straight at him!
Saika comes forth with that body blow, moving low. The Ferryman raises a knee in defense, clearly a masterful martial artist, and is staggered lightly before moving to strike out with a kick. He's trying to press on Akira and finish him off.
Umie calls him out. This causes him to stop for a long moment, especially as she calls out NWO dogs. "Ah, you've recovered enough to fight again." His voice has the hint of something... relief?
The buffs aren't appreciated, though, as he turns towards her, and Charon reappears, smashing into her in a flying press, trying to send her flying backwards with its weight.
The Ferryman stops, before speaking, his voice neutral, without confrontation, without frustration. He has an open-ended question, simply one to better understand his foes.
"Tell me. Why are you fighting right now?"
AS: Persona! Hiroto Nakamura has used the Water skill Splash on Tsubasa Seki! AS: Weapon! Hiroto Nakamura has used the Strike skill Leviathan Kick on Myunghon Yeo! AS: Aggression: Hiroto Nakamura gains 1 Limit! AS: Persona! Hiroto Nakamura has used the Water skill Aqua on Hyousuke Suzuki! AS: Weapon! Hiroto Nakamura has used the Strike skill Leviathan Kick on Saika Kikuchi! AS: Persona! Hiroto Nakamura has used the Strike skill Bash on Umie Akabane! AS: Hiroto Nakamura regains 6 SP from Invigorate! AS: Avoid Neutral! Remi Ryuuja takes 65 Earth damage from Tamaki Uchida's Magna. Critical Hit! AS: Bind added! AS: Avoid Worst! Myunghon Yeo takes 117 Strike damage from Hiroto Nakamura's Leviathan Kick. Critical Hit! AS: Block Best! Hyousuke Suzuki takes 67 Water damage from Hiroto Nakamura's Aqua. AS: Paralyze added! AS: Mind Up! Tsubasa Seki's SP +8! AS: Counter Neutral! Tsubasa Seki takes 55 Water damage from Hiroto Nakamura's Splash. AS: COUNTER! Hiroto Nakamura takes 51 Slash damage in return for his attack! AS: Block Best! Saika Kikuchi takes 45 Strike damage from Hiroto Nakamura's Leviathan Kick.
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
Saika rushes in like a bolt in the blue, and there's a grin in turn at the trust they feel from someone they haven't really known all that long -- but somehow feel a kinship to. Coming in with Phoenix, however, is a y oung man they don't quite pick out with his mask covering his mouth -- Hyousuke -- but he seems to have his heart in the right place, as his persona Achilles tears the joint up something fierce.
Well, fuck that!
There's only one person that voice and the subsequent flight could belong to -- "Nuna?!" Myunghon sounds surprised. "If you're on leave, you're on leave!"
Tamaki's taking point and her tactics is to keep them split up -- a good move on her part. She said she was rusty, but it seems her veteran instincts still are finely honed; Myunghon will have to keep an extra eye on both Hayashis, though. Umie's reaction surprises them more, however -- she knows this Ferryman. "This was the one who hurt you...?!" Myunghon asks of Umie.
Rumourmonger Merry is about to experience firsthand what Umie did, of course, as the skilled martial artist just straight-up runs on the ribbons of their Cognitive Coat and sends them back from that vicious kick to the face -- they stand steadfast for Akira by slacking their coat in time to deny some of Hiroto's leverage, letting the ribbons grapple them in place and not someplace else they'd not rather be. They don't particularly relish being reached so easily, however...
Badb's power comes surging through them, and they account for the lay of the battlefield; Phoenix and that young man have both entered to lend them more power, and Umie's positioning herself to enhance them -- and thus they should take the initiative and try to coax the Ferryman that a protracted fight is not in his best interest.
"A philosophical question, right now? You seek, perhaps under orders, to kill these two, who you clearly have run scare tactics upon."
Merry thrusts their hand forward again and has the Coat springing out with multiple ribbons, each zigging and zagging at erratic ninety degree angles. This is a feint, however, as they join to form one massive head, maws of darkness unhinging to swallow Hiroto whole!
"The why is particularly cut and dry here, do you not think? The variables are known -- what is left for both you and us is to execute upon it."
AS: Persona! Myunghon Yeo has used the Elec skill Devour on Hiroto Nakamura! AS: Avoid Worst! Umie Akabane takes 58 Strike damage from Hiroto Nakamura's Bash. AS: Myunghon Yeo spends Limit on Exploit! Myunghon Yeo can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Persona! Myunghon Yeo has used the Almighty skill a Taste of Weakness on Hiroto Nakamura! AS: Pressure: Myunghon Yeo gains 1 Limit!
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
The Ferryman turns Phoenix's horse-killing blade back on them, and they go, "ghffff," as their own breath is knocked out of their chest by their sword being slammed into it. Luckily, they manage to turn it at the last minute so it's the flat that impacts them, but it's still so heavy.
They stagger back, giving him clearance to summon that blob -- only to snarl and launch themself forward again, slamming their sword through the water in order to get at the Ferryman. Both halves batter at either side of them as they pass, but what might be surprising is...
... water doesn't seem to be extinguishing them very well.
As they wheel around and come to a stop again, though, they remember what they heard. "Eh? Cop killers?" Phoenix's expression can't really be seen under that mask, but they sound quizzical as they glance to Yukari.
Tsubasa hasn't revealed their secret to Myunghon -- though not for lack of wanting to. But Akechi warned them that the more people they'd tell, the weaker their protection would become, and so they've been quite good at keeping mum about it since then.
It's just -- well -- they saw how Hyousuke was, at Aoba Park. They're really worried that if he doesn't have anyone he knows he knows here he'll end up in much worse trouble, and they're the one who asked him for backup to begin with!
Y'know. Sometimes you gotta step up and take responsibility. Phoenix might have the world's worst intro speech, but they at least still have enough braincells left to say words at all. Which means -- THEY get to worry about taking care of the two of them.
Man, how could this have happened?!
(It wouldn't have happened if you'd actually let Myunghon keep you out of it, Tsubasa!)
"Anyway, YEAH that's me!" Phoenix barks back, when Myunghon recognises them. "Was -- in the area. Fuck's going on?" Which is at least a little more attentive than Hyousuke's approach... a little.
Luckily, Myunghon answers that when they answer the Ferryman.
Saika knows just what to do, though. "Aight!" Phoenix yells back, just kind of implicitly following her lead on this because -- listen, she helped save their life, she gets a pass, okay?
"Don't kill people, asshole! That's like, 101 shit!" Tsubasa yells, to the Ferryman, as they charge him again. They plant their foot, and wrench their sword around, in a circle which turns once, twice, and a third time as it drags those sparks along the ground --
-- and, just as they promised, they heft the blade high as they send it hurtling into the Ferryman.
(Somewhere here, they also take a quick moment to inventory who 'them' is that they're keeping split up. Incidentally, they look at what Yukari and So-young are doing to confirm that; they at least remember that they was there trying to help Myunghon, that night they were assaulted, and so draw a line of best fit to presume that they're probably allies.)
AS: Weapon! Tsubasa Seki has used the Slash skill Greatest Sword on Hiroto Nakamura! AS: Aggression: Tsubasa Seki gains 1 Limit! AS: Tsubasa Seki regains 5 HP from Regenerate!
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
Hyousuke didn't think to shout his thanks - or even some sort of acknowledgement - to Umie. It wasn't that he was ungrateful. Rather, it was that when he was in the middle of stampeding towards a masked man like an angered bull, politeness tended to take a backseat. That single-minded focus was shaken when a mere elbow was all it took to block his efforts, though, and the wild look in his eyes took on just the slightest hint of trepidation. That split-second lapse in focus was all that was needed for him to be open to the strike against his foot, and with his defences pried open, it was all he could do to brace and guard before Charon's mighty blow could land.
He staggered backwards, barely able to keep on his feet. The force alone wasn't what had left him verging on collapsing into a crumpled heap, however. Something in that attack had left his body stiff, making every movement a Herculean task, like every muscle in him was wrought from steel cables, and to move them required every ounce of strength he could muster. Yet, muster it he did, pulling his limbs into a tight and practised guard. Hiroto and Saika weren't the only martial artists there - amateurish though he was in comparison, Hyousuke's technique was not that of a mere brawler's.
He urged his body to move forward and let him strike, but his mind could only do so much. It was Achilles that struck instead, closing whatever gap was left to keep the pressure on, before he brought his xiphos arcing down like a headsman's axe. That was the answer he gave to Hiroto's question - that, and a rather curt "'Cause I can. Asshole."
AS: Persona! Hyousuke Suzuki has used the Slash skill Sword Swipe on Hiroto Nakamura! AS: Block Best! Hiroto Nakamura takes 120 Elec damage from Myunghon Yeo's Devour. Critical Hit! AS: Dark_Break added! AS: Take! Hiroto Nakamura takes 0 Almighty damage from Myunghon Yeo's a Taste of Weakness. AS: Myunghon Yeo's Weakness Scan! Hiroto Nakamura is weak against Light! AS: Block Neutral! Hiroto Nakamura takes 110 Slash damage from Tsubasa Seki's Greatest Sword.
<Pose Tracker> Moriko Kumamoto has posed.
A message had been received from a familiar face. Moriko had been out late, finally replacing a part which makes it easier to respond to the support request. She had gotten a lucky find on tires. We just won't ask for the details. The bike doesn't so much roar, it's not a high end bike, but she does still consider the sound as she approaches the site. Swinging her leg over she adjusts her gloves, then grabs her pack, slinging it over her biker leather clad shoulders. Keeping the helmet on for now as she approaches.
It had been a slow walk at first. A biker's rare enough. Sprinting around with a pole might draw more attention, but that flash of strangeness. Well, you don't ignore that.
She might be running a bit late, shouldering through a door, polearm tilted in a way to avoid hanging up, but she's not too late. Right?
There's a realization she doesn't know who's who for the most part, but she knows enough faces to put two and two together!
Luckily no one mistook her as reinforcements for the otherside, evidenced by the support as she shows up. Evoker in hand.
She tilts her head up, hand with the evoker in a half-salute before she puts the thing under her chin and pulls the trigger with a call out of "Persona!". Telltale bang and her head jerks to the side as a graceful robe clad fox appears behind her. Seated at first.
"Split up?" Glancing to the other group. Evoker tucked into the open zipper of her dark grey leathers. Thumbs up offered! "Yeah"
The fox in the meantime had been doing what she was supposed to. Stepping from behind her, seemingly whispering something. Warnings maybe. Attempts to aid the group as it casts Tarunda. Hopefully blunting attacks. Even as the persona user herself once more adjusts her gloves and gets ready.
AS: Persona! Moriko Kumamoto has used the Almighty skill Tarunda on Remi Ryuuja! AS: Take! Remi Ryuuja takes 0 Almighty damage from Moriko Kumamoto's Tarunda. AS: Atk_Dn added!
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
Yukari makes an impressive entrance, instead of taking the shot, but her Persona's gusts of winds strike strike true--Remi and her Persona are both blasted back, even as they both raise their swrods to counter the blow. Tsurugi's boots skid against the concrete as she lets out a frustrated grunt. One might imagine Tsurugi's gaze fixing on Yukari, though it's hard to teoll through the mask. "... so you had backup in place," she mutters. To the charge of 'cop killer' she can only say, "... I go where I am ordered. I wonder, whose hand is on your leash?"
Part of her is relieved for Myunghon's foresight. Even if this will, inevitably, make her interactions with Myunghon all the more complicated.
... apologies can wait for later.
Her gaze shifts up as So-young arrives on the back of Icarus--she's only seen that Persona once before, in Mementos, but it certainly stands out, ahving someone riding on it. (Not that she knows who it is.) "More intruders," she intones quietly, mostly to Hiroto.
Was it a challenge that Tsurugi issued with her words? Surely, she would know that telling those gathered not to interfere would, itself, have no effect on their willingness to get involved. Maybe she was counting on it.
And she does, indeed, recognize Tamaki. But she can't let that stop her, either. Not with Hiroto right there.
The earth rumbles, and Tsurugi is unsteady on her feet for a moment, rocked unsteady before she leaps to the side to get out of the area of the spell.
Tsurugi can't fail to notice the arrival of another Evoker user, even if the specific user is not familiar to her. "Another of your number comes to your aid," she says to--or maybe about--Moriko. But whispered warnings come from her Persona, and Tsurugi grows slack for a moment as her strength is drained. "... this will not dull my blade..."
Tsurugi scans the area. There are way more people here than they initially saw. "Ferryman," she says, just a simple call of his name to get his attention. She doesn't say anything else, but she does say "Masukukaja" as she stands.
La Maupin--though Tsurugi's never said their name out loud--raises her chipped rapier, and a burst of wind explodes beneath Tsurugi's and Hiroto's feet, surging upwards to wrap them in wind and make their movements easier.
Then she draws that rapier from her hip, but from behind her she also draws a dagger--or a main gauche, if someone knows their European weapons. Tsurugi charges right at Tamaki, attempting tgo get around her guard with a tricky movement of her blade, followed by a slash from her main gauche.
Tsurugi charges forward, aiming for the two SEES students. With a whirling cut they lash out at both with a whirling cut of their rapier.
AS: Persona! Remi Ryuuja has used the Almighty skill Masukukaja on Remi Ryuuja and Hiroto Nakamura! AS: Take! Remi Ryuuja takes 0 Almighty damage from Remi Ryuuja's Masukukaja. AS: Spd_Up added! AS: Weapon! Remi Ryuuja has used the Slash skill Coupe on Tamaki Uchida! 2 Hits! AS: Aggression: Remi Ryuuja gains 1 Limit! AS: Persona! Remi Ryuuja has used the Slash skill Gale Slash on Yukari Takeba and Moriko Kumamoto! AS: Block Best! Hiroto Nakamura takes 53 Slash damage from Hyousuke Suzuki's Sword Swipe. AS: Take! Hiroto Nakamura takes 0 Almighty damage from Remi Ryuuja's Masukukaja. AS: Spd_Up added! AS: Remi Ryuuja: Bind removed! AS: Block Worst! Yukari Takeba takes 61 Slash damage from Remi Ryuuja's Gale Slash. AS: Avoid Worst! Tamaki Uchida takes 47 Slash damage from Remi Ryuuja's Coupe. Critical Hit! AS: Counter Neutral! Tamaki Uchida takes 25 Slash damage from Remi Ryuuja's Coupe. Critical Hit! AS: COUNTER! Remi Ryuuja takes 16 Slash damage in return for her attack! Resist!
<Pose Tracker> Saika Kikuchi has posed.
The defending knee throws Saika to the side, her move-conclusion COMPLETELY REKT -- she smacks off the ground, a perceptible noise in the cacophonous melee they're all bringing together with the fire of their souls.
NWO DOGS are declaimed. Saika, as she recovers from that smash, looks towards Umie. Her invocation of Badb brings an energetic infusion that has Saika spring to her feet all the quicker than she did before.
"You sound happy about it, don't you?" Saika challenges the man: "You like fighting strong people, or just, you know, the kills?" Saika then steps back -- in part because if you crowd someone too closely, your strategy becomes 'pigpile,' and what happens if the bottom pig has a knife?
You get stuck.
(with a knife).
Charon asks them a question. Why are you fighting right now? Saika's face knits with sudden confusion as he speaks this, and answers him - "Because you're talking about killing people?"
The tone may be flip, but the initiative, at least, shifted for a moment. "Right??" Saika says to Phoenix, before -- she can see someone staggering, trembling, stiffening up. Her eyes end up flicking towards Hyousuke, who she urges, "Hey! Don't tighten up! Loosen your muscles!" before he opts to use a different muscle; the path of Achilles turns Saika's eyes back to Charon.
With a whuzzing swirl, the chain is unwrapped and snapped forwards several times, held in Saika's hand with a single loop around and over her palm. They're stabbing, almost biting snap-forwards of the chain rather than a full lashing, towards Charon's face (how rude) and upper body (less so) as Phoenix brings their sword around...
So her plan was to go from hitting low to also hitting high as Phoenix does?! Maybe she's going somewhere with this. She is circling around, shooting a glance towards Myunghon. "Do you know this guy or anything!?" It's blind fumbling. Even if maybe she's still proceeding with the joy of violence, she's not *shrugging off* that strange question.
If anything it's going to bother her even more later!
If she survives, of course.
AS: Weapon! Saika Kikuchi has used the Strike skill Great Peacock's Road on Hiroto Nakamura! 3 Hits!
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
Tsurugi's question to her, about whose hand is on her leash? "Rude? I'm not a dog you know. And asking who has my leash? That'ssss real creepy?" Maybe she understands the context, but it makes it no less weird.
"Well it is summer vacation." Is Yukari's statement to So-Young, before taking that back as she realizes, "Not... that you have that anymore."
Phoenix asks about them being cop killers and Yukari answers awkwardly, "Oh uh - just people pretty similar to them tried to kill two Police Officers at Ebisu Beach?"
She doesn't know anything about conspiracies! They're just cop killers to her.
And as the Conductor sweeps a baton up, that silver wind flows through her, "Thanks! Uh, for cutting your week off short?"
Before Tamaki yells to keep them split up, and she straightens up, "Will do!" It almost has the cadence of a 'Yes Ma'am.' Is this because Tamaki is the adult in the room taking charge?
Or maybe Yukari's just the type to prefer to follow because she has very little self-confidence in her ability to stand on her own two feet in this realm.
However, the Ferryman asks a question and Yukari actually answers him, "I don't see how that's any of your business? No offense but I'm not about to answer some weirdo Grandpa who thinks it's alright to just kill people."
Didn't she qualify that with No Offense!? Seems Phoenix and her are not quite 'Same hat' but more 'Nice hat.' in their answers.
However, she notices about Tsurugi, "Huh!? She has one of those weird Evokers! Where'd you even get that!?" And as La Maupin slashes, as Io interposes, as the slash sweeps her away towards a warehouse wall.
"Alright... so you're serious." As she looks up at So-Young, "Uhhhh, is it okay if I ask for cover?" Before she puts her Evoker to her head and, "Please help!"
Io apparates back in front of her, as Io raises her arms, and energy converges upon Tsurugi, making their movements that much slower.
Right before- "Persona!" And from the Persona's hands flows a healing breeze that smells faintly of sea-air.
AS: Persona! Yukari Takeba has used the Recovery skill Media on Tamaki Uchida, Moriko Kumamoto, and Yukari Takeba! AS: Support: Yukari Takeba gains 1 Limit! AS: Take! Yukari Takeba takes 91 Recovery healing from Yukari Takeba's Media. AS: Take! Tamaki Uchida takes 91 Recovery healing from Yukari Takeba's Media. AS: Persona! Yukari Takeba has used the Almighty skill Sukunda on Remi Ryuuja! AS: Yukari Takeba regains 3 SP from Invigorate!
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
"I appreciated the concern, but unfortunately, I woke up in a damn hospital," Umie says to Hiroto, her sneakers quiet as she walks across the dusty concrete. "So your attention to detail didn't help me avoid the awkward situation of spending a whole night in the hospital. Besides, you think you're the first?"
Technically, Hiroto is the first to officially attack her, if 'the NWO' is who sent him that time. Shiryuu might have been the first to threaten her, but she's not even sure now what orders he was acting on, at the time.
And lastly, the Joker Killer was, presumably, just doing as a Joker Killer does: killing.
Myunghon asks if this was the one who hurt her, and Umie nods. "Yeeeeeeah, that's him. Skilled at hand-to-hand combat, so watch out." However, many of them, like Myunghon, are quickly finding out that on their own, but if there's one thing Umie specializes in, it's sometimes being too late with useful data. "Water attacks, plus his Persona packs quite a punc--"
Exhibit A: Charon is smashing his coin-shaped body directly into the short woman, sending her flying though the air, and not the Icarus kind, unless it's just the part where he flies too close to the sun.
Umie cries out in a short gasp of air, but quickly fights to right herself, her mask for the night already worse for wear and her hood down, exposing wispy ash blonde hair.
Instead of answering Hiroto's question, Umie's expression darkens. "Why did your handlers decide to send you after me, after all this time?"
A selfish question, seeing as he's here to kill the two whistle-blowers, but it's also one meant to try to redirect his attention.
"That'll give you halfway to an answer, I think, unless you need some encouragement?" Badb appears over Umie again, that white face half-shrouded such so that only those red cupid's bow lips are visible as they spread in an alluring way, coupled with a few rolls of the her fingers.
AS: Persona! Umie Akabane has used the Almighty skill Hooded Smile on Hiroto Nakamura! AS: Ruin: Umie Akabane gains 1 Limit! AS: Umie Akabane regains 3 SP from Invigorate! AS: Avoid Best! Hiroto Nakamura takes 21 Strike damage from Saika Kikuchi's Great Peacock's Road. AS: Avoid Neutral! Hiroto Nakamura takes 39 Strike damage from Saika Kikuchi's Great Peacock's Road. Critical Hit! AS: Avoid Best! Hiroto Nakamura takes 29 Strike damage from Saika Kikuchi's Great Peacock's Road. Critical Hit! AS: Take! Hiroto Nakamura takes 0 Almighty damage from Umie Akabane's Hooded Smile. <Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
So-young seems content to stay up above the skylight for the time being, glancing down to return Tamaki's nod of recognition with a rakish sort of grin as she feels the adrenaline start to kick in. Carried by the moment, she makes sure to pose a little as Icarus rears back, and the heart-shaped sunglasses she's still wearing definitely help the wink. Fortunately, the gravity of the situation manages to take hold right afterwards at the way Umie practically growls. So-young is used to thinking of her more as a trickster than someone who can get truly angry, and she's pulled into a silent frown.
"Says the person who has probably never taken a day of annual leave in their life," So-young shoots back to Myunghon, but there's no bite to it and only an amused sort of affection, especially when her sibling looks somehow surprised at the idea that So-young might try to muscle into their life once more. "Do you really think any of us are treating this as a job, rather than wanting to help?"
(That tone might help clinch it for Tsubasa, not that So-young really recognizes them at all at present. That's not a comment about Tsubasa, of course, it's just that the conductor tends to not really focus on anything but what's right in front of her at any given time.)
As a biker blasts into the warehouse and raises a now-familiar shape to the side of their helmet, So-young is momentarily forced to wonder exactly how many Persona-evoking guns are out there. Are they - whichever of the many mysterious shadowy 'they's now exist in her new understanding of the world - just handing them out like candy? Do you just get one in schools now? Is there a curriculum?
One day she will pause and examine exactly why she chooses to vent her panic and stress in bizarre lines of logic. Today is not that day, however, as Tsurugi starts to cut through their line with remarkable agility and vigour in a way that even So-young can appreciate. She would never really call herself the sort of person who appreciates fighting in any practical sense, but turn it into a dance and she'll begin to consider it.
"I would simply not be caught wearing a leash," is So-young's natural retort to Tsurugi, an answer which is entirely suited to her - utterly confident, but also utterly born from a significent degree of privilege, but _also_ delivered with such a fierce independence to it that it's immediately clear that if anyone so much as tried, So-young would fight them tooth and nail.
While So-young nominally appears to agree to the idea of giving Yukari 'cover' given her nod and her sudden motion--
--what that actually means is that Icarus swoops down into the warehouse, So-young leaping from its back just in time for the Persona to spin into a whirlwind of motion, a solid plume of air launching forwards from a beat of its wings to envelop Tsurugi.
AS: Persona! So-young Park has used the Wind skill Rondo on Remi Ryuuja! 2 Hits! AS: So-young Park regains 3 SP from Invigorate!
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Umie apparently knows this masked salaryman -- er, 'ferryman.' That and the 'NWO dogs' quip confirm some of Tamaki's suspicions as to who exactly the information on the flash drive would pertain to.
To provide further clarification to the newcomers, now that no one else seems to be piling in, she points her sword in Tsurugi and the ferryman's directions. "Her. And him. At least as far as we know." Then she uses her non-sword hand to point to the scared Hinata, then to the slumped-over and drenched Akira. "We're protecting these two. If we all converge to save one, we leave the other vulnerable. The suit's got a flash drive with some important data on it, the masked fencer's playing interference, and they're both here to 'clean up' the hostess and the bouncer."
She's unsure if the Ferryman's or Tsurugi's questions included her, or if they were more targeted at other specific people who aren't her. The Ferryman seems like he's speaking to Umie, and she has reason to believe Tsurugi's quip about leashes could apply to SEES.
"Keep at range if you can. ... er. All three of you, sniper, conductor, biker. Huddle around the hostess. I'll try to provide the cover you want." She knows the names of the SEES kids, but figures it's probably smart to use (admittedly hastily improvised) aliases here anyhow. So-young may be a new face to her, though ...
She's about to provide more 'instruction,' but Tsurugi helpfully volunteers anyhow. Try as Tamaki might to dodge the first oncoming rapier slash, Tsurugi lands a clean hit and garners a pained yelp from Tamaki -- tit-for-tat, she supposes. She takes the other fencers' proximity to slash at her midsection, but feels the impact of the blow woefully blunted.
Overall, that exchange went quite poorly for Tamaki, though she's gained some valuable data on her opponent. A certain suspicion creeps into her mind at the use of the main gauche, but she's not willing to gamble on mere suspicion.
Tamaki strikes at the forte of Tsurugi's sabre with her own and presses forward to lock blades with her. "YOU. Leave the kids alone. Pick on someone closer to your own age."
The detective can't manage to suppress her wild grin nor hide the gleam in her eyes. If you wanted an excuse to not hold back, Remi -- if you are indeed Remi -- then here it is. "And most importantly, show me what you can do." Let's have a proper match.
"Arianrhod, Psi!" Arianrhod manifests again and utters a spell, causing rippling waves of rainbow energy to pulse around the black-masked fencer. Each attack is like a question; if that's the case, then what is Tsurugi's answer?
AS: Persona! Tamaki Uchida has used the Elec skill Psi on Remi Ryuuja! AS: Take! Remi Ryuuja takes 0 Almighty damage from Yukari Takeba's Sukunda. AS: Spd_Up removed!
AS: Avoid Best! Moriko Kumamoto takes 108 Slash damage from Remi Ryuuja's Gale Slash. Critical Hit! Weak! AS: Take! Moriko Kumamoto takes 91 Recovery healing from Yukari Takeba's Media. AS: Avoid Worst! Remi Ryuuja takes 44 Wind damage from So-young Park's Rondo. AS: Haze added! AS: Avoid Worst! Remi Ryuuja takes 50 Wind damage from So-young Park's Rondo. AS: Haze added!
<Pose Tracker> Moriko Kumamoto has posed.
Moriko salutes Remi when she's called out. Or called to? Either way, there's almost a mocking vibe to the gesture. Though any retort beyond that is stopped short by the sudden movement of the fencer. Too slow to call out a warning to the myriad, swift strikes. Though she does get under the worst of the slash aimed at her and Yukari. Not that she's unscathed, or pleased with the slash. Off balance briefly with a bit of a stagger.
She regains her feet and calls out to Yukari, "Thanks." Projecting her voice to be heard. Hand raised briefly in tandem with the words.
"She's got a bit of reach." She replies to Tamaki, but she takes it as a good advice regardless and hops back. Though she does glance back when Yukari's called out as being on a lead and her statement about their actions. "You sure it's them?" She had been taking it seriously before, but that does convince her she wasn't taking it seriously enough, even then. Her stance tightens up and she closes in with the group. "I can cover too Takeba". She sounds about as sharp as usual. Just muffled.
Had she misheard it? Maybe that had been aimed at So-Young. Who shot her a funny look. "You've seen the leathers before." She insists. Trying to make sure she doesn't scare the uh. Wrong side?
This is confusing.
Everything else is also just, "I have a lot of questions for later." Which, at least she's prioritizing it. "Bust up first though."
"Otohime Gitsune-" She calls out. That Evoker materializing in her gloved hands. Held to her chin to pull the trigger again. "Magna!" The fox appearing behind hear again. Lunging forward. Spikes of earth lunging at Remi as her feet touch the ground and she fades away!
AS: Persona! Moriko Kumamoto has used the Earth skill Magna on Remi Ryuuja!
<Pose Tracker> Hiroto Nakamura has posed.
Myunghon rejects philosophy in exchange for a matter of fact approach.
"Is it? There are quite a many answers to the question I just asked. You could have said saving people. You could have said to stop me. You could have said because you wanted to or because you can, or because I'm killing people----" which Hyousuke and Saika indeed say.
The Ferryman straightens a bit, as the ribbons come out. He lifts his arms, as he continues. "I reject all of those reasons, however."
The ribbons shock into him, even as he refuses the brunt of the damage, but he's also swallowed whole. Kudlak can taste a few things as it harms him... a defining current of anger, like a bitter, spicy flavor. A strong current of regret, with a salty tearlike taste. Of course, a sense of wrongness, a spike to the brain of senses.
Yukari's own answer comes out at this time, and so the Ferryman is able to heave a sigh from inside his painful cocoon without being heard! Teenagers...
Then, suddenly, there's another flash of red, as Charon smashes Kudlak back lightly. His glasses are fogged up, so he takes them off, pulls out a cleaning cloth, wipes them off, reattaches them, and then proceeds towards Myunghon and starts working. His eyes are piercing in the moment they're seen.
"You're fighting because some part of you likes it. An instinct, perhaps. Otherwise, you would find another strategy, take a running retreat. You would do anything but try and start a combat that I gave you a chance to avoid."
His voice is still neutral, as Phoenix comes in with that whirling sword. His arms go into another blocking stance, but he's slashed into, as well as by that counter, and thrown backwards. He grimaces, his carefully forced facade already breaking.
"Most people do not enjoy killing, after all. Fighting. Bloodshed. To kill is to let the beast inside run rampant. We all possess that beast, and we despise it."
The blade comes down from Achilles, as Charon appears, manifesting in front of it to Persona Break instead, taking the brunt of the damage. The Ferryman staggers.
"But sometimes, someone chains us. Fenrir, chained after tearing off Tyr's hand. Prometheus, chained after giving fire to man. These chains lock us in a role, where the beast is no longer under our control."
"Who holds your chains? Who compels your beast to attack me? Is it the Hayashi siblings, people you've never met before today? I don't think it's as cut and dry as that."
Saika's chain lashes out, and each strike is parried with flowing arms, even as welts and bruises are formed under the suit. Umie's curse is unleashed, and Hiroto is stone-faced as it hits, progressing forward, even as it staggers him slightly.
"They can no longer live normal lives. If not me, someone else will take Akira Hayashi's life. Which is better? To live a short life in fear, or a shorter life that will end with peace?"
He snaps his fingers. Beams of almighty energy flare from the sky, as Charon blasts everyone he's fighting except for Myunghon. They're still trying to stop him from reaching Akira, so...
"Flow Like Water. Target: one."
A hand strikes, as one moves defensive for the coat. Myunghon has bad control of their arms, the Ferryman knows, so he's trying to use that to get not one, not two, but three good strikes in to their center of mass, as Charon empowers his fists, causing them to flow literally like ink-like black water is spreading with each punch.
"That is your decision tonight. Now step aside."
AS: Persona! Hiroto Nakamura has used the Almighty skill Megido on Tsubasa Seki, Hyousuke Suzuki, Saika Kikuchi, and Umie Akabane! AS: Tandem! Hiroto Nakamura has used the Water skill Flow Like Water on Myunghon Yeo! 3 Hits! AS: Aggression: Hiroto Nakamura gains 1 Limit! AS: Hiroto Nakamura: Haze removed! AS: Hiroto Nakamura regains 6 SP from Invigorate! AS: Avoid Worst! Remi Ryuuja takes 89 Elec damage from Tamaki Uchida's Psi. Critical Hit! AS: Bind added! Haze removed! Explosion! 50 damage! AS: Avoid Neutral! Umie Akabane takes 92 Almighty damage from Hiroto Nakamura's Megido. AS: Avoid Best! Tsubasa Seki takes 73 Almighty damage from Hiroto Nakamura's Megido. AS: Avoid Worst! Myunghon Yeo takes 70 Water damage from Hiroto Nakamura's Flow Like Water. AS: Avoid Best! Myunghon Yeo takes 50 Water damage from Hiroto Nakamura's Flow Like Water. Critical Hit! AS: Avoid Worst! Myunghon Yeo takes 84 Water damage from Hiroto Nakamura's Flow Like Water. Critical Hit! AS: Block Worst! Hyousuke Suzuki takes 145 Almighty damage from Hiroto Nakamura's Megido. AS: Avoid Neutral! Saika Kikuchi takes 121 Almighty damage from Hiroto Nakamura's Megido. AS: Block Worst! Remi Ryuuja takes 68 Earth damage from Moriko Kumamoto's Magna. AS: Umie Akabane spends Limit on Shift! Myunghon Yeo can use another Weak skill this round!
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
Tsurugi grunts as she locks blades with Tamaki. She might not be the most muscle bound (that suit is pretty tight, surely you'd know), but despite that she is fierce. "They wield the power of PErsonas. They cannot be shielded from the truth of the world!"
Is this Remi? It's surely a coincidence, to meet someone else using a rapier and main gauche a day after meeting Remi. But they are a study in contrasts: Tsurugi's ferocity versus Remi's almost reticence to attack, to say nothing of her voice and posture...
There is a quiet snort of contempt at Yukari's response to her question. "If you wield an Evoker, then you are nothing but a hound." Her gaze shifts to Moriko--or at least, her head turns, which is probably the same thing. "As are you."
But Yukari finally notices her Evoker, and the smirk might be evident in her voice. "This is not the first time you have seen it." She was at Ebisu, after all. And at Tartarus, when the Emperor and Empress Shadows attacked. She has certainly noticed the SEES Evoker, so very different from her own.
She grits her teeth as Io casts that spell, draining off the extra speed she'd just been given by her PErsona. "Hmph." She'll remember that.
So-young has a comment about leashes, and Tsurugi glances at her. "Is there nothing that binds you?" she asks, with a retort. (She does not know what a 'Will of REbellion' is.)
But Icarus dives and comes for her, and its motion sends out several gusts of wind. Tsurugi, newly deprived of her speed starts to shift but is caught instead, blasted back once and then twice to go landing in a stack of crates. "Grr..." In an instant she is pulling herself out.
Arianrhod sends waves of energy at her, and still climbing out of the boxes Tsurugi is caught unprepared, letting out a grunt as she drops to her knees. "Grr..."
And she doesn't get a chance to rest as spikes of earth come for her, sending her sprawling back to land on a heap on the floor, grunting with the impact. But still she pushes herself back up.
"Enough," she lets out, almost as a snarl. She picks herself up, and instantly La Maupin is at her side. She holds her rapier up to touch La Maupin's outstretched rapier, and wind energy surges up Maupin's rapier and down hers, leaving both coated. Then, in unison, they both turn to their opponents and charge, darting among them to strike with withr enchanted swords.
AS: Remi Ryuuja spends Limit on Broad! AS: Tandem! Remi Ryuuja has used the Wind skill Blastbrand on Tamaki Uchida, Yukari Takeba, Moriko Kumamoto, and So- young Park! 3 Hits! AS: Remi Ryuuja: Broad removed! AS: Avoid Neutral! Yukari Takeba takes 14 Wind damage from Remi Ryuuja's Blastbrand. Resist! AS: Avoid Neutral! Yukari Takeba takes 14 Wind damage from Remi Ryuuja's Blastbrand. Resist! AS: Avoid Worst! Yukari Takeba takes 20 Wind damage from Remi Ryuuja's Blastbrand. Resist! AS: Avoid Worst! Tamaki Uchida takes 40 Wind damage from Remi Ryuuja's Blastbrand. Critical Hit! AS: Avoid Worst! Tamaki Uchida takes 30 Wind damage from Remi Ryuuja's Blastbrand. AS: Block Best! Tamaki Uchida takes 18 Wind damage from Remi Ryuuja's Blastbrand. AS: Avoid Neutral! So-young Park takes 16 Wind damage from Remi Ryuuja's Blastbrand. Critical Hit! Resist! AS: Avoid Worst! So-young Park takes 24 Wind damage from Remi Ryuuja's Blastbrand. Critical Hit! Resist! AS: Avoid Neutral! So-young Park takes 16 Wind damage from Remi Ryuuja's Blastbrand. Critical Hit! Resist!
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
"No issue whatsoever staying at range here..." Yukari says quickly to Tamaki. After all, she's an archer. She sure knows that she's not meant to be front and center.
Which is perhaps also why she asks for cover, because she's way better at keeping everyone alive when she has it.
Moriko though, asks if she's certain, and she says, "Not certain but, they sure feel the same... and act pretty much the same- and she has that weird Revolver Evoker... which that other woman had."
Look there's enough similarities here for her to associate them, "And I guess they're also all wearing masks?" Before to her offer of cover, "Oh sure! I'm probably... gonna need it." As she eyes Hiroto, and Tsurugi both.
Hiroto though, gives his speech about their savagery and- well, it's quite verbose, but Yukari's reaction is far more simplistic- between that and Tsurugi calling her a hound again, "What did I just say you two? It's real... creepy to call us all hounds, beasts- or whatever and ask about our chains? What is with you!? Is this some... ecchi thing you both have going?"
Yes, teenagers, Hiroto. It's not as if Yukari doesn't see the possible implications to Kirijo- to her though it's just weird how they're both using it.
Then... suddenly that rapier and La Maupin strike in unison, and as they do, wind currents swirl around Io, as it tries to deflect each strike as best she can. Yukari however, tries to hit the ground on her knees. "Uhhh... Detective!" Yukari nocks several arrows rapidly, and lets them fly towards Tsurugi one by one, as Io suddenly encases them in wind currents, their velocity picking up. Each attempting to land with a burst of wind against La Maupin.
Like she's trying to pin her down, in order to give an opening for Tamaki and Arianrhod.
AS: Yukari Takeba spends Limit on Shift! Tamaki Uchida can use another Weak skill this round! SP +8! Healed 20! AS: Tandem! Yukari Takeba has used the Wind skill Stinging Torment on Remi Ryuuja! 2 Hits! AS: Yukari Takeba regains 3 SP from Invigorate! AS: Avoid Best! Moriko Kumamoto takes 15 Wind damage from Remi Ryuuja's Blastbrand. AS: Avoid Best! Moriko Kumamoto takes 20 Wind damage from Remi Ryuuja's Blastbrand. Critical Hit! AS: Avoid Neutral! Moriko Kumamoto takes 27 Wind damage from Remi Ryuuja's Blastbrand.
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
If Myunghon knew, they'd likely also understand why other people recommend Tsubasa does not dilute their identity -- they've chosen to deliberately be a public, revolutionary figure, and that comes with a lot of risk and downsides, after all, even if it's also brought them into the web of a lot of passionate, strong people who're helping them avert the worst-case scenario at present.
Don't kill people! It's really quite that simple, as Phoenix -- Tsubasa -- puts it.
There's just the faintest huff as Myunghon murmurs, "I... do take some nights off," unable to really effuse an effective argument against So-young, not to mention that that suggests that they're working BOTH days and nights, as So-young has seen. "But yes, point well taken."
Saika questions if they know this guy. It's a valid question, and Umie knows him... Myunghon furrows their brow further in consternation. "I don't believe so... it's difficult to tell with the mask and his-- indistinct appearance."
Another figure -- Moriko -- arrives, and Myunghon mistakes her for Mio at first because of the biker helmet. The presence of an Evoker rules Mio out, though, but it seems like they aren't a reinforcement for the NWO. They're about to instruct, but Tamaki's got it very much covered. They're not certain they're going to be able to wrest that flash drive out of Hiroto's pocket without rendering him unconscious, and they doubt he'll stick around long enough for that to happen.
As Kudlak sinks its teeth into Hiroto, however, they stoop for a moment as they cup their hand to their mouth, having tasted of the murky depths of -- anger, regret, in flavours that Myunghon can taste that they cannot experience in food. That underlying sense of Wrongness is there too, rather telltale of when the Mark is being used.
"... all the flavours of the Sanzu River. No, it would be the Styx for you, is it not? You deal in Obols, Ferryman, not Mon coins. Regardless-- Light will be effective," Myunghon calls out. "And Akabane-san, Darkness at present as well!"
Charon smashes Kudlak back, and Myunghon is forced to retreat their Coat back onto themself as Hiroto starts pointing out that perhaps, just perhaps, some part of them is enjoying all this -- that they all have a beast within them. Before they can even respond, Hiroto's chased them down --
First, a strike, which bounces hard against the Cognitive Coat, Kudlak feeling the pressure and reaching closer and closer to Break. The second one comes just as powerful, and Kudlak is deflected aside, leaving a vicious and unguarded third that simply SLAMS against their chest and sends the Rumourmonger floundering back and collapsed onto their knees, wheezing for air, that dislocated shoulder that's just freshly started healing flaring with fire and pain. They cough up a bit of blood just from that one solid hit.
But then they do regard those words for a moment longer... and then they place their finger to their lips, bloodied, with a wide smile.
"Why, but that is no quandry at all, Ferryman. I am Rumourmonger Merry, a Revolutionary," they point out, defiant, such is their Will of Rebellion. "The kings and despots would have us all believe it is easier to end the pain quick, to bow your head down... but how curious."
They point an accusing finger towards Hiroto as they slowly rise, aided by the Coat which props them up.
"There is an anger roiling deep within you. You present the guise of the Ferryman, and claim to take your due, but he who ferries himself is naught but another cog in the cruelty-machine of the Gods."
Myunghon's cough worsens, and they gesture towards Umie, to Phoenix and Hyousuke and Saika. "Let us regroup -- be ready for the shift!"
Kudlak rises once more from Myunghon's kneeling form, and as they announce the spell--
"Trafuri!"
--a powerful but brief burst of recuperative light sees the five teleported to ideal positions; Tsubasa, Saika and Hyousuke in prime positions close to Hiroto to both flank and also make it even more difficult for him to access Akira, while Umie's granted the boon of cover once more to get up to what she does best under cover of darkness.
"And now..."
As for Myunghon? They've gone and put distance between them and Hiroto, with Akira Hayashi in tow -- not in the clear, by any means, but they're definitely closer to the door, and they're readying another spell as Kudlak rises with that similar green light of healing to imbue a powerful second wind in their allies. Rather curious, for a Vampire, but this is the proficiency of one adept with Skill Cards in the works--
"Stand strong! The conditions for our victory is within our reach!"
AS: Persona! Myunghon Yeo has used the Recovery skill Trafuri on Myunghon Yeo, Tsubasa Seki, Hyousuke Suzuki, and Umie Akabane! AS: Take! Myunghon Yeo takes 125 Recovery healing from Myunghon Yeo's Trafuri. AS: Persona! Myunghon Yeo has used the Recovery skill All According to Plan on Myunghon Yeo, Tsubasa Seki, Hyousuke Suzuki, and Saika Kikuchi! AS: Take! Myunghon Yeo takes 179 Recovery healing from Myunghon Yeo's All According to Plan. AS: Take! Umie Akabane takes 125 Recovery healing from Myunghon Yeo's Trafuri. AS: Take! Tsubasa Seki takes 125 Recovery healing from Myunghon Yeo's Trafuri. AS: Take! Tsubasa Seki takes 179 Recovery healing from Myunghon Yeo's All According to Plan. AS: Take! Saika Kikuchi takes 179 Recovery healing from Myunghon Yeo's All According to Plan. AS: Take! Hyousuke Suzuki takes 134 Recovery healing from Myunghon Yeo's Trafuri. AS: Take! Hyousuke Suzuki takes 189 Recovery healing from Myunghon Yeo's All According to Plan.
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
"Speak for yourself, asshole! I'm a beast, an' I love it, an' I don't gotta kill no one to bust their faces in!" Phoenix yells, hot and angry.
"I left my chains behind! Told him I didn't need shit from him no more!" 'Him'? "I ran in here 'cuz it's the same damn feelin' the Joker Killer gave me when he -- when he tried to kill that kid, man!" And that halt in their tone is surely disgust for a murderer's actions; they just told the Ferryman not to do murders, after all. "Stoppin' shit like that is just RIGHT!"
Yes, Yukari, that's a nice hat.
"AND THIS AIN'T PEACEFUL, YA BASTA--"
is what they were going to say,
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH,"
is what they end up saying.
Ain't no one ever told Phoenix 'bout Megido. Who was planning to warn them that there was a force they couldn't jump into and that they had to run away from!?
They do, at least, manage a last-minute leap away, though the shockwave of Megido's might catches at them and sends them flying much further than they'd meant to. They collide with a row of shelves at the wall of the warehouse, with a strangled squark of a yelp.
"... fuck you!" Is Phoenix's eloquent response.
They'd have a lot of trouble getting close enough to Hiroto to attack again, though -- if not for Myunghon teleporting them back into close range. "Whoa--whaa!!!" They gasp, looking this way and that.
Preemptively, they call, to Hyousuke: "Don't ask me what just happened 'cuz I don't fuckin' know! Just him 'im!"
They reach up to their mask -- and in a shower of obscuring blood and blue flame, tear it from their face. "IZBUSHKA NA KUR'IH NOZHKAH!"
A hulking Persona manifests, behind Phoenix. It is, by all accounts, a hut on chicken's feet, far taller than its wielder; shutters to either side of it flp like chicken wings, and a skirt made of bones hangs from it like some mockery of a fence. A shadowy figure moves inside the hut, bidding the eyes of those skulls glow and pour flame forward; as they do, Phoenix swings their greatsword around, to capture the flames.
And there is a flinch, from the Phoenix, as the metal heats.
As the flames spin around their sword, Phoenix charges, once again, to swing horizontally into the Ferryman; and it might be the flat of their blade travelling towards them, but it's a blade which is also on FIRE.
AS: Tandem! Tsubasa Seki has used the Fire skill Blazing Wrath on Hiroto Nakamura! 2 Hits! AS: Aggression: Tsubasa Seki gains 1 Limit! AS: Tsubasa Seki regains 5 HP from Regenerate!
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
So-young kind of just assumes everyone can tell she's a conductor. Either they've already dug up information on her, or they're making an assumption given that she's literally carrying a filigreed silver baton into battle (thank you, Pernelle, So-young will adore you forever) or she just radiates Conductor vibes. She does have enough of a grasp on reality to recognize that someone actually identifying her in a showbiz way is probably not going to be likely any time soon. That is the life of classical music.
"I will do fine," So-young insists to Tamaki with an assured smile as she strides forwards, her arms folded and her new baton lightly tapping out a beat that only she can hear. There isn't enough time to reassure Moriko that the part that has So-young confused is the gun rather than the leathers, so her persistent curiosity about them will have to go unanswered for the time being...
... because damn it, even when So-young is deeply unimpressed and unwilling to listen, she still finds herself pausing to allow a dramatic monologue to happen. The show must go on - and that is true as much for the villains as it is for the heroes. The frown on her face makes it clear she is not enthralled by the result, however. "Oh, do not be daft," is what she first bites back with towards Hiroto. "Not everything is so black and white that it can be boiled down to a single reason," this is particularly rich coming from the monochrome Conductor, "Especially not when you deliberately set this stage."
Towards Tsurugi, though, she does pause, and something hard to read flickers across her gaze. She's not so foolish that she doesn't realize how good she has it, and she's well aware that many people don't have the luxury to just waltz through life she way she does - that their chains may have been put into place long before they knew what was happening. She knows it's easily insensitive of her to have such a blunt outlook. But... she can only be herself. "I have plenty of things that are part of me. You could say they bind me - but the difference is that they do not _pull_--"
Yukari manages to cut through her building crescendo like a hot knife through butter, and So-young has the grace to very nearly look embarrassed in return. "We are having a moment of pathos!" she insists in the spare moments before the wind is upon her. She manages to double over and cover her face just as she's blasted back by the sudden winds, but Icarus seems to manage to ride the currents well, curving around in a sudden bank to block So-young's flight before she can impact with something harsher.
The Persona twists around the wind, seemingly gathering it within its spiral path, as So-young desperately manages to find firmer handholds amongst the shifting latticework and linen wings. "In any case - so what if I happen to get a rush out of this? So what if the one compelling my beast to attack is me? The key difference is that I do not equate that excitement to the act of killing."
She can insist all she likes, but it's obvious from the sudden tension in her shoulders: she does not like this topic at all. It's easier to think of everything so far as a fun old time dancing around in people's heads and flying through the skies. So-young is at least dimly aware she's still yet to face the actual reality that things might really come down to 'killing' somewhere down the line. Myunghon getting shot at by their mother, even time slowing as she stared down the barrel of a drunk policeman's gun - that wasn't as bad as it could get. And she's not sure how she'll feel when it does.
She dispels that thought with a grim expression, and focuses back on Tsurugi. "... as such. Time to leave," she mutters, and sweeps her baton down in a vicious motion. Nothing happens. Of course nothing happens, that's the downbeat. It's when she flicks her baton to the side that Icarus' gathered wind suddenly explodes around Tsurugi in a maelstrom.
AS: Persona! So-young Park has used the Wind skill Coda on Remi Ryuuja! AS: So-young Park regains 3 SP from Invigorate!
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
Under normal circumstances, Hyousuke might have been more inclined to argue his point of view, or walk away from a debate he knew he couldn't win. However, a fight between ghosts manifested from one's own heart was not a normal circumstance, and necessitated a response to match. Hyousuke's response was to stagger forward, attempting to will his muscles into following Saika's advice. He succeeded at moving forward, but recovery? Not so much. It was only through strength of will and his ability to bear the pain that he managed to bring himself closer to Hiroto, snarling like some rabid beast every inch of the way.
Whatever progress he made was undone with a single move. Unable to avoid the energy that slammed into him like a sledgehammer to the chest, Hyousuke could only brace against the blow once more, teeth clenched so hard he thought they might shatter from the force. A cry of pain ripped them open once more, punctuated by the dull crumpling of his body against the warehouse floor. He wasn't even afforded the dignity of trying to break his own fall, and in moments, he had rolled to an unceremonious halt.
Pain wracked his body. Every nerve in his body screamed at him, demanding that he stop, or at least stay down. Every twitch of his fingers or shift of his limbs brought some new sensation that tore through him like wildfire, and wrenched a groan from deep in his throat. But the pain was not strong enough to keep him down. Rage. It rose through him, searing away coherent thought and rationality. It overtook his pain, flooding it with adrenaline and cleansing him of distraction. He would not - COULD not - let this happen again. He refused to be tossed around like a ragdoll, beaten into the dirt and left for dead.
It would not stand.
"Eat. Shit." He growled. Hyousuke's eyes were wild, yet focussed. His was the glare of a maddened predator, eyes fixed upon its prey. Whatever hold the paralysis had on his muscles, he ignored, despite the agony that plagued him whenever he forced them to move. "I'm not here to talk philosophy. I'm here to KICK YOUR ASS!" He stood proud, and he stood ready, waiting for the moment Myunghon had warned him of. It was mere moments, but even that was too long. He wanted to fight. He wanted to break the one that had hurt him. He wanted it NOW.
Healing energy surged through him, and though the stiffness of his limbs yet remained, his wounds - and the pain they brought - faded. That, he thought, was more than enough. Whatever agony tore through him from forcing his screaming muscles to move as fast and as far as he wanted was drowned by adrenaline, or seared away with rage. But he did not raise his fist to strike. Even in the midst of his rage, Hysouuke was not so foolish as to attempt to do so, impeded as he was. Instead, he jabbed his finger towards Hiroto, directing the general's onslaught.
In but a blink of an eye, Achilles' bronze-wreathed form surged into the air, spear clasped tight in both hands. Then, a heartbeat later, he descended upon Hiroto, becoming a flash of bronze streaking through the air.
AS: Hyousuke Suzuki spends Limit on Psych! AS: Persona! Hyousuke Suzuki has used the Slash skill Princeslayer on Hiroto Nakamura! AS: Hyousuke Suzuki: Paralyze and Psych removed! AS: Block Worst! Remi Ryuuja takes 66 Wind damage from Yukari Takeba's Stinging Torment. AS: Counter Neutral! Remi Ryuuja takes 81 Wind damage from Yukari Takeba's Stinging Torment. Critical Hit! AS: COUNTER! Yukari Takeba takes 32 Wind damage in return for her attack! Resist!
<Pose Tracker> Saika Kikuchi has posed.
Saika would have to give this guy credit for his talent. He's blocking, he's holding his own. Whatever his 'deal' may be, the Ferryman he calls out from within himself is efficiently deployed. If anything, Saika might be a little jealous.
She is intent as she lashes at him, and he is speaking as she does. Saika's attention may indeed be almost *too* focused on him -- a problem that she may rarely have had to deal with in her usual associations -- as he speaks. Until he speaks of beasts and killing. Her brow furrows --
-- then relaxes in surprise. The lashing stops. Maybe he's gotten through to her.
If Saika was about to say something in reply, the Almighty burst of sheer pure refined FORCE striking her: it's something like a winter wind, thick and gelid, rolling off of a craggy mountain in the uttermost poles of the Earth, except somehow it burns as well as freezes... Even that's just an analogy. She is not knocked down, but she is knocked back, reeling.
As she straightens herself back upright, she grits her teeth --
Until there is a sudden surging from Myunghon. They call on their Persona and a warm light washes over her. It eases aches; takes away that nameless lingering synesthetic pain of all colors and none. Saika straightens up, briefly looking at the arm which had gotten perhaps a larger share of the blow.
It seems virtually unmarked. She looks back to Myunghon-- and they're with that guy. The informant. He is a stranger to me, thinks Saika, even as she wipes off her forehead with the sleeve of her cognitive coat. But ain't we all strangers to someone?
"HEY!"
She points at Charon, with her chain-wrapped hand.
"I don't know if you're talking some kind of Existentialist or big-scale, top-level stuff... if you're trying to use 'Projection'... but there's a big mistake you made in that argument you just advanced." Saika brings up a hand to sweep back her bangs, which probably need a trim. "See, some of us..."
"Some of us already broke our chains," Saika concludes, as her eyes widen. She sweeps her free hand in front of her as if to catch something; it's not easy to make out, and while there was a little blue flash, that could be some cognitive nonsense.
"And the thing is," Saika continues as she closes distance, stepping swiftly as Charon is sent forth again, "if you're counting on the chain to keep the monster at bay..." She raises one hand up into a loose fist, thumps herself on her sewn-shut chest once, and is suddenly close enough to swing one hand up --
"Well, you know what, it can always get worse. Let's show him, MY MONSTER--"
The great lurching shade of Frankenstein's Monster lurches up behind Saika, and despite the contrasts between them -- even in her strange stitched-punk look in the cognitive environment the Mark has conjured, Saika is vital where the Monster has the skin of a corpse; her face is pretty in a punk-rock way, the Monster's winning no prizes other than 'Least Handsome' -- they have the EXACT same expressions on their faces!
Saika swings her hand down, the Monster's own hand the size of a tennis racket coming down with it -- that hand to clasp Charon's head for a moment.
Charon, perhaps, is too mighty -- pressed as he might be by a social club of Persona-using individuals rushing into interfere with the hit -- to be vulnerable to what the Monster loved to do to puny humans who stood in his way.
So, Saika settles, as must we all: In what is probably an ironic echo of the Ferryman's own strike, she slams her other fist forwards with concrete-cracking force towards his side and ribcage, once, twice, thrice, and then a shrinking back from Phoenix's blade -- even if she shouts, not to either Tsubasa or Charon, but *Myunghon* -- "Haul ass!!"
She punches the air - this time for emphasis - as she shouts to Hyousuke, "Don't let up! Finish him off!!" Saika sounds, if anything, *delighted*.
AS: Saika Kikuchi spends Limit on Psych! AS: Persona! Saika Kikuchi has used the Strike skill Search and Destroy on Hiroto Nakamura! 3 Hits! AS: Defense: Saika Kikuchi gains 1 Limit! AS: Saika Kikuchi: Psych removed!
<Pose Tracker> Moriko Kumamoto has posed.
Moriko's response to being called a hound is misconstrued on some level. "She's clearly a fox." referring to her persona. Or Moriko's trying to throw a curveball through density. It's a tossup at this point.
"So. Dangerous." She nods her head when Yukari explains. Not that danger's stopped the biker before. As has been demonstrated prior to some chagrin.
Though her body language, even hidden behind the mask does make it clear the ecchi comment caught her off guard and she shot Yukari a look, then the pair they're fighting. "Oh they're creepy too then."
Oh well.
There is a comment stated, still muffled on the nature of her own reasons for fighting. "Because I can." She won't deny that she enjoys it. Less than she used to on some level, but it's replaced with something else.
There's a scowl behind her visor. A more serious answer than her prior, "I act as I see fit." as she always has. "Guided or not, I'm not afraid to push back." Which she certainly is not, if her history's anything to go by.
"I've got you then Takeba." She offers her hand up as she says it, punctuating her statement.
The attacks though, she steps away from Yukari, not wanting to get her hit as she does her best to evade. The first two strikes sidesteped mostly neatly. Grazed at best, left then right. The last she just barely gets under with a grunt. Though she resumes her position to try and cover Yukari from there. Hands up defensive. She's had some training, just.. as formal as an actual style clearly.
She never did deny being a beast of sorts though, did she.
Moriko offers So-Young a reassuring thumbs up. She's still misreading some things. Moriko's less prone to letting a monologue go through, intentionally. She's got a split focus issue right now.
Her own take on killing, and the commentary on it is met with silence from the biker. She knows her heritage. She can read between the lines. These two would have made it clear if she hadn't been able to. And she's going to compartmentalize it later. She has no intention of killing NOW. And any thoughts beyond that become a later problem. Even as her shoulders tense and she adjusts her stance. She said she'd cover the others right?
Is it later?
"Just let me handle it if it comes down to it." She completes her own thoughts out loud to Yukari. She's already chosen to step in. Saying it is one thing. Even internally, there's a chance she can't. It needs to be later.
She clears her thoughts. Evoker pulled from her jacket. Held under her chin, she pulls the trigger again. Showing her resolve to at least keep her own word. "Mamagnara" She calls out in time with the bang. Holstering the evoker again as the fox in Miko robes twists around Moriko before lifting her head to the sky. Creating trailing wisps of light that suddenly flare, flooding their assailant in light.
AS: Persona! Moriko Kumamoto has used the Light skill Hama on Remi Ryuuja! AS: Moriko Kumamoto: Crt_Up removed! AS: Block Worst! Hiroto Nakamura takes 86 Fire damage from Tsubasa Seki's Blazing Wrath. Critical Hit! AS: Block Best! Hiroto Nakamura takes 59 Fire damage from Tsubasa Seki's Blazing Wrath. AS: Counter Worst! Hiroto Nakamura takes 120 Slash damage from Hyousuke Suzuki's Princeslayer. AS: COUNTER! Hyousuke Suzuki takes 48 Slash damage in return for his attack! AS: Block Worst! Hiroto Nakamura takes 51 Strike damage from Saika Kikuchi's Search and Destroy. AS: Block Best! Hiroto Nakamura takes 42 Strike damage from Saika Kikuchi's Search and Destroy. AS: Block Worst! Hiroto Nakamura takes 51 Strike damage from Saika Kikuchi's Search and Destroy.
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Everyone else's strikes push Remi away, giving Tamaki a little bit of room to breathe and think over things more thoroughly.
Tamaki shakes her head to rid herself of a certain notion. Hold on, Tamaki, slow down your recency bias. Once you're back at your desk, go do some napkin math on how many people in the area practice HEMA fighting. There are so, so many other things to check before just leaping to an erroneous conclusion; she's a professional, for goodness' sake! Well, an apprentice. She narrowly avoided a rookie mistake! For one, this masked fencer's aggressive tactics are also a far cry from the timidity of Remi's sparring at the gym. She hasn't seen Remi fight with a rapier and main gauche in broad daylight, either, she had only mentioned that she practiced it.
God, you get a little bit of adrenaline and you start acting like a certain Conan Doyle character. This is why you normally stay away from the front lines, remember?
As far as her calling So-Young 'conductor,' it literally is just the filigreed baton.
More to the point, regardless of this fencer's identity and whether Tamaki knows her or not, she's still a person behind the mask. As is the ferryman. Tamaki knows this. It's something that should be ingrained in her after five years ago. For all his bluster, the boy responsible for those events was still ... just a boy, a victim of severe bullying.
But something else in her came out just now -- something which the ferryman has oh-so-astutely identified. THOSE words cut her to her core, even if they hadn't been aimed directly at her. She briefly turns her head from Tsurugi to offer the ferryman a glance to offer a retort. That was a mistake, and she's definitely not prepared for Tsurugi's counterattack. The first two hits land solid blows, catching her almost entirely flatfooted, though she does regain enough presence of mind to cry out "Arianrhod!" to place her Persona in the way to mitigate the third strike.
Stepping back, with both her own sword and Arianrhod's properly extended in Tsurugi's direction to provide threatening reach, she continues the reply she had in mind. "You're not wrong in some respects ..."
She does, however, have a counterpoint. "It may not be so cut-and-dry, like you say, tinged as it is with other selfish desires. But I've seen the consequences of what happens when we ignore strangers in need. Nothing good comes of it. So yes, I'd come to their defense when they're in peril. The disadvantaged are not to be swept aside and ignored, but to have their needs compassionately addressed!"
Tamaki snaps with her non-sword-hand, then wags her index finger chidingly. "Besides, if you think chains truly bind you, then you don't have the right perspective. I'll match your mention of Fenrir and Prometheus and raise you with Lleu Llaw Gyffes."
Yukari provides Tamaki with an opening. Arianrhod lowers her own blade to the ground by one of Tamaki's feet, who then places her heel on the flat of Arianrhod's blade. Arianrhod then dashes forward to propel Tamaki into a flying lunge at Tsurugi! Upon landing, she follows up with a remise, possible with the extra time afforded to her by So-Young's parting shot. Finally, she punctuates the flurry with a commanding yell of "Hama!" from Arianrhod while she hopefully has Tsurugi's focus on avoiding her own strikes, adding an extra dose of brilliant light to Moriko's own attack.
AS: Tamaki Uchida spends Limit on Exploit! Tamaki Uchida can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Weapon! Tamaki Uchida has used the Pierce skill Sabre Thrust on Remi Ryuuja! AS: Weapon! Tamaki Uchida has used the Pierce skill Sabre Thrust on Remi Ryuuja! AS: Persona! Tamaki Uchida has used the Light skill Hama on Remi Ryuuja! AS: Tamaki Uchida: Crt_Up removed! AS: Remi Ryuuja spends Limit on Aegis! AS: Avoid Neutral! Remi Ryuuja takes 108 Wind damage from So-young Park's Coda. AS: Haze and Panic added! Bind removed! Explosion! 50 damage! AS: Counter Worst! Remi Ryuuja takes 96 Light damage from Moriko Kumamoto's Hama. AS: COUNTER! Moriko Kumamoto takes 48 Light damage in return for her attack!
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Who is this person, the Ferryman? Umie's answer would be simple: 'if you knew, would it change what you have to do?'
Knowing the man behind that oni half mask and suit would only make things more difficult, and Umie chooses silence instead. (And Umie only caught a bit of Yukari's conversation about Evokers and masks and she's wondering where that's going, but Hiroto's talking and saying things that _piss Umie off_.)
"All you're saying are excuses," Umie hisses, the matte black mask doing little to mask the way her eyes glint with fire. "And that's how we end up in these messes, Ferryman." It's the best way Umie can think of to address the thread common between the two of them without making it crystal clear what it is to the rest here, save for Myunghon, who already knows.
There are also things she can add here, and, a part of her wishes she could, in order to use those parts of Hiroto's normal life against him, just so there'd be some chance of him feeling the same things she'll feel going into work, tomorrow.
To look over her shoulder constantly--
"Who are you, to define what their life is going to be? What makes you the one who decides their fate? Who are you, to take on that responsibility?" Just like the Phoenix's words imply what someone else insisted to Umie, days ago: killing is not an option.
"You may ferry souls, but I drive them," Umie says, raising a hand. "I've stayed in the shadows for years; I refuse to go back now."
(Myunghon points out dark will work here, and Umie waves a hand, feigning an excess of pride. "Yeah, yeah, I got it, you can't rush a good setup, Merry-san!")
The power of almighty energy is hard to evade; Umie doubles back but is quickly bowled over, managing to roll over into a half-crouch. "Damn it..." Off goes the mask, which has become too mangled to see through properly. It's tossed away as the young woman stands up, her anger quiet where Hyousuke and Phoenix's have become like brilliant infernos.
Her decision...
"The ragged wolf stalks... no, no, that's not the way I want to go..." Red nails suddenly dig into Umie's right cheek, the spike of soreness resetting the train of thought that threatened to overtake her.
No, she's *not* doing that here. She's got more than one venue available to her rather than given in to delusion.
The field shifts, as Myunghon teleports her to an ideal position; Umie has to take a moment to recuperate herself. No matter what? "... _I am the one who defines my fate_."
Saika's approach gives Umie the means to deploy her alternate 'means', as the Badb appears, pointing an ominious talon towards Hiroto as Umie... cognitively seems to disappear from Hiroto's view. She's still there, of course, but like a crow on the field, she is meaningless, a part of the battle as much as a coin given to a traveling soul on their prilgrimage to death.
She's simply another shadow, a blade flashing in a stray beam light, as she comes to present pain on Hiroto's doorstep like a terrible chill. --She's behind him, bifurcated blade at the ready, attempting to slash down--
And something seizes her hand, like the memory of a news report of a missing father, a photo of a family torn apart.
If the blade lands cleanly against Hiroto's back, it may be that today wasn't his day.
AS: Umie Akabane spends Limit on Shock Noise! Pierce_Break applied to Hiroto Nakamura! AS: Tandem! Umie Akabane has used the Dark skill Seeker in the Dark on Hiroto Nakamura! AS: Ruin: Umie Akabane gains 1 Limit! AS: Umie Akabane regains 3 SP from Invigorate! AS: You can't view others' +queue. AS: Block Worst! Hiroto Nakamura takes 50 Dark damage from Umie Akabane's Seeker in the Dark. Weak! AS: Block Neutral! Remi Ryuuja takes 24 Pierce damage from Tamaki Uchida's Sabre Thrust. AS: Counter Worst! Remi Ryuuja takes 26 Pierce damage from Tamaki Uchida's Sabre Thrust. AS: COUNTER! Tamaki Uchida takes 11 Pierce damage in return for her attack! AS: Avoid Neutral! Remi Ryuuja takes 85 Light damage from Tamaki Uchida's Hama.
<Pose Tracker> Hiroto Nakamura has posed.
Doesn't it sting?
As the Ferryman steps forward, Myunghon is using Trafuri to fuck up his day. Even as they are struck over and over, his target is gone, closer to the door.
Phoenix's flaming sword strikes. He moves an arm to guard, but it burns through his suit, flames lapping at him as his arm singes.
Hyousuke's blow comes forth from Achilles, and Charon intercedes once more. This time, instead of Breaking, it pushes forth moving to force the slashing shockwave backwards and injure them both.
Umie's blade slashes into him, darkness and pain filling his senses. Her words sting, but he has no reply to them, because his brain is elsewhere.
Saika goes apeshit, Frankenstein's Monster pulverizing into him, battering and bruising him. But...
It's her words that sting the worse.
"I don't believe you," the Ferryman replies simply.
What was your day like today, Hiroto? Did you work a hard shift while that bastard in management threw more work on your plate, knowing fully what you're capable of? While your employers didn't appreciate you? While your wife doesn't even know what you're doing, just that you're out late again?
His eyes narrow for no apparent reason.
Are you going to let a bunch of rabble now ruin everything you've built, wipe you to the ground like a smear, and save the day again? Is this what you want? Or... do you want to let loose?
He takes a stance again, taking a breath. He's trying to control it.
Come on. What do you want... and what is going to win the day? You have to kill that man. So... do it your way.
He fails.
The Ferryman's steps quicken, as he proceeds to turn towards Akira. And then...
"You don't want to listen to me. That's fine."
Another step.
"You don't want to accept the truth of your chains. That's fine."
The breathing is becoming looser, more ragged.
"And you don't know what you've gotten yourselves into. That's fine."
A hand is raised, Charon appears again, weakening everyone with a very watery aura, before he retakes his stance.
"But don't regret your actions. Because they've determined your defeat."
BGM SHIFT: BITE DOWN - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13HbcB8-FwE
And then, he's moving, that same ink-like flow applying and speeding up his steps. One minute, he's striking into Phoenix, three rapid, powerful strikes flowing with water to the neck and head. The next, Hyousuke's getting the same, a foot stomp and a double elbow strike to the face.
Saika gets it even worse, as a knee goes up, followed by two attempted eye pokes.
Finally, he turns to face Umie, smashing her in the face twice before going for the gut.
Meanwhile, Charon is not passive. Water begins to flow from above Saika, Tsubasa, Hyousuke, and Myunghon, trying to drown them from above, flooding over their positions until they can get out of the way.
Finally, two powerful bursts of water hit Umie and Myunghon, with the force to blast backwards.
In the moment, they're all likely to be overwhelmed. Which the Ferryman takes advantage of...
And is suddenly next to Akira, flowing forth.
"This is the weight of the world. Goodbye."
And with a sharp kick, he smashes his boot into the man's head. The next moment is grisly, and the fate is clear.
Akira Hayashi is dead.
"AKIRA!" Hinata suddenly screams out, and probably needs to be stopped from rushing to him as the Ferryman turns his head to her... before turning back to the exit.
He straightens his tie, and then, cocks his head to Tsurugi. "Cover us. We're clocking out. She'll be too much trouble."
If Tsurugi can provide an exfiltration, he'll leave, but he's not resisting potshots... if they have the energy to do so.
He may feel like he deserves it, just a bit.
AS: Hiroto Nakamura spends Limit on Blood! AS: Hiroto Nakamura spends Limit on Psych! AS: Hiroto Nakamura spends Limit on Reach! AS: Persona! Hiroto Nakamura has used the Almighty skill Overflow on Umie Akabane, Myunghon Yeo, Tsubasa Seki, Hyousuke Suzuki, and Saika Kikuchi! AS: Tandem! Hiroto Nakamura has used the Water skill Flow Like Water on Umie Akabane, Tsubasa Seki, Saika Kikuchi, and Hyousuke Suzuki! 3 Hits! AS: Aggression: Hiroto Nakamura gains 1 Limit! AS: Persona! Hiroto Nakamura has used the Water skill Drowning Pool on Myunghon Yeo, Tsubasa Seki, Saika Kikuchi, and Hyousuke Suzuki! AS: Persona! Hiroto Nakamura has used the Water skill Maraques on Umie Akabane and Myunghon Yeo! AS: Hiroto Nakamura: Psych and Reach removed! AS: Hiroto Nakamura regains 6 SP from Invigorate! AS: Take! Myunghon Yeo takes 0 Almighty damage from Hiroto Nakamura's Overflow. AS: Water_Break added! AS: Avoid Neutral! Myunghon Yeo takes 190 Water damage from Hiroto Nakamura's Drowning Pool. Weak! AS: Avoid Worst! Myunghon Yeo takes 150 Water damage from Hiroto Nakamura's Maraques. Weak! AS: Take! Umie Akabane takes 0 Almighty damage from Hiroto Nakamura's Overflow. AS: Water_Break added! AS: You have 4 more attacks in queue! AS: Avoid Worst! Umie Akabane takes 77 Water damage from Hiroto Nakamura's Flow Like Water. Weak! AS: You have 3 more attacks in queue! AS: Avoid Neutral! Umie Akabane takes 83 Water damage from Hiroto Nakamura's Flow Like Water. Critical Hit! Weak! AS: You have 2 more attacks in queue! AS: Avoid Neutral! Umie Akabane takes 68 Water damage from Hiroto Nakamura's Flow Like Water. Weak! AS: You have 1 more attack in queue! AS: Avoid Best! Umie Akabane takes 128 Water damage from Hiroto Nakamura's Maraques. Critical Hit! Weak! AS: Paralyze added! AS: Take! Hyousuke Suzuki takes 0 Almighty damage from Hiroto Nakamura's Overflow. AS: Water_Break added! AS: Block Neutral! Hyousuke Suzuki takes 70 Water damage from Hiroto Nakamura's Flow Like Water. Weak! AS: Block Worst! Hyousuke Suzuki takes 77 Water damage from Hiroto Nakamura's Flow Like Water. Weak! AS: Block Best! Hyousuke Suzuki takes 63 Water damage from Hiroto Nakamura's Flow Like Water. Weak! AS: Block Worst! Hyousuke Suzuki takes 277 Water damage from Hiroto Nakamura's Drowning Pool. Critical Hit! Weak! AS: Hyousuke Suzuki is unable to continue fighting! AS: Take! Tsubasa Seki takes 0 Almighty damage from Hiroto Nakamura's Overflow. AS: Water_Break added! AS: Counter Best! Tsubasa Seki takes 51 Water damage from Hiroto Nakamura's Flow Like Water. Weak! AS: COUNTER! Hiroto Nakamura takes 45 Slash damage in return for his attack! AS: Counter Best! Tsubasa Seki takes 64 Water damage from Hiroto Nakamura's Flow Like Water. Critical Hit! Weak! AS: COUNTER! Hiroto Nakamura takes 57 Slash damage in return for his attack! AS: Counter Neutral! Tsubasa Seki takes 57 Water damage from Hiroto Nakamura's Flow Like Water. Weak! AS: COUNTER! Hiroto Nakamura takes 39 Slash damage in return for his attack! AS: Counter Worst! Tsubasa Seki takes 181 Water damage from Hiroto Nakamura's Drowning Pool. Weak! AS: COUNTER! Hiroto Nakamura takes 91 Slash damage in return for his attack! AS: Take! Saika Kikuchi takes 0 Almighty damage from Hiroto Nakamura's Overflow. AS: Water_Break added! AS: Block Neutral! Saika Kikuchi takes 82 Water damage from Hiroto Nakamura's Flow Like Water. Critical Hit! Weak! AS: Avoid Best! Saika Kikuchi takes 61 Water damage from Hiroto Nakamura's Flow Like Water. Weak! AS: Avoid Best! Saika Kikuchi takes 74 Water damage from Hiroto Nakamura's Flow Like Water. Critical Hit! Weak! AS: Block Neutral! Saika Kikuchi takes 187 Water damage from Hiroto Nakamura's Drowning Pool. Weak!
<Pose Tracker> Remi Ryuuja has posed.
Tsurugi snorts derisively at Yukari's proclaiming them creepy, and then asking if this is an 'ecchi' thing. "You think far too literally, child," is her only comment to that.
Yukari fires arrows against La Maupin, who raises their saber to block, but are buffeted and knocked about by the arrows and bursts of winds. Tsurugi grunts, feeling the pain as well, and with a heavy scowl she charges in to attempt to interrupt the rest of the attack, slashing at Yukari with her rapier.
She glances at So-young next, as she protests. "Do not call this 'exciting'. Two peoples' lives hang in the balance," she retorts. Wait, isn't she one of the two people imperiling those lives?
Yes, yes she is.
"... so think about that, and what motivates you in this moment." Why is the villain giving a pep talk?
The coda comes, but Tsurugi is not waiting for the coda--winds come, and she throws herself back from it, though her footing is uncertain for a moment as she gets twisted around.
She looks to Moriko and gives one shake of her head. "I was not addressing your Persona." But she insists that she's not afraid to push back. "Then push, if you think it will make a difference."
Light flares, and with a scowl Tsurugi charges through it, lashing out with her saber through the attack with a wild swing.
Perhaps if Remi had been aware she would be facing off against Tamaki tonight she wouldn't have said anything. But it's not like her past hobbies are secret. (Well, the HEMA isn't. Her past hobby of dating a girl is totally a secret.) Still, no need to volunteer more information than necessary...
But if Tsurugi suspects that TAmaki has those particular wheels spinning she doens't show it. Two saber strikes come, and one is parried with her rapier--and when she tries to aggressively riposte the second she takes the strike hard, blue flames spilling out of her suit at the impact sight. "Ngh-- grr..." She tries to throw herself back from the burst of light, blinking a bit as she trires to clear her vision.
She can't help but watch as the Ferryman carries out his mission, and then looks away from the gore. She is still, though her chest is heaving a bit as she stares down her own opponents, her breathing labored.
She's ordered to cover them. All she says is "Acknowledged," in a flat, tight voice.
"PERSONA!" she shouts, somthing snapping as she sweeps her blade across the battlefield. "Agilao!" La Maupin raises her sabre and a copious amount of flames start to spill out, rolling heat heading for Tamaki, So-young, Yukari, and Moriko.
But she doesn't seem to be done yet. La Maupin comes to her side and they both seem to take up mirrored stances in unison. "Ouragan." La Maupin gestures, swummoning up a swirling hurricane that encompasses them all, and within it she and La Maupin dart back and forth to strike at everyone repeatedly. And in the confusion of flames and winds they start to retreat.
... The fire may cause other problems for them to deal with, in this warehouse full of combustible materials.
AS: Tandem! Remi Ryuuja has used the Wind skill Ouragan on Tamaki Uchida, So-young Park, Yukari Takeba, and Moriko Kumamoto! 3 Hits! AS: Remi Ryuuja takes 60 damage from Panic! AS: Avoid Worst! Yukari Takeba takes 22 Wind damage from Remi Ryuuja's Ouragan. Resist! AS: Avoid Neutral! Yukari Takeba takes 15 Wind damage from Remi Ryuuja's Ouragan. Resist! AS: Avoid Worst! Yukari Takeba takes 29 Wind damage from Remi Ryuuja's Ouragan. Critical Hit! Resist! AS: Remi Ryuuja spends Limit on Broad! AS: Persona! Remi Ryuuja has used the Fire skill Agilao on Tamaki Uchida, So-young Park, Yukari Takeba, and Moriko Kumamoto! AS: Avoid Worst! Yukari Takeba takes 57 Fire damage from Remi Ryuuja's Agilao. AS: Haze added! AS: Remi Ryuuja: Atk_Dn and Broad removed! AS: Avoid Worst! So-young Park takes 19 Wind damage from Remi Ryuuja's Ouragan. Resist! AS: Avoid Neutral! So-young Park takes 18 Wind damage from Remi Ryuuja's Ouragan. Critical Hit! Resist! AS: Avoid Best! So-young Park takes 5 Wind damage from Remi Ryuuja's Ouragan. Resist! AS: Take! So-young Park takes 131 Fire damage from Remi Ryuuja's Agilao. Weak!
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
"What would you even know about mine, ya bastard?!" Phoenix demands, and it is clear, at least, that their chains have a face and a name.
A pronoun, anyway.
But -- what have they gotten themself into? That's a bigger question; it's bigger than the Phoenix. It's as big as a board they've set up to keep track of everything...
... though it just looks like a shipping board for their favourite ninja anime.
(Thanks, Myunghon!)
Three strikes. One slams into the side of their head, and they move into it, jabbing with the hilt of their greatsword into the Ferryman's gut because they simply don't have the space to swing it properly; the next they catch on their shoulder, and it might seem like a better prospect, except he can hear the yelp they bite down on when it lands. There, they turn to jam their elbow into his space, and raising their hands at least lets them take the last attempt at their neck on their wrist as they bring the weight of their greatsword up to shove him away.
Water flows down from above -- their knees bend; and for a moment they are almost flat, against the floor, one hand pressing to the gouged ground. "Rrrrraaaahhhhh--!" They roar, as they force themself up again, force themself through the waterfall, tearing forward to slash at the Ferryman a final time.
It means --
It means they're right there, when he ends it. He barely has to step a few metres away; the Phoenix is far too busy trying to pull their sword from the ground where it buried there to to stop his foot from impacting Akira's head.
But they see it. "Oh, fuck --"
All a sudden the Phoenix's tireless assault is caught short, with a horrible retching sound, as dinner comes back to say hello and horror rings in their ears and down their nose and watering in the eyes behind their mask.
"F--fuck man, fuck, fuck, fuck..."
They won't be throwing a final potshot at the Ferryman.
They really weren't prepared for this.
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
"Yeah." Is her worried response to Moriko regarding them being dangerous. 'Oh they're creepy too then.' "That's for sure." She confirms.
So-young has her own answer to the 'dogs' 'leashes' dilemma. And as So-Young has a moment of second-hand embarrassment, declaring a moment of Pathos.
Yukari looks up, expression unreadable for a few pregnant seconds before, "Sure?" Is she trying to decide whether So-Young is part of this kinkspiracy too? Who can say? They didn't do enough Classical Western Lit in school for her to know what Pathos is.
"Oh- okay!" On Moriko covering her, she was perhaps not sure how it might go in a fight since she was against her... picking up that Evoker and awakening.
But she supposes in a fight like this people can't always hold onto their grudges. ... Yukari definitely can't.
"I'll be counting on you then." However, the Ferryman... he works through his opponents, right to- "NO!" Yukari tries to loose an arrow, but it doesn't matter. It goes wide.
Not even because she's trying to hit him. But because she's never aiming to kill.
A ragged breath, "What is wrong with you!? Scolding us like we're children then just-" killing someone "-How could you!?" who's now just as dead as her father
Her brain can't process coldness of someone who can just kill so easily and clinically. Since she's known the grief of death, she can't comprehend the taking of life.
However, there is still Tsurugi, as La Maupin creates a swirling hurricane, and Io covers Yukari from the worst of it, a barrier deflecting it, before the flames take her off guard.
Io breaks, shattering in a moment that causes her to clutch her head, and fall to her knees.
She pants as she looks at the corpse where someone once lived. And puts the Evoker to her head.
Something in her vision trembles, "I swear... on my life..." She says, panting out the words now, "...that I'll teach you-" She pulls the trigger, "-THE VALUE!"
A shattering of barriers first, before Io rises, and a blast of wind hammers both Tsurugi and Hiroto with a furious intensity, blowing out every window in the warehouse simultaneously, and causing several walls to bend precariously from the fury.
When one sows the wind, prepare to reap the whirlwind.
AS: Yukari Takeba spends Limit on Psych! AS: Persona! Yukari Takeba has used the Wind skill Magarula on Remi Ryuuja and Hiroto Nakamura! AS: Yukari Takeba: Crt_Up and Psych removed! AS: Yukari Takeba regains 3 SP from Invigorate!
AS: Block Worst! Hiroto Nakamura takes 117 Wind damage from Yukari Takeba's Magarula. AS: Haze added! AS: Counter Best! Tamaki Uchida takes 32 Wind damage from Remi Ryuuja's Ouragan. Critical Hit! AS: COUNTER! Remi Ryuuja takes 42 Wind damage in return for her attack! AS: Remi Ryuuja is unable to continue fighting! AS: Counter Best! Tamaki Uchida takes 24 Wind damage from Remi Ryuuja's Ouragan. AS: COUNTER! Remi Ryuuja takes 32 Wind damage in return for her attack! AS: Remi Ryuuja is unable to continue fighting! AS: Counter Best! Tamaki Uchida takes 24 Wind damage from Remi Ryuuja's Ouragan. AS: COUNTER! Remi Ryuuja takes 32 Wind damage in return for her attack! AS: Remi Ryuuja is unable to continue fighting! AS: Avoid Best! Tamaki Uchida takes 31 Fire damage from Remi Ryuuja's Agilao. AS: Haze added! AS: Remi Ryuuja is unable to continue fighting!
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
Even with all of their combined strikes, the stranger did not go down. Their fury, their weapons, their focus - none of it seemed to so much as make their target flinch. Worse still, the momentum he'd built was turned upon him, and a savage counter sent him reeling. Hyousuke stumbled and struggled to find his footing, and by the time he'd slammed his foot down and assume his stance once more, Hiroto was too far for him to make any meaningful strike. His body loosened, the paralysis' grip loosening, but it wasn't close to fast enough.
He forced himself forward, clenching his teeth as his muscles threatened to tear themselves apart from straining against what remained of what had been inflicted on him. Every step that Hiroto took, Hyousuke urged his body to mirror, no matter how his bones creaked or his body quivered with the pain. Hatred, rage, willpower - whatever it was that ran through Hyousuke's veins, it dragged him forth, inching closer until he could do *something.* Yet, for all his thrashing, screaming, and flailing, he could not close that gap. No matter how hard he tried, his enemy was always out of reach.
So blinded was he by his own rage that he did not notice the onslaught that was returned to him until it was too late. His instincts and training took over, forcing him to stand his ground and block the strikes directed at him, but each landed with strength that far surpassed anything he could take. The first trapped him in place, the second stunned him and left his ears ringing, the third blurred his vision and sent him reeling. Hyousuke stood, but he did not think. He snapped his head around, snarling and tensing like a cornered animal, only snapping out of it once he felt the droplets on his skin.
Even with limbs now limber, he saw there was no use running. That split second between the water appearing and falling upon him was all that he needed to see that, no matter how fast he moved, the torrent would take him. He was powerless against it, but he was far from defiant. He stood against the attack, thrashing and striking to try and escape its clutches. He clawed at the water, ripped at its cruel embrace, slammed his legs into it to try and swim out or displace it away from him. he was a wild beast, caught in a thicket... but it was all for naught.
His lungs burning for air, then growing heavy with water, would have been torture enough. The knowledge that he was too weak to even register as a threat to that titan of a man had only made things worse. But, as his vision grew dark, and his limbs grew too heavy for even his formidable will to shift, one final blow was levelled at him. He saw Akira die. He saw that single, brutal, strike ending him. He saw the blood smear, he saw the assailant leave, and then he saw nothing.
Hyousuke fell limp against the ground, eyes blank, and body still.
<Pose Tracker> Myunghon Yeo has posed.
'Him', hmm...? Myunghon does wonder -- as they do with anyone they meet, really -- what this Phoenix's circumstances are. Every Persona-User has an extraordinary story behind their situation.
"This is the work of the 'Mark'," Myunghon explains to Tsubasa. "The Joker Killer is in possession of one -- as you've seen in Aoba Park, and also prior in Seven Sisters High School. It also draws Demons within the area... we may very well wish to be cautious of extra reinforcements if things go poorly for our Ferryman."
And Phoenix's hulking Persona is -- indeed, the Hut on Chicken's Legs, steered by a shadowy figure as they work in tandem, Phoenix receiving the gift of flame from the Persona to carve forward in incendiary wrath. So this is the power of the one who saved Tsubasa...
And even though they haven't spoken before, Myunghon's awe in the face of Hyousuke's wild, focused wrath is no less grander than Tsubasa's -- Achilles bursting into power in a sheath of bronze, wielding a spear, descending upon Hiroto with fury and focused combined into a fine, singular spearpoint.
Saika speaks, too, much like Tsubasa, on how she already broke her chains. They're all here, fighting this fight, because their chains have been rent asunder in some fashion -- just as they expected, from one in the Peacock Silk -- and this is the *third* awe-inspiring Persona, Frankenstein's own Creature, their expressions conjoined as the Monster comes down with sheer, earth-cracking musculature and fury--
Haul ass!!
Myunghon does take the chance to draw closer to Akira, as Saika continues to lead the offensive, trying to take advantage of Umie's grand defiance, as she speaks of who the Ferryman is that he can define another's life -- and she seeks to strike from within the depths -- and her voice seems to warble for a moment, though her anger is no less palpable for how cold it is compared to the white-hot fury of Tsubasa and Hyousuke's.
Umie goes for the shadow-strike, and Myunghon continues to try to hurry Akira towards safety, but the Ferryman continues, undeterred. The first sign of trouble is a slight, but ominous, and yet very familiar--
"Kch--"
Choking... noise... it's like their lungs are already wet. This is intensely familiar. Why is it familiar? They should be smelling disinfectant right about now--
But then they're slammed by water, and try as they might, washed away by Charon's rapid fury, they're incapable of holding on, even as they shout their frustration and thrust forward with their Cognitive Coat to grapple onto the iron pillars of the warehouse to avoid being blown out of position -- the ribbons clings for dear life... and then Rumourmonger Merry is blasted away, slamming hard against one of the factory's bare concrete walls in a way that knocks all the wind out of them and has their pupils dilating.
They're coughing more blood up, mixed with the briny, deathlike waters of the River Styx; their expression is one of focus and desperation as they shout, "Stop him-- protect--"
Even if their brain is still locked onto the objectives, there's no way they can execute on it. Not fast enough.
This is the weight of the world. Goodbye.
Myunghon disappears again, another casting of Trafuri -- just on themself -- as they try to interpose as a last-ditch effort, clearly uncaring what's going to happen to their body or Kudlak's.
They reappear, and Hiroto is right above them, just a second too late, and their eye is even wider as they turn as that foot decisively comes down onto Akira's face--
--and Myunghon's own face receives the splatters of their failed plan, still and unmoving, eye still dinnerplated with no small amount of shock and revulsion.
...
...
Cover us. We're clocking out. She'll be too much trouble.
"... Kudlak."
Myunghon doesn't rise from where they're kneeling in front of the fallen Akira Hayashi, unable to look away from the broken remains of his face. They're not facing Hiroto.
They don't have to.
The Cognitive Coat stretches long, and wide, and immense -- those looking know that it's been capable of feats like this once in a while, such as when they combined powers with Queen to interpose the Piggytron. It looks almost as if they're in a chiaroscuro painting, cast upon strong light with their shadow the form of a Beast --
The very Beast that Hiroto is alluding to all this time.
Their voice is very quiet and cold, but no less decisive, even as they keenly sense their body failing on them:
"Devour."
AS: Persona! Myunghon Yeo has used the Dark skill Imperishable Black on Hiroto Nakamura! AS: Pressure: Myunghon Yeo gains 1 Limit! AS: Myunghon Yeo: Atk_Up and Crt_Up removed! AS: Block Worst! Hiroto Nakamura takes 184 Dark damage from Myunghon Yeo's Imperishable Black. Weak! AS: Hiroto Nakamura is unable to continue fighting! AS: Avoid Best! Remi Ryuuja takes 82 Wind damage from Yukari Takeba's Magarula. AS: Remi Ryuuja is unable to continue fighting!
<Pose Tracker> So-young Park has posed.
The Ferryman makes sure that So-young has to think about it right now.
--even then, she's still capable of rationalising, automatically reaches for it as a defensive mechanism. So-young does not know these two people, nor does she have the personal sense of responsibility for their fate, nor was she really at all connected to this job until she chose to involve herself in it.
It - and this truly is the devil's whisper in her ear - _it could be worse_.
Even so, the feeling brings a sickly feeling in her throat and a lump she can't push down, a freezing chill running through her as she watches someone transition suddenly from 'human' to 'corpse'. It's not a scene she's going to forget any time soon - but she does her damnedest to catch onto it with rebellious claws, to push it inside of her and ball it up and use it for some kind of inner fire. "Oh, fuck you!" she blasts out like a gunshot - but her legs are refusing to listen to her, so all she can really do is yell. "Is it common for evil henchmen to have 'petulant tantrums' as a line on their peer review--"
The fire in her eyes turns on Tsurugi. "... only because he - and you - forced that point. For nothing more than 'they might tell someone something down the line'," she spits. "So, yes, what motivates me right this moment is taking his holier-than-thou speech and the matching refusal to listen to anyone else and shove both as high as I can up his--"
Maybe it's better that So-young doesn't get to finish that, as another burst of wind swallows whatever else she was going to say. Aware of her Persona's strengths, So-young still does her best to stand tall through it - but the sudden spark of flame is what makes her think twice about that, and she dives to one side in a rather panicked fashion just as the cyclone of wind becomes a firestorm. In the midst of it is Icarus' pained mechanical cry, and a searing heat in So-young's chest as her emotions and the elements both work to burn her.
... she's still alive. It's more than she can say for some here, she thinks grimly as she scrabbles to her feet. What a very cold comfort.
If there is any actual comfort here it's that So-young is a creature of immediacy, and any morbid thoughts are immediately chased away by the acrid smell of heated metal and the telltale warnings that a fire is in fact going to catch alight. The smouldering is spreading, and licking its way towards a tarpaulin, and oh hell. "--time to go!" she yells as she turns, just in time to catch the silhouette of Kudlak against the ceiling.
She should be terrified or awed, but all she can think in the moment is a quiet, grim little: get them.
Then she pushes herself forwards towards Myunghon and the others, immediately looking to Umie. "Time to _leave_!" she repeats with emphasis, lifting her voice as loud as she can. She's no opera singer, but she's yelled at the back row of instruments or across a concert hall enough times. "We are _not_ giving them the satisfaction of us burning to death!"
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Tamaki visibly winces at Hiroto's heel coming down. If the others are going to give chase to at least secure the flash drive, she'll let them, but given their relative positioning ... well, guess it's time to make that grim calculus now. Like hell she's letting both siblings die.
Hinata starts to run to Akira, but Tamaki's there to keep her at bay as she intercedes and spreads her arms out to keep her from approaching the dangerous pair. "Heyyyy hey hey, whoa now. We're trying to protect you, too. Stay BACK, do you understand?" Her eyes look back in the direction of the escape route. It might be time to salvage what little they can here.
Tsurugi and La Maupin provide their parting shots. Tamaki barks out a highly-alarmed "Shit -- Arianrhod!" as her own Persona stands in front of both herself and Hinata. Arianrhod shelters Tamaki, who in turn shelters Hinata as Tamaki tries to guide the hostess to somewhere more safe than what's soon to be a burning warehouse. "Come on -- augh! -- we're getting you out of here." While retreating, she cranes her head back to shout, "Merry! Car! Right?" She points to Hyousuke and Akira. "Can you haul them to safety, too?"
(Even if Akira's dead, there's still proper respects to pay.)
Arianrhod stands tall and imposing, answering each strike of Tsurugi and La Maupin's with her own, redirecting part of the wind and flames back at them, but Tamaki herself staggering with each blow.. Beyond that, though ... there's no reason for her to press the attack, Hinata's rescue is her absolute highest priority right now. Continuing this fight would be needlessly vindictive.
<Pose Tracker> Saika Kikuchi has posed.
"Oh, do you not believe me? Awesome!" Saika says, as she puts her hands on her hips for a moment. It's a cocky sort of pose. "Enjoy being wrong! You want me to tell you my life story so you can go murder people I knew? Hah!"
And then he's right there.
Not quite right there: Charon himself is doing that strange surreal flowing-speed into Tsubasa which Saika opens her mouth to warn them about BUT it is too slow for her to not get smashed into by water, a surging sea that smashes and nearly drives her to her knees. She moves with it; rolling once, the lower position meaning that the water surges *after* it's hit the ground.
It's better. But not by much!
Saika rolls - looks over -
Oh, she thinks as Charon's boot smashes down. A few moments later his boot is going *through* the man's head. The upper part, the important part. The lower part you can live without - at least for a little while. You might not WANT to live, mind you, but it's not impossible. Saika opens her mouth.
Someone screams his name. The name Akira.
Saika lurches to a seated position. (Her head can't be stomped now.)
And then she simply sits there. The strike did silence her; Saika stares as Charon moves to escape, the winds taken out of her sails.
so that's what it looks like - so thinks Saika
"He just -" Saika says, to nobody in particular.
AS: Avoid Best! Moriko Kumamoto takes 22 Wind damage from Remi Ryuuja's Ouragan. Critical Hit! AS: Remi Ryuuja is unable to continue fighting! AS: Avoid Neutral! Moriko Kumamoto takes 30 Wind damage from Remi Ryuuja's Ouragan. AS: Remi Ryuuja is unable to continue fighting! AS: Avoid Best! Moriko Kumamoto takes 22 Wind damage from Remi Ryuuja's Ouragan. Critical Hit! AS: Remi Ryuuja is unable to continue fighting! AS: Avoid Best! Moriko Kumamoto takes 35 Fire damage from Remi Ryuuja's Agilao. AS: Haze added! AS: Remi Ryuuja is unable to continue fighting!
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
The only thing that could shake the Phoenix out of their present state is the threat of something far worse.
(Worse than what just happened? Certainly, worse for them.)
The smell of smoke has them picking themself up -- their sword has disappeared, but don't even worry about it. They shake Saika, as they pass. "Hey, focus up, dude! They torched the fuckin' place!" But they can't stay to help -- for multiple reasons, really, but primarily because Hyousuke hit the ground.
They crouch down, and gather him up in their arms; evidently, carrying a greatsword like they do means that they're at least able to handle the dead weight of an unconscious human in this outfit. "C'mon," they growl, as they hurry out. ... they don't take the car, as they do. They can't risk it.
They definitely can't carry him all the way, but they can at least get him clear.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Hiroto's assault is no less vicious for it being the second time in several days; coupled with blast of water, time and sense begin to leave Umie.
Dark grey whispers echo in her head until they become a tidal wave, cracking the foundations of Umie's self, weighing her soul as much as the water leaves her body soaking and heavy.
And as that boot comes down--
Something shrieks in answer to Hinata's screams; Umie's resonance, proclaiming the death of someone as it had in Aoba Park. There, it was a mistaken impression, but it may as well be the death of Tsubasa's old self.
Here, there's no sidestepping it: death has occurred, and right in front of Umie's eyes.
"Ferryman."
Once the decision is made, Umie's red brown eyes become glassy, as she moves, quick as ever, towards Hiroto.
Her mouth opens, delivering a string of words, monotone, ignoring So-young's pleas to evacuate.
"In June, the spider lilies bloom blood red in the fields.
A man hangs from the branch, caught between decision and action,
A blackbird cries in the tree, who hears it?
Who is there? Who is it, with that face?
Black butterflies fill the school hallways.
It is just the beginning."
The the blade of the shoge is deployed, weaving in impossible directions, crisscrossing over in a cat's cradle over the calm Ferryman.
The calm of Charon, held against the brashness of the Badb, both entities tied to death.
If someone is paying attention at this point (and not even Umie is, at this point), they just might catch a flash of something snaking up Umie's briefly uncovered right wrist as she moves, black as the color of her hoodie, and as matte as that discarded mask.
If Hiroto is the only one who sees it, it's just as well--
After all, both of them already know who whispers in their ear.
AS: You can't afford that attack's Action cost. Theurgy attacks require 1 action and 1 bonus action. AS: Hiroto Nakamura spends Limit on Shift! Umie Akabane can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Tandem! Umie Akabane has used the Dark skill Garden of the Crow on Hiroto Nakamura! 3 Hits! AS: Umie Akabane regains 3 SP from Invigorate! AS: Block Worst! Hiroto Nakamura takes 58 Dark damage from Umie Akabane's Garden of the Crow. AS: Hiroto Nakamura is unable to continue fighting! AS: Block Worst! Hiroto Nakamura takes 58 Dark damage from Umie Akabane's Garden of the Crow. AS: Hiroto Nakamura is unable to continue fighting! AS: Block Worst! Hiroto Nakamura takes 58 Dark damage from Umie Akabane's Garden of the Crow. AS: Hiroto Nakamura is unable to continue fighting!
<Pose Tracker> Moriko Kumamoto has posed.
As far as the biker's concerned, bad attitudes are one thing, life or death's another. Which wouldn't be a stretch in the first place. She's not about to lash out at an ally mid-job though.
There's definitely an edge to her voice as she tries to joke through the fact that this is in fact a life or death problem. Or the damage caused by showing monsters off.
"Always have." Regarding the opponent they've been trying to tackle. Maybe almost succeeding even? She's not sure. These battles aren't the same as sucker punching someone.
"It was the only beast here. The rest of us are people." Which, she shakes her head, "My actions are my own. You're looking for excuses." she continues with a shake of her head, "And I always will push back when I think it needs to." Not that she'd done it as much recently, but it's also been moment to moment in a sense.
As before, she guides some of those flames away from the group. Twisting away from the first few. Scorched, painfully so, but protected by both quick movement and leather designed to protect from both impact and friction.
Her head jerks to the side as someone is just coldly killed there. She goes silent. She hadn't been able to stop that. Could she have?
She has an almost mechanical movement as she pulls the evoker one last time, pulling the trigger without a word. Sending the fox bounding after them, shards of earth spiking up until she pounces forward and they jut forward sharply. One last parting gift to join the others.
So-Young's shout does get her brain working. Stress and adrenaline getting her more focused than she normally seems. Reaching out to pull Yukari's wrist, "We have to go. Can't keep feeding the flames right now." A look to the body for a moment. A brief moment of disconnect. Vision swimming. Looking away instead to the others. Nodding to So Young. Checking on anyone else that might have thoughts of lingering. Can they grab Akira?
First aid could maybe work. Can they get there in time?
She's pointedly looking just around the body. Her helmet a convenient blindfold of sorts.
<Pose Tracker> Hiroto Nakamura has posed.
<poem>The Ferryman spares no look back, not to Phoenix's retching, not to So-young's insults, not to Tamaki and Moriko's determination, not to Saika's numb shock, not to Hyousuke's unconsciousness, and not to the attacks that rattle him.
Yukari's wind blows him forward, smashing him through the wall. He climbs back up, and continues progressing.
Myunghon's devouring coat smashes into him, but he just continues his escape, though he couldn't retaliate if he wanted to, as wounded as he is.
Umie's dark slashes do the final bit of damage, and he's going to bleed thanks to it. He will live... but he's wounded, and that speech unnerves him, whatever the prophecy means.
Nonetheless, he makes it out, even if he's going to need to hit an NWO clinic before he goes to the office tomorrow.
The Ferryman has escaped with Tsurugi, and the drive has been secured. Hinata Hayashi is alive. Akira Hayashi is dead. One may want to grieve, mourn, scream, cry. They can do such.
But you still have to continue your lives, go to work, go to school, and cope in any way you can.