2026-03-06: Shadowed Festival

From Velvet Room MUSH Wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search 
<Pose Tracker> Junes has posed.

On this Saturday in the afternoon, the sky is overcast. Fog has rolled onto the mountain, keeping visibility low. There is an ugly feeling in the air, a tension that seeps into the bones like a chill.

The Sanitarium is high up on Mt. Katatsumuri, and this back entrance is the best way to go to avoid too much trouble. ...Unfortunately, there is trouble here regardless. The path is in disarray; the men in hazmat suits who were keeping people off the mountain now stand sseemingly staring into nothing. Get too close to one, and he attacks! When the fight is over, or his mask falls off, the hazmat suited man will be clearly afflicted by the blue skin of a zombie.

...Personas, for better or worse, can be summoned here; the sense of Wrongness is strong, even before reaching the Sanitarium itself, supposedly afflicted by some kind of gas leak.

It smells bad, acrid and of rot.

The back double doors are slightly ajar... In the back waiting room area to the sanitarium, the group will see a few members of the Tien Tao Lien, who are lying in pools of their own blood. The white walls are marked by bullet holes, dents, and gouges, while claw marks run all around the room, ripping the upholstery of couches and laminated notices on the walls. Shards of glass litter the floor and the lone sink in the corner, and metal lockers and office door are dented to the point of refusing to shut or open. The receptionists' windows have long been shuttered closed.

There's a pair of swinging double doors at the other end. Better get ready before you hit that open button, because it's likely going to get worse from here on out.

BGM: Morimoto Hospital (P2:EP OST) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULPuVyV6aWw 

<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.

Some of SEES have come. They investigated -- in a couple of groups -- and the realization that something was wrong with the Sanitorium set in. And that, ultimately, led to the decision to come.

One of their co-leaders leads the way. Minako Arisato's red hair is up as always; her expression, though, is deadly serious. She tugs at the red armband on her shoulder and forearm; her combat gear is ready, though it feels strange wearing it here instead of Tartarus. Her naginata is already out. She has... a feeling about this place. A sensation that she needs to be here.

She enters through the back door, with the others who've come. She looks once at them -- then she nods. Then, she looks ahead and sees members of the Tien Tao Lien. Lying in pools of blood, slain, and with claw marks suggesting terrible violence. For a moment, her back to everyone else, her crimson eyes widen.

She is momentarily back on the Moonlight Bridge. She is a child, for just a second, dragging herself out of a shattered rear window. Blood is left in a trail behind her; blood is splattered across her face.

Her eyes narrow.

The sixteen year-old steps in and speaks in a calm, detached voice. "...Everyone, keep your eyes open. Whatever did this isn't human, and it might still be here."

<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.

What a way to be spending a Saturday...
 
Yukari Takeba is here of course with SEES, after the train ride, after the trek up the mountain which is definitely ILLEGAL given the way it was all cordoned off.
 
And now at the door to a Sanitarium, where she wrinkles her nose. "I've... never been in a place like this before... it's not supposed to smell like that, right?"
 
She's certainly anxious. Sanitariums are always the settings in horror films where ghosts with a grudge haunt people.
 
It's when the door opens however that she gasps and stumbles back, appearing momentarily pale. She's seen dead bodies before but- not with this kind of violence.
 
Biting down on her lip, a second look tells her everything. There's nothing she can do for them. Nothing.
 
"It's... gotta be demons, right?" She asides to Minako, trying to force her rapidly beating heart to calm down. "... What else would leave them looking like that?"
 
Suddenly she wants nothing more than to go through the door on the other end. But... she knows she's going to.

<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.

    Maya Amano's hair is pulled up in a ponytail. While it's October and fall has already officially started, it's still warm outside -- warm enough that beads of sweat have collected on her neck.

    It was a deliberate choice by Maya after going up the mountain once before. This trek up is significantly less miserable than the last one --

    -- at least until she and Katsuya walk inside and they see the bodies. At first glance, it definitely looks like Yukari's right, but she turns to Katsuya for his professional opinion.

    "What do you think, Katsuya-san?" 

<Pose Tracker> Masao Inaba has posed.

    Masao Inaba, street artist, veteran Persona-user, and guy who has found himself swept up in all sorts of unexplainable supernatural nonsense anew, is among the group reaching the Sanitarium. He's pulled a respirator over his face, for what little good it'll ultimately do against a proper gas leak - it's just force of habit when dealing with aerosols in his line of work. It's kind of a hodge-podge organization of people that have come here, but he carries his weight with axe in hand and Ogun in spirit.
 
     ...
 
     In the moment he is joined with the story proper, he's wincing as he steps back from a revealed and recently defeated zombie in a hazmat suit. "Aw, man. Zombies..." He stops himself from saying it takes him back. That's not a great memory. That's what it was like at the very beginning, in another hospital in a city left in his past. That he's calling them 'zombies' with confidence and lack of doubt with some familiarity may be an interesting point of consideration. But it's not one he's willing to elaborate on.
 
     "This is some real shit," he says, as he heads inside through the back door.
 
     ...He sees some much more realer shit, with signs of organized gang violence (blood! bodies! bullets! claw marks!).
 
     "...It got even more real," the levity of that ends there. He takes in a breath, looks behind him for anyone familiar or otherwise entrusting things to him in some form, and...
 
     "Yeah, I don't doubt it for a second, lot of this was the work of demons... and they got gangsters involved." Sumaru City, what the hell is even going on here... a question asked many times in the months since his return to Japan. He nods a few times to himself, looking to those double doors.
 
     "Probably gonna be your last chance to back out, if you're gonna." He says to no one in particular, even knowing that this far in, there's really no looking back and running off to pretend this stuff isn't happening. 

<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.

    Phoenix went back up the mountain; they promised those aunties they wouldn't come alone, though, so they brought a buddy. The buddies they can ask straight-up are a little limited, though... luckily, Hyousuke is always down to address some horrors.

    They creep closer to the Sanitarium, afternoon shadow by afternoon shadow. Their orange and quite literally feathered hood would have matched the sun, if they could see it, right now, but the sun makes that pretty difficult. Their ninja robes, beneath it, at least match the vibe of that shroud; the dark grey witch's hat mask, across their face, shrouds their identity just the same.

    "Hey," they rumble, nudging Hyousuke with an elbow, jerking a thumb at a man in a hazmat suit. "Those guys... saw 'em last time... but fuck's up with him?"

    Phoenix tries to sneak past him, but a slip in stealth has the man turning to them -- and attacking; and when Phoenix slams him with the flat of their greatsword, for lack of a better solution, they make a distressed noise (probably not a squark, but who can tell?) to see that blue, mottled skin.

    "Th' fuck... he's dead? But... holy shit, man..."

    Phoenix can't be seen to pale, under all those layers of artifice, but be assured that they are. "... c'mon. Let's go."

    Phoenix leads Hyousuke through those back doors, just in time to hear Masao talking about -- "Wait a sec!" Phoenix, a very cool and hip Persona-Usin' Youth who is definitionally not Tsubasa, exclaims. "Mark, you sayin' this is gangster shit? What the fuck!"

    Oh, hey, a couple of no-good kids just walked in! They're here now, too! Have fun with that, Maya.

<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.

 
What was good about this, Hitomi had thought, is that nobody was dead, or being killed, as far as Hitomi knew. Of course, the situation cannot last. The decline and death are, in a certain sense, inevitable.

Hitomi still has the sour juice of some red berries on her lips. She is clicking some of the dice that she carries in a hip pouch, where most of SEES has a holster for their Evokers, providing perhaps a little tactile (for her) and auditory (for them) reassurance. Motion, life, something not threatening.

When her group meets up with Minako, Hitomi nods at her once. No smiling right now.

Certainly not once they're inside. When she sees the dead men, she jumps. But just once. It was a surprise. The smell isn't very pleasant either, as she stares down at them for several seconds.

    I should leave.
    This is incredibly dangerous.
    ... hehe
    ... They might not blame me.
    But I would.
    Even so.

Hitomi takes in a deep breath through her nose, which she regrets, and then she reaches over to quietly draw the eyelids of the dead men shut. A gentle motion, and she uses her left pinky and ring finger to do it. Tentative. Quick. She grimaces. And yet Hitomi does it, at least for the ones she can see.

While doing this, Hitomi pauses, to look to Yukari. "... Probably," she says. "At least... That'd be my guess."

Hitomi finishes up, claps her hands twice, and says something quiet.

When Masao speaks, Hitomi lifts her head. Rocks it back. She turns slightly, giving Masao a somewhat sidewise look from around the rim of her glasses. Her lip quirks up, just a little bit.

"I'm kind of hoping it's the one I know, if I'm going to be honest with you."

She does report to Yukari-and-Minako-primarily but to the completely trustworthy adults as well, "They're still pretty warm. You're welcome, by the way." Her arms fold rather tightly in front of her. "So... whatever it is, it's probably still in here." 

<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.

Ririka is here to support her fellow SEES members. Though long before they reach the Sanitarium proper, Ririka is shivering, pulling her school uniform-like jacket more tightly closed around herself. She's in her SEES uniform, but suddenly that doesn't feel like enough protection. "This whole area feels wrong," she murmurs... "Nothing sounds right." She's had Amphion out the entire way, trying to steer them around the wrecked paths and the literal zombies that she is still trying very hard not to think about too deeply.

But as they step into that waiting room, Ririka gasps, hand flying to her mouth as she beholds the carnage. She's used to seeing blood, of a sort, during the dark hour, but to see real, literal human blood... not to mention the bodies that go with them...

Her stomach churns, and she forces a deep breath to keep it calm.

But Minako is calm, and Rirka forces herself to be, too. "Hai, Arisato-san. I'll... start scanning the area." She starts to play on a keyboard made of light, head down, eyes closed in concentration.

Yukari has a suggestion that it might be demons. Without looking up, Ririka says, "... I'll let you know if I sense any." 

<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.

    There is a problem at the sanitarium, he realizes as they approach the building from the back. Something is wrong: Katsuya can feel it, a wrongness that delves deeper, far past the tell-tale clues like the footprints in the dirt that suggest someone was running, or the half-open door.

    Within--

    "Don't touch them," Katsuya cautions, moving towards one of the corpses to crouch down and take a closer look.

    "...These wounds weren't made by a 'person'," he reports after a few moments of study. He picks up one of the fallen guns and inspects it. "A 'Black Star'...? Hm. It looks like he fired all rounds..." he tells Maya, glancing up at her.

    The third of their particular merry band takes a drag of his cigarette, seemingly unfazed by the violence that had taken place here.

    "They're from the Tien Tao Lien. The Taiwanese mafia," Baofu remarks, indicating towards one of the bodies. "I've seen his face before."

    Katsuya stands, briefly brushing off his pantlegs. He regards Baofu a touch more pointedly before. Looking the man in the golden suit over, he says, "...One of your buddies?"

    Baofu's eyes cannot be seen behind the dark lenses he wears. Everything in his stance as he turns towards Katsuya betrays sudden fury.

    "Say that again, and I'll put a hole in your face." 

<Pose Tracker> Shinobu Shimizu has posed.

It's a foggy day. There's a gloom in the air... and Shinobu has a feeling it isn't just the weather. She's scouted the area around the Sanitarium already, so she has an idea of how to get in. Something seems to be going down, and she wants to get to the bottom of it.

...But there's still security. She saw a man in a hazmat suit before, but he at least was willing to engage her in conversation. This guy...

...He doesn't say anything at all. It becomes a fight, and she strikes him with her staff.

...That face...

A grimace crosses Shinobu's own. She thinks back to the man they ran into. Is he something like this now...?

"Sorry." She says - before Lachesis brings down the purifying light of Hama onto him.

She makes it up to the Sanitarium itself, then. It's worse off - the corpses of the freshly dead are here. Shinobu readies her staff.

Thankfully, there's some friendly, familiar faces here. Shinobu sends them a nod.

"Looks like I wasn't the only one who got bad vibes about this place. Let's stick together for now." She suggests. She listens to the ideas and suggestions going through, about demons and gangsters...

For Shinobu's part, she takes up a position next to the door leading further inside, her staff at the ready.

"Someone else open it. Anything I don't like comes through, I'm gonna thwack it." She says. She'll leave the thinking to the others, at least for now. For now, she'll focus on what she's good at. 

<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.

    Arriving with Tamaki is a shorter young woman with an oversized pale rain jacket and black leggings, currently adjusting a mask -- a black and white number with a kaleidoscope of colors, sprinkled with some gold dust -- over the top half of her face.

    "..... let's go," Umie says, weakly, taking her mask down and fitting it into place. "... It's just... all coincidences... pareidolia...."

     Umie... is not having a great day. The tense air and the smell of death makes the Badb in her restless, a reflection of the blonde's own as she tugs the edge of her hood tighter against the threat of possible rain.

    "... Shit, there's hazmat suits back here too," she whispers to Tamaki. "Maybe I can confuse.... uh..."

    One of them is just stumbling right for her.

    "... Eh?" She raises an eyebrow, right... as.... the man in the hazmat suit just comes right over to... give Umie a hug?

    Ah, no, this is not a hug.

    ...... huh he's just trying to bite through the plastic of his helmet. God, the smell is horrendous, too...

    "..... Uchida-san," Umie says, flatly. ".... I think.... zombies seem to exist now. I'd use Badb, but... I think he'd enjoy it?" The man's fumbling nearly dislodges the short blonde off her feet, but she holds firm.

    ===NOW AT THE ENTRANCE===

    Umie stinks like the dead, and is splattered with ichor. "God... it's even worse in here," she murmurs, eyes scanning the room. SEES is here, with Minako, it seems. Masao is here with... Phoenix and Hyousuke, it seems. Shinobu's being a responsible adult, and Katsuya is here with a man with long hair, and...

    ... Suou, Amano... Sumaru...
    
    ".... What's a Mafia even doing here...?" Umie wonders, aloud. "Well, what *were* they doing, anyway." She looks back towards Tamaki. "This place is crawling with danger everywhere. I could summon Badb, but it'd just be another 'trees for the forest' situation." 

<Pose Tracker> Moriko Kumamoto has posed.

Moriko's ridden up to support the others. In hindsight they probably should have carpooled. On the other hand, having someone that can roll with a bike makes things easier. On the other other hand, she's wearing leathers and a helmet. And with the smell in the air, she's quite thankful for that. Catching up with the others as she adjusts her gloves, she... pointedly does not lift the helmet's visor. She even reaches up and closes the little air catch that usually provides something of airflow into the shell.
 
 A hand goes up, she mutters, "What a wonderful smell we've all discovered" and then she reaches up to adjust her helmet like it will help.
 
 "Should have bought some of that rub stuff that has the-" she pauses. "Methanol? Mint stuff?" Suggesting an old trick for trying to block bad smells used by some people.
 
 Fidgeting with her leathers, she makes sure everything's zipped up The place feels wrong on a number of levels and for once she's glad she'd gotten the call late. Maybe it was better after all.
 
 The waiting room does get her to pause. To turn her head looking it all over. She works her fingers a few times with the faint creak of the leather jacket.
 
 "No, it's not." She replies to Yukari, her voice tense and somewhat muffled. "Demons?" That pulls her out. She shakes her head, focusing instead on the others for now. "Like-" She raises a finger to her helmeted head.
 
 Just ignore that the smell's starting to permeate the padding and she's going to have to take it off sooner or later probably. She's a bit at a loss for words. Trying pointedly not to focus on any one thing. 

<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.

Hyousuke loved hiking. It was a retreat into the stillness of nature - into a world where everything was as it should have been, and where he could gather his thoughts for the trials ahead. He loved nothing more than to immerse himself in clean hillside air, and feel a meandering breeze billow gently out against his skin. It was immensely discomforting, then, for him to bear witness to Mount Katamatsuri in its current state. What should have been a pleasant - almost meditative - experience had him on edge every step of the way.

Sharp eyes darted beneath the golden glare of his visor, leaping towards every shifting shadow and snapping branch that came within range of his senses. It was nothing. It was *always* nothing. It was always just a branch creaking in the wind, or a twig snapping underfoot. It was always leaves rustling in the tainted air, or their shifting forms casting dim shadows across the trail towards the sanatorium. But, even so, Hyousuke all but lurched at the shadows and the breeze, and kept his muscles wound like some prowling animal's.

"I don't like this." Hyousuke murmured, speaking just loud enough to let Tsubasa hear him past the mask clasped against his face. "Something should've tried to stop us by now. Guards, demons, hell- I'd take a Shadow at this point." He wasn't nervous. He didn't sound nervous. He insisted to himself, silently and repeatedly, that he was not affected significantly by the scene around him. His lungs did not flinch whenever he drew a rattling breath, recoiling from the acrid stench that lingered in the air. His fingers did not twitch in balled fists, readied like a cocked firearm to strike at anything that strayed too close. And his eyes? They most certainly did not come to focus suspiciously on the ostensibly human figure Tsubasa moved to investigate.

Hyousuke lurched back when the creature lunged at them, Achilles rushing to the fore in a reflexive rush of bronze. But the fight was over quickly, and he recalled the general, instead inspecting the zombie - or whatever it was - from what he hoped was a safe distance. He was uncharacteristically silent. Beneath the mask, his expression was inscrutable, but seeing the snarl frozen into his lips or the widened, panicked, eyes was likely not necessary for anyone sharp enough to notice how he seemed to tense hard enough to retreat into himself.

He tried not to think of the warehouse. Of the headless corpse. Of the smear on the pillar. Of the thought that a human life had been stolen in an instant, leaving nothing but cold and decaying meat.

"Right." He grunted, before following Tsubasa, his gait more a tense stalk than a steady pacing. It only came to a halt when Tsubasa recognised someone in the building's confines. He looked between the two, trying to understand what kind of conclusion was being reached, all while his ears pricked up to try and figure out what others in the vicinity had said. He supposed he shouldn't have been surprised at their presence. The place seemed like it would have been a magnet for trouble, if what Masao had said was true.

"Not even gonna try to guess what the demons want from this place, nobody knows what those things want." Hyousuke said, a growl creeping into his every word. It was better than panic, or fear, or nervousness. That was what he told himself, at least, as he tried to keep his gaze away from the worst of the bloodshed. "But what the hell would gangsters want with this dump?"

As he looked, he recognised more faces. Some from encounters with SEES members, some from struggles to foil the Joker Killer's seemingly endless plots, some from his life in general... But he did not recognise Phoenix's friend, and gave them a curious look from behind his visor. 

<Pose Tracker> Eriko Kirishima has posed.

    "Please tell me you didn't bet your shirt on it being normal again, Mark."

    Trekking up the mountain feels... familiar. The zombies definitely remind her of when she was a teenager.

    Unlike when she was a teenager, the zombies will not negotiate. Nike, however, is very good at sending the dead to their rest. Light magic is good for that.

    At least this time, they aren't the animated corpses of her classmates. It's a small mercy.

    For all she often gets absorbed in the wonder of it all, Eriko can be serious at times. She isn't totally inured to things like bloody corpses, not totally- but sometimes there are 'benefits' from having been through this before. Like Mark, she has no problems calling the zombies what they are- and no problem killing them.

    As such, the model and part time adventurer and walking demon encyclopedia enters as many others do, but with a practiced, controlled calm.

    "It's definitely still here," Eriko states, seemingly having heard Minako's theory. "We wouldn't be able to call our Personas if it wasn't." She casts a glance to Mark, falling in behind and to his right in an old practiced pattern.

    Yukari asks if demons did this, and Eriko has- walked right over to one of the claw marks in the wall, covered in blood as it is, and crouches down to get a closer look. "Mmm. Very much so... Normally I'd say a Nekomata, perhaps, but the claw marks are too shallow for one of those... A canine demon, maybe? I can only theorize until I see more though."

    'Th' fuck... he's dead?' Eriko casts a sympathetic look to the mysterious youth who seems to have arrived with that boy she and Tamaki met at the carnival. "I'm afraid so. Sometimes in spaces strong with demon activity can keep corpses moving after death. Sometimes they have personalities... Well, the 'same' personality across a type, I suppose. They aren't who they were before they died, though- it's best to finish them off quickly unless you're after a particular spell card." Eriko why are you so calm about this? I mean, if she's calm, she's clearly a little worried. If she weren't worried she'd be joyous about the supernatural environment.

    Eriko casts a look to Baofu as he IDs the bodies, and Eriko frowns a little. Another detail to send to Matsuoka- even as she can see the tension between Katsuya and his... ally? "...He reminds me a bit of what Reiji was like at first, don't you think?" Eriko whispers quietly to Mark in english, eyeing the older man. "...Ruder, though."

    Still, that door leading forward, amidst the smell of death and everything else... Well. There's not point staying back from it, is there. Eriko starts walking towards those double doors, unfazed. "I do wonder what else is coming through here. Mr' Katsuya, Miss Maya, you two have the guns, you should be ready with covering fire just in case." She casts a casual smile to the SEES teenagers- they're an organized unit, if way too young for it. "...Now- who wants to be first to find out what terrible thing is on the other side with me? It will probably be bloody, but we might get first look at the demon! I wonder if it's a Cerberus, I haven't seen a Cerberus in *years*."
    ...Fine, she's still Eriko. 

<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.

    Tamaki travelled up to the sanitarium here with Umie -- this time, in a simple dark-green sneaking suit, domino mask ... and a cat-ear headband. It's still unmistakably Tamaki -- this is more camouflage than disguise.

    Just before their arrival, an old man on the trail told them about a shrine they had missed on the trail, and just who it was dedicated to. She's still reeling from just how similar their names were to people she knows in the present day. Junnosuke Kuroda, retainer to Tatsunoshin Suou?

    ... No. Slow down. Find evidence, don't run off into the wilds on hunches alone. Don't dismiss it entirely, but don't dwell on it right this second.

    'There's no scientific basis for it,' in other words.

    "Could just be the result of a rumor," Tamaki offers to Umie as some form of consolation. "Not that I know how to make the distinction between that and the truth right now, though."

    Zombies are, unfortunately, not an unfamiliar sight to her. "They've existed," she states bluntly. "Whether they enjoy it or not is irrelevant, you have to be firm. Let's -- " She gives the zombie a firm kick in its side. " -- get you free. Get -- off -- her!"

    ===ALSO NOW AT THE ENTRANCE===

    Tamaki is in very much the same state as Umie, though her darker clothes might do a better job of hiding the stains. She is definitely not having a good time. Drearily, she announces, "Sorry we're laaate."

    Gang's all here, huh. SEES kids, Shinobu, Hyousuke, Phoenix ...

    Her eyes immediately go to Mark. It's her 'last chance to back out.' She gestures to herself and says, "I'm not turning back around looking like this. Come on."

    Tamaki kneels down to inspect the wounds after Eriko and confirms, "She's right. I know Nekomata-inflicted wounds. This isn't one of them."

    Maya and Katsuya are here, too, along with Baofu. She winces at the exchange. "Hey, uh -- easy, both of you. This isn't the time for infighting."

    Then Eriko just begins to stroll in. Wide-eyed, Tamaki runs in right behind her, stumbling slightly in her haste. " -- Kirishima-san? Hey, hey, wait -- !"

<Pose Tracker> Junes has posed.

Hama is most effective on the zombies, speeding them along to whatever reward awaits them in a flash of holy light, Shinobu and Eriko. And here... Yes, Yukari. The signs all point to it; demons did this. Minako, too, is correct; something may still be here. No one seems to take Mark's offer of backing out; not Maya, asking Katsuya his opinion. Nor anyone else.

Perhaps these men's spirits will appreciate Hitomi's gesture. ...No one can say. But with Katsuya's caution not to touch the bodies, it might be best to avoid it for the others.

And Ririka, as she reaches out to Amphion's power, senses demons present ahead. Katsuya and Baofu discuss the Taiwanese mafia who are here, illuminating the matter for those like Phoenix asking about 'gangster shit'.

Umie's having a bad time and so is Tamaki, but Moriko can manage some levity, despite the situation. Is that such a good thing?

Demons.

Hyousuke has discovered the sight of death again. And it is a magnet for trouble, this place. Eriko's explanations may help, though. But it's not Cerberus today.

But eventually, the group steps inside, opens the double doors, and emerges in a long hallway. Minako and Eriko are first, and they're hit by the wave of menace that extends from some floors above. Tamaki does not have to see Eriko assaulted by demons immediately for her boldness. To the right of this corridor, there are two rooms. A blue door, leading to the Velvet Room which many will recognize, and a green door, leading to Trish's fountain.

...One assumes the dead gangsters couldn't afford her prices.

(You may change your Personas and equipment in advance of tomorrow's battle, but we won't be waiting for people to pose any details.)

Nothing appears immediately for Shinobu to thwack--but that will change. In the corridors are demons, including the strange-legged Empusas, adorable but deadly Agathions, more zombies... and dangerous fellows like the Cockatrice or Erinyes. They attack in small groups, trying to isolate the party from one another. But for the brave or patient, they can negotiate with these demons... alternately, hitting them really hard with sticks will work, too.

Inside, ,most of the doors are locked. They lead to patients' rooms largely, and if someone happens to jimmy the locks...

It isn't good. Suffice to say that those disturbed by the carnage will only be more disturbed by the horrific sights within many of these rooms.

After a long trip, there are stairs upward; this is only the first floor of four.

What will you do from here? 

<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.

"Probably," Minako answers Yukari, her voice still detached. She starts walking -- a little hurried, like she can walk past the corpses and for the door, and everything will be fine. When Eriko explains, she nods. "...Yeah. That makes sense."

She does look back at Maya and Katsuya, after the former asks the latter for confirmation. She regrets it, instantly; she sees one of the bodies again. She looks between Katsuya and Baofu. "The... Taiwanese mafia? So these were...probably pretty tough people."

She winces as Baofu lays into Katsuya, verbally. "Let's keep calm," she tells the adult. "We're all in danger here."

She looks rattled. But when Masao points out that they could leave, she looks at him. "I'll be okay," Minako says. She smiles, fleetingly.

Hitomi speaking up gets her out of that reverie. She can fall back into the role of a leader easily enough.

"Thanks, Mandai-chan," Minako says, with a glance at Hitomi. "Kawase-san, keep your eyes--ears?--open. Let's... make sure we carry our weight." She exhales, nods, and then she looks at Umie. She shrugs, before she considers what Shinobu says. Someone else should open the door. She glances at Phoenix and Hyousuke -- she doesn't know them, but she's seen a few masked people now -- and then she looks back at the doors.

She looks at Eriko and makes a face as she starts to go through -- even as Tamaki runs after. Then, she starts after them both. "Right!" she says, trying to summon some energy. "Let's go!"

She rolls her shoulder -- and she looks around as they see the blue door and the green door. She knows those, right now; she shakes her head, and then she looks at the various corridors. "Let's see what we can find," she says. "We might want to do smaller groups. SEES, let's... try down this way. Everyone, shout if you need help, okay?"

She exhales. Don't let the corpses from the previous room shake you, she tells herself. Instead, she picks a corridor -- and starts to walk down it. She slows, though, as she sees a patient's room. The door is locked.

"...I'm not sure if we should," she says. "I feel like this is going to be a distraction."

AS: Moriko Kumamoto has readied for combat as Otohime Gitsune! She is now fully healed!

<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.

"Have you... been to one then?" She asks Moriko, confused as to her suddenly knowing the answer on how a Sanitarium is supposed to smell.

Hitomi praying like that isn't a surprise, she remembers the conversation on the rooftop, it's just- she really is as comfortable with bodies as she says.
 
Yukari and her had a pact with what might happen if they found one...
 
But then there's this. She inhales, then exhales at the confirmation, before eyes snap to Tsubasa at their cursing.
 
Fortunately the adults tend to bring a little more order in the room, as Eriko seems calm and comfortable with dealing with bodies, evaluating which demons did it as does Tamaki, "You can tell?!" She says, definitely a little shocked, before Maya calls Katsuya over and someone with him identifies them.
 
"The Taiwanese mafia?" She echoes, as a question, "Why would they be here?" Or at least they did bring more order, before conflict sparks between Katsuya and Baofu, causing her to take a step back, "Whoa! Hey- please, let's not fight here. We've got problems enough!"
 
She nods quickly to Ririka, ".... Thanks, we're probably in for quite a few of them..." She then baffles at Eriko, "Uhhhh, you know what... you can go first if you want..." Wow, she is really excited about things like this that don't seem exactly... normal. She got that impression before but-
 
"...okay... A Cerberus... rightttt." Before she then whispers to Koh and Ririka, "Be on the look out for them..." She kinda says, a LITTLE nervously. The idea of a Three-Headed hell dog is perhaps not her idea of a good time.
 
Minako offers that they should split up and... "You're sure? Well... alright." She's definitely going to follow her down the way. But there be demons. And there be arrows, and uses of an Evoker. You know, the usual, even if she's staying back further than usual. Happy to play medic.
 
She casts a dour look at Trish's Fountain door. "Of course she's here." With a groan, at the presence of that money-grubbing fairy.
 
It's something of a slog. The Zombies... are disturbing, but they're horrors that one can see.
 
And the disturbing, gruesome sights along the way, "How can the government tell people this was an accident?" She says with a grimace, "This is horrible."
 
But she knows how. She knows why, it's the same kind of thing with the incident Ten Years Ago, just isolated to here.
 
When Minako mentions the door and how it might be a distraction, "Hmmm. Well it's not impossible there's someone alive in there..." She says, like she's not quite believing her own words there.

<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.

    Maya nods at Eriko, pulling her twin pink pistol out of their holsters. She can't say that she wasn't hoping that some of the younger members of the group would take up Mark's offer to leave while they can, but if Maya knows anything from her brief tenure as a teen magazine reporter, it's that teens generally don't want to listen to an adult who tells them they know what's best for them. Especially if they don't know the person.

    And while there are some familiar faces among the group that Maya does recognize, there's plenty she doesn't.

    Tamaki practically takes the words out of her mouth and puts a fight to any further in-fighting. A teen girl she doesn't recognizes suggests they split up.

    "Why don't we try upstairs?" she asks of the non-SEES members of the group. "We can make sure there's nothing ahead." It'd be easier to do that undetected with a smaller group anyway; they could quietly backtrack if needed to regroup if there was going to be a battle. 

<Pose Tracker> Masao Inaba has posed.

    "Pff," Masao allows the laugh at his expense at Elly's question because this is the sort of thing he would lose bets over, "nah, nobody'd bet a Peace Burger lunch over somethin' that'd make us lose it..."
 
     He settles, looking over to Hitomi's hopes that it's 'the one (she) know(s).'
 
     He rubs the back of his head. "Uh... if the ones you know are stumbling dead, yeah."
 
     He turns around as Phoenix and Hyousuke both mention their discomfort and shock at all this, as one near fight breaks out between Katsuya (whom positively identifies the gangsters) and the mysterious Baofu.
 
     He's one of the grown-ups now. His friends all could've used a grown-up that knew what to do when they had to fumble their way around their own ordeal. They don't have to go this alone, even if he has no idea what the hell this all is coming to. (...Maybe every adult kinda has to fake it, huh.)
 
     "All right, let's--" Oh, Eriko and one of the SEES kids went up ahead and the rest are following. He signals to some of the others to come along before he gets left behind.
 
     - AN INDETERMINATE AMOUNT OF RANDOM ENCOUNTES LATER -
 
     "...I'm checkin' this room," he says to those nearby as he throws the door open and points a shotgun, and he's met with a wailing, shuddering, frightened middle-aged man who is not saying anything coherent. Arguably, not even saying anything at all. But he is making noise. He's human, and is still human, and seems unharmed.
 
     "Ah, damn," he says, looking to Phoenix, Hyousuke, and anyone else that might've stuck nearby. "We got someone still alive!" Beat. "...I'm... not sayin' that as a bad thing," he becomes self-aware of how he's holding a shotgun.
 
     (If Katsuya presses about him having a shotgun, he lies and says he learned how to handle one in America, because guns are everywhere in America. In fairness, he does show excellent trigger discipline.) 

<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.

    "Wait, so..." Phoenix looks to Eriko -- they recognise her, even if she can't recognise them -- with a bit of a strangled tone. "... ain't gon' catch me gettin' that blue. I'm the Phoenix, man. Light me up an' I just come back stronger!" They're all masked up, but they've gotta just be, like, eighteen, man, let them boast about this crap, they're clearly freaked way the hell out.

    Baofu happens, though. "... whoa," Phoenix remarks, not quite under their breath enough not to be heard. "Sayin' shit like that to a cop... this guy's a real badass, huh?" There's no hiding their admiration; they've instantly decided Baofu is cool as hell.

    Don't emulate that guy, Phoenix...

    "Uh." They go back to a normal volume. "But if this is, uh, the fuckin' Mafia... why they all fulla holes? Ain't th' Mafias supposed to be, like... the baddest dudes on th' block?" They jerk their head in a nod to Hyousuke. "Yeah, an' what's with that? Th' fuck does th' Mafia want here?"

    Speaking of people who are the coolest, though: have you seen Shinobu, lately? So cool. (She's one of those aunties who was warning them not to come here alone, in fact... though the auntier auntie must be investigating from another angle, right now.)

    Phoenix seems to think she has the right idea, though, because they pull out their greatsword (WHERE WERE THEY KEEPING THAT!) and hide off to the side of the doors, too. "She's way too jazzed 'bout that..." Phoenix notes, looking to Eriko as she chatters about Cerebus, and then looking over to Tamaki as she scrambles after her. Even behind their mask, Tamaki may well see the scepticism in their eyes.

    The doors don't flood open with demons, though -- though one may note that Phoenix is kind of following Shinobu's lead on stepping in there, subtle-like. (They're not that subtle.) They don't need to change their shit, though; they just got the one house inside their head, and they've been using that one Rebellion card since they stole it from a Shadow in Mementos.

    Phoenix -- one of those terrible Phantom Thieves, and that's before weighing their horrific potty mouth! -- locks eyes with Minako, for a moment, before their attention goes to her armband. The same one Ririka tends to wear... they nod, to Minako, placing them as the people Ichika's little sister are here with.

    Cool. There's people lookin' out for Ririka, they think; they don't have to worry too much about her.

    The door to the patients' rooms are locked -- and that's when Phoenix steps up. "... hang on. I'll get 'em open." How could they possibly do that?

    They pull out a set of lockpicks, obviously. They're... startlingly adept at getting those locks open. They are a Thief...

    ... but when they open the door... it's stark, white walls, tiled floor, no entertainment to speak of. The bed is Western-style, but there's nothing but a bare mattress laid over it...

    ... and there's a corpse which has lifted that mattress up and climbed underneath it, pressed into the bedframe as they tried to escape something, to hide from something, to do something --

    But there's nothing you can do in a place designed for 'respite,' is there? With every avenue locked down, there's no place for you to scream, to hide, to get away. Phoenix, as it happens, does know how these wards tend to smell.

    They don't have the peace of mind to tell Moriko about it, as they stagger back out of the room.

    "Uh. Nothin' here."

    They'll get other doors open if people ask, though -- like Masao's door, which has a much better outcome. Except, of course, that the horrified person inside gets to see a person in a bird ninja costume opening the door, and -- well, they step back, awkwardly, letting Masao and his shotgun handle it.

    It's totally handled, right? Right.

<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.

 
Hitomi's eyes immediately swivel to look at Baofu when he walks in like he owns the place, and thus at Katsuya as well. They are threatening to kill each other and smoking. She makes an internal classification: 'also gangsters.'

She puts the hand she was using to touch dead people on her hip while contemplating them. Though she answers Moriko: "It's going to happen to everyone, one day. Breathe through your mouth, if you need to."

Hitomi clicks and claks her dice as Eriko speaks. Minako's volunteering to take the lead. Hitomi glances at her, but -- it is, it seems, her will.

"Is this something like... people in the underworld are trying to link up with demons, and a deal went south?" Hitomi essays, approximately towards the two cool, adult men. When Minako says they should split up, Hitomi actually giggles. It's a nervous little blurt of a giggle.

"I guess that's how it gets started, but... with this many people... Just group of three minimum, alright?" Hitomi made that number up but it seems plausible. like the buddy system, but for demons!

Inwards.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oaw_Wy6XDFk

(Ah, Trish. "Actually," Hitomi says, before she fishes out her cute little wallet. Hitomi fans it open. "What the fuck?" she says, finding perhaps less yen in it than she expected. Hitomi glances at Ririka - not with suspicion, just confusion. However much she had, Hitomi doesn't take the fairy up on her offer.)

When Minako hesitates at one of the doors, Hitomi's lips thin for a moment. She takes in a deep breath, regrets it because of the smell, takes a step forwards -- and rap-rap-raps on the door quickly. "Hey," she says in a sort of mid-intensity tone, "hey, is anyone in there?"

Someone in the door Hitomi knocked on screams. Hitomi's eyes go wide. She looks at the others, even as they continue, voice ragged perhaps with terror. 'No! No, stay back! -- W- wait, are - is that a human? You're not... Oh... The sounds, the... the smell, the blood... please. Please, get me out of here!' Something rustles around in there.

Hitomi seems frozen in place, taking a half-step back. She doesn't open the door right away, although her uplifted hand is still there, trembling slightly. 

<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.

    "Yes, I think that seems likely," he tells Eriko, glancing down again at the wounds on the bodies. "The wounds match those on some of #501's victims. It might be one of the hellhounds..." Definitely not a Nekomata, Tamaki confirms.

    Katsuya frowns, still kneeling by the body. "If I were to hazard a guess, they tried to hold their ground here, but they either ran out of ammunition or the bullets had no effect. In short, they were overrun." He shakes his head. "I don't think they've been dead here long. Perhaps a few hours, at least, but not longer than a day. But why did they come here? Is there some connection?"

    This, he says before Baofu recognizes one of the corpses, and before the two of them trade barbs at one another.

    Tamaki, Minako, and Yukari both intercede, trying to break it up before it gets serious. Katsuya is silent, looking first at Maya as she seems to just about intercede herself, then away from her, Baofu, and the ones who had spoken up. His own expression difficult to read.

    Baofu, though, is less silent. "Hmph. This is what passes for 'cool' these days?" huffs Baofu, as if in response to Phoenix's question rather than the altercation he was just in and shakes his head. His head turns towards Umie, who had asked an important question. "These guys work for Tatsuzou Sudou," he says, gesturing dismissively at the cooling bodies of the dead mafia members. "For the last five years, at least, he's been on good terms with the Tien Tao Lien. Heh..." He smiles, in spite of the carnage around the room. "It's not a surprise he sent them in here to die. I suppose he's gotten tired of that son of his..." He shrugs, as if it were no matter at all.

    "Wait," says Katsuya, speaking up and turning towards Baofu. "Are you saying that he's trying to kill his own son?"

    The smile that Baofu gives him in return is not a nice one. "Heh. Looks that way..." before he turns towards the door that Eriko had just exited through. "Keep up, Suou, or you'll get left behind." With that, he starts off ahead.

    As Eriko had said, he and Maya do have firearms, and so he quickly draws and gives his weapon a once over before following.

    There's an entrance to what turns out to be Trish's fountain here, but Katsuya leaves it behind; he doesn't need it. Instead, of more concern are the demons that appear to block the way forward.

    "So, this has become a supernatural domain," he remarks, after one such altercation. He knows that Ulala spread a certain rumor, but... surely this isn't...?

    Holding up a hand after discovering that one of the doors to a patient's room is slightly open, he slips inside. He returns a few moments later and closes the door quietly behind him. He doesn't say anything but instead, shakes his head. What in the world is the city going to do about this? Surely, even 'they' can't cover this up?

    But Masao, after inspecting a room himself says that he's found someone alive.

    "A survivor? Are they hurt?" He hurries over to Masao's position on the floor, holstering his firearm.

    He has not noticed Phoenix picking locks. 

<Pose Tracker> Shinobu Shimizu has posed.

Shinobu takes up a guard position - and so does Phoenix. She sends them a nod. Looks like they're on the same wavelength. They ask a good question, though. Why were the Mafia here? What were they after? As for why they're full of holes...

"...I dunno. But if they went down so quickly, we oughta be on guard. I don't see anyone else on the ground." Shinobu notes. Meaning - whatever they were fighting, is dangerous enough that they didn't suffer any visible casualties.

Minako and Eriko go to open the doors, but nothing immediately jumps out. Shinobu relaxes... but only a little. It's too dangerous to relax here completely.

"...She's here too, huh?" Shinobu notes, as she looks toward Trish's Fountain. She must've expected they'd show up... She just hopes they won't need her.

When Minako suggests splitting up, Shinobu nods reluctantly.

"...Fair enough. You be careful, too. Don't go too far." She suggests.

Whether or not they're the ones responsible for the carnage, there are demons here.

"We're on important business here." Shinobu says, rolling her neck and sending venomous glares toward any demon that tries to interfere. "If you don't wanna taste the floor, then stay the hell outta our way."

If anyone wants to try to negotiate with them, maybe it'll be easier after a good round of intimidation.

As others start to open doors, Shinobu peeks inside... and grimaces.

"...Damn it. These people didn't deserve this." She mutters. There's not much she can do for them, now. They'll just have to... move on, and find out what happened. For their sake too, now. 

<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.

    Umie shares a glance with Minako, briefly flashing back to seeing her at the festival, with Ren.

    She gives Minako a Nod, absent of context. The sorts of things they all do, when no one else is there to see...

    "Mm, friends of yours?" Umie then nods to Tamaki. Since they're about the same age, it seems, perhaps people she's worked with before.
    
    Glancing to Yukari on the topic of governmental cover-up (of sorts), Umie shrugs. "You saw what what was in those hazmat suits. Imagine what would've happened if they weren't there to turn people away." There's an awkward pause. ".... Before they... became that way."

    'But if this is, uh, the fuckin' Mafia...'
    'These guys work for Tatsuzou Sudou...'

    "Of course they do," Umie responds, her words casting a sardonic shadow over her expression. "So he's finally doing it..." Katsuya seems to have more faith in general, but Umie...

    "I doubt he'd be that stupid to think it'd just take the Mafia..."

    Zombies wouldn't explain the wide claw marks, or the numerous demons lurking around. It'd be natural to assume, but Umie, instead, takes Tamaki's lead, and collects her own brand of evidence.

    Concentrating as people begin to filter through the hallways, Umie closes her eyes, drawing up the Badb, whose porcelain skin and red lips mirroring some of the paler complexions on the zombies they're encountering, as she spread out those red laced claws.

    "From the look of things--" Umie, there is no 'look' to what you just did "--Sudou used his Mark to summon demons," Umie says, unfortunately not bothering to explain what a 'Mark' is, but thankfully not looking at Masao as she says it to further confuse the matter. "Probably why all the Mafia members we're finding are dead. The zombies... well, I don't *think* that can happen..."

    (Ah there you go again, Umie, spreading delusion)
    
    "The mountain itself was a supernatural domain too, but that was likely due to rumors about the mountain specifically. This is very different; it wasn't until we got here that we encountered zombies at all." 

<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.

Moriko asks if anybody brought anything with a strong scent, and Ririka quietly shakres her head. "No. But I kiiinda wish I had." She's mostly trying to breathe through the mouth to try and not get any more of that scent in her nose.

Sadly it's not fully effective.

Minako says she wants them to carry their weight. "Hai, Arisato-san," she says quietly and quietly. She's busy searching...

But here... there are Demons. "I'm sensing demons," she announces to the group--the broader group as a whole, not just for SEES. After a moment of hesitation she adds, "... and zombies." But she pauses as to glance to Eriko. as she identifies potential Demon types. "... you know a lot about these, huh...?"

"I don't think I can coordinate a group this large, but... I'll at least share what I can sense." She uses the Navigator Link to give everyone what she's been able to glean, like little pings of a sonic radar. "... Hopefully this helps."

Yukari says to be on the lookout for Cerebus Demons, and Ririka nods back quietly and whispers, "I don't sense any up ahead, but I'll keep an ear out."

Ririka is NOTICED by Phoenix, and appropo of nothing Ririka glances over to them and gives them a nod of acknowledgment. That's that person that helped save Tsubasa from the Joker Killer--she's still grateful for that.

She'll follow along Minako and SEES, of course. "... I don't think they could tell them the truth, though... whether... they understand it or not." But as for survivors... "I'm trying to keep locate them if I can, but...."

It's not great odds. And there is a lot of stuff to pick through here.

(She glances at Hitomi as she's glanced at, and in a whisper leans over and says, "I think that Demon we encountered on the trail the other day got a bunch of our money. My wallet was lighter, too.")

She's a bit distracted, trying to scan and analyze their surroundings--and things must be really bad because she is humming under her breath to try and ground herself. But when Hitomi freezes Ririka steps up to put a hand on her shoulder and try and pull her away. "C'mon, Mandai-chan." 

<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.

Hyousuke, in his attempts at steeling himself against the memories clawing at the edges of his mind, missed the bulk of Baofu and Tatsuya's spat. He heard the voices, and intuited enough from what fragments he made out to tell that they were arguing over something. But aside from a short and quizzical glance, he paid them no heed - not until he fully processed what little he had been able to make out from his distance, and through the haze clouding his mind.
"So they're not even Yakuza?" He asked. Confusion crept into him as much as frustration and anger did, shaking whatever calm he thought he could hold onto, but he continued on nonetheless.

Ririka, Moriko, and Hitomi, he recognised. He'd seen them all before, and fought beside them, and gave them a firm nod by way of greeting. He didn't think to speak, partly because he was at a distance, partly because they all seemed busy, and partly because the stench of death and combat threatened to make him heave into his armour. Hyousuke kept upright, but it was not an easy task, and his stomach threw itself against the confines of his body in some desperate attempt at making his disgust known. He had to keep moving - to linger was uncomfortable.

Their leader was not someone he recognised, but if they all trusted her, he was willing to have some degree of faith as well.
"Understood." Hyousuke said curtly to Minako. "Same goes to you too. I've got your backs." In that moment, Hyousuke found himself unsure. Was it an attempt to assure them of his strength, and ease whatever disquiet they might have felt? Or was it an attempt at steeling himself against the horrors? Something inside of him screamed at him to run - that he should never have come in the first place. But his friends were there, and his friends needed his help. They needed a blunt instrument with which to beat back the horrors, and a weapon did not know fear.

Hyousuke pushed it down, and pushed onwards. Briefly, he passed by Tamaki, and loudened his footfalls a little to hopefully make certain she knew it was him approaching.
"Uchida-san." He asked grimly, speaking through gritted teeth and strengthened polymers. The question was addressed as much to Eriko as it was to Tamaki, though as he lacked the former's name, he addressed it solely to the latter. "Any idea what's going on here? Demons just do whatever, I get that. But why're gangsters fucking around in here?" There was a slight tremble to his voice. It wasn't always present, but anyone sharp enough would have noticed it only appeared when his eyes fell upon a corpse. Given how liberally they were strewn about, it seemed like every other word was a tremor.

He sighted Shinobu and Umie, but they seemed - to him - to be preoccupied with their own matters and their own people. Hyousuke gave them both a firm nod regardless, making sure they knew of his presence before moving on. His feelings were mixed about Umie, certainly, but he at least trusted that they both had a shared interest in surviving the ordeal.

Hyousuke took the van, Achilles at his back with his mighty shield raised. The titanic figure of battle-scarred bronze was hardly a subtle thing, clanking and creaking as he stuck close to his wielder, but his might was enough to keep the worst of the demons' attacks at bay from some few of the explorers. Some could be turned away with words, others with shows of force and guile, of course. But for some, brute force and charging metal was what was needed. In time, he arrived at a door, but took a more... direct... approach.

Achilles shattered the lock, and Hyousuke stormed in, glancing wildly about to try and foil any lurking attackers. From corner to corner, shadow to shadow, his gaze flickered every fraction of a second. He scanned, looking for something that intended to strike, while his ears pricked up to process what both Masao and Tsubasa reported.
"They need healing?" He called back, craning his head a little, in part to avoid looking at a runnel of sanguine red upon the floor. "We'll get 'em out of here soon - might want to make sure the place is clear first."

Hyousuke could not avoid looking at the rest of the room forever, though. He tried to. He tried to cast out the clamour of other patients hidden behind thin sheets of disposable fabric. He did his utmost to suppress thoughts of faceless, uniformed, figures talking to him about things he didn't understand, and lamenting the trenchline carved from brown to cheek. He grit his teeth against the loneliness that coiled about his throat like a viper, threatening to strangle whatever semblance of light remained in him. He did not have to try for very long, even amidst such familiar surroundings.

Something lay upon the bed. Someone lay upon it. No - to lay implied that there was some manner of peace to it. The man splayed upon the mattress, the red stains drying to a rust-dark brown, looked to be at anything but peace. Hyousukes knuckles formed a stark contrast as he gripped the doorframe tight enough to lend his muscles a ghostly pallor, and for some few moments, his rattling breaths turned to heavy, staccato, heaves. He wanted to turn away. He could not turn away. He wanted to suppress the memories. He could not suppress the memories. He wanted to run, and not look back.

He could only freeze in place, and look forward.

He heard something in the distance, echoing off the walls. A voice. Umie's? SEES's? Tsubasa's? It mattered little. He did not hear the words, but latched onto the noise, using it like a rope to pull himself out of the darkness with, and he wrenched his entire body around to face Tsubasa before heaving leaden feet away.
"Nothing." He said curtly. "You two find anything else? Just looks like a-" He paused. Or did he freeze? The stop was too short to say for certain. "-Like a fucking horror show out there. Couldn't see anything that said why those guys were even here in the first place." 

<Pose Tracker> Moriko Kumamoto has posed.

Moriko looks to Yukari and shakes her head, "No?" Sounding completely baffled, "But I'd assume anything remotely medically related these days would smell of chemicals and misery, not rot." She wrinkles her nose. "I bet even the old days you read about wouldn't smell that bad."
 
 The mention of a foreign mafia gets a surprised moment from the biker though. Fidgeting with her zipped up pocket before giving up on it for now. Then she shrugs, mostly mentally. That's a different problem.
 
 "Zombies?" She asks Ririka a bit bluntly. Or maybe it's just a problem accentuated by her helmet. She's.. actually pretty helpful with the zombies at least. All things told. She angles her evoker under her helmet, unsure if it would work against the plastic shell.
 
 "Think or know?" She asks Umie, making sure. Even as she checks her biker leathers again. Suddenly very glad she brought them along. "We're not looking at movie rules are we?" She might sound a at least a little concerned through the muffled voice.
 
 She also steps forward, because of course she would. At least she has a polearm of sorts to help with this sort of thing. And, you know. Hama. Any use of which has her angling the evoker under her helmet as she's not sure if it would help in this situation to tap it into the plastic shell.
 
 Just don't ask where she stashed it.
 
 "They're treading on some toes if they're foreign Mafia." She adds, somewhat cryptically, only catching bits and pieces of the conversation. There's downsides to choosing the path of fewer bad smells.
 
 A hand goes up to Hyousuke when he looks her way. Complete with a quick little wave.
 
 "Are the Taiwanese still Triad?" She frowns, somewhat briefly lost in thought. That's a question for later. Not that she's deeply involved or anything.
 
 Eventually though, she shrugs, after poking things with the stick. She follows along with Minako, "Yeah. On it." The drawl sneaking out as she tries to focus on other things than you know, the sheer horror. The smells, the sights. Even the occasional wet footstep.
 
 Getting close enough might get a hint of her repeating something to herself though. 

<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.

    "Correct, Mitsuhide-san. Old high school classmates, St. Hermelin alumni," Tamaki replies to Umie's question. "Kirishima-san and I were in the fencing club together, and Inaba-san's an artist who went to America for a bit. We started working together again recently as the supernatural stuff started cropping up again."

    Well, it's 'again' in the case of Eriko, Mark, and Maki.

    ... and why exactly is Tamaki referring to Umie as 'Mitsuhide'?

    Before she dips behind the doors, Tamaki briefly turns back to Phoenix and gives them a nod and shrug as if to say, 'yeah, she's just like this.' "You know, I was on friendly terms with a Cerberus for a bit," she says to Eriko as she continues to follow.

    "Tough as they might be, it doesn't matter in this world if you don't have a Persona," Tamaki offers to Minako.

    Hyousuke's comment elicits a confused reaction from her. "Huh? What do you mean 'who knows what Demons want'? They've got their own distinct habits, their likes and dislikes. The scaled women here, Empusas, are initially drawn to blood and flesh, but they're really after energy. It's a good idea to carry Life Stones on you to offer those instead of your body." She frowns. "Unfortunately, I'm fresh out today; I gave away the rest of mine on the trail up here."

    After providing that explanation, she turns to Yukari and nods grimly. "I've seen a lot, suffice to say."

    (And felt a lot.)

    As for his question about gangsters, well ... Tamaki glances over back towards Katsuya and Baofu. "I've got a few ideas, but that's something I'll need to be at my desk to figure out. They could probably tell you more."

    The Velvet Room doors catch Tamaki's eye. "Hold on, I just want to ask the piano player something real quick." She steps through and briefly disappears into the white light behind them.


    What Umie had told her about how the Mark works has been on her mind since their talk on the trail. Then there's the whole bit with Cognitive Psience and how that could play a part ... maybe there's something she can do to help, but she definitely needs to borrow some outside expertise.

    Tamaki stands beside Nameless mid-song and inquires, "Hey, you gave me a hard time about trying to shut things out before, but ... some things should be tuned out, right? And I'm good at doing that. It ... can be a good thing in some contexts, can't it?"

    In other words: Can she help in any way to make the 'voices' that plague Umie (and probably both Tatsuyas) shut the hell up?

    The blindfolded man adds a couple of improvisational flourishes to the song he eternally plays. "You start with one score as the path before you is set. Two hundred and six bones notes form its skeleton." He slides his hands down the keyboard and grins. "But! Myriad insertions are possible. Quarter notes turn to eighths, eighths divide into sixteenths, arpeggios find their way in the gaps between phrases."

    He resumes playing the song as it's normally written and offers her a somber smile. "This is not a question of proper execution and play. This is not something for me to answer plainly, I am sorry to say. This is your original composition to write."

    She's calm to his face, and replies, "Thank you for your time." As soon as she turns around to make her exit, she immediately grits her teeth and angrily gestures with her hands.

    Of course it wouldn't just be that easy.


    Several minutes later, she's back in an even more dour state than when she first arrived to the double doors.

    Woe be to the next zombie that crosses her path and gets dismissed with Arianrhod's Hama more forcefully than usual for her.

<Pose Tracker> Eriko Kirishima has posed.

    Eriko can't help but giggle a little as Minako- a teenage girl- puts Baofu and Katsuya in their place. "Come now, we're adults, we're supposed to give a good example, aren't we?" Still, Yukari seems astonished they can tell, and Eriko shrugs. "It comes with experience, Yukari!" (Yes a famous model is just casually calling Yukari by her first name, that's not noteworthy right now.) "Besides, I mean what I say when I like things like this! It's part of why I have a persona at all." ...After all, some of them know exactly why and how they can use their Personas. Still, Tamaki gets a nod at her familiarity with Nekomata attacks- at which point Eriko realizes... what Tamaki is wearing.

    She looks at the crime fighting catsuit and cat ears and- she lowers her voice to a whisper. "Oh, is this like Phoenix?" She says, a little excitedly. "Oh, let me guess... Hmm... Ah, Cat-sith, right!" (You see cait-shith is the plural!) Eriko giggles again. "That sounds right! For demons, they can be rather gentle. Oh, once, while we were negotiating, I got one to let me pet it! The mane is so soft..."

    "I do!" Eriko responds to Ririka, proudly, and- ...wait. She saw that girl in that horrible Palace. Or rather... she saw a meek reflection of that girl in that Palace. The woman in front of her has resonance, and more will. "It's... let's just say this isn't my first rodeo, hm?" She pauses. "By the way, the demon kind of Cerberus usually only has one head, with a blue mane and a spiky, rat-like tail. It's really not what you expect! Orthrus is closer to the myth, however."

    Hyousuke wants to know what's going on, and Eriko can understand. "...Do you remember that circus? This space is like that, but... not as managed." It still... feels, distantly, like a dead man. "That one was under control, this one, the demons have been allowed to run wild. Probably to kill these men, I suspect. Beyond that... I'm afraid I don't know yet.

    She gives Tsubasa a gentle smile, nothing at all like the one on her magazine covers. Realer, more honest. "Well, let's try to avoid you burning to ash in the first place today. I've no doubt you'd rise stronger but..." She looks to Tamaki, a little cautiously. "I'd rather not be trying to bring anyone back from death today... I don't know this space is *that* strong..." It's a question of what happened when they went down and revived counted as death, in the Ideal Maki's world, but... Well. There sure are some vivid gaps in her memory from the battle with Pandora, when she and their leader were the last ones standing and she made a choice she wouldn't have regretted if she hadn't survived.

    Still... Eriko is not an oblivious woman- she knows her enthusiasm can be offputting, and the redhead... well. There's something about Minako that reminds her of someone else. "Thank you," Eriko says, quietly, to the younger girl. "Someone always has to go through first, after all."

    But that wave of Menace is real, and strong- strong enough that even Eriko falters for a second, but she pushes through after that faltering- even as Tamaki rushes up to her and it's only after they step past the threshold into the sea of bloody death. --oh Tamaki called her 'Kirishima-san', Eriko's in trouble, isn't she. "Sorry, Tamaki," She whispers, quietly. "I'll give you more warning next time." She can understand it- the fear of losing someone. It must be much like her own feelings, ever since the Grand Cross amounted to nothing...

    Maya suggest splitting up upstairs, but Eriko seems to give pause at that. "...The further up we go, the more dangerous it will be. If we're going up, we should explore a bit and then wait for the rest to catch up. The last thing we want is to get separated, or get caught in a maze." She's not a navigator- but that crushing, powerful menace is up there. She reaches down into her purse to check something- yes. It's still there. A remnant of old days. Just in case it's needed.

    Eriko muses over Hitomi's own theory. "...It's possible, but..." Eriko takes a moment to explain. "They would have needed someone with power to manifest this space for them." Indeed, with Katsuya's mentioning how recent the bodies were... "If anything, I would imagine the demons ambushed them. Besides... if any of them were Persona users, well..." Eriko shrugs. "It would have taken more than one or claw marks. They were normal humans, equipped with guns and knives. They didn't have a chance."

    Still, Hitomi takes a look at Trish's spring, and THAT'S when Eriko tries to give an emphatic warning. "Now, now, if we're going to deal with Trish, everyone at once and only when we know we're coming up against something. She's a fascinating creature, but she's *much* harder to bargain with one on one." -unfortunately, Hitomi opened her wallet. "...and now she's knows your current buying power." The look Eriko gives Hitomi is one of deep sympathy- Trish is a near unstoppable force when it comes to money.

    Mark has been holding out on her?? "Mark, you went gun shopping without me?" She's... not offended, just surprised, but as Tamaki will remember, she has been chafing under Japanese gun ownership laws for some reason lately. "You could have told me, I would have gotten you to pick something up for me!" -oh, right, survivor! Eriko starts moving forward towards them gently. "Hey, hey. We're friends, okay. We're friends. Phoenix and... it's Hyousuke, right? Would you two mind looking after them? I'm going to go ahead with Miss' Maya and Mr Katsuya and their... associate." There is something unsaid to Mark, as she looks to him: keep an eye on them, please. 

<Pose Tracker> Junes has posed.

The party moves to split, thanks to SEES's look at the doors and Maya's suggestion to go upstairs. This place is cramped enough that this will ultimately be temporary--but first, the doors.

Minako says the doors might be a distraction, and that may be true. But if they are distractions, they must be seen to; otherwise, the group could find themsleves assailed from behind.

Baofu and Katsuya discuss it; a potential truth comes out. Tatsuzou Sudou's minions, on their way to take out Tatsuya Sudou...

The Tien Tao Lien. But why would Taiwanese mafia work for Tatsuzou Sudou, a member of the Japanese government?

Tsubasa's sight is not a pleasant one; they spare others the visual of that horror.

Mark finds someone living, but totally incoherent; his shotgun luckily doesn't scare them that much more than they're already afraid... but is that such a good sign? The random encounters don't let up, in any case.

Shinobu is successful in intimidating some of the demons out of the way--in fact, with their alien mindset, some even respect her for it, offering her rewards like Cards and Life Stones. It's not reassuring. Others have to be fought the hard way, wearing down the group a little at a time.

As Umie explains a mysterious power that summons demons, Ririka catches Hitomi. Hitomi, who has a person there... If the group can attend to them, then that's two survivors they will have found, now. Two people spared at least their lives in this horror.

Hyousuke's direct approach at the door shatters a lock, and Hyousuke storms in. There's much for him to avoid seeing in there. But he can help the otehrs, at least. They need someone to protect them; someone strong, like he wants to be. Moriko meanwhile is careful, and while she does have to wonder the rules they're operating under... she hass things to say about the foreign criminal elements. And Helping.

Tamakihas demons tories too... And things to say. But she goes into the Velvet Room for a moment...

But Nameless can't help her too much right now. On the bright side, she does hit some zombies.

Elly soothes the survivors they see, and there will be time to tend to them before heading up--not a lot, but some. After all, Trish's fountain plays funny with Time...

Maya arrives on the next floor with her guns at the ready, joined by Eriko and Shinobu at the front. She spots movement beyond a desk--

And a woman in a nurse's uniform sticks her head out. "Y-You're... you're a human, right?"

She emerges from behind the desk. Her makeup is running, mascara ruined by tears. Her uniform is messy.

"Please--Please save me!" She begs of Maya in particular, coming closer, and seeing the others follow behind her. "Demons! demons have appeared!"

She turns towards the next stairs up, looking in horror. "He did it. he called them..."

"The patient in room 303! Tatsuya Sudou called the demons! They--they attacked my patients, my co-workers, even after that awfulness where we had to shelter in place..."

She's distraight. Someone in the group with Maya and Eriko and other adults may want to tend to her. "You saw them too, right?" she says in a panic as she remembers. "All those corpses!"

The noise can draw some attention; the ones on the gro9und floor will have a chance to catch up to the ones above before the conversation is over, ,seeing that nurse in her panic. Once they've come together...

What next? The third floor and Tatsuya Sudou's room await.

(OOC: You may arrive in time to catch as much or as little of the conversation with tne nurse as you like, but I'd appreciate it if those who are definitely there can pass on 'Tatsuya Sudou' and his location at the least to those who arrive Late.) 

<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.

"His son?" Minako asks, sharply, looking at Baofu. "The--the politician. He's using this to try to murder his son." She stares for a second. "That's--that's horrible."

There is a look, sideways, at Eriko -- and then she smiles, for just a second, before she nods. But she looks shaken. She still looks shaken as they enter the next room, and consider their next course of action. Her nod back to Phoenix is just a little distant, but it's there.

"Not--not like into small groups, just--not all of us together," Minako says, at the question of splitting up. There are quite a few of them.

"I don't like the sound of--of that Sudou guy being behind this," Minako tells Yukari, about the government lying. "That's... I think that's all it comes down to." She sighs, her eyes closing for a second. Then, she shakes her head. She glances at Umie and nods to her -- even if she isn't sure why she had a nod in her direction. Then. she looks at Ririka. "...That, too. No one would believe it."

Hyousuke -- not someone she knows -- says he has her back. She smiles at him. "Thanks. We'll be counting on you."

Her expression turns serious, in short order, though.

"It's possible," Minako says, with a glance at Yukari. She swallows, looking nervous for a moment. And Hitomi knocks on the door. Minako's eyes widen at the scream from inside, and then the pleading that comes from behind the door. She looks at Ririka -- and her eyes widen.

"If Kawase-san says to not, then don't," she says. "She would know if that's... that's really a person."

She looks at the other SEES members in turn. "Let's head upstairs. Don't... don't let this place get to you, as much as you can. Okay?" She hesitates. "I feel like... whatever we're doing here, it's important."

<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.

There's a sigh from Yukari at Moriko's answer, "Don't even worry about it."
 
Tamaki notes she's seen a lot, and she believes it, being a veteran detective but 'It comes with experience, Yukari!' "... D-Does it?"
 
She's still weirded out by a model calling her Yobisute but, she's half-American! Moreover though, she has mixed feelings about her being able to tell that kind of thing some day.
 
It's like having a second career! She doesn't want the rest of her life to be like this!
 
"Oh..." She looks surprised at Cerberus only having one head as explained by Eriko, "... That's... not what I expected really. I wonder why."

A father trying to kill his own son. Yukari feels ill. Even if his son is the Joker...
 
... she always thought the love of a Father for their child ran that much deeper. Then again, after knowing how her mother emotionally collapsed in the aftermath, perhaps she shouldn't be so shocked.
 
There's no love lost between them...
 
"It is, but - given what we heard of this guy from Kirijo-san... I guess it's not too surprising." She replies to Minako, seeming somewhat squeamish.
 
Umie notes that 'imagine what would've happened if they weren't there to turn people away' and Yukari looks her way, "... And how many people will then just be fed a lie for the rest of their lives on what happened to their loved ones?" She says as she snaps at her, a little sensitive on this matter.
 
"And he definitely doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would even blink on... something like this. I saw his people trying to kill cops."
 
"... Yeah thanks." She says to Ririka, still nervous about what they might find as Eriko seemed to know what they're talking about.
 
Hitomi then knocks on a door, and Yukari slowly steps back, drawing her Evoker. Yukari's eyes go wide in alarm at the scream, and she nearly accidentally pulls the trigger. "You're- we have to get her out of there!"
 
Ririka however states it's not a person. "Wait, you think it's a demon posing as one?" It, maybe takes a lot to have Yukari stop looking at that door as they move on.
 
Because what if she's wrong!?
 
For now at least, she keeps following Minako, looking troubled, "... Yeah. I'll... try not to."

<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.

    Demons, the mafia, dead people... Katsuya's explanation makes sense, and it's not good. Is the Joker Killer still here? And if so, are they drawing closer to him by going upstairs?

    A shiver runs up Maya's spine as she goes up the stairs and she is suddenly grateful for the others following at her back. If anyone is going to encounter the Joker Killer first, she'd much rather it not be the kids.

    Maya's heart practically bursts out of her chest when she's greeted with a voice almost immediately as she reaches the next floor. "We're human," Maya reassures her -- but that's as far as the reassurances go (for now); there's other more pressing things to ask. "Where is Sudou's room? Do you know if he's still here?" 

<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.

    Eriko admonishes him and Baofu a little more directly, but of the two, only Katsuya responds to her: "Yes. Of course," he answers. She's right, they do have to set a good example here, and getting scolded by a teenager girl for acting like a child himself is...

    Baofu, meanwhile, just shakes his head and takes a drag from his cigarette.

    "Only one head...?" Katsuya wonders, of Cerberus as Eriko describes him to Ririka. "But is he not supposed to have three?" He looks genuinely dumbfounded by this!

    "...Yes. It's just like it was with the other victims of the Joker Killer. It's likely he uses his demons most of the time," he adds to what Eriko has said of the bodies. "It was likely quick. As you say, they weren't able to put up much of a fight. All of the blood back there must also be theirs. It seems that was as far as they got." At least, he hasn't seen any sign since of anyone else.

    Just the bodies of the patients and the staff.

    "The Yiqing Operation almost two decades back saw these guys cleared out of Taiwan," says Baofu, about the mafia being present as they move along and explore rooms. He shrugs. "Heh heh. They found a home here, and with a protector in the likes of Tatsuzou Sudou... I don't think they have to worry about the 'locals'. In exchange," he says, as if to answer Hyosuke's question, "they handle his dirty business. Hmph, it suits them..."

    This explanation has Katsuya frowning, perhaps recalling an altercation he'd had with a fellow officer. It's true that people who come here aren't necessarily good people, but...

    Are the Taiwanese gangs still considered Triads? "Who knows..." says Baofu of Moriko's question, as unhelpful as ever.

    "This far from home," Katsuya muses, "perhaps it doesn't matter..." He doesn't work vice, but more than likely, there's probably someone affiliated with the Triads in the region. ...He'd like to say otherwise, but the reality is that the Tokyo region has the largest variety of nationalities in Japan, and that also makes it more likely that the criminal element is at play, too. He fidgets with his sunglasses. "..."

    But if he hasn't just sent the Tien Tao Lien, as Umie supposes, then... "Who would he have sent?" he wonders aloud.

    "Keep going, and you might just find out, detective," remarks Baofu with a smile that suggests mockery, grinding the butt of his cigarette under the heel of a shoe. It earns him a pointed glance and a frown from Katsuya but other than the flash of tension here again, that's all there is.

    Hitomi also has found a survivor. Neither, it seems, are much able to answer very many questions, and at this point, there aren't very many questions left to ask. It's simply a matter of climbing higher, as Eriko says, and proceeding to see if 'he' is still here--

    He's drawn his weapon as he accompanies Maya and Eriko to the next floor, among others. They are met not by another monster, though, but--

    "Another survivor!" He holsters his gun and flashes his badge. "Sergeant Katsuya Suou, Sumaru Police. Miss, please stay calm. We are here to help you."

    Distraught, she tells them what he'd already suspected. 'He' had called them.

    Tatsuya Sudou, the patient in room #303.

    "It will be all right, miss." He glances over at Maya. "Yes, if you can tell us where his room is, that would be a great help. If you head below, our allies downstairs will help you leave safely."

    It's on the third floor, as the number implied, of course, but down the hallway a distance from the stairs. Her directions will help them save time. 

<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.

Ririka can spare a nod for Hyousuke. She's glad he seems to be here with someone, at least, even if she's still worried about him... maybe she should talk to her sister about that, later...

"Zombies," she repeats back to Moriko. "If there's another name for them I'd really rathher use that because otherwise I don't know what to call--" Nope. Can't describe that out loud, that's not going to help her much. She just gestures vaguely and hums to herself.

But Umie mentions something Ririka's heard before--a 'Mark' that summoned the demons. She's seem demons summoned in a few other spaces before, too... and didn't the Joker Killer mention Marks at the art gallery? She's about to open her mouth to speak when she sees notes the mask, and then she hears what Tamaki refers to Umie as.

... Well, if she's wearing a mask, it'd be rude not to use the alias, right? "... Hey, Mitsuhide-san. What is the 'Mark', anyway? The Joker Killer was mentioning it too, right?"

Ririka... is definitely not that Cognition version of herself, no. Though she might not be at her best, at the moment, either (though she's trying to keep things together, at least.) Ririka blinks a bit as Eriko describes the two different kinds of demons. "... Oh, that's... good to know, actually," she says with a nod. "I'm still figuring out what everything's Resonance sounds like, but maybe I should look at the environment, too..."

Though honestly, 'looking' is a bit more of Fuuka's specialty, isn't it?

Ririka nods to Minako as she voices her thoughts about Sudou being behind this. "We should make sure to tell Aragaki-senpai about this later--he's been investigating the Joker Killer, he'll want to know about this." Ririka did promise she'd share anything, in exchange for help investigating the NWO. This event might be a link to both.

But Hitomi did, in fact, find an actual human, and Ririka sucks in a sharp breath as her senses catch up to her. She shakes her head to Minako and Yukari. "No, it's-- that's a survivor. It just--" Her breath is haggard for a moment--there's a lot to keep track of in here, sensory wise. Not to mention emotionally. "--Sorry, it just took me a moment."

She opens the door. "Hi, we're here to help," she says, gently, trying to keep her voice and her breathing steady. She reaches out a hand. "We'll try to get you somewhere safer for now, okay?" She can't say 'it's all going to be okay' because she can't possibly imagine how that would be.

And she can't absolutely promise safety, since... the state of the Sanitarium. But they can at least do safer. hopefully. 

<Pose Tracker> Masao Inaba has posed.

    "I don't see any blood, or claw marks, or anything here," Masao says to Katsuya, best answering his question. But he knows the man's not okay. "Hey! We're here to help, just--"
 
     (inelegant blubbering and uncommunicative murmurs commence)
 
     A frusrated street artist just rubs the back of his bowed head. It's always tough. Masao looks up as Eriko calls him out about going shopping without her. "What? It's at the Parabellum bar, they just... kinda sell them out in the open, like that, ammo 'n everything." Masao's shotgun is, in fact, the very first one he laid hands on in a story that has long since ended, as some great manner of cosmic joke.
 
     He exhales, shakes his head, and looks to any who might be on the ground floor. "I dunno what we can do for 'em, other than help get 'em out of here," he says. He picks up a spraypaint can out of his backpack - a bright green one.
 
     "I'm gonna head on upstairs, if anyone's gonna help see people out, paint a line to the back with this - in case we miss somebody." If this guy is alive and... well, he's not okay, but if he's alive, there might be others holing up. "And if somethin' falls over on top of someone and they're trapped... doesn't matter if there's zombies 'round the corner or nothin', got it?"
 
     It didn't matter to a certain someone back then, and that's stuck with him since.
 
     "Persona healing only works on other Persona-users," Mark lets Hyousuke know about this, "but if you know 'bout plain ol' first-aid, that's good," but Hyousuke's a youngster and this is emotionally trying, frightening, and difficult for everyone and he's not expecting some manner of surprise hospital TV show miracle out of this.
 
     Oh! Now he just notices Phoenix there. It's been hard to kind of track them, for some reason... same with any other 'Thief' type, huh, the mysterious masked costume users. "...Thanks for watchin' my back," he says to them, "friggin' demons are relentless." He's not having much luck winning them over with dance moves.
 
     "'m goin' on up," he repeats, shotgun at the ready when a Cockatrice and some friends come barreling down. "Want some?!" He calls out of bravado and habit, just aggressing right on back along the way up the stairs...
 
     To eventually catch up with the rest, mostly silent as he catches the back half of what's being discussed (another survivor, inquiries about where Tatsuya Sudou is). 

<Pose Tracker> Shinobu Shimizu has posed.

Hyousuke nods, and Shinobu sends him a nod of greeting back. With how tense the situation is, she's fixated on the task at hand - but it is good to see a familiar face around.

Shinobu successfully intimidates some of the demons! ...She's not sure what to think about them approving of the behavior, but she'll take what she can get. And when it's time to had up -

"Right behind you." Shinobu says, following after Maya and Eriko. Almost immediately on the next floor, there's movement. Shinobu readies her staff - but it's not a demon, or even a zombie. A live human, one of the nurses - and she's coherent enough to speak.

"Easy, easy. Yeah, we're human. Don't worry. But... yeah, we saw." Shinobu confirms, lowering her staff and raising her hands demonstratively. She sees how distressed the nurse is, and she feels just a bit embarrassed at the rough first impression. She didn't want to scare anyone - well, anyone who wasn't a demon. She listens as she explains...

"Tatsuya Sudou, room 303? I see..." Shinobu repeats. She glances to the others. Sounds like they know where they should head, at least. Maya asks where it is, and Shinobu nods at the question.

"Are you hurt? Can you walk? You need anything, we've got medicine and supplies." Shinobu asks, looking back at the nurse. They might need some of those themselves... but they can benefit from a Persona's healing. She nods, as Katsuya introduces himself and explains that they have allies downstairs.

"Yeah. There's a bunch of us here, looking for survivors." She explains. 

<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.

    This sure is what passes for cool, these days, Baofu. "Yakuza's jus' one gang," they add, to Hyousuke. "There's way more shit out there than them..." A pause, as they nod to Moriko. "Yeah, like th' Triad. Uh, I dunno if that's Taiwan, tho'." They at least know enough -- these days -- to know that conflating Taiwan with China is, you know, complicated. (... they don't actually know nearly as much about gangs as Moriko might, though.) Luckily, Baofu knows a lot about it, so they can just listen to him.

    But... 'get me out of here!'...

    ... it's not something you need zombies to have heard before.

    "Hey." Phoenix announces their presence verbally, to Hitomi, as they move over to pick the lock to her door, too. (Like, she's totally zoned out, right? Liable to smack them one if they sneak up on her.) They don't much care for any implications that this might not be a human, and they don't recognise Minako's authority, so no one can stop them. Rattle, tinker... click, and Phoenix is not eaten by a demon pretending to be a human, in fact. It's just a terrified human in there! They do not step into the room; Ririka is free to open the door they've unlocked and be the first person in there.

    But it means there's more than one survivor, coming out into the halls. "... hey," Phoenix calls to them, again. The people who got out of this alive... "Look at me," they say, to a man half-panicked. "We ain't no fuckin' whitecoats. I get it... you ain't got shit for days, right? They jus'... forget 'bout ya." A moment's lacuna, "...", but they gotta focus up. "C'mon. Got a place you can wait it out... get somethin'."

    They'll shepherd the survivors to Trish's Fountain -- only to find her sighing, dramatically, as she sees those unwashed horrified apes in their stained white drapes interrupting her sanctum. "What do you want?" She asks, petulant.

    "Jus' let these guys chill out here a bit," Phoenix says, completely not following Eriko's advice. "Here, look -- I got some real shit for ya --" -- they pull out a bag of watermelon tourmaline, pink rubies, and opals, the most valuable gems they pilfered from Maria's vault. They were going to sell them and just enjoy the profits selfishly, but... ugh... "Jus' let these guys chill out here, get 'em somethin' to drink. We'll be back soon. Aight?"

    "Well... this deal's more in my favour, I guess..." Trish sighs, shaking her head, palms to the sky. She's completely petty enough to hold a grudge about Ayame bargaining her prices down when the sisters and Tsubasa met her on the side of the mountain, apparently. "All right! Whatever! Corral the apes in here, see if I care!"

    ... they don't have anything they can say to make it better for the survivors, though. They will pocket Mark's spray can, though, in their hood. For later!

    It means Phoenix is grim, as they return to consider what Baofu has to say about Tatsuzou Sudou. "That fuckin' guy... he's behind everythin'." Their scowl deepens, though, as Katsuya asks the question that's on their mind, too. "Th' Old Maid... he's Sudou-kakka's son?!" You might translate that as 'his Excellency, Sudou'; it's the official term of address for a cabinet minister.

    Phoenix doesn't sound like they have much respect for the guy, given they spit his name out like it's natto-flavoured, but they're addressing him by his proper title...

    They're not gonna call attention to their CRIMINAL EFFORTS if Katsuya doesn't notice them, anyway. Even if they'd totally argue that IT'S NOT A CRIME, COP, THEY LEFT THESE PRICKS TO DIE!

    (It might still be a crime.)

    "Who was this powerful..." They wonder, turning over Shinobu's words in their head. "... fuck."

    They look to Umie, though, frowning behind their mask. "But -- wait a sec. I heard how Tsubasa-kun an' Shimizu-san over there," they jerk a thumb back to Shinobu, "climbed up here an' got turned back by them hazmat fucks. So... why ain't she a zombie? Hell, even if ya say it's only normal pricks... wouldn't Tsubasa-kun have turned inta one by now?" Beat. "They ain't," Phoenix adds. "Was jus' talkin' to 'em this mornin'." Flawless execution.

    Still -- it means that whatever horrors are here, they're at least localised to the Sanitarium instead of being infectious. This may be cold comfort to the people here now, who are, indeed, presently located inside the Sanitarium.

    "... we found a coupla live ones," Phoenix says, to Hyousuke. "I put 'em in with Trish for now... don't worry, I gave her enough shit she won't eat 'em. She understands, like, valuable shit, that's her big thing." It's just like the adults were saying, earlier, about Demons having personalities... "... c'mon. Let's go up with 'em."

    They move upwards, then, with Maya and her group. There, they find --

    "Tch," Phoenix forces air through their teeth. "Ch'right. Found the whitecoat."

    ... they're not sympathetic to that nurse at all.

    "Get fucked," they make it explicit, flashing the nurse a very unkind hand signal. "You an' all ya buddies were th' ones lockin' those fucks down there up when ya could've evacuated them. Now ya cryin' 'cuz one a ya patients broke? Fuck you. Ain't it your job to put fuckin' sheets an' blankets on those beds down there?" There weren't any; the patient rooms only had mattresses, bare on the frames.

    "... the people who deserve to live are down in th' fairy's fountain on th' first floor," they spit, glaring at her. "You go apologise to them if you wanna get outta here with 'em. Hands an' knees, go on."

    They add, scowling, to Maya: "... if Sudou's kid, Tatsuya Sudou," and they repeat this late enough that people who came in after the nurse was talking can likely pick it up, "is th' Old Maid, it's gotta be room 303. Ain't many folks other than th' Old Maid what call up demons... only one I can think of's th' Ferryman, an' we ain't seen him or his weird Frenchie woman for ages."

    Notably, there's no wood nearby for Phoenix to knock on.

<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.

 
Before the horror, Hitomi muses to Moriko, "Well, THOSE ones in specific aren't in that life any more, but I think I understand what you mean. They've got crime in Taiwan, right? It stands to reason it'd probably be triads..."

"My buying power doesn't matter if I'm not buying," Hitomi tells Eriko with a slightly theatrical shrug. "I already got free berries on the way up." This may displease Ririka to remember, but then, 'Hitomi ate some dubious berries without hesitation' is at least something different from the sight of death and horror.

But then, at the door.

Ririka encourages her to stay back for a moment, but only a moment. A check and it's... a trapped person. "-- We have to," Hitomi begins, looking at her, "If they're alive... if it's an enemy I'll take responsibility--" She speaks quietly. As if guilty. She curls her hand as if in a fist and says, "Hey - you in there - stand back."

WAIT! IT ISN'T BOMBS! Phoenix Surprise! There's a Phantom Thief here, to help out trapped guys! Hitomi's eyes widen behind her glasses as she gives Phoenix some distance while tinker-tinker-clicking, a loomingly tall presence behind the rough-talking cognitive criminal. Hitomi does not interfere.

"Yeah... you need to get out of here," Hitomi tells the survivor, sweeping an arm to indicate a direction. After that, she pushes her glasses up her nose and gives Minako a solemn look, along with a wordless nod. Back to the survivor - "Uh - yeah, go with 'em. Wait, before you go," Hitomi says, raising her hand to look at Phoenix.

"I'm sorry, about, everything, at that place," Hitomi fumbles, before finding her footing. "Tell your team we want to talk sometime. And tell the one in the cool coat I say hi." Hitomi concludes with a wink.

After this, forwards, upwards. "... Do you think they CAUSED this? I mean, the... Sudou, government..." Hitomi begins to say even as they come upon that nurse. Hitomi grimaces slightly as Phoenix dresses down the nurse, although she does not try to interrupt in the slightest.

Once that's clear - one way or another - Hitomi, biting idly on her thumbnail, asks, "So you think all of this... wait, is ALL of the whole... demons, thing, just... No," Hitomi's eyes flick up, "No, I guess I can see it, if he... sent his goons to... and then, if Sudou is the 'Old Maid' figure, and can..."

Hitomi blurt-giggles again. "This is so twisted--! Hey, Arisato-chan," Minako of course, "what do you think about all of this? I'm sorry, I'm just -- hah... If all of this is just because of some half-assed series of, of *hits* that haven't ever gone *right*...!"

Well, Hitomi certainly isn't running away. That's for sure! 

<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.

    "Ahhh," Umie says, nodding to Tamaki, with a half-grin. "Well... if they're your buddies then they're mine, though Inaba-san and I worked a shift or two together." Well, one shift, and probably a few fights.

    'Think or know?' asks Moriko.

    'Want to test it?' Umie wants to say, but the secrets she's prying open are just as likely to shine light on Umie herself, rather than the situation. "'Know'," Umie decides to say.

    And Phoenix explains more. "RIght," Umie follows. "Otherwise the Old Maid'd be leaving zombies behind everywhere he went, not just here."

    Despite that. the talk of Tatsuzou Sudou between Minako and Yukari draws Umie in, though she keeps her mouth shut, for now. She's said what she needs to; let the man's actions speak for his.

    "A man like that..." she says, softly. Back then, he cast her into the flames, despite the way she followed him to the pyre like a happy little lamb.

    Why is everyone so surprised? Are they really that *stupid*? Especially them, being sent to clean up after Kirijo Corp's mess.

    Umie places hand close to her lips, the white of her teeth showing against her lips as she bites down, ever so slightly.

    How many, indeed? Yukari's words come from a deep place. (Or is that just Umie's imagination, reading into it?) "...." The chaotic mask doesn't match the energy of Umie's gaze, right then, or the way her lips purse. She *wants* to answer, but despite the time she's given the question in general, she can only present what's found so far.

    Umie lets out a sigh, shifting her stance wearily to one foot. ".... Wish I knew the answer." She's thankfully for the paper mask, as itchy as it's beginning to feel, at that moment.

    Sacrifical lambs, everywhere.

    She's briefly startled by Ririka's use of that Tamaki's codename, but quickly responds to make up for it. "It's..." She raises her index finger, as if about to lay down a thorough, detailed explanation.

    _how does Umie even begin?_

    "It's what causes the bad feeling we get when he's attacking someplace, and allows him to summon demons," she says, quite uselessly.

    Chickens exist because they come from eggs. Water exists because the ice has melted. Flowers bloom because the tree has buds.

    Tamaki comes back from the Velvet Room, and Umie glances back at her, the whites of her eyes briefly showing through her mask as she touches it, again, running fingertops against its surface.

    "... Everything good?" she ask now, casually, slipping her hands into her pockets.

    Coming up the stairs, Umie frowns at the confusion. "Did I miss some excitement?" she murmurs with a raised eyebrow (which the stupid mask hides), trying to look over the people gathered.

    Pheonix's words to the nurse seem particularly rough, but likely, the nurse tried something to earn the Phantom Thief's gruff manner.

    Still, Umie's mouth won't stay shut. "... Not much one nurse *could* do, without a persona. Between the Mafia, the zombies, demons, a serial killer, and likely being abandoned here, she's likely going to be a very inconvienent witness for Daddy Dearest if we make sure she gets out alive." She frowns. "If a nurse collaborates with the testimonies of the other survivors, it'll blow a hole in any naysayers who try to discount the truth."

    What's more important is--

    "... 303, huh... Maybe he's still there."

<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.

Hyousuke had to be strong. Nothing less was acceptable. Nothing more could be hoped for. His will was iron, his nerves were steel, his body and spirit unyielding. Such sentiments - though perhaps not in so many words - were repeated ad nauseam, looping in his mind as he attempted to maintain some semblance of control over his own psyche. There would be time for panic later. He could allow his heart to beat its way from his chest and a scream to wrench itself from his throat when there was no danger, and no survivors to escort.

His friends did not need him to break down now, of all times, and thus he would not allow it.

So busy was he trying to brute force his way back into something that even vaguely resembled calm, that he failed to think too hard on what Tamaki had told him of demons. Were he of more settled mind, he might have reflected upon his actions thus far - more specifically, on how his solution to most demon problems had involved a blunt instrument of some kind. He might have also thought on the similarities between the circus he'd not lingered in overlong, and the sanitarium he did not wish to linger in overlong. However, it was a set of thoughts that he would have to reflect on when he was calm enough to do so. At that moment, it took all he had to simply appear as though he was calm.

It was Eriko's actions that shook him out of his reverie, and he nodded at her, though perhaps a little dumbly.
"Hyousuke Suzuki." He said, emphasising his family name a little. He said nothing else. What was there for him to add? He had no way with words, nor a gentleness that could be conjured to soothe a panicked soul. Instead, he turned and had Achilles heft his shield around, making sure that there was a great barrier between them, and anyone that thought to try and harm them. It was all he could think to do, though the fact that it kept his face away from the rest of the party helped some scant amount.

That mention of his name seemed to have shocked him back to attention enough that he could, at the very least, act like he was able to concentrate on the mission. His mind still wandered every time his eyes caught on a body, and his breath was never quite even until he rejoined the other parties, but it was enough. The mask, distance, and darkness could - in theory - cover up the worst, while forcing himself upright and remaining at attention could solve the rest. Anything the others noticed could be explained away by the tension of the situation.

"...First aid. I know first aid." For once, Hyousuke did not have to lie, either to himself or to others. "Can't fix anything, but I can probably stop it getting much worse." Inspiring words, they were not, but he hadn't the time nor the inclination to pretty his responses up. Time was of the essence, and if anything was needed from him, it would have to be quick. Other things demanded his attention, and the parties had not - to the best of his knowledge - even mapped the majority of the facility out.

"So if they're that Taiwanese gang like the cop back there said..." Hyousuke mused out loud, half to get his party's thoughts on the matter, half to keep himself distracted before he began to spiral again, "...Was this whole thing to tie up loose ends? Get rid of anyone that knew too much, or-" Hyousuke stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of a nurse. Her manic explanations - and what everyone else added once they'd listened to her - put paid to whatever train of thought he'd been on before.

"Sudou...? The *government* Sudou?" Hyousuke had received enough of an education to know the proper term of address for a man of such high standing. He had not, however, received enough of an education to give a shit about using that proper term of address, and only vaguely knew the name from hearing it mentioned on the radio and TV in the background. "You're telling me that his son's the Joker Killer? Are you fucking with me right now?" He didn't disbelieve it. Others stated it outright, or seemed to be coming to the same conclusion. They were, he reasoned, likely much smarter than him - not that he set the bar very high - so to think otherwise would have been the height of foolishness.

Before he could finish his musings on the topic, Tsubasa's utter lack of sympathy for the nurse showed. He did not admonish them for it. He had the energy to, but not the inclination. Rather, he looked to them with that eyeless gaze, and then turned his head towards the direction of the stairs.
"Phoenix." He said firmly, but not sternly. Just enough that his voice could cut through the clamour, even if there was still a tremble to it no matter how hard he tried to still himself. "303, ain't it?" He didn't sound happy about wanting to pull them away. However, whatever his feelings on the place's staff were, Hyousuke's attention had been caught by the idea that the Joker Killer was there with them. Like a hound on the trail, he inclined his head towards the stairs, not looking at Tsubasa as he spoke. 

<Pose Tracker> Moriko Kumamoto has posed.

Moriko gives Yukari a confused look. This is defeated by her having the visor down still, obscuring her face. It's starting to not help with the smell either. "Okay." She finally replies. Before turning her attention inward again.
 
 She seems a bit lost.
 
 "And if someone did believe it, what might they do?" She taps the evoker against her helmet, "I've seen the other summoning methods. It's not widespread yet right?" The thing gets holstered again for now. Watching MMinako as she looks at it from the other side. "Or just the sheer panic even." Monsters and demons.
 
 That he's trying to take out his own son is met with a grimace, though that's mostly in silence. And you know, obfuscated.
 
 "I mean-" she replies to Baofu, "I might know some angles on that." Then there's a hesitation to go too much further. "I can... try." No reason to name names or get digging too deep right?
 
 Ririka raises the idea of calling them something else. This almost vaporlocks the biker as she considers what she'd have called them. It's somehow a welcome relief from the actual horror her. A slip in something dark colored pulls her out of that and she skips right on past it.
 
 "Is the Mark related to the painting we saw?" She glances back to the others. "It would explain why we thought he was there right?"
 
 She does... try to look non-threatening there in biker leathers, a masked up helmet and a polearm. Letting the others speak. There is a brief thought to the fact that the helmet's probably helping all things told.
 
 She does glance to Hitomi and nods regarding the triad, "Wasn't sure if they shared the naming." She wobbles her free hand. "It gets iffy sometimes."
 
 Tsubasa's reply is met with a nod, "Yeah I.. honestly don't remember." It's right at the edge of her memories even. "Right right."
 
 "It's not surprising." Sheadds off-handed to Hyousuke. "Pretty much everywhere has their brand of it. The question is if the local families were aware, collaborating or opposing." She uses her wrist to scratch at her chin distractedly. "That might be something we could go stir up." Then a beat later, "Maybe not." That's a flat tone. She might have options. Or angles. Or something. Her phone absentmindedly goes back to her phone. Then she pulls it away again.
 
 This place is making her twitchy. She needs to get in the... right space. It's a little hard. Harder than she'd want to admit. 

<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.

    Tamaki smiles at Eriko but shakes her head. "No, no; no alias or anything." She looks down at herself and the mess-covered getup she's in. "This was to not be noticed along the way in a forest environment. Didn't want to get turned around by security when it was just Mitsuhide-san and myself." She cheerfully puts her hands together, enthused at Eriko's guess about Tamaki's inspiration for the cat ears in her outfit. "I'm glad you noticed, yes! Cait Sith is right! A sword-wielding feline, just as fine as any." Her eyes widen after she hears that Eriko got to pet one. "Oh my goodness ... I'm honestly jealous."

    In reply to Eriko's musings about how Phoenix may 'rise stronger' if they're revived, Tamaki grimly shakes her head. "I've experienced something of the sort in a much different space. Even so, there was no guarantee you'd come back stronger. It ... depends on what you put into it."

    She'd know, having gone through such a cycle several times. She ended up better for it in the aggregate sense, but there were a number of individual times where she backslid.

    "There are other depictions of Cerberus where he has a 'mane' with many serpent heads. Maybe that's the one that coalesced into the Demon we know?" she remarks to Katsuya.

    Eriko's silent concerns about why Tamaki called after her so are fairly accurate. It's a fear that's already been realized at least twice in Tamaki's life.

    After Eriko calls out Mark for going gun shopping without her, Tamaki averts her gaze and tries to look as innocent as she can, given her own involvement in how Parabellum started selling weaponry in the first place. "O-oh, I thought you knew ..." A pang of guilt hits her chest, since she knows exactly why Eriko's so adamant on carrying and can't blame her.

    "Yeah. Healing doesn't work on non-Persona-users; it's why I carry first aid kits. Equally applies to both," she adds in general.

    Discussion of the relationship between Sudou the minister and Sudou the son actually don't get much of a response from Tamaki. She may stand out in stark contrast to others reacting with surprise; this is not some new revelation to her, and she knows that others were looking more deeply into the connection. There's no predicting what may happen if word got out -- that's the thing with the Kuzunoha Detective Agency's business with rumors: there are decisions to be made about what to spread and what to keep quiet lest a spark set everything ablaze.

    '... Everything good?' Tamaki's grimace and growl of a response may be answer enough. "As good as it can be, I guess. We can talk later." She just hopes that 'later' -- after the sanitarium -- isn't too late.

    She's late to everything, it seems. Last on the scene, missing the attacks and incidents that might have gone differently were she there. She arrives up to the room with the nurse just behind Umie. "Hey -- I get how you feel, but uh -- triage. Plus she might not be the root cause of what you're upset about, and it might be better if you yell at someone closer to the top."

    "We've got something more pressing to focus on, anyhow. Room 303, right?"

<Pose Tracker> Eriko Kirishima has posed.

    "Oh, a excellent choice! It suits you- well, I mean, I wouldn't have expected the look in your wardrobe but it works in action!" ...Look. She's a model. She likes fashion. She causes problem. "Really, you should see if Yanagi can make you something to work with that."

    It's not at all strange for Minako to look shaken- this is a bad place, and walking into a massacre is a truly upsetting experience. And Eriko can only do so much. "We'll meet back up again on the next floor, right?" Minako is the leader of her group, and Eriko gives her a little vote of confidence and a suggestion in one. "Be careful!"

    "...Berries? Do they have healing berries up here?" Eriko doesn't remember that rumour, and she's slightly concerned at Hitomi's approach of 'eat some random berries' on a mountain path.

    "Not always!" Eriko responds, as Katsuya asks about her special interest- and Yukari's wondering why gets her even more accepted. "Hesiod's Theogony said he had 50 heads, while Pindar said 100. It wasn't until later until that they decided on three heads-" And then Tamaki jumps in on the explanation of Cerberus and Eriko smiles joyfully. "Yes! Horace said he had one dog head, and one hundred snake heads, while Apollodorus said three dog heads and the heads of all sorts of snakes on his back! But it just goes to show that while demons can reflect mythology, they aren't the same. There were probably too many accounts to pick so it just went with one head."

    Mark explains Parabellum, but Eriko frowns. "And you bought a customized Randall! That's practically a museum piece these days! If I was there I could have at least made sure you got something sensible!" Eriko lets out a long sigh. "...honestly it's better than trying to just find some loose at the police station." Tamaki tries to avoid her guess. "I knew, but I haven't had time," Eriko says, without blaming Tamaki this time. "Besides, I'd still need to find a firing range, they really dont have many here..." An idea forms. Tamaki might expect a work call later.

    She's a little glad that confirming Hyousuke's name brings him back to focus. "Thank you, Hyousuke. Call me Eriko, we'll be working together through here." She does take note of his Persona now, and smirks. "The Hero of the Iliad, son of Thetis and Peleus, and one of the Argonauts! A strong shield to have- just keep your heel guarded."

    "She nods to Shinobu, following after her and Maya. "Thank you. The more people watching each other's back, the better."

    She does just... sigh at Phoenix offering Trish jewels. "...She usually doesn't take barter..." And if she DOES that's news to keep in mind -holy shit, Trish DOES take barter now, and Eriko looks at Phoenix like they just grew as many heads as Cerberus may or may not have.

     

    Upon getting upstairs, however, they are confronted by a panicked, scared nurse. ...Oh. Now they have an answer. It's not a good answer, especially with that snippet Baofu gives that Eriko does her best not to show a reaction to. Her... coworkers had ascertained that lead already. That Tatsuzou Sudou was connected, via his secretary and his personal fortune teller respectively. But it seems, now that they might be cleaning up loose ends.

    Baofu explains the situation with the Taiwan Mafia, and Eriko puts a finger to her lips thoughtfully. "These are real gangsters, too. Not like the Yakuza we encountered once," Eriko says, casually. "But even an ideal like that can become a demon... they looked human, apart from being right out of the samurai era." ...Not the right thing to catch on, Eriko.

     

    As the nurse comes running up, though, asking for confirmation of something simple. "We're human," Eriko repeats, as the nurse searches for understanding, offering a hand outstretched like an angel coming to save a human from a sea of destruction-

    Even as, suddenly, Phoenix lets out their rage at the nurse, and Eriko is briefly taken aback. What on earth...? "Phoenix..." She's not really a stern type, but she's definitely caught off guard at the sheer rage. "...We're not here to choose who deserves to live." She says, after a moment, before turning her attention back to the nurse.

    "We'll keep you safe," Eriko says, her tone gentle and comforting. "We'll get you out of here. We saw it all, it's okay." If needed, she will, in fact, give the nurse a hug, and a handkerchief if needed. Her adventuring outfit is made of fabric easy to get blood out of, tears and snot hardly matter after that. "Please, if you can answer Miss Maya's questions, it would be a great help. Sergeant Suou is here to deal with him, and he's got special anti-demon equipment!" ...A persona is like equipment...

    "...Did you get all that?" She asks the others, to see if they draw the same conclusion- and Umie seems to be drawing at least one of those conclusions. "Tatsuya Sudou made this realm... If he's still here, we should be expecting a fight, on his own turf. Who knows what he can do that we haven't seen." 

<Pose Tracker> Junes has posed.

His son. Minako has an undersstandable reaction to the Sudou familly relationships. Minako's caution is wise, too--while this is a person... there are other rooms where that wouldn't be true. There are devious demons out there... But thanks to their Navigators, they can tell more easily which is which.

Cerberus is totally supposed to have three heads, though.

Mark's path to safety will be useful; they don't have time to go through every room, after all, at least not yet. Someone will have to come back to locate the other survivors, if they can find any.

He also shoots a Cockatrice! Hope he gets some feathers!

Hitomi gives the patient a place to go. That might have to be enough, because he says, "Thank you. ...You're so young. How can you face things like this...?"

He'll go with Phoenix. Hyousuke will ensure that Trish's fountain isn't the only thing handling his injuries. The others, too. And Moriko... appears to know more about crime than most here--which might be notable in the future.

Up on the second floor, Maya is the first to meet the nurse, reassuring her that they're human. Katsuya too reassures her: a police officer. "Oh, God," she says, "You're here to save us? I--" Right. Helping. Mark joins them, and she spots a man with a gun--but he's not a demon, so that's maybe fine. "I-I can walk," she assures Shinobu. "I was able to hide, but Dr. Nakamura..."

She starts crying again, and one might expect her to cry harder when Tsubasa goes off on her--but her jobs...

"You--" she tenses, starting to argue, finding her spine in anger. "Do you know what--" But then she relents. "...Even if they're dangerous... They're still our patients. They deserved better than this. We should've at least been able to protect them..."

Colaborates with others? 'if she gets out alive?' "W-what's with you!?" she asks Umie, apparently more spooked than by the righteous anger of someone commenting on sheets. Either way, when Eriko speaks to her so gently, she rushes Eriko--to cry on her shoulder.

"I didn't ask to get stuck in a place like this! I-I know I could do better for them, but I--I still don't want to die!"

But Maya's questions... the nurse steps back and wipes her eyes, nodding. "Okay. It's the third floor, up those stairs--and on your left. Room 303."

Tamaki's counsel might be wise; if nothing else, the nurse hears her... and room 303 awaits.

Up the stairs, past a few more demons: there it is. Room #303. Whoever goes in first they hopefully have a weapon handy, because the menace pouring off this room alone is palpable. And inside...
think
The grey, drab cell looks the same as the others, in most ways: the same barred window on the opposite wall, showing a view of the outside from the third floor, the same small toilet, sink, and mirror along the wall to the left, close to the corner. Beyond that, there's no doubt as it who it belongs to.

In the left wall is a haphazard collage of photos and clippings of the Joker Killer's victims, alive or dead.

Red, yellow, white, and black writings mark the walls and floor, some of which run over various other newspapers and print-outs that are taped up or littered across the floor. Bright red handprints are smeared over the walls, red as the 'lips' on the Joker Killer's paper bag 'disguise'. Dark ash is spread on other parts, its meaning indeterminable.

In the corner, over a dirty, bare mattress, is a massive drawing of an eye as wide as the length of the bedframe itself. Care was taken to drawing the thick outline's eyelashes, as well as the solid dark pupil is in the center.

Any writing next to the drawing is mostly illegible, aside from the letters N Y A R.

Another drawing is on the floor to the left of the door: a large white scribble of a butterfly, with markings on the wings that look like a pair of eyes.

On closer inspection, most of the writing seems to be phrases of the same poem, over and over again, which is titled the "Oracle of Maia":

'The seven Pleiades set the frozen time free
Wild dance, shadowed festival, foreign song ensue
As flames of expiation light the heavens

The lion's roar echoes far and wide...
Five skulls glow in the depths of the earth...
The holy cross shines high up in the sky...

Once the star comes to a complete halt...
The Maia Maiden's heart stops with it...
What then remains is paradise on earth...

Marking the end and a new beginning...'

The scribbles of a madman? Or...? 

<Pose Tracker> Minako Arisato has posed.

"...yeah," Minako says to Yukari, softly. She looks at her -- and there's a sad expression on her face for a second. "I just... wanted to think... you know." She looks down. "I shouldn't be giving someone like that the benefit of the doubt. Especially--especially after seeing a place like this."

There is some uncertainty about the door. Minako is starting to move away, but she looks back at Yukari. Her expression is apologetic -- it's just as hard for her. When Ririka says it is a person, though, her eyes widen. "Oh--oh, we need to get them out of there, then!" she says.

Ririka opens the door, and Minako nods. "Yeah. We'll get you to safety."

And, indeed, Phoenix is there to get them to safety! Minako nods to them, before she looks to SEES. "All right. Let's move!"

Move they do -- but Hitomi looks nervous. Minako looks at her, thoughtfully, then she smiles. "It's okay, Mandai-chan. I mean... none of this is okay. We'll figure it out, and... and we'll find a way to set this right."

She may not quite have caught what's going through Hitomi's head, though.

She makes her way through the hallways and upward, across stairs, until she comes in behind Eriko -- as promised, meeting her up above. Minako slows as she looks at the room that is -- was? -- Tatsuya Sudou's. Her fingers curl, balling into a fist, as she looks at them. She feels her breath catch at the drawing of the eye -- and the scribblings.

A poem, she realizes. "What..." She looks at the others. "...What is this? What--what could this even mean?"

<Pose Tracker> Yukari Takeba has posed.

When it comes to Cerberus...
 
Same hat, Katsuya!
 
She looks at Eriko with surprising wonder at how much she knows on the subject, and murmurs to herself, "Man I really can't hold a candle to her when it comes to everything she knows..."
 
She is impressed. It's just, why does it have to be that she loves this life of being a Persona User as much as Yukari hates it!
 
Ririka clarifies there is a survivor though!?
 
"What!? We need to get her out then!"
 
She seems fairly upset about that one, even though Ririka corrects that error quickly...
 
When she turns out to be alright, there's a lengthy sigh, "Good lord... let's just keep moving and get her to safety."
 
They arrive at Sudou's room around the same time as the rest of the group and Yukari Takeba looks around, shuddering, "Creepy..."
 
Minako asks, '... What is this? What--what could this even mean?'
 
And Yukari stares at the poem written on the wall. "As flames of expiation..." She murmurs to herself.
 
the heat of fire
 
"... the lion's roar..."
a mask
 
She takes a step back, it's like a feeling, that you know this. Like there's something beyond your field of vision, beyond memory that shows you've been through this before.
 
She takes a step back, and turns her eyes away, only to look straight at the eye on the wall.
 
laughter
     laughter
          laughter
 
"I- I don't know." She answers Minako, before her volume drops to that of a whisper, "Why... why does this all feel familiar?" Part of her wonders if she's going crazy, or if this place is making her crazy.

<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.

    "Right," she answers Phoenix with a nod. Then Eriko makes sure that everyone is on the same page; she had assumed everyone was working on the same intel -- it never occurred to her that anyone else might not have known all that Eriko shares with the group.

    Maya follows the group up the stairs, pistols in-hand in case they're about the launch into a fight. But Sudou's room is empty. At least of humans. All the newspapers on the floor remind her of home.

    ...she really should clean, shouldn't she? Maya rubs the back of her neck.

    Her attention, like Minako and Yukari, is drawn to the writing on the wall. As she reads it, the hairs on the back of her neck rise. What she sees here feels so familiar. But not in the usual déjà vu way. It feels _bad_. Like something awful was on the verge of happening and if she could just _remember_...

    Remember what? 

<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.

    But doesn't Cerebus have three heads? Eriko goes on to say that in Hesiod it's 50, and in Pindar, 100. Tamaki mentions that sometimes he has a mane with serpent heads, and Eriko says that it was so in Horace, leaving Katsuya feeling utterly floored. Yes, he does know that there is no one 'true' myth (for the Greeks or for anyone else), but it's still astonishing to realize at once the shallowness of his own knowledge and the depth that still remains. "I... see," he says, still a little bit stunned. "So that is why there's one head..."

    "Suit yourself," says Baofu to Moriko with a shrug. This guy is seriously abrasive to everyone else here. What's his deal?

    "Yes," Katsuya answers Hyousuke. "We had sufficient evidence to already suspect it, but... this confirms it without a doubt. #501, the Joker Killer... is the son of Tatsuzou Sudou." Who is using a criminal group from another country to do his dirty business, it seems. Including execute his son. ...But why? He had thought that perhaps Sudou was a tool used by his father. Perhaps, he's become a loose cannon.

    But here, Phoenix lays into the nurse.

    "That's--" Katsuya starts, taken aback. He shakes his head. "That's uncalled for!" he tells Phoenix, turning their way sharply. "We cannot know what's happened here! And moreover, she is a survivor, like anyone else we've found! It's not our place to decide who should live or die!"

    ...Isn't it? He's reflecting on conversations he's had in the last few days, following Jun's rescue from the Joker. For someone like Sudou, how should he be treated? Can the penal system handle someone like the Joker Killer even if he's arrested?

    "It isn't?" remarks Baofu, as if he's able to read Katsuya's own thoughts, which earns him a nasty look from Katsuya. "Well, think what you want. But you'll have to grow up, Suou, if you want to deal with 'him'."

    "That's enough out of you, Baofu," Katsuya says, shaking his head. "We need to get to his room. He could still be there." Umie agrees, and he glances at her rather than look again at Baofu.

    "Yes," he says to Eriko, once she's finished talking to the nurse, "I did. We should hurry. If he's still there..."

    And so it is that he busts into room #303 with his handgun drawn and raised.

    No one's in here.

    "What... in the world...?" utters Katsuya, lowering his gun slowly. After a few more moments, he'll holster it, glancing this way and that to take the room room in. Spotting the pictures tacked up to one wall, he approaches them. "...These include all the victims that we've known about," he confirms, reaching out to carefuly nudge an overlapping photo out of the way to better see the one beneath it. "If there was any doubt left..." He shakes his head. "But, all this writing..."

    He recalls what Akechi said. His brother... appeared to be treating what Sudou was saying seriously. Is it all delusion? Or is it... some kind of god, as he'd suggested.
    Or a devil.

    "Tch. This is his room, alright. The vibes in here are somethin' else," says Baofu, looking here and there only to shake his head. "The apple sure doesn't fall far from the tree..."

    Katsuya, turning away from the wall of photographs, seems to notice Maya.

    "Amano-kun? Are you all right?" 

<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.

 
(Before they climbed the stairs: "Oh, because I should have been here instead," Hitomi answers the patient, genially enough. "Baibai!")

Hitomi looks towards Eriko, adjusting her glasses again. "... Don't worry about us too much.~ Takeba's incredibly strong, and so is Arisato. And Kumamoto too. Kawase's a lethal strategist, too. I guess in a lot of ways I'm the weak one!"

Hitomi put some sweetness in that. She looks unconvinced, once she's done. She fiddles with her glasses again. Clearly, more from nerves than anything. Soon she begins to fidget with those dice she's carrying again.

(What do they do? Once, Hitomi throws them to finish off a weakened demon. They bounce up off the ground and burst, like firecrackers. The dice themselves are unharmed, though Hitomi does have to collect them.)

"I don't know if this is the kind of thing we can set right," Hitomi answers Minako. "But at least we can stop it getting worse." She doesn't seem dismayed at the prospect. Maybe a little sad. But this all happens on the way towards

                ROOM #303

The cell's not that different from the others. It looks like a jail cell. Maybe it is, even if the imprisoned may have done no crime. What is more unique, of course, is that those walls have been decorated in a unique manner. Hitomi's eyes turn around, starting on the left where the wall -- where did he get the clippings? how did he paste them -- bears a myriad of decors.

Towards the quadricolored script upon the walls. Towards the handprints. Towards for a moment the EYE. Hitomi stares at the eye for a moment. The letters. The letters. The letters-- Hitomi's own eyes roll back for a moment.

Hitomi then blinks once, and looks around again. Another adjustment of her glasses. She can remember it clearly, from just a few moments and two short skirmishes ago. Katsuya - the police officer, the one who Eriko had named to the survivors as a protector - confirms it. This is the son of Tatsuzou Sudou. Hitomi takes a deep breath, and her hand moves down to her hip...

    ... to get out her cell phone.

Hitomi curls it in her hands and starts taking pictures. The flash, unfortunately, is off, but there is that surreal background sound of a digital camera shutter repeating, a digital eye joining the others already present.

"Do you feel anything?" she asks Ririka, as she holds the phone up to get a slightly different angle on the writing. 

<Pose Tracker> Shinobu Shimizu has posed.

"Especially right now." Shinobu replies to Eriko with a nod. There's no telling who or what could be waiting for them. Safety in numbers.

Shinobu considers Phoenix's response. It's a surprise, but - they seem to feel pretty strongly about this. She hadn't noticed that much - she had just chalked the current situation up to the demon attacks. But if conditions were that bad here even before that happened...

A frown crosses her face. She likes to think she's on top of things, but she didn't realise it could get that bad. She stows that away for now. She won't say anything to take away from Phoenix's passion.

The nurse can walk, it seems, and she'll get out of here alive. Shinobu keeps her weapon ready as they move forward, going through demons, until, finally, the reach... the room. Tatsuya Sudou's room - and, as Katsuya summarises, the Joker Killer's.

A shudder goes up Shinobu's spine as they approach it.

"...Don't like this vibe." She notes. "Be ready for anything."

Shinobu enters. She was expecting danger - but what they find is not like anything she could have expected.

"...The hell is all this?" Shinobu mutters, shaking her head. The writing, the drawing, and the photographs... and a poem, repeated over and over.

...Looking at it too long just makes that vibe worse, aching like a hole in her head. She looks away.

"I don't know what to make of this. What do you think? Is there something we can learn here?" Shinobu asks, looking around at the others. 

<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.

    It's okay, Hitomi. Minato ate the berries, too. No hesitation.

    Hitomi stops them, though, and Phoenix turns to her, their expression stern. (Wait, no... that's their normal face.) 'That place'...

    It takes them a second to place it, but when they remember her face, they figure out pretty quick what place that was. Their throat feels crowded, for a horrific moment, as they wonder what she saw down there.

    ... even if she saw that woman, though, there's no way she'd know it was them. Might place it to their other self, but Phoenix? Phoenix is ten feet tall and bulletproof. Phoenix can just nod, stern as ever. "Aight. I'll let 'em know." ... and let Joker specifically know they have an admirer, apparently. It's not surprising, with all those slick moves, eh?

    (We note here, gently, that Phoenix is five-feet-five, as they always have been, and cannot in fact deflect bullets.)

    "I ain't talkin' 'bout this demon shit," Phoenix lobs back to Umie, acidic. They turn back to the nurse, glowering to her. "Hey, slag. How many innocent people you dragged off to give seizures in the name a healin'? How many men you held down while ya flipped their gowns up an' jammed a needle into their muscles to make 'em stop wantin' out? How many people you locked in windowless rooms an' forgot about for a full-ass fuckin' DAY?!"

    Hyousuke's voice cuts in, though, and they spit off to the side, again. "Whatever. Got enough yellin' fer everyone," they add, a touch bitterly, to Tamaki, though they're at least not yelling at her. ... they appreciate the fact that Shinobu's not amongst the adults getting on their case, too.

    "Ch," they add, and look a little chagrined, when Katsuya and Eriko get on them about saying her life was worth less. (They weren't exactly speaking clearly... but it's embarrassing to say that.) "She got prioritised all through her fuckin' time here... call for my ass..."

    And when she speaks up, their hands tighten to fists, beside them. "Dangerous?" They ask, and those fists are trembling. "You don't fuckin' get it, do you? You're more dangerous than any a these people. Fuckin'... world never stops to ask why ya scared, beats ya down when ya do somethin'... takes advantage of ya... drives ya into the dirt, then gets on ya 'bout bein' dirty... yeah, you coulda done better. You coulda walked out, any time."

    ... they hate her, but they'll still help get her out, later.

    That's later, though. For now, they leave her to find safety at Trish's Fountain, and move on.

    Room #303 is menacing enough that Phoenix drags their greatsword in along with them. They look over the walls... and see a photo, of Tsubasa, pasted up on the wall. (With toothpaste, they're sure. It was the only way they really had of affixing anything in a joint like this.) In this mask, that's not 'themself', according to all but one of the people here...

    ... but they're still unnerved.

    What doesn't unnerve them, though, is the eye emblazed on the wall. They look at it, and their gaze moves on, as if it were just graffiti from a frustrated youth. There's no weird, horrible nostalgia in their heart. ... the poem is creepy, though, in a normal way underlined ten times by how awful the vibes are in here.

    "Creepy-ass bullshit," they conclude, when Shinobu asks what the hell it all is. "Freaks me the fuck out."

    They don't really know what to do with that.

<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.

Minako and Yukari both say that they have to get them out. "Right."

Phoenix unlocks the door for them, which is handy since Ririka... does not know how to do that. "Thanks, Phoenix-san," she says quietly. "That's pretty handy in a place like this, huh?"

And Phoenix has a plan. To take them to Trish's! "You really think she'll go for that...?" Ririka ponders out loud. "But, that's a good idea. If we find anyone else, I'll guide them that way."

But Hitomi has a request--a request to talk. Ririka hadn't even thought about that--things are always so dire when she runs into anybody from the Phantom Thieves... Ririka wasn't going to pursue this yet after the chat with her fellow SEES, but... "Ogre's got my number," she offers quietly.

She'll follow the rest of SEES up, though, but she's not active in conversation with the Nurse. Instead, she's distracted trying to do a sweep of the new floor to get the lay of the land--and find any more potential survivors.

Ririka does have a moment to spare a look for Umie at the answer she gives, though, frowning a little. "Right, but... that's not what it is, just what it does... was the Joker Killer trying to let more people summon Demons, then?"

Ririka just meant that if they weren't called Zombies in the wider community... she wouldn't know the name. This is the first time she's encountered them.

She nods to Moriko's question. "Yeah, the Joker Killer had a second super weird painting at the art show. It felt like him, but... even more so." She shivers a little. "Whatever is up with that guy's Resonance..."

But they get the room number and directions. Room 303. And the menace... Ririka isn't going up front, but she cautions as they approach, "Be careful. That room-- Whatever's in there..."

Ririka doesn't answer Hitomi directly. But she'll still get her answer. Once she actually steps in the room, however, she suddenly clutches her head and forces herself back. It feels like something trying to squirm its way into her brain through her ear, and she shakes her head furiously as if trying to shake it free. and she mutters. "Ew ew ew ew EW! Shit! YES! I definitely feel something and it's REALLY nasty!"

It's going to take her a few moments to compose herself, and even then, her breathing is a little hard, and she looks... distracted, as she tries (and fails) to filter this Resonance out. But she forces herself to look in the room again--

Anything in here could be important. "... this is definitely his room," she mutters. "It's that same creepy Resonance. But... I don't know what this is all for..."

N Y A R... Nyar? That same eye, like at the spartment building, another butterfly...

Just what is the Joker Killer up to!? 

<Pose Tracker> Masao Inaba has posed.

    When the going is clear(-ish, enough), Masao stows up the shotgun somewhere. He doesn't get much of a chance to get a word in edgewise as he's one of the later people to make the trip up the steps to catch up and learn that Room 303 is where the (a?) responsible party awaits.
 
     (you know, after the usual array of demons doing their thing.)
 
     ...He make sure his axe is firmly in hand outside of Room 303, expecting the worst. His heart is racing, with the bad Resonance vibes like he's only felt occasionally in recent months - no, this is definitely the worst thus far.
 
     ...
 
     He's in, with some of the others, ready to clear the way. He's got an axe to grind about one specific death....
 
     His eyes go across the markings, the crude artwork, the collage of photos and clippings and...
 
     "Friggin'... he really did Hannya in..." Masao lowers his head for a man that - by and large - does not really warrant strong feelings of mourning, except for one particular quirk of fate between the two of them. Still... he looks about anew, to the floor to the left of the door (he actually has to move out of the way, he's partially obscuring it. Oops!).
 
     He stares down at the writing, transfixed, quiet for a time. Blinking, rubbing the back of his head.
 
     "...Uhh... what?" His eyes widen. What is this? To keep it terse feels like it's overstating. To go into stream of consciousness feels inadequate and not enough, just...
 
     ... 

<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.

Hyousuke eyed Moriko a little curiously. It was difficult to discern much, with most of his face being comprised of plastic, but the shifting of its frame and the movement in his brow indicated at least some small degree of curiosity. He paused, considering what to say, before nodding firmly in response.
"If you think it'll help us get to the bottom of this, maybe we should." He said, attempting to match her offhanded manner, though more as a way of covering up his own unease than anything else. "Gimme a call sometime. I'll help."

With what? Who knew? He moved on before he could offer a followup.

Though he did not appear completely composed, Hyousuke seemed to at least be distracted by Eriko's response to seeing his Persona. It was a great and terrible thing - a titan cast in bronze, creaking and clanking with every movement, its heavy armour asynchronous but still quite reminiscent of what the public's perception of an ancient Greek general.
"Killed Hector after Patroclus died." He added, listing off what else he knew of his own Persona. It was little, if the slight degree of uncertainty to his voice was anything to go by, but at least it seemed like he'd made an effort to learn the basics of Achilles' tale. "...Killed him right back, and dragged his body around the walls."

A rage that could defy fate itself. One that brought death upon its wielder as surely as it did its enemies. Hyousuke pondered the implications for a moment, then cast them aside. Philosophy could wait for a more opportune moment. For now, he needed to cling to something - anything - to shake him from the memories clawing at the crevices of his mind. He needed to move on, and to solve the issue at hand. He needed to stand as a bulwark against whatever demons and murderers yet remained, and wield his rage against them until they were through.

Tsubasa's anger... He could not claim to understand it. It was not his place to claim he understood people's pasts. He could barely manage to make sense of his own. Quietly, he cursed at himself for not knowing what to say in the moment, or even how to get them to focus on the mission. If Ichika were there - or, rather, Ogre - she might've been able to help them. Or perhaps one of Tsubasas other friends. But not him. He was, as ever, just the blunt instrument, battering down obstacles. Nevertheless, he tried, and spoke again.
"Phoenix." He said, his voice cutting through once more, though with whatever edge it had once had softened until his tone was almost gentle. "I need you to stay with me. We gotta make it through this in one piece. Can't lay into her if you're all beat up."

It was an odd time to try and spark even the faintest hint of levity, but he hoped the message was clear: Focus on the mission, for there would be ample time for anger later.

And then, that accursed room.

Hyousuke all but stumbled in, gazing around at the grotesque decorations plastered across its walls. The gnawing feeling in his mind vanished, but only because the shock of seeing such vile and confusing things left no room for anything else. It - all of it - was undoubtedly the work of the Joker Killer. The photos alone were enough to rouse suspicion, and the hues painted across the grey of the walls only served to drive it deeper into his psyche. But, what truly caught his attention was not the four letters scrawled out next to the illegible mass of symbols, nor the butterflies or poem. It was the drawing that drew him in.

"Oi, look over here." Hyousuke said, inclining his head towards the eye. "This was on the roof when we went after Kashihara-san, wasn't it? When the Joker Killer was spouting all that bullshit about making him remember. But it didn't have all... this... next to it." He gestured at the butterflies - something that *had* been there, but in a different form - and then to the letters. "NYAR... Nothing. I got nothing. Any of you know what that means?" The question was addressed to the rest of the room as much as it was to those who'd been with him during that rooftop fight. Hyousuke turned his head to face the others, but when his eyes fell on those seemingly caught in the throes of some unseen force, he paused.

"Hey, you guys alright?" 

<Pose Tracker> Moriko Kumamoto has posed.

Moriko glances sidelong to Minako, somewhat butting in a little. "With this kind of thing." She looks away, at the horror, "I don't know if I can feel bad for who he is now." She reaches up and adjusts her kit. Absentmindedly like she's not sure if she's happy saying as much.
 
 The cerberus talk does earn a, "It should, but we ignore that so often in art for simplicity." She grimaces, "Or just using the name for a quick ping on memory."
 
 Baofu is given a look, "Huh?" She might have missed something genuinely. "I mean I think they are?" She shrugs. Glancing down. "Nah I give up." She can't remember. They haven't been relevant to family interests in her presence, she wouldn't.
 
 Speaking of missing something, she glances Hitomi's way at the mention of her name. A hand going up, "Yo?" Before realizing what was happening. Regardless, she's been assisting with her bladed polearm or the evoker as need be.
 
 "I don't know." She admits to Ririka. Lapsing for a moment. "Art's a window to a soul rather than his maybe?" She frowns, "Or you can channel this-" She waves her hand around to the group, "Into it which might be a horror show all its own."
 
 Hyousuke's comment is given a funny look. Both of them are more or less masked up making things a bit harder. Oh well. "You have some insight into the local families?" Might as well dance around it while also being obvious. There's a pause. "Uh." Maybe she shouldn't dig any deeper.
 
 The door is opened though, before she can dwell on it. Taking a spot to try and cover the others, one hand at her evoker. It slides away as she looks from the eye, to the words around it. To the obscured writing and finally to the poem. "I don't get it." She finally admits. Though she is... "Do we want to risk taking a picture after that painting thing?" 

<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.

    'W-what's with you!?' exclaims the nurse.
    'I ain't talkin' 'bout this demon shit.'

 'Was the Joker Killer trying to let more people summon Demons, then?'

    "... Is your venom specifically for her because she's the one who wronged you or someone you care about?" Umie says, her tone measured, but not completely flat, as she ignores the nurse, and, conveniently, doesn't answer Ririka's question. "... Or is it because she's here?" ... says the hypocrite.

    .... This is the person Joker told her to go ask about that person who was kidnapped, Umie thinks. If Phoenix realizes there's a connection between her and Shiryuu Ryouhara, no matter how murky... It's very likely they may do the same to her, if she's not careful with what she says.

    "Let's go," she resolves, instead.

    ------

    Umie Akabane is fine. She stares out, deathly quiet, face impassive, as her eyes viciously record each and every detail.

    There's a photo of her on the wall, as well as other victims. It may not be noticeable, due to the dark, long hair and the Sevens senior uniform, but Umie knows it, having kept out of the spotlight as much as she could. Somehow it's the least frightening thing she could see in this room that would still count as out of the ordinary.

    The words scribbled out, when read, or spoken aloud, sound so cloyingly familiar, for so many reasons. The words themselves, the similar words she's said herself, the reasons anyone would try writing and reciting and speaking them, over and over, a proper little prophet. (No wonder he called her 'Little Sister'--)

    It's just more delusion.

    The butterfly is white here, not black; almost ironic, but that eye, that eye...

    N Y A R L A T H O T E P

    The air in here is oppressive, almost fiery, like she was dying.

    Dark red fingernails reach up and trail across her cheek, touching the uneven edges of her mask, trying to remember Kurou's calm face as he painted it, for her. Umie can hear the peals of childish laughter echo at impossible angles in the hallways, overlapping and chasing all thought like hounds.

    'You know what will happen, if you say a single thing.'

    As this all goes on and people investigate, there's a point where Umie was there, in the doorway and then, at the point where no one is looking, she's not.

    There's just a blackbird in the hallway, nothing to see here. Go look someplace else.

    The cognitive illusion will remain in place for a little while, just long until there's the stifled sounds of retching, near a plastic plant. 

<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.

    Tamaki lowers her head in apology. "I'm sorry, Phoenix. I'm not saying you're wrong to feel that way. Hell, if I'm even part of the problem by redirecting you ... then you have every right to yell at me, too."

    Everything about this room immediately sets Tamaki on edge. Out of everything, though, it's the poem written over and over again on the walls which catches her attention most strongly.

    One line in particular stands out to her. 'The lion's roar'?

    Why did Tamaki's anxiety just spike through the roof? Why does it feel like every single fiber in her being wants to turn around, flee, and forget that she experienced any of this? Even in all of the trouble she had several years ago, nothing's ever caused her to feel trepidation to this degree. What's got her all wobble-kneed and has her chattering her teeth, especially when the horrifying scenes on the way up here barely seemed to faze her?

    Here she is once again dressed like a stagehand in all black attire, but she's found her way to the main scene. The audience has noticed her: she feels the gaze of the drawn eye on the wall.

    ... 'again'?

    There's an armor that she's worn for a while, borne of a similar lament to a thought Yukari had moments ago. She doesn't want to have to deal with the world of the supernatural for the rest of her days, she wants things to stop.

    The sense of déjà vu isn't enough to pierce this armor, but for the first time, it finally manages to leave a dent -- it is felt, but not breached. After all, the Joker Killer wanted Jun to remember, not Tamaki.

    ... unlike Yukari, she doesn't hate it, either. Eriko does often manage to rekindle Tamaki's interest in it, especially as of late. She can't ever hope to match her enthusiasm all the time; it's something she needs to take in at her own pace. Still, it's not unwelcome.

    Shell-shocked as she seemingly is, Tamaki is almost certainly included in the group Hyousuke asks if they're alright. The question helps to snap her out of her reverie. "... Yyyyyeah. Yeah. I'm good. Just getting the weirdest feeling." She glances over at Ririka. "Her senses seem far more sharp than mine. She might be getting the brunt of it."

    As for what it could be, she has her own ideas, but ... "Not sure right this second. I'd rather say once I'm certain."

    If it weren't for the others she's found camaraderie with lately, she might have given in to the temptation to turn tail and leave all of this behind her, to look away once and for all. Tamaki adjusts the cat-ear headband she wears as she defiantly thinks, Well! This kitten's got claws! This lion roars back!

    On the way up the trail, Tamaki had told Umie that a good way to get rid of one song stuck in your head is to replace it with something else. She takes her own advice to heart here and starts to quietly hum a melody -- one which Yukari may recognize from the last few minutes of their karaoke session, or others may recognize as a theme from a popular TV drama several years ago. 'So we've been told, and some choose to believe it; I know they're wrong, wait and see ...'

<Pose Tracker> Eriko Kirishima has posed.

    "That's my theory, at least!" See, Katsuya, if you had a book club you wouldn't be so lost! There's so much learning to be done about myth! "If it helps, most persona users aren't like Tamaki and I. I've been into this stuff since I was a kid!" ...she still takes way, way more joy in being a persona user than most do, though.

    Hitomi says not to worry, and Eriko nods. "Good. It sounds like you have solid team together." Indeed, Eriko looks genuinely relieved by Hitomi's assurance.

    Hyousuke seems to have done is research, and Eriko nods. "Exactly. A tragic and dangerous hero, like many in Greek Mythology. But a Persona is only one of our faces." ...did she guess what Hyousuke was thinking about?

     The nurse may cry on her shoulder, but Eriko can handle that. She's gentle, like this is something she's done before, comforting someone through something emotionally terrible- indeed she has. That's part of having younger siblings and close friends. She manages to get the nurse to head back to Trish's terrible money fountain of healing, at least, once they've got all the information out.

    Phoenix's emotions seem... raw. Very raw. Very personal. As much as Eriko doesn't care for their approach to the nurse- well. She's not going to say anymore. Sometimes it's better to let people have their anger. "Mr Katsuya." Her voice is calm still. "Tatsuya Sudou is our priority, right?" She starts moving toward room #303 again. Someone has to go first.

    Plenty of people who enter the room wonder what this is, but Eriko...

    She can't help but feel she's seen this writing before. The words are familiar. The stanzas, the Oracle of Maia... In Lak'ech...?

    Yukino... showed them to her? And...

    There was fire, there was destruction...

    That pain, that fear of losing people suddenly gets loud, and agonizing, and she looks over at Masao with brief panic in her eyes and reaches out to touch him, make sure he's still there. After all, Mark wasn't-

    'Friggin'... he really did Hannya in...'

    ...Right. Principle Hanya is dead, killed by the Joker Killer. To think that he would have turned his life around and become a teacher to protect his students... why did she think that for a moment? And even then, that thought vanishes, that feeling vanishes. All Eriko is left with a sense of deja vu, that the words in this room are familiar- and she can't place why.

    "...yeah. He was an awful man, and never should have been vice-principal, let alone principal of his own school, but... he didn't deserve to die like that."

    And then her eyes settle on the four letters. N Y A R.

    And Eriko's eyes shoot wide. She looks to Mark frantically. "That's..." She almost grabs her fellow Hermelin grad, and points at it. "Mark. You see that right. Do you feel it?"

    She steps back, and for once, Eriko looks shaken by something supernatural. A part of her wants to keep quiet, to say nothing, not until she can talk to Kei- but another part, she needs to say it out loud to confirm it's real. She knew she knew that feeling. She knew why it felt familiar. She even knew about Kei's suspicions of Hisataka Shinjo...

    But she was sensing the wrong thing. That wasn't the aura of a dead man.

    "The Crawling Chaos. Nyarlethotep." The entity that was Takahisa Kandori's persona- that took over his body, and turned him into a monster.

    "...It's still alive. It didn't die with Kandori." 

<Pose Tracker> Junes has posed.

<poem> There is a pulse: a faint heartbeat, a grinding noise against the senses, blood increasingly pounding in one's ears. The Navigators can identify it more strongly, but anyone with any Resonance at all can feel a wrongness, a wave of menace localized upstairs.

Localized on the floor with the Warden's office.

It is slowly building over time, quiet at first, but increasingly loud and noticeable--

The actions chosen next will have consequences. Some will have to prioritize the rescue of the survivors. Some will have to move to confront this wrongness.

Each must be responsible for their own choices.

Retrieved from "https://www.velvetroom.wiki/index.php?title=2026-03-06:_Shadowed_Festival&oldid=4560"