2026-01-16: Kicking the Door In
- Log: Kicking the Door In
- Cast: Niko Kirisaki, Jin Shirato, Takaya Sakaki, Tatsuya Sudou, Noriaki Okaga, Reiya Aomori, Shinjiro Aragaki, Yukari Takeba, Suzume Fukura, Hitomi Mandai, Minato Arisato, Ririka Kawase, Koh Katsuhiro, Shizuka Kuroki, Fuuka Yamagishi, Aigis
- Where: Iwatodai Dormitory
- OOC Date: January 16, 2026
- IC Date: September 11, 2012
- Summary: Strega launches an attack on the SEES Dorm in a mission to cause chaos and demoralize.
(|============================ Iwatodai Dormitory ============================|)
-================================================== Iwatodai City/Iwatodai ====-
A large four-story dormitory used by the Specialized Extracurricular Execution
Squad, only five minutes from Iwatodai Station. Upon entering, one passes a desk
with a sign-in book for guests to find a large carpeted common room that's well
appointed for co-ed gatherings.
A TV is usually on with the local news or a movie that's been loaded into the
DVD player for a student to enjoy. A table for shared dinners, or more often
study sessions, takes up the other half of the dorm, as well as a kitchen should
one dare to show off their skills to their fellow students.
There are two winding staircases on either side. The one on the left simply says
'Boys' while the other on the right states 'No Boys Except By Invitation.' The
implicit threat of execution need not be written down for those who violate
these rules. The second and third stories are living spaces divided by gender
with common spaces that have study areas and bookshelves available.
The fourth story is the command center with surveillance capabilities for not
just different parts of the city but each room within the dorms. The Chairman
has assured all who live here that this capability is strictly necessary.
BGM - Dormitory Theme - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj-FrFI0qnM
<Pose Tracker> Niko Kirisaki has posed.
ONE DAY AGO
Strategy meetings are not generally Strega's thing. Even so, it seems like Niko felt a sense of responsibility for once in her life, making an effort to get people on the same page in regards to the upcoming attack on SEES's dorm. Nothing official, just spur of the moment as usual. Still, over the past few weeks, Niko had done her best to come up with something more than literally just kicking the door down, and now was the time to share it.
"So, here's my idea," she started, gesturing at the empty space behind her as if some kind of fancy presentation board actually existed there. "First of all, Jin's gonna be working his magic to get people's attention. His call how to do it, just, as long as it's noisy enough to get people to come running out to see what's going on."
She raised a finger, smiling. "'course, we don't want poor Jin to get swarmed, so I was thinking Ojisan would be there with him to 'greet' whoever comes running." She was thoughtful enough to keep the -chan off Jin's address this time, but Sudou never complained about what she calls him in front of others, so that nickname stayed the same as usual.
Niko's hands moved, pointing to a different part of the imaginary board. "Once people take the bait, Takaya-sama can pick his moment to walk in through the front." As Strega's leader himself indicated he wanted, she wouldn't presume to make any decisions for him. Unlike the as of yet unnamed Strega member, Niko jerking a thumb over in Noriaki's direction. "While this guy goes through the back. How's your lockpicking?"
Niko didn't wait for nor cared about an answer. "Doesn't matter, I'm sure you can get through somehow, back door didn't look like anything special. Your call on what to do from there, but you want my advice? Go straight for the fridge. Nothing damages morale more than going for the food supply."
That's just what she felt was a reasonable assumption. But why did she pick Noriaki for it in particular? "Take some of the healthy stuff for yourself while you're at it, you look like you could use it." That's literally the only reason. Moving on!
"ANYWAY. Chidori wasn't feeling it right now, so she's on standby. But if Ojisan wants to do his Thing, so we can all do our Things, then she'll be ready to do her Thing too, so they won't be able to tell where and with how many we are. They'll never see it coming, we'll totally get the drop on 'em."
Hands on her hips, Niko looked mighty proud of the plan of approach she'd come up with and the very clear way she managed to explain it all. There was just one tiny thing that she hadn't mentioned yet.
"At this point I'd ask 'any questions', but I already know the one that's on everyone's mind right now. 'What will you be doing, Niko-chan?' So I'll pretend you asked and go 'glad you asked'!"
NOW
Niko is standing by, in position, ready to act once she hears the Boom. This is one of the reasons why she'd been hanging about the dorms as of late, learning of all the possible ways of approach. And also... learning who lives nearby. Like this sweet old lady in the building next to the Iwatodai dorm. Niko has a way of endearing herself to people, it was no effort at all to convince that lady to let her into the building with the excuse of 'wanting to get a view from high up for artistic inspiration'.
So here she is now. Just chilling on the roof of an adjacent building. And she's certainly feeling inspired. Inspired to take the high road, you might say.
Oh yes. She's totally jumping the roof.
<Pose Tracker> Jin Shirato has posed.
Elsewhere, Jin Shirato is putting the finishing touches on the 'distraction' part of the plan.
He picked his spot with care. He wasn't intending on blowing the neighborhood up, but the last thing he wanted was to get caught in the blast radius of his own bomb if it turned out he put a little too much firepower in this thing (not that Jin would ever admit that a mistake was possible). They didn't want this happening too close to the SEES dormitory for that reason, either. What was the fun if they brought that old building down on everyone inside?
Everything else though? Jin didn't care too much about it. In a nearby alley, Jin adjusts his glasses with his middle finger, pushing them up the bridge of his nose. He sets a device against a brick wall situated at the end of an alley. The device is a mish-mash of parts across a variety of devices. It's not pretty, but it'll be effective. And with any luck, its bark will be bigger than its bite.
The charge hums softly as a timer lights up on a digital screen on its front; right now, it's set to 3:00 and the numbers aren't yet moving. He takes one last look at it and clicks his tongue in annoyance. "This better be noisy enough for you, Niko," he mutters under his breath as he turns away.
He presses the button and the numbers begin to count down. He'll be at the rendezvous point by the time the numbers reach 0. With any luck, the SEES team will be scrambling out the doors like the vermin they were and they could pick them off, one-by-one.
BOOM.
The explosion tears through the night and a blast of light and sound rattles windows violently. Now all they needed to do was wait.
<Pose Tracker> Takaya Sakaki has posed.
The area around the SEES dorm is unusually quiet for the time of day. Usually, students would be on their way home from class but today many were avoiding this direction for some reason. The people who could be seen on the streets next to the dorm are those "rough" sort of people who usually hang out in the back alleys.
Everything felt like the calm before the storm. The air had a weird stillness and color that just felt off.
And everything would continue to feel off until the front door opened. Takaya's shirtless form stood in the door way, holding the door for anyone following him. Finally, he makes his way into the main corridor, looking around with some amusement. He stops at a bulletin board, taking some of the messages to heart as he turns to anyone who will listen. "This is where they call home...interesting. Suddenly things are beginning to gel." Takaya smiles as he continues to take in everything the SEES dorm has to offer.
After a moment, Takaya makes his way to the TV area. The man stares into his reflection as he takes in more. "Ah...here is where youth meets the propaganda arm of the organization." He smiles again before suddenly drawing the gun that has been tucked into the side of his jeans. "Lets free those minds. That will be mission 1 of today's little excursion."
Takaya fires into the TV, turning as he looks around the door. "Attention, today you are going to bleed by our hand...I would suggest you scream real loud."
Takaya raises his voice so it booms throughout the building. "Remember that today is less about bodies and more about changing hearts! If they wish to flee into the streets, show them the door!" Takaya fires his gun again.
<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Sudou has posed.
The explosion goes boom and a laughter is heard behind Jin before Jin's work gets an applause, "Jin my boy, you do nice work. Now whats next....Oh right!" A snap of a finger is given by Sudou before he leaps into the air and comes down on the firey wreckage of the explosion stabbing the ground with his sword. The ground ripples and distorts as the touch of the Joker Killer spreads.
For some it might just feel like stepping into the dark hour, for others a resonance of something chaotic, and for those who know him on a personal letter it is the calling card that only a Joker Killer can give off. As he looks up at Jin he picks up some of the flames and holds them for a moment, pets them and plays with them before pouring them on the sword itself. He looks over at Jin, "I am just saying if you run for it kid, you could get in there and have fun. Maybe destroy their showers, I hear that really pisses them off." Another laugh is given as the paper bag wearing media proclaimed monster takes a seat among the burning wreckage and waits. They will come...
Or this monster will find something to do to entertain himself.
<Pose Tracker> Noriaki Okaga has posed.
He didn't complain about it: free food is free food, and it beats his usual method when he's short on cash. As for Noriaki's lockpicking skills?
*CRASH*
They probably don't matter quite so much when you've knocked the door down with a Persona. It comes at something of a delay after the explosion, or the entrance of a certain young man by the front door, or the spread of 'wrongness' that ripples across the area.
Noriaki is a tall, gangling young man, the top half of his face hidden by a hoodie. He slinks over to the fridge and, with a brief wiggle of the fingers of his left hand, reaches over and grabs the handle to wrench it open.
"Now... what do the kiddos got in here?" he muses, rubbing at his short and straggly beard as he examines the fridge contents carefully.
Was that someone else's sando? It's his now. Same with that takeout tempura. ...Is this healthy? It's an open question!
<Pose Tracker> Reiya Aomori has posed.
Boom! Reiya frowns sharply as he hears the explosio, judging whre it is. Reiya was not down in the common area. Reiya was on the roof, where, isntead of immediately givig himself away by stannding up, he freezes. Take a moment; analyze the situation. What has changed? Where was the explosion? An alley nearby. How close is it to the dorm? Not close enough that it should set things ablaze, but--
Everything goes out the window when Reiya feels the heartbeat stopper that is the Mark being used, to him so unlike the Dark Hour itself.
Rising to his feet, Reiya pulls his Evoker holster from where he'd hidden in it in his exercise bag, and fits it to his belt silently. He was going to meet Suzume up here...
Niko may or may not see him stand, given how quietly he does so and how he's on the other end of the roof, blocked by some planters and such.
Regardless, he pulls a few more things out of his bag, too--
It's time to use his training. Reiya steps into theoretical view in silence as he moves towards the doorway.
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
School's ended, so Shinjiro came straight to the dorms and changed into his usual outfit, red coat and beanie.
He's in his room writing something when he hears the gunshot and Takaya's booming voice. His hands shake as he grabs his warhammer from the closet, stepping out into the hall.
He could charge for Takaya, smash him to smithereens. But that's probably what he wants... and it'd risk structural damage to the house. So instead, he needs to make sure it's not a pincer attack.
Footsteps quaking, he dashes upstairs, basically barreling to investigate the roof. If this is a red herring, that's fine.
He might need a moment to breathe before joining the others.
Shinjiro may or may not make it to the roof before someone reaches him, but either way... he needs to act.
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
In her room, Yukari is wearing a set of pink headphones, as she works a brush across one nail with this stupid smile on her face...
/o~ Crash!
/o~ Love is an explosion! Love is an explosion!
/o~ This is a state of emergency!
/o~ I've never felt such a humongous feeling before-
Coincidentally the dorm shakes hard enough to go through the headphones, feeling the indirect result of the explosion. "Wha-"
Casting off the headphones, she looks at her only partially done, still wet nails and grimaces as suddenly she feels it - that heartbeat, that sickening feeling of the world shifting into monochromatic flashing.
Nyarlathotep VWOOP SOUND - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RARotEaobh0
"No way... here!? The Joker Killer is..." She quickly throws on her SEES jacket, and throwing her quiver over her shoulder.
And that's how Yukari Takeba first sees Takaya Sakaki, from the girl's stairs, her eyes wide. "You definitely don't live here! Who even are you!?" She places an Evoker to her head, and pulls the trigger, a shattering noise like glass that Takaya is well familiar with taking over her. "Io!"
Blue flames erupt, and Io appears, the coffin like bull's head, with a featureless girl of flowing hair billowing in the wind, as it points towards him and he feels himself struck with magic that hampers his and his Persona's movements, since he's the only one in immediate view.
"Is that a real gun!? Did you actually bring a real gun into our dorm?"
Pause. She kind of straightens up as she realizes what she's looking at.
"... Toooo... shoot our TV? ...Okay. You do realize a kid lives here right?"
Noriaki's rummaging causes her to then look towards the kitchen door with incredulity. "Is someone in the kitchen- Wait you're... raiding our fridge? Is this some kind of sick joke!?"
A not certain if serious look hits her face, "... Most of us can't cook well enough for that to even be worth doing? You're probably just gonna find Sanada-senpai's frozen workout meals..."
Unseasoned and boiled chicken, egg, and broccoli... in other words, fairly disgusting in her opinion.
AS: Persona! Yukari Takeba has used the Almighty skill Masukunda on Takaya Sakaki! AS: Yukari Takeba regains 3 SP from Invigorate!
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Suzume was actually in her room early.
She got back quick after class, as she isn't a part of any particular club or team and has no particular interest in hanging around to study. And anyway, she has other plans for the afternoon.
Specifically, practice time!
Suzume can't bring her tonfa down to the gym to practice (unlike, say, Akihiko and his fists, or Yukari and her bow) because carrying tonfa around in public is illegal without an excuse and she's not actually an official member of any martial arts clubs. She's not shy about doing it for actual SEES operations; she's brought them down to the station in a gym bag to go to Mementos, for instance, because the Kirijo shield is powerful. But going out to practice would get a lot of questions she doesn't want to answer.
So she's gotten into the habit of using the rooftop when nobody else is up there gardening to practice. Sometimes she does it with Reiya, who she trusts enough to work out with and whose ninja training is actually relevant; sometimes she does it with Shinjiro, though the style of practice is quite different.
Suzume is dressed in her gym outfit - open grey and red jacket over a white short-sleeved shirt, grey pants with a white stripe - and carrying her tonfa under her arm when something explodes, and worse, she feels It.
Something Is Wrong.
Suzume practically vaults up the remaining stairs to the rooftop and slams through the door, shoulder-first. "Reiya!" she calls, dropping his honourific in the tension of the moment. "Did you hear that? Did you FEEL that?"
Well, so much for hiding.
<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.
When it starts, Hitomi Mandai is reclining on her bed.
She had gotten back from school. She'd changed out of her uniform - hung it up. She didn't feel that athletic given that just the other day she had gone for an unwonted form of exertion in the form of a training jog with Sanada-sempai, but it's almost feeling nice, now.
Hitomi had, in fact, been reading her Blade World core book while laying on her side, thinking comfortable gray-blue thoughts about what it is that she's going to build into the next module she makes, now that she has some interested parties.
And then there's an explosion.
She wasn't used to explosions. Hitomi, alone, sits bolt upright with enough speed to send the book thrown across the room, her eyes wide as she looks around the room. The noise was distant. Something far away. Maybe it was just a car's engine backfiring or something, thinks Hitomi, before a sense of unease washes over her, a sense of something she can't quite place.
It crystallizes when she hears gunshots downstairs. Her pulse jackhammers. Cold sweat prickles at the back of her neck. She can feel the gnawing mindless terror-worms of panic start to climb up the inside of her ribcage. Her hands tremble. Several more gunshots.
Hitomi is even less used to gunshots. Though she has heard a great many, in a certain sense of the term, they were coming from a single origin point -- from Aigis -- and it was the Dark Hour, anyway, when things are allowed to be strange. But it isn't the Dark Hour now.
Hitomi thought she was blase, perhaps, because she watches a lot of horror movies. Nevertheless, her mind, already jacked to high alertness, reaches some sort of hyper-real plane of genuine horror. Those gunshots.
Who was it? Who was downstairs.
Was it Suzume? (She thinks of Suzume first.) Was it Yukari? Who got shot? She didn't hear a scream.
The others. Was it Akihiko? Was it Minato, or Minako?
come on dummy
Hitomi feels herself frozen. She wonders if she's gotten shot. If she's going to have a heart attack. Who were those gunshots for?
Was it Fuuka? Was it Aragaki?
come on
The icy feeling gets stronger. Her hands come up to cup her face, in horror; as if she can hide. Hide, she should hide, she thinks distantly.
Ririka? Reiya?
it isn't you
Hitomi feels like she can see outside of her body. For a moment the entire dorm room seems to be seen by her, as if from the top down. The world is spinning. She can feel it.
Junpei? Shizuka? Gould-san?
you have the advantage of surprise
Things grow steadier, plummeting now. Hitomi can hear a susurrous sound of every sound in her floor, all the subtle things she usually ignores, distant and muffled voices, and for a moment she thinks she's looking at herself, half curled, shaking, terrified.
Koromaru? Mitsuru? Amada?
do it
Everything shudders, shakes... and stops. Hitomi lifts her head. That cold terror isn't gone but it feels like something hot is resting on her shoulders. Like a hand, she supposes.
Hitomi knows she has to act. It may be only one throw. It may be too late for someone. It isn't too late for everyone. The building hasn't collapsed. Her head turns slightly, and she searches her room for something she can use.
AND THAT'S WHY
The door to Hitomi Mandai's dorm room is swung open.
And as for Hitomi herself?
Her heart lifts when she sees, hears, Yukari. So it wasn't Yukari! She doesn't have time to think further because she is running. Hitomi is running down the stairs in her pajama slacks and a T-shirt and she isn't stopping for anything as she runs down the stairs. By the simple quirk of her position, she turns towards the kitchen. And there she can see someone who she doesn't recognize.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORpQvQv3-pE
"Get" Hitomi begins as she doesn't so much stop as turn her momentum around, running towards that kitchen space.
"THE HELL" She is carrying something. It doesn't make any sense for her to be carrying it. It was the only thing she could find fast enough.
"OUT OF MY FUCKING HOUSE!!!" Hitomi screams as she hurls a perfectly functional 19-inch color CRT computer monitor directly at Noriaki Okada. Her face is contorted, pale, clammy, terror and fury having woven together.
Come what way, the monitor will not be functional for long.
AS: Weapon! Hitomi Mandai has used the Strike skill Exploding Sixes on Noriaki Okaga! 3 Hits! AS: Aggression: Hitomi Mandai gains 1 Limit! AS: Take! Takaya Sakaki takes 0 Almighty damage from Yukari Takeba's Masukunda. AS: Spd_Dn added!
<Pose Tracker> Minato Arisato has posed.
Minato just got in from school; normally, track would be meeting today, but their team manager Yuko's caught a cold, and so told everyone to go home early and make sure they rest up to make sure they don't catch it from her, too.
He steps through the door... and avoids anyone making any comments from the couch, today! Safe! It's a relief, because if he is sick, he needs to get a mask from his room. It's for the good of SEES.
But Minato has barely stepped into his room -- when reality comes down around his ears with a terrifying VWOOP. It doesn't feel at all like the Dark Hour, to him; it's entirely another type of transgression, like everything up to and including his skin was degloved and placed inside-out.
You know! Wrong.
Instead of a mask, he grabs his Evoker, and hurries back downstairs.
There's not far for Takaya to walk between the front door and the TV: it's in direct eyeline from the front door, on account of the open-room plan. That same open plan lets him look behind him, when that shirtless man appears, hearing the door blast open.
"Did a homeless man just break in and beeline to our kitchen," and it's shaped like a question, but Minato is deadpan as ever. If things feel this wrong... just like the reports, it must be a supernatural space. "Kawase-san? Yamagishi-san?" He asks, and he might look a little insane, speaking to open air. "Please inform everyone we're under attack. Are Amada-kun and Koromaru-chan still at the shrine?" Luckily, they are; Ken will be too busy blissfully walking the dog for either of them to be involved in this. "Two enemies have converged on the ground floor. We have explosions outside --"
And in here. BANG!
Minato turns back.
Minato sees their TV -- their poor, elderly television -- now shattered, a hole through the massive glass screen.
"That television has a family," he informs Takaya, his voice still even. But then -- Hitomi flings the computer monitor in her rage; he turns to her, still calm. "... had a family. Are you all right?"
He brings his Evoker to his head, and fires, just as calmly. "Orpheus."
That scarf-clad Persona rises, behind him, as he strums his lyre, and summons Orpheus to curse Takaya's strength as surely as his speed.
AS: Persona! Minato Arisato has used the Almighty skill Tarunda on Takaya Sakaki! AS: Pressure: Minato Arisato gains 1 Limit! AS: Take! Takaya Sakaki takes 0 Almighty damage from Minato Arisato's Tarunda. AS: Atk_Dn added! AS: Persona! Ririka Kawase has used the Almighty skill Dissonant Song on Tatsuya Sudou! AS: Insight: Ririka Kawase gains 1 Limit! AS: Take! Tatsuya Sudou takes 0 Almighty damage from Ririka Kawase's Dissonant Song. AS: Spd_Dn added!
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka had been studying in her dorm, humming quietly to herself as she scanned her textbook and took meticulous notes. Her desk was neat and orderly, just like her room. A place for everything, and everything in its place.
Then the explosion happened outside and she jerked upright. "What the hell--" She tossed her headphones onto the desk, not even bothering to hit pause, running for the door-- and then the wave of the supernatural spread out from Sudou and Ririka clutched at her head. "Wh-whoa--"
She knows that Resonance, having faced Sudou several times now. She sends out a message to everyone in the dorms. <<Everyone! I think that's the Joker Killer's Resonace! Be careful!>> But she can't snese anybody... <<... and someone's blocking my senses. Be careful.>>
She lunges for her closet to grab her Evoker and katana, then charges down the stairs two at a time to burst out the front door.
She bursts out the front, hair hair tied back in a low ponytail, dressed in shorts and a band t-shirt. The grip on her katana and Evoker tighten when she spots Sudou just standing in the wreckage. "You again!" She glances at Jin. "And you... you're with Strega!" <<Everyone, watch out! The Joker Killer and a Strega member are here!>>
She puts her Evoker to her head, hand trembling for a moment as she steals herself. "Amphion!" A large stone man with a golden lyre rises up behind her, and Ririka points her Evoker at Sudou to direct Amphion. "Show him what kind of welcome he's getting!"
Amphion strums his lyre, sending waves of discordant sounds rushing at Sudou to try and disrupt him.
She glances to Koh. "This guy is strong against Fire and weak against water." She glances over to Fuuka and Shizuka. "... I haven't been able to analyze him yet, Yamagishi-san. But be careful--he had explosives when he attacked Kasu!"
AS: Avoid Neutral! Noriaki Okaga takes 9 Strike damage from Hitomi Mandai's Exploding Sixes. AS: Avoid Best! Noriaki Okaga takes 10 Strike damage from Hitomi Mandai's Exploding Sixes. Critical Hit! AS: Block Neutral! Noriaki Okaga takes 30 Strike damage from Hitomi Mandai's Exploding Sixes. Critical Hit!
<Pose Tracker> Niko Kirisaki has posed.
Niko smiles as she hears the BOOM down below. "Nice one, Jin-chan." If she could hear it so clearly way up here, that's bound to have been plenty loud enough to draw some attention away from the dorms. Which meeeeans...
She slowly counts to ten in her head. That should be good enough. Then, she pushes off from the wall next to the door, stretches herself out, adds a few additional warmup stretches... and bends through her knees, narrowing her eyes in the direction of the rooftop of the dorm ahead of her.
She's higher up than it, but not by much. If she's judged the distance correctly, she should be able to comfortably make that jump. She just... has to do it. This thing that she didn't exactly get to practice beforehand, and would definitely lead to a poor end if she messes it up.
No big deal. Niko is too far beyond common sense to believe this has any chance of going badly for her. It's simple. Just run and jumps. So she runs... and jumps.
*thump*
Niko lands neatly in a crouch, having comfortably cleared the distance. She smiles brightly as she straightens up, casually taking a few steps forward. Rather than any hidden ninjas, what she spots first is... "Ooh. Got a garden up here? Nice."
That garden would definitely have had its bounty plucked - or, more likely, Reiya would have emerged from the shadows to stop that from happening. But neither can happen before Suzume bursts in, shouting for Reiya. Well, that's fine. Doesn't do anything to dampen Niko's mood.
"Well, look who it is... Suzu-chan! And you say Reiya-chan is somewhere around? Come out, come out, wherever you are~"
That's definitely the element of surprise gone. But... Niko isn't actually making any sort of hostile move. Beyond, you know, jumping onto their home's rooftop. You might consider that a little bit hostile.
This standoff is what Shinjiro ends up running into, and Niko is of course perfectly cheerful in her greeting. "Shin-chan too? Thought for sure you'd be running for the front door... well, that suits me fine. Let's all have a nice chat... about what you did to deserve this."
Or, you know. You could attack her instead. That's valid.
<Pose Tracker> Takaya Sakaki has posed.
Takaya is well aware of Yukari as she start lecturing him. You don't belong here. There are kids here. Blah blah blah. Finally when she reacts to the television, the long haired man turns to look at her, smiling serenely.
"Thats just the thing...You parade around the Dark Hour like it is yours. And yet you want to claim to be children. Curious." Takaya trains the gun around and smiles as he points it toward Yukari. "Run before---"
And thats when Takaya feels the spell hit him. He feels his movement restricted. "Very well. You have wandered into the world of Adults and must be treated as one." Takaya points his large pistol toward Yukari, pulling back the hammer.
Then the next spell hits him, Takaya laughs as he can feel it all trying to bind him. They were trying to slow this down. Clever.
"Did it? Does she?" Takaya squeezes the trigger and fires at Yukari with a cold precision.
Takaya stops when he turns to look at Minato. This one was different...Takaya smiles despite having just shot this boys friend potentially.
AS: Weapon! Takaya Sakaki has used the Pierce skill Coup de grace on Yukari Takeba! 2 Hits! AS: Aggression: Takaya Sakaki gains 1 Limit! AS: Weapon! Takaya Sakaki has used the Pierce skill Decisive Shot on Minato Arisato!
<Pose Tracker> Koh Katsuhiro has posed.
Two red and white striped capsules roll out of their small bottle and into Koh Katsuhiro's palm. The now empty yellow and unlabeled plastic tube is discard on the desk next to him. He takes a brief break to press his palm to his forehead in a vain attempt to convince his brain to remain in his skull.
But the crash outside his head makes him jolt up and off his bed. "The hell-" The motion makes him wince, but the pain comes along with an unfamiliar emptiness.
The headache is put aside. The fumbled suppressants are snapped off desk and shoved into his mouth with a gulp of Pheromone Coffee (twice daily with vitamin supplements for smooth skin and thick hair) before he grabs his evoker, knife, and moves quickly out of the dorm and toward the disturbance.
"Yo, Kawase-" He gets about that far before he spots their guests and freezes. "The Joker Killer!? Like from the news!?" As if there were another one.
He forces himself to move after that short stutter. "Shit, okay, be careful! Where's everyone else!?" Evoker to goes to head. The trigger is pulled.
"Zagreus!"
The psychedelic rag with the golden mania mask appears behind him, using its single arm to squeeze a refreshing mist from the bloody heart it carries.
<Pose Tracker> Shizuka Kuroki has posed.
Shizuka is in her room, hard at work on one of Lucky Flash's next manga masterpiece. More like...
...mangasterpiece.
Wait shit that's good is that copyrighted? Gotta at least trademark that. Anyway, I'm getting distracted, she thinks as she shakes her head.
Hey Shizuka, here's a joke. What's more distracting than mulling over copyrights?
An explosion.
The shockwave of the explosion knocks Shizuka over, causing her pen to drag along her paper and completely ruin her punchline!
"What the hell?! There's not supposed to be a Shadow tonight..."
A gunshot. Then commotion. Shizuka grabs her Evoker off the holster hanging off her coat rack and rushes out the door, heading downstairs. She nearly freezes when she sees what's going on. Strega. Steeling her nerves as she rushes past Takaya, trusting Yuka-chan and Nato-kun to take care of him, and bolting out the front door to check on the explosion.
And then she nearly freezes again at the sight of the Joker Killer. Turns out when you get blown up by a guy, it takes a while to get over it. Her attention goes over to Jin, bringing her Evoker to her head and pulling the trigger, summoning her guardian cast in stone.
"GALATEA!"
Evoker gives way to knives as Shizuka stances up, staring Jin down. "That explosion must have been you, then. Fuu-chan, cover me!" She spins the butterfly knives to expose the blades, tossing them towards jin!
AS: Weapon! Shizuka Kuroki has used the Pierce skill Chisel Toss on Jin Shirato! 2 Hits!
<Pose Tracker> Fuuka Yamagishi has posed.
An explosion rocks the dorm, and Fuuka startles out of bed. Before she can even ask what that was, she feels it - that awful, sickly feeling washing over the world.
It's familiar. The world has suddenly been plunged into the supernatural. Here. That explosion... it can't be a coincidence.
"Everyone, we're under attack!" Fuuka warns SEES, reaching out to whoever she can reach through the Navigator's telepathic link. "I can't sense who it is... someone must be interfering from afar."
Her training with Reiya has helped push through that, but whoever is responsible for this interference must be an expert. She can only feel the absence... but there is one thing she can feel, which Ririka puts a name to.
"The Joker Killer? He's here...?" Fuuka replies. She breathes in deep, trying to calm herself. Thankfully, their leader's words reach her, helping her to focus..
"Arisato-san! Understood. And, yes, I believe so... Thank goodness." She replies to Minato, before addressing everyone else.
"Everyone, be careful and don't let yourself get separated - find someone and stick with them! I'm going to investigate the explosion - I'd like some people to come with me..." Fuuka requests. Her laptop is locked, shut down, and stowed away in its case, and she moves to grab her uniform's capelet and headphones from the wardrobe, sliding them on. There's no time for the full uniform, but that's easy enough to do.
Once she's ready, she hurries out the door, locking it behind her, to join up with the others, making her way to the alleyway where the explosion went off.
...Unfortunately, it seems the place she chose happened to be the very place where the Joker Killer himself was camping out.
Fuuka looks from Sudou to Jin - focusing on the latter as Ririka warns them about the explosives.
"I see... Thank you." Fuuka replies, then looks toward Jin. He seems... a bit more likely to be open to reason than the Joker Killer.
"Why are you doing this...?" Fuuka asks.
Shizuka asks her to cover her, though, so Fuuka nods.
"I'll support you." She assures. She draws out her Evoker, then, shutting her eyes.
"Lucia...! Show us the way..." Fuuka entreats. Her eyes open again, shining blue, as she studies Jin. Trying to pierce the veil the Anti-Navigator has placed over her eyes, to perceive what it is he can do and warn the others.
AS: Persona! Fuuka Yamagishi has used the Almighty skill Divination on Jin Shirato! AS: Insight: Fuuka Yamagishi gains 1 Limit! AS: Avoid Best! Yukari Takeba takes 7 Pierce damage from Takaya Sakaki's Coup de grace. Critical Hit! AS: Avoid Neutral! Yukari Takeba takes 21 Pierce damage from Takaya Sakaki's Coup de grace. Critical Hit! AS: Avoid Worst! Jin Shirato takes 25 Pierce damage from Shizuka Kuroki's Chisel Toss. AS: Avoid Best! Jin Shirato takes 4 Pierce damage from Shizuka Kuroki's Chisel Toss. AS: Persona! Koh Katsuhiro has used the Recovery skill Healing Wave on Ririka Kawase! AS: Support: Koh Katsuhiro gains 1 Limit! AS: Take! Jin Shirato takes 0 Almighty damage from Fuuka Yamagishi's Divination. AS: Atk_Dn added! AS: Fuuka Yamagishi's Support Scan! Jin Shirato has passive skills Fire Boost, Heavy Weapon, Mind Shield, and Schadenfreude!
<Pose Tracker> Reiya Aomori has posed.
Gunshots. And shouting.
Reiya looks to Suzume sharply when she calls for him--and then, "I heard." That will do away with his stealth approach for the moment...
But that's not unbearable, because Niko doesn't immediately attack. Reiya turns towards her, reachig into his jacket with his non-Evoker hand. "No," Reiya answers simply, and throws a few poisoned needles at Niko. The poison won't be lethal--but in a cognitive space, it will be even more effective.
"You are a distraction," Reiya says. "Your allies have attacked our dorm, and perhaps our neighbors. And the longer you have us held up, the less opportunity we have to help our own allies and friends."
"Surrender or fall."
AS: Weapon! Reiya Aomori has used the Pierce skill Venom Throw on Niko Kirisaki! 2 Hits! AS: Ruin: Reiya Aomori gains 1 Limit! AS: Mind Up! Niko Kirisaki's SP +8! AS: Block Best! Niko Kirisaki takes 9 Pierce damage from Reiya Aomori's Venom Throw. AS: Poison added! AS: Block Best! Niko Kirisaki takes 9 Pierce damage from Reiya Aomori's Venom Throw. AS: Poison added! AS: Block Best! Minato Arisato takes 8 Pierce damage from Takaya Sakaki's Decisive Shot.
<Pose Tracker> Aigis has posed.
Aigis had been in her room after school, trying (and failing) to understand her recent literature assignment. School, as she's found, has been a worthwhile endeavor to keep her busy during the day when she would otherwise remain idle, deactivated, or recharging.
This is the rhythm which she had adapted to thus far: broaden her horizons during the day, then venture out during the Dark Hour to fulfill her designed purpose and defeat Shadows. Neatly-regimented blocks of time, alternating between safety and peril.
It starts with a nearby explosion. While this does concern her at first, it does not alarm her: she doesn't perceive it as something targeting SEES, nor anything to do with the supernatural.
Then an atmosphere similar to (but distinct from) the Dark Hour descends, despite the fact that there's still sunlight outside, further backed up by the time indicated by Aigis' on-board clock. The option to summon Palladion is available to her, she feels this, even at this time of day, without most of humanity transmogrified into coffins.
Just as quickly as she had established a new sense of normalcy, it had been shattered and revealed to have been nothing more than an illusion all this time.
She rushes downstairs to see what the commotion is about, and it's here that she sees those assembled in the common room.
BANG
At Yukari's question about if Takaya brought a real gun into the dorm, Aigis turns her head to briefly look at her as she inquisitively holds up one of her hands -- but quickly realizes that she should instead be concerned about someone with a gun in the vicinity
with Minato right there.
For all the calm Minato demonstrates in this moment, every internal alarm in Aigis' mind is going off. She has to protect him -- the stakes are too high, the consequences too dire.
At first, she points her own fingers at Takaya, but she hears the crash of Hitomi's hurled monitor in Noriaki's direction. Yukari's by his side -- recalling their earlier conversation, she gives her a firm nod, then turns to stand by Hitomi's side and instead aim her arm in Noriaki's direction.
"Palladion! Actualize!" Twin auras of red blue emanate from her statuesque, immobile Persona and empower herself and her allies, imbuing them with divine strength and protection alike.
More quietly, still facing Noriaki, she casts a glance back to Minato and Yukari and utters, "... I am counting on you, Takeba-san."
AS: Persona! Aigis has used the Recovery skill Spear and Shield on Aigis, Hitomi Mandai, Minato Arisato, and Yukari Takeba! AS: Pressure: Aigis gains 1 Limit! AS: Aigis regains 3 SP from Invigorate! AS: Take! Aigis takes 0 Recovery healing from Aigis's Spear and Shield. AS: Atk_Up and Def_Up added! AS: Take! Minato Arisato takes 0 Recovery healing from Aigis's Spear and Shield. AS: Atk_Up and Def_Up added! AS: Take! Hitomi Mandai takes 0 Recovery healing from Aigis's Spear and Shield. AS: Atk_Up and Def_Up added!
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
As Shinjiro barrels out, spotting Niko, Suzume, and Reiya, his face is angry... but it's also concerned. What that concern is for isn't clear, as he shouts out the second he gets out there.
"Niko! What the fuck are you doing?!" he calls out, having expected she'd be here. "Get the fuck out of here! Goddamn it, this isn't..."
He's steadying himself, not fully, but enough to not just charge her. As Reiya throws those needles, he's fumbling for his Evoker.
"Niko, *please*, don't do this."
He's scared more than anything. He's mad, sure, very angry, but he's scared about losing the only home he has left, the one he just started getting comfortable in.
He puts the Evoker to his head, pulling the trigger. Instead of coming out in an attack, he clutches his chest as Castor saps blood-red energy from him, power overwhelming him in an instant.
"Damn it... goddamn it!"
AS: Take! Ririka Kawase takes 0 Recovery healing from Koh Katsuhiro's Healing Wave. AS: Regen added!
<Pose Tracker> Jin Shirato has posed.
"Nah, I think I'll stay out here." Not that Jin wasn't curious or anything, but he always wanted to make sure he had an exit strategy. And it was far easier to make a hasty departure from the streets than it was from a building's interior.
Or roof for that matter. Jin's eyes briefly flicker up to the rooftop, where Niko is -- or will be soon, anyway. That knucklehead'd be able to get outta there just fine, even if it meant hitting her hard head on the way down.
Jin isn't able to ruminate for long, though. Sure enough, some of the SEES start pouring out of the entrance, starting with Ririka Kawase.
"Yeah, what's it to ya?"
Before he can engage in any further verbal parlay, Jin is waylaid by Shizuka's knives. "Shit..." Jin attempts to jump out of the way, but isn't fast enough. He's a little more successful in dodging the second, but the blow still swipes him, cutting through his jacket in the process.
Another girl joins the first, and she casts something -- but nothing obviously happens. Some kinda support spell? Jin isn't quite sure yet.
He is sure of something, though.
"I guess I should have asked Shin-chan for more intel before we showed up here," he calls out to Sudou, but he wants to make sure that the SEES members hear it. He utters the honorific in the same tone some people would utter the word 'roach'.
"It's too bad." Jin pulls a grenade off his belt and throws it.
<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Sudou has posed.
The Joker Killer stands up at the sight of the healer, "Yes it's you...you....healer person." Ok he may have never gotten Ririka's name, but it's not like they have ever sat around during the dark hour and shared drinks, or chatted during battles or anything. "Also it's rude for you to just tell things about me. We aren't on that sorta level."
Sudou stands and as the magic of 'Healer person' he feels a bit sluggish. "Oh man I will admit I was hoping for someone else. Like that fake joker to be staying with y'all or something." He lifts his so called sword, a gnarly piece of metal that looks like it was beaten into a sword shape with a rock, on fire with whatever substance was used for the explosion, and some added magic. Thats when he sees another person do it, break Sudou's one rule for combat. No healing for the good guys. " Well I guess if we are doing this." He slings his sword over his shoulder and charges in towards the two.
"First off, let me share a little about healer person here. She is strong in pissing me off for healing people and telling people my business." Sudou says before he out right tries to punch her in face, because he is rude like that. "Weak however." Turning he looks at Koh, "You though, you seem new. Have I killed someone you love yet? Do you have someone you'd like me to try to kill? Eh either way you are still in need of punishment for what you just did." Taking the burning sword he slashes wide trying to cut Koh in two.
AS: Persona! Shinjiro Aragaki has used the Almighty skill Bloody Charge on Shinjiro Aragaki! AS: Pressure: Shinjiro Aragaki gains 1 Limit! AS: Shinjiro Aragaki regains 15 HP from Regenerate! AS: Persona! Tatsuya Sudou has used the Strike skill Sonic Punch on Ririka Kawase! AS: Take! Shinjiro Aragaki takes 0 Almighty damage from Shinjiro Aragaki's Bloody Charge. AS: Atk_Up, Crt_Up, and Def_Up added! AS: Tandem! Tatsuya Sudou has used the Fire skill Burning Slash on Koh Katsuhiro! AS: Weapon! Jin Shirato has used the Pierce skill Error 404: Not Found on Fuuka Yamagishi! AS: Weapon! Jin Shirato has used the Pierce skill Error 404: Not Found on Shizuka Kuroki! AS: Counter Worst! Fuuka Yamagishi takes 70 Pierce damage from Jin Shirato's Error 404: Not Found. AS: COUNTER! Jin Shirato takes 36 Pierce damage in return for his attack! AS: Avoid Best! Koh Katsuhiro takes 27 Fire damage from Tatsuya Sudou's Burning Slash. Critical Hit! AS: Poison added! AS: Take! Yukari Takeba takes 0 Recovery healing from Aigis's Spear and Shield. AS: Atk_Up and Def_Up added! AS: Avoid Worst! Shizuka Kuroki takes 81 Pierce damage from Jin Shirato's Error 404: Not Found. Weak!
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
"Mayyy... be?" Is her answer to Minato, since she didn't actually see Noriaki, just heard the rummage.
'That television has a family...'
She liked it too, but everything is so absurd here that she can't help but doubt whether she actually heard a bomb. What's the deal here!? Hitomi rushes the kitchen with the monitor, "Get them, Mandai!"
Then Takaya answers her, an answer that puzzles her. "Like it's ours!?" Pause, "Uhh what gave you that impression? You know it's kinda everywhere right?"
Still that statement hits home in a way that even Takaya might not expect.
'like it is yours'
It kinda is, in a sense - given what her father did. It's his mess, and he's no longer around to clean it up.
Who does it fall to, then?
"The world of-" All that is stolen away when Takaya points a gun at her. Suddenly the absurdity becomes deadly serious once more.
She stares down at the gun, shocked and appalled- in a way that might seem like she's just frozen up. However, Minato interrupts the action, long enough for Yukari to start to run towards the couch.
Takaya fires at her, and one grazes her SEES sleeve. The next shot is deflected by Io's winds pushing the shot to veer off.
"Haaaa.... ha..." She breathes hard, looking at the gouge in her sleeve, his words etching into her mind.
'Does she?'
No... not really. The only family she has abandoned her, abandoned her father. She has nothing to speak of.
A real gun. Something about it feels different, worse, more real - more serious when it's pointed your way than even the sensation of facing death with an Evoker.
'..I am counting on you Takeba-san.' Her breath stills, as she looks behind herself at Aigis, surprised as Palladion empowers her. Given her purpose that she'd leave it to her...
... she needs to be worthy of that trust...
"I've got him." She tells her, gathering her courage to act.
"Don't... don't talk to me about the world of adults..." She stands up suddenly, pressing her gun to her head, "... WHEN YOU CAN'T EVEN DRESS LIKE ONE!"
The trigger is pulled, and Io comes to bear again, the winds rising in a furious swell, as they then rush forward to slam into Takaya again - and again, trying to throw him off-balance...
... for Minato to capitalize on.
AS: Yukari Takeba spends Limit on Shift! Minato Arisato can use another Weak skill this round! They both receive 8 SP and 30 HP!
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
In Suzume's defense, she wasn't expecting someone on the roof. Who'd climb all the way up here without being noticed? She figured she was going to join up with Reiya and work their way downstairs to whatever the actual problem was.
So she reddens slightly when Reiya looks at her sharply despite herself, scowling, but doesn't actually SAY any of that. Not with Niko right there.
"It's Suzume," she says, emphasizing the last. "Suzu's a different name. And I don't think you get to call me -chan." She was nicer (marginally) the last time they met - but that was before Ririka told her who Niko *really* was, and that Suzume had been in danger from her.
She looks challengingly at Niko. "It's like he says," she agrees with Reiya. But... "What do you mean, *deserve it*?" She steps forward again, pushing herself in front of Shinjiro. He's charging; she moves to cover him, raising one of her tonfa in a blocking position, almost like that of a boxer. "You're the one barging in here! I heard an explosion! And something else - " They can summon Personas. That means someone is doing something, because it's not the Dark Hour.
Only one though, because she's gotten her Evoker out with the other. She has been getting used to carrying that in whatever jacket she's in. "ATALANTA!" she calls, firing, as her Persona appears, a woman in her lionskin cloak and short tunic, raising a bowgun mounted on her right bracer.
Atalanta fires, a single shot that trails a bright, cheerful pink light and explodes into white sparkles and little hearts.
...look, Suzume doesn't pick the aesthetics.
AS: Persona! Yukari Takeba has used the Wind skill Consecutive Garula on Takaya Sakaki! 2 Hits! AS: Yukari Takeba regains 3 SP from Invigorate! AS: Persona! Suzume Fukura has used the Pierce skill Holy Arrow on Niko Kirisaki! AS: Pressure: Suzume Fukura gains 1 Limit!
<Pose Tracker> Noriaki Okaga has posed.
"Eh? Is that it? Ain't these kiddos got any real food in here? What's this, chicken? Egg? Who's eatin' all this shit," grouses Noriaki, content to ignore Yukari (and Minato) as he digs deeper into the dorm's fridge. "Eh, whatever. If that's the shit kids eat these days--"
There's a sound, just at the entrance to the kitchen. Noriaki, like a weasel alerting at the entrance to its den, snaps upright, a sealed container of plain cooked chicken in hand.
It's then that Hitomi throws a CRT monitor directly at his head. In a normal situation, this might well have gone as well for him as anyone would expect. But--
Red light scratches through the air as the monitor hurtles through the air at him. It impacts a metal skeletal arm directly.
It impacts another metal skeletal arm directly.
It impacts yet another--
The monitor lands, solidly, on the floor at his feet.
"Tchh..." hisses Noriaki at Hitomi, shaking his head slowly. "Almost had me there, girly." Before him shimmers the form of Efnysien, a great shadowy form occupying a cauldron stuffed full of metal skeletons. "So, which one of ya's the asshole with all the plain cooked chicken? I ain't complaining, but where's the good shit? Don't tell me all you kiddos went on a 'health food' kick?"
And then, they're not alone in here, are they.
"...The Kirijo robot. So we meet again!" Noriaki bows, dramatically, extending one arm widely to the side in a gesture that would have more at home on the stage. "I ain't forgotten about last time, though. And I'm reaaaal good at keepin' a frudge! Let's see how you like them apples! Efnysien!"
At that, the shadowy figure snaps the broken toy-horse-on-a-string like a bludgeon for Aigis. It's a blow that, however it lands, won't leave a mark, but--
"And you, girly! Throwin' a monitor at me like that... where's the hospitality?! I got one for you, too!" On the rebound Efnysien launches that toy-horse flail directly at her but unlike the strike at Aigis, this one is all physical force.
Not to be outdone by his Persona, Noriaki fishes in the front pocket of his hoodie and pulls out a very, very illegal butterfly knife.
He twirls it about, snapping it into position to brandish it in his left hand as a promise.
AS: Persona! Noriaki Okaga has used the Almighty skill Strike Break on Aigis! AS: Persona! Noriaki Okaga has used the Strike skill Bash on Hitomi Mandai! AS: Counter Best! Takaya Sakaki takes 96 Wind damage from Yukari Takeba's Consecutive Garula. AS: Haze added! AS: COUNTER! Yukari Takeba takes 51 Wind damage in return for her attack! Resist! AS: Block Worst! Niko Kirisaki takes 118 Pierce damage from Suzume Fukura's Holy Arrow. Critical Hit! AS: Charm added! AS: Counter Neutral! Hitomi Mandai takes 108 Strike damage from Noriaki Okaga's Bash. AS: COUNTER! Noriaki Okaga takes 58 Strike damage in return for his attack! AS: Take! Aigis takes 0 Almighty damage from Noriaki Okaga's Strike Break. AS: Strike_Break added!
<Pose Tracker> Shizuka Kuroki has posed.
Speaking of getting blown up! Shizuka tries to dive out of the way of the grenade, but the force of the blast just sends her back towards Fuuka, slamming to the ground.
"Just my luck... I'm okay..." She pulls herself up, thankfully not as bad as when the Joker Killer had his turn on her, and dusts herself off. "Shoulda listened to Rika-chan.. Anyway!"
Deciding to stay a bit back now, she fires her Evoker, summoning Galatea to drop a shower of stone onto the firebug.
AS: Persona! Shizuka Kuroki has used the Earth skill Landslide on Jin Shirato! AS: Avoid Neutral! Jin Shirato takes 109 Earth damage from Shizuka Kuroki's Landslide. Critical Hit! Weak!
<Pose Tracker> Minato Arisato has posed.
Takaya drops the hammer.
Understand: there are so many noises happening, around them, as they speak. There is the explosion, outside -- the sounds of demons; fighting, up the stairs, and any psychic information their Navigators are providing them.
It doesn't matter.
The volume on everything turns way down -- down -- down;
until all Minato hears is the stolid clunk of a handgun's hammer drawn back.
Does Yukari have a family?
Orpheus flares to life in front of him; the bullet Takaya fired, without care for blood, slams deeply into his artifice. (It would have been Minato's shoulder, Aigis can tell -- and tell easily, surely, from the trajectory to the intercepted impact point.)
Aigis is here. He should think at once that she is far more suited to do this -- she would rather do this; Hitomi might be barking mad at the intrusion, but Aigis has practiced combat more than any of them.
But all he's thinking about, in that instant, is the colour of Yukari's blood.
He doesn't see it, on her dress.
Thusly is he still, a few more moments. He lets Yukari's winds blast the man, as he calls, again -- "Orpheus."
This time, when the Persona rises, it's with all the blazing heat of Agilao; mercifully, the Persona's magic is targeted at the Persona, or the man using it, so he's unlikely to set the dorm aflame.
As the flames blast out, though, Minato takes a step, another --
-- and leaps for Takaya, meaning to quite physically tackle him to the ground.
... he's going for the gun.
AS: Persona! Minato Arisato has used the Fire skill Agilao on Takaya Sakaki! AS: Pressure: Minato Arisato gains 1 Limit! AS: Weapon! Minato Arisato has used the Strike skill Followup Strike on Takaya Sakaki! 2 Hits! AS: Counter Neutral! Takaya Sakaki takes 144 Wind damage from Yukari Takeba's Consecutive Garula. Critical Hit! AS: COUNTER! Yukari Takeba takes 51 Wind damage in return for her attack! Resist! AS: Counter Neutral! Takaya Sakaki takes 175 Fire damage from Minato Arisato's Agilao. AS: Haze added! AS: COUNTER! Minato Arisato takes 62 Fire damage in return for his attack! Resist! AS: Counter Worst! Takaya Sakaki takes 55 Strike damage from Minato Arisato's Followup Strike. AS: COUNTER! Minato Arisato takes 17 Strike damage in return for his attack! AS: Take! Takaya Sakaki takes 119 Strike damage from Minato Arisato's Followup Strike. Critical Hit! AS: Counter Worst! Ririka Kawase takes 111 Strike damage from Tatsuya Sudou's Sonic Punch. AS: Haze added! AS: COUNTER! Tatsuya Sudou takes 27 Strike damage in return for his attack!
<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.
Hitomi has her back turned to Takaya, to Yukari, to Minato. That's probably good. She would have probably taken those two rounds directly to the torso and fulfilled everyone's nightmare. Hitomi doesn't see them right now; the world has contracted to a throbbing, purposeful tunnel.
She has the enemy before her.
It might be thought that this is a look of supreme determination or exalted fury. It is neither. Hitomi's face is pallid, her features contorted with anger that is almost as much terror as anything. She may have used most of what she had to bring that heavy chunk of electronics downstairs and hurl it at someone -
And she did that much. She took Noriaki by surprise (though of course she doesn't know his name - if she was briefed, it is definitely not in her nervous system right now) - and he called forth his Persona. Metal clangs against plastic. There is a pop, a smash, a rupture of glass - a discharge of power, sadly not into anyone in particular.
"That's sempai's dinner you asshole," Hitomi answers him on automatic pilot. Her face is twisted with outrage. It might be more effective if there weren't tears on her cheeks. But what he said -
Hitomi's awareness shifts a little. She hears a voice.
Her head turns a little, too. That furious tunnel seems to be deflating, retracting, as her awareness shifts and that voice was familiar and for a moment in her peripheral version she can see Aigis. Some of it, no doubt, was the blessing she had called down, but in this moment Hitomi does not even see the Persona. All she can see is Aigis.
Aigis, their new ally. Aigis, the mysterious Anti-Shadow weapon. Aigis, who has guns in her hands. Aigis, who can, at least, avenge whoever died.
"Aigis," Hitomi says, face crumpling.
"A--aigis you have to suh, stop them, I don't know what's going on, they have a gun and -" Hitomi lets out a yelp as she hears a grenade detonating in the distance. Her feelings surge through a trough of despond as she looks away from her, towards HIM.
"You," she begins, before the flailing strikes towards her and Hitomi's possible rebuttal vanishes into a pained yelp. It isn't quite a scream, but it's edging towards it.
But it does sink something into her mind.
If *he* can do that... then...
"I SAID GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!!" Hitomi shrieks, and then she says "TYCHE!" and that's when the statue looms above her and if the solemn yet serene face of the Greek-style statue looks a little more ominously shadowed, it's probably just because of all the chaos. Especially when the fire rips out from in front of the fortune-goddess's hand and aims to sear Noriaki, even as Hitomi gives that broken monitor a furious kick she will be feeling for several weeks later if she lives BUT
Which also sends it toppling TOWARDS him, a large dumb object to say the least.
AS: Persona! Hitomi Mandai has used the Fire skill Agilao on Noriaki Okaga!
<Pose Tracker> Fuuka Yamagishi has posed.
Through Lucia, Fuuka receives flashes of insight.
"I see... Be careful, Kuroki-san. His explosives are powerful... expect Fire, too." Fuuka warns, over the Navigator link. She glances toward Ririka and Koh. She's concerned about them... but they have their hands full with their current opponent - as does she. Speaking of - Jin says something.
"'Shin-chan'...?" Fuuka repeats. That name... She's quiet. She doesn't say anything further. It seems intentional, doesn't it...? Now's not the time to throw speculation around, anyway - not when there's an explosive heading right for them. The grenade explodes against Lucia's protective globe. Fuuka gasps sharply, feeling the backlash even as Lucia does her best to defend her... but the resulting shockwave erupts back out toward Jin himself, as well, as Lucia repels it.
"Are you alright...?" Fuuka asks Shizuka, who seems to have gotten the worst of it. She insists she's okay, though. So...
"Spirits of wind... Protect us from harm." Fuuka murmurs. The wind picks up, wrapping around Fuuka and Shizuka - softening blows, and making them both lighter on their feet. It carries with it a healing wave, to mend their injuries.
"Who are you?" Fuuka asks. Jin seems cunning... she isn't certain he'll answer, but any information would be helpful.
AS: Fuuka Yamagishi spends Limit on Exploit! Fuuka Yamagishi can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Persona! Fuuka Yamagishi has used the Recovery skill Sylphid Aura on Shizuka Kuroki and Fuuka Yamagishi! AS: Take! Fuuka Yamagishi takes 0 Recovery healing from Fuuka Yamagishi's Sylphid Aura. AS: Def_Up and Spd_Up added! AS: Persona! Fuuka Yamagishi has used the Recovery skill Healing Wave on Fuuka Yamagishi and Shizuka Kuroki! AS: Insight: Fuuka Yamagishi gains 1 Limit! AS: Take! Fuuka Yamagishi takes 0 Recovery healing from Fuuka Yamagishi's Healing Wave. AS: Regen added! AS: Take! Shizuka Kuroki takes 0 Recovery healing from Fuuka Yamagishi's Sylphid Aura. AS: Def_Up and Spd_Up added! AS: Take! Shizuka Kuroki takes 0 Recovery healing from Fuuka Yamagishi's Healing Wave. AS: Regen added!
<Pose Tracker> Takaya Sakaki has posed.
Takaya is oblivious to Yukari's feelings on the gun. He merely stares at her with a raises brow, even after pulling the trigger. The thing that does make him smile is that quip about his attire.
Takaya doesn't dodge the incoming attack. The slender man is knocked back, looking like he is overwhelmed. I mean look at how boney he is!
Then Minato and Orpheus kick the living day lights out of him.
Each attack seems to hit the mark. The long haired man tries to fight back but is knocked back again and again.
Finally Takaya is knocked behind the couch, bleeding. There is a long pause of nothing from Strega's leader.
Finally there is a small laugh from Takaya as he seems to get up. He cracks his neck and smiles like an old friend at Minato. "My, my...You children do understand. Then lets dance."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GaKK7zphfA
Takaya points his gun at his head, his smile widening. Was he going to summon his Persona?
He doesn't pull the trigger. Takaya does take note of their expression, wanting to keep messing with SEES for as long as he could.
From behind him, a pale white body begins to manifest, helding in the air by pulsating wings made of veins. The Persona looked sick somehow as it pulsates unnaturally.
"Persona..." His eyes go to Yukari as his Persona's dead face leans up and suddenly just 'smiles' at Yukari. At the same time, Hypnos arm draws back and sends a Cleaving Strike toward Minato.
AS: Persona! Takaya Sakaki has used the Almighty skill Evil Smile on Yukari Takeba! AS: Persona! Takaya Sakaki has used the Slash skill Cleave on Minato Arisato! AS: Take! Yukari Takeba takes 0 Almighty damage from Takaya Sakaki's Evil Smile. AS: Sick added!
<Pose Tracker> Niko Kirisaki has posed.
To deal with the most important matter first, Niko calmly responds, "Too many syllables. If you don't like Suzu-chan, then... we can go with Zume-chan." Of course the -chan stays, that was never an argument.
'No' is a fair reaction, really, even Niko would agree. She was ready to be attacked for this, instinctively raising an arm to protect herself when Reiya is the first to do so. There's only bare skin there, which in her case is enough to mitigate damage, but it doesn't exactly do anything to prevent the needles from doing what they're meant to. Niko frowns at that, casually plucking the sharp objects out and tossing them aside.
"Was that supposed to hurt? You'll have to do better than--"
She flinches, instantly realizing, "...Fighting dirty, are we?" Her body might be able handle poison better than most in the long run, but she also feels the effects quicker than most. Kind of a net wash that way.
Shinjiro gets a headshake, making a way bigger deal out of this than she thinks he should be. "You knew this was coming, Shin-chan. Too late to get cold feet about your choices now."
As for 'surrender'? "That's my line. Or it would be, but after that little stunt, I think we both know I'd be lying if I said I'd prefer you to surrender peacefully."
Suzume grants her wish, shooting her with an arrow which - makes her smile? "That's right... that's how it is, isn't it? There's no reason to hold back, is there?!"
With a manic laugh, Niko draws her own Evoker, haphazardly firing it in the general direction of her forehead. "ATE, GOOO!"
The giant, blue-tinted spectral head that is Ate appears behind Niko, long hair whipping about its user as a red aura empowers her. Psychedelic purple light is sent out to strike at Reiya and Suzume both, while Ate locks the empty hollows it has for eyes with Shinjiro, attacking his already weakened mind directly to sap his resolve.
"And YOU," she growls, turning to Reiya. "You don't get to act like that to me, after the way you lied to my face. You think I didn't know what SEES is really trying to do?!"
AS: Persona! Niko Kirisaki has used the Almighty skill Tarukaja on Niko Kirisaki! AS: Charm results in party damage! Niko Kirisaki takes 90 damage! AS: Take! Niko Kirisaki takes 0 Almighty damage from Niko Kirisaki's Tarukaja. AS: Atk_Up added! AS: Persona! Niko Kirisaki has used the Elec skill Mapsio on Reiya Aomori and Suzume Fukura! AS: Ruin: Niko Kirisaki gains 1 Limit! AS: Persona! Niko Kirisaki has used the Almighty skill Soul Break on Shinjiro Aragaki! AS: Niko Kirisaki: Loses 70 HP from Poison! AS: Take! Shinjiro Aragaki takes 0 Almighty damage from Niko Kirisaki's Soul Break. AS: Block Worst! Noriaki Okaga takes 249 Fire damage from Hitomi Mandai's Agilao. Critical Hit! AS: Haze added! AS: Block Neutral! Suzume Fukura takes 138 Elec damage from Niko Kirisaki's Mapsio. Critical Hit! AS: Block Worst! Minato Arisato takes 26 Slash damage from Takaya Sakaki's Cleave. AS: Avoid Worst! Reiya Aomori takes 164 Elec damage from Niko Kirisaki's Mapsio. Weak! Avoid Elec! <Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Koh asks if it's the Joker Killer from the news. "Yes," she says, rather emphatically. "I don't know what his deal is but watch out if he summons his Persona, it's mega weird."
Wait-- does that imply he'll be fighting without it? Look, there might be too much to explain in a snappy manner. But a healing mist comes for her, and she relaxes just a bit as she takes it in. "Thanks, Katsuhiro-san."
Shizuka comments on the explosives. "Senpai, he put down a landmine in front of Kasu and blew up a guy's bike with him on it!" She gives a short nod to Fuuka. "Welcome."
Jin asks 'what's it to her'-- "Don't you have something better to do than attacking schools and dorms?" But the frown deepens as Jin calls out 'Shin-chan.' "Who...?"
Nobody refers to Shinjiro that way, that she's aware of, so it doesn't click.
Healer person. Ririka scoffs. "I can do more than just heal." She would never share a drink with the Joker Killer. For one thing, she's underage. For another, he's the freaking Joker Killer.
"... Rude? For real? What do you call attacking our dorm, huh?"
But the Joker Killer comes for her with a punch to the face, and Ririka, having recently done some combat training, tries to counter the attack. But she fumbles with her katana--she doesn't even get it unsheathed, instead hitting with the very blunt sheath.
And also she gets hit right in the face, sent reeling back, dropping her sheathed katana as she clutches her face. "Fuck." She pulls her hand away to see something warm and red dribbling down it. Ironically, given the circumstances, that makes her blood run a little colder.
Still clutching her face, her eyes narrow at the Joker Killer. "Who are you here for?" That's how this works, right? Someone calls the Joker Killer and he shows up to do some killing?
At least Koh's magic stops the bleeding, and with her hands free she gestures for Amphion. "Marakukaja!" Amphion strums, and the fortifying power of the earth flows up from the ground into Ririka and Koh to help strengthen their defenses.
AS: Persona! Ririka Kawase has used the Almighty skill Marakukaja on Koh Katsuhiro and Ririka Kawase! AS: Ririka Kawase: Gains 72 HP from Regen! Haze removed! AS: Take! Ririka Kawase takes 0 Almighty damage from Ririka Kawase's Marakukaja. AS: Def_Up added!
<Pose Tracker> Aigis has posed.
'The Kirijo robot.' Aigis coldly stares back at Noriaki. She hasn't forgotten, either. She has her arm squarely pointed at his center of mass. All she has to do now is will it and fire at him. It's necessary to keep him safe -- to keep them safe. It's a simple matter, surely --
It should be simple, but to her own dawning horror, she finds herself hesitant to open fire on him so directly. This should be a well-practiced motion, this should be effortless, the cost/benefit ratio clearly tilts one way, but some part of herself refuses to obey.
Efnysien appears and strikes her with that toy horse. It's the same as it was that night where they had encountered each other earlier: it's the indignity of it all.
Efnysien's strike and Hitomi's pleas snap her to her senses.
Her duty is to eliminate Shadows in order to protect people. Not just the Arisato siblings, but everyone. That includes Hitomi.
That includes Noriaki.
"The Kirijo robot," Aigis finally repeats out loud, then stretches her hand out to make a 'come hither' gesture to Noriaki. "It is me you want."
Aigis has far fewer compunctions about shooting Noriaki's Persona, on the other hand, and she levels her arm in his direction. With a click, a whirring sound, and the brief glow of blue in Aigis' eyes, Palladion stirs to action once more: first, it cloaks Hitomi, obscuring her from view, and second, it points its own cannon in Efnysien's direction. Simultaneously, Aigis and Palladion open fire on Efnysien, demonstrating the full extent of the cold, mechanical fury she's capable of.
AS: Aigis spends Limit on Exploit! Aigis can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Persona! Aigis has used the Recovery skill Doronpa on Hitomi Mandai! AS: Pressure: Aigis gains 1 Limit! AS: Tandem! Aigis has used the Pierce skill Dual Thrust on Noriaki Okaga! 2 Hits! AS: Aigis regains 3 SP from Invigorate! AS: Take! Hitomi Mandai takes 0 Recovery healing from Aigis's Doronpa. AS: Cloak added!
<Pose Tracker> Jin Shirato has posed.
Rocks fall, but nobody dies. (Yet!)
"Shit!" Jin doesn't have many weaknesses, but Earth just happens to be one of them. He's absolutely pommeled by them and he already knows that even with Chidori's healing spells, he's still going to feel this in the morning.
That really pisses him off.
That's it -- he has to focus his all on Rock Girl. Otherwise, he's bound to really get his ass handed to him!
He yanks one grenade from his belt and then another, then flings them in quick succession in Shizuka's direction. The smoke hasn't yet cleared when Jin gives Fuuka an answer to her question.
"Just a good friend of Shinjiro Aragaki," Jin says smugly. It's probably not the answer Fuuka's looking for. "He decided to ditch us in order to snuggle up to you guys. I wonder how long it'll be before he finds someone else to cozy up with."
Jin rests a hand on one of the unused grenades still on his belt. "Probably once you've outlived your usefulness."
But there's still one last person to address. Ririka. "What can I say? We had some free time tonight."
AS: Jin Shirato spends Limit on Favor! AS: Weapon! Jin Shirato has used the Pierce skill Error 429: Too Many Requests on Shizuka Kuroki! 2 Hits! AS: Jin Shirato: Atk_Dn and Favor removed! AS: Block Neutral! Shizuka Kuroki takes 19 Pierce damage from Jin Shirato's Error 429: Too Many Requests. Weak! AS: Counter Worst! Shizuka Kuroki takes 52 Pierce damage from Jin Shirato's Error 429: Too Many Requests. Weak! AS: COUNTER! Jin Shirato takes 12 Pierce damage in return for his attack!
<Pose Tracker> Reiya Aomori has posed.
Reiya wasn't expecting someone on the roof either; score one for Shinjiro's greater battle experience that he thought of it first. ...But Shinjiro knows Niko. Not only knows, but knows well enough to ask her to stop. And so as Castor appears--
"Senpai! Be careful!"
Reiya may apologize later for the sharp look to Suzume. But he doesn't know about 'deserve it' either; he'll listen, if she speaks... but only long enough to try to disable her.
When Niko flinches, Reiya simply says, "I do what is necessary to protect those in my care."
Honor is not a thing for the battlefield.
Ate appears. Purple light strikes--and Reiya grits his teeth, hitting a knee on the ground, the strange energy coursing through him. "That..."
Reiya actually smirks at that one. "Heh. A lie to an enemy is a strategy, not a sin. I simply elected not to mention that we want to end the Dark Hour entirely."
But he pulls his Evoker, too. "Kunimitsu! Come forth!" His eyes briefly go wide as BANG, the Persona appears. A ninja in blue, Kunimitsu lifts his hand--and needles spray forth, not at Niko or her Persona but at Niko's shadow, seeking to pin it in place on the sun-touched ground.
Ailments will follow.
He follows it up with a blast of torrential water in a column.
AS: Reiya Aomori spends Limit on Exploit! Reiya Aomori can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Persona! Reiya Aomori has used the Almighty skill Shadow Stitch on Niko Kirisaki! AS: Persona! Reiya Aomori has used the Water skill Aqua on Niko Kirisaki! AS: Ruin: Reiya Aomori gains 1 Limit! AS: Mind Up! Niko Kirisaki's SP +8! AS: Take! Niko Kirisaki takes 0 Almighty damage from Reiya Aomori's Shadow Stitch. AS: Bind, Haze, and Worry added! AS: Avoid Neutral! Niko Kirisaki takes 103 Water damage from Reiya Aomori's Aqua. Critical Hit! AS: Paralyze added! <Pose Tracker> Koh Katsuhiro has posed.
Koh notices that Fuuka does have some good questions for Jin. Which the other boy seems to be answering with grenades. After mentioning what might be Shinjiro's name.
"Who's this guy!? Joker Killer 2!?" He hopes Shizuka or Ririka might know, even if Fuuka doesn't.
Joker Killer Classic, however, is enough to draw Koh's attention back to his and Ririka's immediate problem.
He does try to move, but hot metal leaves a nasty slash. "Don't know you," Koh hisses a panicked reply to the masked man, "Don't want to, back off!"
The evoker fires again and this time his Zagreus's mask shows tragedy. Discordant noise fills the air.
AS: Take! Koh Katsuhiro takes 0 Almighty damage from Ririka Kawase's Marakukaja. AS: Def_Up added! AS: Persona! Koh Katsuhiro has used the Earth skill Bacchanaiia: Madness on Tatsuya Sudou! AS: Koh Katsuhiro: Loses 75 HP from Poison! AS: Take! Tatsuya Sudou takes 55 Earth damage from Koh Katsuhiro's Bacchanaiia: Madness. Critical Hit! AS: Charm, Rage, and Sick added!
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
It's a nerve-wracking moment as Minato leaps for the gun, for Yukari Takeba. Behind her, she can hear the battle between the kitchen bandit and Aigis and Hitomi, and she turns at an angle to keep an eye on them too. "You know him Aigis?" She winces at Hitomi's kick.
Takaya's laugh, the condescension she believes she hears in that comment, "Sorry but- I'm busy tonight, I have to do my nails."
She knows he wasn't flirting or asking her out, but still, she it's easy enough for her to throw out such comments.
Which is when Hypnos stares her straight in the eye, with that sickly smile translating into a visceral reaction.
"Eugh..." She sways with nausea, putting a hand up to her mouth, as she makes a hrk noise, and dry heaves.
Keeping her arm covered tightly over her mouth, she puts the Evoker back to her head, "Pehrsohnah." She says, muffled, as she pulls the trigger with her opposite hand.
Io appears again, and as it does, it lets out a healing breeze that envelops them both.
She's still swaying, but up on her feet. "Got... your back. Keep... pressuring him!" She finally manages to get out to Minato.
She hopes she doesn't throw up in front of him, that'd be embarrassing...
AS: Persona! Yukari Takeba has used the Recovery skill Media on Minato Arisato and Yukari Takeba! AS: Support: Yukari Takeba gains 1 Limit! AS: Yukari Takeba: Loses 8 SP and TP from Sick! AS: Yukari Takeba regains 3 SP from Invigorate! AS: Take! Yukari Takeba takes 130 Recovery healing from Yukari Takeba's Media. AS: Take! Minato Arisato takes 130 Recovery healing from Yukari Takeba's Media.
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Niko refuses Shinjiro, as Suzume takes a protective position. He steadies his irregular breathing as that spell hits him, but it rolls off him as his breathing gets more ragged even so.
"I don't want to fight you, Niko. But I'm not letting you attack my home. I'm not going to let you take this from me...!"
He grimaces, as she talks to Reiya, as it's revealed she's angry about the Dark Hour going away.
"...sorry, but I can't let it continue. Not with how many lives it's ruined." The way he says that... it ruined his too, didn't it?
He charges forward with that hammer, moving to swing at Niko.
And then, suddenly, Castor, still floating nearby, charges too, moving to hammer straight into and trample Niko, a tandem attack between User and Persona!
AS: Tandem! Shinjiro Aragaki has used the Strike skill Dual Smash on Niko Kirisaki! 2 Hits! AS: Pressure: Shinjiro Aragaki gains 1 Limit! AS: Shinjiro Aragaki regains 15 HP from Regenerate!
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Suzume actually flinches at 'Zume-chan'. "Ugh," is her verbal response to that. She'd much rather have Suzu-chan over THAT one.
Didn't she already have an argument with Shizuka over that one? YOU BET SHE DID
"What the hell are you talking about?" Suzume looks back at Shinjiro, forward again to Niko as she raises her own Evoker. "What choice?" Suzume's ready for the attack - or thinks she is. There's not actually a lot she can do to block the psychedelic light, swirling and churning around her; she squeezes her eyes shut for a moment as it washes over her, driving her back one step.
But only one.
Straining against the force, Suzume rushes forward after it lets up, barreling across the roof recklessly. Atalanta reappears as she does, floating above her, and Suzume's tonfa have wind build up along them, a churning storm in each hand that she slams, one-two-three, at Niko. Reiya's moving to hold her still, giving Suzume the opening she thinks she can take advantage of!
"...just that? You want us to stop?" Suzume hops backwards after her flurry, bouncing in place as she loosens up, a very active combat stance. "And you're mad that we didn't drop you a letter about our plans? Were you spying on us the whole time? At the game premiere, too?"
...
"I WAS gonna play you at that again, you know!"
<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Sudou has posed.
Sudou shrugs in response to Jin as he stumbles back from the sheath hitting him in the gut, "I mean what can you expect, a whole dossier with pictures, attack preferences and favorite pet peeves to piss people off? Sure we could have asked for that and Shin-chan would have gotten it for us without question, such a pal. However it would have made this boring." Does the Joker Killer even know who Jin is talking about, probably not, but that doesn't mean he can't read the room. "You should invite him over after this for drinks. I will get the good stuff. Last time was great."
His attention is brought back to the fight as he looks at the duo of ..."Wait, are you both supporting cast members?" The paper bag swivels as the crayon drawn eyes squint at Jin, "How the hell did I get two healers to fight me?! I call a redo, Jin go get me the biggest and baddest person!" His yelling is answered by being hit with a rather maddening noise and grits his teeth staring at the duo. The crayon drawn eyes on the paper bag now looking angry.
"I take it back, I the Joker Killer, humbly accept you both as my opponents. Please, heal like your lives depend on it." Above his head the Joker Persona appears as Sudou raises his hand forward, and SNAP. In response, fire erupts from the ground underneath all three of them. Sudou's own wounds heal as he gets himself all fire'd up.
Even file the inferno erupts under Ririka he speaks to answer her question, "I have yet to lay a hand on that dorm. This is just moral support until you came to me. Second, as for who I am here for, well what's your name?"
AS: Tandem! Suzume Fukura has used the Wind skill Blastbrand on Niko Kirisaki! 3 Hits! AS: Tatsuya Sudou spends Limit on Broad! AS: Persona! Tatsuya Sudou has used the Fire skill Inferno on Ririka Kawase and Koh Katsuhiro! AS: Charm results in party damage! Tatsuya Sudou takes 90 damage! AS: Persona! Tatsuya Sudou has used the Recovery skill Burning Spirit on Tatsuya Sudou! AS: Tatsuya Sudou: Loses 8 SP and TP from Sick! Sick and Broad removed! AS: Take! Tatsuya Sudou takes 101 Recovery healing from Tatsuya Sudou's Burning Spirit. AS: Atk_Up added! AS: Avoid Neutral! Koh Katsuhiro takes 134 Fire damage from Tatsuya Sudou's Inferno. AS: Haze added! AS: Block Worst! Niko Kirisaki takes 78 Strike damage from Shinjiro Aragaki's Dual Smash. AS: Counter Best! Niko Kirisaki takes 96 Strike damage from Shinjiro Aragaki's Dual Smash. Critical Hit! Counter Strike! AS: COUNTER! Shinjiro Aragaki takes 52 Strike damage in return for his attack!
<Pose Tracker> Minato Arisato has posed.
Minato isn't trying to beat Takaya down, is the thing:
He's trying to get his gun.
And in this, ultimately, he fails; for all the battering he manages to give him trying to go for the gun, Takaya's still holding it, when he tumbles behind the couch. It speaks to a skill beyond his, though Minato, at least, betrayed a complete heedlessness for his own life in the process.
Hitomi is screaming. Aigis is being depersonalised. Yukari is -- still -- alive.
And the shirtless man is going to kill himself.
Minato picks himself up -- picks his Evoker up, from where it had been dropped in the scuffle. He watches Takaya, his expression mild.
"You'll die," he informs him.
Except -- he never pulls the trigger.
A man who can summon his Persona without an Evoker...
It's not impossible. The people in masks have no Evoker. (But they need their masks.) The people who are so frequently adults fighting have no Evoker. (But they need that special card to summon.) And so on, and so on -- every instance of Evokerless summoning can be excluded as he goes down the list.
No: the only time he's seen something like this was with Aigis, and Aigis is a gun, her Evoker built into her mechanical body.
This man... he's human. Minato felt his flesh, beneath his hands. He lives, and breathes; he is not like Aigis.
He is something else, something singular unto himself, and Minato watches him, silently, as Hypnos rises behind him.
As Hypnos' arm draws back, and tries to send him into eternal sleep.
Minato brings his Evoker up -- but luckily, he doesn't have to parry a Persona with that thing which certainly isn't a gun, because Orpheus takes the lash upon his lyre, instead, with a discordant noise as the harpstrings shatter.
"Orpheus..." Minato trails off, as the Persona shatters shortly thereafter -- not dead, but momentarily dismissed.
"All right."
He places his Evoker to his head, again. He fires, again. He can endure the strain of those evocations; he must.
He's their leader, after all.
"Naga."
What rises from him, next, isn't Orpheus -- but a half-snake warrior clasping shield and spear. He lifts his spear, and spears rain down, into Takaya's space.
Without words, he tells him: he's got a special power, too.
AS: Block Worst! Niko Kirisaki takes 59 Wind damage from Suzume Fukura's Blastbrand. Critical Hit! AS: Block Neutral! Niko Kirisaki takes 29 Wind damage from Suzume Fukura's Blastbrand. AS: Block Worst! Niko Kirisaki takes 42 Wind damage from Suzume Fukura's Blastbrand.
<Pose Tracker> Fuuka Yamagishi has posed.
Fuuka was hoping for a name - but what she gets instead is a metaphorical knife in the ribs, as Jin speaks from beyond the smoke. 'Just a good friend of Shinjiro Aragaki'... A quiet frown crosses her face.
"Don't... talk about him like that." Fuuka insists. "He wouldn't do that."
He wouldn't, would he? He doesn't seem like he would, not after everything...
More grenades are thrown - but only at Shizuka.
"Please take cover, if you need to!" Fuuka calls her way, then looks toward Koh as he asks about Jin.
"I'm sorry, I don't know his name... But, he's with Strega." Fuuka replies. "They're the ones responsible for this attack."
...She hopes everyone else is alright. But, she trusts them - trusts that they'll make it through.
For now, she turns her eyes back onto Jin.
She's analyzed his attack patterns, now, she focuses her attention on his defenses - looking for places where they're the strongest, as she looks for gaps.
"Kuroki-san," Fuuka starts privately, over the Navigator link. "I'm looking for an opening. Be ready to take action."
AS: Persona! Fuuka Yamagishi has used the Almighty skill Perception on Jin Shirato! AS: Insight: Fuuka Yamagishi gains 1 Limit! AS: Fuuka Yamagishi: Gains 72 HP from Regen! AS: Fuuka Yamagishi spends Limit on Shift! Shizuka Kuroki can use another Weak skill this round! They both receive 8 SP and 30 HP! AS: Persona! Minato Arisato has used the Pierce skill Dream Needle on Takaya Sakaki! AS: Minato Arisato regains 3 SP from Invigorate! AS: Avoid Worst! Noriaki Okaga takes 150 Pierce damage from Aigis's Dual Thrust. Critical Hit! AS: Block Best! Noriaki Okaga takes 53 Pierce damage from Aigis's Dual Thrust. Critical Hit! AS: Block Best! Ririka Kawase takes 59 Fire damage from Tatsuya Sudou's Inferno. AS: Take! Jin Shirato takes 0 Almighty damage from Fuuka Yamagishi's Perception. AS: Def_Dn added! AS: Fuuka Yamagishi's Strength Scan! Jin Shirato resists Dark!
<Pose Tracker> Shizuka Kuroki has posed.
Galatea brings up a wall of stone in front of Shizuka, attempting to block the blows. It does its job of absorbing most of the impact, and some blown off stones fly back to graze Jin.
"I really don't care who you are, you can't just go around throwing explosive ordinances at people!"
She glances back at Fuuka and privately continues, "Got it, Fuu-chan." She fires off her Evoker, summoning Galatea once more to shower her in a protecting light. Feeling a bit quicker on her feet, she fires off again, delivering another landslide onto Jin.
AS: Persona! Shizuka Kuroki has used the Almighty skill Dance of Protection on Shizuka Kuroki!
<Pose Tracker> Noriaki Okaga has posed.
With his right hand, Noriaki waves the packaged chicken dismissively. "Food's food, but I've eaten outta better dumpsters than this shit," he says, then tosses it aside. "I feel sorry for you kids! Livin' it up in a fancy place like this" and here he kicks some of the scattered components from deep within the wrecked monitor aside, "but eating like shit!"
It's a perfectly nutritious meal, what the hell is he talking about?
She asks Aigis for aid, and Aigis, of course complies. Toying with the knife in his left hand, Noriaki's grin -- the only thing visible on his face at all under the shadows thrown by his hoodie -- only widens.
"Anyway--"
This, then, is when Hitomi sets him on fire. Flame rolls down the center of the room, over and through his Persona, and then over him as well. For an instant, he's a torch. In this instant, Hitomi kicks much of the remaining chunks of the monitor right back at him and he crashes backwards into the wall. "Arrgh-- fuck!"
It takes him time to stand up, to start to pat the lingering flickers of flame on out. It's this moment that Aigis capitulates upon. She opens fire. Efnysien, wounded, outright fractures into red shards which vanish; Noriaki emits a grunt as his Persona vanishes and a bullet grazes an arm.
"Tch... ain't playin' fair," he growls, hunching over as he pulls himself back up from that one. "But that's okay. That's fine! Now--"
His right hand has seized his Evoker, which he's jammed up against the underside of his jaw. He pulls the trigger with a resounding crack. There's red light. Transcendant -- malevolent -- Efnysien has made a return to the field.
The Persona /howls, its silouette-in-steam raising his head to the sky.
"That's... that's more like it," says Noriaki, rolling his shoulders with an audible crack. "Okay, kiddos! I ain't playin--"
Efnysien whirls his toy horse-turned-flail overhead with an audible scream. It falls like a meteor for Aigis, then rebounds to whip back again at Hitomi--
And it might well hide Noriaki's advance upon the latter with that knife.
AS: Avoid Best! Takaya Sakaki takes 58 Pierce damage from Minato Arisato's Dream Needle. AS: Exhaust added! AS: Noriaki Okaga spends Limit on Exploit! Noriaki Okaga can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Take! Shizuka Kuroki takes 0 Almighty damage from Shizuka Kuroki's Dance of Protection. AS: Def_Up and Spd_Up added! Regen and Spd_Up removed! AS: Persona! Shizuka Kuroki has used the Earth skill Landslide on Jin Shirato! AS: Persona! Noriaki Okaga has used the Almighty skill Dance of Fury on Noriaki Okaga! AS: Take! Noriaki Okaga takes 0 Almighty damage from Noriaki Okaga's Dance of Fury. AS: Atk_Up and Crt_Up added! AS: Persona! Noriaki Okaga has used the Strike skill Crazy Chain on Aigis and Hitomi Mandai! AS: Weapon! Noriaki Okaga has used the Slash skill Butterfly Knife - Surprise Attack on Hitomi Mandai! 3 Hits! AS: Aggression: Noriaki Okaga gains 1 Limit! AS: Noriaki Okaga: Haze removed! AS: Block Worst! Aigis takes 100 Strike damage from Noriaki Okaga's Crazy Chain. AS: Block Worst! Hitomi Mandai takes 109 Strike damage from Noriaki Okaga's Crazy Chain. AS: Block Neutral! Hitomi Mandai takes 12 Slash damage from Noriaki Okaga's Butterfly Knife - Surprise Attack. Critical Hit! AS: Block Best! Hitomi Mandai takes 6 Slash damage from Noriaki Okaga's Butterfly Knife - Surprise Attack. Critical Hit! AS: Block Neutral! Hitomi Mandai takes 12 Slash damage from Noriaki Okaga's Butterfly Knife - Surprise Attack. Critical Hit! AS: Avoid Best! Jin Shirato takes 42 Earth damage from Shizuka Kuroki's Landslide. Weak! AS: Panic added!
<Pose Tracker> Takaya Sakaki has posed.
"My, my. If I had known you had such important business, I would've rescheduled this." Takaya shakes his head as he points his gun at Yukari again, seeing as that seemed to get into her head. "Vanity is a fools errand. Especially when the end makes all such Prideful acts completely moot."
Hypnos falls limp again hanging from it's blood vessel wings from the ceiling. It almost looked dead despite Takaya still being very much alive. "If my attire is what precludes my adulthood...I must say your naivity is yours...I mean accepting a boy like Shinjiro Aragaki into your ranks." Takaya clicks his tongue and shakes his head mockingly. "He is who told us where to find you. Your capabilities. Your ranks...I'm sure we could've found you eventually but no -he- helped us."
And then Minato's stand off reveals a crutial bit of information. Takaya watches in awe of someone who can change Personas. This act gets the man to lower his gun in sheer awe for a moment. "Oho...Interesting."
Naga's Dream Needle strikes Takaya before he can react, causing the man's legs to almost buckle. He places a hand on his face and just starts laughing. "Wonderful! Tonight has given me a gift after all."
Hypnos stirs from it's slumber and rushes toward Minato and Naga. It moves almost as if it were stuck underwater. Fluid and fast. It showers Minato with every sort of physical attack a corpse on blood strings can manage.
Takaya turns his head toward Yukari again, pulling back the hammer of his gun. "You...you may leave. Go back to your vanity. BE GONE!" Takaya fires on Yukari again, aiming for somewhere painful.
AS: Weapon! Takaya Sakaki has used the Pierce skill Cult of Violence on Minato Arisato! 2 Hits! AS: Takaya Sakaki takes 90 damage from Exhaust! AS: Aggression: Takaya Sakaki gains 1 Limit! AS: Weapon! Takaya Sakaki has used the Pierce skill Decisive Shot on Yukari Takeba! AS: Takaya Sakaki: Exhaust, Haze, Atk_Dn, and Spd_Dn removed! AS: Block Worst! Minato Arisato takes 28 Pierce damage from Takaya Sakaki's Cult of Violence. Critical Hit! AS: Panic added! AS: Block Worst! Minato Arisato takes 19 Pierce damage from Takaya Sakaki's Cult of Violence. AS: Block Worst! Yukari Takeba takes 39 Pierce damage from Takaya Sakaki's Decisive Shot. Critical Hit!
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka stares at Jin as he clarifies who 'Shin-chan' is. She flinches back, startled for a moment before her brain kicks in and she can try to process that. "... Yeah, right.
"Yeah, right. Like he'd ever run with a bunch of creeps like you," she retorts. She scowls as Jin addresses her. "'Free time'? Seriously?"
Koh asks who this guy is. "There's some weird Sumaru rumor thing. You call him and he'll go kill someone for you... though apparently he's not limited to Sumaru-- a couple of weeks ago he attacked someone at Shujin Academy."
But Sudou doubles down on 'Shin-chan' having helped them out. "What are you..." She grits her teeth. "Grr... There's no way he'd do something like that! So just cut it out with whatever stupid game you're playing and tell us why you're really here!"
The Joker Persona appears, and Ririka takes a weary step back. "Katsuhiro-san, watch out for that Persona--" Fire erupts, and Ririka draws into herself, wrapping her arms around herself as she grits her teeth through the blazing inferno. Amphion's defenses hold, but she sags as the attack disappates, panting.
"You think I'm just gonna tell you my name? Fat chance!" She stands upright again, her jaw set. "Alright. You're tired of fighting healers? Then let's change the tempo. Amphion! Hit him with Fissure!"
In legend, Amphion commands the earth to move with his song, and it is the earth that ruptures beneath Sudou's feet this time, trying to crack open a particular defense... and then Ririka gestures again. "Magna!" The song shifts, and a boulder rips itself out of the earth and flings itself at Sudou.
Meanwhile, Ririka rushes to Koh's side, passing him an item. "Here, take this."
AS: Ririka Kawase spends Limit on Exploit! Ririka Kawase can use another Weak skill this round!
<Pose Tracker> Jin Shirato has posed.
"You're not wrong," Jin verbally parlays back to Sudou, "but I still wouldn't say 'no' to it anyway." Jin didn't care about playing fair or having fun so much as he did being able to flaunt that he had the upper hand.
Which he does right now with Fuuka.
"Can't believe it? Why don't you ask him about his friends as Strega, then? Well..." A malicious smile pulls itself across Jin's face. "If he survives this battle, anyway."
Before Jin can go on any more, Shizuka's rocks send Jin stumbling again. The grin is replaced with a grimace as he grinds his teeth together in an attempt to distract himself from the pain.
"You're really pissed about having to fight two healers?" he snips back at Tatsuya. "Gimme a break!"
He'd be happy to not get his brain bashed in repeatedly. He'd be happy not to get lectured by a schoolgirl, too. "Don't think you can tell me what I can and can't do!"
Grenades go flying again. Is Jin going to use Moros today? Maybe. But not yet.
AS: Persona! Ririka Kawase has used the Almighty skill Fissure on Tatsuya Sudou! AS: Insight: Ririka Kawase gains 1 Limit! AS: Persona! Ririka Kawase has used the Earth skill Magna on Tatsuya Sudou! AS: Ririka Kawase: Gains 74 HP from Regen! AS: Ririka Kawase spends Limit on Help Up! Poison removed from Koh Katsuhiro! They both receive 8 SP and 30 HP! AS: Weapon! Jin Shirato has used the Pierce skill Error 404: Not Found on Fuuka Yamagishi! AS: Weapon! Jin Shirato has used the Pierce skill Error 404: Not Found on Shizuka Kuroki! AS: Counter Worst! Fuuka Yamagishi takes 79 Pierce damage from Jin Shirato's Error 404: Not Found. AS: COUNTER! Jin Shirato takes 35 Pierce damage in return for his attack! AS: Take! Tatsuya Sudou takes 0 Almighty damage from Ririka Kawase's Fissure. AS: Earth_Break and Def_Dn added! AS: Block Worst! Tatsuya Sudou takes 138 Earth damage from Ririka Kawase's Magna. AS: Block Worst! Shizuka Kuroki takes 108 Pierce damage from Jin Shirato's Error 404: Not Found. Critical Hit! Weak!
<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.
When Aigis does not immediately ventilate Noriaki in a hail of bullets, Hitomi is momentarily nonplussed. Indeed, Hitomi feels like she's splitting apart, because one side of her is crumpling in dismay. (What had she expected Aigis to do? Use a Bomb to clear the screen of all enemies? Launch funnels? This isn't a video game.)
But it's not as though Aigis isn't helping. Something washes over her. Hitomi thinks -- a bunch of squiggly hot lines -- and something else, a little cooler. No; it's just a different shape of thought. As the cloaking energy washes over her, she lurches to the side, slumping against the counter. She is able to breathe, once.
It helps.
The part of her that's screaming feels like it's receding. What is 'she', anyway? Where is your 'self?' There isn't really one, as she understands it. It just kinda seems that way. Her legs feel terribly heavy. She could just fall down, Hitomi supposes.
Other things begin to trickle in. She could swear she heard someone giggle. (She did hear someone giggle. Hitomi giggled, though it might sound more like an anxious little spurt of noise from someone in terror.)
So much of it isn't known to her. Hitomi had seen Yukari and she can hear gunshots. Even Minato is quiet enough that she only knows Yukari is addressing someone else. So, maybe that's all there is now. Maybe they just got lucky, or from a certain point of view, un-lucky.
That sensation washes over Hitomi again. The faint urge to just slump to the ground. What happens, happens.
-- nah, she thinks. Play it out. See where it goes. She's alive. Heck, she's alive and with a battle robot. Maybe this is what happened originally, Hitomi thinks as she lurches up a little straighter. Maybe the company's going to put it all on her and Aigis (and Minato and Yukari if they manage to avoid getting shot to death).
Maybe--
-- ah, the enemy's moving! "I feel sorry for you too," Hitomi says with a sort of high-strung heat that is probably 90% adrenaline talking. "Because you're on fire," she continues, even as he burns and staggers back and the part of Hitomi that hasn't completely imploded watches him with an intent alertness. This is so much easier, even as he says -
"Oh? But you had a surprise attack," Hitomi answers him in that same tone before he draws up his... Evoker? He has an Evoker, Hitomi thinks, which just goes into the data files for later chewing over as he draws on Efnysien again. The Persona screams. He says he isn't playing and then -- it smashes towards Hitomi and she raises her arms, crossing them.
It would have been a pretty fatal mistake, given what happens next, although Aigis's blessing means Hitomi isn't quite where he might expect. That, and she was already moving as he surged closer. The larger man closes and he's up close and something hurts in her side, something much sharper hurts further up her chest, and she suddenly pulls back her head and contorts towards the counter she'd been leaning against as something runs up along her cheek and --
It stings, and Hitomi doesn't worry about it, although Aigis may be concerned by the blood. (It looks shallow, at least; it doesn't seem to be interfering with her movements.) Hitomi staggers back a step and says, "Waow!" in sheer exclamatory force, followed by her right hand reaching up with a flip. There is a glimmer of a card there, as if she's tossing it up--
Tyche appears again and seems to be making a different gesture. This one has a distinct air, despite being a frieze-like vision, of being something *taken away* -- though the sensation of having an ill star cross into your constellation is pretty subtle, especially mid battle.
"Do you feel like you're losing?" Hitomi asks afterwards, eyes wide and staring at him.
AS: Persona! Hitomi Mandai has used the Almighty skill Submission on Noriaki Okaga!
<Pose Tracker> Koh Katsuhiro has posed.
Koh throws himself away from the fire, tumbling across the ground before he scrambles hastily to his feet. Fuuka's explanation is good enough. No time to worry about it when they're all in trouble.
But Sudou's not the only one getting mad. "Shut up!" He snaps, a bit too high pitched. "About Shinjiro-senpai!"
The crash of explosives is disorienting, mixed in with flames and shouting. He snatches the medicine she offers with as a grateful of a smile as he can manage. "Kawase-san, we gotta help Fuuka and Kuroki-san. I'll back you up."
She shows the Joker Killer she can attack and, miraculously, Koh can too. "Zagreus!" He snaps, "Go!"
The terrible sounds start again as the Persona flails its heart. Protection for the two navigators, a puff of poison for Sudou. And, as purple smoke billows out, behind it comes a huge chunk of jagged rock.
AS: Persona! Koh Katsuhiro has used the Recovery skill Bacchanaiia: Revelry on Koh Katsuhiro and Ririka Kawase! AS: Support: Koh Katsuhiro gains 1 Limit! AS: Koh Katsuhiro spends Limit on Exploit! Koh Katsuhiro can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Take! Koh Katsuhiro takes 0 Recovery healing from Koh Katsuhiro's Bacchanaiia: Revelry. 12 SP regained! AS: Spd_Up added! AS: Persona! Koh Katsuhiro has used the Earth skill Magna on Tatsuya Sudou!
<Pose Tracker> Niko Kirisaki has posed.
Niko's typically ready to be friendly even at the most unfitting moments, but Reiya... Reiya is pushing all her buttons, putting her in no mood to even pretend to make nice with him. Not right now, after he freaking poisoned her right off the bat.
"Aren't you noble," Niko scoffs with all due sarcasm. "'Protect those in your care', are you serious? Self-important much? If 'those in your care' can't protect themselves, and you really wanted to keep them safe, you should never have let them join your happy little club."
Venting her frustrations with Ate does help somewhat. Between Reiya and Suzume she feels like absolute crap on the inside, but striking back against those responsible does wonders for one's mood. Poor Shinjiro can't get himself to act quite as immediately, though he prepares to. Niko still has a cheerful tone to her voice for him. "That's funny, I don't want things taken from me either. That's the only reason this is happening, you know. If all SEES wanted was what that guy" - Reiya - "claimed, we wouldn't have any problems."
She sure seems to be on friendly terms with Shinjiro, even now. Might that have something to do with the 'choice' that Suzume presses him on?
Talking is done for now though. Shinjiro and his Persona charge, and Niko responds in kind. Boosted by Ate, moving with her, she manages to power through Castor's hit, to strike back against Shinjiro with her bare fist. She, too, has a mean right hook. It may not be a match for the hammer that launches her backwards, but... she feels like she got the point across.
Landing in a crouch, she quickly straightens to face Suzume. Digging in her footing, she braces against the storm of tonfa strikes with Ate's assistance, her Persona's hair making for a poor shield against those strikes, but it's an effort.
...And she keeps smiling. How is she smiling, after all that? It doesn't look as if she's at all concerned, casually responding to Suzume's questions. "That about covers it! Not that time, though. That time I really was there just to play games. We can still do that sometime y'know, hit me up!" And if you doubt that's a serious offer, then you have a lot to learn about Niko.
The only one that seemingly gets her angry is Reiya. She only has to look at him for a frown to appear on her features. Kunimitsu has her going, "Of course it's a fucking ninja," before it does... something to her. She doesn't even notice what the needles did, only that it's somehow making her feel even worse inside. And too sluggish to fully avoid the water blast, knocking her to the ground. For the briefest of moments, before she rises again, somewhat shakily.
"...Don't be so proud of yourself. I'll show you what happens when you play around with a young girl's heart!" Niko does say the darndest things.
She can, however, back up her words. Her physique isn't just for show. Already she's starting to shrug off the worst of her afflictions, recovering AND increasing in power while remaining in the cocoon of Ate's swirling hair for protection. Lots and lots of hair... plenty left over to also lash out with at everyone around her, striking them with great force while Niko cackles, seeming to be back to having a good time.
"Now then! Riddle me this! When is Good actually Evil?"
She is not actually expecting any answers while she's whipping people around, but she'll give them away regardless.
"There's multiple right answers here. 'When it denies others their freedom.' 'When it prevents something better.' Or... 'When it becomes an excuse.'"
AS: Niko Kirisaki spends Limit on Salve! Charm removed from Niko Kirisaki! AS: Niko Kirisaki spends Limit on Salve! Poison removed from Niko Kirisaki! AS: Niko Kirisaki spends Limit on Aegis! AS: Persona! Niko Kirisaki has used the Almighty skill Rebellion on Niko Kirisaki! AS: Take! Niko Kirisaki takes 0 Almighty damage from Niko Kirisaki's Rebellion. AS: Crt_Up added! AS: Persona! Niko Kirisaki has used the Strike skill Crazy Chain on Reiya Aomori, Suzume Fukura, and Shinjiro Aragaki! AS: Ruin: Niko Kirisaki gains 1 Limit! AS: Avoid Best! Reiya Aomori takes 22 Strike damage from Niko Kirisaki's Crazy Chain. Critical Hit! AS: Block Best! Shinjiro Aragaki takes 17 Strike damage from Niko Kirisaki's Crazy Chain. AS: Avoid Best! Suzume Fukura takes 22 Strike damage from Niko Kirisaki's Crazy Chain. Critical Hit! AS: Block Neutral! Tatsuya Sudou takes 88 Earth damage from Koh Katsuhiro's Magna. AS: Take! Ririka Kawase takes 0 Recovery healing from Koh Katsuhiro's Bacchanaiia: Revelry. 12 SP regained! AS: Crt_Up added!
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
"Well it's definitely more important than whatever you're trying to do here!" She counters, as Takaya quips sarcastically at her, before he discounts it as 'vanity'.
So many things she loves might be called the same. Vanity. Looking good, fashion. The way she presents herself to the world.
He points his gun - and Yukari stares it down, afraid again.
But he doesn't fire-
"Aragaki-senpai?" She looks startled at the idea, "There's no way..." She repeats it, biting down on the idea. He's too kind to have just been waiting to betray them all along.
She's sure of it... "There's no way! You're lying!" ... it's not her being fully naive though, despite his accusation. She thinks there's something to do it. But she also thinks it's a half-truth, at best.
She knows he knows Niko, for example.
But there's no way he'd turn on them. She's sure of that.
Then Takaya notices the change of Persona, and the change in his tone- like he's exultant, and suddenly Yukari looks creeped out by it.
The hammer of the gun pulls back, and fires- Io intercepting, as she then shatters from the bullet of the gun, but preventing the bullet from striking her head on.
Staggering, nauseous and sick, she looks at him. Really looks, and she sees... interest.
Interest in him.
She forces herself to stand up straighter, as she reaches into her jacket pocket, "Get away from him you-" And grasping her theurgy cartridge, slides it into the bottom of the gun, "-CREEP!"
Even Takaya, who had dismissed her might feel something, different about her in these few moments as the emotions resonating with the cartridge swell.
Just put it to your head...
Right where it belongs...
AND PULL THE TRIGGER!
AND PULL THE TRIGGER!
Her eyes flash red, changing from their prior brown as Io manifests again, and taking a knee, she begins to draw, nock, and shoot the arrows with her so rapidly that each one seems a fluid instant.
Wind bears them towards him faster, faster- almost at the speed of a bullet. Then wind surrounds her, causing her to rise into the air in one aerial flip. On high she stares at him as if she were channeling the wrath of Hera herself, once sent to torment Io into madness.
As she pulls and nocks an arrow back at full draw.
"I want you out of our home- RIGHT NOW!"
And releases. Theurgy, spiritual magic that can reach the gods, or so Shuji called it. As the arrow lands, it tries to blast Takaya backwards out of the front of the dorm with a column of riotous wind, battering with the force of a Category 5 Hurricane.
AS: Yukari Takeba spends Limit on Exploit! Yukari Takeba can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Tandem! Theurgy! Yukari Takeba has used the Wind skill Cyclone Arrow on Takaya Sakaki! AS: Yukari Takeba: Loses 8 SP and TP from Sick! Atk_Up and Def_Up removed! AS: Yukari Takeba regains 3 SP from Invigorate! AS: Take! Noriaki Okaga takes 0 Almighty damage from Hitomi Mandai's Submission. AS: Crt_Up removed!
<Pose Tracker> Fuuka Yamagishi has posed.
Jin insists, too. He says to ask him about his friends in Strega - if he survives.
"He will. They all will. No one's going to die today." Fuuka replies. ...Still - for him to bring this up... Maybe she should talk to him about it. Not now, though - not when it might disrupt anyone during a difficult fight. Grenades are hurled outward once more. The backlash is cruel - but is revisited upon Jin, too. Fuuka winces at the explosions, loud against her ears. She finds herself grateful for the headphones that are part of her uniform - at least she won't leave this with too much hearing damage. "...No one else has to get hurt, either. Please take everyone and go."
Still, she's starting to feel the fatigue set in, from leaning so much on Lucia. A Navigator can maintain their Persona in battle longer their most, but even they have limits.
"Lucia, ease our minds..." Fuuka murmurs. With a motion of her arms, a cool, soothing wave emanates through the alleyway, settling over herself and Shizuka. It should help rejuvenate the spirit, to allow them to continue forward.
AS: Persona! Fuuka Yamagishi has used the Recovery skill Relaxing Wave on Fuuka Yamagishi and Shizuka Kuroki! AS: Insight: Fuuka Yamagishi gains 1 Limit! AS: Fuuka Yamagishi: Gains 67 HP from Regen! Def_Up and Spd_Up removed! AS: Take! Fuuka Yamagishi takes 0 Recovery healing from Fuuka Yamagishi's Relaxing Wave. AS: Vigor added! AS: Fuuka Yamagishi spends Limit on Shift! Shizuka Kuroki can use another Weak skill this round! They both receive 8 SP and 30 HP! AS: Take! Shizuka Kuroki takes 0 Recovery healing from Fuuka Yamagishi's Relaxing Wave. AS: Vigor added! AS: Avoid Best! Takaya Sakaki takes 102 Wind damage from Yukari Takeba's Cyclone Arrow.
<Pose Tracker> Minato Arisato has posed.
Vanity...
Sanity, Minato thinks. Yukari's trying to keep hold of her sanity.
That's why she's bantering with him that way.
Is that why he's gone silent?
"We don't discuss our recruitment practices with the enemy," Minato informs Takaya, quite bland, as he names and shamed Shinjiro. He wants to sow distrust... but he's the one who murdered the television. He even drove Hitomi to kill (the computer monitor). "We can talk about something else." He did notice the interest. "But not here." Can he convince him to leave?
No. Takaya's... laughing. He was attacked, and he's laughing.
Odd.
Just as strange: Hypnos going from slumbering assault to fluid movement. Naga raises his shield, but Hypnos's strikes rain in with all the force and power of a bullet, driving the Persona back until he's able to claw at Minato himself.
It's only luck which sees the attack glancing instead of carving into him; his uniform sleeve lies in tatters, thin streaks of blood along the distal side of his arm.
What he sees, instead, is Hitomi's bloodied cheek. "Aigis-san, help her!" He barks, not quite able to look long enough to see that it's a shallow cut. There's an edge to his voice which wasn't there, before.
That's not all, though:
Yukari. Io shatters, protecting Yukari.
A gunshot will kill Yukari.
That edge of panic has Minato moving, but he's not fast enough to shield her before her Persona gets there. "Don't touch her!" Minato snaps, but he's not the only one who's had enough.
Eurydice was never without her own autonomy.
And Minato witnesses Yukari's rage, as she protects him -- reverses the cards entirely. "Takeba-san..." He stares, and he is awed... and a little concerned for a different reason, now.
"I'll back you up," he promises, as he steels himself to draw on his own power. Naga's power washes over Yukari, red and blazing, before he turns his spear on Hypnos, spears coming to a bombing point.
AS: Minato Arisato spends Limit on Exploit! Minato Arisato can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Persona! Minato Arisato has used the Pierce skill Seal Bomb on Takaya Sakaki! AS: Minato Arisato takes 90 damage from Panic! AS: Persona! Minato Arisato has used the Almighty skill Tarukaja on Yukari Takeba! AS: Minato Arisato: Atk_Up and Def_Up removed! AS: Minato Arisato regains 3 SP from Invigorate! AS: Take! Yukari Takeba takes 0 Almighty damage from Minato Arisato's Tarukaja. AS: Atk_Up added!
<Pose Tracker> Shizuka Kuroki has posed.
Another wall comes up, but not in time. Shizuka is blown away once more, a little bloodied at this point. Fuuka's wave washes over her, letting herself stand back up fully.
"These grenades are starting to piss me off!" She pants, feeling the fatigue even despite Fuuka's buffs. "I'm about to end this!"
She places the Evoker directly on her forehead and pulls, causing Galatea to slam the ground in front of her. Spires of stone emerge from the ground, going in a trail directly towards Jin before a large collection of jagged rocks sprouts up beneath his feet!
AS: Avoid Neutral! Takaya Sakaki takes 103 Pierce damage from Minato Arisato's Seal Bomb. AS: Exhaust added! AS: Persona! Shizuka Kuroki has used the Earth skill Marble Snare on Jin Shirato! 2 Hits! AS: Avoid Neutral! Jin Shirato takes 84 Earth damage from Shizuka Kuroki's Marble Snare. Weak! AS: Bind added! AS: Persona! Shizuka Kuroki has used the Recovery skill Media on Shizuka Kuroki and Fuuka Yamagishi! AS: Shizuka Kuroki: Gains 10 SP from Vigor! AS: Take! Shizuka Kuroki takes 86 Recovery healing from Shizuka Kuroki's Media. AS: Take! Fuuka Yamagishi takes 86 Recovery healing from Shizuka Kuroki's Media.
<Pose Tracker> Reiya Aomori has posed.
"Senpai," Reiya says. "How well do you know her?"
Niko-chan, she'd wanted him to call her. He is not so sure that will remain the case, after this, especially after she scoffs at him. "True," Reiya says. "If their safety were my top priority, that would be the action I should take."
But it isn't. "...Their own choices dictate that they want to fight with us, instead."
Reiya is unmoved by the change in her demeanor; he sees things very simply here. But things taken... Hmmm.
But how is she smiling? That's a fair question to Reiya, too. "The Dark Hour isn't a possession to be allowed to remain."
"I'm not proud," Reiya says. "After all, I wasn't able to stop this before it happened."
But good and evil? Reiya watches Niko protect herself... and strike out at them. Reiya is able to whirl out of the way of most of the blow, hair blades slashing along his back as he whirls. But she will get an answer--just not... immediately.
Reiya falls to a crouch, and looks up. "The harm the Dark Hour does is worth far more than whatever gain Strega receives from playing in it."
"If you're going to try to convince me that ending it is evil..."
"Don't bother. It's pointless."
Kunimitsu reappears with a report of the Evoker, and Reiya directs his Persona forward. This time, he makes a few gestures with his hands and fingers, interlocking movements that speak of an ancient sign language.
"...Ice... Release! Hundred Mist Mirrors!"
The mist rises up all around the roof; Shinjiro and Suzume's resonance will disappear, though Niko's may not. The mist won't impede SEES at all.
AS: Persona! Reiya Aomori has used the Almighty skill Hundred Mist Mirrors - Hyoton on Shinjiro Aragaki, Suzume Fukura, and Reiya Aomori! AS: Take! Reiya Aomori takes 0 Almighty damage from Reiya Aomori's Hundred Mist Mirrors - Hyoton. AS: Crt_Up, Eclipse, and Spd_Up added! AS: Take! Shinjiro Aragaki takes 0 Almighty damage from Reiya Aomori's Hundred Mist Mirrors - Hyoton. AS: Crt_Up, Eclipse, and Spd_Up added!
<Pose Tracker> Takaya Sakaki has posed.
Takaya watches as Yukari manages to keep herself from getting killed...again. The man just sighs and shakes his head. "First off...I don't lie. I don't need to." Takaya holds up a finger and smiles. "Neither would Shinjiro if you ask him....If he does somehow lie about giving us intel...then I really would be wrong about him. But not in the way you're thinking..."
He again is pulled to look at Minato, wondering how such a power would work. Could He obtain it? Would he be able to get Minato to join them? Curious.
Then Yukari channels the women from that extraterrestrial film, prompting the first annoyed look from Takaya. He rolls his eyes, pointing the gun again. This time he seems to be aiming for her head.
Thats when he notices it. Something different in Yukari as well. Something fierce, like an animal defending it's last stand.
Takaya is about to say something but the wind elemental arrow flies toward and strikes the back in the shoulder. The man flies backward, crashing toward the kitchen and right into the study table. Takaya is silent for a moment before he sits up and gives Yukari a look before replying to Minato's words. "If she would leave, I would be happy to talk with just you...However, I have a reputation to uphold.
Hypnos reforms but this time right behind Yukari. The floating corpse just hover for a moment, emitting a aura of just...horror and creepiness. Suddenly this feeling gets worse and worse as the arms slowly reach for Yukari. The feeling gets worse and worse, pulsating as the arms of Hypnos begin to strike at Yukari. At first they are blunt until the speed picks up and movement begins to cut and slice like they were knives. But the worst part is just that fundamental wrongness of Hypnos.
Takaya points the gun this time at Minato. "You choose what happens next...Shall we end this or will I have to end her. We shall see."
<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Sudou has posed.
Tatsuya Sudou wasn't expecting the shift in rhythm of the battle and losses his magical protection against rocks, his ear worm telling him it was more then that but it is definitely rocks that erupt from the ground trying to force feed themselves to him after. "Fine, next time you get the healers. For now go out there and kick your guest lecturers collective asses. Break out the big bombs, do it for Shinji. The real Shinjiro would want you to go as big as you can."
Turning back the Joker Killer stares at his duo and seems to be getting angrier, before he starts to laugh. "I get it! I get it!" Raising his sword he points it at Ririka, "You should tell me your name for I think I have a new appreciation for healers." He swivels the sword toward Koh, "Also tell me your name, so I know who I should acknowledge as the guinea pig."
The Joker persona appears also giggling before pouring from its hand black fire onto the blade of Sudou. The Joker Killer rushes forward toward Ririka and begins a barrage of sword strikes, sometimes the blade is aflame, sometimes the flame vanishes leaving just the blade. "A healer heals the physical, but they don't forget the pain. Better work up a big heal right...now." As the word is given the supernatural force that Sudou manages moves him into Koh's face instead and the sword's flame erupts as Sudou tears into Koh with the sword as much as he can. Not letting up until the entire flame is gone. "I have decided I like my healers cooked, medium rare."
AS: Tatsuya Sudou spends Limit on Exploit! Tatsuya Sudou can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Takaya Sakaki spends Limit on Exploit! Takaya Sakaki can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Persona! Theurgy! Takaya Sakaki has used the Dark skill Absolute Slaughter on Yukari Takeba! AS: Aggression: Takaya Sakaki gains 1 Limit! AS: Tandem! Tatsuya Sudou has used the Fire skill Dark Fiery Fury on Ririka Kawase and Koh Katsuhiro! 2 Hits! AS: Charm results in party damage! Tatsuya Sudou takes 90 damage! AS: Aggression: Tatsuya Sudou gains 1 Limit! AS: Tandem! Tatsuya Sudou has used the Slash skill Slice & Dice on Ririka Kawase! 2 Hits! AS: Tandem! Tatsuya Sudou has used the Fire skill Dark Fire Slash on Koh Katsuhiro! 2 Hits! AS: Tatsuya Sudou: Rage and Spd_Dn removed! AS: Takaya Sakaki: Exhaust removed! AS: Block Worst! Koh Katsuhiro takes 99 Fire damage from Tatsuya Sudou's Dark Fiery Fury. AS: Take! Suzume Fukura takes 0 Almighty damage from Reiya Aomori's Hundred Mist Mirrors - Hyoton. AS: Crt_Up, Eclipse, and Spd_Up added!
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Suzume calls out to Shinjiro about his choices, and for a moment, Shinjiro isn't sure which Niko is talking about. He's a ruminater and overthinker, so it instantly goes from the most likely (rejoining SEES) to the worst (his past, his affiliation with Strega, the drugs he takes).
"...I've made mistakes, but..." He trails off, unable to finish whatever defense he had. He's made mistakes. It's a complete statement.
"We're friends," he tells Reiya simply, sighing.
But Niko is saying stuff that makes him suspicious. "What are you talking about? Our only goal is to remove the Dark Hour!"
Isn't it? Niko might notice that doubt.
As she counters his attack, he recoils, struck with a mean hook. He skids himself backwards, hammer at the ready.
"Goddamnit, Niko... what are you *talking about*?"
When is good evil...? He hears the emphasis on 'when it's an excuse'.
"Is this about the Kirijo company?" he asks, eyes darkening. He still doesn't know, but...
He shakes his head. As Reiya empowers him some more with that mist, he nods, and puts his evoker back to his head, hand shaking.
"Castor!"
Castor reappears, rearing its head back as it rages forth, energy washing over Niko to bust her guard. And then...
He's not angry enough. He can't use any of his stronger attacks. But he can still end this.
"Crush."
Castor rears an *ugly* laugh, Shinjiro's frayed emotions the culprit, as it crashes forward, moving to leap into the air through the mist and reappear by landing that hobby horse straight into Niko with so much force that it's better to dodge, not block.
The roof's gonna be ugly after this.
AS: Avoid Neutral! Yukari Takeba takes 121 Dark damage from Takaya Sakaki's Absolute Slaughter. AS: Counter Worst! Koh Katsuhiro takes 166 Fire damage from Tatsuya Sudou's Dark Fiery Fury. AS: COUNTER! Tatsuya Sudou takes 7 Fire damage in return for his attack! Resist! AS: Avoid Neutral! Koh Katsuhiro takes 100 Fire damage from Tatsuya Sudou's Dark Fire Slash. Critical Hit! AS: Koh Katsuhiro is unable to continue fighting! AS: Avoid Best! Koh Katsuhiro takes 32 Fire damage from Tatsuya Sudou's Dark Fire Slash. AS: Koh Katsuhiro is unable to continue fighting! AS: Shinjiro Aragaki spends Limit on Exploit! Shinjiro Aragaki can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Persona! Shinjiro Aragaki has used the Almighty skill Guard Buster on Niko Kirisaki! AS: Pressure: Shinjiro Aragaki gains 1 Limit! AS: Persona! Shinjiro Aragaki has used the Strike skill Black Spot on Niko Kirisaki! AS: Shinjiro Aragaki regains 15 HP from Regenerate!
<Pose Tracker> Aigis has posed.
Aigis pulls her arm back to allow it some time to cool down as smoke trails upwards from her fingers, then she glances back to Yukari as she confirms: "We have met, once. He was there, too," she nods in Minato's direction.
"It was not exactly on pleasant terms." Aigis tilts her head to regard Noriaki. "We intervened in order to prevent an attack on someone else. He persisted then just as he does now. Is this really enough to bear a grudge over? Did that necessitate your ingress into our living quarters?"
Oh, but Aigis is completely -- blissfully, even -- unaware of what else the Kirijo Group had gotten up to. One may be forgiven for believing her to be their loyal lapdog. It's not too far off the mark.
Aigis' gaze moves from Yukari to Minato. It isn't so much loyalty as it is purpose, following instructions, simply doing as she was programmed to do. The trust she placed in Yukari seems to have been warranted so far. This is ... within acceptable parameters. Still, monitoring both battles occurring within the common area takes up precious attention, and as she tries to watch for the safety of Hitomi, Minato, and Yukari --
-- it's in those moments where she strains her perception that Efnysien's flail whips around to strike her with enough force to sweep her off of her feet. She slams hard into the base of Palladion's form, causing the sound of metal striking metal to ring out. She has to take a moment to stagger back upright.
Minato instructs Aigis to protect Hitomi -- which she has already been doing to the best of her ability, at least when it comes to her and Palladion's ability to shield someone. Still, Aigis replies, "Understood."
All that's left is to very firmly 'persuade' Noriaki to leave. Once more, she raises her arm in tandem with Palladion's drill-bit of a cannon in Efnysien's direction.
What comes next may be a familiar sight to Noriaki: Palladion emits a series of laser points, highlighting weak spots on Efnysien's form. Its gears begin to spin, electricity begins to arc, and it seems another volley is forthcoming ...
Calmly, with no malice in her voice, she asks Noriaki, "Please exit the premises. I will not engage in pursuit."
Aigis had been keeping tabs on the events in the room. There's another threat on the other side of Palladion from her, the man with a real non-Evoker gun, the one who can summon his Persona without an Evoker. Just before Palladion unleashes a series of shots into Efnysien, Aigis whirls around its base and extends her arm in Hypnos' direction. Back-to-back, she and Palladion take aim at their adversaries on either side of the common area. "You're not ending anyone!" she informs Takaya as she makes her surprise attack.
Minato hadn't specified which 'her' he had meant when he urged Aigis to 'help her': Hitomi or Yukari. In the face of ambiguity ... she decides he had meant 'both'.
Palladion fires a shot at Efnysien, and Aigis shoots a series of smaller rounds at Hypnos, hoping to dissuade it from its approach towards Yukari.
AS: Aigis spends Limit on Exploit! Aigis can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Persona! Aigis has used the Almighty skill Pierce Break on Noriaki Okaga! AS: Pressure: Aigis gains 1 Limit! AS: Tandem! Aigis has used the Pierce skill Double Down on Takaya Sakaki and Noriaki Okaga! 2 Hits! AS: Aigis regains 3 SP from Invigorate! AS: Avoid Worst! Takaya Sakaki takes 116 Pierce damage from Aigis's Double Down.
<Pose Tracker> Jin Shirato has posed.
"Sorry, but that ain't an option until we're done doin' what we gotta do." Jin's about to open his mouth to smugly prattle on some more when he's struck again by another Earth attack -- this time from below.
Jin is caught completely off-guard; he practically has to drag himself off his feet to get upright again.
"Can you stop doing that already?!" He's clearly not the only one tired of battling. "I'll even stop using my grenades this time."
Jin keeps his promise. Instead of reaching for a grenade, Jin reaches for his evoker. "Moros!"
AS: Avoid Worst! Takaya Sakaki takes 165 Pierce damage from Aigis's Double Down. Critical Hit! AS: Avoid Best! Jin Shirato takes 64 Earth damage from Shizuka Kuroki's Marble Snare. Weak! AS: Persona! Jin Shirato has used the Dark skill Mudo on Shizuka Kuroki! AS: Jin Shirato takes 90 damage from Panic! AS: Jin Shirato spends Limit on Salve! Panic removed from Jin Shirato! AS: Block Worst! Ririka Kawase takes 89 Fire damage from Tatsuya Sudou's Dark Fiery Fury. AS: Block Best! Ririka Kawase takes 30 Fire damage from Tatsuya Sudou's Dark Fiery Fury. AS: Block Best! Ririka Kawase takes 24 Slash damage from Tatsuya Sudou's Slice & Dice. Critical Hit! AS: Block Best! Ririka Kawase takes 16 Slash damage from Tatsuya Sudou's Slice & Dice. AS: Avoid Neutral! Shizuka Kuroki takes 102 Dark damage from Jin Shirato's Mudo. Critical Hit! AS: Take! Niko Kirisaki takes 0 Almighty damage from Shinjiro Aragaki's Guard Buster. AS: Strike_Break added! AS: Avoid Neutral! Niko Kirisaki takes 146 Strike damage from Shinjiro Aragaki's Black Spot. Critical Hit! AS: Take! Noriaki Okaga takes 0 Almighty damage from Aigis's Pierce Break. AS: Pierce_Break added! AS: Block Worst! Noriaki Okaga takes 106 Pierce damage from Aigis's Double Down. AS: Block Neutral! Noriaki Okaga takes 76 Pierce damage from Aigis's Double Down. AS: Suzume Fukura spends Limit on Exploit! Suzume Fukura can use another Weak skill this round!
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
"..."
Suzume has no idea what to make of that offer from Niko. She discards it for later. (If she even remembers after this fight. She might not - until the next time she runs into Niko, of course.)
But there's also Shinjiro.
'I've made mistakes, but...'
'We're friends.'
Something about the way Shinjiro says it makes Suzume uncomfortable for reasons she can't clearly identify right now. Her scowl returns, deepening, but she doesn't say anything to Shinjiro about it; no questions, at least not right now. Not while they're fighting, or maybe in front of Niko, because regardless they're a team and they're working together.
Ate's hair lashes at Suzume, and Suzume - already having opened herself up with the reckless strike - follows through by tumbling forward. She wouldn't be willing to do this closer to the edge of the roof, even with the half-height ledge around the edge of it, but she rolls, springing to her feet in an athletic if not entirely gymnastic kip-up. (Suzume is not great at gymnastics, but she's fallen enough that she knows how to hop up without slowing down.)
She rises up, Reiya's mist swirling around her in an unnatural way as Suzume's wind catches at it, spinning it around her. "What, are you gonna tell us that we're stopping something better? You don't even know what we're doing. And I'm not interested in hearing someone who started off by bombing our home tell us we're evil!" She heard the explosion.
Suzume's voice catches. "Atalanta! Hold her!" she calls, another blast of breaking glass from her Evoker, and a churning sphere of wind erupts around Niko - not a tornado like many people's wind spells but a sphere, churning wildly and drawing up debris (and mist) towards her.
It also might hold her still for just a moment. Niko's physique isn't just for show but Suzume is, under her loose-fit gym clothes, not exactly unathletic either. She comes in hard and fast, wind churning around her as she rockets forward, both tonfa driving directly at Niko's exposed stomach.
On impact, there's an *eruption* of wind as Suzume whirls, pivoting on her heel and delivering a fast, powerful series of blows with all the force her body can manage, accompanied by a wordless shout. More than she would have been able to, months ago.
Those workouts really did help.
AS: Persona! Suzume Fukura has used the Wind skill Vortex Garu on Niko Kirisaki! AS: Pressure: Suzume Fukura gains 1 Limit! AS: Tandem! Suzume Fukura has used the Wind skill Race the Wind on Niko Kirisaki! 3 Hits!
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
Takaya insists he doesn't lie. That might be so, but as before, she doubts he's telling the whole truth.
Eurydice.
It's an apt idea for her. She who is bound by death. Perhaps one day she will see the sun again.
Minato's call causes her to rapidly shoots an alarmed look towards Hitomi on her descent, set down by Io, even as Minato empowers her. Her eyes crimson still resonant and flush with power.
Before even that fades back to their normal amber brown. Nausea overtaking her, staggering, a hand upon her head.
She inhales once, twice, thrice. "Talk. You want to talk... NOW!?" She says, angrily, right as Hypnos reforms, and there's that sensation behind her.
The goose pimples on the back of her neck. The feeling like the murderer is already in the room.
On instinct, she dives forward. Perhaps it's all that saves her, as Hypnos cuts the first time, and Io's winds crash against the blow in blunt deflection away from her body.
Again and again Hypnos smashes and slices, and a horn off Io is cut away, then the girl is sliced in twain- Io that is.
As she suffers another Persona break, and holds her head. She doesn't have the same endurance as Minato when it comes to this. The sharp, searing pain, the throb behind her eyes.
Like shards of glass fracturing in her brain.
"... Stop..." She whispers at first, Palladion's shot covering them before she recovers enough to put the Evoker to her head, "Stop... acting like I'm some... damsel... that needs... SAVING!"
And as she pulls the trigger, Io appears again, the winds rise, as if readying for something, as they swell around the room in a great circle, preparing... for something.
"Ready... Minato-kun?"
It's the first time she's used his first name, since they met. Perhaps if Takaya gets his way, it'll be their last.
When I'm with you and the others, I don't get bored... so, I don't think it's all bad.
But whatever happens they will defend their home.
Sometimes, it's even fun, don't you think?
AS: Yukari Takeba has initiated a fusion spell! The spell still requires 1 Strong attacks and Any Physical! Anyone can join!
<Pose Tracker> Koh Katsuhiro has posed.
The Joker killer moves fast. The appearance of Sudou's persona sends an electric shock of fear through Koh, and he has little time to continue his attack before the black and burning fire is on him.
His teeth rattle as he brings his own weapon, a large knife, up in attempt to ward off the attacks. "Bastard-" Koh's response to Sudou's question is probably not his name.
It'd be more obvious to the seasoned killers that Koh's on the back foot. Panicked, ducking, flailing to ward off the burning metal. He's used to fighting mindless Shadows, not peopleor whatever the Joker Killer is. Sudou inspires a mortal terror not like any but maybe the major arcana.
And Koh doesn't want to die.
But he doesn't want Ririka, Shizuka, Fuuka, or anyone inside to either. So he makes a mistake: he tries to strike back instead of get away. A sloppy strike that leaves him open to a decisive and burning slash.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Koh says that they need to back up Shizuka and Fuuka--and that he'll back her up. "I think we're all backing each other up at this point," she points out, but she's not disagreeing.
Sudou claims to have a new appreciation for healers. "Yeah, right. Don't do it," she says to Koh. "Who knows what he can do with that?"
But that sword is looking awfully on-fire, and Ririka scrambles to get to her own katana, diving for it and all but throwing away the sheath this time as she tries to bring the blade up. The first one hits her, scoring a line of blue flame across her body as she staggers back. "Gah--!"
But she grits her teeth and forces the blade back up to try and deflect the worst of the next hit, and the ones after that, taking more glancing blows. But the Joker Killer switches targets, suddenly, and Ririka can only watch. "Look out!"
Her grip tightens on her katana, knuckles turning white as she tries to keep her focus. She's starting to get exhausted, and she's rally not meant for this sort of front line fighting. But still... it doesn't mean she has no tricks.
"Amphion!" she declares, lifting her katana up to the sky. "Let's send these guys packing! "Magnara!" She slams the katana down like a conductor directiong an orchestra, and as Amphion plays a bigger chunk of earth levitates up and then slams down right for Sudou's head.
<Pose Tracker> Minato Arisato has posed.
Minato doesn't think Takaya must be lying, unlike Yukari.
It's not that he thinks he's telling the truth, either.
He just
can't evaluate anything
when he's waving that gun around.
"You need to leave," Minato repeats, firmly, when Takaya insists he has a reputation. But --
But Hypnos lays into Yukari, again, again, again. He can feel how wrong that is, too. (No wonder the Joker Killer is helping him, he thinks.)
The panic gripping him tells him: she's going to die. She's going to die! Io's shattered, and she's suffering, and Hypnos won't stop coming, and -- and the corpses are twisted in the car-seats, and the shattered glass drips blood --
And --
And Minato is their Leader. Hitomi is bleeding; Aigis is pushing herself as hard as she can, even targeting Takaya in the process. Elsewhere, the Navigators are holding the line; elsewhere, they're preventing them from infiltrating from the rooftop. Everyone is giving their all.
That includes Yukari. Yukari -- who isn't unable to handle her Evoker, any more. Yukari, whose rage blew this man right into the kitchen...
"Yukari-san," he says, his voice level. "Let's see him out."
Minato doesn't want her to die, but Yukari doesn't want him to die, either.
And they don't want anyone in SEES to suffer this attack any longer.
The wind which Yukari and Io pick up swirls around Minato and Naga, as Naga levels his spear at Hypnos. Minato, less his sword, grabs the closest weapon at hand -- the LAMP -- and as Naga leaps forward, his spear roaring with a hurricane's fury as it seeks Hypnos's heart, Minato springs forward to slam the lamp-post -- itself empowered by cyclonic force -- into Takaya.
AS: Ririka Kawase spends Limit on Psych! AS: Persona! Ririka Kawase has used the Earth skill Magnara on Tatsuya Sudou! AS: Ririka Kawase: Gains 69 HP from Regen! Psych and Regen removed!
<Pose Tracker> Noriaki Okaga has posed.
"Yeah, you got in the way of some personal business, 'bot," he tells Aigis, jabbing the knife in her general direction as if to make a point. "You, and that brat." He jerks his head towards Minato, over in the other room.
But is this really sufficient reason to come in here like this? "Eh, I got my own reasons for breakin down your door," he says, shrugging, arms wide. "We all do. But this ain't about that. You and the rest of these kiddos here're gettin' in our way. The Dark Hour?" He indicates towards himself, with the flat of his knife. "That's ours. If you're messin' around in there, doin' who knows what, then you're messin' with us." That smile of his thins. "Got it? ...Eh, guess it depends on how much you're gettin', with your whole," and he shrugs, and gestures again at Aigis in a very vague fashion with his knife, as if to suggest she's not much more than the sum of her parts.
Hitomi, though is coming around. She feels sorry for him.
Because he's on fire.
"You little-- cut it out with that cute fake-pity shit!" he snaps at her, his earlier amusement fading a decided degree from his earlier aggressive stance. "And you--" he shoots at Aigis, that reminder of recent failures an apparent sore spot. "Kirijo's wind-up toy! I've had enough of you--"
Minato asks that Aigis protect Hitomi. "Hey, hey, mind your own business, kiddo!" he snaps at Minato, engaged in a different fight.
But he had a surprise attack.
"What're you-- forget it!" he says, shaking his head the once as he proceeds.
It's just like the last time. Laser lights glide across Noriaki's Persona and he can feel something in him -- in his Persona -- weakening. He hisses out something unprintable in response.
"Run? Make me. I ain't runnin' 'till I'm done here!" he emphasizes, gesturing broadly at the room and all around himself. "Now, come on--"
The barrage comes, just as expected, each bullet cracking against Efynsien with a resounding scream of bullet-on-metal. The Persona doesn't break again, though--
--though Hitomi has a few words for him. 'Does he feel like he's losing'?
Technically speaking, if you talk about certain things as points on a board with a certain 'distance' to cover as a winning condition, he's already lost. It's just a matter of when the lights finally go out for the last time.
But more immediately, right here and now, Noriaki's certainly feeling something, a certain sense that some of his momentum has just up and vanished, snuffed out like a candle's flame.
It--
"Lose?! The fuck are you talkin' about, kiddo!? I don't-- lose!"
--makes him angry.
He snarls at Hitomi, lunges for her, knife at the ready.
As Efnysien, rearing back, hurtles that broken toy horse at Aigis, at her Persona, like it were a cannonball.
AS: Noriaki Okaga spends Limit on Blood! AS: Noriaki Okaga spends Limit on Psych! AS: Block Worst! Niko Kirisaki takes 135 Wind damage from Suzume Fukura's Vortex Garu. Critical Hit! AS: Block Best! Niko Kirisaki takes 24 Wind damage from Suzume Fukura's Race the Wind. Critical Hit! AS: Block Neutral! Niko Kirisaki takes 47 Wind damage from Suzume Fukura's Race the Wind. Critical Hit! AS: Block Worst! Niko Kirisaki takes 63 Wind damage from Suzume Fukura's Race the Wind. AS: Persona! Noriaki Okaga has used the Strike skill Black Spot on Aigis! AS: Weapon! Noriaki Okaga has used the Slash skill Malice Aforethought on Hitomi Mandai! 3 Hits! AS: Aggression: Noriaki Okaga gains 1 Limit! AS: Noriaki Okaga: Psych removed! AS: Block Worst! Aigis takes 278 Strike damage from Noriaki Okaga's Black Spot. Critical Hit! AS: Block Best! Hitomi Mandai takes 31 Slash damage from Noriaki Okaga's Malice Aforethought. AS: Block Neutral! Hitomi Mandai takes 47 Slash damage from Noriaki Okaga's Malice Aforethought. AS: Block Best! Hitomi Mandai takes 31 Slash damage from Noriaki Okaga's Malice Aforethought. AS: Minato Arisato has joined Yukari Takeba's fusion spell! The spell is ready! AS: Persona! Minato Arisato and Yukari Takeba has used the Wind skill Forceful Fury on Takaya Sakaki! 2 Hits! AS: Yukari Takeba: Loses 8 SP and TP from Sick! AS: Yukari Takeba regains 3 SP from Invigorate! AS: Minato Arisato regains 3 SP from Invigorate! AS: Counter Worst! Takaya Sakaki takes 158 Wind damage from Yukari Takeba's Forceful Fury. AS: COUNTER! Yukari Takeba takes 33 Wind damage in return for her attack! Resist! AS: Takaya Sakaki is unable to continue fighting! AS: Take! Takaya Sakaki takes 178 Wind damage from Yukari Takeba's Forceful Fury. AS: Takaya Sakaki is unable to continue fighting! AS: Avoid Neutral! Tatsuya Sudou takes 141 Earth damage from Ririka Kawase's Magnara. AS: Bind added!
<Pose Tracker> Fuuka Yamagishi has posed.
That isn't an option... Fuuka frowns.
"...I see. I wish it didn't have to be this way. I never wanted this..." Fuuka replies, shaking her head at Jin. "Why are you so determined to do this? Why do we have to fight like this?"
They aren't going to leave until their job is done - and Fuuka's breath is sucked out of her lungs as she sees Koh go down. She inhales sharply.
There's... no holding back. They have to stop this now, or he might...
Fuuka readies her Evoker, loading the Theurgy cartridge into it. Offense may not be her specialty - but she can at least give Shizuka all the advantage she can. She shuts her eyes, pressing the Evoker against her head.
"I'll support you... Please finish this, Kuroki-san." Fuuka requests - and then she fires. Her eyes shine a brilliant blue, and information begins to flood into her mind - predictions and analysis...
...And then in a bright, shining wave, this information is directed outward, channeled to Shizuka to allow her to make the best possible move.
AS: Persona! Fuuka Yamagishi has used the Almighty skill Oracle - Guiding Insight on Shizuka Kuroki! AS: Insight: Fuuka Yamagishi gains 1 Limit! AS: Fuuka Yamagishi: Gains 72 HP from Regen! Gains 10 SP from Vigor! Regen removed! AS: Take! Shizuka Kuroki takes 0 Almighty damage from Fuuka Yamagishi's Oracle - Guiding Insight. AS: Atk_Up and Crt_Up added! AS: Fuuka Yamagishi spends Limit on Shift! Shizuka Kuroki can use another Weak skill this round! They both receive 8 SP and 30 HP! AS: Hitomi Mandai spends Limit on Psych! AS: Hitomi Mandai spends Limit on Exploit! Hitomi Mandai can use another Weak skill this round!
<Pose Tracker> Takaya Sakaki has posed.
Takaya blinks when his attack doesn't finish off the girl. He hears her remark and sighs. "If you are really concerned with your own vanity, you are worse than someone who needs to be saved." He says this pointedly, even as everything hurts.
Takaya's breathing begins ragged as he forces himself to stand. Everything hurt but he was so close to accepting death's sweet embrace...Despite the pain, Takaya was actually thrilled to be in this state. Hence the smile on his face.
They seem to be up to something.
Still all Takaya does is stare, amused by all of this. As the Fusion attack manifests and a magical wind begins to manifest. "Oh ho..." Takaya smiles opening his arms. "Very well then. TAKE ME AWAY FROM THIS PLACE! IF YOU THINK YOU HAVE THE STRENGTH, -TAKE- MY LIFE AND ALL THE WEIGHT THAT COMES FROM IT! PROVE YOUR SO CALLED ADULTHOOD!" Takaya begins to laugh insanely as the spell begins to envelope everything. The spear strikes Hypnos and pierces the body just as Takaya's laughing gets even more absurd. "YOU'RE GONNA CARRY THIS WEIGHT FOREVER!"
The spell causes Takaya to be thrown from the front door and into the day, still laughing.
Then it just stops.
Takaya clicks his tongue when he realizes the soldiers of SEES didn't kill him. He stares up before getting to his feet, feeling the ache from the battle still linger. That was something... "You should've finished the job..."
The wind blows one more time and Takaya disappears into Chidori's illusions. Takaya's voice breaks the silence on more time. "But we shall meet again, leader of SEES."
<Pose Tracker> Shizuka Kuroki has posed.
Shizuka jumps out of the way of the dark attack, though the aura still seems to suck the life out of her. She wheezes, beginning to taste blood on her tongue as her mental exhaustion begins to catch up with her.
The power of Oracle keeps the darkness back, filling the tired spots of her mind with information and encouragement. Jin's own exasperation is definitely helping as well. She stands up straight and gives a bit of a chuckle.
"Hey, whatever your name is. Got a joke for ya. What's the difference between you and Bob Dylan?"
She puts her Evoker to her head once more.
"YOU'RE not gonna like THIS rolling stone one bit!"
She fires twice. Another snare comes up under Jin's feet, holding him down for a landslide from above!
AS: Persona! Shizuka Kuroki has used the Earth skill Marble Snare on Jin Shirato! 2 Hits!
<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.
Hitomi hears Minato's voice.
That capering goblin-voice she has struggled with is waxing, if only because most of Hitomi's qualities are not suited for this moment; or at least not yet. Yet that sense feels it too - If Minato's there, if he's alive enough to look at her and Aigis, hope remains.
(Does she think so poorly of Yukari? Not at all. But there's a certain something about Minato that Hitomi can't deny, even if her attention rests elsewhere.)
Even so, her enemy is before her, not behind her. When Aigis falls over, Hitomi yields another step, whirling a bit to gaze at her and cry out, "Aigis!" Her voice is oddly high but it's concerned too. "Oh thank goodness," she says more sotto-voce as Aigis recovers -- and gathers up Palladion.
Hitomi's eyes lift upwards, at Palladion, then back to Noriaki. Her lips remain neutral. Her eyes are intent. What's he gonna do?
"Mmmm, so you do," Hitomi says, and it's relatively good that she was watching him instead of simpering to rub it in or trying to focus on other people, because he *still* has that knife, which is already stained with Hitomi's blood. She got lucky before.
And in a sense Hitomi is lucky again because she can see something near her, on the counter, she can use. A cutting board. Hitomi reaches out for it and thanks to that residual impression of distorted space, what had probably seemed darn like her shoulder is instead her upper bicep. It cuts a red line in the skin and the flesh, a hot line as Hitomi grabs the cutting board and brings it up like a clumsy shield.
Tok! The second blow hits the cutting board. Perfect defense? No: the blow pushes her back and she can feel all those little hot lines in her body sort of -- ripple, feel like they're... blooming. Then his third one hits her left middle fingertip and her eyes widen.
If Noriaki had been disliking that weird, mocking look in Hitomi's eyes, however deranged or adrenaline-induced, he would have the reward of seeing it disappear from her eyes as they widen in sheer pain. This one isn't something her mind can simply go 'yeah yeah that's a scrape' and move onwards from. The pain runs up her left hand and it spasms and loosens and she staggers back --
Except the cutting board is wood, and it holds on to the tip of Noriaki's knife. Illegal or not, it's a piece of metal, and he's going to have to pull it loose.
The cutting board swings down along with a kilogram of weight stuck to the tip as Hitomi takes another step back, her back hitting one of the kitchen's walls as she spreads out her hands. Her eyes gleam.
"Haha... it's impossible to own time... don't be silly. Anyway," her blood-splattered hand snaps up through a glittering blue card that blooms in front of her. "Tyche, with feeling!"
The statue appears for the third time this afternoon. This time the head is tilted up imperiously. The goddess-statue seems to be reaching forward with her left hand. There is a red light in Hitomi's eyes for a moment.
"So long," she says, even as a single bursting flame smashes in front of Noriaki, as if to maintain the distance between them --
A second -- more centered upon him, though it is, at least, not nearly as infernal a heat as that first burst which had set him aflame.
The fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth and eleventh bursting flames feel, and sound, quite a lot like fireworks which have been set off from less than a yard away pointed directly at him -- seeming to scream and burst in golden and red sparks. Hitomi is probably concealed from this for a few moments entirely, and a haze of perfumed smoke seems to hang afterwards.
AS: Persona! Hitomi Mandai has used the Fire skill Double Agi on Noriaki Okaga! 2 Hits! AS: Persona! Hitomi Mandai has used the Fire skill Explosion of Fortune on Noriaki Okaga! 3 Hits! AS: Aggression: Hitomi Mandai gains 1 Limit! AS: Hitomi Mandai: Atk_Up, Def_Up, and Psych removed!
<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Sudou has posed.
So there are rocks, and then there is the big rock that Amphion throws and Sudou tries to tuck and roll out of the way. This ends up only putting him on the ground preemptively before the rock puts him there. For a moment Sudou justs lay there before he sighs heavily and stands up. He looks at Ririka and keeps his eye on her as he moves towards Koh.
"Healers need to be healing. " Sudou states as he kicks Koh towards Ririka. "I didn't kill him, if you try hard enough you might be able to even heal him. That is as long as I am here." Sudou gestures to those around him, "I am only here until I am told otherwise. I'd heal fast, he may not make it till the dark hour." Sudou simply stands there, sword in hand waiting.
Waiting...
Waiting...
Suddenly Sudou looks up, "Oh yeah?" Looking at Ririka Sudou's grin is heard in his voice, "Time's up healer. Hope your friend survives, so I can do this again and again in front of you." Sudou stabs his sword into the ground and sinks into it as if it was fluid.
The same effect happens across the battlefield, under Niko and Jin, dragging both of them into whatever liminal space it is that Sudou likes to use to move around.
AS: Tandem! Shizuka Kuroki has used the Slash skill Dual Slice on Jin Shirato! 2 Hits! AS: Shizuka Kuroki: Gains 10 SP from Vigor! AS: Avoid Worst! Jin Shirato takes 148 Earth damage from Shizuka Kuroki's Marble Snare. Weak! AS: Bind added! Def_Dn removed! AS: Avoid Neutral! Jin Shirato takes 115 Earth damage from Shizuka Kuroki's Marble Snare. Weak! AS: Avoid Best! Jin Shirato takes 22 Slash damage from Shizuka Kuroki's Dual Slice. AS: Block Neutral! Noriaki Okaga takes 68 Fire damage from Hitomi Mandai's Double Agi. AS: Noriaki Okaga endures with 1 HP! AS: Avoid Neutral! Jin Shirato takes 62 Slash damage from Shizuka Kuroki's Dual Slice. Critical Hit! AS: Block Neutral! Noriaki Okaga takes 134 Fire damage from Hitomi Mandai's Double Agi. Critical Hit! AS: Noriaki Okaga endures with 1 HP! AS: Block Worst! Noriaki Okaga takes 101 Fire damage from Hitomi Mandai's Explosion of Fortune. AS: Noriaki Okaga endures with 1 HP! AS: Block Worst! Noriaki Okaga takes 170 Fire damage from Hitomi Mandai's Explosion of Fortune. Critical Hit! AS: Noriaki Okaga endures with 1 HP! AS: Block Worst! Noriaki Okaga takes 170 Fire damage from Hitomi Mandai's Explosion of Fortune. Critical Hit! AS: Noriaki Okaga endures with 1 HP!
<Pose Tracker> Niko Kirisaki has posed.
Reiya you could win so many points back by just calling her Niko-chan right now, you have no idea.
Although honestly, Niko is already in a much better mood than she was before. Reiya not doubling down on how he came across helps with that, but that's how it tends to go with her in general. Those swings are fierce, but tend to go more readily in the positive direction. It would be nicer, wouldn't it, if they could all be friends? If only they'd be willing to listen to reason... but, she's not kidding herself, about being able to change SEES's entire objective. So, she'll just have to settle for making it more difficult.
"The Dark Hour also isn't something for you to take away. Like it or not, it's a part of this world. Only gods can change the world." If he did try to stop it from happening and failed... that proves her point nicely, in her eyes. Of course he couldn't stop it. He's not a god.
She applauds Suzume and Shinjiro, literally, for addressing points she's been trying to make. "Way to go, Shin-chan, Zume-chan! You are stopping something better, and of course you shouldn't trust anything the Kirijo company tells you!" Of course none of them can understand stopping the Dark Hour is evil. That's fair, even in Niko's warped perception. It's not easy to accept to truth. But there is another angle she can take with this.
"So. If you don't like those answers to my riddle, then how about... 'When it's too good'? Don't know about you, but if it were me... I'd be suspicious of solutions to problems that sound a little too conveniently perfect. I told you, it's a part of this world. Do you really think you'll fix the world by ripping something out of it?"
Of course, she's trying to sow doubt. But she also isn't saying anything she doesn't genuinely believe. Beliefs that she hopes she's made clear here today. SEES is making a mistake. For the world to really heal, they need to stop fighting it.
It's fine if they keep fighting her though. Niko does frown a bit at the mist summoned by Reiya. "Cheap tricks," she mumbles under her breath. She much prefers a straight up fight. Now she can barely see Suzume's approach. She already was planning on standing her ground, but now she is forced to by Atalanta's winds, leaving her with little choice but blocking the tonfa with crossed arms. Suzume is clearly a gamer, realizing that chip damage is a thing, eventually breaking through her and her Persona's guard.
"Not bad," is all she gets out, before Shinjiro has his turn, the energy wave blowing apart Ate's hair. Though it regrows almost immediately, it is now no longer protecting Niko, but she realizes well enough that it's better to get out of the way of Castor this time, clipped by the charge as she dives around, which is enough to already hurt like heck.
Niko is slower to get up, this time, visibly out of steam. She looks behind her... to the edge of the roof. No way out on that side. She won't be able to make the jump the other way, even if she had the energy to try. She'd need to get past SEES to get to the only viable exit. Maybe she should have thought of a better escape plan.
Even so... even so, she laughs. And gets out... a Theurgy cartridge? "Hehehe... looks like I'm in trouble. So, I'm gonna use it, Jin-chan." Without any sort of further fanfare, she rapidly loads the cartridge into her Evoker, places it to the side of her head, and...!
...Something Unseen grabs her from below. Niko's eyes go wide, whining, "No wait, I was just about to do something really cool!" And then she just sinks straight through the roof. No one will find her inside the building though. She's just... gone.
<Pose Tracker> Jin Shirato has posed.
Once again, Jin is interrupted before he can snap back with anything more. First, he's held to the ground by an Earth attack, and then rocks fall --
-- and Jin nearly dies.
"D-Dammit! DAMMIT!!" Jin's barely on his feet now, and he's furious. Furious that he's barely standing and furious that he let himself get to this point. He should throw all of his grenades at her right now! Let her feel the full force of his fury!!
But before Jin can, he sinks down into the Earth and disappears.
<Pose Tracker> Reiya Aomori has posed.
Reiya... does not call her Niko-chan. But a 'friend', Shinjiro calls her. Reiya looks to him with a thoughtful frown, and back to Niko again. "...Mistakes," Reiya says, "I accept that."
Suzume goes for it, while Reiya is obligated to consider her words. Does she not realize that the Dark Hour, itself, was created? Brought into being? ...If she doesn't, is it wise to tell her so? Reiya is quiet as he thinks it out.
"I think we can do it. I trust Ikutsuki-san."
That is his answer to it being 'too good'. But while they could keep fighting...
Reiya doesn't particularly want them to. He wants to drive her off as quickly as they can, so they can help the others. And something like that happens. Reiya prepares another maneuver--
But he sees it. "Look out--"
Ah.
She's gone. Reiya frowns. "...What the...?"
That's a trick he doesn't know.
"...I'm leaving the mist, in case she's less gone than I think she is. Let's go to the others," Reiya suggests.
Shinjiro's friendships can be interrogated later, if at all. Reiya already knows, after all; Shinjiro doesn't think he's reliable.
Perhaps this is why.
Reiya goes for the door and jumps the stairwell.
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Niko successfully sows doubt. Shinjiro grimaces, with everything he knows about her, about the drugs they mutually take. It's clear he's ruminating.
Reiya accepts that he's made mistakes. Shinjiro doesn't dwell on it, as he fights Niko, as she prepares a Theurgy cartridge (where did she get that?), as she is pulled away by an ally.
Instead, as Reiya suggests getting to the others...
"Yeah."
He'll be slower about it. He needs to think. But he will make it down there, even if he won't answer any questions tonight.
Hopefully he's not asked any.
<Pose Tracker> Shizuka Kuroki has posed.
As Jin disappears, Shizuka finally succumbs and falls to her knees, scraping herself a bit on the sidewalk, breath heavy as sweat and blood drip from her brow.
"And... stay out... asshole!"
A second passes, filled only with her ragged exhalations.
"Fuu-chan can you help me I don't think I can get up."
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
"Su. Zu. Me. Call me Suzume!"
Suzume focuses on the anger from getting her name mangled rather than actually reply to the bulk of Niko's words... because, honestly, she doesn't have good answers.
She was already inclined to not trust the Kirijo Group - not after the island, and not after talking with Yukari and several others. And it seems that Niko is trying to drive a wedge - a crowbar really - in there.
Suzume does not think she's very smart. She isn't stupid but she frequently feels like she is, like she misses the obvious - that she's dense. Niko is making her feel stupid again, and she hates it. Shouldn't she have an answer for that if she's fighting for SEES? She already made her decision - she wants to protect people from the Dark Hour, from Mementos, from Shadows and things they can't possibly fight on their own. Like Jiro.
But...
She can't say it. Her anger builds, and she has nowhere to let it out - especially not as Niko, instead of unleashing her attack, retreats, however involuntarily that is, and cheats Suzume out of a target.
Suzume lets out a frustrated shout and kicks where Niko had just been, kicking up another dust storm as Atalanta unleashes what's left of her power before fading away. It doesn't help Suzume's attitude much as she breathes out, then in, trying to catch her breath as she looks up at Reiya...
...and Shinjiro.
"Yeah," she grunts out, a few moments later. "I'm fine. I'll help." Physically, she's okay; sore but she's had worse in Tartarus. Mentally...
Well, she'll survive.
<Pose Tracker> Aigis has posed.
"Your own reasons?" Aigis asks Noriaki. The Dark Hour -- oh, well, if the problem is that he doesn't know, Aigis feels that it's okay to simply inform him, "My own designated purpose is to eliminate Shadows." Ending the Dark Hour means her purpose would have been fulfilled. That may cause some existential dread in people, but in her case, it would be a happy occasion, right?
She scrunches her face up in confusion at his vague gesture in her direction. Getting? What's there for her to 'get'?
...
This time, Efnysien's strike lands solidly. Palladion is not aware, it has no perception of its own, it is normally inert until Aigis wills it to move. With Aigis' attention split between Takaya and Noriaki, and with her on the Takaya-facing side, the toy-horse flail catches them both unaware.
The force topples Palladion over, and it crashes onto Aigis, briefly pinning her to the ground, then dissipating as the combination of its own gravity and the full force of Efnysien's strike break even Aigis' concentration. "Sus -- sustaining-ing h-heavy damage -- " she announces through an electronically-distorted voice, repeating phonemes here and there.
Hitomi will no doubt be concerned again, so Aigis takes this moment to reassure her, "I a-am still-ill functional-l."
She presses her hands on the floor and pulls herself back up, now heavily dented and emitting sparks. She raises her arm in Noriaki's direction once more as Palladion re-appears. "I ha-have asked you time and time-ime again to-o leave. You will do so n-now. This is-is no longer a re-equest-t."
More guns reveal themselves from Aigis' wrist and shoulder. More compartments open up on the sides of Palladion. Before, Noriaki and Efnysien had to reckon with only one firearm each for two total; now, they're staring down a total of six barrels.
Direct shots are reserved solely by Palladion for Efnysien. Aigis, on the other hand, intends to lead Noriaki's exit with her shots, each one coming more and more perilously close to him.
AS: Aigis spends Limit on Psych! AS: Tandem! Aigis has used the Pierce skill Six Shot on Noriaki Okaga! 3 Hits! AS: Pressure: Aigis gains 1 Limit! AS: Aigis: Fast Heal! Atk_Up, Def_Up, Psych, and Strike_Break removed! AS: Aigis regains 3 SP from Invigorate!
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka is panting, and she starts forward as Sudou gets up and moves for Koh. "Get awy from him!" And he does, in a roundabout way--byu kicking Koh towards her. "Damn you..."
She's a healer, but... she's not as much a healer as some others, like Takeba. She keeps an eye on Sudou as she kneels to check on Koh, but she's not sure she can doenough for Koh in this tate--
Thankfully(???) Sudou chooses that moment to leave, taking some of the others with him. That vanishing trick again...
"Amphion," she says quietly, "Diarama, please." With the other members of Strega leaving, that means Chidori is gone as well, and Ririka lets out a tense breath. "Yamagishi-san, can you help me check that they're all gone?"
Then she opens her thoughts to everyone else in SEES. <<We're checking to make sure everything is clear. Kuroki-senpai and Katsuhiro-san need help. Everyone, what's your status?>>
Directing her attention to helping everyone else will help keep her thoughts from from spiraling too badly... though she'll probably pay for that later with stress later. But it'll also keep her from wondering about Shinjiro, at least for a little bit.
Still, that's a really weird ruse they were playing at... surely, it couldn't possibly be real... right?
AS: Avoid Worst! Noriaki Okaga takes 124 Pierce damage from Aigis's Six Shot. AS: Noriaki Okaga is unable to continue fighting! AS: Avoid Worst! Noriaki Okaga takes 178 Pierce damage from Aigis's Six Shot. Critical Hit! AS: Noriaki Okaga is unable to continue fighting! AS: Avoid Worst! Noriaki Okaga takes 124 Pierce damage from Aigis's Six Shot. AS: Noriaki Okaga is unable to continue fighting!
<Pose Tracker> Fuuka Yamagishi has posed.
Fuuka watches as Shizuka goes in. She's able to land a vicious hit - but then, Jin's gone... and so is the Joker Killer. Fuuka exhales.
"The Joker Killer and the explosives-throwing member of Strega have vanished... I can't sense them in the area anymore." Fuuka reports to everyone. "Koh-san is hurt... we're going to need medical supplies. Is anyone else hurt?"
Before she can report anything else, Shizuka falls to her knees! Fuuka gasps, hurrying over to her.
"Yes, of course..." She assures. She can help her up - but Ririka asks for her help, too. Fuuka nods.
"Okay. I'll scan the area. I don't feel my senses being obscured anymore." Fuuka replies.
Between the two of them, they should be able to cover the entire area.
...But it's still worrying, and terrifying, that they were able to attack them at their own home like this, without anyone detecting it. She's so used to being able to sense danger before it comes. For this to happen...
<Pose Tracker> Noriaki Okaga has posed.
Whatever his 'other' reason is, he's not telling.
"Tch. Goody-two-shoes, doin' what she's told," he says of Aigis, waving a hand dismisively. "But I guess, you ain't got a choice, do ya?"
After all, she's of Kirijo's make.
So he does feel like that, Hitomi discovers.
One thing may be clear in the way he's moving now: this isn't a game anymore. He's playing for keeps, as it were.
Hitomi, fortunately, has that makeshift shield. His knife hits the board once.
Then it knicks her finger. He can see her shock in her eyes. So he gets that one moment. One moment, mirrored in the way his lips split in a grin that's both malicious vindication and vengeance at once.
And it's gone in the moment his knife impacts the board too sharply, buried deep enough that it flees his grasp as the board dips down again. He doesn't chase after it. In a moment more, there's no room to chase after it.
There's flame, and he wheels back a step. Then there's flame, and he's the one burning. Then there's flame and there's flame and there's flame and flame and flame and flame flame flame flame bursting in a freewheeling explosion all around him. He burns and he reels but he's still standing and his Persona is still here.
And he might not have his knife anymore but he does have his Evoker.
Aigis, though, has been quite polite to him so far. This has its limits, as he finds out--
"You--"
Is as far as he gets. His Persona shatters, the second time tonight, and Noriaki recoils from the psychic impact the second time around. Aigis is still trying to sweep him out of here, though, but he's not
quite
Blood spatters across the kitchen floor. It's not a lot of it, as these things go. He's been winged, not shot anywhere important.
But he still staggers, leaning against a kitchen counter. The hand holding his Evoker rises up. For one long moment, Noriaki remains like that, the barrel of his Evoker jammed up against the underside of his jaw, his finger on the trigger. He breathes in and out once, twice, thrice
He jerks upright suddenly like a puppet hauled upright by a handful of strings and spits on the ground before him. Then, wheeling about, he suddenly pulls the trigger. Efnysien, full wroth, makes his return for one last whirling strike--
At the refrigerator. It may not survive this. At the very least, it will fall over.
His Persona fading out in the aftermath, Noriaki sprints in a jerky lunge for the wreckage that was the back door and the world beyond it.
It's time to leave, yes. His body can't take much more of this just now.
<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.
"Right!" Something in her is elated, as he switches to her first name as well. Is this what it's like to... get a little closer to someone?
What disturbs her though, even as cyclonic force empowers Minato's strike, smashing Takaya out of the dormitory... is the way he laughs... the way he laughs.
Like he embraces death. Like he hopes for it.
Nobody ought to, in her eyes.
There's a shiver of disgust, as he says they ought to have finished the job. She's glad they didn't but... something inside of her twists.
If you are really concerned with your own vanity, you are worse than someone who needs to be saved.
"Creep... what's wrong with you?" She murmurs, wondering if he's someone who doesn't like women because no one ever dated him.
No she doesn't actually think that really- there's something deeper, that gnaws at her gut and freezes her spirit.
It's easier to say it's that, than examine what might actually be wrong with him.
They're not finished yet though.
One last pull of the trigger, and Io erupts again, as healing magic sweeps over Hitomi and Aigis like a fresh breeze across a lake.
"Aigis? Mandai-chan? How are you both doing? That was... too much." She then looks Minato's way and smiles faintly, "But we did it..."
For a moment the elation sets in, like if even this, facing down death and how awful it is was at least a little fun. Just like he said.
But then she takes stock of the place, and her expression sours, "Man... they really made a mess. It's going to take forever to clean up this place..."
Pause.
"... much less explain what happened to the cops."
<Pose Tracker> Aigis has posed.
Yukari asks how she and Hitomi are doing, though it's probably visually apparent how Aigis is doing. "I am-m in need-d-d of repair."
The mention of explaining things to the cops causes Aigis to quickly retract the wrist and shoulder guns back into herself.
Aigis first checks on Hitomi, quietly inspecting her for signs of injury. Speech is a bit hard for her at the moment.
<Pose Tracker> Minato Arisato has posed.
Takaya doesn't understand, Minato realises, as he keeps talking about her vanity.
He doesn't understand... what Yukari's really saying at all.
But as Minato literally evicts him, with Yukari's winds at his back...
He's screaming, Minato hears. He's praying for his own death.
But Minato doesn't want to kill him; he just wants him to leave.
He shakes his head, silently, hearing Takaya tell them they ought have finished the job.
... but he knows he won't be seeing the last of Takaya today, either.
Minato got a little closer to Yukari, but in another sense, he's far away from everyone. It's as if he can watch himself turning -- looking to Yukari. "I don't understand him yet," he admits, and notices, as he says it, that it's his voice.
"But I couldn't have made him leave on my own. Thanks."
Without Yukari's strength... not even Minato could have stood up to something like Hypnos.
Hitomi and Aigis are evicting Noriaki -- and that's why he knew a homeless man was in the kitchen, he reflects, to himself, now he has a moment to. He must have recognised his 'feeling'...
"Aigis-san," Minato says, taking a step forward. "Thank you. You've fought hard enough today... Yamagishi-san will take care of you." There's not much he can do, after all, for a sparking machine.
"Mandai-san, too... you protected our home." He's still worried, about her, but...
"The others will be able to tell us more," Minato decides.
When he finds Reiya, in the stairwell -- what an odd way to descend -- Minato learns the rooftop is secure; in short order, he goes out front, to check on the groups who fought Jin and the Joker Killer. Once he's sure everyone is all right, he sets about updating Mitsuru, and Minako, and Ikutsuki...
... and he remembers to send someone out to find Ken and warn him about what happened, so that their youngest member and his dog aren't blindsided coming back to this.
<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.
Hitomi, still wreathed by that perfume-smoke haze of spiritual detonations, is greeted when her vision clears by Aigis -- struggling, and recovering. Hitomi looks to her with what is, on net, rather moderate concern -- but it's more some other countervailing force. Her eyes are focused.
Aigis speaks -- and reports being functional.
"Don't worry," Hitomi half-wheezes. "You're still cute."
FORTUNATELY THAT IS DROWNED OUT BY GUNFIRE
As well as a single decisive CRUNCH with a thousand subsidiary smashes as Hitomi lets out a wordless exclamation. It sounds disgusted! And startled! If one had to translate it, it might be 'hey rude!' But it's really more like 'Hhnh!?!'
When the haze clears, and they emerge, Hitomi has popped her wounded fingertip into her mouth. She had been wearing a pale-pink T-shirt while bumming around in her room in that incredibly long five, eight minutes since the attack began; on the right side in particular, there are several bloody cuts, including one on her temple.
Io's energy washes over her... and Hitomi stands a little straighter, taking that fingertip out of her lips and saying, "We..."
She sways for a moment. (Aigis's visual scan reveals that none of the cuts were very deep, even before Io's touch eased the pain and stanched bleeding; other than the fingertip it was all quite shallow. They were mostly aggravated by having to weave around a crazy man with a knife.)
All that light drains out of her eyes, like a hollow ice cube whose side has been punctured. "... everyone, is... is everyone alright? That guy had a -" She staggers and reaches out to steady herself on a chair. "A knife, and, the, gun, and."
Hitomi looks down at her shirt. Her hand starts trembling and doesn't, really, stop, though she looks back up at the two of them and says, more piteously, "Did you see anyone?" It sounded more like "anyone's" and there was another word in that sentence but she stopped herself.
Though her attention looks towards Minato. The trembling quiets down for the most part. She straightens. Hitomi's lips quirk as she lifts her head and says, while turning her head slightly, "Ah... Arisato-san's praising me... heheh..."
Hitomi abruptly drops to one knee, juddering with a "guh." A moment later she just gives up and sits down, slumped, if lifting her head enough to demonstrate some alertness.
"... I heard explosions," she offers, but that's a complete sentence.