2025-12-26: PARRY IT!
- Log: PARRY IT!
- Cast: Isabeau Fontaine, Eveline Deschamps, Vivienne Sournois, Alain Wakamatsu, Ren Amamiya, Katsuko Yoshinaga, Ririka Kawase, Kanae Fuyuki, Ryuji Sakamoto, Umie Akabane, Makoto Niijima, Noriaki Okaga, Tamaki Uchida
- Where: Mementos - Path of Aiyatsbus
- OOC Date: December 26, 2025
- IC Date: August 31, 2012
- Summary: While exploring Mementos, several Persona Users find members of the 'Wild Hunt' slaying a Treasure Demon. Isabeau proposes a contest, with the winners getting the spoils, and violence ensues.
(|======================= Mementos - Path of Aiyatsbus =======================|) -====================================================== Tokyo/Shibuya Ward ====- The tracks continue, and the station platforms look like they did at the top of Qimranut, but this time everything is a dark, vivid blue. Splashes of red, disturbingly blood-like, mark the floor and walls every so often. Here and deeper, one might find and collect strange orbs of golden light marked with flowers. However, you can't take them with you; once you leave Mementos, they'll vanish. The robot-like boy Jose in his blue car drives around here and lower too, and if you're lucky, you might run into him in a corner set up with stars and drapes. There, you can trade those 'flowers' to him for goods and services. Since he's a little kid, he might want to play games with you too--innocent and harmless ones, to be clear. Play those games with him, and you might start to find clockwork posts sporting a great big star at some platforms. Pulling the lever there will trade the bright star for a dim moon. Pull enough, and he'll offer you a fun prize for that too. Every so often, you can find a covered bench where you can wait for the trains that run deeper into Mementos... though you'll have to hoof it first to anywhere you want to go. At the bottom of Aiyatsbus is another platform where trains zoom past on each side, and a wall that opened up to escalators heading deeper and deeper within. <Pose Tracker> Isabeau Fontaine has posed.
The Harmony-Robbing Path, Aiyatsbus, is deep enough into Mementos that you'd need to be going on a real Mementos run to reach it -- past the shallows of Qimranut, these dark blue halls feature glowing, ephemeral flowers, the sort highly-prized by Jose. (Just be sure not to leave Mementos entirely if you want to cash them in! ... returning to the entrance is safe, though.) Pale red light from the trains casts ill tones on the indigo blue arena, though the flourescent white tubes of light in the 'subway' mean that most of the path remains blue... but one doesn't only need the light to imagine something unsettling, here.
Red growths, like roots or veins, splays out at the corners and the edges of the structures here.
Hulking Shadows roam these halls; they wear the faces of Demons, and can even be negotiated with, in a limited fashion. But what's really worth hunting -- since this isn't one of those floors full of dangerous enemies -- are the Treasure Shadows: jewels on the path which resolve into Shadows worth a pretty penny, through bribery or violence.
Navigators may feel a draw towards pointing them out; astute Persona-Users might notice the glint in the distant tunnels. The luckiest might just stumble upon it. However you find yourselves here...
... you're too late.
"Haaah!" A stocky, hip-heavy girl with a ruby spear cries, as she thrusts her weapon into a figure floating over a jewel which shatters into bags of valuable coins. She wears a bronzed vest, buckled tightly over one side of her breast, the collar opening wide around the back of her neck. A longcoat dangles off of one arm; the other is bare, and heavily-muscled beneath the layer of fat there. Several buckles at her waist hold several pouches. She wears long tights, ending in rugged boots, and fingerless gloves across her hands; her left arm hosts a targe with a masked pattern, strapped there to leave her hand free.
Shujin students would know her at a glance -- though not in this outfit -- as Isabeau Fontaine, a girl with a terrible attitude.
"`What do you think?`" She asks, in French, as she turns to her party. "`Pretty cool, huh? But I'm not even tired yet...`"
Here, she turns back, to the attention they're gathering.
"Heeeyyy... I have an idea!" Isabeau grins, levelling her spear at the newcomers, mercifully switching to a more stilted and textbook form of Japanese as she does. "Why do we not have a little contest? We were not the only ones who tracked down this Treasure Shadow... so how about this? You guys," she gestures, with her spear, to their side of the subway tunnel, "can fight us here in the Wild Hunt, and if you win, you can have the yen."
She pauses.
"And if we win, Kanae must admit I am way better at this than she is!"
ISABEAU DON'T BE SO SELFISH AND PETTY C'MON!!!!
Nope, she's already committed. "We are much better conversation than whatever these Shadows are saying," Isabeau assures them, bouncing on her heels. "Come on! How about it? We will even give you guys the first shot. That is honourable, is it not?"
<Pose Tracker> Eveline Deschamps has posed.
"`Good work. This hunt is now complete,`" echoes the voice of the Wild Hunt's Navigator, Eveline Deschamps, in clearly fluent French. She watches as the coins spill, Isabeau's final blow being skilled, and hoists the bolt-action rifle she's carrying against her shoulder. Her own Persona is already out, the scarlet silken-haired woman with a tank for armor and a cannon on her arm scanning for Resonance at all times, leaving her likely the first to notice intruders.
Standing short with short blonde hair and glasses, wearing a dark top hat, Eve is clad in a finely made cognitive brown leather jacket that screams Old Europe, with trousers, a mantle, and a scarf. Rugged leather boots are firmly planted on the ground, as she turns towards the interlopers.
Before she can say anything, her facial expressions locked tight, she tilts her head to Isabeau. Her Japanese is perfect, if accented.
"A contest? Well, it'll be interesting to see how they match up. They're still a little wet behind the ears."
There's a sense of not quite dismissiveness, but absolute confidence, a bearing that says 'I don't think it'll be a problem for us' without actually underestimating them. Those who have seen her know she's at least experienced enough to explain why she may think that.
"Well then. Go ahead."
<Pose Tracker> Vivienne Sournois has posed.
These Treasure Shadows have been a matter of particular interest to Vivienne. Figures drawing their form from noteworthy jewels, positively brimming with potential from the significance of it, and dispensing a wealth of cash besides... Of course she would be drawn to them.
It's important for her to keep her skills sharp, anyway, and these create a strong motivator. Blame Laurent for laying the bait out for her.
"`Well struck, Isabeau darling!`" Vivienne praises as the Treasure Shadow is reduced to a pile of coins.
She wears a longcoat of her own, dark blue and tight-fitting with a white muffler about her shoulders. A tricorne hat perches atop her head, and her large, round glasses gleam in the light. In each hand she wields a hooked sword.
She turns, as Isabeau draws attention to the newcomers.
"My... We aren't alone?" Vivienne replies, turning to face them. She rests a hooked sword on her shoulder, the other remaining casually at her side. A competition, is it? That's their Isabeau. Still... it has been some time since she'd had a proper fight. She looks toward Eveline as she gives her own thoughts on the matter... and then, she shrugs.
"Well... why not? I must admit, I am curious. Anyone who's come all this way must have some talent." Vivienne considers. Isabeau introduces additional stakes. Vivienne suppresses a chuckle.
Honorable, hm...? Well... this is supposed to be a friendly(or, at least, casual) fight. She supposes she can pretend, for the time being.
"Let us make this a show for the ages, hm?" Vivienne says. She bows with a flourish. "Bonne chance, my well-armed acquaintances!"
AS: Eveline Deschamps has readied for combat as Guro Rysserova! She is now fully healed! Ready for 2 opponents! AS: Makoto Niijima has readied for combat as Johanna! She is now fully healed! AS: Vivienne Sournois has readied for combat as Skadi! She is now fully healed! Ready for 2 opponents! <Pose Tracker> Alain Wakamatsu has posed.
"'Hunt complete indeed...'" A man echoes Eve's words, as if it were a reminder of the old day.
Among Isabeau's party is another man, with an old mask, which looks reminiscent of Western firefighter masks of the nineteenth century, an odd assortment of an iron plate, with lenses for eyes, and an odd nose, which looks like a long hooked beak-like faucet.
He's wearing a longcoat as well, over a black smith's apron, replete with tools, a shape vanishing under his coat as he looks to the other girl, and replies in French, "'You need not push yourself until you are. Stamina training in these places isn't the same as in athletics.'"
Mementos was still... strange for him. How did such a place escape all of their notice until the rumor came about? Or... did it? Perhaps the rumor created it in the first place. Something about idea that still bothers him.
As others gather however, he snaps to attention, turning around to regard the crowd. "Mon choupinette." He asides to her in French, "'It's likely not all of them are with your' rivale." As if to imply, 'We don't know what sort of people they all are.'
At this point, it seems a foregone conclusion. Why does he believe that? Well, because he's known Isabeau for more than five minutes.
Still, he's not exactly opposed to such a contest. He just wants that in her mind before they do this. The others- well, he knows they've almost certainly spotted it.
AS: Katsuko Yoshinaga has readied for combat as Edmond Dantes! She is now fully healed! AS: Isabeau Fontaine has readied for combat as Mielikki! She is now fully healed! Ready for 2 opponents! AS: Alain Wakamatsu has readied for combat as Bayard! He is now fully healed! Spd_Up added! Ready for 3 opponents! AS: Noriaki Okaga has readied for combat as Efnysien! He is now fully healed! <Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Screeeech. The wheels of the Monabus skid on the rough terrain of Mementos, and if there is the 'rewaeeear' of a cat echoing in the darkness, it's just your imagination. Behind the wheel, Joker frowns.
"...Looks like someone beat us to the prize," they comment to their compatriots within as they all spot a group of other Persona-Users take out a Treasure Shadow. The one who dealt the final blow is none other than Isabeau "Fucking" Fontaine, one of Joker's least favorite people.
At least Skull and Queen might also appreciate why, since she's a Shujin student too.
They glance over at the other Persona Users who've happened into this area, many of whom they recognize--Umie, Ririka... Kanae. Their eyes narrow behind their mask, and they don't bother to refrain from rolling them when Isabeau makes this encounter all about her.
But... so these are Isabeau's 'adult' companions who take her hunting. Joker frowns at them, too. As little as they like Isabeau, they'd like to get the measure of the people who've taken in their childhood acquaintance.
So they look over their shoulder at their companions. "How about it? Who feels up for a contest?" they ask, the corner of their mouth quirking up to show they, for one, are.
<Pose Tracker> Katsuko Yoshinaga has posed.
Every excursion into Mementos was a learning experience for Katsuko First it was the existence of the place in the first place, then it was how best to kill certain Shadows... and now it was the existence of Shadows that promised a hefty payday. While Katsuko might have prided herself on her commitment to the mission above all else, the idea of being able to import new miniatures, or purchase a premium model kit without even having to think about the purchase's effects on her budget for the year... She had to admit, it was tempting.
Thus, it was no surprise that she was annoyed by the presence of killstealers. It was difficult to tell, of course. Most of her face was obscured by darkest shadow, while the rest was covered by the rictus grin of a skull's lower half, glinting silver in what little light was afforded to her face. But, were one to listen closely, they might have heard a slight and short growl of consternation. If they looked closely, they might have even seen her fingers twitch towards the safety on her rifle, verging on switching her scout rifle into its active state.
"Fine." She grunted, hefting her weapon up just enough to show that she was serious. It pointed at nobody, and her fingers were off of the trigger, but they seemed itching to move a little closer. "I could use some target practice." She decided to leave out the part about being miffed regarding the potential loss of model kits. That was a secret she had decided she would take to her grave.
"Edmond Dantes." Katsuko said flatly, gesturing quickly towards Eveline. "Reveal yourself." Katsuko stepped backwards, letting the shadows behind her swallow her black-clad form in its entirety, while a figure donning a pitch-dark clothing and a blood-red waistcoat emerged in her place. Wreathed in clouds of grey smoke, Danes seemed more wraith than man, almost appearing to float above Mementos' floor. Nor more than a moment after he had emerged, Dantes called forth a pillar of stone with an upwards stroke of his sabre. Chains rattled from it, snaking and coiling towards Eveline in an attempt to bind her before the fight could even begin.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Mementos is a subject of interest to SEES, (among many others), and Ririka's here today working on her navigation skills. She knows she can't map this place--not permanently, at least, but there might till be things to learn about it.
Such as a distant, far of kingling chime of jewels that calls to her senses. Well that's new...
Thin, faint strands of music guide her to the scene of the recently defeated Treasure Shadows, and to the sight of an apparent challenge. She... doesn't know who Isabeau is. Or Kanae.
She's tall for a Japanese girl, standing about 5'7", and today her hair is back in a ponytail, and she's wearing a light jacket over a band tee, a leather bracelet on her right wrist, and cargo pants. And as she arrives Ampion follows behind her: a tall lumbering man made of stone, weighed down with heavy boots wrapped in locks and chains, and clutching a golden lyre with faint, nearly-invisible strings.
"Iiii wouldn't say competition," Ririka starts, putting on what she hopes is a friendly smile. "I sensed an unusual type of Shadow and I wanted to investigate it."
She glances around at the people converging on the spot, thoughtful for a moment. "Though... if this is just a friendly competition... I suppose I support whoever wants to take it on." That's her duty as a Navigator, right?
<Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
Kanae Fuyuki does not come to Mementos that often, but she's been thinking about doing it more. There's a whole unexplored dungeon here, and it'd be a shame if there were something vital down there that she missed. Besides...
Henry wants something from down here.
So down here she goes. Kanae is a girl of dark skin and hair dressed in gray, her outer layer a gray duster with pale blue accents. Her eyes are sharp--sharp enough to spot the Treasure Shadow.
"Hup--"
Holding her gunblade out, Kanae darts forward towards it, tip of her ruby-bladed weapon dragging along the ground and creating sparks against the horrible blood-asphalt.
"Hya--"
But.
She is TOO LATE.
"Ugh," Kanae starts. "I come here and I run into YOU?"
Isabeau levels her spear, and Kanae scowls. She looks at each of them. "`Like hell!`" Kanae shouts back in French at Isabeau's condition. "You guys..." She looks over the members of the Wild Hunt and scowls harder. "Wet behind the ears, huh?" she asks of Eveline. "I'll show you talent."
"Besides," Kanae says, flipping her hair as she straightens to her full (short) height. "I want that yen!"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jE2UM7dzZlw
Looking around at the others, she spots... some masked folks. A girl with a GUN. And--
"Hoodie-san!" Kanae calls to Noriaki. "Come with me! We're gonna KICK THAT GIRL'S ASS!"
Kanae is--not usually this animated, Ren might recognize. But she is facing Isabeau 'Fucking' Fontaine.
"PERSONA!"
With the shattering of glass, Kanae calls forth the substance that infuses her, and gold dust shimmers all around her. Blue light flashes--and Leshy, a gangly plant-woman of a Persona emerges. She rushes forward--
And slams two tree-like fists at Isabeau.
"It's not FRIENDLY!" Kanae shouts for Ririka's benefit.
When Henry adivsed she gather Allies, this is assuredly not what he had in mind.
AS: Persona! Kanae Fuyuki has used the Strike skill Bash on Isabeau Fontaine! AS: Block Neutral! Isabeau Fontaine takes 61 Strike damage from Kanae Fuyuki's Bash. <Pose Tracker> Ryuji Sakamoto has posed.
"Ugh" Skull made an exhausted noise when he saw Isabeau, crossing his arms from his spot in the Monabus. He didn't know her but he definately knew -of her-. "Greeat..That's whats between us and some cash."
"Might not be worth it...But then again, who the hell brings their parents to Mementos." Ryuji smirks as he scans the others there. He immediately spots Ririka, having seen her from a similar distance during the concert. "Wait is that?"
It was his girlfriend's sister. Every instinct told him it would be...polite?...to defend his girlfriend's sister.
"Well, fuck it. I'm in. Lets go punch her grandpa in the teeth."
AS: Persona! Katsuko Yoshinaga has used the Earth skill Iron and Stone on Eveline Deschamps! AS: Katsuko Yoshinaga regains 7 HP from Regenerate! and 6 SP from Invigorate! <Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
"First off," Umie begins to Tamaki as she takes out her kyoketsu shoge, "see the difference? An acquaintance made this for me; when I showed it to you earlier, it was all foam and paint, yeah?" However, as she swings the metal coin-shaped hoop around, it handles the same as if it were metal, in terms of weight and how Umie has to hold it. "I guess it's the same rules as the Dark Hour, but deeper than that. Shadows operate a little differently here, and so do the demons they'll turn into." Dressed in that mostly pragmatic uniform of hers of 'denim shorts, red low-profile sneakers, red tank top, and oversized light grey rain jacket', Umie's thrown the color scheme all off with a blue-green mask, painted with 'cracks' of gold metallic paint to resemble kintsugi pottery.
The problem with Mementos is that, when you bring someone, you can't just be irresponsible and run off into the shadows (with a small s) every time too much excitement looms near. However, Tamaki's fun to run around with. It's just a different vibe, being around someone who's a veteran and has seen things you can't even imagine. There's just not that many people around who are like that, are there? (ha ha ha)
Something trips Umie's senses; she holds up a red nailed finger, pulling away to a small alcove nearby. "... You feel that?" Umie whispers. "Feels unusually active... give me a moment. I'd rather not show you what a Reaper is on your first time here." Nevermind that they've traveled down this far, but sometimes, it just happens when you're having fun.
As blue light reflects off the pale exposed pale skin of the Badb, Umie's lips pull tense as she closes her eyes, trying to get a better sense of their surroundings. ".... Huh. That's weird.... Lots of activity. Too much noise to pinpoint exactly what's going on..." There's a terrible gleam in Umie's eyes as Badb disappears; she's beginning to smile. "How about we do a little bit of investigation? I don't know if I've been down this far, so maybe..." WAIT, UMIE, YOU SHOULD HAVE LED WITH THAT BEFORE BRINGING TAMAKI DOWN HERE.
Badb is not that great at sensing treasure, if at all; she's more about the blood. (And boy, is there a lot of it, down here.) A challenge like this is in itself a treasure for Umie, even if she's not visible. She stalks towards the challengers, making sure Tamaki is close by as she gives Joker a small nod as the latter is visually scanning the area.
After giving Tamaki a signal towards which one she's going towards, Umie doesn't waste time; a metal ring is suddenly swung out from the side, attempting to hit and loop around Vivienne's sword-holding hand.
Joker asks who's up; Umie's hands are busy, so she answers back with a simple, "Sounds like fun."
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
"First off," Umie begins to Tamaki as she takes out her kyoketsu shoge, "see the difference? An acquaintance made this for me; when I showed it to you earlier, it was all foam and paint, yeah?" However, as she swings the metal coin-shaped hoop around, it handles the same as if it were metal, in terms of weight and how Umie has to hold it. "I guess it's the same rules as the Dark Hour, but deeper than that. Shadows operate a little differently here, and so do the demons they'll turn into." Dressed in that mostly pragmatic uniform of hers of 'denim shorts, red low-profile sneakers, red tank top, and oversized light grey rain jacket', Umie's thrown the color scheme all off with a blue-green mask, painted with 'cracks' of gold metallic paint to resemble kintsugi pottery.
The problem with Mementos is that, when you bring someone, you can't just be irresponsible and run off into the shadows (with a small s) every time too much excitement looms near. However, Tamaki's fun to run around with. It's just a different vibe, being around someone who's a veteran and has seen things you can't even imagine. There's just not that many people around who are like that, are there? (ha ha ha)
Something trips Umie's senses; she holds up a red nailed finger, pulling away to a small alcove nearby. "... You feel that?" Umie whispers. "Feels unusually active... give me a moment. I'd rather not show you what a Reaper is on your first time here." Nevermind that they've traveled down this far, but sometimes, it just happens when you're having fun.
As blue light reflects off the pale exposed pale skin of the Badb, Umie's lips pull tense as she closes her eyes, trying to get a better sense of their surroundings. ".... Huh. That's weird.... Lots of activity. Too much noise to pinpoint exactly what's going on..." There's a terrible gleam in Umie's eyes as Badb disappears; she's beginning to smile. "How about we do a little bit of investigation? I don't know if I've been down this far, so maybe..." WAIT, UMIE, YOU SHOULD HAVE LED WITH THAT BEFORE BRINGING TAMAKI DOWN HERE.
Badb is not that great at sensing treasure, if at all; she's more about the blood. (And boy, is there a lot of it, down here.) A challenge like this is in itself a treasure for Umie, even if she's not visible. She stalks towards the challengers, making sure Tamaki is close by. Sensing others, she attempts to get a sense of those gathered, briefly giving Joker a small nod as the latter is doing the same.
After giving Tamaki a signal towards which one she's going towards, Umie doesn't waste time; a metal ring is suddenly swung out from the side, attempting to hit and loop around Vivienne's sword-holding hand.
Joker asks who's up; Umie's hands are busy, so she answers back with a simple, "Sounds like fun."
AS: Weapon! Umie Akabane has used the Strike skill Strike Weapon E on Vivienne Sournois! AS: Umie Akabane regains 3 SP from Invigorate! AS: Avoid Worst! Vivienne Sournois takes 33 Strike damage from Umie Akabane's Strike Weapon E. AS: Take! Eveline Deschamps takes 0 Earth damage from Katsuko Yoshinaga's Iron and Stone. AS: Bind added! <Pose Tracker> Makoto Niijima has posed.
For better or worse, Queen has not had many run ins with, apparently, one of Shujin's favourite people. All the better for her, given Joker's reaction (and the reaction of another student she hasn't met, learn to socialize Makoto).
"...Another group of Persona users?" Queen asks out loud, as she sizes up the apparent enemy. At this point she's starting to wonder how many there are. How do they keep encountering new groups?
How much danger could people carelessly hunting shadows in Mementos cause? How long until there's a spate of mental shutdowns because someone went on a spree?
It's not a great thought.
"...Sure. I'm up for a contest." The fact that Ogre's sister is here- something Skull has noticed as well- seems another reason to step in.
As such, Queen is the first to step out from the Monabus, in her skin tight motorcycle leathers, her scarf billowing behind her. For whatever reason, these Persona users, despite their outfits, don't seem to be hiding their identities. Strange...
"Care to introduce yourselves?" Queen asks, sizing up Alain as she does so. "Given you came onto our turf, it only seems right."
...Oh good, Queen's been watching her movies again.
<Pose Tracker> Noriaki Okaga has posed.
As these things go, Noriaki Okaga already has a day job. Or maybe call it a 'night job'.
Well, it's definitely a job. Technically speaking.
But that doesn't mean he doesn't have 'time off', and it also doesn't mean that he only sticks to his usual 'hunting grounds'. Mementos is a pretty interesting sort of space, and really easy to get into if you know what you're doing (and Strega, as a rule, absolutely does).
And a little extra cash in his pocket doesn't hurt any, especially for his 'down time' days.
And some Shadows can be worth some serious cash if you hunt them right, and that's right up his alley. So that's why--
"Tch," he hisses, too little, too late to make the kill himself. Extending one arm to rest against the wall a moment, he heaves out a rough-sounding breath. "All that for nothing." He laughs, as if to himself, and lingers there for a moment more as Isabeau extends her challenge to the lot of them.
Noriaki's lips pull into a wide grin. "Heh... feelin' lucky, eh, kiddo? Well--"
A finger is jabbed right at him. All of Noriaki's lanky body torques reasonably more upright than he'd been before. "Eh?"
Kanae has surprised him.
But he's quick on the recovery. "Don't gotta tell me twice! Looks like we're partners today, eh, girly?" He drags out a chipped machete, presumably the same thing he'd been using to hunt. "C'mon, kiddo, let's see if you can live up to your shit!"
No Persona, the way Kanae goes in: he breaks away from the wall and lunges for Isabeau, swinging that machete wide only in the final seconds as he closes the distance.
AS: Weapon! Noriaki Okaga has used the Slash skill Well-used Machete on Isabeau Fontaine! 3 Hits! AS: Aggression: Noriaki Okaga gains 1 Limit! AS: Avoid Neutral! Isabeau Fontaine takes 13 Slash damage from Noriaki Okaga's Well-used Machete. AS: Avoid Neutral! Isabeau Fontaine takes 13 Slash damage from Noriaki Okaga's Well-used Machete. AS: Avoid Neutral! Isabeau Fontaine takes 29 Slash damage from Noriaki Okaga's Well-used Machete. Critical Hit! <Pose Tracker> Isabeau Fontaine has posed.
"`Naturally!`" Isabeau crows, puffing up her chest, when Vivienne praises her strike. Now, were the old veterans of the Wild Hunt standing back and seeing how she dealt with it...? ... if they were, well, she's definitely progressing at an excellent pace.
Even if she's still not at their level... but she's ten years too early to be that good.
"I want to see if they are any good," Isabeau grins, to Eveline, and if it's a bit of a knifish expression, that's... probably fine.
And to Alain, she assures him... in Japanese, because those people are gathering, now: "Oh, I do not think any of them are Kanae's friends. She was complaining just the other night that she did not have any help, do you remember? Ha! She has no friends where it counts!"
Man, she specifically made sure everyone could hear that just to embarrass Kanae... that's not very honourable, Isabeau!
Luckily, Isabeau doesn't recognise Joker one-little-bit, or else she might be EVEN MORE their least favourite person here. (She really seems to have it out for Kanae, though. MAN.) "Some of our opponents were headed to a ball... Alain, give them a ballroom blitz!!" WHY IS THE BABY ORDERING THEM AROUND
(She's bossy, this is normal.)
If she knew about the model kits, she'd surely be a dick about it. Luckily... she does not. "Nice gun," she calls, to Katsuko, instead.
"Unusual is right! Eve, tell her all about it!" Isabeau encourages their Navigator, when Ririka mentions investigating a strange Shadow.
She wrinkles her noise, as she turns to Kanae. "More is the misfortune," it's 'more's the pity', but never mind that, something clearly got lost in translation, "but I would defeat a hundred people so long as you were one of them!"
Glass shatters, and shatters again, as Isabeau pulls out a vial of something gleaming bronze and downs it in one fell gulp. (She doesn't need to, strictly speaking, since she was fighting before she started this fight; apparently the theatrics are genetic.) "Mielikki--!" What rises behind her is a far more diminuitive woman, blue wasp's wings and green skin, spruce needles through her wood-hued hair; she wears a beautiful golden dress, and draped over it is a bearskin mantle, its oversized claws draped over her arms to let her use its claws as weapons. She is the one to meet Leshy's fists, and she buzzes around Isabeau's head in the world's most annoying dance.
"We are being very friendly to them," Isabeau sniffs, haughtily, turning her nose up. "You see?" She adds, gesturing to Umie. "It is sounds like fun!"
But then -- there are more schoolmates. "Do all Frenchmen look alike to you?" She adds, incisive, to Skull. "These are not my parents! They are my friends! My father, Laurent, is attending to matters deeper inside!"
She puffs up her chest. "He is our leader, of course... but I am his daughter! So I must gather these opportunities when they come, no?" Offering at least one answer to Queen's question: "My name is 'Isabeau'! Isabeau Fontaine!"
And everyone with her is, like, SO PATIENT.
But the guy Kanae's called out to partner up with him -- "You are a very foul-mouthed young man!" She snaps, but that's not all she does -- she springs backwards, acrobatically, one-two-three as Noriaki surges forward with those savage slashes from his machete. Her evasive efforts mean they cut light gashes across her Hunter's garb, rather than going straight through... though she does wonder, privately, whether he might have been find if they had.
Did she... see old blood on that machete, like it had been used before? No, it's got to be one of those tricks of Mementos. Mementos loves making things look bloodier than they are.
"Persona!" She calls, as that wasplike woman appears again, the daughter-in-law of the forest clapping her bear-claws together as mighty winds tear across Noriaki and Kanae.
"Is that all which you have got?!" She demands, of them, indefatigable.
AS: Persona! Isabeau Fontaine has used the Almighty skill Dance of Protection on Isabeau Fontaine! AS: Take! Isabeau Fontaine takes 0 Almighty damage from Isabeau Fontaine's Dance of Protection. AS: Def_Up and Spd_Up added! AS: Persona! Isabeau Fontaine has used the Wind skill Magarula on Noriaki Okaga and Kanae Fuyuki! <Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Tamaki is, once again, getting a tour of one of these other supernatural places which have cropped up within the last few ... no, some of them have been there for a long time already, she only just recently became aware of them.
As Umie swings her ring around, Tamaki nods and gives her own sabre a few test swings. "I do see a difference, yes! Not surprising, given what I've observed in similar spaces. This sword is normally just for sport, equipment from fencing club. Under normal circumstances, it's dull, but down here, it gains a keen edge."
She nods again at Umie's explanation of the Demon-like Shadows. "So like in that Palace ... right?"
Tamaki's also grateful to Umie for this little Mementos tour. She's seen a lot already, but she's seen enough to know just how small her experience is in the grand scheme of things.
Then Umie makes more than a few troubling statements. " -- a Reaper? Uh -- wait, you haven't been down this far? But you're still -- " Oh no. Tamaki knows that smile by now. Tamaki tries her best to keep up as she darts off in the unknown darkness, first hoarsely whispering her name, then screaming as she runs down the hall. "Umie? Umie? Wait wait wait WAAAAAAAAIIIIII -- "
"'Wet behind the' -- " Tamaki quietly mutters to herself as she briefly balks at Eveline's assertion. Which, on one hand, Tamaki's been Awakened for about five years ... but on the other hand, she's only actively practiced for a handful of months out of those five years. By contrast, just how long has the Wild Hunt been at this? Yeah, exactly, Tamaki.
She flits her gaze between the rest of their opponents. Isabeau: spear, too much of a reach disadvantage. Alain: Can't tell immediately; at a guess, thrown explosives? Eveline: sword which extends into a whip, definitely a reach disadvantage, and if she's honest with herself, she intimidates Tamaki just a little bit. (Noriaki?!: double-take and be grateful he's on your side for the time being!)
Vivienne has those hooked swords, however. Her assessment: That's just about good enough for equal footing. Tamaki's heels skid as she stops in front of her as she drops into a proper fencing stance, her blade held point-in-line at her chosen opponent. "Would you happen to be the blacksmith of the group that I've heard about?" She breaks her stance to give her an elegant bow with a flourish of her sabre, then resumes her previous pose. "You came highly recommended."
Umie, apparently, had the same idea, possibly for different reasons, possibly for the same ones. Regardless, they're on the same wavelength. Tamaki retrieves a binder from her bag to hold in her off-hand, and "Arianrhod!" manifests in a flicker of blue light. Arianrhod's broadsword cuts a golden X pattern in the air, which shoots towards Vivienne. Keen-eyed watchers may notice that the X's trail leads back to Tamaki's binder, which she surreptitiously sneaks a peek at to read some now highlit passage.
AS: Persona! Tamaki Uchida has used the Light skill Cross-Reference on Vivienne Sournois! AS: Insight: Tamaki Uchida gains 1 Limit! <Pose Tracker> Alain Wakamatsu has posed.
"'Just so, so long as you've taken note.'"
He's willing to play the game, so long as it remains only a game. If it becomes more than that, well... he will defend her from what comes next.
"'Have fun.'" He says in French to Kanae and Isabeau's exchange about kicking each other's ass, like a parent might to someone at a sporting competition. 'How about it? Who feels up for a contest?' "... I'll take your measure." He addresses the youths, "You may call me Alain, if it pleases you. And what shall I call you and yours, young man?" He asks Joker, before Skull adds in something that causes the man to actually chuckle, "You remind me of someone we know. Though I don't imagine that thwarts the 'Grandpa' accusation, now does it?"
However, something the young woman says steals some of that sudden cheer away instantly. "Your turf?" He asks as his tone becomes abstracted. "... How fitting then." His tone becomes somewhat melancholy.
Last Surprise - Midnight Mementos Remix - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SOtzIkFQFI
Grasping part of his mask, part of it unhinges like a furnace door, revealing his mouth. In the same moment there's a flash of silver, and materializing in his hand is a phial of red liquid that can only be blood. Raising it up, he smashes it in his hands, with a echoing sound of glass shattering, as it drips into his mouth.
The moment they touch the inside of his mouth, red flames begin to ignite around his legs, rising more and more - as if he were offering kindling to the flame, until it becomes an inferno around him. His hand releases, and there's not a sign of the glass - or the blood for that matter, as he closes the hatch to his mask.
"Carry me... BAYARD!"
His Persona appears, an equine figure that seems to stand on two legs like a person, covered in so much barding that he no longer seems organic, a whole apron of metal floating off his chest. Yet behind two a set of aviator like goggles, the eyes seem quite alive.
As it raises one of it's hooves, it gestures, and suddenly every one of his Wild Hunt companions has dust pick up around them from the Mementos floor, before vanishing - amplifying their movements.
The Persona then lands in front of him and gets down... on all fours, just like a horse. With a leap onto his back, the Persona takes off like a shot that splits the air, encircling around the Phantom Thieves in a Cavalry charges, before it leaps up, and slams down it's hooves into the ground with a shattering noise, a violent concussive wave flying off from the point of impact to smash into Skull and Queen.
Right before the Persona again rears up, as Alain brings out an object from under his coat, sweeping up a hooked hammer and pointing it at Joker like a General in an old painting. Several boulders begin to rise up out of the ground, before they're flung at him, one after another.
"I suppose I did come out of retirement for this." He asides to his fellows, because when a young man calls you Grandpa... he knows just how much shit he's gonna get later.
AS: Persona! Alain Wakamatsu has used the Almighty skill Masukukaja on Isabeau Fontaine, Eveline Deschamps, and Vivienne Sournois! AS: Persona! Alain Wakamatsu has used the Strike skill Swift Strike on Ryuji Sakamoto and Makoto Niijima! 3 Hits! AS: Persona! Alain Wakamatsu has used the Earth skill Sequence Magna on Ren Amamiya! 2 Hits! AS: Take! Vivienne Sournois takes 104 Light damage from Tamaki Uchida's Cross-Reference. AS: Tamaki Uchida's Weakness Scan! Vivienne Sournois is weak against Fire! AS: Take! Eveline Deschamps takes 0 Almighty damage from Alain Wakamatsu's Masukukaja. AS: Spd_Up added! AS: Take! Vivienne Sournois takes 0 Almighty damage from Alain Wakamatsu's Masukukaja. AS: Spd_Up added! AS: Counter Best! Makoto Niijima takes 48 Strike damage from Alain Wakamatsu's Swift Strike. Critical Hit! AS: COUNTER! Alain Wakamatsu takes 16 Earth damage in return for his attack! Resist! AS: Take! Isabeau Fontaine takes 0 Almighty damage from Alain Wakamatsu's Masukukaja. AS: Spd_Up added! AS: Counter Best! Makoto Niijima takes 34 Strike damage from Alain Wakamatsu's Swift Strike. AS: COUNTER! Alain Wakamatsu takes 11 Earth damage in return for his attack! Resist! AS: Counter Worst! Makoto Niijima takes 53 Strike damage from Alain Wakamatsu's Swift Strike. AS: COUNTER! Alain Wakamatsu takes 3 Earth damage in return for his attack! Resist! AS: Counter Best! Ryuji Sakamoto takes 44 Strike damage from Alain Wakamatsu's Swift Strike. Critical Hit! AS: COUNTER! Alain Wakamatsu takes 39 Strike damage in return for his attack! AS: Avoid Neutral! Ren Amamiya takes 67 Earth damage from Alain Wakamatsu's Sequence Magna. Critical Hit! AS: Bind added! AS: Avoid Best! Ren Amamiya takes 28 Earth damage from Alain Wakamatsu's Sequence Magna. AS: Block Worst! Noriaki Okaga takes 119 Wind damage from Isabeau Fontaine's Magarula. AS: Block Worst! Kanae Fuyuki takes 150 Wind damage from Isabeau Fontaine's Magarula. Critical Hit! Block Wind! AS: Haze added! AS: Counter Neutral! Ryuji Sakamoto takes 39 Strike damage from Alain Wakamatsu's Swift Strike. AS: COUNTER! Alain Wakamatsu takes 24 Strike damage in return for his attack! AS: Counter Best! Ryuji Sakamoto takes 44 Strike damage from Alain Wakamatsu's Swift Strike. Critical Hit! AS: COUNTER! Alain Wakamatsu takes 39 Strike damage in return for his attack! <Pose Tracker> Eveline Deschamps has posed.
As Eve waits, Alain's echo gains a nigh-imperceptible twitch of the lip, though it's hard to tell what she's thinking through that. It's often hard to tell what she's thinking, though he definitely has the advantage.
Though, she does nod as he tells Isabeau to be careful, and to Isabeau, she does note that knifish expression. Does someone like violence...?
Vivienne gains a very tiny smile at her demeanor. At the least, she's always reliable.
"You deny you're a rookie, Fuyuki-san?" Eve asks Kanae. "Be realistic."
Katsuko is recognized, if vaguely, for the last time they met during the Cursed Taxi hunt. But Ririka is not...
"You came alone? Risky... but the fact you're alive is impressive. Perhaps you'll be a worthy opponent."
Katsuko's binding chains come up, wrapping around Eve's body. She doesn't even try to move. "Hm."
"I quite like that book," she tells Katsuko, referencing her Persona's name. "A true classic."
The binding magic hasn't hit her arms, so Eve simply blasts once with a casual shot of her rifle, moving to hit straight in a non-vital location with nigh-unerring accuracy, despite how lazy she is about firing it. It's not even with magic, she just knows how to use it.
"Now then. My name is Eveline Deschamps," she asides to Makoto. "You may call us the Wild Hunt."
"And if this is your turf... then you've done a poor job of caretaking for it."
Alain's buff gets a nod. "Thank you, Alain." But Isabeau tells her to tell Ririka all about it...
"Well, it was an interesting Shadow. One of the valuable ones, of course. But it couldn't compare to our experience."
A flaming screen pops up in front of Eve, lit by her Persona. She grasps it with one hand, navigating through it, as the thermal goggles that Guro Rysserova uses as eyes peer straight into Ririka.
"Now, you. If you want to support... let's see why you fight. Guro Rysserova, initiate Truesight Protocol."
Guro Rysserova begins to scan her strengths, weaknesses, and abilities, all under the same lens: how does Ririka Kawase relate to fighting and violence? How do her instincts guide her? She's curious about someone who'd navigate into Mementos on their own.
AS: Weapon! Eveline Deschamps has used the Pierce skill Bullet Dance on Katsuko Yoshinaga! AS: Persona! Eveline Deschamps has used the Almighty skill Truesight Protocol on Ririka Kawase! AS: Insight: Eveline Deschamps gains 1 Limit! AS: Eveline Deschamps regains 10 SP from Invigorate! AS: Block Worst! Katsuko Yoshinaga takes 51 Pierce damage from Eveline Deschamps's Bullet Dance. Resist! AS: Take! Ririka Kawase takes 0 Almighty damage from Eveline Deschamps's Truesight Protocol. AS: Eveline Deschamps's Strength Scan! Ririka Kawase resists Earth! AS: Eveline Deschamps's Weakness Scan! Ririka Kawase is weak against Elec! AS: Eveline Deschamps's Support Scan! Ririka Kawase has passive skills Break Limit, Earth Boost, Skill Card Affinity, Spotlight, Team Player, and Tough Love! <Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Once Queen and the others have left, the Monabus *poofs*, leaving the others to stand and fight. (Mona is plenty eager to fight, but he also knows the score: jump back into the shadows and lurk just in case they need to beat a hasty retreat.)
Joker glances over their shoulder at Skull and nods--that sure is Ichika's sister. Their masked eyes go briefly towards Katsuko as she summons her Persona--but they only see another masked Persona User like themselves and not anyone they know, thanks to the obscuring power of the Will of Rebellion. Something that Isabeau and her 'friends' don't seem to share...
They pause to smirk toothily at Umie, who's got her own friend with her and seems equally ready for a brawl. Kanae, though... She isn't usually this eager for blood. Or she didn't used to be, anyway. Well, far be it for Joker to get in between someone and their rival--especially as one who needs to be punched in the face as much as Isabeau does. (Or... stabbed in the face, as that one guy Kanae co-opts attempts. ...Barring any actual attempted murder, Joker will leave them to it.)
Especially when Isabeau goes out of her way to say that Kanae is a lonely loner who fights alone. That's an interesting take, given that she just bossed a random person into fighting alongside her. Even more interesting is how she proudly introduces herself and says her father is deeper within. Joker glances past her for a moment, as if they might be able to spot Laurent.
In the meantime, Queen addresses Alain, and Joker regards him as well with gloved hands tucked into their coat pockets. They've got their eye on all of Isabeau's companions, from Eveline to Vivienne, but when Alain responds, Joker focuses in on him. "Joker," they reply simply. "This is Skull and Queen." They point their chin at Isabeau. "Is she really your friend? She seems like she fancies herself your boss instead."
However Alain responds, though, he proceeds to unhinge part of his mask and--smash a vial of blood in his hand to drip into his mouth?! That's already alarming enough, and puts Joker on alert, even without the flames that rise up around him and the horse-like Persona that he rides as he speeds up his compatriots and then charges into Joker's. They roll to one side and come up as Alain points a hammer at them, sending jagged rocks to pierce towards them. These are harder to evade; though they manage not to get struck dead-on, one does slice along their coat, leaving a red wound behind.
"Retirement, huh? And what was worth that to you, Alain?" Joker calls as they raise a gloved hand to their mask. It bursts into blue flame, calling up Arèene at their back. However he responds, Joker doesn't care for the way his Persona Bayard rushed their friends--so they call on their other self to flap their black wings and drain the speed from Alain and his other self in a drain of greenish light.
"Skull, get in there and do what you do best. Queen, let us know his weaknesses and give us support," they command to their companions.
AS: Persona! Ren Amamiya has used the Almighty skill Sukunda on Alain Wakamatsu! AS: Ruin: Ren Amamiya gains 1 Limit! AS: Take! Alain Wakamatsu takes 0 Almighty damage from Ren Amamiya's Sukunda. AS: Spd_Up removed! <Pose Tracker> Ryuji Sakamoto has posed.
Skull mouth opens when he realizes that the entire French squad heard him. Especially the dude who is coming at them.
Ryuji cringes a little, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "uhh..My bad dude? Guess you can still hear good?" Ryuji deliberately uses the wrong word because he is goading Frenchman to correct him.
Then he'd be a nerd too.
But Ryuji's little dip into being a smart ass jerk backfires. He blinks when sees the horsey Persona, smiling. "Uhhh guess you go to the track a lot too...Horses on the brain--" Ryuji is struck by attack.
He swings his pipe reflexively but he takes the majority of each hit. The delinquent runs a hand along his chin, seeing a little blood from where he bit his cheek. "Heh...You know, I take that back. Only an absolute -GEEZER- would care what a stranger has to say... Get bent, asshole"
"LET'S GO, Captain Kidd!" The skeleton rides into existence on a unseen sea. The pirate roars silently as smoke comes from it's grinning face.
Skull takes a deep breath and rotates his swinging arm. "Hey, old man. We better hurry this up if you're gonna make your stories on the TV." Skull grins devilishly, patting the pipe against his shoulder as the Skeleton Pirate surges forward on crashing waves, eyes glowing as it fires bolts of electricity toward the older man.
AS: Persona! Ryuji Sakamoto has used the Elec skill Rapid Zio on Alain Wakamatsu! 3 Hits! AS: Aggression: Ryuji Sakamoto gains 1 Limit! AS: Avoid Neutral! Alain Wakamatsu takes 16 Elec damage from Ryuji Sakamoto's Rapid Zio. AS: Avoid Neutral! Alain Wakamatsu takes 38 Elec damage from Ryuji Sakamoto's Rapid Zio. Critical Hit! AS: Avoid Worst! Alain Wakamatsu takes 23 Elec damage from Ryuji Sakamoto's Rapid Zio. <Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
Isabeau calls Kanae out, again. And Alain tells them to have fun. "I won't!" Kanae assures Alain, and then scowls harder at Isabeau. "Your FACE doesn't have any friends!"
Yeah, Isabeau won that round.
But Noriaki is good, apparently. Kanae finally gets a good look at him and opens her mouth. Then she closes it. "yeah!" she says. "Partners!"
Nevermind that he's a scruffy, dirty man with a machete. She needs allies and she's sticking to it!
Bronze. And they're being very friendly. But still--Mighty winds tear across her, and kanae takes a big hit, knocked back into one of the walls hard. "Augh!" Kanae complains, and then hits the ground. "Fine. That's how it is?"
She looks to Alain, supporting the others. "I don't think so!"
Kanae drags herself up and stabs her gunblade into the wet ground. "PERSONA!"
But it's not the same one she summoned a moment ago; with a tink of glass, the Face she shows the world changes, and out emerges a black winged demon, cross-legged, holding a crown and a flame. "Baphomet! Let's go!"
Rings of light descend upon Isabeau, as Kanae moves to deactivate her buffs. Now, one might wonder: that version of an attack can affect a wide area, can't it?
Yes, it can. Kanae is targeting just Isabeau out of spite.
"You think I didn't learn from last time!?"
It's true that Kanae isn't usually this bloodthirsty at all--but then, Isabeau does have a very punchable face.
AS: Persona! Kanae Fuyuki has used the Almighty skill Dekaja on Isabeau Fontaine! AS: Take! Isabeau Fontaine takes 0 Almighty damage from Kanae Fuyuki's Dekaja. AS: Spd_Up removed! <Pose Tracker> Makoto Niijima has posed.
Isabeau's talk of 'matters further inside' does make Makoto's eyes narrow. "What matters?" Her eyes glance back to the Mona. Morgana only tends to smell targets, but for all Queen knows, there's someone they could be after. Maybe she's just primed to expect the worst, but...
Eveline's insult clearly stings Queen, but she shakes her head. "...Do you even know what this place actually is?" She asks back, trying to get Eveline's measure.
Queen's frown deepens when Alain says that the matter is... fitting- only to gasp out loud when Alain shatters a vial of blood into his mouth. "What in the world is that!?"
But she only has a second before Bayard's shockwaves slam into her, and Queen tries to charge back- something that doesn't work out for her, the earthen shell provided by her armour seemingly ineffective against Alain and Bayard, while Queen gets badly battered, sent rolling backwards.
"...Got it, Joker." She acknowledges, falling unusually into the backline for now. "Don't underestimate him, he hits like a truck."
Still, Queen can't help but frown at Skull, even as she pulls her panda calculator out of... thin air, essentially. But somehow, the math device helps as she studies Bayard. "We should be cautious. We don't know what we're up against here- but neither do they."
At least someone here was taught to respect her elders, given that moment of stinkeye towards Skull. (Even if her elders suck, look, it's been a whole upbringing.)
AS: Persona! Makoto Niijima has used the Almighty skill Shadow Factorization on Alain Wakamatsu! AS: Take! Alain Wakamatsu takes 0 Almighty damage from Makoto Niijima's Shadow Factorization. AS: Makoto Niijima's Strength Scan! Alain Wakamatsu resists Earth! AS: Makoto Niijima's Weakness Scan! Alain Wakamatsu is weak against Fire! <Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Why is the first reaction of all of Ichika's friends to protect her? Still, she takes note of the Phantom's Presence, though they seem busywith another of these 'Wild Hunt' folks.
Kanae (Ririka guesses that has to be her, given her reaction) tells her it's NOT friendly, Ririka sighs. "Is it too much to ask for a week without a life or death battle?"
She's watching Isabeau who is certainly... enthusiastic about what she's doing. Who then tells Eve to tell her about it, and her attention shifts to the other Navigator, listening. "A little deeper than I'd planned," she admits. "But I had to check it out."
She sucks in a sharp breath as Guro Rysserova focuses her attention , watching Eve curiously.
Ririka has only had to take to fighting recently--she feels bound by chains of duty and obligation, a sense that she is 'supposed' to use her talents for the mere fact that she has them. Her instincts are guided by tempo and rhythm, someone who listens to the world before acting.
There's a very potent drum beat within, though, a new drive that is starting to propel her forward rather than just be dragged by those chains.
"So you're a Navigator, too..." Muses Ririka. "Alright then. Amphion! Analysis!"
The Persona strums, bombarding Eveline with soundwaves. Ririka puts the large cognitive headphones hanging around her neck back on her head, listening to the sounds as they come in for the information buried within.
And then she glances to Katsuko, watching how her Persona emerges from the shadows. "Cool move. Since we're doing this... I'll back you up, alright?"
AS: Persona! Ririka Kawase has used the Almighty skill Basic Analysis on Eveline Deschamps! AS: Insight: Ririka Kawase gains 1 Limit! <Pose Tracker> Vivienne Sournois has posed.
They've really encountered quite the assortment, haven't they? Tonight will certainly be interesting, regardless of how the fight itself turns out. She takes on the sight of each of the opposing Persona Users, one after the other, before focusing her attention on the ones that stop in front of her.
Ah, yes, these two... They were at trivia night, weren't they?
"Ah! You've heard of me! I'm flattered!" Vivienne replies brightly. "I am a blacksmith. Vivienne Sournois - of Kagurazaka's own Le Cinema du Monde. Were you looking to have any work done? ...Ah - but perhaps that should wait?"
It's time to fight, after all - and Umie makes the first move. The metal ring is hurled. Vivienne reacts quickly, moving to try to avoid it - but it still manages to catch her, looping around her hand.
A smile crosses her face. She regards Tamaki with interest as her Persona is summoned. A golden X cuts in the air, and Vivienne makes a brief judgment - and doesn't move. It strikes her, and she staggers back... and with the momentum, she yanks on the ring around her arm, swinging in with a testing swipe of her second sword as she tries to free the arm holding the other.
What Vivienne hasn't noticed is the results of Tamaki's attack - highlighting a weakness to Fire-based attacks.
Shortly after, Alain summons his Persona - and Vivienne feels that extra surge of speed. For her, she's in her element.
"My thanks!" Vivienne calls back to him, and turns back toward Tamaki.
"Now then - I suppose it's my turn." She says. She reaches into her coat, drawing out a vial similar to those her companions have used. For her, however, the vial issues forth a soporific mist, which Vivienne breathes in.
"Skadi. Let us cool things down a bit, shall we?" Vivienne entreats - and behind her a tall, blue-skinned woman in a heavy winter coat and a helmet appears, armed for battle with a spear and a bow on her back and skis on her feet.
A hand is cast toward Tamaki, and the air around her rapidly begins to grow cold, icicles beginning to form - and the longer one remains in the zone of cold, the weaker one feels.
AS: Weapon! Vivienne Sournois has used the Slash skill Advancing Slash on Umie Akabane! 2 Hits! AS: Persona! Vivienne Sournois has used the Water skill Cold Snap on Tamaki Uchida! AS: Ruin: Vivienne Sournois gains 1 Limit! AS: Vivienne Sournois regains 6 SP from Invigorate! AS: Avoid Worst! Umie Akabane takes 48 Slash damage from Vivienne Sournois's Advancing Slash. AS: Avoid Worst! Umie Akabane takes 70 Slash damage from Vivienne Sournois's Advancing Slash. Critical Hit! AS: Block Neutral! Tamaki Uchida takes 64 Water damage from Vivienne Sournois's Cold Snap. Weak! <Pose Tracker> Alain Wakamatsu has posed.
"'Yes. You sure look as if you aren't having any.'" Alain asides to Kanae in French. "Of course. We are teammates- after all." Is Alain's response to Eve. There's nothing malicious in it, indeed, he's saying he will cooperate with them all. But perhaps it's still not a wonderful reminder of the fact that he would have referred to her something quite different not too many years ago. "Enjoy the swiftness, Vivi."
"Joker it is. With all the implications thereof..." He nods at him, and with his mask, it's impossible to see a smile, "I understand why you would think that of mon choupinette. But you're... off the mark."
He taps the side of his head, right where his ears would be, "Everything." He says in an amused tone to Skull.
Joker responds immediately with, "Ah, good call." He praises him, "Taking away my advantages is the right move." He says as he leaps off his Persona at Skull's cry of 'asshole' - side stepping the first of the Zio's lightning bolts. Then barely twisting out of the way of the second.
The third cascades through his body with a ripple of electricity, and he rolls his shoulders and bends slightly, with a hand at his lower back. "Ah. My back..." Like he's stretching somewhat. Right as his Persona finishes rounding around, and stands on two feet, pointing at Skull.
Who feels his movements slow significantly, right as Alain charges forward and Bayard charges behind Skull, and with a mighty swing of his hooked hammer tries to slam it against him, hooking it on his outfit to drive him to the ground, and use that grip if it lands to grind him against the Mementos floor.
"... is what a Geezer would complain about, no?"
Right as Bayard leaps and he tries to unhook his hammer, as the Persona attempts to land right on top of Skull with cratering force.
Then trying to rear up atop Skull, the Persona points at Queen, this time attempting to reduce her defenses significantly, with a burst of energy that seeps into her.
Right before Alain rushes up, this time - swinging his hammer in a wide arc, splitting the air to try and prevent her from escaping. "Correct. Though the same applies to us." He admits. "We know nothing of your own capabilities. As for 'that'... it is our own method of summoning our Personas." He says, seeing little harm in telling her.
'What was that worth to you?'
"Ah - I think the answer is one you'd quite understand. Still - for now let us just say we're reliving our glory days." As he cocks his head towards Skull, "As old men often do." He's really not going to let this go, is he?
The Persona seems to levitate, aerially, before then flying in towards Joker, turning around and kicking with it's hind hooves. A multitude of hooves appearing in the air, ready to strike.
AS: Alain Wakamatsu spends Limit on Exploit! Alain Wakamatsu can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Alain Wakamatsu spends Limit on Exploit! Alain Wakamatsu can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Persona! Alain Wakamatsu has used the Almighty skill Sukunda on Ryuji Sakamoto! AS: Persona! Alain Wakamatsu has used the Almighty skill Rakunda on Makoto Niijima! AS: Tandem! Alain Wakamatsu has used the Slash skill Terra Break on Ryuji Sakamoto! 2 Hits! AS: Weapon! Alain Wakamatsu has used the Strike skill Without Breaking A Few Eggs on Makoto Niijima! AS: Persona! Alain Wakamatsu has used the Strike skill Steady Smash on Ren Amamiya! <Pose Tracker> Katsuko Yoshinaga has posed.
In the sanctuary of the shadows, with a few precious moments to observe the situation, Katsuko's face took on the faintest hint of recognition behind her masks. She did not know anything of Eveline, and what she'd seen of her had not given her much insight into how to gain a tactical advantage. It was a little frustrating, she admitted quietly to herself, but such things would just have to be taken in stride. If nothing else, the 'friendly competition' would serve as a way to collect usable data, and perhaps create a contingency plan for if they ever met again. Amongst the rest of them, only Kanae and Tamaki were recognised, but she did not spare them a glance. They seemed otherwise occupied, and Ririka - another unrecognised individual - took her attention with a declaration of their temporary alliance.
"Then let's finish this quickly. Time's money, and I've lost enough of both already." She said, her voice clear as a bell, despite the mask that stood before her mouth.
Katsuko raised her rifle to take a shot, but the sight of those vials caused her to hesitate. Intellectually, she knew she should not have been surprised. The supernatural realm held many strange sights - that of strangers crushig glass vials in their hand and ingesting the contents was rather tame in comparison to the manifestations of historical figures and environments shaped by humanity's emotions. But, it was new, it was novel, and it was something that Katsuko deemed worthy of investigation at a later date. For the time being, however, dealing with her foe would have to be the focus.
"At least you people have good taste. In weapons *and* in books."
Every fragment of her sentence seemed to emerge from a different shadow whilst echoing across different walls. Anyone with sharp enough eyes or ears could have tracked her - she was a novice, after all, and still learning the intricacies of stealth upon the battlefield. But to the casual observer, she might as well have been everywhere at once. Eveline, Katsuko assumed, was one of those sharp-eyed people. Her evidence? The pinpoint accuracy with which she fired that rifle at her, even as she obscured herself amongst the dark.
The shot was too quick for her to evade, and her active thoughts could not be processed quickly enough to have Dantes block the shot himself. There was only one thing for it. Katsuko drew her cloak across her body and braced, turning and letting the bullet impact somewhere she knew she could take it. It did not kill her, but even so, her ribs felt as though they had been beaten with a sledgehammer. The fact that she'd not had the wind knocked clean from her was something she found nothing short of miraculous.
Katsuko returned the shot in short order. She raised the rifle to her eye, and the very moment she lined up her shot, the bright flare of detonating gunpowder bather her in a bright orange glow. There she was, clearly visible for all of a heartbeat, crouching in the shadows, before once more being reclaimed by them. The shot rang out like thunder, the bullet a strike of lightning, streaking towards Eveline's head. Whatever mercy was given to Katsuko, she did not seem inclined to return.
AS: Take! Ryuji Sakamoto takes 0 Almighty damage from Alain Wakamatsu's Sukunda. AS: Spd_Dn added! AS: Weapon! Katsuko Yoshinaga has used the Pierce skill Skullsplitter on Eveline Deschamps! AS: Aggression: Katsuko Yoshinaga gains 1 Limit! AS: Katsuko Yoshinaga regains 7 HP from Regenerate! and 6 SP from Invigorate! AS: Counter Best! Ryuji Sakamoto takes 74 Slash damage from Alain Wakamatsu's Terra Break. AS: COUNTER! Alain Wakamatsu takes 56 Slash damage in return for his attack! AS: Block Worst! Ryuji Sakamoto takes 113 Slash damage from Alain Wakamatsu's Terra Break. Critical Hit! AS: Avoid Best! Ren Amamiya takes 37 Strike damage from Alain Wakamatsu's Steady Smash. Critical Hit! AS: Take! Eveline Deschamps takes 0 Almighty damage from Ririka Kawase's Basic Analysis. AS: Ririka Kawase's Strength Scan! Eveline Deschamps resists Fire! AS: Ririka Kawase's Weakness Scan! Eveline Deschamps is weak against Light! AS: Block Neutral! Eveline Deschamps takes 42 Pierce damage from Katsuko Yoshinaga's Skullsplitter. AS: Take! Makoto Niijima takes 0 Almighty damage from Alain Wakamatsu's Rakunda. AS: Def_Dn added! AS: Block Neutral! Makoto Niijima takes 36 Strike damage from Alain Wakamatsu's Without Breaking A Few Eggs. <Pose Tracker> Noriaki Okaga has posed.
"Wild Hunt, eh?" Noriaki remarks as Eve makes her introductions. "Ain't room for that many hunters in one hunting ground. Guess we'll see which one of us can hack it!"
Partners, Kanae affirms, and Noriaki grunts, rolling his shoulders as if to limber up. "Enemy of my enemy, or whatever. Just don't get in my way, girly!"
But the battle he's gotten dragged into is with only one of their number in this precise moment. "Yeah? You got a problem with that, kiddo?" he snaps back at Isabeau, that grin of his -- his eyes are not visible under the shadow cast by his hood -- widening further. "You wanted this!"
Is it dried blood? Is it a trick of Mementos? It's hard to know what the reality of the weapon that Noriaki bears -- freely, against a younger person -- might be. It does look well-used, though, and it's certainly not in good condition. The edge is chipped.
But it never connects with Isabeau herself. "Ha! Faster 'n you look!" he calls back, falling back into a quick readied stance himself. "Let's see what you're--"
Winds swirl in, catching him solidly along the middle. Though he staggers, bracing himself against the cutting gale, he doesn't fall. One hand draws something from within his hoodie's pocket. He jams it up underneath his chin.
Is that all he's got?
"I'm only gettin' warmed up, kiddo!" he calls out, pulling the trigger on the gun-like item. Red light bursts around him, congealing into the form of his Persona.
Efnysien, a shadow, looms in the skeletal bath of his cauldron. Rising sharply within the cauldron, the Persona brandishes a blade that bursts into flame. Efnysien slashes once, twice through the air in an 'X' which roars like a missile to the place where Isabeau stands.
AS: Tandem! Noriaki Okaga has used the Fire skill Firebrand on Isabeau Fontaine! 3 Hits! AS: Avoid Best! Isabeau Fontaine takes 8 Fire damage from Noriaki Okaga's Firebrand. AS: Avoid Neutral! Isabeau Fontaine takes 26 Fire damage from Noriaki Okaga's Firebrand. Critical Hit! AS: Avoid Best! Isabeau Fontaine takes 11 Fire damage from Noriaki Okaga's Firebrand. Critical Hit! <Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
It's too bad Wild Hunt is so French, because there's a German word, Backpfeifengesicht, that suits Isabeau perfectly. (Eveline's snooty remark about how The Phantoms haven't been maintaining their turf well enough might just upgrade her to Backpfeifengesicht status too. At least Vivienne is so friendly she not only names herself but also her workplace?? Strange people...)
Right now, Joker gives Kanae a sharp little glance, eyes wide behind their mask, when she summons Baphomet--a different Persona from what she'd summoned just a moment before. She also has the power of the Wild Card?
Their red-gloved hands squeeze into fists for just a moment.
Off the mark, hm. "Which mark? That she thinks she's your boss, or that she thinks she's your friend?" Joker asks. It could go either way, after all--and they have no idea what 'mon choupinette' means to give them some kind of context. Personally, if this Laurent, her father, is the group's boss, that would explain a lot... For the time being, Alain seems to take Skull's taunting in stride and even go along with the joke of being an old man, which does earn him some points in Joker's book. They respect someone who can keep their cool even after being taunted. (Their feelings on him praising their tactical decisions is more mixed, however.)
Either way, it's clear that this man is quite strong, even just seeing the way he charges into Skull and hearing Queen's warning about how hard he hits. "Skull!" Joker calls sharply--but this is no foe to panic against. That vial-shattering--that was him summoning his Persona? There was that fire, but...
No time to consider that. Bayard charges at Joker to kick at them with their hooves. They wait until the last second to leap backwards, and their gambit pays off; their evasive maneuvers mean Bayard can't chase after them, and moving with the momentum of his attack means diminishing the amount of force it has. They spin backwards and land on their feet; Arsène mirrors their movements before vanishing.
Once Queen announces Alain's strengths and weaknesses, Joker gives her a little nod. "Then you'd better take the front line after all, and I'll handle support," they tell her. No need to explain why, with her elemental proclivity towards nuclear fire. They rise up and once again grasp their mask--but this time, they call up a Puss-in-Boots-ish feline. "Cait Sith!" they call, and the orange cat raises his sword and mroowwwlls, right before calling up a spell to strengthen the three Phantoms' attacks.
AS: Ren Amamiya spends Limit on Shift! Makoto Niijima can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Persona! Ren Amamiya has used the Almighty skill Matarukaja on Ren Amamiya, Ryuji Sakamoto, and Makoto Niijima! AS: Ren Amamiya: Bind removed! AS: Take! Ryuji Sakamoto takes 0 Almighty damage from Ren Amamiya's Matarukaja. AS: Atk_Up added! AS: Take! Ren Amamiya takes 0 Almighty damage from Ren Amamiya's Matarukaja. AS: Atk_Up added! <Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
"Ah." Umie itches under the edge of her mask. "Sorry, I... blanked out on that. Palaces and Mementos seem to have similar make-ups, yeah."
Umie may be a 'veteran' compared to others, but is it in *spite* of her tendencies, or because she's learned from them? Such mysteries, with Umie Akabane.
Thankfully, Tamaki doesn't get too far from Umie's sight, especially as her yelling Umie's name means Umie can't *afford* to. "Don't shout my name like that," she hisses before they get too close, eyes widened behind her mask as she attempts to get Tamaki's attention. "Once my identity is blow, it's blown." She says this, to the person she's yet to suggest another name to.
This is a problem for Future Umie.
In the battle proper, Umie's initial mood has lifted massively-- at least, initially, until she catches sight of *him*. "Why the hell..." Umie squints her eyes briefly at Noriaki, realizing, in that same scan of this angle of the area, that Eveline is *also* here, fighting on the same 'side' as Isabeau. "... are *you* here, Ben--" nonono don't reveal your identity, Umie, ha ha ha "--beeen a few nights since your *last* night out, huh." Her lips twist as she hears Eveline reveal the name of this 'group', but she carries on that conversation with Noriaki. "That man survived, by the way. You failed."
Tamaki may be grateful that Noriaki's on their side, but Umie isn't above some 'friendly' banter, especially if it may lead to exposing what Noriaki's done to everyone here. The blood on that machete may be possibly cognitive, but Umie's not able to let him off the hook. "Yank someone out of a coffin like that again and I'll--OOF!"
She had been watching Vivienne, but the woman's speed being enhanced by Alain has made her much more nimble that what Umie could keep up with; the *yank* on Umie's weapon brings her right up against Vivienne's own, neatly cutting into the young blonde.
Yeaaaahhh, that's a sharp weapon alright.
What's more, as Umie sees out of the corner of her eye, Tamaki's not having a great time with ice.
Falling away to land besides Tamaki, Umie wills Badb up above her with a silent decree.
The air ripples over Tamaki's head, but the ragged wings of Badb do not disappear just yet; in fact, Umie raises her hand, and the Badb answers with a widening void of a smile, red lips revealing a black nothingness behind them.
"Don't get ahead of yourselves," Umie begins, blonde wisps of hair messily beginning to spill from her hood, "I'll level the playing field before we're through."
AS: Umie Akabane spends Limit on Exploit! Umie Akabane can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Persona! Umie Akabane has used the Recovery skill Shroud on Tamaki Uchida! AS: Take! Tamaki Uchida takes 69 Recovery healing from Umie Akabane's Shroud. AS: Eclipse added! AS: Persona! Umie Akabane has used the Almighty skill Scarlet Sigil on Vivienne Sournois, Alain Wakamatsu, Isabeau Fontaine, and Eveline Deschamps! AS: Ruin: Umie Akabane gains 1 Limit! AS: Umie Akabane regains 3 SP from Invigorate! AS: Take! Vivienne Sournois takes 0 Almighty damage from Umie Akabane's Scarlet Sigil. AS: Take! Alain Wakamatsu takes 0 Almighty damage from Umie Akabane's Scarlet Sigil. AS: Take! Makoto Niijima takes 0 Almighty damage from Ren Amamiya's Matarukaja. AS: Atk_Up added! <Pose Tracker> Ryuji Sakamoto has posed.
Skull is ...learning today. Next time, make sure the window of the Monabus is rolled up before trash talking someone. Evidently, the French hold grudges.
Skull is pretty amused when Alain hurts his back. "Dude. For real? You aren't helping your case..."
Again, Ryuji takes a lot of the attack, getting sandwiched first. He can't even really process how time went all weird...The delinquent clenches his teeth as he is slammed into the ground.
Skull coughs as the onslaught finishes. He grins through the pain as he moves to get up. "Heh...you're right. You just keep kicking my ass and proving me right, no?" He tilts his head mockingly before he coughs again.
The guy looks hurt.
Ryuji cranes his head when Joker yells his name. He coughs and gives the leader a thumbs up. "Not dead yet!"
He rolls his shoulder as he feels Joker's spell hit him, making his movements have a little more oomph.
"Alright, dude. I'll give you th---PIPE TO THE KNEE!" Ryuji suddenly swings his pipe straight for Alain's knee, just as advertised.
AS: Persona! Ryuji Sakamoto has used the Strike skill Street Justice on Alain Wakamatsu! 3 Hits! AS: Aggression: Ryuji Sakamoto gains 1 Limit! AS: Block Worst! Alain Wakamatsu takes 79 Strike damage from Ryuji Sakamoto's Street Justice. Critical Hit! AS: Block Best! Alain Wakamatsu takes 44 Strike damage from Ryuji Sakamoto's Street Justice. Critical Hit! AS: Block Best! Alain Wakamatsu takes 44 Strike damage from Ryuji Sakamoto's Street Justice. Critical Hit! AS: Tamaki Uchida spends Limit on Exploit! Tamaki Uchida can use another Weak skill this round! <Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Tamaki narrows her eyes as she glimpses the text of her binder, then gazes more directly at Vivienne. Right about now, she's immensely thankful for Eriko's infectious enthusiasm in certain subject matter: it just might save her hide tonight. If she's right, this could be bad.
"One of your number informed me of your services, yes." She glances at her own sabre. " -- this blade has some sentimental value, let's say, but I'm open to the idea of a trade. We can certainly discuss it later."
It's now that Tamaki takes stock of the other familiar faces in the crowd.
There's a few of the Phantom Thieves she saw at the Palace: Joker, Queen, and Skull, but no Phoenix. Was their alliance with the Thieves temporary, the same as hers?
Kanae and Katsuko are two other faces Tamaki recognizes from the previous time the Hunt had antagonized them. Kanae seems to hold a particular enmity for one of their numbers -- there's history there.
Ririka, from SEES, also present at Kamiya's Palace. Seemingly an outlier here, getting a lay of the land in Mementos, same as her and Umie -- but alone.
Tamaki's eyes aren't where they should have been: she took her eyes off of her opponent. Her instincts were correct, but her reflexes were slow. Skadi's cold spell snaps Tamaki to her senses, but not before cutting deep at some long-dormant fears: those of the Reaper, tales of various ferrymen, the chill of the rivers Sanzu, Styx, and Cocytus.
The river she saw in those dreams that she had feared she may never wake from. She's put her binder away, and her left hand holds her six-coined necklace with a white-knuckle grip.
Still shivering from the bracing cold, Tamaki flashes a grin Vivienne's way: she remains cordial, but that smile and those eyes are a little too wide. "Dressed for the winter, are you? I suppose I came in with too few layers. We should fix that!"
Umie provides her aid, shrouding Tamaki. The feeling of a full night's rest, a hearty breakfast, preparation to face the day's trials anew. Tamaki's own smile returns to something more genuine and less -- well, haunted.
She gives Alain a side-eyed glance as Bayard provides the Hunters with some alacrity-based assistance. " -- and in my opinion, your group has too many. Come now, let's fight on more even footing."
Arianrhod's broadsword is a blur as she makes three motions in rapid succession.
First, she strikes the earth, briefly forming the image of a reflective pool of water underneath Vivienne, the image of a full moon visible in the 'sky' below. The ground she walks on is still solid, and the pool fades, but the effects linger.
Then, two wide, sweeping horizontal slashes: a giant red V forms in the air, then travels forward, just as the earlier golden X did, but it splits in four directions, aimed at each member of the Hunt. Should they make contact, blue and green mist spray into the air, enchantments separated from the people they've been bestowed to.
AS: Persona! Tamaki Uchida has used the Almighty skill Light Break on Vivienne Sournois! <Pose Tracker> Isabeau Fontaine has posed.
Isabeau might like violence, Eve. Just a lottle bit.
... which is probably why it's lucky Alain is buffing everyone. "Brilliant!" She calls out to him, with praise. Why does she know that word? Well, her father's Laurent. She's learned an above-average amount of theatric descriptors for her language level.
Isabeau does feel like she heard a surprisingly feline mode of transportation back there, but... well, she's too distracted by the FIGHT to go find the kitty cat. (Are there cats in Mementos? She's certainly rescued cats from Tartarus...) Luckily, she trusts Alain enough not to keep arguing with Joker personally; he knows they're friends! Hmph!!
(Isabeau is certainly trying a little too hard, but who can blame her? She's still young; she has something to prove.)
"I will!" Isabeau chirps to Alain, in chorus with Kanae's insistance that she won't. But... her face doesn't have any friends? "Demonstrated to be untrue!" Isabeau jeers, to Kanae. "I am Hunting with my friends!" They're still adults, Isabeau, you're clearly not that mature. "You have had to pick this man off the side of the road, mean-while, like some kind of discarded fellow covered in dirt?! I am surprised he takes your charity."
But Kanae changes her Face, and -- "YOU DIRTY CHEATER!" Isabeau exclaims, as those rings of light descend over her. "Do you KNOW how much EFFORT Dance of Protection takes to invoke?! Rrrrgh... FINE! I do not NEED energy to `KICK YOUR ASS!`" Yes, she lapsed into French to say that last part. She still doesn't know how to swear in Japanese properly, and also, Kanae's making her that mad. Luckily, one invocation's the same between languages: "MIELIKKI!"
That waspish little woman appears again, flying straight into Kanae's space to slash at her with those oversized bear claws.
"Now on top of your crimes you have people thinking this is a fight to the death!" She adds, acerbic, to Kanae. (She heard Ririka, apparently.) "I hope you will pay for their mental anguish bills when they realise we are simply engaging them in competition!" ... Isabeau forgot the word for 'therapy', huh.
And then -- "Scouting Mementos, of course!" Isabeau calls, to Queen, revealing her complete lack of opsec in the process as she answers what they're doing deeper in. Don't just... answer people when they ask you things, Isabeau, c'mon!!
"We may be immigrated, but still are we the Hunters here!" Isabeau huffs, to Noriaki. "And you..."
... are kind of freaking her out?! Like, when Noriaki says 'hack it', does he mean, like, literally, with that machete and stuff?
"I -- I have no problem!" She insists, grasping her spear anew. But Umie yells at him, and Isabeau blinks, looking back to Noriaki. "Eh? You can remove people from those coffins? The ones at the Hour of Dark, no?" It's the Dark Hour, Isabeau, you got your subject-verb-object all mixed up.
Red light bursts from around him, though -- and Isabeau for sure isn't getting any closer to that weird creepy Persona, so back she leaps again, lifting her spear to parry the blows away from her.
Yeah, Ren, she absolutely has a punchable face.
"You are very intense...!" Isabeau exclaims, as the force of those attacks knocks her to the ground. She stabs her spear into the ground to push herself back up. "I am not, however, only a force which pushes forward. Persona!"
Mielikki appears, again, to weave in a sultry dance around Noriaki... it's Marin Karin!!
But while Mielikki is busy with that, Isabeau is charging forward, because apparently not only means in addition to. With a press of a latch at her ruby spear, the long shaft collapses down into the haft of a ruby knife --
That's not a spear! That's a SPEARKNIFE! And it's stabbing right for him--!! "You are not the only one with a knife!" She crows, proudly.
Badb cries out across the battlefield, though, and it's like Marin Karin; Arianrhod's attack, meanwhile, is not. It's kind of like Dekaja, just, you know, it hurts more. She springs back from it, but it meets its mark, anyway. "Ugh... a remarkable blow!"
AS: Persona! Tamaki Uchida has used the Slash skill Sever Boon on Vivienne Sournois, Alain Wakamatsu, Isabeau Fontaine, and Eveline Deschamps! AS: Tamaki Uchida takes 50 damage from Stress! AS: Isabeau Fontaine spends Limit on Exploit! Isabeau Fontaine can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Take! Isabeau Fontaine takes 0 Almighty damage from Umie Akabane's Scarlet Sigil. AS: Charm added! AS: Avoid Best! Isabeau Fontaine takes 18 Slash damage from Tamaki Uchida's Sever Boon. AS: Def_Up removed! AS: Take! Vivienne Sournois takes 0 Almighty damage from Tamaki Uchida's Light Break. AS: Light_Break added! AS: Avoid Worst! Vivienne Sournois takes 71 Slash damage from Tamaki Uchida's Sever Boon. Critical Hit! AS: Persona! Isabeau Fontaine has used the Slash skill Fatal End on Kanae Fuyuki! AS: Charm results in party damage! Isabeau Fontaine takes 75 damage! AS: Defense: Isabeau Fontaine gains 1 Limit! AS: Persona! Isabeau Fontaine has used the Almighty skill Marin Karin on Noriaki Okaga! AS: Weapon! Isabeau Fontaine has used the Slash skill Cold-Blooded Strike on Noriaki Okaga! AS: Take! Eveline Deschamps takes 0 Almighty damage from Umie Akabane's Scarlet Sigil. AS: Block Best! Eveline Deschamps takes 43 Slash damage from Tamaki Uchida's Sever Boon. Critical Hit! AS: Spd_Up removed! AS: Counter Worst! Kanae Fuyuki takes 170 Slash damage from Isabeau Fontaine's Fatal End. AS: COUNTER! Isabeau Fontaine takes 41 Slash damage in return for her attack! AS: Take! Noriaki Okaga takes 0 Almighty damage from Isabeau Fontaine's Marin Karin. AS: Charm added! AS: Block Worst! Noriaki Okaga takes 62 Slash damage from Isabeau Fontaine's Cold-Blooded Strike. <Pose Tracker> Makoto Niijima has posed.
"Earth won't work. Stick to Fire and Nuke!" Queen relates Alain's weaknesses and strengths easily- even if Johanna's navigation capabilities are fiercely limited, understanding an enemy Persona is as doable as understandable as understanding a shadow.
She can't stop the Rakunda wash over her, though, just as Skull's ability to evade is reduced- but not enough to stop her holding firm against the incoming swing from the hammer, her massive tekko- the jolt passing through her arms, but not hard enough to throw her off too bad. "...That's a mean swing, Alain-san." Queen says, matter of factly. "But far from the worst I've had."
"Understood, Joker!" Still, her eyes cast to the beating Skull just took. He's not doing exactly great. That's fine. Queen can do two things. "Johanna!"
The motorcycle Persona emerges as Queen pushes back against Alain's hammer, before she flips backward through the ait to land upon Johanna with ease. "Frei!" She shouts, revving the engines- and as Johanna's exhaust flares with green flames, and a plume of nuclear energy blazes toward Alain as Queen speeds off on Johanna!
"...So you definitely don't understand what's going on here. If you did, you'd know that scouting wouldn't help you at all." Now what could that mean, Tutorial Fairy Niijima??
Queen skids to a halt next to Skull, and green sparks emerge from Johanna's engine to wash over their heavy hitter. "Skull, slow down! If you keep swinging that recklessly you won't be standing much longer. Sync up with Joker and me!"
Of course, once Skull is fired up, it's hard to get him to hold back- and maybe going all out is what they need.
AS: Persona! Makoto Niijima has used the Fire skill Frei on Alain Wakamatsu! AS: Persona! Makoto Niijima has used the Recovery skill Diarama on Ryuji Sakamoto! AS: Support: Makoto Niijima gains 1 Limit! AS: Avoid Worst! Alain Wakamatsu takes 115 Slash damage from Tamaki Uchida's Sever Boon. Critical Hit! AS: Avoid Neutral! Alain Wakamatsu takes 64 Fire damage from Makoto Niijima's Frei. Weak! AS: Blast added! <Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
"You should always treat a fight seriously," Kanae offers Ririka. "But no, I don't mean it's to the death, I just mean it's not friendly. Does this look friendly to you??"
She frowns at Alain. "I mean, I was having fun, before Isabeau showed up! And hey! Maybe hoodie-san is cool!"
'Don't get in his way'. Kanae considers this for a moment. "Eh, better than fighting with Isabeau," she allows after a moment. "And you smell better than she does, too." This is almost certainly a lie.
She realizes she doesn't particularly want Touma to grow a beard, though...
Kanae has no idea who Joker is, so she doesn't react to that. Instead--
She notices Umie appears to know Noriaki. "Uh?" Kanae says, looking between the two of them. She frowns then, and sees him use his Evoker. As the red light bursts...
That's a scary Persona.
"...Thanks," she says. "Now I remember not to use Fire."
But Isabeau hits her, and hard. Huge claws slash at her, and Kanae hits the ground hard, even as she tries to deflect the blow with her gunblade and retorts... some of the damage. "Is that how it is, then?" she asks.
Kanae takes a deep breath--and calms herself. She opens her brown eyes to look at Isabeau. "...All right. So Henry tells me I need to be more deliberate about these things..."
"Somebody already Charmed you. That means... I can take an advantage here."
"I just have to risk it. Right, Wakamatsu-san? You said I should take more risks if it's not to the death..."
"So here goes!"
Kanae rises smoothly, gunblade dragging the ground as she puts out one hand. "Succubus! Come forth!"
Tink. Another Persona emerges, and this one is the representation of her bond with....
You know? Maybe don't interrogate that.
"My friends give me power, too, Isabeau."
Succubus rises, and spins in place, her bat wings flapping as she leans forward as if sitting in the air. She blows Isabeau a kiss.
Then a gigantic stake drives from the ceiling down to smash Isabeau!!
...And a moment later, a gravitic force, purple and yellow, tries to drag her back to the ground.
"So what's your connection to Hoodie-san?" Kanae shouts at Umie.
AS: Kanae Fuyuki spends Limit on Exploit! Kanae Fuyuki can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Persona! Kanae Fuyuki has used the Pierce skill Cruel Attack on Isabeau Fontaine! AS: Persona! Kanae Fuyuki has used the Earth skill Gry on Isabeau Fontaine! AS: Kanae Fuyuki: Haze removed! AS: Counter Worst! Isabeau Fontaine takes 145 Pierce damage from Kanae Fuyuki's Cruel Attack. AS: COUNTER! Kanae Fuyuki takes 40 Pierce damage in return for her attack! AS: Block Neutral! Isabeau Fontaine takes 47 Earth damage from Kanae Fuyuki's Gry. AS: Paralyze added! AS: Take! Ryuji Sakamoto takes 150 Recovery healing from Makoto Niijima's Diarama. <Pose Tracker> Vivienne Sournois has posed.
"Oh? Then I will have to thank them." Vivienne replies, as Tamaki explains that one of them told her about her. "I see... I understand, of course. I do weapon maintenance, too. I can make it as sharp as the day it was forged, if you like. Better, perhaps. But certainly, a trade would also be wonderful."
Vivienne's slash lands, and Umie lands beside Tamaki. Vivienne turns to regard both of them, now, and watches as Umie calls upon her Persona.
Level the playing field, hm? A smile crosses Vivienne's lips.
"Please do. It's far more exciting that way, isn't it? A one-sided battle is only a tragedy." Vivienne replies. "Don't feel the need to hold back."
Badb smiles. Vivienne feels something wash over her - a pull, a distraction, but she pushes back at it.
"My, my..." Vivienne remarks with interest, before looking toward Tamaki.
"Naturally. All the better to break the ice, hm?" Vivienne replies.
Arianrhod's broadsword flashes through the air. Vivienne leaps back, but the reflective pool still appears beneath her - and with the flash of the full moon, suddenly, Mementos's lights seem all the harsher.
She can't concern herself with that feeling for long, however. A red V is carved into the air before splitting apart. Vivienne dives to the side, but she's too late to avoid it completely. It slashes into her, and a grin crosses her face.
"You two are serious, aren't you? Wonderful. I have been needing this." Vivienne comments. "Skadi!"
Skadi reappears, waving her hand in front of her.
Once more, the air begins to grow cold - though mercifully devoid of icicles, this time. It's a weakening chill, one that might make one feel more vulnerable... and Vivienne moves immediately to capitalise on it.
"Now - aim true!" Vivienne requests. Skadi draws her spear from her back, a poisonous residue beginning to drip from the head. She lunges toward, delivering a thrust toward Tamaki. With that she leaps back. Her spear is put away and bow drawn in its place, nocking an arrow before firing it toward Umie... where it explodes in a blinding flash, the moment it makes contact with anything.
AS: Vivienne Sournois spends Limit on Exploit! Vivienne Sournois can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Persona! Vivienne Sournois has used the Almighty skill Winter's Chill on Umie Akabane and Tamaki Uchida! AS: Ruin: Vivienne Sournois gains 1 Limit! AS: Persona! Vivienne Sournois has used the Pierce skill Poison Spear on Tamaki Uchida! AS: Persona! Vivienne Sournois has used the Pierce skill Flash Arrow on Umie Akabane! AS: Vivienne Sournois regains 6 SP from Invigorate! AS: Take! Tamaki Uchida takes 0 Almighty damage from Vivienne Sournois's Winter's Chill. AS: Sick added! AS: Block Neutral! Tamaki Uchida takes 38 Pierce damage from Vivienne Sournois's Poison Spear. AS: Take! Umie Akabane takes 0 Almighty damage from Vivienne Sournois's Winter's Chill. AS: Sick added! AS: Counter Best! Umie Akabane takes 93 Pierce damage from Vivienne Sournois's Flash Arrow. Critical Hit! AS: COUNTER! Vivienne Sournois takes 59 Pierce damage in return for her attack! AS: Makoto Niijima spends Limit on Shift! Ren Amamiya can use another Weak skill this round! They both receive 8 SP and 25 HP! <Pose Tracker> Alain Wakamatsu has posed.
"She's not our boss. As she said- she is the daughter of our 'leader'..." There's an inflection on the leader that is hard to decipher, does Alain not think well of their leader? "... so we're more like a strange family, in a sense. But she does not order us around."
He's not about to say they're more 'chaperones' allowing her to be trained and learn wisdom through her experiences as look he knows how teenagers are. That's the easiest way to get Isabeau to turn on him instantly.
Fortunately, Alain doesn't seem like he's intending to fight to the death. After all, he did not follow up on Skull to attempt a coup de grace.
Queen's comment on not the worst she's had, causes him to regard her in a new light, "You're quite sturdy, aren't you Queen? I'm rather fond of strong women." And yet the tone does not imply he's hitting on her in any sense. Simply a sort of framing her in a new light, at the new information.
Joker's words cause his stance to shift, like he's bracing himself for attacks on his discovered weakness, when Queen reveals it. "... Great." His Persona vanishes for a time, before the crimson flames rise again, and Bayard is summoned anew, spreading out a new blessing of power to his fellows. "We'll respond in kind, you understand." He makes clear to Joker.
Umie's silent decree made manifest from Badb and his Persona orients upon Badb, making a snorting noise, right as Arianrhod's titanic slash blasts the Equine Persona backwards, an act which causes Alain to glance at the pair, "Sorry to disappoint, but the playing field can't be changed in one's favor so simply." Which is when Skull comes up with a Pipe to a Knee.
Which connects, solidly, and the man makes a noise of pain, "Unfortunately for you... my name isn't Nancy." His hammer moves quickly to block the follow up strike, as Skull slams into it again, and then again. "Perhaps before your time."
His Persona rises up behind him as he draws back his hammer and swings DOWN - right before his Persona charges at Skull, and leaps over him to slam the ground. A large crack opens up in the Mementos floor giving him - something of a hazard.
Which is when Johanna appears and nuclear fire plumes clinging to him for a time, as he's stunned by the sudden explosion of power that dazes him, before he snaps back into attention, focusing upon Queen.
"You're the worst possible match up for me... good."
His Persona reappears then begins to wildly buck in a circle, sending out powerful wave of force after powerful wave of force at Queen and Joker.
"Why do you say that?" He asks Queen, in consideration of her statement about scouting Mementos. "I do not mind deferring to your expertise, if you don't mind explaining why you say that... what is your mission here?"
AS: Persona! Alain Wakamatsu has used the Almighty skill Matarukaja on Isabeau Fontaine, Vivienne Sournois, Eveline Deschamps, and Alain Wakamatsu! AS: Defense: Alain Wakamatsu gains 1 Limit! AS: Take! Alain Wakamatsu takes 0 Almighty damage from Alain Wakamatsu's Matarukaja. AS: Atk_Up added! AS: Take! Vivienne Sournois takes 0 Almighty damage from Alain Wakamatsu's Matarukaja. AS: Atk_Up added! AS: Tandem! Alain Wakamatsu has used the Earth skill Fissure on Ryuji Sakamoto! 2 Hits! AS: Take! Eveline Deschamps takes 0 Almighty damage from Alain Wakamatsu's Matarukaja. AS: Atk_Up added! AS: Persona! Alain Wakamatsu has used the Strike skill Rampage on Ren Amamiya and Makoto Niijima! 3 Hits! <Pose Tracker> Eveline Deschamps has posed.
"I don't know any more than the broader Persona User community. If you're insinuating that an information advantage you may possess grants you ownership..." Eve pauses.
And then, she grins from ear to ear. "We'll just have to see about that."
It helps mask her awkwardness around Alain, not that she's bad at that in general.
"Are you familiar with what they say about curiosity and cats?" she asks Ririka, as the scan hears that she sounds like a metronome, precise and always on point, always moving the tempo, but unsettled if set off balance. Light unbalances, fire is guarded.
"You're chained to the feelings of those around you, aren't you?" she asks.
Katsuko's bullet flies out, as the rifle is thrown into the air rapidly and disappears. Instead, a cane suddenly manifests into her hand, smashing out to guard the bullet, deflecting it away, allowing it to graze her cheek.
Umie's charm fires at her as well, but she doesn't seem very affected. "A charm technique, interesting. Perhaps try harder than that, hm?"
Tamaki's enchantment-breaking V however smashes into her cane, forcing her into a step backwards to keep footing. She loses her agility bonus, instead throwing up a hand for Guro Rysserova to spread a shrouding effect on her team! "Let's weaken your approaches."
And then, Guro Rysserova shoots out a blast of fire into the air. Instead of impacting on anyone, Eve whips her cane out, turning into a sword whip. It impacts with the flames as Alain's second buff washes out, coating it, before moving to strike twice at Katsuko and Ririka, flaming whip moving to rake against their bodies, before a third pair of strikes goes for Tamaki!
Umie, meanwhile, gets a smile. She's been MARKED.
AS: Persona! Eveline Deschamps has used the Recovery skill Wideguard Protocol on Alain Wakamatsu, Isabeau Fontaine, and Vivienne Sournois! AS: Insight: Eveline Deschamps gains 1 Limit! AS: Take! Alain Wakamatsu takes 0 Recovery healing from Eveline Deschamps's Wideguard Protocol. AS: Eclipse added! AS: Take! Vivienne Sournois takes 0 Recovery healing from Eveline Deschamps's Wideguard Protocol. AS: Eclipse added! AS: Counter Worst! Ryuji Sakamoto takes 171 Earth damage from Alain Wakamatsu's Fissure. Critical Hit! AS: COUNTER! Alain Wakamatsu takes 29 Earth damage in return for his attack! Resist! AS: Tandem! Eveline Deschamps has used the Fire skill Afterburn on Tamaki Uchida, Ririka Kawase, and Katsuko Yoshinaga! 2 Hits! AS: Eveline Deschamps: Bind removed! AS: Eveline Deschamps regains 10 SP from Invigorate! AS: Block Best! Ryuji Sakamoto takes 63 Earth damage from Alain Wakamatsu's Fissure. Critical Hit! AS: Block Neutral! Tamaki Uchida takes 65 Fire damage from Eveline Deschamps's Afterburn. AS: Block Worst! Tamaki Uchida takes 86 Fire damage from Eveline Deschamps's Afterburn. AS: Avoid Neutral! Katsuko Yoshinaga takes 78 Fire damage from Eveline Deschamps's Afterburn. AS: Avoid Best! Katsuko Yoshinaga takes 47 Fire damage from Eveline Deschamps's Afterburn. AS: Avoid Worst! Ren Amamiya takes 84 Strike damage from Alain Wakamatsu's Rampage. Critical Hit! AS: Avoid Best! Ren Amamiya takes 28 Strike damage from Alain Wakamatsu's Rampage. AS: Avoid Neutral! Ren Amamiya takes 58 Strike damage from Alain Wakamatsu's Rampage. Critical Hit! AS: Block Neutral! Ririka Kawase takes 65 Fire damage from Eveline Deschamps's Afterburn. AS: Block Neutral! Ririka Kawase takes 65 Fire damage from Eveline Deschamps's Afterburn. <Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Joker smiles in relief at Skull when he confirms he's still kicking--moreso when Queen rides Johanna to his side and shower a Diarama on him. Queen's a better healer than Joker, so switching her to the attack is a risk, but chasing weakness hits is the basics of the basics.
"She was just telling you all what to do only a few moments ago. If she isn't supposed to be ordering you around, and you're avoiding calling her your friend, does that mean you're only babysitting her?" Certainly Joker doesn't think being 'like a strange family' necessarily means they like each other--especially not with the weird inflection Alain puts on 'leader.' Joker clucks their tongue. "I pity your 'choupinette' her delusions."
...Okay, now they're just being a jerk. But hey, at least they get to be the jerk instead of Alain, hm?
"I understand," they say smoothly to Alain. It's already been made clear that he's not just a heavy hitter but also a strong support. Nasty for everyone, really. Joker shoots Umie and Tamaki a nod of thanks as they both lend their support--but Alain isn't going to go down that easily... and with his heightened strength, that makes the next flurry of hammer and Magna and Persona force blows that much more disastrous for the group.
Joker is caught specifically in Bayard's Rampage, the waves of force blasting them back wave by wave by wave. They snarl in pain before dropping to one knee, panting. It's a good thing Queen just healed Skull, too, because Alain is really kicking his ass too. Funnily enough, he seems most favorably inclined towards Queen. "No need to tell them more than they need to know," Joker warns her, rising to their feet to whirl into a new mask.
This time, it's an umbrella-hatted woman in a loose kimono who rises over Joker in blue flame. "Ame-no-Uzume!" they call, and she dances as she once danced for Amaterasu--first to heal the hearts of them and their friends, and then... to speed Skull's feet and toughen his armor.
AS: Take! Isabeau Fontaine takes 0 Almighty damage from Alain Wakamatsu's Matarukaja. AS: Atk_Up added! AS: Take! Isabeau Fontaine takes 0 Recovery healing from Eveline Deschamps's Wideguard Protocol. AS: Eclipse added! AS: Persona! Ren Amamiya has used the Recovery skill Media on Ren Amamiya, Ryuji Sakamoto, and Makoto Niijima! AS: Support: Ren Amamiya gains 1 Limit! AS: Take! Ren Amamiya takes 110 Recovery healing from Ren Amamiya's Media. AS: Persona! Ren Amamiya has used the Almighty skill Dance of Protection on Ryuji Sakamoto! AS: Ren Amamiya regains 6 SP from Invigorate! AS: Avoid Best! Makoto Niijima takes 29 Strike damage from Alain Wakamatsu's Rampage. AS: Avoid Worst! Makoto Niijima takes 70 Strike damage from Alain Wakamatsu's Rampage. AS: Avoid Best! Makoto Niijima takes 29 Strike damage from Alain Wakamatsu's Rampage. AS: Take! Makoto Niijima takes 110 Recovery healing from Ren Amamiya's Media. <Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Time is Money, Katsuko declares, and Ririka just kind of glances back in her general direction. "... Fair enough, I guess."
She does wonder where all these guns came from. Okay, o she has a katana she probably shouldn't have, and an Evoker, but still.
But there's a lot going on, and Ririka is doing her best to keep tabs on everything nearby--she might not have the decades of practice Eve has, but she's been working to develop her own powers.
Which is why her head snaps around when that red light envelopies 'Hoodie-san.' The red light is new, but that rush of Resonance is not--she eyes that 'gun-like' thing suspiciously.
Now that she knows other groups have taken Kirijo's Evoker technology... she makes a mental note to follow up on that later.
Ririka is treating this seriously. Does this look friendly? Ririka glances at Kanae. "I mean, I don't know what's going on between you and that girl, but they did go through the trouble of issuing a challenge before just... ambushing us, so, you know. Not the most unfriendly fight I've ever had."
A beat. "... but maybe friendly is overstaing it, yeah."
Curiosity and cats. "I'm more of a dog person." Wait, is that a retort or just a statement of fact? But she's also listening to something else. "So Light will set you off balance... and yo're guarded againt fire."
She glances to Katsuko. "You get that? If you've got any Light skills, use them."
Chained... no matter how much Ririka might want to deny it... it's right there on Amphion's boots, weighing them down. She just looks at Eve, unable to answer.
The fire-covered whip lashes out for her. "Wait was that whip a sword--" She crosses her arms in front of her to block the attack, grimacing as she's driven back a few steps. It stings, and she's haking her arms out as she recovers. "Yeowch. Alright then, Amphion!"
"Let's play a little tune!" She focuses, feeling out the most injured among them. "Give me a Healing Song!" Amphion strums, and strains of rejuvenating music drift out to encase herself, Katsuko, Skull, and Kanae in gentle healing magic.
"And for an encore--" Ririka gestures at Eve next. "Let's play something a little sharper!"
Amphion continues to play, but the song turns more dissonant and discordant, full of strange, off-pitch notes and tones meant to throw an opponent off. The continued song reaches for Eve, Isabeau, Alain, and Vivienne.
AS: Ririka Kawase spends Limit on Exploit! Ririka Kawase can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Persona! Ririka Kawase has used the Recovery skill Healing Song on Ririka Kawase, Katsuko Yoshinaga, Ryuji Sakamoto, and Kanae Fuyuki! AS: Insight: Ririka Kawase gains 1 Limit! AS: Take! Ririka Kawase takes 0 Recovery healing from Ririka Kawase's Healing Song. AS: Regen added! AS: Take! Kanae Fuyuki takes 0 Recovery healing from Ririka Kawase's Healing Song. AS: Regen added! AS: Persona! Ririka Kawase has used the Almighty skill Dissonant Song on Eveline Deschamps, Isabeau Fontaine, Alain Wakamatsu, and Vivienne Sournois! AS: Ririka Kawase: Gains 63 HP from Regen! AS: Take! Vivienne Sournois takes 0 Almighty damage from Ririka Kawase's Dissonant Song. AS: Crt_Dn added! AS: Take! Ryuji Sakamoto takes 110 Recovery healing from Ren Amamiya's Media. AS: Take! Isabeau Fontaine takes 0 Almighty damage from Ririka Kawase's Dissonant Song. AS: Spd_Dn added! AS: Take! Ryuji Sakamoto takes 0 Almighty damage from Ren Amamiya's Dance of Protection. AS: Def_Up added! Spd_Dn removed! AS: Take! Ryuji Sakamoto takes 0 Recovery healing from Ririka Kawase's Healing Song. AS: Regen added! AS: Take! Alain Wakamatsu takes 0 Almighty damage from Ririka Kawase's Dissonant Song. AS: Def_Dn added! AS: Take! Eveline Deschamps takes 0 Almighty damage from Ririka Kawase's Dissonant Song. AS: Def_Dn added!
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
As the field of battle flows fprward, Umie's comments come quick.
'Sorry to disappoint, but the playing field can't be changed in one's favor so simply.' "Maybe, but I'm pretty sure your opponents will take it from there, hm?" Umie says, giving Joker's nod an answering grin. "I've heard they're pretty tenacious."
'A charm technique, interesting. Perhaps try harder than that, hm?' "Just getting started."
It goes downhill from there.
'You can remove people from those coffins? The ones at the Hour of Dark, no?' Umie makes a face at Isabeau's comment, like she had just unexpectedly chomped down into a lemon. No witty quip here. ".... Don't," is Umie's sharp response to Isabeau.
'Don't worry about timing. I'll find you!' "Damn it..." Umie grimaces, at Noriaki's comment, looking back towards Tamaki.
Vivienne is coming in as well, a bitter chill casting a crack in Umie's constitution.
The poisoned spear comes next, and Umie, in a rare move, leans into it, using that moment to slash the bladed end of her kyoketsu shoge into Vivienne.
Words exhausted, Umie leaves the rest to Badb, whose crescent smile leers at Vivienne as she rises out of Umie's back, like a butterfly from a cocoon.
A breath, and Umie winces, from the poison's effects; It translates into the Badb's eerie wail, echoing through the tunnels of Mementos.
AS: Umie Akabane spends Limit on Exploit! Umie Akabane can use another Weak skill this round! <Pose Tracker> Ryuji Sakamoto has posed.
Ryuji is grateful for the heal from Makoto. He turns his head, still smiling despite feeling like a bus hit him. "You're right. This isn't someone I can brute force." Skull gets into a defensive stance as the cooling heal energy makes him feel somewhat less like hell.
Ryuji is a little shocked when the pipe to the knee doesn't do more. He pushes into each strike, starting to feel this guys strength start to wind him.
"Geez dude, you might be old but...you hit like a truck" Skull says with a little bit of unease in his voice. This was bad.
It only got worse when the ground opens up. Skull falls backwards, catching himself as he struggles to deal with literally the ground attacking him. He flails, finally getting to his feet. "OK. Ok....I'm starting to see that I might've said somethings in jest that got taken personally..my bad" He leans over and lets the healing spells from Ririka and Joker do their magic. He is still rather winded though.
"Ok..I apologized but I'm still gonna try to kick your ass." Captain Kidd suddenly appears, blasting more lightning from parts unknown.
"Hey Queen...I think I'm starting to figure this guy out. Hit em harder this time!" Ryuji gives Queen a thumbs up.
AS: Take! Katsuko Yoshinaga takes 0 Recovery healing from Ririka Kawase's Healing Song. AS: Regen added! AS: Ryuji Sakamoto spends Limit on Shift! Makoto Niijima can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Persona! Umie Akabane has used the Dark skill Final Warning on Vivienne Sournois! AS: Ruin: Umie Akabane gains 1 Limit! AS: Persona! Umie Akabane has used the Dark skill Pale Shriek on Vivienne Sournois! AS: Umie Akabane: Loses 8 SP from Sick! AS: Umie Akabane regains 3 SP from Invigorate! AS: Ren Amamiya spends Limit on Shift! Makoto Niijima can use another Weak skill this round! They both receive 8 SP and 25 HP! AS: Persona! Ryuji Sakamoto has used the Elec skill Mazionga on Alain Wakamatsu! AS: Aggression: Ryuji Sakamoto gains 1 Limit! AS: Ryuji Sakamoto: Gains 61 HP from Regen! <Pose Tracker> Noriaki Okaga has posed.
Maybe hoodie-san is cool.
...Maybe.
Considering how he's swinging that thing around, Isabeau, he might just mean that literally. It's... a possibility.
Someone here, though, knows him.
"Ah?" voices Noriaki, as Umie remarks on his recent failure to complete a job. "Which-- oh, you mean him." His shoulders rise and fall in a lazy shrug. His head tilts in Umie's direction as she goes on. "Consider me impressed, kiddo! Didn't think you lot were up to the task!" His head turns as if he were sweeping the crowd engaged in combat here. "Now... one, two... I see the rest of your merry band are here, too! Now you've got me curious about exactly what you're capable of. But, eh, not right now. I'm busy."
He spreads his arms wide, grandstanding.
"Don't worry about timing. I'll find you!" he tells Umie.
It sounds like a promise ...and a threat.
It's possible to pull someone out of one of their coffins in the Dark Hour?
"Sure! All you gotta do is crack 'em open, and you can show someone a whole new world!" he tells her, gesturing broadly with his free hand (Evoker included) as he lets out what can only be called a cackle.
Maybe it's only fitting that Mielikki emerges to disorient his world afterwards. "What's that--? My head's... gah," Noriaki utters, dropping his machete with a clatter as he palms his forehead and staggers. Into this moment intrudes Isabeau. Bright pain rips across fantasia.
"You little--" utters Noriaki, pulling away a reddened palm from his side. "Hh... enough! Efnysien!" Up comes the Evoker once again; red light shatters about him as the Persona erupts into the world. With his other hand, Efnysien cracks forward an object on the end of a long string right for Isabeau at startling force: perhaps only once the object returns to the Persona's side will it become clear that it's a broken and battered toy rocking horse.
In the same instant, Noriaki drops for his fallen machete, snatching it up in his bloodied palm as he rushes down Isabeau in the same moment that his Persona's attack finishes and its manifestation begins to fade. He swings wide.
"And stay down!"
AS: Avoid Neutral! Vivienne Sournois takes 13 Dark damage from Umie Akabane's Final Warning. AS: Panic added! AS: Avoid Best! Vivienne Sournois takes 17 Dark damage from Umie Akabane's Pale Shriek. Critical Hit! AS: Noriaki Okaga spends Limit on Exploit! Noriaki Okaga can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Persona! Noriaki Okaga has used the Strike skill Skull Cracker on Isabeau Fontaine! AS: Charm results in party damage! Noriaki Okaga takes 75 damage! AS: Weapon! Noriaki Okaga has used the Slash skill Well-used Machete on Isabeau Fontaine! 3 Hits! AS: Aggression: Noriaki Okaga gains 1 Limit! AS: Avoid Best! Alain Wakamatsu takes 77 Elec damage from Ryuji Sakamoto's Mazionga. AS: Paralyze added! Blast removed! Explosion! 63 damage! AS: Katsuko Yoshinaga spends Limit on Exploit! Katsuko Yoshinaga can use another Weak skill this round! <Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Earlier, during their hasty approach prior to the start of this skirmish, Tamaki held up both hands at Umie in wide-eyed apologetic surprise. "R- Right! Understood, though I tried to keep quiet with -- the first part." Tamaki doesn't bother obscuring her identity -- her business suit has by now become part of her brand. This excursion is something she does on behalf of the Kuzunoha Detective Agency, and the recognition is part of her advertising. For all their similarities elsewhere, Tamaki and Umie differ greatly in this respect.
"Just -- maybe we should establish more of a protocol going in, you know? For next time." This lack of team cohesion -- the growing pains of a pair not entirely accustomed to working together -- might be a portent of things shortly to come.
-=-=-
Then in the thick of things proper, Umie lets slip some information on Noriaki. Tamaki glances over with wide eyes and makes a cutting motion at her neck, silently urging her to refrain from speaking further. To Kanae, she calls out, "Talk later!"
She runs a palm over her face at Noriaki's response of 'I'll find you!' For someone so concerned with hiding her own identity, she sure does seem to want to piss off someone currently on their side and start fighting on two fronts ..! "Let me try to take the heat for us, yeah?"
Speaking of fighting on two fronts, Arianrhod's disenchanting slashes earned Tamaki the ire of several of Eveline's fiery whip-strikes coming her way. The good news: she'd much prefer to stand in the line of fire for most of her allies, especially the younger ones -- quite literally 'taking the heat', as she said earlier. The okay news: her earlier assessment of the range disadvantage between herself and Eveline was correct. The bad news: she was expecting it to hit once, but not twice: Arianrhod times her parry correctly on the first strike, but the second sends Tamaki reeling away, now dizzied from a Persona Break.
She can't complain. Fair's fair.
Skadi catches Tamaki while she's staggering. The chill starts to set in. Tamaki narrows her eyes as she understands the implications: if left alone, this puts her on a timer. If combined with something else, it'll --
'Now - aim true!' Vivienne switches to her poison-tipped spear and Tamaki scrambles back in a very undignified and panicked manner with a "Yeek!", but she at least manages to reduce the damage to mere contact as the poison avoids entering her system. That was priority one, and having at least accomplished that, Tamaki wipes her brow and exhales a sigh in relief.
Tamaki steadies herself again and clutches at her necklace, summoning Arianrhod once more. She holds her own blade aloft, and as it shimmers in an array of different colors, it reflects this light on Tamaki, Umie, Kanae, and 'Queen.' "Through hardship ..."
Calm before a coming storm.
AS: Persona! Tamaki Uchida has used the Recovery skill Per Aspera on Tamaki Uchida, Umie Akabane, Kanae Fuyuki, and Makoto Niijima! AS: Insight: Tamaki Uchida gains 1 Limit! AS: Tamaki Uchida: Loses 8 SP from Sick! AS: Take! Tamaki Uchida takes 0 Recovery healing from Tamaki Uchida's Per Aspera. AS: Take! Makoto Niijima takes 0 Recovery healing from Tamaki Uchida's Per Aspera. AS: Take! Umie Akabane takes 0 Recovery healing from Tamaki Uchida's Per Aspera. AS: Take! Kanae Fuyuki takes 0 Recovery healing from Tamaki Uchida's Per Aspera. <Pose Tracker> Katsuko Yoshinaga has posed.
Katsuko couldn't deny that it was a masterful stroke. To deflect a round hurtling towards her with such ease, and to only suffer a grazed cheek as a result... It was enough to give her pause, if only for a moment. Were it to have been anyone else's bullet deflected, Katsuko might have offered some silent appreciation. But knowing that it was her headshot that had so easily been pushed to one side? That was enough to have her quietly grumble in disappointment, her disapproval of the entire situation manifesting as a single rumble in her throat.
Another thing gives her pause - Ririka's analysis. She wracked her brain, trying to recall if anything she had could be construed as a Light-aligned skill, but nothing came to mind. Again, she grumbled, though this time a little louder. Not so much that it could be heard above the din of battle, but it was nevertheless a sign of her mounting frustration.
"Nothing." She said back, doing her best to keep anyone but Ririka from hearing. "Going to have to deal with this one the old-fashioned way." The 'old-fashioned way' being a gratuitous amount of gunpowder and steel.
Again, she levelled her rifle at Eveline. Again, she took aim, heaving the barrel into position and lining up a headshot. But before she could pull the trigger, Eveline's cane extended into a fiery whip, and like a firestorm, it slammed into her body. She did what she could to evade it, disregarding stealth in favour of simply surviving the onslaught, but those tongues of flame still carved into her. Scorched, surprised, but not quite out of the fight, she summoned Dantes to her side once more in preparation for her counterattack. The two faded backwards, their forms melding into obscurity, until nothing remained of them but an empty space. However, before the two vanished completely from sight, Katsuko fixed Ririka with a firm gaze, and nodded.
"My thanks."
Katsuko glanced around quickly, using what little time she had between attacks to try and take stock of the battlefield. Other users were engaged n other fights, and snippets of conversations made their way to her ears. Leaders, friends, rivalries, a hoodie - all made their way into the recesses of her mind, but little was of immediate use. Perhaps it would help her make sense of things when she reviewed the information upon returning home, but for now, she had neither the time nor the inclination to sift through the muck to see if anything lent a tactical advantage.
Once more, the glint of a sniper's scope could be seen as the faintest hint of light caught upon it. Once more, her eyes became fixed on her prey. But no shot came. Were one to cast their eyes down, they would not see her finger on the trigger. She did not intend to attack - she intended to command. Dantes acted on her orders with all due haste, and with his unfaltering resolve, he bolstered her strength, lending her the focus needed for precision. Yet, even as red aura flashed across her body, she did not shoot.
Dantes struck instead.
Gleaming steel carved through the air, extending from Dantes' hand. He swung his sabre quicker than a blink, with that same deadly precision of Katsuko's rifle, seeking to cleave Eveline's head from her shoulders in a single fell swoop.
AS: Persona! Katsuko Yoshinaga has used the Recovery skill Unfaltering Resolve on Katsuko Yoshinaga! AS: Take! Katsuko Yoshinaga takes 0 Recovery healing from Katsuko Yoshinaga's Unfaltering Resolve. AS: Atk_Up and Crt_Up added! AS: Persona! Katsuko Yoshinaga has used the Slash skill Cleaving Saber on Eveline Deschamps! AS: Aggression: Katsuko Yoshinaga gains 1 Limit! AS: Katsuko Yoshinaga: Gains 61 HP from Regen! AS: Katsuko Yoshinaga regains 7 HP from Regenerate! and 6 SP from Invigorate! AS: Counter Worst! Eveline Deschamps takes 111 Slash damage from Katsuko Yoshinaga's Cleaving Saber. AS: COUNTER! Katsuko Yoshinaga takes 23 Slash damage in return for her attack! AS: Avoid Neutral! Isabeau Fontaine takes 47 Strike damage from Noriaki Okaga's Skull Cracker. AS: Panic added! Charm removed! Explosion! 63 damage! AS: Avoid Best! Isabeau Fontaine takes 5 Slash damage from Noriaki Okaga's Well-used Machete. AS: Avoid Neutral! Isabeau Fontaine takes 12 Slash damage from Noriaki Okaga's Well-used Machete. AS: Avoid Worst! Isabeau Fontaine takes 20 Slash damage from Noriaki Okaga's Well-used Machete. <Pose Tracker> Makoto Niijima has posed.
Something about Alain's compliment, even though he isn't hitting on her, still grosses her out and sends a shiver down her spine. She can't seem to hide her expression, either. "Save the compliments," Queen growls. It reminds her too much of... recent palaces. There's something equally unsettling about the way Alain calls her his worst possible matchup. Why are so many men.... like this?
Queen tries her best to avoid the onslaught from Alain, but she can't aboid them all. She takes some bad hits, and Johanna shatters from under her and Queen hits the ground hard. That hurts, far more than she'd like.
Joker's wave of healing is much appreciated, as she manages to get back to her feet. And it comes with a warning. "...Sorry. I've shared all I'm sharing."
Something's clear about this group, in how they respond- and who is in command. I'm sure you'll work it out."
"Come to me, Johanna!" Queen calls, reaching for her mask- and Alain is close enough to see that when she tears it off there is no face under it, just yellow eyes in a pool of darkness-
Before she is atop the personacycle again and speeding away from Alain, a plume of flame firing from Johanna, and then another as she makes distance down the tracks of Mementos-
But she doesn't expect the support from Tamaki to come again, focused as she has been on her own fight. One of Ichika and Tsubasa's allies, helping them again- but... didn't Tsubasa ask for Tamaki's help with proving the Phantoms enacted their mental breakdown? Maybe the air has been cleared. "...Thank you." She manages, as she speeds past the Private Investigator.
'Hit him harder' is Skull's advice. "Already on it!" She calls back, as she pops a wheelie on Johanna as she spins one eighty on it, and guns it for Alain, Johanna wreathing them both in Nuclear Flame. "Let's see how good you feel about it after this!" She yells, going full speed ahead for the hunter. "Johanna, let's go full throttle!"
And her Persona seems to respond to Queen's wishes with a roar from her engines, aiming to run down Alain and Bayard in a contest of a horsepower and flame.
AS: Persona! Makoto Niijima has used the Fire skill Frei on Alain Wakamatsu! AS: Persona! Makoto Niijima has used the Fire skill Frei on Alain Wakamatsu! AS: Tandem! Makoto Niijima has used the Fire skill Full Throttle on Alain Wakamatsu! AS: Avoid Neutral! Alain Wakamatsu takes 47 Fire damage from Makoto Niijima's Frei. Eclipsed! AS: Eclipse removed! AS: Avoid Worst! Alain Wakamatsu takes 144 Fire damage from Makoto Niijima's Frei. Critical Hit! Weak! AS: Avoid Worst! Alain Wakamatsu takes 204 Fire damage from Makoto Niijima's Full Throttle. Critical Hit! Weak! <Pose Tracker> Isabeau Fontaine has posed.
"I sincerely hope that you have no fun at all!" Isabeau snaps, to Kanae. "... the others, though, I do hope are enjoying themselves."
Isabeau hmphs. "I am not charmed! I am very charming! I will prove to you that I am entirely of sound mind -- you are weary! The obvious solution to this is...! Mielikki!"
That waspish little woman appears, again, to sprinkle healing sparkles all over Kanae.
See? Isabeau isn't Charmed a BIT.
She also doesn't think Kanae's Persona is hot. Like. Weird? Who would think that? She's staring at Succubus for TOTALLY NORMAL REASONS when a stake falls down --
"OW!" Isabeau yelps, before a string of very pointed French profanity which we will not translate here, most people can't hear it. What matters is that she swipes at the stake with her targe, sending some of that awful piercing damage bouncing right back to Kanae.
"Your friends are `DEEPLY MISFORTUNATE HARLOTS!`" ... is how she ends her screed, utterly devastating whichever friend that Persona is supposed to resemble.
(It is not unreasonable to think, here, that Isabeau absolutely kind of needs a chaperone, even if Alain's too considerate to say it out loud. Look at her. She's getting in so much trouble even with all these supportive adults around her!)
Ririka's song rattles in her ears, though, slowing her footwork. "NO ONE LIKES THE GIRL WHO SHOWS UP TO PARTIES ONLY TO PLAY THE GUITAR BADLY!" She yells in the vague direction of Eve's opponents.
She's also kind of assuming from media depictions. She doesn't actually get invited to many parties.
Anyway --
Umie says 'don't' in a tone and Isabeau immediately sticks her tongue out at her. "Or what?!" It's not like Noriaki's told her it means someone dies.
He's cackling, which is creepy, but like -- the machete's creepy too? And, man, he's really not taking Marin Karin well --
"Can you not dodge?!" Isabeau demands, seeing that red at his side. She -- THOUGHT he was going to dodge!!
His creepy, Evoker-summoned (ALSO CREEPY!) Persona throws a ROCKING HORSE at her, though, and Mielikki appears to absorb the blow as Isabeau leaps back. (There's a terrible explosion, behind her, as Mielikki has to deal with the conflicting feelings of panic and charm and ends up shattering for her efforts.) Without a Persona to cover for her, Isabeau's on her own to back away from Noriaki's machete... but she's slower than she was, before.
"Ah--ow!" She yelps, as that machete cuts in through her longcoat. The dark brown is stained a little deeper, as it flutters free again. "Stop that! If I cut you deeply, blame yourself! Rrrrhhhh..." Isabeau downs another of those bronze-coloured vials, as she invokes: "Persona!!"
Eating so many of those probably isn't good for her...
As Mielikki appears to summon more thrashing winds, though, she's feeling strong enough to add a little extra support for her allies, too. That's the power of overdoing it a little to show off!
AS: Isabeau Fontaine spends Limit on Break! AS: Persona! Isabeau Fontaine has used the Recovery skill Diarama on Kanae Fuyuki! AS: Defense: Isabeau Fontaine gains 1 Limit! AS: Persona! Isabeau Fontaine has used the Wind skill Magarula on Kanae Fuyuki and Noriaki Okaga! AS: Isabeau Fontaine: Break removed! AS: Isabeau Fontaine's turn has ended. It's time for an All-Out Attack! AS: Isabeau Fontaine spends Limit on Exploit! Isabeau Fontaine can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Persona! Isabeau Fontaine has used the Recovery skill Energy Shower on Vivienne Sournois, Isabeau Fontaine, Alain Wakamatsu, and Eveline Deschamps! AS: Defense: Isabeau Fontaine gains 1 Limit! AS: Isabeau Fontaine: Paralyze removed! AS: Take! Vivienne Sournois takes 0 Recovery healing from Isabeau Fontaine's Energy Shower. AS: Panic removed! AS: Take! Kanae Fuyuki takes 164 Recovery healing from Isabeau Fontaine's Diarama. AS: Break! Kanae Fuyuki can take another Weak action this round! AS: Avoid Best! Kanae Fuyuki takes 136 Wind damage from Isabeau Fontaine's Magarula. Critical Hit! AS: Break! Kanae Fuyuki can take another Weak action this round! AS: Take! Eveline Deschamps takes 0 Recovery healing from Isabeau Fontaine's Energy Shower. <Pose Tracker> Vivienne Sournois has posed.
There's an advantage to working as a team. She can expect support, when they're around - and, indeed, Vivienne finds herself suffused with power, courtesy of Alain. And through Eveline, she finds herself shrouded.
"I owe you both one." Vivienne comments brightly. This is followed soon after, however, by an emanating, discordant song. Vivienne finds herself briefly off-balance, her weapons not striking as keenly. She scans the battlefield for the source, spotting Ririka.
"Allow me to return the favor." Vivienne comments. Skadi emerges once more. She motions toward Ririka, purple light converging on her location to weaken her defenses.
It's only a brief distraction as she turns her attention back to Ume. The bladed end of her kyoketsu shoge lashes out. Vivienne backpedals, her sword swinging out redirect it. It's enough to prevent a major injury - slashing instead across her shoulder.
And then, Badb wails - the scream forcing Vivienne to recoil back.
"That sound... It pierces." She mutters. She's certainly thrown off her game - she's still grinning, but not as wide.
Only those truly familiar with her might notice the difference, though.
"Let's see... No, I believe I've already said that one..." Vivienne murmurs to herself. Isabeau's support washes over her - and that, in the moment, seems to be just what she needed as, abruptly, her grin widens back to its usual brightness. "Ah, that one's perfect."
"'Icy' that you both are quite capable... Skadi!" Vivienne calls out. Skadi appears, and gestures downward. And at her command, snow begins to fall in Mementos - calling a localized blizzard down upon Umie and Tamaki!
Though, a frown crosses her face as she takes note of how Isabeau has found that strength...
"`I believe our darling Isabeau may be overdoing it a little, my friends.`" Vivienne asides quietly in French to Eveline and Alain.
AS: Persona! Vivienne Sournois has used the Almighty skill Rakunda on Ririka Kawase! AS: Ruin: Vivienne Sournois gains 1 Limit! AS: Persona! Vivienne Sournois has used the Water skill Mountain's Fury on Tamaki Uchida and Umie Akabane! AS: Vivienne Sournois: Spd_Up removed! AS: Vivienne Sournois regains 6 SP from Invigorate! AS: Block Best! Tamaki Uchida takes 56 Water damage from Vivienne Sournois's Mountain's Fury. Eclipsed! AS: Bind added! Eclipse removed! AS: Avoid Neutral! Umie Akabane takes 143 Water damage from Vivienne Sournois's Mountain's Fury. Critical Hit! AS: Bind added! <Pose Tracker> Eveline Deschamps has posed.
Ririka's dissonant song weakened Eve, who brings a hand to her ear briefly. But as Ririka doesn't remark about the chains...
"Focus on what drives you. There's something there, isn't it? You won't be able to truly be any good at this until you do."
Katsuko, though, buffs herself with her Persona. Eve seems to think the rifle is going to shoot her in the head again, so before Katsuko sends Dantes forward, she's just lazily preparing to guard it...
Which is an easy feint, because as Dantes comes forward, her whip blade flings forward to impact against their arm and lightly graze the Persona. In return, the slash doesn't take off her head, but the momentum shifts it to gouge into her shoulder, staining her coat lightly.
"Ah. You're really trying to kill me," she says with a cold grin. "Too bad *you're just a whelp.*"
The insults have flared, because Eve wants to set off this masked figure who is clearly not respecting 'friendly contest'.
The whip is changed back into a cane with a flick of the wrist, before being swung into Ririka to prevent her from interrupting. Then, a magic energy is sent from Guro Rysserova over the cane, enchanting it with pure mystical energy.
Another flick, and a shift of posture, and it's back into whip form, multiple slashes happening all around Katsuko.
Not one of them hits.
"Let us see if you can take what you dish."
She doesn't *want* this woman to die, but she snaps her fingers anyways. Magic slashes suddenly explode all around Katsuko, trying to carve into her without avoiding serious locations. If she got grievously injured... well, she wasn't being careful.
And then, with a flash, there's one more swing of the blade-whip at Katsuko, threatening to take an arm if Katsuko does nothing! Yeah, Eve's a little annoyed, so would the people who know her be able to tell.
But she never loses judgment. Instead of doing one more attack, she throws up a regen on Isabeau and her team, and then starts backtracking towards her. "Isabeau. This is supposed to be a contest... don't overextend yourself."
The compassion in her voice is masked, for sure. But Alain and Vivienne can tell she's worried.
AS: Eveline Deschamps spends Limit on Exploit! Eveline Deschamps can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Eveline Deschamps spends Limit on Exploit! Eveline Deschamps can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Persona! Eveline Deschamps has used the Recovery skill Recovery Protocol on Isabeau Fontaine, Alain Wakamatsu, and Vivienne Sournois! AS: Insight: Eveline Deschamps gains 1 Limit! AS: Take! Vivienne Sournois takes 0 Recovery healing from Eveline Deschamps's Recovery Protocol. AS: Regen added! AS: Counter Best! Noriaki Okaga takes 243 Wind damage from Isabeau Fontaine's Magarula. Critical Hit! AS: COUNTER! Isabeau Fontaine takes 58 Wind damage in return for her attack! Resist! AS: Break! Noriaki Okaga can take another Weak action this round! <Pose Tracker> Alain Wakamatsu has posed.
"It is how you grow." He asides to Kanae, "Life is static without risk." Eveline's familiar protocol touches him, and there's something of a wistful sigh in his voice, before smiling, "Thank you, Eve."
It's clear though that Queen did not enjoy that compliment, and he responds with a simple, serious, "My apologies if I caused offense."
Before he then turns to Joker. His accusation, it's not precisely wrong.
And for a time... he doesn't answer, as if Joker truly had him pegged. But then, he breaks the silence with a question, "Is it delusion for someone's family to care enough to come along with them for the trials they face?"
Before he then asks Joker head on as he cannot help but notice they are three teenager fighting on their own, "Would your own do the same, if they knew what you faced, Joker?"
It's not a pleasant subject for him... remembering back then, knowing now where he actually stands with both of his parents.
Amphion's song causes him to wince, as his equilibrium is thrown off. "... Not to sound like an old man again... but if that is the 'music' of your generation - I'd like to file a noise complaint." He quips, unseriously.
Right as Skull compliments him, and he chuckles, "I'm actually thirty six." He tells him, "Positively ancient, I know. You've got quite the swing yourself, Skull."
Before he then chuckles at him, "Haha... look, it's fine. I did not actually take it personally. I just saw it as an opportunity to teach you a lesson - in a sense."
Well, he seems to actually be in good humor about it. "Underestimate an unknown opponent at your peril. I imagine there are Persona Users twice my age that would give me a run for my money."
It's easy enough to imagine isn't it? There being some old Persona Master hanging around somewhere that can easily destroy them all.
And as Lightning Blasts him from Captain Kidd, he quickly sidesteps it, but the shower of electricity from the ground still cascades out to arc across him, causing a grunt of pain, "And you might still, yet. I'm rather out of practice at 'ass-kicking'."
Before she tells him that she's not sharing more at Joker's direction, "As you say then. I would have been surprised had you revealed something so easily." And then Johanna's summoning causes him to call out, "Bayard!" And his Persona takes to the ground, as he leaps atop him to mount him. "Let's give her the race she wants-!"
the Persona begins to run, though not as swiftly as before, thanks to Joker's efforts, the Persona trying to match the Motorcycle and coming closer than Queen might find comfortable.
At first, he's wreathed in flame, and it doesn't seem nearly as effective before as the Persona swerves, but Eveline's protection only can extend so far. More fire causes his Persona to rear short, as Johanna races around him, coating him in more and more.
Until there's an explosion, and a shattering noise as he suffers a Persona Break.
In the aftermath, upon the ground... he slowly draws himself up to his feet, pulling his mask up again. "Ah. You truly are making me feel old." He says with a ghost of a smile they can now see, perhaps marked by him hearing Eve's worry.
"This contest is almost certainly yours. Indulge me with one final to remember me by?" He asks, before he summons what looks like that phial again to his hands.
For Those Who Come After - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdBtPgZ8lHk
This time, when he breaks it, it splatters him with crimson.
It runs down his face, his outfit, his mask. And as he does so, behind the lenses of his mask, his eyes glow a deep crimson. "We ride... BAYARD!"
The equine Persona arises in a swirl of deep flames, the red glow matching Alain's eyes, that glow of red, as he then descends and rushes in a charge, as Alain takes an aerial leap, and the Persona catches him as he stands astride him, beginning to race, faster, and faster - before the two leap, Bayard bucking him off his back mid-flight.
The beaked hammer is held with two hands in an over-hand swing, as the Persona Warhorse descends with him, like twin comets.
The Mementos floor is struck- and as they both do, the ground shatters into a titanic tidal wave of stone that surges towards the trio of Phantoms.
Followed by it's aftershock. A smaller wave of rock that's kicked up in a rising explosion.
Didn't this all start with him telling Isabeau she didn't need to overexert himself? Guess he might be a little bit of a hypocrite himself in the heat of battle.
Maybe he just hasn't had a fight like this one in decades.
AS: Take! Alain Wakamatsu takes 0 Recovery healing from Isabeau Fontaine's Energy Shower. AS: Paralyze removed! AS: Take! Alain Wakamatsu takes 0 Recovery healing from Eveline Deschamps's Recovery Protocol. AS: Regen added! AS: Alain Wakamatsu spends Limit on Exploit! Alain Wakamatsu can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Alain Wakamatsu spends Limit on Exploit! Alain Wakamatsu can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Tandem! Theurgy! Alain Wakamatsu has used the Earth skill Geocrush on Ren Amamiya, Ryuji Sakamoto, and Makoto Niijima! AS: Defense: Alain Wakamatsu gains 1 Limit! AS: Tandem! Eveline Deschamps has used the Slash skill Infernal Lash on Katsuko Yoshinaga! AS: Weapon! Eveline Deschamps has used the Slash skill Grasp of Death on Katsuko Yoshinaga! AS: Persona! Alain Wakamatsu has used the Earth skill Mamagna on Ryuji Sakamoto, Ren Amamiya, and Makoto Niijima! AS: Alain Wakamatsu: Gains 65 HP from Regen! AS: Counter Neutral! Ryuji Sakamoto takes 255 Earth damage from Alain Wakamatsu's Geocrush. AS: COUNTER! Alain Wakamatsu takes 123 Earth damage in return for his attack! AS: Ryuji Sakamoto is unable to continue fighting! AS: Weapon! Eveline Deschamps has used the Strike skill Hard Impact on Ririka Kawase! AS: Eveline Deschamps regains 10 SP from Invigorate! AS: Take! Isabeau Fontaine takes 0 Recovery healing from Isabeau Fontaine's Energy Shower. AS: Panic removed! AS: Take! Isabeau Fontaine takes 0 Recovery healing from Eveline Deschamps's Recovery Protocol. AS: Regen added! <Pose Tracker> Kanae Fuyuki has posed.
"JUST A LITTLE!" Kanae calls to Ririka when she says it's overstating it. "And what's going on is she's a huge jerk!"
But that rejuvenating music does help; Kanae can appreciate the merit of heaving friends, like this.
On the other hand, SOME friends aren't so good to have, as Kanae hears from Umie. "A...ha..."
But over there, the Phantom Thieves have real teamwork; a pang of jealousy hits Kanae, who's been fighting on her own for some time now. Henry's words echo in her mind...
"...Taking someone out of their coffin sounds bad," Kanae says to Umie next. But Tamaki makes a motion about talking later and--"Right!"
Kanae is trying not to fight on an additional front, herself. But Noriaki seems, uh...
"You OK, dude?" He makes her uneasy, but he seems to be having a problem. All the same... She thinks that he's probably not the kind of Ally Henry was talking about.
"I'm not having fun," Kanae assures Isabeau, deadpan, as Isabeau heals her. And Succubus? Succubus is, well, a lot like Kanae, actually. For some reason. And--
"That one's mine for Touma-kun," Kanae supplies helpfully for Isabeau. "The boyfriend you think is so unimportant?"
But Noriaki... Hoodie-san. Kanae notices Isabeau's stained attire, and frowns.
"...OK," she says. "I'm done, then. You can give the others the money, but I'm out."
Kanae switches Personas once more, this time to a teal horseman with a beautiful lyre. Kanae points--but this time, the healing light passes over Isabeau.
"...Some weirdo with a machete isn't allowed to be the one to beat you," Kanae says to Isabeau, her chin rising as she lifts her head up high. "That's only for me."
She looks to Alain, who talks about how to grow... "Maybe you're right," she allows, and steps back. Healing light sparkles over their side in general--and then Kanae stows her gunblade and starts to walk away.
AS: Persona! Kanae Fuyuki has used the Recovery skill Diarama on Isabeau Fontaine! AS: Support: Kanae Fuyuki gains 1 Limit! AS: Persona! Kanae Fuyuki has used the Recovery skill Media on Noriaki Okaga, Umie Akabane, Tamaki Uchida, and Ririka Kawase! AS: Persona! Kanae Fuyuki has used the Recovery skill Media on Kanae Fuyuki, Makoto Niijima, Ryuji Sakamoto, and Ren Amamiya! AS: Kanae Fuyuki: Gains 60 HP from Regen! AS: Block Best! Katsuko Yoshinaga takes 165 Slash damage from Eveline Deschamps's Infernal Lash. Critical Hit! AS: Take! Kanae Fuyuki takes 84 Recovery healing from Kanae Fuyuki's Media. AS: Counter Best! Katsuko Yoshinaga takes 130 Slash damage from Eveline Deschamps's Grasp of Death. Critical Hit! AS: COUNTER! Eveline Deschamps takes 82 Slash damage in return for her attack! AS: Take! Ririka Kawase takes 0 Almighty damage from Vivienne Sournois's Rakunda. AS: Def_Dn added! AS: Block Best! Ririka Kawase takes 56 Strike damage from Eveline Deschamps's Hard Impact. AS: Take! Tamaki Uchida takes 88 Recovery healing from Kanae Fuyuki's Media. AS: Take! Umie Akabane takes 88 Recovery healing from Kanae Fuyuki's Media. AS: Take! Ririka Kawase takes 88 Recovery healing from Kanae Fuyuki's Media. AS: Take! Ren Amamiya takes 84 Recovery healing from Kanae Fuyuki's Media. AS: Avoid Worst! Ren Amamiya takes 296 Earth damage from Alain Wakamatsu's Geocrush. Weak! AS: Avoid Best! Ren Amamiya takes 138 Earth damage from Alain Wakamatsu's Mamagna. Critical Hit! Weak! AS: Avoid Neutral! Makoto Niijima takes 196 Earth damage from Alain Wakamatsu's Geocrush. AS: Block Worst! Makoto Niijima takes 104 Earth damage from Alain Wakamatsu's Mamagna. AS: Bind added! AS: Take! Makoto Niijima takes 84 Recovery healing from Kanae Fuyuki's Media. AS: Take! Noriaki Okaga takes 94 Recovery healing from Kanae Fuyuki's Media. <Pose Tracker> Katsuko Yoshinaga has posed.
Despite her earlier (internal) assertions about having no use for the prattling of the other combatants, Katsuko couldn't help but overhear Isabeau's remark on Ririka's playing. Neither could she resist the urge to offer a retort, though whether it was actually heard was another question entirely.
"Tough crowd tonight. You mind playing a little louder to drown them out?" Katsuko hoped Isabeau heard her. Isabeau - to her mind - seemed the sort to get riled up quite easily, given the right provocation. Getting riled up led to mistakes, and an enemy's mistakes meant one's own victory.
She also found a successful taunt *immensely* satisfying.
But then one was directed at her, and a chill ran through Katsuko's spine. Whether it was the grin that Eveline bore, the tone with which each word was delivered, or some primal sense telling her that she was in immense danger, Katsuko could feel every hair standing on end, and every instinct telling her to RUN. The screaming rang in her ears, forced her muscles to tense and move, made her mind feel like it was ablaze with every synapse that fired off an order - but she could not heed any of it. The slashes around her had not been random - Eveline had displayed far too much skill for such strikes to be simple misses. They were the sign of something more, and Katsuko knew running would be futile. All she could do was brace.
Each flash of energy was a burst that left her seeing white. Each slash cut away at another piece of her body, threatening to flay skin from flesh, and carve flesh from bone. Stoic as she was, Katsuko could not suppress the cries of pain that tore themselves from her throat, ringing loud even past the silvered mask that remained clamped against her face. She clung on for dear life, panting and grunting and clutching her weapon with knuckles turned pale from the strain, until all felt as though it was over. She had remained standing, despite it all - but it was not over yet.
Eveline descended upon her, and she saw death in the woman's blow. The fire, the steel, it was as if hell had descended upon her like a guillotine. But Katsuko did not falter. Perhaps it was panic that forced her to swing her hammer into the blow, using that two-handed instrument of war's haft to intercept the worst of the strike. Or perhaps it was adrenaline that amplified the focus she held, driving her to act on instinct when her rational mind failed. It mattered little. The steel ground at her shoulder, biting down like a predator's maw, but it did not sever. Not when Katsuko shoved the blow aside with a great cry of effort, leaving her bloodied and battered, but not broken.
"Is that it?"
Katsuko was quite clearly on her last legs. A stiff breeze would most likely have brought her to her knees, let alone whatever Eveline still had to spare. But she refused to back down and beg forgiveness, contrition, or anything resembling regret. "Try harder." With whatever strength she still had within her, Katsuko leapt backwards. Whether she could find somewhere to hide or not was irrelevant - she needed distance, she needed time to think, and she needed to preserve what little energy still lingered in her veins. Dantes remained behind, his wrathful visage commanded to act while she sought her reprieve.
Her command was to poison Eveline. It was not a deadly substance, no matter how vile its putrid shade of green made it appear. It was a paralytic agent - a fact that would become immediately clear to any souls unfortunate enough to inhale the cloud Dantes created by smashing a flask upon the floor. Yet, no matter how how it might have stiffened the muscles or sent pain shooting through its victim, there was no real damage, nor any lasting hurt. Had Katsuko simply intended for it to be a measure to slow Eveline down while she retreated? Or had the lesson been beaten into her, despite her defiant statement?
AS: Persona! Katsuko Yoshinaga has used the Earth skill Vile Poison on Eveline Deschamps! AS: Katsuko Yoshinaga: Gains 65 HP from Regen! AS: Katsuko Yoshinaga regains 7 HP from Regenerate! and 6 SP from Invigorate! AS: Take! Eveline Deschamps takes 0 Earth damage from Katsuko Yoshinaga's Vile Poison. AS: Paralyze added! <Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
"O-oh, right." Protocol. Names. Umie regards Tamaki with an apologetic glance. "I'm... yes. We'll have to workshop that for next time. I've actually been trying to think of names? ... I know it's necessary, but it just feels... self-important, when I put them on myself."
Wait. Did Umie stumble into another group situation? Huh.
--------
Umie is really trying, Tamaki! The blonde sees Tamaki's hand motion just barely; her homemade mask does make some things a little harder when she doesn't adjust them just right.
'Or what?!' Of course, Isabeau would react this way. Umie's an adult, telling her what to do, instead of--
'All you gotta do is crack 'em open, and you can show someone a whole new world!'
Oh no. Anger clouds the lower half of Umie's face, as Tamaki's pragmatic stance alludes the normally very responsive Umie. "You want to have our fight now, or later, Hoodie-san?!" she snaps, gesturing towards him with the blade end of her weapon. "We can cut out the middle man and have at go at it *right no-- h..." The poison hits her again at that moment, stopping her unneeded tirade.
One could easily tie it to Umie's tendency to be reckless at times, but the *anger* behind it is of a different flavor: livid, bright red, a painful beat in her ears.
'Through hardship...' Tamaki's calming light nearly causes Umie to drop her blade as her anger deflates to a rational hum. Right, she's not here alone.
It's enough to remember this just before Vivienne commits herself back into their share of the fight, waning smile and all, though there's nothing wan about the blizzard that rages on her and Tamaki both. Hissing out her breath in a pained cloud, Umie takes a moment to glance about her at Vivienne's French comment, trying to ascern what it may be about.
Isabeau is down, allowing Kaede to lend some much needed healing over her and other allies. Ririka and the intense Katsuko are holding up more or less, and when Umie looks at the Phantoms...
She answers that situation with a concerned grimace, her eyes searching up towards Alain. Just what sort of person is this man?
As much as she'd *like* to, she can't abandon Tamaki, nor would she be of much help over there. "..." It's a challenge, not a duel to the death, right?
A brief after image of Badb appears over Umie's head briefly before dissolving into smoke, with the blonde having done the same. Becoming a small presence in an ill wind, her invisible form darts by Vivienne, leaping up behind her to land dark-laced blows against the Hunter's back.
AS: Tandem! Umie Akabane has used the Dark skill Seeker in the Dark on Vivienne Sournois! AS: Ruin: Umie Akabane gains 1 Limit! AS: Umie Akabane: Loses 8 SP from Sick! AS: Umie Akabane regains 3 SP from Invigorate! AS: Avoid Worst! Vivienne Sournois takes 73 Dark damage from Umie Akabane's Seeker in the Dark. <Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Joker gives Alain a look like granite: cold, stony, and befitting a tombstone. "You still haven't called her your friend," they note without acknowledging if their family would fight for them or not (because they know for a fact they would not). For all that they respect his calm, there's certain other parts of his personality that they like no better than Queen. (Even if Alain does apologize.)
Umie claims that 'Hoodie-san' opened someone's coffin in the Dark Hour, and Noriaki confirms this. Joker gives him a look of muted alarm. That look travels over to Umie, then sets. ...Best to focus on settling this encounter for now. It's not life or death, but Joker suddenly doesn't want to be sent packing around someone like that.
Life is static without risk. Joker knows perfectly well that Ame-no-Uzume is weak to Earth, the element that Alain has been slinging around--but he's also been slinging around physical attacks. They gambled on the idea that, when faced with a Persona who is clearly magically inclined, he would try for more physical attacks rather than an elemental assault.
But a gamble isn't a gamble if you don't occasionally lose.
For a moment, it seems like Queen's victorious in her race against Alain; his Persona Breaks, he falls to the uneven ground. He takes even this in stride--but then offers a final attack.
That phial splatters him, and he and Bayard race until the Persona bucks him off, and the hammer and the horse descend upon the earth. It shatters, and stone and aftershock explode up around The Phantoms.
Joker's screams are lost in the intense rumbling of the earthquakes--just as Kanae's healing magic settles down upon them. If not for that, they definitely would have fallen alongside Skull. As it stands, they're left sprawled on the broken ground, protected from crushed bones by the shimmering after-motes of their own Broken Persona... until they punch the floor and shakily push themself up to their knees, to one foot.
"...Queen. Tend to Skull," they rasp, one hand splayed over their masked face. Their eyes give an eerie golden glow in the darkness behind their mask as it burns quietly, wreathing their face in shadow. "You seem to adore giving tit for tat, Alain, so allow me to return the favor."
They raise their fingers in a sharp snap. "Ame-no-Uzume."
"Raise the sun."
The dancing Persona materializes again--but rather than healing or supportive magic, when she dances, she brings forth the searing heat of nuclear fire, burning as blue as the heart of Bellatrix.
...However the match goes, Mona will be there to pop out of the darkness in bus form, load up the three Phantoms, and speed away down the winding corridors of Mementos.
AS: Persona! Ren Amamiya has used the Fire skill Trio Freila on Alain Wakamatsu! 3 Hits! AS: Ren Amamiya regains 6 SP from Invigorate! AS: Avoid Best! Alain Wakamatsu takes 42 Fire damage from Ren Amamiya's Trio Freila. Weak! AS: Blast added! AS: Alain Wakamatsu is unable to continue fighting! AS: Avoid Worst! Alain Wakamatsu takes 95 Fire damage from Ren Amamiya's Trio Freila. Critical Hit! Weak! AS: Alain Wakamatsu is unable to continue fighting! AS: Avoid Neutral! Alain Wakamatsu takes 56 Fire damage from Ren Amamiya's Trio Freila. Weak! AS: Alain Wakamatsu is unable to continue fighting! <Pose Tracker> Ryuji Sakamoto has posed.
"36, huh." Ryuji responds, keeping his eyes on Alain. He is listening to the lecture, wishing he had the strength to show this guy up. Even if he was kinda cool with how he was handling a punk like him.
The final attack from Alain is like being hit by a train....more accurately it was a charging horse that rocked the ground underneath Ryuji. He struggles to keep his footing, knowing that the next clash would be the last. Ryuji takes in a sharp breath, holding his pipe with both stands. He sees Alain come with his hammer and Ryuji attempts to strike back and parry it.
Skull can't see what happens next but he is thrown several feet. He hits the ground hard.
There is nothing from Skull for a moment. The blonde throws up his hand, pulling himself back to his feet slllllowwly. "Ok, for real...lesson learned. Don't fuck with... the French. I'm gonna go crash...bye bye" He takes several wobbly steps toward the Monabus and finds himself falling into a seat.
<Pose Tracker> Noriaki Okaga has posed.
"I said, I'm busy," 'Hoodie-san' sighs at Umie. "Wait your turn, crow-girl! I ain't got more than one of me!"
Is he okay? He doesn't answer Kanae, focusing instead on returning the pain to their shared opponent.
It's not like Noriaki is helping very much here, either, considering he's not explaining that when you do things like, say, pull someone out of their coffin in the Dark Hour, it almost always leads to death by Shadow. That is, if it's not actually 'death by Noriaki' or similar.
He is, admittedly, a pretty creepy guy.
The spell seems to have addled him badly in that moment, so instead of dodging-- instead her weapon catches him in the side, and instead, it appears to infuriate the seriously creepy young man. He goes, as some might put it, a little bit wild.
Just a little bit.
"Blame myself?" He straightens, such that it is, still half-slouched where he stands, and starts to laugh. "Cut me, and I'll cut back! Easy as that. Now, come at me, kiddo, and stop messing around!" As if readying himself to attempt just that, he jams his Evoker again at the underside of his jaw.
Isabeau does as he asks. Wind rises to meet him in a howling gale and he stands strong throughout it, the attack punctuated just once by the red light of his summoned Persona. A measure of wind hurtles for her, as if to return but a small measure of the storm to its origin.
Kanae, his 'partner' in this, says that she's out. Healing light wicks around him and just for a moment, his grin fades, replaced by a grimace. "Eh, what are you on about? Givin' up already, girly? Don't got the stomach?" He shrugs, widely. "Fine. Looks like it's up to me to finish this up proper!"
His grip tightens again on his Evoker. "Efnysien!"
Lunging to lean forward in his cauldron, Efnysien snatches up in one hand a dark card, more shadow than 'physical' item. Crushing it in hand, a surge of shades fly from the Persona's hand to fall like driving rain upon Isabeau.
The Evoker fires again. Snatching up that twisted rocking horse once more, Efnysien whirls it about overhead like a lariat before letting fall like a meteor for Isabeau.
He, by contrast, seems to be fit to take this fight to the end.
AS: Noriaki Okaga spends Limit on Psych! AS: Persona! Noriaki Okaga has used the Dark skill Eiha on Isabeau Fontaine! AS: Charm results in party damage! Noriaki Okaga takes 75 damage! AS: Persona! Noriaki Okaga has used the Strike skill Bash on Isabeau Fontaine! AS: Noriaki Okaga: Charm and Psych removed! AS: Take! Isabeau Fontaine takes 133 Recovery healing from Kanae Fuyuki's Diarama. AS: Avoid Worst! Isabeau Fontaine takes 30 Dark damage from Noriaki Okaga's Eiha. Eclipsed! AS: Blast added! Eclipse removed! AS: Avoid Worst! Isabeau Fontaine takes 61 Strike damage from Noriaki Okaga's Bash. <Pose Tracker> Makoto Niijima has posed.
...His apology, at least, seems genuine. "Appreciated," Queen returns, tersely.
Still, the barb aimed at Joker- whether it was even intended as a barb- stings Queen too.
Would mom? She doesn't remember her enough to know.
Would dad? She... likes to hope so.
Would sis...?
She doesn't want to think about the answer.
Bayard is the first time she has met another Persona that lets one ride it as hers does- and that gets a bit of a grin from Makoto. Oh yes- the race is lighting a fire in Queen, but when it comes to a race, Johanna pulls ahead- in part because of the fact that Makoto is launching burst of flame after burst of flame- before his Persona shatters-
Yet Alain requests they indulge him in a finale, and this time, Johanna is not fast enough to outrun Bayard, and neither are able to withstand the way Alain shatters the earth, Johanna shattering again and sending Makoto sprawling and tumbling- and yet, she's doing better than her compatriots.
"Skull! Joker!" Queen would be in as bad a place if it weren't for Kanae's media washing over them- but at this point, Queen is not going to let herself be distracted from Alain right now, she's not going to look away from such a dangerous opponent-
But Joker orders her to look after Skull. "But-" She starts to protest, and then she catches the look in Joker's eyes, as their mask burns away. "Understood! Finish it, Joker!" Still, she doesn't go straight for Skull. She's not going to let her leader try and stand off against Alain in that state. "Johanna, Diarama!" She calls, summoning her other self again, letting the green light wash over Joker as Queen guns it for
So she runs over to Skull, and by extension Mona. She can't get him back into the fight, but she can make sure he feels less of the damage when they get out of Mementos, with Johanna's healing.
AS: Persona! Makoto Niijima has used the Recovery skill Diarama on Ren Amamiya! AS: Support: Makoto Niijima gains 1 Limit! AS: Makoto Niijima: Atk_Up and Def_Dn removed! AS: Take! Ren Amamiya takes 129 Recovery healing from Makoto Niijima's Diarama. <Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Tamaki's opinion of the Phantom Thieves is, currently, decidedly neutral. It wasn't that Tsubasa had requested her help on proving the Thieves' involvement in their breakdown -- Tamaki had guilelessly suggested that they ask for the Thieves' help, and Tsubasa did not take to that suggestion kindly before recalcitrantly retreating from the Agency's office. (What Tsubasa's asked Tamaki to look into is the motivations of whoever's ultimately responsible for the Joker Killer being called on them.)
"... Don't mention it," she replies to Queen before she glances back in the direction of where she thinks she heard an earlier meowing catlike vehicle. They had managed to elude her in the mad scramble out of Kamiya's Palace, but maybe, just maybe, she can catch up to the Monabus this time ... (Don't count on it, Tamaki.)
Maybe it's also just that she's not very willing to fight on multiple fronts. Her own reaction to Noriaki has been more muted for the time being, and she and Umie had literally caught him in the act earlier.
To Isabeau, Tamaki curtly adds, "Seriously. Just don't." Her tone is uncharacteristically sharp and severe -- this is a final warning, and she's seen the same thing that Umie has. "Talk later, as I said." She does take a step away to distance herself from Noriaki, perhaps implicitly inviting Isabeau to let him have it after Kanae's walked away.
Vivienne mutters to herself as she chooses ... which pun to deploy along with her localized blizzard. It's only thanks to Umie's earlier aid that Tamaki manages to come through the other side of the storm intact. The warmth she had felt fades away, the morning has given way to dusk, and she is, once more, quite vulnerable.
Arianrhod levels her broadsword in Vivienne and Skadi's direction, pointing it straight towards her, and mutters a series of incomprehensible proclamations and warnings, a trio of geases. Trials for her to overcome, questions the imperious Arianrhod asks within the context of combat's back-and-forth debate: 'Who between us will burn out first in this war of attrition?'
Having grown up just one neighborhood away from Kagarazuka, Tamaki knows a little bit of French - enough to get by. Enough to discern the collective concern over Isabeau. Young as she is, she's still one of the adults in the room. Tamaki stands upright and places her sabre back over her shoulder and casts an uneasy glance in Noriaki's direction. "What do you say we call this a draw? Before things get out of hand."
She turns to meet Eveline's eyes in particular -- she's seen what he's capable of. That uneasy glance at Noriaki turns into laser-focused scrutiny. She's dropped her attention from the Phantom Thieves.
AS: Persona! Tamaki Uchida has used the Almighty skill Threefold Tynged on Vivienne Sournois! AS: Tamaki Uchida takes 75 damage from Pain! AS: Tamaki Uchida: Loses 8 SP from Sick! Bind removed! AS: Tamaki Uchida is unable to continue fighting! <Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
"Then just avoid fire," Ririka says to Katsuko, when she says she doesn't have any Light attacks. "Unfortunately I don't hany either, though..." She could make a weakness... She gives Katsuko a nod as she says thanks. "Welcome!"
"It's called a lyre!" Ririka shouts back at Isabeau on that side of the battlefield. She likes to think she's pretty good with a guitar, but... is too modest to say it herself.
Ririka might not be with the rest of her team right this minute, but, like Vivienne, she is used to working with one. But she can't do anything to resist the purple light that comes for her to weaken her defenses, gritting her teeth as the magic ettles in.
But Eve is... giving advice? What is it with the Navigators she fights giving out advice? First that masked bride, and now Eveline. Is... is that what Navigators are supposed to do?
Should she be giving out advice? She's not sure she's qualified to do that.
"Yeah, there's something driving me now." 'Now' is a detail she didn't mean to let slip. But she doesn't elaborate any further, either.
That whip-cane has versatility, but Ririka is keeping a close eye on her opponent, and as the attack comes for her she brings up her arm to block it. Despite her defenses being weakened, she's still pretty sturdy, though she's left with a stinging arm afterwards. "That thing hits like a truck," she mutters.
Ririka rolls her eyes at Alain's comment. "Everybody's a critic. Next time I'll just bring my guitar."
Kanae confirms that Isabeau is a huge jerk. "Yeah, she... really seems to have it in for you. I'm guessing you two know each other?"
She's glad that Kanae appreciates her music, at least. And it gets her a heal in turn. "Thanks!" she calls out./
Katsuko asks for a louder song to drown them out. "... Heh. Yeah, I think I can manage that."
"Amphion, let's go." Ririka sweeps her hand out as Amphion starts to play, and a brighter, livlier song starts, one that's more fortifying than mending, a melody wrapping around herself, Tamaki, Katsuko and Ren. A little boost for the road.
Ririka herself will start navigating her way out, piano keys of light springing to life at her fingertips as she casts her senses out.
AS: Persona! Ririka Kawase has used the Recovery skill Victory Song on Ririka Kawase, Tamaki Uchida, Katsuko Yoshinaga, and Ren Amamiya! AS: Insight: Ririka Kawase gains 1 Limit! AS: Ririka Kawase: Gains 63 HP from Regen! AS: Take! Ririka Kawase takes 0 Recovery healing from Ririka Kawase's Victory Song. AS: Def_Dn removed! AS: Take! Ren Amamiya takes 0 Recovery healing from Ririka Kawase's Victory Song. AS: Crt_Up added! AS: Take! Vivienne Sournois takes 0 Almighty damage from Tamaki Uchida's Threefold Tynged. AS: Charm, Pain, and Poison added! AS: Tamaki Uchida is unable to continue fighting! AS: Take! Katsuko Yoshinaga takes 0 Recovery healing from Ririka Kawase's Victory Song. AS: Def_Up added! <Pose Tracker> Alain Wakamatsu has posed.
"Because I don't think it's appropriate for an adult in my position to call myself such... no matter how friendly we are."
He says to Joker, now far stonier himself on the subject of Isabeau.
The sun is raised - and nuclear fire dances across his form. He looks like he's standing for a time, but then wobbles and... falls over flat on his back.
"Merde...! Best fight I've had in decades, kids." He says as the Phantom Thieves load themselves up on the Monabus, "Thanks for that."
It takes him a minute to overcome the pain of being burned repeatedly by the Goddess of the Dawn to press a lifestone to himself, and pull himself together and back up.
"Nngh... a shame they ran off." There's a small box in his hand now, under his coat. Of pastries he baked today. "... I wanted to give them a reward. Ah well."
Before he then limps closer to the others, especially Eveline, "Hm?" That look in Eve's eyes, that intensity, causes him to suddenly look to the others she's fighting. "... Ah."
This is a very different feeling from fighting the Phantom Thieves. As now he's watching to see if there's anyone he'll need to kill later.
Maybe even sooner than later.
AS: Take! Tamaki Uchida takes 0 Recovery healing from Ririka Kawase's Victory Song. AS: Crt_Up added! <Pose Tracker> Isabeau Fontaine has posed.
"I AM NOT!" Isabeau yells back, when Kanae insists she's a huge jerk.
(Editor's note: Isabeau is, in fact, a huge jerk.)
Kanae seems to think the coffin thing is bad news. (So is that a point for or against checking out the coffins --) "Yawn!" She lobbies back to Tamaki, miming weariness, though she totally just said the word yawn instead of yawning. "You sound like the police telling me not to climb a bridge!" Man, how is this kid gonna say she's mature enough to have a bunch of adult friends and then be this childish?
But Kanae says she's not having fun, and Isabeau answers: "Good! I am so happy to hear that!"
She insists that Succubus represents Touma, though, and Isabeau sniffs: "So for your boyfriend, you are `a --`" and oh no no we're not translating THAT either let's keep the insults nice and non-misogynistic and positive to sex work.
(Hey, wait, didn't we translate 'harlot' earlier? ... apparently 'harlot' passed the censors because no one younger than 60 even uses it any more.)
When Kanae sees the effects of Noriaki's machete, though -- "Ugh! You are taking pity on me?!" Isabeau snaps, when Kanae heals her. (With the Charm shattered, she's no longer fooled into that being normal.) "As if he would ever beat me! You have MET me! I am KIND OF A BIG DEAL!"
She's getting her ass kicked real hard for being such a big deal...
(... and yelling about it helps her to pretend she isn't deeply pleased to hear it's personal for Kanae, too.)
Isabeau riles so easily, Katsuko. And so -- "UGH!" Can be heard, in response to her bids for more dissonant tunes.
She isn't quite down yet, though.
"I am messing around the normal amount for a friendly competition!" Isabeau huffs, to Noriaki, yelling at him blatantly to cover up the fact that she's really creeped out at this point. The adults of the Wild Hunt could have likely boxed with him on an even footing... but Isabeau's still a brat. "Talking about having the stomach... it is like you are some kind of thug or assassin!" Isabeau, please, for the love of God, read the machete, everyone is begging you.
Unfortunately: here's Efnysien. And if Eveline hadn't had the foresight to Shroud Isabeau, earlier, she'd be in for a bad time: the obscurity of Darkness is her anathema, after all. "Why are you SO CREEPY?!" She cries, as she scrambles away from that rocking horse again -- soundly struck across the backside to go sprawling.
"Ugh..." She picks herself up. She didn't quite catch Vivienne's warning, but Eveline's regen and warning do catch her ears... and she sheathes her ruby knife. (Knifespear. THE KNIFE IS A SPEAR IS A KNIFE.) "They are right," she admits, though she's clearly not happy to cede victory. "This one, you win. I will not be so easily felled next time!"
She turns to her party, invoking -- "Mielikki!" -- as that annoying little wasp-woman appears to sprinkle revitalising energies across her party, washing away poisons and maladies. (Sorry, Katsuko.) "I suppose we have been bested today," she pouts -- POUTS!! -- as she folds her arms. "Let us away for now. We have shown them what it is we are made of!"
Blood, Isabeau. You're made of blood.
You left a little on that machete, worn down just a smidge more.
AS: Persona! Isabeau Fontaine has used the Recovery skill Energy Shower on Vivienne Sournois, Eveline Deschamps, Alain Wakamatsu, and Isabeau Fontaine! AS: Defense: Isabeau Fontaine gains 1 Limit! AS: Take! Alain Wakamatsu takes 0 Recovery healing from Isabeau Fontaine's Energy Shower. AS: Blast removed! AS: Alain Wakamatsu is unable to continue fighting! AS: Take! Isabeau Fontaine takes 0 Recovery healing from Isabeau Fontaine's Energy Shower. AS: Blast removed! AS: Take! Vivienne Sournois takes 0 Recovery healing from Isabeau Fontaine's Energy Shower. AS: Persona! Isabeau Fontaine has used the Recovery skill Me Patra on Vivienne Sournois, Eveline Deschamps, Alain Wakamatsu, and Isabeau Fontaine! AS: Take! Vivienne Sournois takes 0 Recovery healing from Isabeau Fontaine's Me Patra. AS: Charm, Pain, and Poison removed! AS: Isabeau Fontaine: Gains 61 HP from Regen! Atk_Up and Spd_Dn removed! AS: Take! Eveline Deschamps takes 0 Recovery healing from Isabeau Fontaine's Energy Shower. AS: Paralyze removed! AS: Take! Eveline Deschamps takes 0 Recovery healing from Isabeau Fontaine's Me Patra. <Pose Tracker> Eveline Deschamps has posed.
Eve gives Ririka a nod. "We'll see where it takes you." She's a Persona User, she's sure to run across her again.
But as Katsuko spreads that paralytic, Eve's staggering, grimacing mildly, a real show that Katsuko actually got to her. She doesn't respond to the badgering. It's *Isabeau's* support that allows her to move fully, aiming to retreat with the others.
She won't fuss - Eve doesn't fuss - but she will make sure Isabeau is taken care of in her own way, because this is her friend's daughter and she needs to make sure he won't lose a family member today... as well as that a teenager not much older than her daughter is okay.
<Pose Tracker> Vivienne Sournois has posed.
Vivienne's guard is raised the moment Umie vanishes. It isn't the first time she's had a target disappear on her - but where to...?
Umie leaps up behind her - and Vivienne turns. She's sensed her - but not quick enough to avoid her invisible attacks. She backpedals as blows rain down. She's on the back foot... but she's grinning again.
Arianrhod's broadsword is leveled at her, then. She can't understand her words, but she feels the effects - she becomes keenly aware that she's been placed on the knife's edge. One wrong move, and...
Tamaki voices the prospect of a draw... Vivienne considers this thoughtfully. Isabeau deciding to retreat decides this for her, though.
"Well, if you insist. It has been a remarkable battle, anyhow." Vivienne replies - and offers Tamaki and Umie both a wink. "Regardless of the outcome, should you come by my place, I'll ensure you receive a favorable rate on trades~."
...That was her game all along, wasn't it?
And with that she spins her hook swords in her hands, sliding them into the loops on her belt and offering Umie and Tamaki a tip of her hat.
"Au revoir, mes merveilleux adversaires!" Vivienne offers - and then, Skadi appears behind her. Vivienne becomes shrouded in a frosty mist, and for a moment, the only thing can be seen are her glasses, large and round like a pair of eyes gleaming out of darkness.
And then, they're gone - and if her mist happens to obscure the others' retreat as well, all the better.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
"Crow-girl?! What the heck do you mean by--" UMIE YOUR PERSONA LITERALLY IS A--
.... why is joker looking at her like that, this is perfectly fine, it's not like they met because a serial killer tried to kill umie
It's probably better that they're not just moving onto round two down here; Umie wouldn't last that long against Noriaki in this state.
Heck, this fight against Vivienne is looking pretty bleak as well. She glances to Tamaki, trying to see how amenable Tamaki would be to running away... but could Umie stomach doing so?
Glancing back at the Phantom Thieves briefly once more, if just to see how that side of the battle is going, she looks just in time to see Joker's Ame-no-Uzume 'raise the sun' with a snap of their fingers. She stares openly, distracted for just for a moment, before she forces herself to look back to her side of the battle, first looking at Tamaki as she calls a draw.
Umie rubs the lower half of her face with her coat sleeve. "Yeah... I could be satisfied with a discount. Keeping my back-up sharp is a real headache... got some high standards."
The WIld Hunt leaves, and a loaded Monabus with them. As Umie's hand finally drops down from her face, her cheeks may *seem* a little pink, but in the distorted lighting of their surroundings and how much they've exerted themselves, who's to say? "Uchida-san, uh. Let's go. Before all this noise attracts things we *don't* want to deal with right now."
Also, why does she smell... pastries? This place must be messing with her sense of smell.
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
To Isabeau, Tamaki says, "At least if you climb up a bridge, you're only risking your own neck." She'll leave the rest of that simply implied.
'It is like you are some kind of thug or assassin!' That garners a pointed stare from Tamaki directed at Isabeau. Yeah. About that. She opens her mouth partway, but catches herself. ... and Isabeau's already retreating. Given how she's responded to everything else thus far, trying to provide further clarification strikes Tamaki as a futile endeavor.
... she does take note that Isabeau easily undid Arianrhod's ailments. It may be best for her to save that particular parlor trick for solo opponents. Question asked -- and handily answered. She still has to shake off plenty of rust, it seems.
Tamaki gives Vivienne a graceful bow. "That it has!" At the mention that they should stop by, she inclines her head. "And likewise, if you ever have need of my services. I should have an interesting piece for you to work on. Au revoir to you, as well."
She nods at Umie as she says 'let's go.' "No need to tell me twice, I haven't forgotten what he's capable of." In Tamaki's perception, clearly, the simplest explanation for Umie's pink-tinged cheeks are due to the effects of Skadi's chill! No other potential reason.
Partway down the corridors back to the surface, the now-distant scent of pastries still lingers in her nostrils. It's gotten to her. "... are you hungry? I could go for something to eat."
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Umie immediately looks at Tamaki. "God, am I *ever*. Let's go." Her face falls. "... Now everything above this level's going to seem so boring..."
<Pose Tracker> Noriaki Okaga has posed.
He's starting to go hard for what should just be a friendly competition. Of course, looking at Noriaki, one could easily believe he's never had a friend in his life. Perhaps he doesn't understand what it means to try someone's strength in a way that isn't sadistic. To wit:
"Ha! Scared, are ya? Go on and run, then!" he barks at Isabeau, that grin of his becoming nastier by the second. While this is apparently a hill that Noriaki is willing to die on, though, Isabeau and her allies have much bigger fish to fry (and better things to do) than maul each other over the sum of money. At the urging of the older members of the Wild Hunt, and much to Noriaki's apparent dissatisfaction, Isabeau concedes and makes to depart.
"Tch," remarks Noriaki, rolling his shoulders lazily. "Here I was, just gettin' started. Well, fair enough!"
Once they're gone, just like that, machete slung over one shoulder, he turns to start and walk away, whistling off-key all the while.
Once and only once, he glances back over his shoulder as if he were getting one last look at Umie.
...Isn't 'you're next' the Joker Killer's deal, though?