2026-03-01: The Little Prince
- Log: The Little Prince
- Cast: Jun Kashihara, Tatsuya Suou (NPCed by Penguin Sniper), Tatsuya Sudou, Umie Akabane, Tsubasa Seki, Ichika Kawase, Maya Amano, Ririka Kawase, Hyousuke Suzuki, Fuuka Yamagishi, Katsuya Suou, Tamaki Uchida
- Where: Abandoned Factory, Konan Ward, Sumaru City
- OOC Date: March 01, 2026
- IC Date: Wednesday, October 03, 2012
- Summary: Jun Kashihara has been spirited away by the Joker Killer. His aim: to finally make him remember the Other Side and his role as the /true/ Joker. The consequences will be devastating if this comes to pass. Tatsuya Suou will not let it--and Maya Amano and other friends of Jun's won't let him do it alone. But most of all, Jun is determined not to break the promise he made...
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
Jun K**** has been getting tormented by nightmares for several months now. It started shortly after the start of the school year--he'd left the train station and witnessed two people he later learned were Maya Amano and Tatsuya Suou run into each other. He hadn't known them at the time, so it should've meant nothing. But ever sense, he keeps having horrible dreams at night that leave him restless and afraid upon awakening, even though he doesn't remember the contents--only how they made him feel.
He's been having more nightmares, asleep or awake, since he walked through Tatsuya Sudou's enchanted painting into another realm he cannot truly recommend, for all that it looks like a "normal" apartment complex. The normalcy is a farce. His neighbors are demons, and the sky outside is a mottled oil streak of octarine. Jun feels like he's slowly going mad the longer he stays here--which he's certain is the point. Sudou had escorted him to the roof, had him play a strange game with three other new captives that Jun had made him promise to free unharmed afterwards, and then... nothing had seemed to happen.
But that night, he'd had a particularly lucid dream...
~ * ~
He chases a golden glittering butterfly through time and space. Flashes of images both strange and familiar flicker past him: the clocktower at Seven Sisters High School. An orrery that shows an alignment of the solar system's celestial bodies, set over a crumbling Earth. An eerie, leering mask like a jester's crown set with flowers. And a great black cross...
He doesn't know how he makes it there, but he makes it to a great black-and-white checkered platform floating in space, surrounded by four massive pillars over which countless stars shine. At least, from there, they look like stars. The butterfly floats over a round plaque at the center of another butterfly wreathed in green; golden sparks of light spiral above it until the butterfly becomes a man. The man wears a butterfly mask, but his form is indistinct, and he looks like he's in pain...
Who are you? Are you in trouble? he asks the man.
The man's lips move, but for a moment, no sound follows. When it does, it seems to come from both within and all around them.
I am... Philemon... We have... met... before... but you must not... remember...
I don't understand, he says.
His form flickers and begins to fade. I can only give you... a chance... you must claim... your name... and awaken... from your dreams of... the "Other Side"...
I don't understand! he insists.
The dream... must stay... a dream...
As the man in the butterfly mask vanishes, he dissolves into a brilliant flash of light. The dreamer stares recklessly into its heart like facing the blinding brightness of the Sun
~ * ~
and then Jun K**** woke up.
He didn't understand the dream. Unlike many others, it lingered in his mind even after waking. He wished he had his dream dictionary so he could begin to decipher its meaning. He wished he were anywhere but here with his too-friendly captor.
He took a shower instead. There were new, clean white clothes laid out for him. There still are. Jun K**** refuse(d/s) to so much as look at them, instead opting for his dirty summer school uniform. The bathroom is unpleasantly filthy too, but at least the water is hot and clean and runs every day. The soap washes away his sins, or at least he imagines it so.
But it's only a matter of time. No one is coming to save him. He gave up hope of that after that strange game Sudou made him play. How much longer can he hold out from simply doing as the "Joker Killer" desires when there is nowhere else to go?
~ * ~
Today, he breaks down and weeps in the shower. It's too much. It's too much.
"Father, Mother, I miss you," he sobs into his hands. "I can't do this anymore. I want to go home. I want to go home!!"
Jun K**** cries for a while in the private sanctity of the bathroom. The hot water washes his tears away, and the steam clears his lungs. In time, he pulls himself back together, finishes washing, dries himself off with a much-used towel, gets dressed and combs his hair. This entire place is disgusting and makes his skin crawl, but at least he can clean himself, more or less. At least he has that much to hook his crumbling sanity on.
He's still hanging in there--but by only a frayed thread. This, he knows.
He goes to the other room and sits on the sofa with eyes shut, waiting for his captor. Waiting for the next round of torture masquerading as friendly bonding time. It's all he can do anymore.
In a chipped vase set on the coffee table in front of him, a sprig of lilac blooms out of season.
........
The unawakened youth, Jun Kashihara, vanished through a painting with the Old Maid on September 25, just over a week ago, exchanging his freedom for the safety of the serial killer's next would-be victim. It's been a tough time since then for those he left behind, but they've found where he's being kept. In short, there is a certain abandoned apartment complex in Konan Ward, right next to the abandoned factory. Those with the sense for it will have realized that there is a supernatural space overlaid on it--one made by, if they're familiar with the sickening sensation, one with the Mark.
Not just anyone with the Mark. #501; the Old Maid; the Joker Killer. But not the true Joker. Not Master Joker.
Only Tatsuya Su*ou would know that, though.
Some are here because interrogated Demons pointed them here. Others are here because Navigators sensed the way during the Dark Hour. And some...
Some were guided here by a paradox boy. A young man in red motorcycle leathers, his heart blacked out by a great X over the chest.
<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Suou has posed.
Stupid.
He let himself wallow in his own self-loathing for too long. He should have been there. He should have been there.
Tatsuya Suou hasn't slept in nearly sixty-two hours, it's the kind of sleep deprivation that brings about hallucinations. Every so often he thinks he hears him laughing in his ear, a phantom pain in his arm.
He's been up Mount Katatsumuri by himself, it's state, didn't even give him pause. Those people were in the state they were because of 'him'. He confirmed what he needed to and moved on. He knows what's important.
A text from Shiori.
'Dead end, sorry. I'll keep checking my informants.'
A text from his own mysterious informant.
'I've checked the Metaverse, he's not there.'
He's been from this end of Sumaru City to here. Now, he looks at the old factory, he remembers it as a nest for demons. He kicks himself for not giving it a thorough check when he didn't feel any before. His motorcycles leathers and him are slick enough with sweat that they'll need a wash or three, dark circles around his eyes.
It didn't matter how tired he was, the moment he was in the supernatural space, he was imbued with that narrative of preternatural vitality from the myths of the Greek Gods.
A message is sent out from a burner phone Shiori gave him. He's more than willing to do this himself, feels guilty that he's not, but this is Jun. He's taking no chances.
What if he's already remembered? Is it terrible of him that some part of him wishes that it were so, distantly?
"There's a side entrance that some of the homeless use here to get inside. I doubt the Old Maid knows of it."
Abandoned Factory - Eternal Punishment OST - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZBsJ1VOlw0
That's all he says, before he starts walking, not even bothering to conceal the drawing of his sword. He's not here to make friends, or answer questions. He's here to save Jun.
Peeling away some siding and stacked up debris camouflaging a hole in the factory wall, he ducks his head and moves inside. He then starts to move at a quick yet deliberate place. The best thing that could happen is they catch Sudou off-guard before he can do anything reckless with Jun's life.
But he doubts they will.
<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Sudou has posed.
"What do you mean I have to...! You didn't... But!!" Sudou shouts in his own apartment as he argues with what is obviously a much quieter roommate and not some disembodied voice that only Sudou can hear. "Fine! But I am doing it my way! AND YOU OWE ME!" Sudou storms out of his apartment saying the last part moments before he slams the door.
A few moments later Jun's apartment door is kicked in with the Joker Killer standing in the doorway. "Hey kiddo! Let's go to the roof and play!" Does Jun get a say in this? The large ominous murder wearing a paper bag on his head and towering a foot over the poor kid even without his stylish boots, says no. The large man grabs the poor kid and frowns for a moment, "I wish you had put on the new clothes at least." With a shrug and a grab the killer hefts the poor kid up and will attempt to fireman carry him to the roof.
Whether the route of resistance is taken or the route of passivity at some point and time and maybe some arguing the duo make it to the roof of this collective unconscious creation of a slum lord's apartment building. The roof is much much emptier than last time. The giant eye of the guide is still drawn on top of the roof. Sudou drops off Jun in the middle of the roof as he looks at the entrance. "Well good news Junie, my pals say that they are coming for you."
Sudou draws his sword from his trench coat as he looks at Jun, "Sooo feeling any murdering rage, any urge to shout that humanity is beneath you? Maybe just an urge to step on an ant?" Sudou asks hoping for something he knows isn't coming but still he waits. The waiting quietly lasts for all of ten seconds before Sudou says, "So read anything good lately?"
AS: Maya Amano has readied for combat as Pixie! She is now fully healed! AS: Tsubasa Seki has readied for combat as Izbushka na Kur'ih Nozhkah! They are now fully healed! AS: Hyousuke Suzuki has readied for combat as Achilles! He is now fully healed!
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
In the end, it was a pixie that gave Umie some leads, which collaborated what's been found already.
When Umie's senses pinpoint Tatsuya (Suou)'s fiery resonance, all the blonde can do is assume they're on the right trail, or else, be close to ensure he has help. He's going to do this alone, isn't he? Like he always does. What sort of senpai would she be, to let him suffer the consequences by his lonesome?
Umie and Sudou are the ones who started all this, after all. Tatsuya Suou, when Umie Akabane tutored him in her senior year, was a normal, charismatic, rebellious freshman whose imitations made her laugh. He had no Mark.
A year later since her graduation, and both those things had changed to the opposite: he beared a Mark in the same place as her. While Sudou worked to 'correct' this world, much like his father, Tatsuya worked against it with a single-minded resolve.
Pressing the bill of her baseball cap low, Umie tries to send a quick text to Tamaki. (Briefly, she stares at Shiryuu's number, inviting a different sort of dread and guilt to percolate in her gut, before she sets that aside and pulls up Tamaki's instead.)
>> takkun spotted, going to try to follow
With luck, Tamaki's already got an assembly of people, as well as herself, coming in, no text message needed.
A second set of texts are set to Katsuya. Hopefully it'll get there in time.
>> wtf he's fast, he must really be close
And closer still, Umie can feel it in her soul, in she feels when she sees the Mark's print on another person. While Badb can sense where a 'field of battle' is, or, in certain conditions, where it might come, but in Sumaru City, such areas come and go like fog.
The Mark is a different sort of feel, like a tooth rotting in the back of your mouth.
>> The Mark's stench is here.
Badb's veil settles over the short blonde as she presses and adjusts the straps of her mask to her face; it being a simple white one this time. (They always seem to catch on fire around Sudou, strange how that keeps happening!)
If there's a presence behind Tatsuya, it's nothing special. Just some blackbird that may as well not exist.
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
It wasn't all that long ago that Tsubasa was the one who wasn't able to track the time. The rescue of one coincided with the kidnapping of another, a bond traced between the agonal gasps of doing nothing at all.
Hyousuke has been keeping them informed as they recover and fall back into taking their own actions; why, they were up a mountain themself, earlier today. But that was Tsubasa, and that was then: now, Phoenix leaps up an outdoor fire escape stairwell, from point to point, flash to flash, shadow to shadow.
They grasp the side of the building, and swing themself up, landing in a crouch. "Hey," they rumble, as they straighten.
"Fuck offa Jun-kun!"
They should have sent a poet.
Greatsword in hand -- where did that thing COME FROM?! -- Phoenix charges, sending sparks flying on the rooftop as they plant their foot to swing their blade and their whole body in a massive horizontal arch, all designed to scare that massive killer away from their vulnerable friend.
AS: Weapon! Tsubasa Seki has used the Slash skill Greatsword Charge on Tatsuya Sudou! AS: Aggression: Tsubasa Seki gains 1 Limit! AS: Tsubasa Seki regains 8 HP from Regenerate! AS: Block Worst! Tatsuya Sudou takes 90 Slash damage from Tsubasa Seki's Greatsword Charge. Critical Hit! <Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Tatsuya Suou is a weird guy. Ichika Kawase doesn't understand him, not really--she knows that he's important to Jun... and that he's powerful. But what's his story?
Ogre jumps after Phoenix in the meantime, leaping up the stairwell. Shadow to shadow,point to point, she follows along with her partner.
Up, to the side--
"Jun!"
Ogre swings up and lands on her feet, ripping off her mask, which turns into a bloody blue flame Persona, Momiji.
"We're ready for you this time," she says, and throws out her hand--a hexagonal wall of red heat burns in front of Phoenix and then fades within them.
Her mask reappears, her face protected by blue flame until it does. Her horns glint in the light.
"We're not backing down."
AS: Persona! Ichika Kawase has used the Almighty skill Fire Wall on Tsubasa Seki! AS: Support: Ichika Kawase gains 1 Limit!
<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Suou has posed.
There's signs of life here. He can see it as they travel the Abandoned Factory to the floor where Sudou had been calling his home.
The moment they make it to the stairwell, he hears the echoes of voices from far up top, and stills for a moment, looking up. And then he makes a small hop onto the railing, and then an incredible leap, kicking off the side of the wall, before propelling him up the center of the stairwell, landing at the top, as he kicks the door right near the hinges.
It crumples, flying off, as he leaps out into the rooftop in a blur, moving into a standoff just a few meters away from Sudou.
"Get away from Jun. Whatever you think you're doing - you're being fooled by 'him'."
He knows it to be true, even if he can't elaborate it. Sudou's goal? It's to return everything to a world where he's already dead. Succeeding would only mean his death, and he highly doubts he's agreed to be a martyr.
He waits for the first syllable to come out of Sudou's mouth after Phoenix and Ogre attack, and then leaps to the side of him, interposing himself between him and Jun, the glint of a blade flashing twice.
As he tries to cut grave wounds across the ex-Lion's body and force him to put distance between himself and Jun's sudden guardian.
AS: Weapon! Tatsuya Suou has used the Slash skill Kris Naga on Tatsuya Sudou! 2 Hits! AS: Pressure: Tatsuya Suou gains 1 Limit! AS: Tatsuya Suou regains 30 HP from Regenerate! AS: Maya Amano has readied for combat as Pixie! She is now fully healed!
<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.
Jun-kun...
Maya hadn't been able to do anything the week before, but she has the opportunity to fix that mistake now. After a week of massaging her contacts, she's finally tracked him down. Sometimes it really helped to be a reporter, especially when you were looking for info.
She pulls her pink pistols out of her bag, then holsters them. Just as she glances up, she catches site of Mr. Bun Bun, still swinging from its place on the strap of her bag.
Maya gives him a little kiss. "Let's think positive!" she says to him, and she unfastens him from bag and slips him into her jacket pocket. For good luck.
Maya texts the location to the rest of Team Kick-Ass. If they managed to make it, great. And if they didn't... well, she'd figure it out then. But there was no telling how long he'd remain there. She needed to go before he figured out they were on his tail.
--
Fortunately, when Maya Amano arrives on the roof, she isn't alone. "If you think we're going to just let you keep Jun-kun, you're mistaken!"
Maya's pistols are in hand, directed right at Sudou. She doesn't like pointing these things at humans, but she doesn't really have a choice does she?
"Hand him over!"
AS: Weapon! Maya Amano has used the Pierce skill Cover Shot on Tatsuya Sudou! AS: Pressure: Maya Amano gains 1 Limit!
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka has been upset about Jun sacrificing himself for someone else that night at the gallery. It was brave, yes, but she still worries for what someone like Sudou might even want with him.
And when Hyousuke approached her and fuuka with intel, Ririka jumped at the chance to use her talents to search, alongside Fuuka, to find that demon-filled apartment.
She shared the location with Hyousuke and anybody else she knew.
She pauses when she sees Tatsuya. She remembers seeing him bet blown up by a landmine over by Kasu, and his Persona... left an impression on her senses. "Hey," she says, her voice subdued. "Give me a chance to take a look."
The Evoker comes up, her hand trembles, and she fires into the side of her head, raising the great stone statue that is Amphion. She reaches out to play at the piano keys made of light that appeara t her fingertips, scanning ahead and sharing what she finds. And she keeps searching...
There. On the roof.
She reaches out with the Navigator Link. <Kashihara-san! Hang tight, we're coming for you, okay?>
"He's on the roof!" she announces. "With the Joker Killer."
She draws her own Katana and tries to steer the group away from as many Demon fights as possible up to the roof. "Let him go!" she shouts, as she emerges, Amphion rising up behind her again.
She points her Katana, and Amphion begins to strum, a series of disorienting and jagged sounds rippling out towards the Joker Killer to try and take him off balanace.
AS: Persona! Ririka Kawase has used the Almighty skill Dissonant Song on Tatsuya Sudou! AS: Insight: Ririka Kawase gains 1 Limit! AS: Block Worst! Tatsuya Sudou takes 51 Slash damage from Tatsuya Suou's Kris Naga. AS: Block Neutral! Tatsuya Sudou takes 48 Slash damage from Tatsuya Suou's Kris Naga. Critical Hit! AS: Avoid Neutral! Tatsuya Sudou takes 60 Pierce damage from Maya Amano's Cover Shot. Critical Hit! AS: Take! Tatsuya Sudou takes 0 Almighty damage from Ririka Kawase's Dissonant Song. AS: Spd_Dn added!
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
The anticipation had been killing Hyousuke. No matter how he tried to calm himself, distract himself, or simply cope with things, every second that passed was one that he'd hoped would come with tidings of Jun's whereabouts. Every second that passed without such news left him more and more on edge, wearing away at his nerves like crashing waves carving slowly away at a cliff face. So, when news finally came of a concrete location, Hyousuke had not even hesitated to spread the news around. He would have his friend back, and put an end to whatever the Joker Killer had been planning.
Failure was unacceptable.
His mask obscured his expression, but it did little good. Anyone with eyes to see would have been able to tell that he was caught between tension and focus. His muscles were taut and his fists were clenched, as if making ready to leap out and savage his enemies at a moment's notice. His head twitched from side to side every now and again, scanning every shadow and murky corner to look for signs of an ambush or a trap. Even his gait was indicative of his mindset, seeming more like a stalking predator's than anything human.
When he finally came to the allotted apartment, Hyousuke looked silently across its surface. He seemed calm at first glance. He was still, he was quiet, and the few times he had spoken had contained little in the way of threats against the Joker Killer's life. But beneath that calm surface lay a roiling storm, crashing and surging at the walls of his mind. He wanted to hit something. He wanted to break someone. He wanted to kick down the door and storm the place, ripping apart anyone and anything that stood in his way, and the twitching of his fingers showed that to anyone with keen enough eyes to notice.
Even as he ascended the building, he did not speak. He and Achilles were a pair of savage beasts, hacking and slashing and stabbing and bludgeoning their way through the packs of demons that could not be navigated around. Some sought to bar his path, while others fled at the sight of the massacre he inflicted upon them. What blows they directed to him were taken with barely more than a flinch, whether blocked by the creaking titan of bronze at Hyousuke's beck and call, or simply dulled and ignored by the adrenaline surging through his veins. The Thieves could have their subtle approach - he had a distraction to create, and rage to spare.
Then, suddenly, Hyousuke was amongst the fray. His entrance was heralded by the crashing of a door, blown open by Achilles charging through it, shield raised like a battering ram. Again, he stalked forward, the very image of a wolf hounding its prey, his focussed gaze burning with fury enough that his visor threatened to melt from it.
"Give him back." Hyousuke demanded. He did not address the Joker Killer by name or by title. The Joker Killer did not deserve that dignity. "Give him back, or I'm going to throw you off this roof and TAKE him back."
Hyousuke's rage did not manifest in a bellowing cry of hatred. Instead, it did so as a blinding rush of bronze, streaking like lightning towards Sudou, the air splitting with the sound of straining metal as Achilles charged headlong towards him. There was a brief upwards flash as he raised the sword up, and then another as he struck, seeking to rend flesh from bone in a savage, rending, strike.
AS: Persona! Hyousuke Suzuki has used the Slash skill Savage Rend on Tatsuya Sudou! AS: Pressure: Hyousuke Suzuki gains 1 Limit!
<Pose Tracker> Fuuka Yamagishi has posed.
The abandoned apartment looms over Fuuka. Hyousuke had reached out to her and Ririka about Jun - a demon had told him of his current situation. An abandoned apartment in Sumaru City... between the two of them, they were able to narrow down a more specific location - and here they stand now, with the group he's gathered... and also, that young man in the motorcycle jacket.
...He looks terrible. She doesn't need her Navigator talents to see how exhausted he looks... but he looks so intense, it's hard to bring it up. And with Jun's situation uncertain, she can hardly suggest taking a moment to rest first. At least thanks to Ririka, they know where he is.
"Let's proceed carefully... Kawase-san, I'll map the interior." Fuuka says. She'll provide the map, and she can trust Ririka to highlight the enemies.
And what enemies they do run into, they can trust Hyousuke to take care of.
They make their way through the interior, up the stairs - and then finally, to the roof.
"Kashihara-san!" Fuuka calls out. "Are you alright? We're here to help you."
She turns her attention toward the Joker Killer, then. She draws out her Evoker and fires. With the sound of shattering glass, Lucia appears - surrounding Fuuka in her protective sphere.
"Beginning analysis!" She informs her allies. She studies him carefully, remembering what she was told. Don't try to peer too deeply - discern what useful information she can from the edges of the aura, and then transmit what she learns to everyone who's here to rescue Jun.
AS: Avoid Worst! Tatsuya Sudou takes 45 Slash damage from Hyousuke Suzuki's Savage Rend. AS: Atk_Dn added! AS: Persona! Fuuka Yamagishi has used the Almighty skill Full Analysis on Tatsuya Sudou! AS: Insight: Fuuka Yamagishi gains 1 Limit!
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
The disappearance of a student from Kasugayama High hadn't gone unnoticed by Katsuya, not least because he recognized the name. Jun... that had been the studious young man who had been concerned about his brother. And now he was missing -- the reason for which he'd soon uncovered by the various channels to which he had been privy. Knowing that someone has vanished, though, is different from being able to do something about...
...particularly when the perpetrator was capable of disappearing without a trace. That doesn't mean that he'd given up, of course-- him, and the rest of his group (please don't make him say the name) had pursued any signs of the young man as best they could in the previous week (which had the knock-on effect of precluding any participation in any other supernatural missing persons cases. you know, if they existed).
And then there'd been a break. Umie had found something, as had Amano.
('The Mark', though? If it were anything but dire circumstances, he would have asked what Umie had meant.)
He gets there as quickly as he can. There's a distant 'bang' far above him, almost like someone had broken down a door. Taking the stairs two at a time, he soon finds that's exactly what happened.
"--Tatsuya!"
His gun is in his hand in the next moment, as quick as he can. "#501, release that boy!" It's trained on the 'masked' man, in the way that predicts just what he's about to do--
And he fires, just because he knows by now that there's no point in reasoning with Sudou. Whatever he's about to do with his hostage, he can't let him.
--he might not be able to arrest him at all, a part of his mind realizes, the memory perhaps jogged by the presence of his brother here, and however he might feel about it, it's too late for regrets.
AS: Weapon! Katsuya Suou has used the Pierce skill Handgun - Suppression Fire on Tatsuya Sudou! 2 Hits!
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
A blackbird can fly, but Umie has to scale.
Thankfully, she can keep up, making up for Tatsuya's height with a few more steps and leaps, the Badb's enhancement giving her movements that extra speed and tenacity needed to vault up those steps, throwing her momentum up the wall and onto the stairwell.
The soft exhale of a 'hup' or two can be easily disguised against the narrowing scope of the Paradox Boy's focus.
She doesn't have to batter down that door, after all; she'll just borrow off of Tatsuya's progress. Instead, she adjusts the half gloves on each arm with a subconscious stroke of paranoia before running after the boy in red.
The illusion of 'nothing;an echo of a bird's call;something to overlook' becomes a jacketed Umie Akabane, baseball cap readjusted onto her head.
She and Badb don't waste another second, the crow goddess languidly hanging behind the young woman and letting out a loud, joyeous shriek of warning.
AS: Persona! Umie Akabane has used the Dark skill Final Warning on Tatsuya Sudou! AS: Ruin: Umie Akabane gains 1 Limit! AS: Umie Akabane regains 3 SP from Invigorate! AS: Take! Tatsuya Sudou takes 0 Almighty damage from Fuuka Yamagishi's Full Analysis. AS: Fuuka Yamagishi's Strength Scan! Tatsuya Sudou resists Fire! AS: Fuuka Yamagishi's Weakness Scan! Tatsuya Sudou is weak against Water! AS: Fuuka Yamagishi's Support Scan! Tatsuya Sudou has passive skills Avoid Water, Fire Amp, Fire Boost, Heavy Weapon, and Peerless Skill! AS: Block Best! Tatsuya Sudou takes 16 Pierce damage from Katsuya Suou's Handgun - Suppression Fire. AS: Block Neutral! Tatsuya Sudou takes 30 Pierce damage from Katsuya Suou's Handgun - Suppression Fire. AS: Avoid Worst! Tatsuya Sudou takes 55 Dark damage from Umie Akabane's Final Warning. AS: Panic added!
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Tamaki has a tendency to keep her nose out of things that aren't her business. She only has so much attention and stamina, she only has many arms, she can only be in one place at any given time. She most often provides support in the background, working like a stagehand instead of one of the main actors.
Things don't go so well anymore when she tries to play a more direct role in things. Ever since she tried to more directly offer Tatsuya Suou some sympathy and advice as "someone who's been there," she hadn't seen nor heard from him since.
In hindsight, she considers that the peak of her arrogance.
After Jun had given himself to take the place of some other poor victim at the art show, she had gone with a crew of herself, Hyousuke, Eikichi, and Julian to interrogate some Demons underneath Kasugayama High to see if they'd heard anything about the Joker Killer's intentions. It had worked at least once before in a different context ... and it had worked again. After having been unceremoniously thrust onto the main stage by a pair of Puck and Robin Goodfellow in the middle of stage rehearsal, they had told the group about how Sudou was keeping Jun in an abandoned apartment complex ... somewhere.
There are only so many of those, so she had set to work in trying to narrow down which one it was most likely to be. Tamaki had sent Hyousuke off with her intel, and she had sufficiently played her part.
Or so she had thought.
Umie's initial pair of texts cause Tamaki's eyes to bulge and her heart to leap into her throat.
>> holy shit what
>> he's alive???
She almost, almost asks further about his whereabouts, but for now, it's good enough knowing that he's not dead or comatose.
It's Umie's last text which changes her mind. Her blood chills as she reads that the Mark was active.
>> where
>> nvm i'll feel it around konan ward, i assume
>> on my way
There's no time for her to worry about the particulars right now, about what Sudou wants with Jun. Just get there and hope for the best. Having been caught flat-footed, she's one of the last to arrive and has to hoof it. There are a number of familiar faces, but as she finally reaches the others, her first thought is to summon "Arianrhod!" and once more limit Sudou's options in attacking and maneuvering.
Her mind will start to catch up with the rest of her senses in a few moments.
AS: Persona! Tamaki Uchida has used the Almighty skill Threefold Tynghedau on Tatsuya Sudou! AS: Ruin: Tamaki Uchida gains 1 Limit!
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
Obviously.
Jun hears one side of the argument through the walls; when the door slams, he tenses up with dread. It's even worse than he fears, though, when Sudou outright KICKS the door down, making him flinch and jump as his eyes fly open.
"I-I'd rather not," he stammers, knowing fully well he may as well be talking to a wall. Does he mean about going to the roof? Playing? Putting on that white costume Sudou had so painstakingly prepared? Let's go with 'all of the above.'
He yelps when Sudou grabs him, flailing for anything--anything at all--he might use to anchor himself. All he can manage is grabbing that sprig of lilac and knocking over the vase before Sudou throws him over his shoulder in a fireman's carry.
Jun can hold his own against the average bully, despite his lack of physical strength. He can't do a damn thing against a supernatural menace like the Old Maid. He shouts for him to put him down for a moment, but soon falls silent, knowing it's no good. Before long, the two are on the roof, and Sudou sets him down on the eye in chalk he'd drawn on the roof earlier. Jun scrambles back several steps, still clutching that lilac, as he faces Sudou with fear in his one visible eye.
It doesn't abate when told they're coming for him. That sounds incredibly ominous from a man with a paper bag on his head. Jun can and does use flowers as weapon, but faced against live steel, it feels hopelessly inadequate as a defense for whatever's coming next. He clutches his arms to his chest as he watches him draw his sword.
"What? No," he replies, dumbfounded. If he felt any rage towards anyone, it would be Sudou himself, without a doubt.
That's clinched when Sudou asks him if he's read anything good lately. Jun's nettled glare cuts through his anxiety and exhaustion like a razor.
People suddenly flip up onto the roof. Jun shrinks away from them with a gasp, assuming at first that they must be Sudou's friends; he certainly doesn't know anyone dressed like Phoenix or Ogre. But then they call his name and attack Sudou, and he staggers back out of the way in mute surprise. "Wh-who are you?" he stammers, grateful for the rescue but also confused--and plenty wary. What if this is a trick or a trap?
The answer to that comes when Maya bursts onto the roof while Tatsuya leaps in from down and then above. "Amano-san! Tatsuya!!" Jun calls, his entire demeanor flooding with palpable relief. When Tatsuya takes up a position between him and the Old Maid, he could cry with joy. The rescue that he'd given up hope on has finally arrived.
Ririka's voice reaches his ears then, though he can't see her anywhere nearby when he hears her. Jun doesn't respond, unsure of if he's hallucinating the voice, and he looks around quickly in paranoia. However, Fuuka follows her up with a physical arrival on the rooftop, along with several more--Umie, Katsuya, Tamaki, and a masked boy Jun would recognize as Hyousuke if the situation weren't so chaotic. Katsuya's arrival in particular is heartening. A police officer with knowledge of the supernatural, whom Jun knows personally, can surely do something to put Sudou away.
"Yamagishi-san! Everyone! Thank you...!" he breathes. His whole body trembles, and the mix of stress and relief overwhelms him to the point that he can only take a few feeble steps back. Any more than that and he'll surely fall over.
Besides, he has such a strange feeling right now--like his entire body is overwhelmed with deja vu--
AS: Take! Tatsuya Sudou takes 0 Almighty damage from Tamaki Uchida's Threefold Tynghedau. AS: Pain and Poison added!
<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Sudou has posed.
The Joker Killer sees the glare on Jun's face, "Oh right there. Hold on to that. Yes we can work with that. I didn't realize you hated reading so much but yes focus on that hatred towards books. Wanting to burn them all. " The Joker Killer is way off base but he feels accomplished and it distracts him while he waits.
Sudou smiles as the first arrives, with a very cool entrance too. "Oh damn, I was expecting the door to the roof to be kicked open that was total badass!" Sudou fangirls over the firebird's entrance. The big bird comes in with the big sword, and Sudou moves to match raising the sword...out of the way to catch the blade with his arm instead. A large gash and some blood falls to the floor. "Damn that hurt, but I was totally not missing an opportunity to get blood in that butterfly's eye."
Looking at Ogre, Sudou shakes his head, "Sorry it is not as cool to be the second on the scene. Yeah the landing was top form, but it was just done." Sudou shakes his arm still hurting from stoping a great sword with it. " It's ok, points for trying."
Then the real person he had been waiting for arrives, his good friend, Tatsuya Suou. "Oh come on now buddy-buddy, we both know what I am doing. Well done. The seed has been planted and watered, soon it will sprout. Something yellow I think. You tell me, what color is the flower again." Sudou raises the sword and works to deflect Suou's sword as he stares into Tatsuya's eyes from behind the paperbag. "I am just making things right. It's not like you aren't trying to do the same, it's why you are here."
Before the old maid can say any more to his longest friend, more people have shown up to the party and come in waving guns. "Now it's a real party!" The Joker Killer says as he tries to avoid the bullets before shouting, "Come on, what if I was holding the hostage? Would you shoot the hostage?" A glance is given to Jun before another shot grazes his arm. " I swear I will use the Jun as a shield!"
The Joker Killer's shoulders scrunch up as the body language says that he just heard something horrible. Looking over to the source he sees the healer! "Hey aren't you suppose to be healing instead! What if Jun is bleeding out or something, just stop that damn racket!"
The charging of an angry Hyousuke does distract him from the ringing in his ears as the Joker Killer tries to duck back from the blade of achilies and feels it cut his shirt. "Damn it this was a new shirt! The black mask dude already ruined my other shirt!" Taking a moment to work to catch his breath he looks at Hyousuke then at Jun, " Maybe I throw him off the roof and take you instead."
Another appears, one he remembers from the run on the dorm, but doesn't know. However that magic that is being used on him makes him feel like he needs more clothes. "Hey that feels rude!"
The urge to cover himself is all but forgot as brother Suou appears, "Damn it's the fuzz. Fuzzy wuzzy big brother has come. " Bullets begin to rain toward Sudou and he tries his best to hide behind his sword and takes more bullet grazes. "Damn it! The boy is right there, stop shooting me if you want him!"
Another bird makes her presence known as shrieking hurts Sudou's head especially because it is already ringing. " Umie, so glad you stopped by. I am a bit busy to entertain, but make yourself comfortable, be with you in a bit. "
The presence of the chess player is evident and Sudou is starting to feel ill. He is also wondering how much weight this roof can hold. Especially when fire starts getting involved. "You know, not once did I hear any of you say please!" The large sword whips forward as Sudou spins around and around sending slashes fire out towards everyone. Seems like the worry about the roof collapsing due to fire was not that worrying.
AS: Persona! Tatsuya Sudou has used the Fire skill Heat Wave on Katsuya Suou, Fuuka Yamagishi, Tatsuya Suou, and Tsubasa Seki! AS: Tatsuya Sudou takes 90 damage from Panic! AS: Persona! Tatsuya Sudou has used the Fire skill Heat Wave on Ichika Kawase, Maya Amano, Ririka Kawase, and Hyousuke Suzuki! AS: Persona! Tatsuya Sudou has used the Fire skill Heat Wave on Umie Akabane and Tamaki Uchida! AS: Tatsuya Sudou: Loses 71 HP from Poison! Pain removed! AS: Block Worst! Ririka Kawase takes 59 Fire damage from Tatsuya Sudou's Heat Wave. AS: Avoid Best! Umie Akabane takes 10 Fire damage from Tatsuya Sudou's Heat Wave. Avoid Fire! AS: Haze added! AS: Block Worst! Fuuka Yamagishi takes 100 Fire damage from Tatsuya Sudou's Heat Wave. Critical Hit! AS: Block Worst! Tatsuya Suou takes 59 Fire damage from Tatsuya Sudou's Heat Wave. Critical Hit! Resist! AS: Haze added! AS: Avoid Best! Maya Amano takes 13 Fire damage from Tatsuya Sudou's Heat Wave. AS: Haze added! AS: Block Neutral! Katsuya Suou takes 21 Fire damage from Tatsuya Sudou's Heat Wave. Resist! AS: Haze added! AS: Block Best! Hyousuke Suzuki takes 20 Fire damage from Tatsuya Sudou's Heat Wave. AS: Take! Tsubasa Seki takes 0 Almighty damage from Ichika Kawase's Fire Wall. AS: Fire_Wall added! AS: Avoid Worst! Tamaki Uchida takes 80 Fire damage from Tatsuya Sudou's Heat Wave. AS: Haze added! AS: Mind Up! Tsubasa Seki's SP +8! AS: Counter Neutral! Tsubasa Seki takes 137 Fire damage from Tatsuya Sudou's Heat Wave. Critical Hit! AS: Haze added! AS: COUNTER! Tatsuya Sudou takes 108 Slash damage in return for his attack! AS: Block Worst! Ichika Kawase takes 57 Fire damage from Tatsuya Sudou's Heat Wave.
<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Suou has posed.
Ririka asks him to wait for her to have a chance to look. He doesn't even slow down. However, perhaps her warning was heeded anyway.
"No. You don't have any idea whatsoever what you're doing." Tatsuya rejects what the Old Maid says bluntly, "The Voices are lying to you. Nothing about what you're trying to do is right."
Despite calling for assistance, Tatsuya is surprised when Maya Amano bursts out onto the roof too, giving them covering fire. Perhaps he shouldn't be.
Maya, for however different she might be without the expectation of the 'Big Sister' placed upon her, was still herself. It takes an active effort not to say 'Maya-nee'. "Amano-san. Be careful. Don't doubt he'll take your life if you leave yourself open."
Jun calls out to him, and fear- then relief floods him at the realization. The very way he addressed Maya means he hasn't remembered yet. "Stay behind me and this nightmare will be over soon." He wishes he could promise that all nightmares would be, but he knows 'he' won't leave Jun alone.
It doesn't matter, he'd fight every horror he could ever throw at him to keep Jun safe.
Katsuya calls out to him and at most he seems to feel some vague annoyance for his presence, but he does not so much glance his way. It's not his fault really that he's annoyed. He can't understand why his brother is doing what he's doing, and he doesn't want him to understand. He'll likely be upset about him for something unimportant again, like his school attendance record.
That's the last thing on his mind.
Fire bursts out, Tatsuya takes it fully on, relying on Apollo to protect him from it. Even with his protection, the Ex-Lion's flame burns hot, but more importantly, not even the smallest lick of it touches Jun. Standing up straighter, singed, he then says.
"If you won't listen, then I'll make this quick. Come!"
Blue light and flame roars from his feet, as Apollo appears, reminiscent of both Ringmaster and Tokusatsu hero with that mask. And the Persona surges forth, drawing its fist back in attack.
But for the Old Maid, the narrative of it seems so much bigger. A fist so large that it might eclipse his entire field of vision. And it slams into him with just as much force as that effigy of myth, cracking even that part of the rooftop with the shockwave of its strike.
AS: Persona! Tatsuya Suou has used the Strike skill Gigantic Fist on Tatsuya Sudou! AS: Pressure: Tatsuya Suou gains 1 Limit! AS: Tatsuya Suou regains 30 HP from Regenerate!
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
Phoenix's aggression meets Sudou's arm, and, satisfying, he might note the way their eyes widen behind their mask. "You crazy prick!" They yelp, as they finish their revolution; by the time they're facing him again, he's dissed Ogre, and so Phoenix lobbies back: "Shut th' fuck up! You don't even get how she's jus' doomed ya, DO ya?!"
Phoenix... if you'd stop running straight into the fire, Ogre probably wouldn't need to put a Wall up over you...
But... Jun doesn't know who they are. Did the Old Maid -- no, wait. Oh, shit. Right. The witch's hat mask. The magic witch's hat mask which makes Phoenix seem like an entirely different person to Tsubasa. The magic witch's hat mask which Tsubasa has never really given Jun a cover story for because Jun had SUCH a bad time with the supernatural that they've just been trying to keep him -------> over there away from it this whole time.
"Name's Phoenix! We're here to help!" Phoenix calls to Jun, and their aggression is lined by just a hint of awkward oh-shit-my-bad energy.
Tatsuya bursts in, though... and Phoenix remembers what he said, about just causing Jun more pain if he were around. "Sorry," they issue, to that paradoxical boy, "guess I just ain't that good a guy." No one's at ease, now. "Still..."
Their grip on their greatsword shifts, as they step forward again. "... a couple HELL-RAISERS on Jun-kun's side ain't nothin' to sniff at!" They roar, as they leap up, their greatsword swinging vertically down into the Joker Killer's space with thunderous strength. (It is not nearly, objectively speaking, as titanic as Tatsuya's Gigantic Fist. Phoenix is a timeline too early to beat something like that...)
Their glance shifts to Umie, though, for a moment, when Sudou greets her warmly. "..." Their lips part, and they don't address it.
Maybe they're just being paranoid; they know the Old Maid loves to be way more companionable than anyone's invited him to be.
Maybe.
Instead, they call to Hyousuke, lifting a hand from the hilt of their blade to thump their chest: "We're gettin' him back! Count on it!"
AS: Weapon! Tsubasa Seki has used the Slash skill Greatest Sword on Tatsuya Sudou! AS: Aggression: Tsubasa Seki gains 1 Limit! AS: Tsubasa Seki regains 8 HP from Regenerate!
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Not as cool... Ogre gives a big, expansive shrug. "Guess I'll have to make up the points kicking your ass." She's willing to roll with it. But Jun's question?
"Phantom Thieves!" Ogre calls to Jun when he asks who they are. "We're here to steal you from the Joker Killer, and set you free!"
But he says he's going to use Jun as a shield...
Suou, though. Suou, and his gigantic attack. "Who's 'him'?" Ogre asks of Suou. "Anyway, I'm Ogre!"
She even sees Maya of all people among everyone, and gives her a big thumbs-up--as she fails to block the flames Sudou sends at her. With a grimace, she brings up her shield tot ake the next. "We'll get him back!" she calls to Hyousuke too, and then rips off her mssk again, her identity protected by blue flame as the mask becomes--
"MOMIJI!"
A beautiful oni with great horns in a sumptuous kimono rises, lifting her hand. From all directions, stones erupt towards Sudou, missing Jun carefully.
"Jun!" She calls. "Just hang on!"
AS: Persona! Ichika Kawase has used the Earth skill Mamagna on Tatsuya Sudou! AS: Block Neutral! Tatsuya Sudou takes 188 Strike damage from Tatsuya Suou's Gigantic Fist. Critical Hit! AS: Block Neutral! Tatsuya Sudou takes 140 Slash damage from Tsubasa Seki's Greatest Sword. Critical Hit! AS: Avoid Worst! Tatsuya Sudou takes 104 Earth damage from Ichika Kawase's Mamagna. AS: Bind added!
<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.
Whoa, that was hot! Thankfully, Maya is (mostly) okay. Just a little singed. A lot better than the last time she went up against Sudou. Was this the power of the Pixie?
"Don't worry, I got it!" Maya says cheerily to Déjà-vu Boy as she regards him with a gun-hand salute and a wink. "With all of us working together, there's no way we won't win!"
If Maya weren't already bursting with confidence in their team, she would have been after seeing their numbers. The Joker Killer is completely overwhelmed. As long as someone can get their hands on Jun, they'll succeed in their mission.
"I've done a lot of target practice recently! So I wouldn't be worried about Jun-kun at all!" There is a definite sense of pride in Maya's voice when she addresses Sudou. But where exactly has Maya been practicing...?
"But let's swap it up anyway! Pixie!"
AS: Persona! Maya Amano has used the Wind skill Consecutive Garu on Tatsuya Sudou! 2 Hits! AS: Pressure: Maya Amano gains 1 Limit! AS: Avoid Best! Tatsuya Sudou takes 47 Wind damage from Maya Amano's Consecutive Garu. Critical Hit! AS: Avoid Neutral! Tatsuya Sudou takes 46 Wind damage from Maya Amano's Consecutive Garu.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Tatsuya does not, in fact, wait. "Oh c'mon!" Ririka grumbles, working faster. Just because he's got a stupidly powerful Persona...
Ririka nods to Fuuka as she suggests the division of labor. "Hai, Yamagishi-san." She is relieved to ahve her fellow Navigator nearby to help share the burden. With so many moving pieces... it'd be hard to keep track of everything by one's self.
And even though Ririka still worries about some of Hyousuke's habits, she apprecaites his strength in this moment. She definitely doesn't have the same capacity for fighting that he does.
The Joker Killer asks her if she shouldn't she be healing instead? "Sorry, jackass. I don't take requests from people I don't like." Also, you know, she can't actually heal him, but she's not going to say that out loud and give him any ideas.
But fire comes for her, and Ririka lifts her katana to try and deflect the blow--but she's too slow, and the fire parts around her blade and crashes into her, sending her reaeling back as she cl;utches at her chest. "Aagggh!"
She's got that Bufu skill card, but she holds that in reserve. She can't heal or buff Jun, but... she can do that for the people fighting to protect him. "Amphion!" she shouts. ""Marakukaja!"
Amphion strums his lyre, playing deep, grounding notes. At his beckoning, the power of the Earth flows up into Hyousuke, Fuuka, Tatsuya Suou, and Ogre, reinforcing their defenses.
"Kashihara-san!" she calls out (not using telepathy this time.) "We'll get you of here as soon as we can, okay?"
AS: Persona! Ririka Kawase has used the Almighty skill Marakukaja on Tatsuya Suou, Hyousuke Suzuki, Fuuka Yamagishi, and Ichika Kawase! AS: Take! Fuuka Yamagishi takes 0 Almighty damage from Ririka Kawase's Marakukaja. AS: Def_Up added! AS: Take! Ichika Kawase takes 0 Almighty damage from Ririka Kawase's Marakukaja. AS: Def_Up added! AS: Take! Hyousuke Suzuki takes 0 Almighty damage from Ririka Kawase's Marakukaja. AS: Def_Up added! AS: Take! Tatsuya Suou takes 0 Almighty damage from Ririka Kawase's Marakukaja. AS: Def_Up added!
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Oh no, did Umie forget, in her haste, that Katsuya didn't know what the Mark was? It's finnneeee. He likely won't follow up on this. After all, he may or may not still be a detective! (oh god Umie is in trouble)
Tamaki's texts receive the last of Umie's attention before she's forced to vault up after Tatsuya.
>> what *shocked cat emoji*
>> you thought he was dead???
On second thought, that *is* a logical thing to suspect, in Tatsuya's case.
+++++++++
But now, Umie's here, and so is... many, many other people, including Tamaki and Katsuya, much to Umie's relief.
What is *less* relieving is the casual way Sudou refers to Umie, missing Phoenix's glance. "Screw off! I'm your problem, Old Maid, not your guest!"
What. Huh, Black Mask? If it's the same as that other one in that Palace, then... well, that *would* make sense, wouldn't i--
Umie's feet work on autopilot as Sudou treats her with the same generosity as he does everyone... with fire.
.... In direct contrast to Umie's caustic manner when referring to the Joker Killer, Umie asides to the (other) Tatsuya after Ogre's statement. "That's... just a thing they say, Takkun," she whispers quietly to the serious looking boy, heading off any concerns he may have over Ogre's theatrical statement. "It's fine."
But she'll needle in on him.
"Sounds like Daddy's not happy, if you're having to deal with that 'black mask' guy," Umie coos to Sudou, red wine colored nails to her lips. "I guess your days are numbered, 'Big Brother'..."
Raising her right hand, Umie snaps it, summoning Badb in a fury of blue light. "But I bet you don't even need an oracle to tell you that!!"
A coy whisper and a Dark mass pours up towards the man in the paperbag mask--
.....
(damn it, she chipped the nail on her right ring finger.)
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
Not only was Jun alive, but he was coherent. Unharmed, he could not say, but at the very least, conscious enough to understand what was happening. Hyousuke felt no small measure of joy at that revelation, but it was short-lived. There was still a foe they needed to take down, and a plan that needed to be foiled. In that regard, seeing his friends already on the roof and launching their own assault only steeled his resolve further, and leant further fuel to the determination his fury had long since stoked. The flames were only fanned further when he heard Sudou's response to his demands.
"You piece of shit...!" Hyousuke growled. His muscles were coiled springs, tense like a stalking hound's, while his throat shook with the hatred that ran through his veins. "You touch him again, and I'll rip your fucking arms off myself." His fury - that old, familiar, thing - laced its way through every word he spat, each breath tinged by tongue-stinging acid. But this was not the bellowing rage that fuelled him in Tartarus or at the gallery. It was not grim determination that propelled him forward when a fight seemed dire. His fury burnt cold, with a voice that was even, yet heavy with a rage that had festered over days.
It was a strange kind of fury to him, but it was no less potent for it. He could use it. He *would* use it. He took it into himself, letting it guide him to raise Achilles' shield before him as he advanced, an unstoppable juggernaut that did not even blink in the face of those searing flames. They singed the polished bronze of the hulking, armoured, mass at his front, and lapped at his costume, but he stopped for only the briefest of moments, not even crouching as he weathered the searing blow. Even as his friends called him, he did not even face them, calling out his response while his gaze was fixed firmly upon his prey.
"Then I'm counting on you both. Let's kick this fucker's ass, and get our friend home."
It was not so much a response as it was a declaration. The conviction he spoke with cut through the air, leaving no doubt as to his intentions. He would not be stopped, and he would remove Sudou without a moment's hesitation. He did, however, turn to give Ririka a quick, grateful, nod. Whether the resulting curl of his lips under his mask was one a grin of anticipation, or a savage snarl at the thought of blood yet to be spilt, was a question even he had no answer to.
It mattered little. Hyousuke once more channelled his rage, and as Ririka had bolstered the defences of those around, so too did Hyousuke lend his strength to theirs. Achilles lifted his spear to the air, and a bellowing cry of burning anger tore outwards like a shockwave. It sank into those Hyousuke targetted, and the invincible general's strength became their own.
"And you..." He said, finally turning his attention towards Sudou. "Do us all a favour. Stay down this time." Again, Hyousuke stalked forward, chewing through the distance between them in an inexorable march forth. Again, Achilles hurtled in like a clanking, creaking, missile, and heaved his spear towards the Joker Killer's chest.
AS: Umie Akabane spends Limit on Exploit! Umie Akabane can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Hyousuke Suzuki spends Limit on Exploit! Hyousuke Suzuki can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Persona! Umie Akabane has used the Almighty skill Hooded Smile on Tatsuya Sudou! AS: Ruin: Umie Akabane gains 1 Limit! AS: Persona! Umie Akabane has used the Dark skill Mudo on Tatsuya Sudou! AS: Umie Akabane: Haze removed! AS: Umie Akabane regains 3 SP from Invigorate! AS: Persona! Hyousuke Suzuki has used the Recovery skill Raging Warcry on Tsubasa Seki, Ichika Kawase, and Hyousuke Suzuki! AS: Pressure: Hyousuke Suzuki gains 1 Limit! AS: Take! Hyousuke Suzuki takes 0 Recovery healing from Hyousuke Suzuki's Raging Warcry. AS: Atk_Up and Crt_Up added! AS: Take! Ichika Kawase takes 0 Recovery healing from Hyousuke Suzuki's Raging Warcry. AS: Atk_Up and Crt_Up added! AS: Persona! Hyousuke Suzuki has used the Pierce skill Heartpiercer on Tatsuya Sudou! AS: Take! Tsubasa Seki takes 0 Recovery healing from Hyousuke Suzuki's Raging Warcry. AS: Atk_Up and Crt_Up added!
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
Tatsuya doesn't even look at him. If the circumstances were less dire, he might even be annoyed about it, but in the moment he has no choice but to set it aside.
#501 has a hostage.
'Stop shooting at me if you want him'. Of course, it is a dangerous thing to shoot at a man holding a hostage. But it isn't as if he has much recourse: Helios specializes in fire, and that seems to Katsuya much worse for the well-being of Jun Kashihara in the immediate term. At least he has confidence in his aiming ability, heightened by his Persona. Meanwhile, if he doesn't do anything at all except try to convince someone who all previous encounters have suggested doesn't want to be convinced, well... that might turn out even worse for the young man when the Joker Killer does whatever he's planning to do with him.
Similarly, in any other context, he might 'frown' on someone 'stealing' another person but given the circumstances... it might well be a better outcome than this.
"Let go of him," he says again. "I won't warn you again!"
He gets a sort of answer in the form of flame, kicked towards him in slash after slash of that sword. With a wordless shout, he raises one arm and turns his body away, as if trying to shield himself in the only way he can. Fortunately, Helios bears a resistance to such things and even unsummoned, his Persona is able to...
But he can still feel the heat and notices with some distant dismay a singed sleeve.
He takes a quick look around at a few others here next, after confirming his own injuries are indeed just a scratch. "Tatsuya! Amano-kun! Is everyone all right?!" he calls out, before glancing about-- Umie and Tamaki seem to be more or less alright, in spite of his concerns. Amano says she's got it, though. "Understood! Allow me to back you up, Amano-kun!"
He turns, sharply, on Sudou. "--#501, that's enough out of you!" he says, touching his fingertips to the frames of his sunglasses. "Persona!" With a burst of blue flame, the feline form of Helios steps onto this stage and just as its summoner did mere moments before it takes but a moment's aim with a pistol of a type over a century old and,
fires.
Pay attention to him, he thinks, not Amano.
AS: Persona! Katsuya Suou has used the Pierce skill Single Shot on Tatsuya Sudou! AS: Defense: Katsuya Suou gains 1 Limit! AS: Katsuya Suou: Fast Heal! Haze removed!
<Pose Tracker> Fuuka Yamagishi has posed.
Jun is alright enough to call back to her.
"Thank goodness..." Fuuka breathes a sigh of relief. "Please take cover! We'll do our best here."
"I see... intense flames." Fuuka observes, studying the Joker Killer. "Use water to combat them - but be careful. He's swift."
He spins with his sword, and unleashes flame. Fuuka winces as the fire washes over Lucia's globe. She can feel the strength of the heat even from within it... Heat that scorches inside and out. She can't back down here, though. They need to get Jun out of here.
The strum of Amphion's lyre buoys her strength. She can feel the power of the Earth reinforcing her, letting its steadiness become her own even in the face of the flames.
"Lucia... Show to me our foe's weakness." Fuuka requests. Lucia brings her hands forward. A bright, blinding flash emits outward, focused on the Joker Killer. It's difficult to see - but even more, it may reveal a vulnerability for the others to take advantage of.
AS: Persona! Fuuka Yamagishi has used the Light skill Revealing Light on Tatsuya Sudou! AS: Insight: Fuuka Yamagishi gains 1 Limit! AS: Take! Tatsuya Sudou takes 0 Almighty damage from Umie Akabane's Hooded Smile. AS: Charm added! Panic removed! Explosion! 120 damage!
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
After summoning Arianrhod immediately after bolting up the stairs, Tamaki lurches forward and grabs at her knees, very out of breath and panting to catch her breath. "I ... made it ..." In her own exhaustion, it seemed like a smart idea to level the playing field. She's already going to be playing catch-up in a chaotic situation, so it's only fair for her to put the Joker Killer in a similar position.
That said, she's far too winded to put up a proper defense in her haste and her attempt at dodging is best described as 'limp'. She stumbles away from the flames and eats rooftop pavement for her troubles. "Owww ow ow ow ..." she complains as she tries to scramble back up to her feet. With a grimace, she inspects the damage on her slacks. "Getting this re-tailored is going to cost me a fortune ..."
Brushed aside, just like last time. ... wait, what last time? The art show? That's gotta be it, that's the only time before now that she's been in a fight against the Joker Killer.
It's in this moment that she takes a moment to fully survey the scene and whoaaa boy, that's a lot of people, a veritable 'who's who' of Persona-users. Not surprising, given that the use of the Mark is fairly unmistakable.
No new faces. All familiar ones. Sudou's presence means she got the right place. Umie's also there, as expected. She stands back upright and nods in her direction. Like Phoenix, it doesn't escape Tamaki's notice that Sudou's being friendly with her ... and that's enough to let her know that the game's already up and she shouldn't refer to Umie by the alias Tamaki's assigned her. "Thanks for the heads-up."
Fuuka and Ririka, members of SEES. Passing acquaintances of hers, but probably here with the other students.
Immediately after, she nods at Hyousuke. "Good to see you here, too." Phoenix and Ogre are in tow -- OH NO, SHE FORGOT SHE WAS SUPPOSED TO POST ON THE PHAN-SITE. The horror passes when she realizes that they're both here anyway!
She expected at least one Suou brother, but she's pleasantly surprised to see both. "Suou-kun, Suou-san!" The former's already got protecting Jun well in hand. To the latter, she calls out, "Yeah, I'm alright."
That leaves ... Maya. Right, she's got trouble with fire, doesn't she? "Amano-san! Behind me again, I've got you." Tamaki doesn't know it, but she might be giving Katsuya some peace of mind. Arianrhod conjures up the image of a tower reaching impossibly tall and impossibly low, simultaneously existing in multiple realms: sky, land, sea; heaven, earth, hell. It balances them both out.
She calls out to Katsuya again: "You're on point, Detective!" Light focuses on him, highlighting him.
AS: Avoid Neutral! Tatsuya Sudou takes 107 Dark damage from Umie Akabane's Mudo. AS: Block Best! Tatsuya Sudou takes 28 Pierce damage from Hyousuke Suzuki's Heartpiercer. Critical Hit! AS: Block Worst! Tatsuya Sudou takes 51 Pierce damage from Katsuya Suou's Single Shot. AS: Avoid Best! Tatsuya Sudou takes 15 Light damage from Fuuka Yamagishi's Revealing Light. AS: Def_Dn added! AS: Tamaki Uchida spends Limit on X Soul! Recovery_Break applied to Katsuya Suou! AS: Persona! Tamaki Uchida has used the Recovery skill Spiral Tower Shelter on Maya Amano! AS: Take! Maya Amano takes 0 Recovery healing from Tamaki Uchida's Spiral Tower Shelter. AS: Eclipse added! AS: Cover applied!
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
"I hate you, you monster!" Jun growls at Sudou, too agitated to bite the unwise words back. Fortunately for him, that's when the cavalry arrives.
Maybe that's why Sudou threatens/promises to use him as a living shield a moment later, then to throw him off the roof and take Masked Hyousuke in his place. Jun doesn't know how serious he is, but he's not prepared to bet his life on it. Fortunately, Tatsuya continues to block Sudou from him... and assures him this nightmare will be over soon. He makes good on that reassurance by blocking Sudou's flames from him, keeping even the slightest lick away. Jun looks at him with tender eyes.
"Tatsuya... I... I'd given up hope. I didn't think anyone would be able to come rescue me," he murmurs. He doesn't know if he or anyone can hear him over the chaos of battle, but it's something that needs to be said.
It's not just Tatsuya, of course. So many people have rushed to his aid just as he was about to sink fully into despair. His gaze turns to Phoenix and Ogre, who tell him they're the Phantom Thieves and they're a couple of hellraisers here to steal him away from the Old Maid and set him free. Phoenix even sounds apologetic about, he assumes, their intense entrance. Jun laughs in stark disbelief--but not in a bad way, just an I-can't-believe-this-is-happening way. You can only stack up so many improbable things before your understanding of reality topples like a Jenga tower.
Maya's cheerful confidence is infectious, too, as she expresses her total belief that with everyone they've got here, they'll definitely rescue Jun. Jun smiles at her broadly, a light returning to his dark eyes. Her assertion that she's more than a match for Sudou as a markswoman even gets an only slightly hysterical laugh to bubble out of him. Sanity restorative, thy name is Maya Amano. Tamaki and Katsuya both support her well too, Tamaki with her support spells, Katsuya with his covering fire. The three of them are a strong team, and that's even more reassuring.
Ririka, now here in the flesh, tells him they'll get him out of here, and Jun realizes the voice he heard in his head was hers, that his newest friend is part of the troupe. Fuuka breathes a sigh of relief of her own and bids him to take cover. "A-all right!" he calls back nodding to Ririka in gratitude. As far as Fuuka's advice goes, he stays where he is. Jun doesn't feel anywhere is safer than behind Tatsuya Suou. However, that's not going to help with actually getting him out of here... He knows he should run, but in this strange place cut off from reality, where can he run to?
Umie doesn't address Jun directly, but she seems plenty familiar with the Old Maid, the way she talks to him. Jun doesn't blame her at all for having a score to settle. He knows very well indeed how over-familiar Sudou is, whether one wants him to be or not.
He hesitates a breath when Hyousuke expresses his violence in word and deed. As unnerving as his rage is, it's more than that, now. He still has that mask on, but Jun hears his voice, calling him a friend, and realizes it's one he knows. In fact, it's-- "Suzuki-kun?"
He can only shake his head in amazement, touched by all these people who care so much about him. Lips slightly parted, Jun slowly scans the battlefield and everyone fighting to protect him. His eyes inevitably land back on Tatsuya, however. Tatsuya, who saved him before. Tatsuya, who's helping save him again. A voluminous feeling bubbles in his chest, so warm and familiar, like something he felt long ago. Yes. I'd lost hope. But the moment I saw you just now, it felt like the most natural course of action that you'd come to save me, just like...
Jun clutches his chest. That bubble has abruptly expanded too far. Now he feels like he's burning up from the inside. He staggers, gasping for breath, as his head starts pounding like drums of war.
....just like....
"Tatsuya... Tatsu... ya..." he gasps, sweat beading down his face.
A golden butterfly, fluttering through visions of a life he never lived. But somewhere else--on another side--
"I've forgotten--something important--haven't I...?"
A black cross. A broken world. The stars align to signal the end of humanity... But none of that matters to him. What matters is the feelings he's been carrying all this time for the boy he barely knows, yet feels like he's known forever. There's one explanation for that--something his persistent deja vu whispers must be right.
"You and I... we met somewhere before. Sometime long ago... It's the only thing that makes sense. You've always felt so warm and familiar to me... but you--you still remember... don't you...? That's why I keep causing you pain... even though that's the opposite of what I want... I've been trying so hard to do as you asked of me, but I can't deny it anymore. I--"
Lips trembling, Jun whispers his truth to the paradox boy he's fallen for:
"...I want to remember you."
A sharp pain stabs through his brain like a rusty blade. He shrieks in pain, drops to his knees, and clutches his head between his arms in a pose that Tatsuya would recognizes achingly well.
Jun always looked like that when his distorted memories tormented him.
<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Sudou has posed.
Sudou braces himself to the gigantic purple fist being thrown towards him as he slides to the edge of the roof. The shock of the fist traveling through his sword as it makes his hands ache. " He is my friend and he wouldn't lie to me, sides it's not like you come over and hang out to bad mouth american reality shows with me now do you Tat-tsu-yah~"
The conversation between the two Tatsuyas are interrupted as Phoenix comes in with that sword again. This time he does not willingly give his arm, but that doesn't mean they don't get his arm anyways. Another gash, and more blood in Philemon's eye. "I'm doomed, your doomed, Jun's doomed. Who the hell isn't doomed these days. Especially those who don't know they are doomed. " Perhaps it is the blood loss that is increasing the crazy talk, perhaps it is just the fire that Phoenix sparks in people.
Then the earth...er..roof moves as the Old Maid does his best to stay on his feet. Of course the earth that erupts from the roof clocks him pretty good in the head at least once. "I swear the earth wasn't meant to move till after the aliens." He groans a little as he steps back trying to recover.
Of course he can't stand still to long, for now he has to out run the wind. "I mean it girl with more then one persona, I will totally use Jun as a shield if you don't stop!" At no point does he move towards Jun to do such a thing, even as the wind catches up and rips across him, leaving the first of many papercut slashes.
Looking over at Ririka, "I don't suppose I could bother you to heal me then? I'll even say please. See....PLeeeeeeaaaaaase!" Does Sudou think it will work, no, but it may stop Ririka from doing whatever Ririka is doing. Probably nasty healer support stuff.
Sudou's little sister begins to respond and its not bird shrieks, yet again. "Oh little sister, daddy is simply feeling like he is not in control. I sent his errand boy back to tell him I will be visiting him...soon. I simply have other business to finish first. So, help your old brother out wouldja?" The question is asked before Umie's hooded smile makes him think he already has his answer as the black magic pours in around him forcing him to move away as quickly as possible. Still the abrasive magic doesn't leave him untouched, he lost a boot to that stuff.
Charging straight at Hyousuke's spear as he runs from Umie's magic he does the only thing he can. He crosses his arms and charges straight in and glares at Hyousuke as he takes the spear in the shoulder. " I am that which will always be. I do not rest, I do not stay down. I keep coming, no matter what. "
Another gun shot is heard and Sudou tucks and rolls away but still took the bullet in the other shoulder. So many holes in his body, what is one more. "Officer I would like to report a crime of assault. I was minding my own business when all these people broke in and started shooting and stabbing me for no reason. I am simply trying to defend myself, and yet they started this mess. Wouldn't you say this is a clear cut and dry case of extreme vigilantism. Aren't you suppose to protect the people. I'm PEOPLE!" Sudou rants as he gets back up to his feet.
The light from Fuuka is used to wash some of that dark magic off of him, in a proverbial way at least. Not even Sudou thinks he can out run light but he tries to jump away as quickly as he notices it appear on him. "Hey tattle tale, no one asked you how long it's been since you took a bath! The super says he is going to have someone here in a week to fix the water."
The one from the art show, the chess player catches his eyes, another healer. "Could one of you bother to tell me at least how you guys found me? I swore I had another week or two. Maybe even another month!"
Sudou stops motionless as the paperbag's smile grows and grows, and even grows so big you can see fangs on the smile. His eyes are on Jun, behind Suou, "That's it Jun. Remember who you are. Remember me, remember Tatsuya. Remember it all!" Oh Sudou can feel it, so close to getting what he wants. Just needs to hold up for a few more moments. "If you remember, I will leave right now. " Sudou tries bribery, shouting his bribe across the roof. "A gesture of my goodwill."
"JOKER!" The Old Maid shouts as the Joker persona appears behind Sudou. " Go do that thing we discussed. Get everybody and their stuff together." The Joker Persona nods and smiles as it pulls out a deck of cards and then disappears. Where to is anyone's guess.
Meanwhile Sudou has charged in, with his persona busy doing who knows what he is resorting to engaging in physical attacks. Rushing in and wielding the sword quickly before moving on, making sure he doesn't get locked down in anything to lengthy.
AS: Weapon! Tatsuya Sudou has used the Slash skill Quick Strike on Tatsuya Suou! AS: Charm results in party damage! Tatsuya Sudou takes 90 damage! AS: Aggression: Tatsuya Sudou gains 1 Limit! AS: Weapon! Tatsuya Sudou has used the Slash skill Quick Strike on Tamaki Uchida! AS: Weapon! Tatsuya Sudou has used the Slash skill Quick Strike on Fuuka Yamagishi! AS: Weapon! Tatsuya Sudou has used the Slash skill Quick Strike on Umie Akabane! AS: Weapon! Tatsuya Sudou has used the Slash skill Quick Strike on Hyousuke Suzuki! AS: Weapon! Tatsuya Sudou has used the Slash skill Quick Strike on Ririka Kawase! AS: Weapon! Tatsuya Sudou has used the Slash skill Quick Strike on Maya Amano! AS: Weapon! Tatsuya Sudou has used the Slash skill Quick Strike on Ichika Kawase! AS: Weapon! Tatsuya Sudou has used the Slash skill Quick Strike on Tsubasa Seki! AS: Avoid Neutral! Maya Amano takes 33 Slash damage from Tatsuya Sudou's Quick Strike. AS: Cover! Tamaki Uchida takes half of the damage, 33! AS: Block Worst! Tatsuya Suou takes 37 Slash damage from Tatsuya Sudou's Quick Strike. Critical Hit! AS: Weapon! Tatsuya Sudou has used the Slash skill Quick Strike on Katsuya Suou! AS: Tatsuya Sudou: Loses 71 HP from Poison! Bind removed! AS: Block Best! Tamaki Uchida takes 14 Slash damage from Tatsuya Sudou's Quick Strike. Critical Hit! AS: Block Best! Ichika Kawase takes 13 Slash damage from Tatsuya Sudou's Quick Strike. Critical Hit! AS: Avoid Best! Umie Akabane takes 33 Slash damage from Tatsuya Sudou's Quick Strike. Critical Hit! AS: Block Best! Fuuka Yamagishi takes 11 Slash damage from Tatsuya Sudou's Quick Strike. Critical Hit! AS: Counter Worst! Hyousuke Suzuki takes 95 Slash damage from Tatsuya Sudou's Quick Strike. Critical Hit! AS: COUNTER! Tatsuya Sudou takes 20 Slash damage in return for his attack! AS: Block Worst! Katsuya Suou takes 72 Slash damage from Tatsuya Sudou's Quick Strike. Critical Hit! AS: Counter Best! Tsubasa Seki takes 35 Slash damage from Tatsuya Sudou's Quick Strike. AS: COUNTER! Tatsuya Sudou takes 49 Slash damage in return for his attack!
<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Suou has posed.
'I hate you, you monster!'
It's a huge relief to keep hearing more and more evidence that he hasn't remembered. That he hasn't become the boy who was used and manipulated into becoming the Joker of the Other Side.
'He is my friend and wouldn't lie to me,'
"He's nobody's friend." He says in a no-nonsense tone, with a grim finality, "If you don't realize that before it's too late, you're a dead man, Sudou." One way or another. That is how it will end. In failure, and in success.
He doesn't think he'll listen, but he tries anyway.
'Tatsuya... I... I'd given up hope. I didn't think anyone would be able to come rescue me,'
It's his fault, but there's no reason to say it right now. He's taking responsibility now. "... I would never stop coming to find you." He utters, firmly. 'So don't lose hope'.
'Don't worry, I got it!'
'With all of us working together, there's no way we won't win.'
It's so like his Maya that he might cry. He wishes he could believe that though. There are too many win conditions for 'Him' and too few for them. Make Maya remember. Kill Maya.
Remembering is as good as death for her.
"Keep your distance and don't get careless then. I'll deal with him up close."
He's relieved when Tamaki starts protecting her too. She always was reliable, unlike that guy she was dating.
'I will totally use Jun as a shield if you don't stop!'
"You can try." Tatsuya replies, "But I'll take your head from your shoulders before you can touch him again." As he positions his blade at a low guard. Sudou comes in, and Apollo moves to intercept. There is a gash across the Persona's leg, where light exits through the wound.
But neither Apollo, nor Tatsuya are moved from where they are.
'Sorry, guess I just ain't that good a guy.'
That one puzzles him, he doesn't recognize any of these Masked types, but it does sound vaguely reminiscent of something he'd say. Maybe they spoke to Tsubasa and were in on protecting Jun? Well either way, they're here now.
"Stow the self-recriminations for later. Right now, you take responsibility like a man."
Marakukaja washes over him from Ririka's Amphion, and it feels nostalgic in an odd way. He's been doing this on his own for a while, but he remembers fights where they'd be doing that for each other for so long.
'Tatsuya! Amano-kun! Is everyone all right?!'
"Worry about yourself."
One might almost wonder if Tatsuya is annoying his brother on purpose.
Unfortunately, it's all so much, a convergence of so many factors from the Other Side. Himself, Sudou, Maya - countless other reminders. Jun suffers the ill effects of this. And as he calls his name, he looks behind himself in alarm, as he continues more and more, he grits his teeth. He's on the verge of remembering, he knows it.
And he can't allow that, no matter the cost.
"... I know you do!" He says with an incredible sense of urgency as he kneels down in front of him, trying to make eye contact, as he places a hand upon his shoulder, "But that's why you can't! Don't even try to remember! Do you hear me?! This is my way of taking responsibility for my sins! Yours is to forget!"
Making certain he doesn't remember is his priority, but he hasn't forgotten the battle in front of him. "Persona!" Apollo suddenly gathers a ball of crackling energy in his palm, and then rushes the Old Maid, as he tries to punch him, releasing that into a wave of power that erupts in an arc of terrible force through his gut.
AS: Persona! Tatsuya Suou has used the Strike skill Solar Eclipse on Tatsuya Sudou! AS: Pressure: Tatsuya Suou gains 1 Limit! AS: Tatsuya Suou: Haze removed! AS: Tatsuya Suou regains 30 HP from Regenerate!
AS: Block Best! Ririka Kawase takes 14 Slash damage from Tatsuya Sudou's Quick Strike. Critical Hit! AS: Block Best! Tatsuya Sudou takes 99 Strike damage from Tatsuya Suou's Solar Eclipse. Critical Hit!
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
"Damn right!" Phoenix underlines Ogre's very cool introduction. They're, let's be frank, usually far too angry to be eloquent in a fight, but one of them has to be.
"Jun-kun ain't doomed!" They lobby back to Sudou. ... and them? This isn't about them. ... but would Sudou use Jun as a shield? No, they have to believe that Tatsuya will stay between him and the fight.
Umie says she's Sudou's problem, though, and Phoenix puts that particular suspicion on hold for now; he's targeting her personally, but she probably isn't a secret double agent for the Joker Killer. Still... why's she calling him her brother? ... they've got a bad feeling about this.
(They have a bad feeling specifically because their paranoia's working overtime, but this is not about that.)
Hyousuke's fury enflames them -- one can almost see their bright orange feathered hood flaming up, though that's just the dramatic breeze. "You got it!"
... the cops being here would normally worry them a lot more, but Phoenix knows a thing or two about how legit Katsuya is, so they trust at least that he's going to be focused on bringing the Joker Killer in far more than capturing them. "Fuck off!" They yell, when Sudou tries to report his crime. "We got standards, not like you!" ... they're not saying they're not a criminal, though.
"Ain't got no water," Phoenix -- whose bright orange birdlike hood pretty obviously advertises their element, even if the ninja robes beneath them are more muted -- calls to Fuuka. "But hit him in that light spot? I can manage that."
They can hear Tamaki's bones creaking, over there, and they cast a concerned glance to her. "Same to you," they nod, to her. "Don't flame out, man. Ya got numbers." You can just say not to push yourself, Phoenix! It doesn't HAVE to be a fire pun!
Tatsuya tells them to take responsibility, though, and they grin under their mask. "Ain't no man," they correct him, "I'm jus' a guy... but close enough. Count on it."
But Jun... Jun gave up hope, and Phoenix remembers, then, frozen burning-stabbing in moments which stretched for eternity, questions which didn't make sense, declarations turned to pleading... "Damnit, Suou-kun!" They snap, a foot stomping down. "He shoulda known you was comin'! That shit's th' only way ya hold on if ya down in it--!!"
Of course, it's Tatsuya Suou who should have convinced Jun he'd come for him.
... as much as Phoenix cares for their friend, it's a different kind of relationship altogether, isn't it?
"Oi, Jun-kun!" They call, hearing Jun talk about wanting to remember. "You sure you wanna remember jack?! Shit fucks ya up!" It's illustrative, perhaps, for anyone who hasn't seen him grip his head in agony. And so is this: "We ain't here to see ya screamin', c'mon!" ... and Phoenix always kind of sounds a little mad as hell, but they're very clearly concerned, under that aggression.
The Joker Persona goes off to do -- something -- though, and Phoenix snarls as they charge Sudou's sword with their own. Weight meets speed, and in an instant, Phoenix's sword slams into Sudou's space as Sudou's sword stabs into their arm for once. "Shit!" Phoenix hisses, as they hastily disengage; luckily, Sudou's quick movements aren't looking to chase them down just yet.
"You don't gotta do shit!" They call, to Jun, evidently still anxious about Sudou pressuring him to remember. "We'll make him leave, all right?! So jus'..."
They sink into a low bow, and Sudou might think that, for once, someone is appreciating his work -- except that their arms cross their chest, and with all theatrics in the world, they pull out a GOD DAMN ROCKET LAUNCHER and a shell which they proceed to load into it with one smooth motion. Planting the end of the massive -- gun? -- on the ground, they tear off their mask, in a shower of blood and blue flame. "IZBUSHKA NA KUR'IH NOZHKAH!" They invoke, as a massive Persona rises behind them, chicken legs as large as a man holding up a great hut with a thatched roof and hatched windows which flap like little wings. It's surrounded by a fence of spines and skulls, like a skirt hanging off of it -- and those skulls all orient on Sudou, as they glow with flame.
"... COUNT ON US!" Phoenix yells, as they take that rocket launcher in both of their arms, and fire off a shell at Sudou, as their Persona wreathes the whole thing in cratering flame.
... they're counting on Tatsuya to make sure Jun doesn't get caught in the blast zone, in turn.
AS: Tsubasa Seki spends Limit on Exploit! Tsubasa Seki can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Tandem! Theurgy! Tsubasa Seki has used the Fire skill Rocket Sublation on Tatsuya Sudou! AS: Tsubasa Seki takes 60 damage from Stress! AS: Aggression: Tsubasa Seki gains 1 Limit! AS: Tsubasa Seki: Haze removed! AS: Tsubasa Seki regains 8 HP from Regenerate! AS: Block Worst! Tatsuya Sudou takes 227 Fire damage from Tsubasa Seki's Rocket Sublation. Critical Hit!
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Maya summons a different Persona! Ogre blinks at her--but doesn't comment. 'Ogre' isn't Maya's young friend; Ichika is. ...And Ririka supports her too. "--Kawase," Ogre calls, "Thanks. But I'll tell your sister you're talking like that," she teases. Hyousuke's counting on her--and his shockwave of burning anger infuses her with power, too. An anger that doesn't just unsettle her...
She grins over at Katsuya Suou when he doesn't contest her. "But you can keep the bad guy, if we can take him down!"
"The earth isn't moving for you," Ogre says to Sudou, lifting an eyebrow because she doesn't know about the aliens so she assumes it's a gross thing instead. The paper bag's smile grows, though. Ichika doesn't like that much. It's creepy as hell. And suddenly--
Sudou's sword CLANGS against Ogre's shield, but she can't pin him down--just defend.
While Jun... Jun is forgetting something important? He's--
"Jun-kun!" Ogre calls in alarm, seeing him double over. "No! Hey, asshole, what are you doing to him!?"
But Tatsuya Suou doesn't explain 'him'. ...Ichika can assume he's just busy with Jun... But maybe it's more than that. Either way, it's a mystery for now.
A mystery, like... remembering, forgetting.
"Fuck 'doomed'!" Ogre calls at Sudou, and pulls her hunting rifle. She lifts it up, takes aim through the scope. "...Count on us," she agrees with Phoenix, and abrubtly a huge pile of stone erupts at her feet--some granite, some shale, some gems, all sorts of mineral wealth. And she rises up to the top of it, on a hill.
She takes aim--a reticle appears in the world, circling, circling--centers on Tatsuya Sudou.
"Got you!"
She fires, and the stones all come down like an avalanche, right for him.
...it'll only hurt Sudou. But Tatsuya's protecting Jun fine... right?
AS: Ichika Kawase spends Limit on Exploit! Ichika Kawase can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Tandem! Theurgy! Ichika Kawase has used the Earth skill Mountain Drift on Tatsuya Sudou! 2 Hits!
<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.
"Thanks, Katsuya-san! Though really, shouldn't I be saying that to you?" After all, Katsuya was the police officer!
But Katsuya's not the only one looking after her. Tamaki urges her to get behind her -- and who is Maya to say no to such a reasonable request? "Thanks!" she chimes in again gratefully. "You're always saving me, Tamaki-san! I'll have to treat you to curry at LeBlanc sometime!"
She probably needs to do the same for Katsuya, too! Maybe they could all have a party there once they saved Jun-kun.
"None of us are going to let you lay another finger on him!" And while Sudou doesn't lay a finger on Jun, he certainly lays one on everyone else. Maya's grateful that she has Tamaki's protection from his sword, but not everyone is that lucky.
"Let Jun-kun go!"
Maya summons her Persona again; this time it's not Maia or Pixie, but a persona she's never used before.
"Iris!"
AS: Persona! Maya Amano has used the Earth skill Magnara on Tatsuya Sudou! AS: Ruin: Maya Amano gains 1 Limit! AS: Maya Amano: Haze removed!
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka gives Hyousuke a nod back. "Take him down! I've got your back!" She has her talents--she can fight, but not to the degree others can.
Maybe Ririka needs to consider identifying herself when she uses the Navigator Link. But at least Jun recognizes her now. But she is enormously relieved to see him in either case.
There's a lot going on in this battle, and even with Ririka splitting the Navigator duties with Fuuka, it's hard to try and process everything.
But she hears Jun cry out, and Ririka starts-- "Oh no, Kashihara-san--! What--" She looks around. She doesn't sense an attack. "Yamagishi-san, did you see anything affecting Kashihara-san?"
But Sudou asks her to heal hi, and Ririka snorts in disgust. "Yeah, right. Like i'd heal you. What's the matter? Losing too much blood?"
Okay anyone else she probably would actually be pretty concerned about that.
But Sudou's soon shouting about Jun remembering something, and that gives Ririka a really bad feeling. (She's not even going to volunteer any info on how they found him.) "What are you going on about?"
That PErsona though--Ririka remembers that one, and she clenches her jaw as it vanishes. "Amphion, we have to find that thing!" But before they can start on that Sudou is rushing on them, and Ririka, thanks to her practice with Akihio, brings her Katana up in a guard just in time, though the force of it makes her arms tremble. "What are you up to!? Where'd you send your Persona?" she demands as she finally pushes the other blade away.
Whatever it is he's doing, or what's going on... there's no way any of it can be good, right? "... Amphion..." She closes her eyes for a moment to just listen and take stock of the battlefield--who's in the best position, and how can she support everyone?
... There. "Amphion! Let's rev everyone up!"
Amphion starts to play a rapid and upbeat song, fingers flying over the holographic strings of his golden lyre. Hot-blooded music reaches out, wrapping itself around Katsuya, Tamaki, Hyousuke, and Umie to try and give them the motivation to keep fighting.
And through the Navigator link she sends them a sound to alert them to a weakness of the Joker Killer's. <Here--now's the time to strike!>
AS: Persona! Ririka Kawase has used the Recovery skill Victory Song on Katsuya Suou, Tamaki Uchida, Hyousuke Suzuki, and Umie Akabane! AS: Insight: Ririka Kawase gains 1 Limit! AS: Take! Tamaki Uchida takes 0 Recovery healing from Ririka Kawase's Victory Song. AS: Crt_Up added! AS: Block Best! Tatsuya Sudou takes 77 Earth damage from Ichika Kawase's Mountain Drift. AS: Avoid Worst! Tatsuya Sudou takes 189 Earth damage from Ichika Kawase's Mountain Drift. Critical Hit! AS: Ririka Kawase spends Limit on Shift! Hyousuke Suzuki can use another Weak skill this round! They both receive 8 SP and 30 HP! AS: Ririka Kawase spends Limit on Shift! Umie Akabane can use another Weak skill this round! They both receive 8 SP and 30 HP! AS: Avoid Worst! Tatsuya Sudou takes 141 Earth damage from Maya Amano's Magnara. AS: Bind added! AS: Take! Hyousuke Suzuki takes 0 Recovery healing from Ririka Kawase's Victory Song. AS: Spd_Up added!
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka blinks at Ogre as she threatens to tell her sister. "Wha-- Hey, nobody likes a narc, Ogre!"
AS: Take! Katsuya Suou takes 0 Recovery healing from Ririka Kawase's Victory Song. AS: Crt_Up added!
<Pose Tracker> Fuuka Yamagishi has posed.
Jun stays put. Fuuka decides that might be for the best - Tatsuya seems to know what he's doing, and running out into a battlefield would be dangerous.
"Yes! He should be more vulnerable there." Fuuka confirms, as Phoenix calls out to her.
The Joker Killer's flippant response, meanwhile, gives her pause. A bath...? She doesn't really know how to respond to that.
"I don't... think you're in any position to complain about what others are doing." Fuuka manages, after a moment. "You interfere with and destroy other people's lives, and then you act offended when they try to stop you..."
She hears a shriek, then, and looks toward Jun.
"Kashihara-san!?" She gasps, and looks toward Ririka. "No, I didn't see an attack... I don't understand what's happening."
Unfortunately, he doesn't have a Persona... as much as she'd like to help, there's nothing she can do directly.
Nothing but try to end this as quickly as possible so they can get out of here.
Fuuka draws her Evoker once more, and brings out a glowing cartridge, thrumming with power. She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes.
"Lucia... Guide us. Oracle...!" Fuuka requests - and fires. Once more, the sound of shattering glass. And when she opens her eyes again, they glow a brilliant blue. Information floods into her mind. Vast, but temporary - it's difficult to filter through it all, but she can see it... Avenues of attack - methods of drawing out everyone's inner power...
"I can see it... Please - use this to stop him so we can save Kashihara-san!" Fuuka requests. Through the Navigator link she parses the information out to everyone she can reach, letting them choose to use it as they please.
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
Katsuya, as his wondering about the term Umie had used to himself might have indicated, isn't familiar with the term 'the Mark'. He is, however, very familiar with the outcome of its use. He's seen it for himself twice over, and knows that where that phenomenon has occured, it tends to 'stick'. He might well get the name later. Now, though?
Now, they have to keep Sudou from doing whatever he is doing with his hostage.
Jun, at least, isn't now immediately in Sudou's grasp: that's good. The fact that it's his brother who stands between him and Jun is... rather less good, from the perspective of one over-protective brother, even if he knows, by now, that his brother is on another level than him or in fact most of the other people here (and in fact Katsuya would be wrong about that, too-- Tatsuya is in skill beyond everyone here).
How, or rather, when his brother claimed that much power is a question he hasn't had an answer for yet.
'Worry about yourself'.
The expression that crosses Katsuya's face says everything. If it weren't for the perilous stakes at hand, there would have been words. Instead, Katsuya holds his tongue, as difficult as that is for him, and stays focused on the man who threatens an innocent citizen and his brother with sword and Persona.
Shouldn't she be saying that to him? "Well-- it is like you said!" he answers Maya, finding himself a little bewildered in the moment for some reason.
"Good," he answers Tamaki, and as she moves to both cover Maya and back him up, he fires back a, "Thank you!" There's a lot of people here, and he can't hope to actually protect all of them by himself, but if they can work together...
...and that includes a couple of would-be thieves. Phoenix is correct: in other circumstances he might well opt to try to take them in, but there's only one person here who counts as the villain, and that's the one with the body count. When Ogre says that they'll leave Sudou for him to arrest, though, Katsuya raises an eyebrow. "Thank you, I... think?"
But he catches some of what Jun says to his brother. Above all else, the way he addresses his brother, but also the way he...
[VOLITION/] [Challenging: Success]: Tatsuya never played with him when he was little. You can't remember all his childhood friends' names, but you would recognize them if you saw them again. Even after all this time.
[EMPATHY/]: [Legendary: Success]: That isn't the way you address a friend. In fact, it sounds more like the way you address a...
Katsuya, who might be a square but who isn't unaware of such things simply as result of his line of work and some of the people with which he's formed a connection, slowly turns his gaze to focus on his younger brother.
"Tatsuya, you're--?!"
...Is this really the time for that, though. Shaking his head as if to force himself to focus, Katsuya refocuses on Sudou.
"That's enough out of you, #501! Drop your weapon if you want to turn yourself in, and do it now!"
His answer may as well come with the weapon that Sudou brandishes shortly after the serial killer's Persona vanishes to parts unknown. Even when he tries to position himself and his Persona to take that hit straight on, Helios only recoils from the blow itself and Katsuya can feel it as if it had hit him straight on. Doubling over, he straightens after a moment more. Mercifully, Ririka's Persona is right there to put some pep back in his step, so to speak. "Ah, thank you!"
And he answers that in kind by drawing upon a particular spell card he had claimed, months ago, the purchase finally proving its worth. Grasping the spectral form of the card in one clawed hand, Helios sheds healing energy across some of those here, while Katsuya, moving while his Persona is working to defend the others, opts to shoot Sudou again. "There!"
AS: Katsuya Suou spends Limit on Exploit! Katsuya Suou can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Fuuka Yamagishi spends Limit on Exploit! Fuuka Yamagishi can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Persona! Theurgy! Fuuka Yamagishi has used the Almighty skill Oracle on Katsuya Suou, Tamaki Uchida, Hyousuke Suzuki, and Umie Akabane! AS: Insight: Fuuka Yamagishi gains 1 Limit! AS: Take! Tamaki Uchida takes 0 Almighty damage from Fuuka Yamagishi's Oracle. AS: Atk_Up and Inner_Strength added! AS: Take! Hyousuke Suzuki takes 0 Almighty damage from Fuuka Yamagishi's Oracle. AS: Atk_Up and Inner_Strength added! Crt_Up, Def_Up, and Spd_Up removed! AS: Take! Umie Akabane takes 0 Recovery healing from Ririka Kawase's Victory Song. AS: Def_Up added! AS: You have 1 more attack in queue! AS: Take! Umie Akabane takes 0 Almighty damage from Fuuka Yamagishi's Oracle. AS: Atk_Up and Inner_Strength added! AS: Take! Katsuya Suou takes 0 Almighty damage from Fuuka Yamagishi's Oracle. AS: Atk_Up and Inner_Strength added! AS: Persona! Katsuya Suou has used the Recovery skill Media on Tsubasa Seki, Tamaki Uchida, Hyousuke Suzuki, and Fuuka Yamagishi! AS: Defense: Katsuya Suou gains 1 Limit! AS: Take! Tamaki Uchida takes 96 Recovery healing from Katsuya Suou's Media. AS: Weapon! Katsuya Suou has used the Pierce skill Handgun - Suppression Fire on Tatsuya Sudou! 2 Hits! AS: Take! Fuuka Yamagishi takes 96 Recovery healing from Katsuya Suou's Media. AS: Take! Hyousuke Suzuki takes 96 Recovery healing from Katsuya Suou's Media. AS: Take! Tsubasa Seki takes 96 Recovery healing from Katsuya Suou's Media. AS: Block Best! Tatsuya Sudou takes 25 Pierce damage from Katsuya Suou's Handgun - Suppression Fire. AS: Block Best! Tatsuya Sudou takes 25 Pierce damage from Katsuya Suou's Handgun - Suppression Fire.
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
When Tamaki hears Sudou's taunt towards Hyousuke, her immediate thought is 'oh, same', but ... no, that isn't quite correct. Someone who doesn't rest, doesn't stay down, somoene who keeps coming no matter what was her a few years ago. Now? She's just tired, both physically in the present moment and existentially.
... or so she felt until Phoenix's encouragement. 'Don't flame out, man. Ya got numbers.' She turns to grin at them. "Hey, that's my line! Don't worry, I'll catch my second wind soon enough. Trust me, no one's suffering burnout on my watch, myself included." Like Katsuya noticed, they're better when they can work together and spread the burden between them all. That goes both ways: she can sub in when someone else needs a break, and she can tag someone else in when she needs a breather, herself.
At Sudou's request that they reveal just how they knew where to find him and Jun, Tamaki initially appears to consider before she cheerily replies, "Mmmmm ... no! All I'm letting you know is that we've done our homework! Your dossier is getting bigger and bigger all the time, you should be proud!"
To demonstrate her claim, she pulls out a Skill Card. "Case in point: I came prepared just for you." Arianrhod lowers her sword and stretches out a free hand to chant the spell for his doom. While Eikichi isn't here, she did learn the fact from him -- and Fuuka's analysis confirms the fact for certain. "Bufu!"
In his drive-by indiscriminate round of slashes for everyone, Tamaki takes a share of damage for both herself and Maya -- and frowns at a torn sleeve as she puts a price tag on that, too. Every monetary expense that comes out of her pocket does, admittedly, mean less money goes to one of her best sources for Rumors. Maya's offer to visit LeBlanc's does cause her eyes to widen and smile gratefully. "Oh, uh -- I'd like that!"
Jun's scream after his exchange with Tatsuya gives her pause. That's ... incredibly worrying, even if she doesn't fully understand the full situation. There's a lot for her to unpack there -- nothing about this other side, whatever that is, but her own history -- but that'll have to wait until after the cacophony and pandemonium have ended.
Her eyes slide over to Katsuya at his cut short exclamation. Speaking of things to unpack later ...
Ririka's hint alerts her to a gap in Sudou's whirling dervish: "Thanks! Hey, Old Maid, you left yourself open!" Tamaki pulls out another Skill Card, and Arianrhod levels her broadsword in his direction to cash in on her opening gambit as an ethereal barrier of strange nonsensical written characters surround him and muffle any sounds -- or voices -- he might be hearing, taking one of her lessons from Nameless to heart. "Mafui!"
Hopefully that can blunt the full effect of whatever Sudou's trying to make him remember.
She's not a healer per se, not intrinsically -- that, too, is something she's only capable of through a Skill Card, the third one she has on-deck today. (Or in-deck, rather.)
... wait, didn't she say she hated card games?
AS: Tamaki Uchida spends Limit on Exploit! Tamaki Uchida can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Persona! Tamaki Uchida has used the Water skill Bufu on Tatsuya Sudou! AS: Ruin: Tamaki Uchida gains 1 Limit! AS: Persona! Tamaki Uchida has used the Almighty skill Mafui on Tatsuya Sudou! AS: Tamaki Uchida: Haze removed! AS: Avoid Neutral! Tatsuya Sudou takes 87 Water damage from Tamaki Uchida's Bufu. Weak! Avoid Water! AS: Bind added! AS: Take! Tatsuya Sudou takes 0 Almighty damage from Tamaki Uchida's Mafui. AS: Panic and Sick added! Charm and Poison removed! Explosion! 240 damage!
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
"Shut the fuck up."
Hyousuke's response was short, curt, and dripping with venom. "You're nothing. You're an asshole running around in a shitty little paper bag." Achilles' blow did little and less, but Hyousuke didn't care. He marched onwards, hands raised just enough to constitute a guard, and ground his teeth together in undisguised fury. "Only one doomed here is *you.* Doesn't matter how many times we have to fight you - we *will* end you." Ichika, Tsubasa, Tamaki, Ririka, Fuuka, everyone - he meant them all when he said 'we.' He did not speak back at Tamaki when she called out to him, but he hoped the glance he spared her and the shift in his mask as he grinned her way constituted a good enough response.
Hyousuke nodded firmly again, this time at Jun.
"Did you think I was just gonna leave you?" He asked, though did not listen for - or expect - an answer. In truth, he didn't much care about whatever answer Jun might or might not have had for him anyway. His friend had been taken, and he had the power to charge in and take him back. What kind of a friend would he have been if he didn't deliver his vengeance upon the Joker Killer? Even if Jun walked away from it seeing him for the violent, bloodstarved beast he was, at least Jun would be able to walk away from it.
Then, he stopped.
Jun had been speaking to the stranger in ways he'd never seen nor heard before. Hyousuke wondered if they were the boy that Jun had mentioned all those weeks ago in the classroom, speaking of a love that might never be, but his train of thought came crashing to a halt when he saw his friend wracked by excruciating pain. The colour drained from his face, and for a moment, all thoughts of fighting and fury left his mind. The person he had come to save - the friend he held dear - was afflicted with something that he could not even guess at.
"Kashihara-san!" Hyousuke called out, reaching his hand towards Jun, before stealing a panicked glance at the navigators gathered. "What the hell's happening to him? Someone- anyone- Help him!" It wasn't an order. Rather, it was a plea. For all of his brute strength and determination, what few options Hyousuke had for healing felt insufficient. He didn't know what was happening. He didn't know why. He couldn't even think to ponder the two. All he could tell was that Jun was in pain, and the Joker Killer seemed to relish it.
"You son of a bitch... What the hell did you do to my friend?!" The cold and calculating fury he had entered with began to melt and crack, and that ever-familiar heat began to rise in his soul. Rage, wild as a beast and hot as a blaze, flickered and sparked within his depths. It caught, it was stoked, and then it *burnt.* Any semblance of strategy or tactics left his mind, and whatever Tatsuya spoke of in regards to sins and memory was ignored in favour of exacting bloody, righteous, vengeance.
Hyousuke burst forward with an explosion of speed, a blur of purples and gold. He saw the blade's keen edge stealing through the air. He felt it carve into his flesh, tearing through armour and skin and muscle until blood oozed from a wound on his chest. It was agony, white-hot and icy-cold at the same time, but he did not falter. He took the blow with a teeth-grinding clench of his jaw, and heaved his fist back into Sudou in retaliation, savouring the crack of his knuckles against him before drawing back.
Adrenaline seeped from the wound as surely as blood did, but he grit his teeth and powered through it, standing tall and clenching his fists, now raised into a true guard. The pain kept him awake. The pain kept him focussed. The pain kept him *angry.* And he needed every scrap of it he could take if it meant ending things for good. Ririka's call snapped him out of whatever thoughts he had ensconced himself in to ignore the gash across his body, and he canted his head ever so slightly in her direction.
"Then I'd better not disappoint." Was all the response he gave before summoning Achilles to his side once more.
Behind Hyousuke stood a towering pillar of bronze, its shadow swallowing him whole, even as the healing light of Media began to knit his wound closed. It might have been difficult to hear him utter a brief "Thanks!" To Katsuya for the healing, or see him turn to give a firm nod in his direction. The problem of sight, at least, was lessened as Achilles held his spear skyward, and manifested his legendary rage into it.
Wisps of crimson turned to thick flows of sanguine red, seeping into the haft and the spearhead both. Like searing blood, that energy ran through every grain, every crevice, every notch and dent in that mythical weapon, suffusing it with the griefstricken fury of its wielder. Hyousuke, though he remained still, allowed his own to surge into the mighty spear, forcing his hatred and his rage into his Persona's own weapon, until Achilles held a shard of scarlet in a bronze-wreathed hand.
"Achilles." He snarled, his voice more a bestial and guttural *noise* than any kind of speech. "Finish it."
Bronze streaked towards the warped sky, and for a moment, Achilles vanished. Then, a glint in the air, like a falling star in the distance. But what descended upon Sudou was no mere fragment of stone. It was a titan, holding its own manifested rage between two hands, heaving it into him with a meteoric blow that sent a shockwave tearing across the roof.
AS: Persona! Theurgy! Hyousuke Suzuki has used the Pierce skill Princeslayer on Tatsuya Sudou! AS: Pressure: Hyousuke Suzuki gains 1 Limit! AS: Hyousuke Suzuki: Crt_Up and Def_Up removed!
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Umie gives Tamaki a thumbs up, then points to Katsuya to issue another thumbs up to the Kuzunoha apprentice.
She's very proud of-- oh, she could have also alerted more people, couldn't she?
In her overfocus in beating Sudou back, Umie had readily consigned Jun to Tatsuya's care. Jun's correct in his assessment, however: it is *very* personal. All of Umie's fire would look like a sputtering candle compared to someone like Tatsuya, however.
How did everyone know, Sudou asks? Oh, Umie will tell him, alright. "Kashihara-kun's selflessness has given him quite a few fans," Umie answers Sudou, her eyelids lowering behind that plain mask. "All of us were searching for him."
And despite all that, it may have been too late. Umie glances back at Jun, and draws a sharp hiss of breath
Nonono, this is how it spreads, isn't it...
"Remember what I--" _Wrong choice of words there, Umie_. Consider those next words carefully; nothing good can come from failing this last moment to change a bad outcome. "It's all delusion, Kashihara-kun. It's just a ploy to get people to remember something that doesn't exist!" Why is Jun the lynchpin, though? Why this one person? Is it just to torture Tatsuya?
It is. That can be the only reason for any of this, Umie reasons, as she sees Tatsuya kneel in front of Jun so tenderly. Tatsuya felt something for Jun, and the 'Him' (just as hers is a 'Her) simply wove the boy into a web of deceit, further spreading the Mark's decay over the city, Just as Sudou had by being the Joker KIller, and she... "It's... all just something being used to torture Tatsuya-kun. The Old Maid, and Takkun here... whatever lies behind this... 'thing', spreads its power through lies and distortion. You can't take anything back from Takkun's shoulders by embracing it."
'Tatsuya, you're--?!' Umie casts a panicked look at Katsuya....
.... and then, just decides to not say anything. Yeah, why *not* let this happen?
"When Sudou's gone, things will go back to normal," she lies, softly. "Just... hold in there, for a few more minutes. Please."
Turning back to Sudou, she throws the bifurcated blade of her kyoketsu-shoge up, in order to divert Sudou's attack. "In June, the spider lilies bloom blood red in the fields," she huffs, beginning her chant. "A man hangs from the branch, caught between decision and action..."
Blue light catches the grey and red of Badb.... "A blackbird cries in the tree, who hears it? Who is there? Who is it, with that face?"
.... from whom bursts a cape of thorns and blood, cracking along the concrete roof to burst at Sudou's feet.
AS: Umie Akabane spends Limit on Psych! AS: Tandem! Theurgy! Umie Akabane has used the Dark skill Garden of the Crow on Tatsuya Sudou! 3 Hits! AS: Umie Akabane takes 60 damage from Stress! AS: Ruin: Umie Akabane gains 1 Limit! AS: Umie Akabane: Psych removed! AS: Umie Akabane regains 3 SP from Invigorate!
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
'... I would never stop coming to find you,' Tatsuya tells Jun.
Jun's heart is full to bursting with joy--until it feels like it simply bursts.
Sudou's delight at the prospect of Jun finally remembering the Other Side is so palpable, he can taste it--like bile rising before the vomit. Jun doesn't respond to his offered bribe, not directly, not immediately. His head is pounding. That JOKER Persona he calls up, it's familiar in all the most horrifically worst ways. There's something so close to the tip of his tongue, but he can't. quite. remember.
You must not... remember...
Tatsuya kneels before him, all but begging him not to remember. It parallels a voice that Jun remembers from his dreams. Fingers digging into his hair, he peers back up at him with a wide, frightened gaze, and their eyes meet. It's hard to tell just from the look on his face if he comprehends, but something does get through. Tatsuya's responsibility... and Jun's.
There was a promise.
Yes.
He promised Tatsuya, that day in the Kuzunoha Detective Agency. He promised Tatsuya he wouldn't cause him any trouble, that he'd stay away from trouble, even though the desire to know burns within him. Trouble has always come for him all the same. Jun has tried his damnedest over and over again to avoid it, until the only way to keep avoiding it was to allow someone else to come to hard. That wasn't acceptable to him, and so he stepped forward of his own will into this Hell.
I can only give you... a chance...
Jun... his name. Jun... Jun K****... Jun Kurosu-- Jun Kashihara--
Which is the real him? For a moment, his image of himself overlaps in his mind. The Black Cross, or the Oak Field? He's always answered to the latter up until now, but the former feels so achingly familiar it hurts the marrow of his bones. He can even see the branch in time where he might have been "Jun Kurosu"--that's his mother's maiden name, after all. Jun Kurosu. Junko Kurosu. Like mother, like son, an Aquarius...
She loves him. She hates him. She's alive. She's dead. Which is true? Umie calls it delusion and warns him against it, but which one is the delusion?
Maya shouts that none of them will let Sudou lay a finger on Jun, but he doesn't need to physically touch him at this point. All the bodies in the world can't protect Jun when the enemy is his own mind, threatening to spill in from the Other Side like quicksand. Neither Ogre nor Ririka understand what Sudou's doing; they can only fret about Jun, like Tamaki when she hears his screaming, and then press the offense. Fuuka won't be able to sense any attack on him either, because it isn't just Sudou, not really. It's simply the weight of another world threatening to collapse in and shatter one of the pillars stabilizing this one.
You must claim... your name... and awaken... from your dreams of... the "Other Side"...
Phoenix yells at him--does he really want to remember? No matter how awful, no matter how painful, no matter how much it will ruin him and everything? And the truth is, he does. If it means he can be closer to Tatsuya, he does. That's his truth.
But--
He shudders and doubles over, tears beading in the corners of his eyes. His heart hurts. His soul hurts. "Tatsuya! Tatsuya... I want to remember you!" Jun cries again. Katsuya hears the plaintive way he addresses his brother, and finally puts together what Hyousuke can only wonder even with context, but Jun himself is beyond noticing they've been noticed. His arms fall from his head and clutch the floor as he pants. "But--" He feels sick--so sick--
sick and tired of being at someone else's mercy.
Sudou bids him remember, offering him a bribe of his own departure in exchange. A token of his good will, as if there's anything about his will that's good. With a hoarse scream, Jun pounds a fist on the floor, over and over and over, mirroring the pulsing of latent power in his brain.
I want to remember you.
That's his truth. Even so,
"I WON'T!! I WON'T, I WON'T, I WON'T!"
He pushes himself up by his fists, swaying up to his feet. "Because... I promised... I mustn't remember--right?" He turns his one visible eye to Tatsuya in a pained, wretched, lovingly bittersweet smile. "I don't understand why, but I understand that much. That's why you've been keeping me at arm's length... isn't it? I feel it deep in my heart, like a truth at the bottom of a limpid pool." His hands clench into fists. "I may not know... but I'm choosing to trust it. You and I, we made a promise..."
He glares over at Sudou from behind the curtain of his bangs. "...and I won't break it. I'm not going to give in to your delusions! I REFUSE!"
The dream... must stay... a dream...
"The dream will stay a dream. I will make it stay a dream, as I awaken and move on," Jun declares, back straightening, bearing turning regal... like a little prince. He shuts his eyes and bows his head; when he snaps them both up again, his eyes shine a brilliant blue. He raises a delicate, bloody hand with grace and plucks the sprig of lilac he'd slipped into his breast pocket earlier to direct at Sudou like an épée.
Lilac: in the language of flowers, it means friendship, modesty, and memories.
Lilac: Jun had given it to Sudou with a smile before as a token of encouragement.
Lilac: now he wields it as a weapon of defiance against the very same.
Above him, the air shatters, and his Persona manifests as motes of gold whorl around them in a spiral.
Tatsuya will recognize it well, even as there are several crucial differences. On the Other Side, his name was Hermes. Here, he's still familiar: a curious-looking man in golden armor and vestments of white and striped back, with a face like a plane grill. His helmet and shoes are winged with rockets, small plane wings adorn his back, and he wields a caduceus topped with a spaceship.
However, instead of a black cross, a black X now adorns his chest, not unlike the one on Tatsuya's, and the bolts on his armor occasionally open up at the center to reveal sleepy green eyes that inevitably blink shut again. Light floods around him and his other self, as Jun calls his name: not Hermes, not even Mercury, but--
"ARGEIPHONTES!!"
Well done, my alter ego... he intones. I am Argeiphontes... Slayer of the giant Argus, whose hundred eyes I shut with slumber... Together, let us be as a keystone and safeguard this world with a selflessness like the wind's...
He spreads his arms and points his caduceus forward along with Jun. A force of will from Persona and User calls forth a cyclone of brilliant green that whorls around Jun and Argeiphontes, barely tousling his silky black hair, yet slicing even the slightest particle in his path. Those raging winds build and build around them in a growing sphere, momentum reaching reckless speeds, before finally it breaks off from itself and slashes forward without mercy towards the JOKER Persona like a ribbon of shearing wind.
Truly, it is a Dangerous Garula.
AS: Jun Kashihara has readied for combat as Argeiphontes! He is now fully healed! AS: Persona! Jun Kashihara has used the Wind skill Dangerous Garula on Tatsuya Sudou! AS: Block Worst! Tatsuya Sudou takes 168 Pierce damage from Hyousuke Suzuki's Princeslayer. AS: Avoid Best! Tatsuya Sudou takes 72 Dark damage from Umie Akabane's Garden of the Crow. Critical Hit! AS: Avoid Best! Tatsuya Sudou takes 50 Dark damage from Umie Akabane's Garden of the Crow. AS: Avoid Worst! Tatsuya Sudou takes 94 Dark damage from Umie Akabane's Garden of the Crow. AS: Block Worst! Tatsuya Sudou takes 109 Wind damage from Jun Kashihara's Dangerous Garula. AS: Haze and Panic added! Bind removed! Explosion! 75 damage!
<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Sudou has posed.
The purple fist of Tatsuya's magic strikes him head on and he stumbles back feeling woozy from the strike, speaking up, "Tatsu-chan, we really should stop fighting. We can both be the heros of this story if you just would help me. We could fix things"
Sudou hears the threat from Phoenix and turns to mock them but all he can says is, "Is that a god damn rocket launcher? Is that even legal?" Then they fire it at Sudou and he tries to shield himself from the attack as it explodes around him.
This is followed by rocks beginning to fall on him as he initially tries to shield himself but has to break his stance and actually try to avoid them. "You can try to ignore it but doom comes for us all. One day you will all realize I was trying to help."
More rocks give him chase as he shouts at Maya, "Oh come on! Isn't two persona's enough! This has to be against the rules! Can I get a judging." He asks but only the earth itself judges him as he eats roof face first.
The Old Maid's request is denied as he makes an effort to climb to his feet, "Do I come to your home and attack you guys just randomly out of the blue?"
Fuuka seems to answer that as she requests the oracle to guide them. "I have a friend you could talk to. They are much more accurate than an oracle. It wouldn't even hurt. I think you don't even need a mummy to do it. "
His attention turns to the brotherly movement between the Suous before he interrupts, "So you promise if I drop my weapon all of you will stop attacking me and we can sort this out like normal..." The Old Maid can't finish his sentence as Katsuya has chosen violence against Sudou, again. Bullets rain down as Sudou is forced to take cover by broken earth. He would count the added holes later. " I am starting to think if I put my hands up you would shoot me on principal Katsuya.
Sudou hadn't even had time to process Tamaki's response as he has been a bit busy. It isn't until she helpfully points out he is open that causes him to instinctually dive out of the way. More magic is dropped on him and feels like his insides are burning as the magics react to each other. "Thanks." He groans to Tamaki for the warning and gets to his feet.
This has left him face to face with Hyousuke, "I won't end, as you lack the power to do that. " Sudou taunts and then glances from Hyousuke to Jun and back, "I simply planted the seed and watered it for a week. What sprouts will be something that has been there for oh at least ten years give or take." Sudou laughs and is still laughing when the titan descends as forms to protect himself. The rage of earth hits him full on and he skids across the roof top but still chuckles at the rage monster.
Standing to his feet he finally catches his breath looking to Umie, " It does exist Umie, you know it and I know it. Even Tatsuya knows it, oh I'd say he knows it most of all. It's why he doesn't wish for Jun to remember. " The thousand paper cuts that is Umie's magic descends on him as he does his best to run away, "You said it little sister, within Jun the spider lily will bloom blood red. You will cry tears, but it will be ok. For you will accept the truth and help welcome Jun back. " He twists Umie's prophecy as he can't avoid her attacks but its fine. Just a little longer
Then it happens, Jun is primed and is ready and....lets Sudou down so hard. The mental damage there is almost as much as the damage his body has taken. Staring at Jun he is stunned and simply watches what unfolds. The raging winds blow him across the roof to the very edge as the bag is shredded and barely staying together. Standing up slowly, Sudou composes himself.
The Joker Killer brushes himself off, getting blood on his hands. He fixes his trench coat, the bag that barely hides clear cut evidence who he is. The breathing is slow for a moment. "Ok I see. Taking the long road. That's fine. Hey I get it, took me a really long time to get it. " Taking a moment he stands on the very edge of the roof. " Jun, you can run from it but fate is a cruel mistress and her thorns are already in you. The seed is planted and the anger you direct at me proves it is being watered. Jun Kurosu will one day once again walk the earth."
"Joker!" The Old Maid shouts as Joker returns from wherever it went and holds up a cardboard container for a deck of cards. Anyone who had seen this before might know what is happening, before the Persona opens the container revealing it is empty. The Joker persona snickers before a low rumbling can be heard. Sudou smiles and falls backward, letting himself fall off the roof into the nothingness of the metaverse.
Starting on floor one and moving upward explosion after explosion occurs, who knows how long the building will last. It would appear it is moving day and everyone has to leave.
<Pose Tracker> Tatsuya Suou has posed.
"I'm no hero... and neither are you. You're just a killer who's been tricked into being a pawn." He says to Sudou, and for whatever sympathy he holds to someone in his thrall, he doesn't let himself feel it in this moment. "Stop trying to be the King, if you know what's good for you."
Not a man, just a guy? That causes Tatsuya Suou, who could once philosophize about being a man and what it means all day, getting confused about the distinction. But you know what?
It doesn't matter if he doesn't get it.
"I'll hold you to that."
And Phoenix holding him to this. Well let's just say as Apollo descends in front of the blast zone, there's a corona of heat as the Persona dissipates anything coming even remotely near Jun harmlessly.
Yes obviously he's busy Ogre, not just ignoring you. No he's absolutely not going to answer that question, there's no chance in the world. He's the reason he's on 'This Side' right now, he has to take responsibility and deal with that so this world can go back to how it was.
'Tatsuya, you're--?!'
THAT gets a reaction out of Tatsuya, who looks up at his brother like he'd suddenly gained potentially more insight into him from this moment than he's ever had in their entire lives.
He gives his brother a spooked look, because the last thing he wants is for someone to know his orientation on 'This Side' before being ready, or maybe even knowing himself! Then he carefully controls his expression.
"Don't read into this. You've never been that good of a detective when it comes to family."
You know those moments when it feels like the world is moving in slow motion. It's a loud din, yet he sees Jun's lips moving a moment before he hears him.
'Tatsuya! Tatsuya... I want to remember you.'
And Tatsuya replies with a passionate urgency, "You can't! You mustn't!" In an echo of what he said before. It aches to say this, he looks every bit like his Jun, but he knows he isn't. He's wearing his body from This Side like a skin. The last thing he would do is inflict this punishment upon Jun.
It's why he made him make that promise. He can't know the consequences of breaking it.
Which is why he's shocked when Jun tells him he won't over and over. Because he made him a promise. And despite himself, a thin smile appears upon his lips, in contrast to the intensity of the sorrow within his eyes.
"It would have been better had I said nothing at all." He says, upset beyond all measure in this moment, as his heart is wrenched between trying to make the sacrifice of his friends worthwhile, and wanting to see his Jun again.
"But there was no other choice right now. You can't-!"
There's a swell of bittersweet pride when he sees this Jun stand up to Sudou. As he tells himself, tells the world, tells the Ex-Lion that it must remain a dream. It's Jun, even if it's not his Jun. He's too like him, especially when he produces a Lilac. However, his mind locks up when he sees the swiftly forming Persona.
"Wait-!"
It looks so similar, for a moment he wonders if it broke, not because Jun wanted to break it - but because of the cruelty of Him to force Jun to break his promise. Then he starts to notice the differences.
Not Hermes. Not Chronos... It's...
'ARGEIPHONTES!'
A similar narrative, but not the same. Still bound by the Wheel of Fortune, albeit one less cruel. He closes his eyes, and it's like Hermes is superimposed over it, just beyond the shadows of his eyelids, he can still see it.
What's done is done. There are some things you can't erase, you must live with them. A Sin that must not exist is his burden to bear, just as the agency to fight for This Side is now this Jun's.
Thank you, for keeping your promise.
But still, he can't help but be angry, at the Golden Butterfly with his face. And at 'Him' for bringing him into this again after he suffered so much.
"There is no other road for you to take to get what he wants. You've lost, Sudou." Tatsuya says as he rises again. "Give it up. Your chances are better with us, than whatever you think is waiting for you at the end of this road."
The Joker appears, and Apollo does too. As it shows the empty box and Sudou falls back, Tatsuya alights on the side of the building rapidly, "Damn." He then looks sideways at Jun.
He's already said too much.
"Take care of Jun." He says to all involved, "I'm going after the Joker."
And then Tatsuya leaps off the side of the building, as if it were a small hop off a tree branch to the ground, and vanishes just as swiftly.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Fuuka didn't catch it either. "Damn. Let's try to keep an eye on him, just in case."
Ririka nods to Katsuya. She still doesn't really like cops, but... she saw Katsuya resist a pretty massive (if cognitive) bribe, so... that earned him some points in her book. "Sure."
Hyousuke says he'd better not disappoint,a nd Ririka gives him a firm nod.
All she can do is watch as Jun is seemingly in agony over... remembering, or not. She has no idea of the stakes here, she can't possibly know, but even so--she can see and hear the agony.
'That's why you've been keeping me at arm's length... isn't it?'
Ririka gasps, as she recalls something else Jun told her recently, when they met at a music store in Sumaru, looking between Jun and Tatsuya.
"There's a boy I... have feelings for right now... but it's not to be."
Whatever this was is clearly unfair, and somehow remembering that just makes this feel even worse, but at least it's in a realm she can comprehend.
But then suddenly her attention is drawn upwards as golden motes appear--and at least about this situation eases in her chest. It's not always a blessing to know about the supernatural, but...
... it's better to face it while knowing you can defend yourself.
"Kashihara-san..." A very dangeous Garula happens.
The Old Man asks if he comes to their home to attack them. Ririka scowls angrily. "You attacked our dorm, you asshole! Don't try to play innocent!"
She hadn't told Ichika about that. (And as far as she knows, she still hasn't. Whoops.)
But that freaky Joker Persona comes back, and Ririka curses under her breath. She got distracted--but now she doesn't ahve to wonder what he was doing, as explosions start rocking the building. "Shit. Thaaat's not good."
"Wait--" she tries to say as Tatsuya just... jumps off the building after Sudou. He asks them to take care of Jun... okay then. "Amphion--raise the earth!"
Amphion starts to strum his lyre, a weaving of music so deft and skillful that in mythology it was said to make the rocks themselves levitate, and assemble themselves to form a wall.
And that's what happens here, as rocks from the ground start to levitate, rising up and forming--well, a wall of sorts, at least--a pathway from the exploding building to the next one over. "Everybody, get going!" she says, waving them to the bridge. "Watch your step but move!"
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
"I'M A THIEF, MORON!" Phoenix yells to Sudou, when he asks if their rocket launcher is legal. Answer: obviously not, and that's why they're not sticking around for drinks with the cop.
"Reckon that shit happens when he's reminded a... somethin'?!" Phoenix does their best to explain to Ogre and Hyousuke. "Beats me, man!"
All those echoes of another time...
Tsubasa is a foreigner to them.
They do recognise the tone of someone who's just realised that the closet isn't hiding someone they knew, though... but they don't call Katsuya on it, right now. Good job, good cop...
They are reassured to hear that Tamaki's watching everyone for burnout, though... but they're mostly worried about Jun.
Jun, who, as it happens, decides that he won't. "Holy shit," Phoenix exclaims, as he makes his declarations -- and wields a flower against a blade.
Like, effectively, though. What the FUCK. "THAT'S SO FUCKIN' COOL," Phoenix can be heard, in the distance, as he strikes back. How strong is this guy?!
Strong enough to call down Argeiphontes and his Dangerous Garula, clearly. "Holy shit!" (Again, in chorus.) The Old Maid makes his exit -- and Tatsuya leaps after him. "Yo, Suou-kun--!!" Phoenix yells, but far too late to stop him. "Damn it, that guy..."
They shake their head, and look to Hyousuke. "We'll leave Jun-kun with you," they charge him with his keeping, knowing that the Thieves can't be with the others when the ill Supernatural zone of the Mark fades. "Us, we're outta here. Right, Ogre?" They confirm, looking to her, because even if she's not the Boss of the Thieves she's still their Boss.
With that, they spring over to the fire escape which led them up here -- leaping away from the decrepit apartments to the outer awnings of the Abandoned Factory, and disappearing into its depths.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
'it'...
Hyousuke won't end him, Sudou says, because he lacks the power. AndSudou is so sure that Jun will do as he wants, eventually.. Even as Jun makeshis resolution...
Ogre smiles at Jun. "Kickass," she tells him. "Make your own way. ...I'd say we fulfilled our mission."
"...Promises should be kept. Good luck, Jun-kun."
Suou has a lot to say...
Ogre still doesn't understand. But he seems so sure. And what he says--
Take care of Jun. "Hey, wait--"
Suou's gone. Katsuya had said 'thanks, I think', but Ichika has a feeling, after what went down with his brother, that he isn't thinking about the Phantom Thieves anymore... and maybe that's for the best. But the building--
"Ah, shit."
She doesn't chide Ririka for language anymore. Phoenix calls it so cool, but--
She nods to Phoenix and Hyousuke both. "Yeah," Ogre answers Phoenix. "We're out of here." Beat. "Kawase! Take care of your friends!"
She jumps after Phoenix, leaping away--
And disappearing into the night.
<Pose Tracker> Fuuka Yamagishi has posed.
Healing energy scatters over. Fuuka feels a little less sore afterward.%r"Thank you..." She says gratefully to Katsuya. The Joker Killer, meanwhile, says that he has a friend she can talk to. Fuuka flinches back.
"I don't think... I want to talk to any friend of yours." Fuuka replies.
Jun... there's something he wants to remember - but he declares that he won't. A dream... There's something he must not remember.
A lilac...?
And then, Fuuka gasps. She can feel the new, sudden presence. A Persona, as Jun Awakens.
"Amazing, Kashihara-san...!" ...But... it is tinged with worry. Awakening inevitably means being forced to see things one couldn't before.
The Joker Killer... accepts this, and falls away off the roof -
- and then, the building is rocked by an explosion. Fuuka gasps and stumbles, catching herself on the inside of Lucia's globe to keep herself from falling over.
"That was an explosion...! There were bombs!?" Fuuka calls out. She doesn't need to tell everyone that this is bad. "Everyone, we need to get out of here... Kawase-san, let's look for an escape route! Kashihara-san, how are you feeling? Can you run?"
She knows Awakening can take a lot out of someone - she was out for quite a while, after hers. And much like in her own situation, Jun has been trapped here for quite some time already - she can't imagine how exhausted he must be. The young man in the jacket, Tatsuya, said to look after Jun... she'll do what she can.
Fortunately, Ririka has a plan. Lucia fades, and Fuuka stows away her Evoker, hurrying after her.
"If anyone needs help, please let me know!" She'll do what she can to support along anyone who might need it - waiting by the pathway to help see to it that they all get out of this alive.
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
Singed and bloodied and panting, it took Hyousuke a moment to gather himself enough to realise what was happening. He listened as best he could to Jun, wishing desperately that he could do something to help, or say something that would ease his nerves. He hoped against hope that he could figure out what afflicted Jun, and offer something to salve it. He, with every fibre of his being, wanted to do something more than just stand there dumbly. Yet, it was all he could do, his Persona by his side and readied for another strike.
But he did not need to. A spirit clad in gold appeared, and Hyousuke knew what it was in an instant.
"An Awakening...?" He said, too stunned to hide the incredulous tone in his voice, or the matching look plastered across his face. Briefly, he turned to Ririka, wondering if she had any more guesses that would turn out to be true that day. It was only for a blink, however, and the sound of wind exploding and cleaving through all in its path demanded his attention. Any further inquiries would have to wait - there was business to attend to.
He made to close the distance again. He made to wrench that wretched *thing* back from the grasp of the abyss, and see to it that he did not escape justice.
"I've got all the power I need right here!" Hyousuke shouted. And there it was once more. The fires of rage stoked to melt his ice-cold fury, bursting out as an impassioned cry and unbridled aggression. But for all the strength it instilled him with, it could not grant him enough to snatch the Joker Killer away from the ledge.
"NO!" Hyousuke bellowed, his voice a pained roar. "Get back here! Goddamnit, you don't get to-"
Two things cut his speech off before it could begin in earnest. The first was a series of explosions, rattling the ground beneath them, and drawing closer with every passing second. He opened his mouth as if to give the order to leave, but before even that could slip from him, Tatsuya made to follow. He did not know the man, and he had no idea of the intricacies of his relationship with Jun. But he was - contrary to popular belief - not a complete idiot. He recognised how Jun spoke of and to Tatsuya, and could see how he looked at that man.
So when he leapt from the building with just the order to take care of Jun, Hyousuke could only shoot towards the edge, reaching into the abyss for a person that was no longer there.
"Shit! Fucking-!" Another cry. Another primal release of frustration at all that had transpired, and all that he could not do to affect it. His grip on the ledge turned his knuckles bone-white, but another blast returned to him some measure of focus. Enough that he could listen to Ririka, at least. He turned to Jun, and offered him his hand should it have been needed - or grabbed his wrist, if he did not move in time. "Kashihara-san, get moving! We're getting you home!"
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
Sudou tries to make his case, as it were. Katsuya shakes his head. "Enough of your tricks, #501! Surrender, or I will stop you!"
Which, well, he does try to do.
Tatsuya answers him, though.
The look in his face might have been more fitting if Tatsuya had instead stabbed him in the heart which... technically, isn't that what he's done? "...What...?" he manages, the only word that he's able to get out in this moment of shock.
But is this really the time for any of that???
no, it is not
which just gets added to the list of 'things that Katsuya Suou will have to unpack at a later date'
(Ogre is correct, the Thieves and what they do now are the last thing on his mind)
Jun shudders and sobs, struggling against something Katsuya cannot see or understand-- he'd cried out before, as if he had been in pain. Is-- #501 doing something to him? (he's more right than he can know, in a way)
"Kashihara-kun," he shouts instead, still reeling from that remark from his own brother (has he? has he been missing so much?), "hold on!"
Jun slams his fist into the floor again and again and again and--
He won't, he insists, rising to his feet, and all Katsuya can do in this moment is stare at him, and his brother, and ultimately, have a different realization
seconds before it happens.
"A-- Persona?!"
Jun Kashihara has awoken to... his own Persona, and immediately turns his wrath upon Sudou. Who is less than pleased, but still vows his intention to... continue.
Instead of the usual trick--
There's an empty box. And with that, Sudou falls from the roof.
Katsuya's brother goes after him.
"Wait! Tatsuya--"
There's no going after the two of them, even if it was the best course of action. And speaking of 'course of action'...
"Explosions?" Immediately, Katsuya shakes his head. "No, he's set off a bomb!" He pauses. "More than one?!"
He looks about the rooftop, trying to see what the most reasonable point of exit is. They don't have time, and 'down' is no longer an option. "Could we jump to a nearby building?" he wonders aloud. It will be dangerous, but not more dangerous than staying right here.
It's Ririka who pulls a much more reasonable exit for them than that. "Aha! Everyone, please hurry this way!" he says, because he's... a cop, and it's his job to make sure everyone else is able to get out, first. "Kashihara-kun, do you need help?"
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
"Shut it," Umie growls back at Sudou. "My prophecies are as false as your Dad's stupid world, as well as especially *yours*!!"
It's all delusion, and if Umie tries hard enough, she'll get further in fixing it all, instead of endlessly keeping trying to keep up the bare minimum to keep from slipping backwards
'I WON'T!! I WON'T, I WON'T, I WON'T!'
The clock hands that tick down the length of this tragic tale... stop, all on the decision of one young man.
No prophecy foretold it, no oracle was ever needed to see this fortune.
Jun Kashihara---
'ARGEIPHONTES!!'
--is changing this story to something that sits on his own terms, it seems.
That's what it seems like, to Umie's eyes, at the very least, making her reflect on him in quiet, but appreciative amazement. To see a Persona emerge truly is a wonder, for it to come from Jun's own soul...
"... It suits you, Kashihara-kun."
Sudou has another opinion on the whole affair, and dooms the building with the death of his own dream.
The other Tatsuya wastes no time in pressing forward. Does this guy *ever* rest? She needs to see if he's been keeping safe, eating okay, taking care of himself, *tell him to get into school for fuck's sake*--
"--Takkun!" Umie gasps, as Tatsuya disappears off the side of the building. Running to the side where he disappeared, Umie grasps the edge, then, slowly backs away.
Katsuya grabs her attention from wasting any more time figuring out if she can make that jump.
"... Coming!" she yells, running over to the elder Suou brother, and, glancing back towards Jun and anyone that may be lingering behind, she'll wait.
"... Thank you," she starts, as she glances towards the elder Suou brother, "for getting here so quickly."
But then, when there's no more to be done, she uses Ririka's earth spikes to get to the next building over.
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Tamaki was there in the Agency that day, quietly working in the background while the pair of boys had what seemed like a tense conversation. She heard that promise. He had told her that Sudou had an interest in him. She had seen the video that Sudou had posted naming Jun and several others. She had relayed Jun's message to Tatsuya that he'd have to break that promise. Tatsuya didn't take it well.
Dwelling on it all is too painful for her to bear head-on, even when she's on the sidelines like she usually is. She knew the surface details and tried as desperately as she could to keep them surface-level, to not look too closely. Every time her thoughts drifted in that direction, she let them be steered the other way with some matter that seems more pressing at the time, whether that's accurate or not.
It's something she's well-practiced at by now, a behavior she had utilized to cope with the loss of someone she cared for. That's what she thought moving on was: not uselessly picking at scabs, not letting your past slow you down. There's always later, but you can't let the heartache get to you in the present moment. You have to muffle the rising panic and dread, you have to maintain your composure, you have to endure and keep going.
Even now, her thoughts turn away from the very thing that this situation reminds her of, only perceptible by its silhouette.
That's why the knot in Tamaki's stomach twists even tighter as the ordeal threatens to lift the veil for Jun entirely. She's all-too-keenly once again made aware of the tension she had been holding about this for the last few months as it now threatens to stretch past the breaking point.
Even now, she tries in vain to blunt the full impact of it with humor as she thinks to herself: Lilac? I would have thought a chrysanthemum would fit better. She might not be too far off the mark, but there's some nuance she's still missing.
Jun pulls through and keeps his promise, and Tamaki shakily exhales a breath she hadn't been aware that she was holding in the first place. That could have gone so much worse. Watching Argeiphontes' eyes drowsily blink starts to cause her to yawn in turn.
"... maybe there's something I could stand to learn from you, Kashihara-kun."
...
As Tatsuya leaps off the edge of the building, she offers Umie a flatly unimpressed glare as she wordlessly splays her hands at the dotted outline where the paradox boy used to be. This kind of behavior is exactly what she meant in her texts.
A moment later, her eyes widen in fear as she realizes what's happening with the building, " -- wait wait wait, how are we going to -- "
Ririka has an escape plan that Tamaki is very eager to take. "Thank you! Again! You're a lifesaver."
"Right behind you, Suou-san." Later after this, she's definitely reminding Maya about that trip to LeBlanc's -- maybe even float the idea of bringing Katsuya and others along too.
<Pose Tracker> Jun Kashihara has posed.
<poem>
Sudou, defied, insists that Jun Kurosu will walk the earth again before hurling himself off the side of the building and letting bombs go off in his wake. Jun narrows his eyes at him and his eerie Persona--that entity that looks so much like Tatsuya, that Jun can now see clearly without taking psychic damage. "Perhaps fortune guides me, but even then, I will not affix myself to your wheel. Begone," he replies imperiously. At his back, Argeiphontes floats, and then vanishes into the ether. His eyes and voice soften as he turns to Tatsuya. "Tatsuya..." But he bids the others to take care of him while he goes after Sudou. Jun nods once, reluctantly. "...All right. I'll see you again." It might not be wise, but he leans over the side of the building to watch him go as the bombs begin to go off. The adrenaline of awakening is beginning to wear off, and he clutches the edge as he looks over at the pair of Phantoms, who likewise entrust him to the others. "...Thank you for your help," he says graciously before they both zip away. Umie tells him his new Persona suits him. Jun's smile warms as he looks at her. "I think so, too." He looks at Tamaki next as she says she could learn something from him. "Oh? I'm sure that goes both ways, Uchida-san." Ririka calls up an escape route, erecting pillars of earth so everyone can escape to safety before the supernatural space Sudou had erected collapses and takes them and the building with it. Jun staggers a bit as he moves that way. "I-I'm a little drained, all of a sudden," he tells Fuuka. Katsuya asks him if he needs help, and Jun nods. "Just a little--" Hyousuke offers him his hand. Jun smiles in gratitude and accepts it. "--help." This is a bad time to be woozy after a post-Awakening crash, but Jun has people here to support and help him. He'll move forward and leave the crashing ruin behind--just as he promised.