2026-02-13: Uncaging the Phoenix
- Log: Uncaging the Phoenix
- Cast: Tsubasa Seki, Ren Amamiya, Ichika Kawase, Ryuji Sakamoto, Hibari Aoki, Makoto Niijima, Yusuke Kitagawa, Kurou Ryouhara
- Where: Siren Alley, Yumezaki Ward
- OOC Date: 2026-02-13
- IC Date: Tue, Sep 25 2012
- Summary: Having identified the place Tsubasa's being held, Mujina and the Phantom Thieves waste no time in assaulting Siren Alley after school. There, they don't find the Ryouhara they expected... instead, Kurou demonstrates his loyalty and his terrifying strength. Ultimately, it's a hard fight to even escape, with Kurou bringing half the party low -- but they came here to rescue Phoenix, and by God, they're rescuing Phoenix, even if Queen needs to BLOW A HOLE IN THE WALL.
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
Siren Alley is a long, winding affair, no simple straight gap between buildings. No: the buildings to either side of it were placed haphazardly over the years, one a few feet further in than the other, another receded into the space; building codes ensure that there's always a truck-sized path of space facilitated between the buildings, but this is an alleyway with corners, two dozen exceptional places to hide. And it is long, for its style: it stretches between two side-streets for an admirable length.
For years, it was unnamed, but for the commuters of Yumezaki who warned that this was a popular place for cut-purses to dwell in the shady corners. But as it got more of a reputation as dangerous, more people started saying even worse things about what would happen here...
Eventually, the rumoured danger of this place became strong enough that demons moved in. One of them opened a storefront, deep in the alley: SIREN, a music store purporting to sell the finest beats. They say the purveyor is herself a siren, a winged woman whose music lures men into the alley... so that the harpies who live in the apartments running off the alley can rip them apart.
By the time Mujina traced the feather's location to this place, in Yumezaki, the Dark Hour was soon to end -- there just wasn't enough time to go in and start a rescue operation. Luckily, she was able to identify this alley by rumour -- she is a Rumourmonger, after all! -- and tell the Phantom Thieves that this space was eerie enough for them to stage an afternoon rescue.
And so, after school, everyone's gathered at the collection point they identified that night. (There's more than enough corners to transform discreetly!) The next step, of course, is finding precisely what bolthole they've stashed Tsubasa in, here...
... probably not the music store, though Siren sings her heart out. "o`~"
In that investigation of the alleyway, though, that Siren notices the heartbeat of a nearby young man, reaching out to him with increased tempo to her yearning music. "Come to me~ I'll set you free~! o`" She lilts, and she serves, in her own selfish way, as an alarm system: a shadow shifts, as a shinobi melts into them to hurry back. A particularly sharp Tanuki may well notice that skillfully-silent retreat; the ninja placed as a guard, in this alley, isn't a Supernaturally gifted man. Following him back, that little sprite will find one particular building, and return to report the sins of an utterly unremarkable door.
It leads to a two-storey safehouse. The bottom floor is as unremarkable as the door, It was a shopfront, once, a clockmaker's store, though all the timepieces were long since taken away; only long glass displays and empty boxes remain, now. But at the back, past the staff-only entrance and the workers' restroom, there's a door leading up...
The second floor hosts large, open space, which would have once been used for its storage potential; it is a workspace, a place designed for those clockmakers to ply their trade. The most normal part about the room is the long line of cabinetry along one wall, hosting a workbench suitable for fine mechanical work. But what works have been made there...?
Perhaps one of them is the terrifying mechancial kami, lying in repose on a great dais along the back wall of the room. In its six arms are held six weapons; at each of its six wrists, six chains tether it to the dais with thick sliding bolts. It's certainly a statue -- but it feels as if they were worried it would break free. An unknown substance drips from the statue's fangs to a bowl below...
... and, dwarfed by the statue behind it, a throne rests atop the dais, too. There's a table, set up beside it, with water in a cup with a straw and some things to eat on sticks.
There, a figure struggles, hands bound in mitt-coverings of jade and iron which lash them to the arms of the chair; iron binds their ankles, just the same, a heavy weighted stone collar bolting their neck to the back of the throne. Their head is completely encased in a featureless helmet, sealed along a median line down their face. Even so, the scars which are now hardly covered at all by concealer which has sloughed away over two days of mistreatment are certainly Tsubasa's -- and so is that military tank-top, so similar to the one Ichika sometimes wears. Beneath it, their binder has been cut away along one side; it hangs loosely off of their left shoulder, under their tank-top.
They're not making a single sound, but they're trying their best to get free. (It's lucky those myriad pink, healing cuts along their arms are dressed with bandages... bandages with little paw-prints!) There doesn't seem to be anyone here in the room right now... is this their opportunity to get them out of there and escape?!
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Mujina's done her share. Now it's time for The Phantoms to do theirs.
The patches of darkness and the corners in Siren Alley are more than enough for a bunch of teenagers to duck in and transform into their alter egos. The next instant, Joker and the others are jumping from shadow to shadow, corner to corner, until they close in on the safehouse. A Siren raises the alarm, and Joker has a bad feeling about that, but they can't turn back now. If they do that, Shiryuu could take Phoenix and move them somewhere else--someplace that might not be as easily detected. "It's now or never," they murmur to their friends and ally.
Inside, it's empty and unremarkable--but Mujina says this is where Phoenix is. They sweep the first storey, then head up the stairs to the open space of the workspace of the old clockmakers. Joker eyes that mechanical kami with its many arms and many chains and the liquid dripping from its fangs. That sure feels like a Chekov's gun.
More importantly, there on the dais, is a throne--and someone tied to a table. Someone bound and in bad shape.
"Phoenix--no..." Mona murmurs, tail curling as his masked eyes narrow. He doesn't name them as Tsubasa, but they can all see it: they're not transformed into their cognitive costume. This means, if this Ryouhara didn't now their true identity before, he certainly knows it now. Mona and Joker share a dark, concerned look.
In that moment, someone else in their group might just rush headlong towards Tsubasa to free them from their chains and helmet without considering the implications of what's before them.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ogre has been quiet with the group, focused on their rescue operation; she didn't love waiting... But for the same reasons she told Queen before, it was necessary. She might've spent a little time hugging Ryuji before they separated fro the night, though. Now...
The siren's song, and--
Ogre is here. She jumps from shadow to shadow with Joker, and there--they see it. The throne...
"!"
With a wordless cry, Ogre charges toward sthe dais, despite Mona's caution.
Dressed in her 'modern' armor, with the attire almost of a samurai beneath, her long horns from her oni mask glint in the light--her fingerless, spiked gloves catch a gleam; her high-tech shoes are silent against the floor.
"I'm here!"
She'll get them free.
<Pose Tracker> Ryuji Sakamoto has posed.
Skull keeps after Joker, still feeling that nervous energy from wanting this to get to Tsubasa so they are safe. To dispel this energy, Ryuji taps his rusty bent pipe on his shoulder, between shadow jumping toward their destination.
The time with Ichika was nice but damn if he didn't feel anxious as fuck. But he needed to be the strong one so he did his best to not let his feelings show.
That was until he got within eyesight of the throne. Skull drops the pipe, opening his mouth in shock. This....who the....Skull's teeth clenched as he suddenly saw blue flames shooting off from his skull mask. This was terrible. This was fucking TERRIBLE.
The blonde's eyes narrow as he starts moving after Ichika...even if he doesn't see her at the moment. "OKAY! Which corpse did this to them?!" Ryuji snarls as he kicks the pipe back into his hands. He is probably going to need to be held back from exacting some kind of terrible street justice on the lucky person who takes credit.
<Pose Tracker> Hibari Aoki has posed.
Mujina has never traced someone this far before.
She's searched for the Reaper in Mementos (to avoid it, but she still needs to know where it is for that); she's hunted down rare Shadows in Palaces, because even if she cannot take the mask of a treasure like Joker, she has uses for the *actual jewel*. She's even - because she is a Sumaru native - followed the trail of rumour demons to find out where they were hiding, because that's the kind of knowledge you can absolutely trade, if you know's interested and who to talk to.
(Hibari knows who to talk to.)
But hunting down a single person through the Dark Hour at a distance - that's hard. She'd never manage it without the aid of the feather she took from Shiryuu's disappearance, and even then it's a challenge. Occasionally, spectral tanuki barely seen, tiny images like Danzaburou but smaller and less fancily-dressed, come out of the darkness, bringing her back information. They're not truly individual beings, but more aspects of her Persona, roving out.
Some Navigators listen, or watch, or even smell the air. But Mujina has always done her best work putting together the scraps of information people trade her. And so she has little scouts, little spies, little reporters to bring her their knowledge so she can assemble it into something complete; it's the easiest way for her to visualize something complex like this and keep all the data straight.
And she wasn't expecting to run into another rumour she knew, but perhaps it's not that unsurprising. In the shadow of SIREN *would* be a good place to hide...
Mujina re-meets the Phantom Thieves at the alley. She's already in her costume, coat and mask and all, and fiddling with a pair of metallic spheres in her left hand, spinning them around and around and around each other with her fingertips across her palm. It's a fidgety gesture, not her doing something mystical.
"Definitely in here," she says, as the group moves in. She indicates the guard as they pass, silently, more by a gesture than anything else. Fortunately, he's not the worst of what they're likely to run into.
And Ogre pulls ahead. Mujina's instinct is to rush to Tsubasa's side too, but Ogre beats her to it, and she hisses after her, "Ogre, be careful! There are other people too - "
Not that she can stop Ichika at a time like this, and part of her doesn't really want to. She just doubts that all the guards are un-awakened; they clearly know what Phoenix can do. Mujina puts her weight on her back foot, and a couple of those tiny spell-tanuki skitter into the darkness as she reaches for a map of the area nearby. They *don't* want to stick around.
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Niijima has posed.
While Palaces and Mementos were things Makoto had gotten used tom, the presence of the supernatural in the real world was still jarring. The Old Maid bringing the supernatural with him was one thing, but a space like Siren Alley is something completely different. Another day she might have capacity to be more upset.
She's still on edge, but the combination of Ogre calling her in and Joker giving her something to do- battle plans, strategies, approaches. Anything to keep her mind occupied and not on the worst case scenario. The fact is, the Thieves have a lot of skills between them, but Earth is one of their weaker points.
As a result, where Ogre and Joker are leading, Queen is specifically staying near the back in case of ambush, and in close proximity to Mujina- she's the one with the 'navigation' powers as a whole suite, compared to Makoto's ability to deduce things about shadows and Ren's Third Eye. Which means, as strategist, Queen needs to be able to coordinate with the person providing information.
What she doesn't expect is to walk into some kind of... altar? Torture den? Whatever the hell it is, it's deranged. "Who would build something like this...?" Queen asks, her voice a whisper so only those closest can hear it-
But that is discarded when they see the struggling figure on the dais, and Queen gasps. Skull and Ogre are already moving, and she has to bite down the urge to join them.
That's not her job. She's the one here to keep her cool.
No fucking it up by half-assing it, right?
She 'draws' her revolver, and scans the room quickly. "Joker, we should cover them. Fox, Mujina, watch our backs." She snaps into tactician mode, and the way she holds the pistol this time, well, rather than her usual cowboy firing from the hip, it's way more like a movie cop moving in for an arrest of a dangerous criminal.
There's so many avenues of attack in here. So many opportunities for ambush- and, well, Ichika DID explicit mention ninjas.
<Pose Tracker> Yusuke Kitagawa has posed.
The siren's song makes an elegant, mysterious backing to this most unusual heist for the Phantom Thieves: A rescue operation.
Fox comes up in the back of the group - his cognitive arsenal including a longer-range weapon makes him well-suited to providing overwatch for the team without compromising his threat in close combat if anything slips past the frontline. There aren't as many shadows as he's used to, on this afternoon mission into a supernatural space, but there's enough cover for their purposes.
This might not be a Palace, and they might not be stealing from a Ruler... but the back of his neck prickles just the same as after they send the Calling Card. It's high alert. Even though there's no enemies around, as far as he can see... Well, they're up against ninjas, aren't they, so that doesn't mean anything.
What draws Fox's attention first, though, is the nature of the space inside the warehouse... and the statue chained behind the throne. He stares up at the six-armed-and-dangerous kami, bringing one hand to his chin as he tries to determine its nature. He wants to remark upon it, but the tension in his spine informs his hindbrain to shut the hell up. Only then does his gaze fall on the figure trapped in the throne, and Tsubasa's state of disarray, and the harm done to their self and presentation, sees his grip tighten on his rifle and his teeth grit.
This all seems...
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
Mujina will find that there's rooftop access, up the next flight of stairs; the windows here open out over the alleyway. On the other side of the wall, in the next building, some Harpies are listening in on the infiltration, feathers to the wall and ears pressed against it. Those damn nosy harpies!! You could access their apartments from their rooftop if you wanted an extra fight, but you probably don't. Below, the battered-up storefront leads into the alleyway itself, which wends and winds on its path... though the streets it opens out into aren't Supernatural, so the map kind of fades into obscurity at the edges of the alley.
The figure on the throne doesn't respond to Mona's dismay -- or, even, to Ogre's wordless cry. Tsubasa keeps struggling, though. They will find that the mechanisms of the chair aren't simple to release -- but the Phantom Thieves are, as it happens, thieves, and breaking into things are their speciality. It takes some time to get their limbs free, to unbolt that collar from the back of the chair and pull the stone collar away; what takes the most effort is that helmet secured to their head. Once Ogre figures out the release to that one, though, it opens to either side of their head, and --
"-- TRAP!" Tsubasa's yelling, in there, because it was a noise-cancelling helmet this whole time. Their wild gaze focuses on Ichika, as they belt out their warning in full: "IT'S A FUCKING TRAP, YOU GUYS! IT'S A --"
<Pose Tracker> Kurou Ryouhara has posed.
The door slams shut. Its lock clicks into place.
This is an uncomfortable time to notice that every window is reinforced with security bars, and more uncomfortable if one was already looking for additional avenues of escape and did not seem them when they first came in.
"You needn't have feared. You were right."
Not a single one of his footfalls disturbs the air with sound as Kurou makes his approach across the workshop: a freckled teenage boy, a year younger than his captive, with a streak of vivid blue shocked through his dark, shoulder length hair. He wears on mask to replace the Will of Rebellion, and approaches them as himself in the same sleeveless, grey hoodie he would wear casually on his days off from school.
"They heard you. And they found you."
Kurou draws Soumeiunsatou with an elegant twirl at his wrist. A chain dangles from the hilt of the tsurugi style blade, weighted by a clawed attachment, and held looped in Kurou's grip.
"Phantom Thieves... If you intend to leave this place alive, then you must either change my heart..."
BGM: 6:24 (Danger) - Furi
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QpUGCXwOks
"... or run it through."
Kurou takes hold of the scarf at his neck and yanks. With a soft hiss, a mechanism within activates, and the needles within the hidden collar sink into Kurou's throat. Reality behind him shatters to make way for his Persona, heralded by haunting rattling.
"Gashadokuro."
The colossus rises: an amalgamation of skeletal remains to make one massive, singular skeleton, so large that only its upper half is visible as it crawls from the floor, and it still towers over Kurou. Even the teeth are made up of broken bones, grave dirt spilling between them.
With burning eyes, Gashadokuro opens its mouth and wails. A pillar of eerie light engulfs Kurou before he breaks into a dash to rush the group. Kurou weaves through his opponents in a frenetic dance, each footfall is as precise as it is percussive. The way he commands chain and blade are like extensions of his body: this is not someone who has learned weaponry through the expectations of his cognitive mask.
In his flurried attacks, that chain seeks out Phoenix and Skull in an attempt to bind their own weapons to them and yank them in so he can make his strike, before sweeping low to try and trip Mujina and Joker off balance to drag them in and make his swings.
Gashadokuro wails again in hushed silence, and the chain of Kurou's weapon becomes enveloped in shadow. He swings it like a flail before launching it for Ogre, Fox, and Queen, darkness guiding it like a hungry snake with a conjured maw of shadowed teeth to bite down.
AS: Persona! Kurou Ryouhara has used the Almighty skill Samayou Soul on Kurou Ryouhara! AS: Pressure: Kurou Ryouhara gains 1 Limit! AS: Take! Kurou Ryouhara takes 0 Almighty damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Samayou Soul. AS: Def_Up and Spd_Up added! AS: Weapon! Kurou Ryouhara has used the Slash skill Defy Heaven on Hibari Aoki! 2 Hits! AS: Weapon! Kurou Ryouhara has used the Slash skill Defy Heaven on Ren Amamiya! 2 Hits! AS: Weapon! Kurou Ryouhara has used the Slash skill Defy Earth on Tsubasa Seki! 2 Hits! AS: Weapon! Kurou Ryouhara has used the Slash skill Defy Earth on Ryuji Sakamoto! 2 Hits! AS: Tandem! Kurou Ryouhara has used the Dark skill Mayonaka Serpent on Ichika Kawase, Yusuke Kitagawa, and Makoto Niijima! 3 Hits! AS: Kurou Ryouhara's turn has ended. AS: Avoid Worst! Ren Amamiya takes 70 Slash damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Defy Heaven. AS: Bind added! AS: Avoid Worst! Ren Amamiya takes 109 Slash damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Defy Heaven. Critical Hit! AS: Block Best! Ryuji Sakamoto takes 22 Slash damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Defy Earth. AS: Haze added! AS: Block Best! Ryuji Sakamoto takes 22 Slash damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Defy Earth. AS: Avoid Worst! Yusuke Kitagawa takes 75 Dark damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Mayonaka Serpent. Critical Hit! AS: Block Best! Hibari Aoki takes 37 Slash damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Defy Heaven. Critical Hit! AS: Avoid Worst! Yusuke Kitagawa takes 51 Dark damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Mayonaka Serpent. AS: Avoid Neutral! Hibari Aoki takes 43 Slash damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Defy Heaven. AS: Avoid Best! Yusuke Kitagawa takes 20 Dark damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Mayonaka Serpent. AS: Mind Up! Tsubasa Seki's SP +8! AS: Avoid Worst! Tsubasa Seki takes 59 Slash damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Defy Earth. AS: Haze added! AS: You have 1 more attack in queue! AS: Avoid Worst! Tsubasa Seki takes 99 Slash damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Defy Earth. Critical Hit! AS: Block Worst! Ichika Kawase takes 67 Dark damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Mayonaka Serpent. Critical Hit! AS: Block Worst! Ichika Kawase takes 48 Dark damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Mayonaka Serpent. AS: Block Neutral! Ichika Kawase takes 37 Dark damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Mayonaka Serpent. AS: Counter Neutral! Makoto Niijima takes 58 Dark damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Mayonaka Serpent. AS: COUNTER! Kurou Ryouhara takes 21 Earth damage in return for his attack! Resist! AS: Counter Best! Makoto Niijima takes 68 Dark damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Mayonaka Serpent. Critical Hit! AS: COUNTER! Kurou Ryouhara takes 36 Earth damage in return for his attack! Resist! AS: Block Best! Makoto Niijima takes 29 Dark damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Mayonaka Serpent.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
"Wait, you guys! This could be a--oh, why do I bother?" Mona grumbles when Ogre and Skull immediately rush in to set Tsubasa free. For all he's putting on airs, though, he's secretly glad someone is doing it. He nods up at Queen and Joker, his kitty face deadly serious. "I'll keep the perimeter secure with the others!"
(Whatever 'others' are here. Schroedinger's Phantoms...?)
Joker nods back to Mona and Queen both. Gesturing forward to Fox and Mujina, they draw their Makanorov from thin air and stalk into the chamber as Ogre and Skull work on getting Tsubasa free, masked eyes roving for signs of this Shiryuu--or, more pointedly, the Black Mask. They do note that the windows are barred and that there do not appear to be any other exits.
Just as they're about to warn the othes about this, though, their friends get Tsubasa's helmet off. They are immediately hollering about a trap.
The door slams shut, cutting off Mona and whatever others may be present. Joker whirls around--and even with a mask on, it's clearly Kurou. Their eyes widen.
"It's you!!" they utter--and indeed, Kurou might recognize them from that battle against the Old Maid next to Shujin Academy, that day when the serial killer tried to eliminate Maria Sakurai and her ex (and her ex's friend).
He would certainly not recognize Ren Amamiya, that co-worker of Umie's from the Triple Seven.
Joker grits their teeth with a low "kh!!" sound when Kurou demands they change his heart or run it through. The massive skeleton rises at his call, wailing at the group. Joker falls back a step, caught off-guard by both Kurou and Gashadokuro's wails, and so Kurou's able to knock them off their feet and swing at them with chain and blade. They strike hard, and Joker lets out a sharp shout of pain.
They'd had Ixtab at the fore of their soul, expecting someone weak to Earth attacks. They don't know what Gashadokuro might be weak to, but they can see those plumes of darkness it calls up. They press a hand to their mask, and blue fire calls up a different aspect of their soul.
"Persona!!" they call. A black-winged man in a red jacket swoops up over them and calls down debilitating magic to drain Kurou of some of his speed. He's already too fast--best to mitigate some of that while they can.
GAME: Ren Amamiya has assumed form 1, Arsène! AS: Persona! Ren Amamiya has used the Almighty skill Sukunda on Kurou Ryouhara! AS: Ruin: Ren Amamiya gains 1 Limit! AS: Ren Amamiya's turn has ended.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Sorry, Mona. Ogre's rushing ahead. ...But someone had to.
Ogre hears about the need to be careful--so she doesn't abandon all caution. But she still has to rush forward. Getting these damned restraints off is a lot harder than she thought it would be, but she manages it eeventually, working with Skull. "We got it--"
'TRAP!'
A freckled teenage boy appears... and he draws his blade. Ogre turns to look at him, a glint in her red eye. He's younger than them. And he's got an ultimatum for them.
A huge Persona rises, before she can counter; the shadow launches towards her, and Ogre is slammed back by the first, knocked from her feet, but for the second and third she's able to get her shield up in the way. "gh--"
"Fuck you," Ogre says. "I won't do what you tell me."
COUNTERPOINT BGM: Will Power - P5 OST https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Msq4a0d9rCk
She rises to her feet and spits on the floor. "Of course it's a trap," she answers. "And for this person... I'll fall for it every time."
She walks forward and gently kneels down beside Tsubasa. She moves to help them up, jerking aside the chains--and then rips off her mask, blue flame exploding all around her. "PERSONA!"
Vine enwrap Tsubsa in a sphere, each one barbed with thorns, green with red roses. It bursts when finished, providing a barrier against physical attacks.
"So FUCK OFF!"
He's terrifying, really. ...But she's too angry for terror. No... Something else. What he said... to run him through--
If that's what it takes, is she willing?
"You know this guy?" Ogre wonders of Joker.
AS: Persona! Ichika Kawase has used the Almighty skill Thorn Shield on Tsubasa Seki! AS: Support: Ichika Kawase gains 1 Limit! AS: Ichika Kawase's turn has ended.
<Pose Tracker> Ryuji Sakamoto has posed.
Ryuji hears Kurou and his head snaps toward the sound. The delinquent drags his pipe along the ground, stopping as the ninja makes their proclamation.
Ryuji squints. "For real? Do you hear yourself, dude?! Eh, doesn't matter cuz your teeth are going on the ground. Lets see how you talk, eh?"
Then the chain attack comes toward him. Skull brings up his pipe to parry the chain. For a moment, the blonde is ensnared by the attack, getting pulled toward Kurou. The pain surges through him as the chain presses into his body. Rather that let this opportunity pass, Skull brings back his forehead and attempts to slam it into Kurou's stupid looking facemask.
AS: Weapon! Ryuji Sakamoto has used the Strike skill Takedown on Kurou Ryouhara! 2 Hits! AS: Aggression: Ryuji Sakamoto gains 1 Limit! AS: Ryuji Sakamoto's turn has ended. AS: Take! Tsubasa Seki takes 0 Almighty damage from Ichika Kawase's Thorn Shield. AS: Def_Up and Reflect_Phys added! AS: Take! Kurou Ryouhara takes 0 Almighty damage from Ren Amamiya's Sukunda. AS: Spd_Up removed! AS: Persona! Yusuke Kitagawa has used the Almighty skill Masukukaja on Yusuke Kitagawa, Ren Amamiya, Makoto Niijima, and Hibari Aoki! AS: Yusuke Kitagawa's turn has ended. AS: Take! Yusuke Kitagawa takes 0 Almighty damage from Yusuke Kitagawa's Masukukaja. AS: Spd_Up added!
<Pose Tracker> Hibari Aoki has posed.
An extra exit is a good thing to know about, Mujina thinks. Especially if they have to make an unexpected escape. Even if they don't want to fight the Sirens, they might *have* to - or at least run away from them. Can she silence them? Maybe long enough.
Though one of the other things she's thinking about is 'why do all of these people have guns??' Is this who she should blame for Phoenix having a goddamned rocket launcher these days?
(Mujina does not have a gun. It is unclear if she has a weapon at all.)
"The doors!" Mujina says, urgently, as her gaze flicks around the room. She's not ignoring the state Tsubasa is in, but Ogre is already over there (and Skull) and there's not much more she can do on that front. "Ogre, can you get them out...?" She freezes up for a moment as -
"You're not him!"
Mujina is not at her best fighting *actual people*, and she also likes to know things - she likes to be prepared. Shadows, sure, she can fight those, even the human-looking ones; demons, Humours, fine. She had prepared, mentally, to fight Shiryuu again. Now she's surprised and off-balance and also being attacked by a sweeping chain and sword.
Mujina hops backwards, then sweeps her arm up to try to block a strike. Her coat is as good as armour, at least for the first couple blows, but she's still staggered backwards, looking from Kurou to Gashadokuro and back.
There's another mistake here.
It's an easy mistake to make. Mujina is a figure in a fancy coat (trench coat style, for her) and a mask (white and red, a badger-y tanuki or a tanuki-y badger, vaguely Japanese art-styled - it looks a little like Fox's in some ways). She has appeared with the Phantom Thieves, she's fallen into a trap meant for them...
...but she isn't one. She couldn't Change a Heart even if she wanted to. And this is not the place she'd choose to do that, even if she could! Which she can't.
Her mouth opens, then closes as she fails to think of a good response. A few moments later, she speaks again, and *not* to Kurou: "Give me a moment!" she requests, before: "Danzaburou!" She has but one, but one's enough; the rotund animal-person appears, waving his fancy gunbai as his eyes gleam, as Mujina's gaze becomes penetrating. The gleam of Persona-blue appears behind her mask, around her eyes.
Only then does she speak to him: "How about we just take them back and leave it at that?"
AS: Take! Hibari Aoki takes 0 Almighty damage from Yusuke Kitagawa's Masukukaja. AS: Spd_Up added! AS: Persona! Hibari Aoki has used the Almighty skill Basic Analysis on Kurou Ryouhara! AS: Hibari Aoki's turn has ended. AS: Take! Ren Amamiya takes 0 Almighty damage from Yusuke Kitagawa's Masukukaja. AS: Spd_Up added! AS: Block Best! Kurou Ryouhara takes 4 Strike damage from Ryuji Sakamoto's Takedown. AS: Block Best! Kurou Ryouhara takes 8 Strike damage from Ryuji Sakamoto's Takedown. Critical Hit!
<Pose Tracker> Yusuke Kitagawa has posed.
Like a still life. A canvas of iron, jade, flesh and threat.
"--TRAP!" Tsubasa yells, in the same moment.
And we're the audience.
On instinct, Fox whirls towards the new voice, assault rifle raised, but before he can pull the trigger a serpentine blade whirls towards him on a chain, sending him flying; the rifle splashes on the ground, discorporating in blue flame. The second slash opens gashes through the sleeves of Fox's jumpsuit as he raises his arms to protect his mask and face, but before the third one can pierce his heart he grabs his mask from that position and the towering woodcut ronin catches the chain on his kiseru.
"Goemon! Aid us!"
The blue-garbed figure exhales a cloud of smoke rings, swirling around the Phantom Thieves to lend himself, Joker, Mujina and Queen hopefully enough speed to close the gap between themselves and an actually trained ninja. If this weren't such a life or death situation, Fox might be exulting about this uniquely extraordinary situation... but then, if it wasn't life-or-death, he'd be Yusuke, not Fox.
A scarlet saya appears in his left hand and he grasps it's hilt as he feels his body lighten. "Get them to safety!" He calls to the others, fully intending to face their adversary head-on.
AS: Take! Makoto Niijima takes 0 Almighty damage from Yusuke Kitagawa's Masukukaja. AS: Spd_Up added! AS: Take! Kurou Ryouhara takes 0 Almighty damage from Hibari Aoki's Basic Analysis. AS: Hibari Aoki's Strength Scan! Kurou Ryouhara resists Earth! AS: Hibari Aoki's Weakness Scan! Kurou Ryouhara is weak against Light!
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Niijima has posed.
When the door slams shut, Queen spins to face it, pistol drawn- and comes face to face with a teen. Masked, like those hunters they encountered in Mementos that day. His feet are silent, and he carries a weapon-
And he summons a persona, and Makoto feels a lump in her throat.
It's a persona. She can fight. It's a skeleton. It's not a real ghost, not a real monster, just a persona. She can fight it, even in this dark, caged place.
And so she sweeps her scarf in front of her, and calls her own heart. "Johanna!" She yells, leaping into the air to land on her motorcycle, aiming to press through the shadowed flail and slam back with the rock forming on her scarf-
The rock forming that is less than effective- and after two attempts, Johanna shatters and Queen tumbles back, pulling her diamond tekko up to block the final strike, but she's taken a battering already and that last strike forces her to one knee.
"You're serious about this, aren't you?" Queen growls back, as he declares the Phantoms must either change his heart or kill him- even as Ogre defies the orders. "...But we'll have to disappoint you." She looks to Joker- do they reiterate the Phantom Thieves stance on killing, or leave this ninja wondering?
And then Mujina declares that this one isn't the same one. "There's more of them?" This is bad for them. Two ninjas, and they know a vulnerability for the Thieves.
"What are you even doing this for?" Queen yells, waiting for Mujina's calculation. Still, she needs time to work out Kurou, how to fight back against him. His weapon gives him range, but it is cearly no slouch in close combat. She calls her pistol to her hand again, and snaps off a trio of shot at Kurou- both to see if it will work and how he reacts to not magic, not personas, but, instead, a hypothetically lethal countermeasure.
It might be if it were a real gun, after all, and not a stunningly convincing replica.
AS: Weapon! Makoto Niijima has used the Pierce skill Fast Draw on Kurou Ryouhara! AS: Makoto Niijima's turn has ended. AS: Avoid Worst! Kurou Ryouhara takes 48 Pierce damage from Makoto Niijima's Fast Draw.
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
Scroedinger's Phantoms are the world's strongest weapons. Someone's gotta guard the exits to make sure more ninjas don't show up to reinforce Kurou!
Horror settles in the pit of Tsubasa's stomach, as Kurou assures them that all their fears are dust in the wind. "Fucker," they spit, to Kurou. "Fox's already got ya figured out."
Their eyes widen. "Fuck --"
Freed from their bonds, their orange feather-cloak flickers into existence over their body, again, those blue flames bless them with that witch's hat mask of theirs, dark ninja robes across their body bound at belly and wrist and ankle with pale sarashi-cloth. But when they try to scramble out of that throne to escape those chains --
They knew their legs would give out from under them; maybe they were hoping they'd be stronger, now their friends have come to save them. Still they hit the floor, with a painful yelp, bound up with that chain of Kurou's. "LET ME GO!" They yell, for the umpteenth time, kicking at the chains.
"I'm okay -- jus' -- had me -- strapped down for days, man --" Phoenix tries to reassure Ogre, between pained gasps, as she wrenches those chains off of them and helps them standing. They grasp onto her for a long moment, but as she summons her Thorn Shield around them, those vines strengthen them against the long torment they've suffered.
"H...hey... ASSHOLE!" Phoenix yells, as they stomp forward, one staggering foot planted in front of the other, slumped like some kind of ravenous feathered monster of myth. "You think... yours is big?"
Their mouth splits into something savage, and hungry, and it might take a moment to place it as a grin. Their arm sways, as they reach for their mask, and after a moment of fumbling, tear it right back off -- though the shower of blood and flame means that Kurou wouldn't have been able to tell it was Tsubasa's face if he didn't already know what laid beneath it.
"IZBUSHKA NA KUR'IH NOZHKAH!"
What rises, in the workshop, is something which clips through the ceiling instead of the floor. Massive chicken's legs, as big as any one of them, lead up to a wicked witch's hut; lined with skulls and spines like some kind of sick skirt, the hatch-windows flap like little chicken's wings, veiling some shadowy occupant inside.
Presumably the roof is hatched, but, like: this thing is fucking big, man.
"Let's fuckin' GO!" Phoenix hollers, as they thrust their arm out beside them, and their matrimonal greatsword -- of the type used to cut wedding-cakes, in Spain -- weighs it down as it appears there, before they bring it forward to grasp it in their other hand and charge forward towards Gashadokuro, as Izbushka na Kur'ih Nozhkah stampedes towards the massive skeleton too. They plant their foot and swing their massive sword upwards, as those chicken legs stomp down.
"Yeah, you gon' fuckin' talk now?" They lobby, to Kurou, energised by Ryuji's defiance. "How 'bout tellin' us whether you're workin' with the Order, huh?! You an' that 'shihaisha' a yours! Yeah, go ahead and tell us how it makes sense how he'd tell me to sabotage th' fuckin' Order's operations when you're obviously fuckin' in on it!" They look to Queen, as they add, in sharp explanation: "That's what this is about! That fuckin' Ryouhara boss wants me fuckin' up th' New World Order... an' he's got a timer runnin' over th' heads a th' people I love 'bout it! Says he'll kill me an' them, in that order, jus' so I can't say goodbye!"
They leap back to clear some distance between them and Kurou's Persona, though; they're evidently not so brave that they're going to stick around. They land near Mujina, looking, sidelong, to her. "Hey," they add, their rough tone lower, "it's 'cuz a you everyone found me, right? ... knew I could count on ya little dudes."
Phoenix's grip flexes, against their greatsword. Their muscles are screaming -- their heart is, too.
"Ogre promised... an' I'm part a somethin' now. Knew they'd come for me. Jus' like, any time... I'd come for them! So don't even think 'bout fuckin' with 'em, you hear me?!" Their voice raises, as they yell: "YA FUCK WITH ONE A US, YA FUCKIN' WITH ALL A US!"
AS: Tandem! Tsubasa Seki has used the Strike skill Stampeding Wrath on Kurou Ryouhara! 2 Hits! AS: Aggression: Tsubasa Seki gains 1 Limit! AS: Tsubasa Seki: Haze removed! AS: Tsubasa Seki regains 8 HP from Regenerate! AS: Tsubasa Seki's turn has ended. AS: Block Worst! Kurou Ryouhara takes 49 Strike damage from Tsubasa Seki's Stampeding Wrath. Critical Hit! AS: Block Best! Kurou Ryouhara takes 11 Strike damage from Tsubasa Seki's Stampeding Wrath. Critical Hit!
<Pose Tracker> Kurou Ryouhara has posed.
Kurou meets Joker's look of recognition with his own -- but, indeed, only for that day he assisted Akabane-san against the Joker Killer, and not from the day he checked up on Akabane-san at Triple Seven and met a new acquaintance with a promising start of friendship.
But even in violence against who Kurou thinks is a stranger, his face is that same stoic placidity as he faces Joker. Sukunda dampens the frenzied pace of Kurou's movements, but it's like slowing the charge of a bull. Though it's less, it's still enough to shatter the porcelain in his path.
Ogre won't be told what to do. "Then by all means," Kurou tells her, "Remain and fall." There is little time afforded to determine whether that's what he sees as the alternative to rejecting his words, or if it is a direct response that accepts her claim at face value.
"I prefer not to talk," Kurou tells Ryuji. His weapon is one explicitly designed for a fighting style that restricts the movements of his opponents... which Skull completely bypasses by butting heads in a most literal way. A solid thunk smacks Kurou and sends him reeling, freeing Skull from the chain's grasp.
Mujina notes immediately that Kurou is not the same shinobi that took Phoenix from them in the first place. "I am your one and only opponent today," he clarifies for her. "And I do not cede my terms." Danzaburou's gaze comes for him. In that moment, Mujina sees Kurou's otherwise impassive eyes glowing with the same undying fury as his Gashadokuro's. Danzaburou will understand that the dead are restless, and will not be buried under grave dirt until their hunger is sated. Only an exorcism could possibly rid them of this haunted hunt now.
Goemon aids Fox, and Kurou's attention fixates upon latter. "Your blade," he says, pointing with his own. "Show it to me." The way he readies his own emphasizes how he would like to get to know Fox's sword.
Queen asks if he is serious. "Yes." An overly simple response, but one without hesitation. "To steal a heart or to destroy it... what is the difference?" He rushes at her apparently lethal weapon, weaving in those fluid motions of his blade as if he could parry shots themselves. Two bullets miss. One bites across his the flesh of his uncovered arm and leaves its mark.
"A bullet is fine, too," he tells her. "Aim again, if you mean it."
Phoenix asks if Kurou thinks his is big. He pauses at that, looking to his double-edged sword. "No, it is smaller than the average katana --" Oh. Phoenix has a slab of metal with Kurou's name on it, and Persona of their own colossal making with feet for Gashadokuro. The four clash, and when Izbushka na Kur'ih Nozhkah tramples over Gashadokuro and shatters it, Kurou's body flinches as if struck, yet he makes no sound, giving a moment for Phoenix's blades to smash against Kurou's own. It is, in fact, a much smaller sword, and though he does not get cleaved in half, he is launched.
But he manages to twist in the air and land in a crouch. "... Good. I am glad you can still smile."
That doesn't answer their question, or Queen's, but Kurou has a languid manner of speaking in contrast to his rapid and decisive movements. He rises back to his feet.
"I said... change my heart... or run it through," Kurou reminds them in the wake of their supportive spells, quiet, but firm. "Gashadokuro... Show them." His skeletal colossal of a Persona rises beneath Fox, Joker, Mujina, and Queen. When it shrieks it is the opposite of sound. Noise draws in, transformed into harrowing silence until they cannot even heart their own heartbeats. A withering, silent wind seeks to sap them.
And then that massive, open mouthed skull coming from below bites down.
Kurou dives in to point the tip of two fingers at Tsubasa's forehead -- Phoenix's mask. "I cannot speak for the shihaisha. I speak only for myself... and I prefer action to words." A sigh of a sensation rushes over Phoenix as Gashadokuro's bones rattle, with a chill down their spine: death approaches.
"Both in question... and in answer."
He faces Skull and Ogre. Gashadokuro crumbles apart.
The skeletons that make up its form crawl up the many-armed statue and arm themselves by ripping the weapons from its hands. Kurou leaps at the pair with his weapon, whirling in a dance of slashes while a skeletal swarm joins in, each able to make a single strike before they break apart from the effort.
AS: Kurou Ryouhara spends Limit on Exploit! Kurou Ryouhara can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Persona! Kurou Ryouhara has used the Almighty skill Ayashii Silence on Yusuke Kitagawa, Ren Amamiya, Makoto Niijima, and Hibari Aoki! AS: Pressure: Kurou Ryouhara gains 1 Limit! AS: Persona! Kurou Ryouhara has used the Strike skill E A T on Yusuke Kitagawa, Ren Amamiya, Makoto Niijima, and Hibari Aoki! AS: Persona! Kurou Ryouhara has used the Almighty skill Ohakamairi on Tsubasa Seki! AS: Kurou Ryouhara's turn has ended. AS: Tandem! Kurou Ryouhara has used the Earth skill Gaikotsu Rave on Ryuji Sakamoto and Ichika Kawase! 3 Hits! AS: Pressure: Kurou Ryouhara gains 1 Limit! AS: Block Worst! Ryuji Sakamoto takes 89 Earth damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Gaikotsu Rave. Critical Hit! AS: Block Worst! Ryuji Sakamoto takes 70 Earth damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Gaikotsu Rave. AS: Avoid Best! Ryuji Sakamoto takes 45 Earth damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Gaikotsu Rave. Critical Hit! AS: Take! Hibari Aoki takes 0 Almighty damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Ayashii Silence. AS: Def_Dn added! Spd_Up removed! AS: Block Best! Hibari Aoki takes 49 Strike damage from Kurou Ryouhara's E A T. AS: Block Best! Ichika Kawase takes 16 Earth damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Gaikotsu Rave. Resist! AS: Block Best! Ichika Kawase takes 16 Earth damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Gaikotsu Rave. Resist! AS: Block Worst! Ichika Kawase takes 67 Earth damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Gaikotsu Rave. Critical Hit! Resist! AS: Take! Makoto Niijima takes 0 Almighty damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Ayashii Silence. AS: Def_Dn added! Spd_Up removed! AS: Take! Tsubasa Seki takes 0 Almighty damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Ohakamairi. AS: Recovery_Wall added! AS: Avoid Worst! Makoto Niijima takes 163 Strike damage from Kurou Ryouhara's E A T. Critical Hit! AS: Take! Ren Amamiya takes 0 Almighty damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Ayashii Silence. AS: Def_Dn added! Spd_Up removed! AS: Avoid Worst! Ren Amamiya takes 116 Strike damage from Kurou Ryouhara's E A T. AS: Take! Yusuke Kitagawa takes 0 Almighty damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Ayashii Silence. AS: Def_Dn added! Spd_Up removed! AS: Avoid Neutral! Yusuke Kitagawa takes 64 Strike damage from Kurou Ryouhara's E A T. AS: Ryuji Sakamoto spends Limit on Exploit! Ryuji Sakamoto can use another Weak skill this round!
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
"In passing," Joker tells Ogre. Mujina's warning that this is a different Ryouhara is no surprise, but still. "He fought alongside Phoenix and me that time the Old Maid appeared near Aoyama-Itchome Station." In front of Shujin Academy, in other words. "He seemed to be with Umie Akabane."
'Seemed to be,' nothing--he's her roommate. But Joker wouldn't know that, so that's as much as they reveal for right now. Phoenix has a lot more to reveal once they don their cognitive costume and call upon their Persona. The Ryouharas are with the NWO, but they're blackmailing Phoenix into fighting them? What kind of sense does that make? Yet unfortunately, Kurou says he can't answer for his 'shihaisha,' and won't answer for himself--not in words.
Fox calls on Goemon, and he uses his magic to enhance several Phantoms' speed. Joker shoots him a nod of gratitude, before catching Queen's eye. They make a brief, horizontal gesture at their neck--Kurou knowing they won't kill might just make him press harder. (After all, they won't kill, and they can't change his heart.) They need to derail his aggression first.
Which will be quite the ask when he calls up Gashadokuro to not just shriek in silence, draining them of the speed Fox had just granted them, but then open up its maw to swallow them hole.
From within, they scream in agony--but then their own plume of darkness bursts from within, and before Gashadokuro fades, Arsène sends forth a volley of black needles that may well pierce through the Persona and hasten its disappearance--for now, at least.
Where it was, Joker pants, doubled over in pain--but still on their feet. It's a struggle to stand upright, but they manage it. For now.
"Exactly right," they declare, projecting their voice in a deep boom, in agreement with Phoenix's all-for-one-and-one-for-all declaration. Phoenix and Queen both ask the why, so they instead ask, "So tell us--is Umie Akabane aware you're doing this?" (They don't think she is--she's terrified of the NWO and surely wouldn't be so protective of Kurou if she knew--but maybe bringing her up will provide the 'change of heart' that Kurou seeks, even if it isn't how the Phantoms normally do it.) "She's an ally of ours, if you were unaware." They flash him a grim smirk. "It would break her heart if we were to break yours!"
AS: Persona! Ren Amamiya has used the Pierce skill Darkness Nail on Kurou Ryouhara! AS: Ren Amamiya: Bind removed! AS: Ren Amamiya's turn has ended. <Pose Tracker> Ryuji Sakamoto has posed.
"Da hell?!" Skull says of Kurou's statement. The delinquent is put off by the ninja's rudeness, feeling his temper flare even further.
Skull wobbles a bit post headbutt, stabilizing himself in a very relaxed stance. He raises his pipe, pointing toward Kurou.
"Ok, asshole. I'm done playing around." Skull tilts his head, giving the ninja a look.
Rolling his arm, Skull takes a few test swings, trying to get the rust out of his swing before committing to the harsh reality he's about to dish out. The delinquent lets the pipe drop as he starts to charge Kurou. The pipe sparks as it drags behind Ryuji, running in circles around Kurou to build momentum. Finally, Skull spins, extending the pipe until he uses all the build up power to swing at the center of Kurou's body. As the pipe travels, it makes a pretty cool and kurt "whoosh"
AS: Persona! Ryuji Sakamoto has used the Strike skill Street Justice on Kurou Ryouhara! 3 Hits! AS: Aggression: Ryuji Sakamoto gains 1 Limit! AS: Ren Amamiya spends Limit on Shift! Ichika Kawase can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Weapon! Ryuji Sakamoto has used the Strike skill Breakdown on Kurou Ryouhara! 2 Hits! AS: Ryuji Sakamoto: Haze removed! AS: Ryuji Sakamoto's turn has ended. <Pose Tracker> Hibari Aoki has posed.
"I wasn't just going to LEAVE you," is Hibari's response to Tsubasa. She might not love them the way Ichika does (which is for the best anyway, because THAT would be an awkward triangle... quadrangle, Ryuji is right there even if Hibari doesn't know it) but Tsubasa's still a close friend, and one of the only ones that knows her secrets. "Of course! You'd do the same for me."
And she felt guilty about leaving them, on the day of. Hibari was in no condition to search then; after her Persona was Broken (twice) she was in no condition to do much other than collapse, she'd leaned on Ogre to even get out of Mementos. But that doesn't stop the feeling! Honestly, it was working with the Phantom Thieves that was the unexpected part.
One of Mujina's little ghost-tanukis runs back to her, scampering up and vanishing like an unsummoned Persona; all blue light for a moment before it's gone, and only Danzaburou remains.
"Gashadokuro..." She recognizes the name, too, from a ghost story. She's not real fond of them either, if not as unfond as Queen, but she has heard this one nonetheless. "It's a skeleton made of the bones of the dead from the battlefield! You can lay it to rest; use Light!" Mujina calls out once she's had a moment to look at Gashadokuro. "And this time, Earth won't work... it's already been buried without a blessing once!"
Mujina meets Kurou's gaze, at least for a few moments. She can feel him building up to the strike before he does it - and when the silent scream goes out, Mujina braces, having a vague idea of what to expect next. Fox's assistance blows away on the wind, but she gives him a thankful nod anyway, from behind her helmet.
She was half wrong about exactly what was about to happen as it turns out, but not so wrong that she can't shelter from the bite. It hurts, but she pushes through it, though not without yelling out into the silence - Mujina's hard to get down. She might look like the easy target but she's tougher than she looks, and Danzaburou reappears with a sweep of his gunbei -
- and something swirls around Kurou's Persona, ribbons of light that squeeze and twist. It's like a cross between a headache, not quite a Persona Break of his own, and twisting his senses - it's enough to pull him off-balance with a vaguely sickening sensation.
"I'll try to make an opening for the rest of you!"
She's also learning. Mujina knows only a little about some of the subjects Joker brings up. But you better believe she's listening.
AS: Persona! Hibari Aoki has used the Almighty skill Shibaboo on Kurou Ryouhara! AS: Ruin: Hibari Aoki gains 1 Limit! AS: Hibari Aoki's turn has ended. AS: Ren Amamiya spends Limit on Shift! Tsubasa Seki can use another Weak skill this round!
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
"Skull!" Ogre calls. "You OK?" Those chains aren't nothing. But she apprecaites the headbutting. Ogre things headbutting is a great strategy.
Mujina's analysis will tell Ogre her attacks aren't going to help that much... but she's busy healing in any case, or is about to be, given how dangerous Kurou is. And Fox's speed seems to make the difference, too. "Nowehre to run!" she calls back to him. "I'll just keep everyone up!"
Queen brings out her pistol, and Ogre looks, too--to see how well it'll work. Kurou seems serious...
B ut Tsubasa is the one whose condition is most vital right now--and Ogre listens to what they say as reassurance. "We'll get you out," she says. "Just have to hang on a little longer."
They have a lot to say about the Order, but Ogre is proud of their destructive potential in any case.
Remain and fall, Kurou says. She narrows her eyes.
Smile? "The fuck do you care about their smile!?" Ogre demands of Kurou. Gashadokuro though--while it's frightening, Kurou is the one here, and and the skeletal swarm joins Kuro's attack. Ogre brings up her shield to defend against the first, which hammers against it. The second, which batters into her weapon. But the third gets past her guard, seethes with blue flame despite her resistance as it hits and her Persona protects her. She considers; this guy fought alongside them once...
Ogre picks herself back up. "They're damn right," Ogre says of Phoenix's statement. "...Mujina got us here," she says. "And now we're gonna get you out!"
Ogre then calls on Momiji again; the beautiful, terrifying Oni rises, and waves her hand. Healing sparkles set down on Skull, Joker, Queen, and Ogre.
"But I'll give you one thing you want."
She charges, slamming her shield straight up for Kurou's face. "I CAN HIT SHIT TOO!"
Then she calls, "Queen! Go for it! I got your back!"
AS: Persona! Ichika Kawase has used the Recovery skill Mediarama on Ichika Kawase, Ryuji Sakamoto, Ren Amamiya, and Makoto Niijima! AS: Support: Ichika Kawase gains 1 Limit! AS: Take! Ren Amamiya takes 144 Recovery healing from Ichika Kawase's Mediarama. AS: Take! Ichika Kawase takes 144 Recovery healing from Ichika Kawase's Mediarama. AS: Weapon! Ichika Kawase has used the Strike skill Combo on Kurou Ryouhara! 2 Hits! AS: Ichika Kawase's turn has ended.
<Pose Tracker> Yusuke Kitagawa has posed.
As swiftly as it was conjured up, the wind that Fox hoped to equalise them with their adversary is stilled - and great jaws open beneath him, forcing him to leap and scramble to safety as Goemon manifests to hold the jaws open and save them from being buried, though his Persona strains terribly against the Gashadokuro. Setting his eyes back on Kurou as he finds his footing again, Fox clicks his tongue. "Very well." Phoenix pronounces that if one messes with one of the Phantom Thieves, one messes with all of them, and like Joker, Fox agrees. "Enough of words, then," he matches Kurou's declaration.
He lunges, white boots almost a shadowy blur across the warehouse floor as he draws a black-bladed katana, racing towards Kurou to strike to hinder their ninja foe's aggression.
AS: Persona! Yusuke Kitagawa has used the Slash skill Arm Chopper on Kurou Ryouhara! AS: Yusuke Kitagawa's turn has ended. AS: Take! Ryuji Sakamoto takes 144 Recovery healing from Ichika Kawase's Mediarama. AS: Avoid Best! Kurou Ryouhara takes 15 Pierce damage from Ren Amamiya's Darkness Nail. AS: Ichika Kawase spends Limit on Shift! Makoto Niijima can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Counter Neutral! Kurou Ryouhara takes 40 Strike damage from Ryuji Sakamoto's Street Justice. AS: COUNTER! Ryuji Sakamoto takes 20 Strike damage in return for his attack! AS: Counter Best! Kurou Ryouhara takes 32 Strike damage from Ryuji Sakamoto's Street Justice. AS: COUNTER! Ryuji Sakamoto takes 26 Strike damage in return for his attack! AS: Block Worst! Kurou Ryouhara takes 21 Strike damage from Ryuji Sakamoto's Street Justice. AS: Block Worst! Kurou Ryouhara takes 13 Strike damage from Ryuji Sakamoto's Breakdown. AS: Counter Neutral! Kurou Ryouhara takes 60 Strike damage from Ryuji Sakamoto's Breakdown. Critical Hit! AS: COUNTER! Ryuji Sakamoto takes 21 Strike damage in return for his attack! AS: Take! Makoto Niijima takes 144 Recovery healing from Ichika Kawase's Mediarama. AS: Take! Kurou Ryouhara takes 0 Almighty damage from Hibari Aoki's Shibaboo. AS: Charm and Poison added!
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Niijima has posed.
Phoenix outlines what it is that their kidnappers want, and Queen's eyes widen. How many people want to ruin Tsubasa's life? Kamiya, Furudate, and now this..? And the New World Order? Why? "...That won't happen," Queen responds, voice harsh. "We won't let them." Queen won't let them. She's not abandoning Tsubasa a second time.
Joker's hand signal is caught, and Queen gives her a nod of understanding in return. For someone kind of terrible at picking up social cues, when it comes to strategizing, Queen can communicate wordlessly when she needs to in here.
Ryouhara's response to Queen's gunfire being to rush her catches her by surprise- and she discards her gun as he closes, the gun disappearing from her hand and going to wherever on her skintight outfit she keeps it (not that she knows herself).
But it's hard to evade the ground below you giving way to a shrieking skull, a skull that drowns one in total silence. A silence that drowns out her own heart, that threatens to drown out her own thoughts- before it bites down on her, Queen finding her legs freezing when she tries to order them to run, and that moment of hesitance costs her as Gashadokuro's teeth crush her, and she lets out a scream that she herself can't hear, until the silence passes, and Queen finds herself bloodied and breathing heavily.
Ogre's light washes over her, and it gives her precious opening to stand again, and summon Johanna again, leaning on the personacycle to summon her own magic, revving the engine. "Heads up!" She calls, as the green light from Johanna's engines moves to clear the effects of the Gashadokuro's first scream from Yusuke, Hibari, Ren and herself-
And she's not going to pass up the opening that Ogre has given her- and when Johanna roars a second time, Queen rips off her mask in a momentary bloody spray, like it did when she awakened, and behind the mask is nothing but darkness and two bright yellow eyes. "You want us to change your heart that badly?" She asks, bloodied, atop the most violent aspect of herself. "...Then maybe we should start with some fear. Makajama!"
AS: Persona! Makoto Niijima has used the Almighty skill Dekunda on Ren Amamiya, Yusuke Kitagawa, Hibari Aoki, and Makoto Niijima! AS: Take! Makoto Niijima takes 0 Almighty damage from Makoto Niijima's Dekunda. AS: Def_Dn removed! AS: Persona! Makoto Niijima has used the Almighty skill Makajama on Kurou Ryouhara! AS: Makoto Niijima's turn has ended. AS: Take! Hibari Aoki takes 0 Almighty damage from Makoto Niijima's Dekunda. AS: Def_Dn removed! AS: Take! Ren Amamiya takes 0 Almighty damage from Makoto Niijima's Dekunda. AS: Def_Dn removed!
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
"Yeah?! Then I'll fuckin' talk, ya prick!" Phoenix yells, to Kurou. "Let's tell 'em how this ain't somethin' you got no choice in or nothin'! Remember?! You said ya 'carryin' out ya own convictions'! You think I'm gon' get Stockholmed jus' cuz ya made sure I was eatin'?! WE'RE NOT FRIENDS, ASSHOLE!"
Their friends are right here -- like Mujina, assuring them she wouldn't leave them.
They yell, unnerved, when Kurou expresses gladness over their smile: "FUCK OFF!" They're at least reassured by Ogre's reaction to it.
Gashadokuro rises to steal their friends' sound, and Phoenix rushes in -- only for Kurou to stop them, two fingers at their mask. There's something telling to the fear evident in their body and the grimace beneath their mask, as they freeze in front of him. "R--run you through? Gimme a break!" Phoenix snaps, as they scramble away, that fear trembling at their words now, too. "I-if I weren't gon' serve me own mother up for that fuckin' Old Maid, what makes ya think I-I'd go 'round killin' you?!"
Wait, does that mean... Kurou is the person they would want dead less, in that equation...?
But it's just as Ogre says: they only have to hold on a little longer.
Phoenix's lips draw down in a scowl, though, as they think about Umie's place in all this. "We didn't know he was such a piece a shit back then, man!" They assure Joker, as they take another step back. "Akabane-san prolly jus' don't know what he's 'bout, neither!"
Ryuji's ceaseless assault inspires them, though -- just as Yusuke's own bladed assault does. "YEAH! Our katana's WAY more sick than yours!" Phoenix yells, in the wake of Goemon's User. "An' that pipe's gon' cave you in, asshole! Fuckin' A," they pump a fist, looking to Queen, "make him scream! You know this asshole kept askin' me why I was?! Creeped me th' fuck out!"
Phoenix takes a step back, tossing their greatsword aside -- somehow, it disappears instead of clattering -- as they bend a knee, arms swept out in a low bow. "I see it," they affirm, to Mujina, of her opening. "An' now --"
They flap their arms as they take a step forward, rising, and each arm comes to cross their chest, hands buried in the shadows of their cloak. What they pull out is -- A FUCKING ROCKET LAUNCHER! -- and a massive shell they load into it, as they call for the massive Persona at their bidding to round on Gashadokuro again. "Izbushka na Kur'ih Nozhkah -- GIVE IT TO 'EM!"
That house's skirt of spines and skulls detaches, the array of bones spinning rapidly, before they stop -- and every skull turns to face Kurou and his Persona. Fire flares in their eyesockets, as Crimson Sublation burns through them...
... as, simultaneously, Phoenix fires their FUCKING ROCKET LAUNCHER! straight into the middle of the skeletal remains and their User.
All the while, they're fucking cackling.
AS: Tandem! Theurgy! Tsubasa Seki has used the Fire skill Rocket Sublation on Kurou Ryouhara! AS: Tsubasa Seki takes 60 damage from Stress! AS: Aggression: Tsubasa Seki gains 1 Limit! AS: Tsubasa Seki regains 8 HP from Regenerate! AS: Tsubasa Seki's turn has ended. AS: Counter Neutral! Kurou Ryouhara takes 79 Strike damage from Ichika Kawase's Combo. Critical Hit! AS: COUNTER! Ichika Kawase takes 33 Strike damage in return for her attack! AS: Counter Worst! Kurou Ryouhara takes 97 Strike damage from Ichika Kawase's Combo. Critical Hit! AS: COUNTER! Ichika Kawase takes 24 Strike damage in return for her attack! AS: Take! Yusuke Kitagawa takes 0 Almighty damage from Makoto Niijima's Dekunda. AS: Def_Dn removed! AS: Counter Best! Kurou Ryouhara takes 90 Slash damage from Yusuke Kitagawa's Arm Chopper. Counter Slash! AS: COUNTER! Yusuke Kitagawa takes 68 Slash damage in return for his attack! AS: Take! Kurou Ryouhara takes 0 Almighty damage from Makoto Niijima's Makajama. AS: Panic and Sick added! Charm and Poison removed! Explosion! 240 damage! AS: Counter Best! Kurou Ryouhara takes 176 Fire damage from Tsubasa Seki's Rocket Sublation. AS: COUNTER! Tsubasa Seki takes 164 Fire damage in return for their attack! Weak!
<Pose Tracker> Kurou Ryouhara has posed.
"No," Kurou agrees with Phoenix, once he finds his voice. "We are not." Another simple answer, with no hesitation behind it. "You were fed because you were hungry. You were bandaged because you were bleeding. That is all."
It is not the same resolve that puts Kurou in this battle, or in Shiryuu's service, but it is, perhaps, its own smaller conviction. Kurou does what he thinks must done, for futures both near and far. Doesn't everyone?
Black needles fling from Gashadokuro's mouth for Kurou as he leaps a twist to try and avoid them, breath catching when he is struck. He lifts back to his feet, slow and controlled.
"This has nothing to do with Akabane-san," Kurou tells Joker, even before they begin asking if she knows what he is up to. Kurou battle flow comes to a strange stop. "... Not yet," he says, like he expects her to find out, but is not ruffled by the idea. That may not be telling -- he has hardly been ruffled outwardly by anything so far.
But it would break her heart... "Oh. Hm."
Is... is that actually working?! It isn't as if Kurou knows what a 'change of heart' entails. Joker could be on to something, and it looks like Kurou has never once had to consider such a thing as a consequence to his actions.
Yet he does not stop the battle then and there. Skull is done playing, and Kurou invites it with two curls of his fingers. What he invites is a massive pipe. Brute force meets Kurou's frenetic flow. He strikes between each, and it costs him with blunt force trauma that ends in knocking Kurou's body to the ground, and a few feet across it.
Mujina sends Danzaburou after Kurou again, not in analysis, but to sicken him. Kurou blinks a few times extra, hand going to his head. He looks at Danzaburou with a hazy blink, and begins to reach out, though it would be surely impossible to close the distance as he mimes petting. "...... Fluffy..."
Charm works differently on some people.
But he manages to regather his focus enough to at least try and hold his blade in the proper position as the others consider to come at him. What does he care, Ogre asks. "... Not everyone can," is all he answers with.
Kurou has not smiled even once this entire fight, for all he asks for their violence. Ren did not see Kurou smile even once, even with Umie Akabane. Tsubasa did not see Kurou smile even once, the whole time he watched over them.
Ogre has her own response with a shield to his face, and it bodies him as he dashes straight into it to return her strike with the pommel of his sword. Her balance wins, but that didn't stop him from crashing into her.
Fox answers the way Kurou demands, and Kurou meets him in response. Fox is the faster of the two, toe-to-toe: a blur across Kurou, with the only sign that Kurou has been able to defend it at all being the sharp sound of steel meeting steel. His posture slips once Fox is upon the other side of him. Make him scream, Tsubasa says.
"Yes," he says, his voice weaker. Even as his body wears fatigue, eroded by their assaults, Kurou remains adamant. "Can you?" He has not smiled.
Nor has he screamed.
Queen offers a different change of heart: fear. Johanna and Danzaburou's forces mingle together in a burst at, perhaps, exactly Kurou's heart. Physical sickness and conflicting emotion overflow Kurou convulses and Gashadokuro wails, breaking even without being touched. Kurou coughs, dry, struggling to breathe.
"... Is that how it is..." Kurou murmurs as Phoenix balks at killing them, even though they are not friends. Even their own mother. "... If you truly want an answer to my 'why'... then... I, too, will not abandon my loyalty to my family... Those who held conviction for me... will receive it in turn until my debt is paid."
Conviction takes many forms. Kurou recognizes that Tsubasa's is a FUCKING ROCKET LAUNCHER. It is with utmost respect that Kurou must meet it. Through fire and fury, Kurou charges, lost in flame that wreathes his blade to strike back --
But not before a FUCKING ROCKET LAUNCHER explodes against Gashadokuro's bones. The skull of it cracks, and skeletons go scattering. Kurou coughs again. The looped chain in his grip slackens so much it jingles against the ground. His sword tip slips, lowering downward.
He's weakened. There is an opportunity here to strike him down. Perhaps not the way he demands, but an exhausted opponent cannot fight back any more than a dead one. Or their heart might be easier to 'change'? Either one...
He still rises for one last push.
"Gasha... do... kuro..."
Kurou's colossal skeletal Persona reappears like it were ripping through the earth behind him, shrieking out so loudly its every broken bone rattles in an unsettling chorus. The now-cracked skull breaks from the body, and the amalgamation of a body crumbles as countless skulls to roll out like a rising tide.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9X7I3bW49S8
Skulls bounce, rise, and their eyes glow with phantasmal fury before their jaws fall open, and the vitality of their marrow is turned into almighty beams of incandescent wrath.
The battlefield turns into a chaotic laser field of chattering skulls firing erratically, their own recoil sending them spinning and careening in further unpredictability. Kurou leaps into the macaberesque rave, his footwork determined despite his complex going paler as his blade and chain seeks out anyone unlucky enough to misstep for a more personal and violent moment together before kicking them off to find another partner.
AS: Kurou Ryouhara spends Limit on Reach! AS: Kurou Ryouhara spends Limit on Exploit! Kurou Ryouhara can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Kurou Ryouhara spends Limit on Broad! AS: Tandem! Theurgy! Kurou Ryouhara has used the Almighty skill Vital Fury: Kotsuzui Shikaeshi on Tsubasa Seki, Hibari Aoki, and Ryuji Sakamoto! 3 Hits! AS: Kurou Ryouhara takes 150 damage from Panic and Stress! AS: Kurou Ryouhara spends Limit on Exploit! Kurou Ryouhara can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Tandem! Theurgy! Kurou Ryouhara has used the Almighty skill Vital Fury: Kotsuzui Shikaeshi on Yusuke Kitagawa, Makoto Niijima, Ren Amamiya, and Ichika Kawase! 3 Hits! AS: Kurou Ryouhara takes 60 damage from Stress! AS: Kurou Ryouhara: Loses 8 SP and TP from Sick! Atk_Up, Broad, Def_Up, and Reach removed! AS: Kurou Ryouhara's turn has ended. AS: Avoid Worst! Yusuke Kitagawa takes 127 Almighty damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Vital Fury: Kotsuzui Shikaeshi. AS: Avoid Worst! Ren Amamiya takes 128 Almighty damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Vital Fury: Kotsuzui Shikaeshi. AS: Avoid Neutral! Ren Amamiya takes 89 Almighty damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Vital Fury: Kotsuzui Shikaeshi. AS: Block Worst! Ichika Kawase takes 118 Almighty damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Vital Fury: Kotsuzui Shikaeshi. AS: Avoid Worst! Ren Amamiya takes 128 Almighty damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Vital Fury: Kotsuzui Shikaeshi. AS: Ren Amamiya is unable to continue fighting! AS: Block Neutral! Ichika Kawase takes 90 Almighty damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Vital Fury: Kotsuzui Shikaeshi. AS: Block Neutral! Ichika Kawase takes 90 Almighty damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Vital Fury: Kotsuzui Shikaeshi. AS: Avoid Worst! Ryuji Sakamoto takes 133 Almighty damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Vital Fury: Kotsuzui Shikaeshi. AS: Block Neutral! Ryuji Sakamoto takes 89 Almighty damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Vital Fury: Kotsuzui Shikaeshi. AS: Avoid Worst! Yusuke Kitagawa takes 127 Almighty damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Vital Fury: Kotsuzui Shikaeshi. AS: Yusuke Kitagawa is unable to continue fighting! AS: Block Best! Ryuji Sakamoto takes 66 Almighty damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Vital Fury: Kotsuzui Shikaeshi. AS: Block Worst! Hibari Aoki takes 124 Almighty damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Vital Fury: Kotsuzui Shikaeshi. AS: Block Worst! Hibari Aoki takes 124 Almighty damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Vital Fury: Kotsuzui Shikaeshi. AS: Avoid Neutral! Yusuke Kitagawa takes 88 Almighty damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Vital Fury: Kotsuzui Shikaeshi. AS: Yusuke Kitagawa is unable to continue fighting! AS: Block Neutral! Hibari Aoki takes 94 Almighty damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Vital Fury: Kotsuzui Shikaeshi. AS: Makoto Niijima spends Limit on Brace! AS: Block Neutral! Makoto Niijima takes 75 Almighty damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Vital Fury: Kotsuzui Shikaeshi. AS: Block Best! Makoto Niijima takes 51 Almighty damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Vital Fury: Kotsuzui Shikaeshi. AS: Block Neutral! Makoto Niijima takes 75 Almighty damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Vital Fury: Kotsuzui Shikaeshi. AS: Almighty attacks cannot be Countered.
<Pose Tracker> Yusuke Kitagawa has posed.
Fox shields his eyes from the incandescent explosions that wrack the battlefield - first the aftershock of Queen and Mujina's debilitating assault, then a FUCKING ROCKET LAUNCHER exploding at near point-blank to him.
"Spectacular..." he breathes, lowering his blade in awe.
It is this lowering of his guard that proves ruinous, as Kurou has strength enough for one last call to his Persona, and Gashadokuro crumbles into a myriad skulls.
Fox's talents mean he prefers to evade, dancing away from blasts and strikes as though he were floating water, but the glowing skulls fill the warehouse with strobing lasers in every direction - and try as he might, there is nowhere to run. He calls out for Goemon, and the mighty ronin tries to shield him from the barrage - only to shatter like burning glass under the assault, leaving the tall Phantom buckled to a knee, consciousness swirling.
AS: Avoid Worst! Tsubasa Seki takes 133 Almighty damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Vital Fury: Kotsuzui Shikaeshi. AS: Tsubasa Seki is unable to continue fighting! AS: You have 2 more attacks in queue! AS: Avoid Best! Tsubasa Seki takes 57 Almighty damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Vital Fury: Kotsuzui Shikaeshi. AS: Tsubasa Seki is unable to continue fighting! AS: You have 1 more attack in queue! AS: Avoid Best! Tsubasa Seki takes 57 Almighty damage from Kurou Ryouhara's Vital Fury: Kotsuzui Shikaeshi. AS: Tsubasa Seki is unable to continue fighting!
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
"It has quite a bit to do with Umie Akabane, if you have ties to the New World Order. Were you unaware that she's terrified of them? If she were to learn of what you're doing--she would consider that the blackest betrayal."
They pause a beat for effect. Then, a touch gentler, they continue, "It's not too late. You can still stop this. Stand down and leave in peace, and we shall do the same."
Kurou and Phoenix may not be friends--he may have fed and bandaged them only out of a sense of duty--but Kurou does seem to care about what Umie thinks. If that's the 'change of heart' they have to angle for, they'll take it.
Unfortunately, it appears to be too little, too late, especially with the attacks The Phantoms are still pouring on Kurou. Ogre's healing magic that settles over Joker and relieves some of their wounds isn't enough to counterbalance Kurou's assault. Gashadokuro screams anew, and a flood of skulls pour forth, screaming out laser beams from their maws.
Joker does their best to evade the torrent. However, there's simply too many. Enough rebound from angles and with timing that they can't work around to strike them, over and over, until they're cast down on their hands and knees, barely clinging to consciousness.
"....."
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
"Wouldna been bleedin' if it weren't for you pricks!" Phoenix lobbies back to Kurou -- which is true, but somewhat misleading in the moment, given Kurou wasn't the one to carve into them.
Phoenix isn't really thinking about making him look bad, though.
They're just so mad.
... they did notice how he never smiled, though.
"Tch... so it's loyalty, huh?" They glower, to Kurou. "Tell ya this for free: loyalty ain't no debt."
They're glaring, but their advice isn't coming from a place of hatred. "If it ain't a gift ya givin', it's jus' a nice way to talk chains."
Kurou isn't the first one, strangely, to have charged Phoenix's FUCKING ROCKET LAUNCHER. (Who gave them a fucking rocket launcher?!) But given the last person to do that was SHIRYUU RYOUHARA -- perhaps it's not so strange to see Kurou diving through the flames, bringing his sword burning with Phoenix's own fire as he brings it right back to them. Given that launching that rocket sent them hurtling back onto their ass, there's not much they can do but watch him return to sender, bodily.
"Fuck," Phoenix coughs, rolling away from the flaming impact crater. "You ate me strongest attack... and you still up? What the fuck..."
They manage to scramble to their feet, but it doesn't last long. Against that barrage of lasers, they can do little but try to escape -- and they're blasted through, in the middle of one of those acrobatic leaps.
Phoenix hits the ground, heavily. "Ugh..." They groan, as they struggle to get their hands beneath them again. "No... not again...! I won't..."
Their shoulders slump, as they cough, roughly.
"I can't..."
But how could they, after the psychological and physical torments they've faced here?
They're sure not getting out of here under their own power.
<Pose Tracker> Makoto Niijima has posed.
The force that the Gashadokuro unleashes upon them is truly fearsome. The force of Kurou's last stand, the storm of skulls even as Kurou starts to fade, the blade, the chain, and the spirits of the unburied dead all unleash their fury, and Queen is driven from Johanna and slammed to the ground harshly, only her Aikido training kicking in keeping her from being another casual as she is sent sprawling. She raises her head to see the battlefield.
And Queen sees them fall, she sees them fall as her heart begins to race. Kurou was hardly unclear. They would have to go through him- and he was very prepared to force them to kill him.
...to the point that he seems to have no qualms about being equally lethal.
The world seems to slow, as Yusuke is struck in a moment of lowering his guard, and hits the floor. "FOX!"
Tsubasa is unable to evade the grasping arms of the unquiet dead, the wild skulls and the brutal slashes. "PHOENIX!"
And Joker- the leader, the one who the Phantom Thieves rally around. The person who reached a hand out to Makoto, despite her blackmail, despite all she did. The one who pushed to find her true self. The one who trusted her to have her back. "Joker? JOKER!?"
And for a moment, she's fifteen years old again. She's sitting a room surrounded by unfamiliar faces, Sae sitting next to her. They're both in serious black dresses, Makoto's simpler than Sae's. Even her normal red hairband has been replaced with a plain black one. Others talk around them, sometimes to Sae, but not to Makoto. But she can hear them.
"He was killed in a hit and run by a gang member, they said."
"He left behind two young daughters, you know?"
"They must be heartbroken..."
And she's back in the room, where she can see the effect that Kurou's persona has had. Even those who are standing are doing so just barely. Ichika, Skull and Mujina are all badly wounded. So is Queen. Mona and the rest are outside, and unable to just bust in to their rescue, and Makoto can't reach them, and Joker can't make the call.
Or else they all die. Or else she loses everyone else, if she survives at all.
"...Not again," she chokes out, her voice suddenly raw and pained. "Not again. Never again." She promised Johanna. She swore. She promised herself. She's not burying anyone else- and she's not leaving Sae alone.
"Skull, Ogre, Mujina- grab who you can. Now." It's not a question. It's a suggestion. It's the Queen's order. And then she looks directly at Kurou, pushing herself to her feet, still bloodied, staggering, wavering- but standing. "You said we had to change your heart or run it through, right?" Queen says, spitting some blood from her mouth onto the floor. "That's not happening- but if I have to go through you to save them?"
Her red eyes alight with fury, as she reaches for her mask. "Then I'll drive through you, your men, your 'shiahaisha'," Green and white nuclear flame starts to surround Queen, and in the distance behind, Johanna's engines can be heard roaring, as if she's moving at speed, "and anything or anyone who dares step in my way until there's nothing left but tire marks and red smears! NOW GET THE HELL OUT OF MY WAY YOU KIDNAPPING PIECE OF CRAP!"
And in that moment, Queen disappears into the flames around as she backflips into the air and Johanna speeds into existence, trails of nuclear flame behind her as she on the seat, no speed lost, the flames surrounding her body entering into Johanna and the two becoming a speeding body of nuclear heat, aimed not just at Kurou, but that locked door that blocks the way. Queen and Johanna will be the battering ram, and if he doesn't move, all the force going into that door will be going *through* the Ninja, as Queen puts all her power into making an exit. "MOVE, NOW!" She yells- to the thieves, to the door, to Kurou, to herself.
The will be a path burned through Siren Alley tonight, and the nuclear glow will show all where it came from.
AS: Persona! Makoto Niijima has used the Almighty skill Crash Out! on Makoto Niijima! AS: Makoto Niijima takes 45 damage from Stress! AS: Support: Makoto Niijima gains 1 Limit! AS: Take! Makoto Niijima takes 0 Almighty damage from Makoto Niijima's Crash Out!. AS: Atk_Up, Crt_Up, and Inner_Strength added! AS: Makoto Niijima spends Limit on Psych! AS: Tandem! Theurgy! Makoto Niijima has used the Fire skill Full Throttle on Kurou Ryouhara! AS: Makoto Niijima: Psych removed! AS: Makoto Niijima's turn has ended. AS: Avoid Worst! Kurou Ryouhara takes 219 Fire damage from Makoto Niijima's Full Throttle. Critical Hit!
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Their katana is cool. Fox is great. But Ogre has no room for compliments right now, despite the fact that she feels a strong bond with Mujina and the Phantom Thieves. No... she gives Queen her chanc, as well as she's able--and sees her try to unleash fear.
Phoenix is going to talk. They clarify a few things about Kurou. ...And about themself. "You won't have to do that," Ogre assures Phoenix in the moment about killing Kurou.
'Not everyone can,' Kurou says of smiles. She narrows her eyes. That's true, but...
But Phoenix talks about screams, and Ogre grits her teeth. And when she strikes at Kurou, he strikes back at her, sending her back. "Gh--"
His loyalty to his family...
"I get that," Ogre says, nodding once. "...But i'm not gonna let you have them." Phoenix. "No matter what."
A fucking ROCKET LAUNCHER happens next, but Tsubasa is struck back--"PHOENIX!"
One last push. That skeletal Persona comes, and almighty beams of wrath crash into Ogre; her shield shatters at the last one, sending her tumbling from her feet, barely conscious. ...But still, barely is 'conscious'.
"...Phoenix..." Loyalty isn't a debt. But he ate their strongest attack, all right. "I'll..."
With a cough, Ogre pulls her rifle. She gets up onto one knee, and starts looking down the scope, beginning to aim. "...Change your heart or run it through, huh? If it's you or them, then..." She thinks about it. She really thinks about it; she even manages to line up her sight with his heart. But Queen snaps her out of it, and Ogre stows her rifle imediately. "Right," she says.
Ogre summons her Persona one more time--to revive Joker in healing light. Then, her shoulders sag in exhaustion.
"...I'm not gonna let you change me," she says to Kurou. "Not like that."
Grabbing whoever isn't grabbed, she first offers Joker a hand up--
Then she starts to run with the others.
...It's different from running from the cops.
AS: Persona! Ichika Kawase has used the Recovery skill Recarm on Ren Amamiya! AS: Support: Ichika Kawase gains 1 Limit! AS: Ichika Kawase's turn has ended. AS: Take! Ren Amamiya takes 135 Recovery healing from Ichika Kawase's Recarm.
<Pose Tracker> Hibari Aoki has posed.
Mujina pauses for just one moment to hold her hand up and, if she has a moment (she may not) give Queen a high-five. Teamwork. Explosive teamwork.
The New World Order...
That's a phrase Mujina has heard before, but mostly from people she didn't take seriously. One of the hazards of being a rumourmonger is that you *do* hear some cranks, and even in Sumaru, not all of them are correct. Just because there are strange and mysterious things everywhere doesn't mean they're all here and now!
But Joker is saying it like he believes it and he's not the only one. She's going to have to pry. Later. Not now. Definitely not now.
"F - Fluffy??"
Hibari has been called 'fluffy' before but not in this context (and not very politely). It takes her a moment to realize Kurou means *Danzaburou*, who actually is fluffy, especially given the tail he half-sits on, half-curls around himself when summoned.
There's a moment's hesitation. Can you just call someone's Persona fluffy? Is that rude?? What does it say about her brainspace that she summons Danzaburou? This is not actually a thought that has occured to her before.
But honestly, right this instant she's more concerned about the skulls. "Watch out! They're going to - !!"
Lasers burst out. Mujina dives, tucking and rolling - THROUGH some of the lasers, but not really intentionally. They tear into her; she comes up pained, barely upright but at least able to scramble to her feet. And this time - thank goodness - Danzaburou wasn't broken by the attack. She came off better than some of the others; there's panic on her face as she sees the state of the group.
But Queen has orders. "Right!" Mujina can't really *grab* someone. She's not in a position to and she's not the fastest to begin with; Hibari has stamina, and momentum, but she's not much of a sprinter. But there's something she *can* do...
...and she sees the opportunity when Queen *blasts through an entire wall* with her Persona.
The nuclear glow shimmers, and quivers, and spreads, billowing out as some kind of rippling glowing fog. It's impossible to see through clearly; phantom images appear in it, shimmering hazes that look like they might be the silhouettes of the Phantom Thieves (plus one), or maybe Shadows, or maybe something else entirely. And it's backed not just by the normal power of a Persona, but a Navigator deliberately obscuring the path, making it hard to track through.
None of the silhouettes are the real ones. Because the *real* group is shimmering too, becoming blurry, hard to resolve. It'd be hard if you got to look at them just head-on. Through the illusion haze, it's nearly impossible to make them out.
So while Mujina cannot aid the escape physically, she aids it metaphysically, covering the tracks and sending pursuers who cannot see through it around and around in circles, until the effect fades. It takes a lot out of her; she's half-jogging, half-staggering until she catches up for a ride. But she manages it.
AS: Hibari Aoki spends Limit on Exploit! Hibari Aoki can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Persona! Hibari Aoki has used the Almighty skill Illuzone on Kurou Ryouhara! AS: Ruin: Hibari Aoki gains 1 Limit! AS: Persona! Hibari Aoki has used the Recovery skill Madoronpa on Ichika Kawase, Makoto Niijima, Ren Amamiya, and Hibari Aoki! AS: Hibari Aoki's turn has ended. AS: Take! Ichika Kawase takes 0 Recovery healing from Hibari Aoki's Madoronpa. AS: Eclipse added! AS: Take! Hibari Aoki takes 0 Recovery healing from Hibari Aoki's Madoronpa. AS: Eclipse added! AS: Take! Makoto Niijima takes 0 Recovery healing from Hibari Aoki's Madoronpa. AS: Eclipse added! AS: Take! Kurou Ryouhara takes 0 Almighty damage from Hibari Aoki's Illuzone. AS: Haze and Crt_Dn added!
<Pose Tracker> Kurou Ryouhara has posed.
Even as the one eating the rocket, Kurou, for all the lack of expression of his face, has eyes that seem quite similar to Fox's to behold the rocket. It is spectacular.
Joker accuses Kurou of being on the verge of betrayal. "As long as she is safe, she can consider me in whatever manner she chooses." There's so many contradictions here... working for the NWO, but Tsubasa being turned against them? Perhaps Kurou has said a little too much in this moment, and yet still never enough.
"There is no such thing as peace," Kurou says without any harshness of his own. "Only finding spaces to thrive in conflict."
Loyalty is no debt, Tsubasa says. "... No, you are right," Kurou agrees, after a short pause. He did have to think about it. "I want to see the world he would make... and to make sure he has a place in it." Perhaps they have worn on him, if he's saying a little more now.
Kurou wavers in the wake of his own assault, but still does not fall even as he breathes hard. In fact, he seems almost oddly invigorated by his effort, starting to get a second wind as he looks above himself. His gaze turns, landing on Ogre, who takes aim for his heart.
It's open. His Persona is not summoned. All she has to do is pull the trigger, and she would hit it.
But she will not be changed. Queen interrupts the moment with her own resolve.
Kurou is unflinching in the face of Queen and Johanna's roar. For all the world, it looks like Kurou is going to be run over by a motorcycle that has enough force to break through the walls of this workshop. He readies himself with his sword to make it obvious this is not fatigue. This is a choice.
A phantom haze of fog and illusion floods Kurou's vision. When and where anyone is shifts.
Makoto crashes through the wall. She does not hit a bump along the way, and no one pursues the Phantoms as they retreat, by foot or by vehicle.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Just as it feels like Joker is going to black out--a wave of healing energy washes over them, drawing them back from the brink of unconsciousness into the light. It's a rush that brings adrenaline with it, and taking Ogre's hand with a small but sincere smile of gratitude, they climb back up to their feet, staggering a bit but otherwise able to move under their own power.
Of course, everyone else is battered and Fox and Phoenix are on the floor too, so this is not a rally but a chance for an escape. Queen's already called for that--is using herself and her entire Persona as a battering ram--so Joker gives the others a sharp nod and hurries to help Fox up and supports him while Skull helps up and supports Phoenix. A haze spreads out through the warehouse, and Joker looks over at Mujina... They give her a nod of gratitude, though it might be hard to see through the shimmer.
They look over their shoulder then at where Kurou was a moment ago. With the haze, it's hard to tell where he is now--but it's clear Queen didn't run anyone over.
"If you truly mean that," they call into the haze, to Kurou about Umie, "then tell her the truth, and let her decide what 'safety' looks like."
After that, they scramble out of here with their friends; the ones who'd been left on the other side of the locked door, who have to peel themselves off the wall in the wake of Queen's nuclear rush, will join up with them. The most important thing was rescuing Phoenix. The next most important thing? Getting out of here alive.
Anything else that needs discussing, they can all discuss later. At least they won't have to deal with a pursuit.