2026-03-24: Up in Flames
- Log: Up in Flames
- Cast: Shinjiro Aragaki, Suzume Fukura, Hitomi Mandai, Ririka Kawase, Fuuka Yamagishi
- Where: Konan - Main
- OOC Date: March 24, 2026
- IC Date: October 14, 2012
- Summary: Shinjiro takes SEES on a trip to the Aerospace Museum in Sumaru City. What was meant to be a day out soon turns into a fight for survival, not just for themselves, but also those trapped within as the museum burns.
(|=============================== Konan - Main ===============================|)
-================================================== Sumaru City/Konan Ward ====-
Konan Ward is right up on the ocean, which could be considered one of its best
features; Ebisu Beach is but a stone's throw away for those who live here in one
of the many local apartment complexes, like Lunar Palace. The presence of the
Konan Police Department might make one feel safer too, though there's bad rumors
about nasty things lurking in the abandoned factory. All kinds of businesses are
available at the Seaside Mall.
The Aerospace Museum to the south, right next to the beach, is a great place to
take young kids on a field trip--they'll be able to learn all about the history
of aviation with tons of model planes and even a built-to-scale replica blimp
that rumors claim is real and can fly. Surely that's just children's
imaginations running away with them, though.
MONAD: A party led by Shinjiro Aragaki has begun the event Aerospace Museum.
(|======================== Monad - Aerospace Museum ========================|)
-==== Round 1: The Other Side - Challenge Level 2 ===========================-
| Approach Options: Academics or Proficiency |
| Conditions: Curse - -1 to Group Roll (Per Character), Educational - |
| Academics Up L1, and Terrifying - Guts Down L2 |
-==== Challenge =============================================================-
The Konan District's Aerospace Museum is easy enough to find, in part
because it has a life-sized Zeppelin replica attached to the building as
both exhibit and restaurant. Rumor has it that it can actually fly, but well
you can't believe everything you hear, right?
In the lobby, there's World War II memorabilia, including a Mitsubishi A6M
Zero hanging in pristine condition from the roof above. The lobby looks
empty save for a beautiful young man in the Kasugayama High uniform that
some may recognize as Jun Kashihara. He's looking around with a fretful
frown, as if searching for a museum employee; upon spotting you, he
approaches with a letter in hand to say:
"Excuse me--I don't mean to alarm you, but you should leave immediately.
Someone dangerous is coming here..."
The letter in his hand is tightly clenched, but the eagle-eyed can make out
a message like 'cOMe aLOnE tO ThE AerOspAcE MuSEUM oR ELsE <3' in a
scrawled, erratic hand.
No sooner does he start a conversation with you, when abruptly an entire
wall detonates into a great conflagration, as some incendiary device
detonates.
"Kya-hahaha! Welcome to my walk down memory lane. Guess you ran into the
first of my bombs. The next will go off in the stairwell, then the other
floors will go up in flames one by one!"
As flames of expiation light the heavens
The Lion's roar echoes far and wide
"Don't you remember? It's just like the Other Side. There's a field trip
touring the museum right now. If you don't get those kids to the roof,
they'll become barbeque! Better hurry! Kya-hehehe-ahahahaha!"
Your first challenge is rather simple, the voice wasn't kidding about the
stairwell going up in flames next. You have seconds to locate it, and run up
to the second floor before the fastest way to the second floor goes up in
flames.
Can you make it in time?
OOC: The Red Text in this Monad represents Deja Vu moments from 'the Other
Side'. If you've determined that your character was not present in Innocent
Sin, or you haven't decided yet, then you can ignore these moments.
(|=========================================================== Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Tuesday, Oct 16. Shinjiro has recently left the hospital, having been cleared for now and told not to overexert himself.
This is why he's grabbed SEES to visit the Aerospace Museum. On one hand, it might be nice to get out after being attacked by Jin Shirato. On the other...
Something's telling him something might happen here. The rumor of the flying zeppelin and the amount of groups coming to investigate; the Joker Killer's threats.
Which is why he's got his evoker hidden under his coat, beanie fastened tightly on his head and red jacket worn proudly. Shinjiro enters first, and recognizes Jun Kashihara. He's also observant enough to make out his letter.
"Kashihara? What is-"
The entrance detonates, flames blasting and trapping SEES (and everyone else) inside. The voice of the Joker Killer echoes through the air, telling them that there is a childrens' field trip touring the museum, and that if they don't get those kids to the roof, theyll burn to a crisp. They have to go up if they're going to help them...
But for a moment, Shinjiro's stopping, staring out. His eyes narrow for a moment, before he shakes his head, grabbing a divider and lifting it as a weapon. He might not be the first up the stairs, but...
"Fuck! Everyone, up, up! We need to find whoever we can and get them out of here, now! Kawase, Yamagishi- can you scan? Fukura, you and me will take point. Mandai, keep your eyes open for those kids, your Persona can force distance if anything attacks."
He's not much of a leader. But he's the senpai... he's gotta take charge, using what he's learned to stay calm, despite the painful memories. Or perhaps, because of the painful memories.
MONAD: Shinjiro Aragaki has acted with Street Talk toward The Other Side! Focus and Diligence!
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Suzume had no reason NOT to go to the Aerospace Museum.
Actually she had plenty of reasons to not go (exams are actually in session; she probably should study, sleep, or study and then sleep; it's a long way into Sumaru on a weekday) but she went anyway because, one, she likes Shinjiro, and two...
Well, she doesn't have quite the forewarning some people do. But she's still got her Evoker on, if hidden. She brought her backpack. It also has her pair of tonfa in it. She really needs a better way to carry those around.
She's only a moment behind Shinjiro when everything goes to hell, and when the explosion happens her first instinct is to move. In, not out - she can't go through the flames. And if he's not lying about those kids...
"Stairs!" she calls, immediately - the doors are closed, they need an emergency stairwell. Suzume doesn't even take the time to draw her Evoker - she's running, checking the door to find one they can use. She's the fastest runner in this group, so it's best for her to handle that. That way the Navigators can focus on finding people. "This way, c'mon!"
MONAD: Suzume Fukura has acted with Proficiency toward The Other Side! Base!
<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.
A FUN HITOMI MANDAI FACT:
This is the closest she has been to home in nearly a year.
Hitomi, for reasons of her own, boards at Gekkoukan -- though, of course, SEES made it easy and simple, thanks to a certain power of hers. Whatever those reasons might be, she nevertheless has been to this museum several times, because her elementary and middle school years were zoned to the area. It's an easy 'get' for a field trip, especially when you're near enough that it's just a long walk, holding each other's hands or a rope or simply walking in good order.
Hitomi grew up less than ten blocks from here.
She came along with Shinjiro and the others. An outing. Hitomi suspects Shinjiro is going to fall over and erupt in showers of blood, on some level, but this is also because... because what?
It feels weird to be here. But she'll have to go back one day, if she doesn't die; if nothing else, one day there will be a funeral, and she will have to go. She has a secret plan, at least, for when they're done. (The secret plan is a soba restaurant.)
And there was something nostalgiac about seeing the ol' tub in the air.
EXCEPT NOW
"Oh, do you know him?" Hitomi observes, adjusting her glasses and looking at Kashihara. "Oh, hi, I'm his kohai, I'm -- huh?"
words eaten by explosions
Hitomi's ears ring, mostly on the left side. She stares into space for a moment, even as those crackling words come over the public address system. Hitomi breathes shallowly for several moments, going pale.
The threats of the Joker Killer hit her dead-on in the heart. She can imagine those children. She might even *know their teacher*. They are somewhere. They are surely afraid already. The terror will build and they will die because of - of - of the cruelty of - of -
She feels like she's reeling again. There is the brief hot glimmer of that part of herself she's not very happy with, but she doesn't reach out. She can't reach out. I should call, call Dad, call Rei, Hitomi thinks, but - I -
have I been here before?
A familiar voice is saying something. Hitomi doesn't understand it. She recognizes the speaker but not why. Her head rolls forwards --
There is a distinct feeling in her mind of a hand coming down from somewhere and grasping her right wrist. Hitomi jerks in place--
It's her own hand. She grabbed her own wrist. Blinking twice, she remembers what Shinjiro just said. And that horrible part of her takes the terror up like an oyster and swallows it down and where her face was pale, it flushes instead.
"That piece of shit," Hitomi breathes out. "I'm gonna beat him, Aragaki."
"He thinks he can do whatever he wants, huh," Hitomi huffs as she moves, probably somewhat in the lee of Suzume and Shinjiro. A quick glance at the others, and then Hitomi looks upwards. A quick glance doesn't reveal the Joker Killer there limbering up a sniper rifle, or if it does she doesn't see it, which comes to the same thing in the head.
"OOOOIIII! KIDS! STAY TOGETHER! WE'RE COMIIIIING" Hitomi shouts upwards, hands cupped to her mouth, and then she has to pant for some breath because that was some high intensity belting.
MONAD: Hitomi Mandai has acted with Youthful Fun With Card Games toward The Other Side! Diligence and Efficient! <Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
A nice outing to an Aerospace Museum would be a great way to destress from a week of cramming for midterms (and anything is better than thinking about the Sanitarium.)
Sadly, this is Sumaru, so that means her Evoker is in her bag, just in case. (Although, let's be real: she takes it everywhere now, just in case.) And with the rumors... well, a trip was a nice idea, at least.
She's dressed in cargo pants and a light jacket over a t-shirt, with her backpack on. But then they spot Jun. "Oh, Kashihara-san, how are you--"
The entrance explodes, and Ririka jumps, scrambling back away from it. "What the hell!?" She brings an arm up to shield her face from the debris. "What is it with that psycho and bombs?" Rhetorical question, don't answer that.
The Joker Killer taunts them--a field trip is in danger, and the way up will get blown up too if they lag. Something else roars in Ririka's ears, and Ririka puts a hand to the side of her head, frowning. "What... is..." she murmurs.
'Kawase, Yamagishi- can you scan?'
Shinjiro calling her name brings her back to the present and she blinks, shaking her head to clear it. "R-right! On it!" She digs her Evoker out and fires it, calling Amphion up behind her. The Persona places headphones on her head, and Ririka reaches out to play. "The tempo of the museum is shifting... I'm detecting frequencies that don't belong..." she murmurs. She points. "I think the next set of bombs are in that direction."
Which unfortunately means that's the direction they need to go.
MONAD: Ririka Kawase has acted with Academics toward The Other Side! Base!
<Pose Tracker> Fuuka Yamagishi has posed.
Fuuka gladly accepted the invitation, when Shinjiro invited everyone along to the Aerospace Museum. As someone who loves machines of all kinds, it'll be fun to see. This is her first trip!
...But unfortunately, someone has designs to make it her last as well, and it's no sooner than they enter that they seen Jun and an explosion rocks the building.
"Ah!" Fuuka gasps, bracing herself. The Joker Killer... This isn't even the first building he's tried to blow up with her in it. "Is everyone alright?" Fuuka asks.
Trapped in a building rigged to explode is hardly ideal - but she closes her eyes and takes a deep breath to center herself.
"Yes, I can!" Fuuka confirms, as Shinjiro gives out directions. She might not be the most athletic out of everyone here, but for some reason, she finds the speed in her to hurry now. She focuses, trying to map out the area. The stairs that Suzume initially tries are locked, so Fuuka casts her perception elsewhere.
"I think, given the floorplan of this building... This way!" Fuuka entreats. There's no time to second guess herself right now.
MONAD: Fuuka Yamagishi has acted with Academics toward The Other Side! Base!
(|============================ Monad - Results =============================|) -==== The Other Side - Round 1 ==============================================- Fuuka Yamagishi Academics Success Academics Base Fatigue: 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shinjiro Aragaki Proficiency Success Street Talk Focus and Diligence Fatigue: 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hitomi Mandai Proficiency Success Youthful Fun With Ca Diligence and Efficient Fatigue: 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Suzume Fukura Proficiency Success Proficiency Base Fatigue: 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ririka Kawase Academics Failure Academics Base Fatigue: 1 -============================ Party Conditions: =============================- Starting Conditions: Curse-0, Educational-2, and Terrifying-2 Final Conditions: Educational-1 and Terrifying-1 -====================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====- -==== Reach: 1/6 |= | ===================================================- (|=========================================================== Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Suzume calls for the stairs, and Shinjiro's with her. While the first staircase door is locked, Fuuka is able to find another, and they can go that way, Suzume the first up the steps to take point. He throws his head towards Hitomi as he does so.
"...right. This ends tonight."
Her call echoes out, but they hear nothing yet. Ririka can find the way that bombs are, but the tempo is moving too fast - it's vaguely disorienting with all the flames blasting out and the screaming and crying and echoing.
As he reaches the staircase, though, Shinjiro exhales. This is bringing back memories too close for comfort.
MONAD: Hitomi Mandai has drawn a new Challenge!
(|======================== Monad - Aerospace Museum ========================|)
-==== Round 2: Worst Field Trip Ever - Challenge Level 2 ====================-
| Approach Options: Proficiency or Guts |
| Conditions: Clumsy - Proficiency Down L1, Educational - Academics Up L1, |
| Scary - Guts Down L1, and Terrifying - Guts Down L2 |
-==== Challenge =============================================================-
The second floor of the Aerospace museum is already filling with smoke, as
flames from the first floor have already caught hold here, licking along
several particularly flammable spaces. Exhibits about the history of
aviation in Japan and in general are lined up with artifacts of prior
generations.
Fifteen. Fifteen minutes. That's how long you have to find the kids and get
to the roof. You're not sure why you get that instinct.
You've gotta find those kids! Quick!
Unfortunately there are demons coming down the hallway already. Horse-headed
creatures that stand on two-feet. With a whinny of rage, they come at you,
spreading more flames with Maragi spells.
And that's just the first group of them.
You have to search this floor quickly AND thoroughly, fighting demons as you
go, paths that were open before closing off in flame.
(|=========================================================== Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.
Everyone into the stairwell. There's a lot of clamour in there. There's still smoke in the air, even in here. It does tend to pervade. Erupting from the door shows why - out here, in an exhibit with some peculiarly untouched and oddly delicate JAL airliners of the past - and yet, smoke is already pervading.
Hitomi is probably able to take point here, because it seems she knows no fear, at least not right now. She may simply be too mad at the Joker Killer. Moving out from the less-trafficked area, there is something horrible.
A whinny.
Hitomi turns her head and she can see the horse-headed THINGS coming towards them, stumbling and smashing against each other, letting out furious tosses of their maned heads. Hitomi's eyes unfocus for a moment, and she actually steps *forwards* --
Because there's a fire extinguisher in a case there. Lucky.
As she rips it open and gets the thing ready, holding it in her hands, she looks over her shoulder.
"... Ladies' intuition... we've got about fifteen minutes to find them," Hitomi says, tersely.
One of the horses hurls a fireball at Hitomi, who hunches up and takes it more or less straight on. And yet, the flames burn within her soul, even if she does not call forth Tyche to exact great vengenace in furious anger. Instead she takes another step forwards and starts to offload the entire fire extinguisher directly at the demons. (Shadows? Monsters? Whatever they are. They are flinging flames heedlessly.)
When the fire extinguisher stops discharging, Hitomi rears back and hurls it directly at center-mass on one of them.
MONAD: Hitomi Mandai has acted with Raise -- All In toward Worst Field Trip Ever! Bravery and Focus!
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Everybody into the stairwell!
Suzume piles in with the others. She is trying not to think of the fact that she is going *up* into a building on fire, which means that she will eventually have go to *down*, and probably in a less pleasant way than using the stairs. Climbing is one thing, but jumping...
...
...don't think about that. Or the smoke.
"That's the Joker Killer you fought?" Suzume looks at Hitomi with something between disbelief and maybe a bit of being impressed. She can hardly let Hitomi - or any of the others - show her up after that.
But Shinjiro's still hurt, she thinks. She'll have to cover for him too, along with the others. She can do that, she decides, and spends a moment spinning her backpack to her front as she goes up the stairs. She has to slow to a walk instead of a run, but she manages to pull out her Evoker and her tonfas, though she has to shake the gym shirt she wrapped around them to conceal them off. (It's fine. It's clean.)
"Fifteen minutes," she repeats. Okay. Okay. She can do this. Even if there are demons in here, she judges - they're not Shadows she recognizes, which doesn't mean they *aren't* Shadows, but doesn't Sumaru have demons? She's pretty sure they do.
"Keep looking!" she calls back to the navigators. Hitomi steps up, and Suzume is right along her. Hitomi sprays a fire extinguisher -
And Suzume charges out of the cloud, shoulder-first and low, to drive directly into one of the horse-headed demons. She's not strong enough or large enough to flip it over her, so she follows it up with a pair of tonfa-reinforced gut punches instead.
MONAD: Suzume Fukura has acted with Dare toward Worst Field Trip Ever! Specialty!
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
"Ugh..." Ririka shakes her head and is late in getting a move on--with the flames, the panic, and that weird sensation, like something she can't quite remember... her head's not in the game right now. "Dangit, right behind you all!" she calls out as she takes off running.
"Sorry," she huff, as she catches up to the group. "There's a lot going on--I'll try to be lock it in." She almost stumbles as something else hits her, and she catches herself on a wall.
15 minutes.
She's a Navigator, she's used to sensing things that others miss, but it's never usually so... specific. "I think we have-- Hitomi has ladies' intuition, and Ririka stares at her for a moment. "How...?" She glances to Fuuka. "Did... you pick that up too? I'm also sensing 15 minutes." Is this a Navigator thing? But then why did Hitomi know...
Ririka's not even sure how she knew--it doesn't feel like her normal senses.
"It's definitely the Joker Killer," Ririka confirms for Suzume. "I wish I could forget his voice by now."
Ririk shakes her head and calls Amphion to her side once more, running her fingers along the keys and snapping into a fast tempo song as she focuses on building out as complete a map as she can. "Scanning... Demons, flames, children... let me hear all of them."
If Fuuka is up for coordinating, she'll open up the Navigator Link so they can share--and with the others, too.
MONAD: Ririka Kawase has acted with Performance toward Worst Field Trip Ever! Automap!
<Pose Tracker> Fuuka Yamagishi has posed.
How Fuuka wishes she'd brought something for all this smoke. But even if she did think to bring a mask, she'd hardly have the kind need to protect from this.
"It's alright." Fuuka says sympathetically to Ririka. "It's a difficult situation..."
Fifteen minutes... It's hardly enough time.
...Fifteen...?
Fuuka frowns - and nods, to Ririka.
"Yes, I did. I-" She starts - but she isn't given time to finish that sentence, as the horse-headed demons unleash Maragi.
"There's so many of them throughout this entire floor..." Fuuka comments with a frown. Just pointing out where the groups are doesn't do much good - so she instead considers the floor layout.
"Right!" Fuuka calls back to Suzume as she says to keep looking. Ririka opens the connection - and Fuuka accepts the connection. She shuts her eyes for a moment to focus, letting a map of the floor unfurl before her vision. She has to use her intuition here.
"Some of these doors... I think they might just be storage closets? The rooms within are smaller... I'm not sensing anyone inside, either." Fuuka states. It might save them some time checking doors they don't need to check.
MONAD: Fuuka Yamagishi has acted with Technician toward Worst Field Trip Ever! Find and Focus!
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Hitomi ends up helping take point, which is good enough for Shinjiro - injured as he is. He knows it, and he's trying to be careful, but in a scenario like this... bad instincts occasionally still root up.
"Fifteen-" he starts, at the same time as everyone else. "...the fuck?"
Why does he know that? Why does his head hurt? Why does it feel like he's done this all before, when he certainly hasn't?
"As the whinny of horseheaded demons comes forth, Shinjiro sees those flames. They're all around them. He swallows...
And moves to smash his barrier into the lead horse's skull, trying to hit hard.
"Get out of my way," he says with a cool anger that hides his deeper emotions. "Or you're going to hell."
MONAD: Shinjiro Aragaki has acted with Intimidation toward Worst Field Trip Ever! Specialty! (|============================ Monad - Results =============================|) -==== Worst Field Trip Ever - Round 2 =======================================- Fuuka Yamagishi Proficiency Success Technician Find and Focus Fatigue: 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shinjiro Aragaki Guts Success Intimidation Specialty Fatigue: 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hitomi Mandai Guts Success Raise -- All In Bravery and Focus Fatigue: 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Suzume Fukura Guts Success Dare Specialty Fatigue: 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ririka Kawase Proficiency Success Performance Automap Fatigue: 1 -============================ Party Conditions: =============================- Starting Conditions: Clumsy-2, Educational-1, Scary-2, and Terrifying-1 Final Conditions: Clumsy-1 and Scary-1 -====================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====- -==== Reach: 2/6 |== | ===================================================- -==== Loot So Far: ==========================================================- Items: 0, Money: 1, Gear: 1 (|=========================================================== Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.
"No," Hitomi answers Suzume.
She glances at her briefly. "It was that lady and her weird groom who were there to kill him, we were just trying to break free at that point. At least I was." At this point another burst of flame brings out a "tch!" even as Suzume charges in and smashes into one of the demons!
"... Really?" Hitomi answers Ririka, while shaking off the impact of the flames - she's not, like, FIREPROOF, but Agi doesn't hit her as hard as it hits others - "That's weird. I guess it seems like a decent amount of time."
Except it occurs to others as well. Unfortunately, even as Ririka coordinates them, one of the horse-demons - the one near to Suzume - starts to get MAD. Tossing his head furiously, foaming at the mouth, eyes reddening even as the other one is overcome by Shinjiro's first strike and hits the ground, knocking over a clear plastic model of a jet airliner which was a place where you could stick your spare change to help restore the dreams of the sky...
Money, everywhere! The furious demon turns forwards and tries to charge towards Shinjiro, only to smash directly into Suzume's tonfas -- which he did NOT anticipate, due to fixating on the tallest and hat-wearingest person.
A few moments later and he's tumbling over the edge of the railing with a familiar and curiously drawn out scream.
Hitomi looks over the side for a moment. "Yeah, he's not coming back. She? No, that's a he." After this Hitomi looks up and over at Fuuka in specific - "Alright, yeah, storage or something, they probably have janitor shit but I'm babbling, do you feel them? Oh shit we're at what, thirteen-fifty? Keep an eye on a way out alright?? I don't remember where the fire escape is and that piece of shit probably bombed it anyway!!"
MONAD: Suzume Fukura has drawn a new Challenge!
(|======================== Monad - Aerospace Museum ========================|)
-==== Round 3: Grab Your Asses! - Challenge Level 2 =========================-
| Approach Options: Charm or Understanding |
| Conditions: Clumsy - Proficiency Down L1, Scary - Guts Down L1, Smooth - |
| Charm Up L1, and Soft - Understanding Up L1 |
-==== Challenge =============================================================-
Entering an exhibit on the events leading up to Westernisation and the
birth of Aviation in Japan after the Meiji Restoration, you find about a
dozen elementary schoolers huddled close to the floor, due to the smoke
already spilling into the room, even before it was opened.
"Are you firefighters?"
"Please get us out of here!"
"I'm scared..."
Some kids are outright crying on the floor, shaking, in little state to even
move, much less to follow your directions in demon infested burning
hallways.
Now is the time to change that. What do you say to them!?
(|=========================================================== Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka glances to Fuuka as she confirms. That makes her feel better that it's not just her, but... that's still... unusual. She wants to ask Fuuka about it more, but there's no time. "Right, thanks," she says quickly.
She looks to Shinjiro next. "You too...?" Okay, that can't be aNavigator thing then.
She nods to Hitomi. "... yeah. But we can worry about it later. Something tells me... we won't be getting any more time than that."
Hitomi mentions the the time-- "13:45," Ririka reports. "I'm keeping time-- Hold on." She closes her eyes as she catches something in her senses-- crying, panicked breathing. "This way, I hear children." She takes off running, forcing her way into the room. She has to pull up the collar of her jacket now to act as a makeshift mask to keep out the smoke as she coughs.
Huddled together on the ground are a group of elementary schoolers trying to stay low out of the smoke.
Some of them start calling out, but some of them are crying and in no state to listen. Ririka kneels down, trying her best to put her bravest smile on. "Hey everyone, I know things are scary, but we're gonna get you all somewhere safe, okay? But Ririka-nee's gonna need all your help, too. Listen and repeat after me so we don't get separated." She starts a simple, familiar song for the children to sing--intending to take their minds off the terror and make them more agreeable to coming with them.
MONAD: Ririka Kawase has acted with Charm toward Grab Your Asses!! Base!
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Based on what Hitomi had said, and what limited knowledge Suzume has about the Joker Killer, she assumed that he proceeded to flip out and fight everybody.
...Suzume doesn't know a whole lot about the Joker Killer.
Suzume may not be able to simply flip a demon over her when she charges it, but she is absolutely going to take advantage of getting a lucky hit in to shove. Take that, horsehead pyromaniac! She raises her hand for a fistbump from Shinjiro afterwards; combo attack!
"I wasn't looking," Suzume says, about whether the demon was a he or a she. She raps her tonfas against the sides of her hips and thighs, which is basically like brushing her hands clean except with sticks. Everybody is sure that it's fifteen minutes... Suzume isn't sure WHY, and at this point she's unwilling to ask in case someone noticed a timer or something on a bomb she didn't even see and she looks stupid.
"We'll have to pick up the pace," Suzume says, because she assumes they will not move so quickly if they manage to find any of the children. Which, as it turns out, is a completely accurate guess. Those kids aren't going anywhere.
"..." What can you say to them? Move or you'll burn? Suzume doesn't deal with kids all that often. She doesn't even always know what to say to Ken, and he's mature for his age and not (usually) in a situation quite this urgent.
"We're not firefighters but we're getting you out of here," Suzume says. She realizes she is holding weapons around here and hastily puts her tonfa behind her back. "We're, uh..." A pause. It extends long enough to get awkward. "...helping? I know it's scary but it's not safe to stay here! Anyway, you can trust Ririka-chan." Thank goodness she's better with kids than Suzume is; Suzume looks grateful.
She was going to say 'superheroes', but, well... she *really* doesn't want to fire her Evoker in front of a bunch of elementary students.
MONAD: Suzume Fukura has acted with Charm toward Grab Your Asses!! Base!
<Pose Tracker> Fuuka Yamagishi has posed.
Shinjiro felt it too... Fuuka nods back to Ririka, and then looks toward Hitomi.
"That makes sense." She considers - and then nods again. "I'll look for one."
She has a point, though - he's probably prepared for that... He wants to herd them up to the roof for some reason... They'll have to think about that when they get to it.
ight now, though, Ririka's located some of the missing children. They're understandably distressed. Who wouldn't be?
She looks toward Ririka as she tries to calm them down. Suzume, though it's difficult for her, joins in. Fuuka needs to try her best, too...
"Yes... I know it's scary, but the important thing right now is for everyone to stay together. Find someone and stay close. We'll all get through this together." Fuuka encourages. "We'll make sure nothing happens to you."
MONAD: Fuuka Yamagishi has acted with Understanding toward Grab Your Asses!! Base!
<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.
"I'm not happy about it either," Hitomi answers Suzume, grimly.
"... Thanks," Hitomi tells Ririka, at that report. But then, they are faced with an enemy that has felled many fortresses since the world was young: Children.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFgdwa8X-10
Hitomi is in a similar camp to Suzume. Her arms fold as she looks at these kids. Somehow it's styming: they're not in 'die the next second' peril, and she had felt enormous fear for them, and yet - and yet - She can feel her lip wanting to tug upwards. Even the faint soreness from the strain of wrangling around a fire extinguisher feels fun.
But it's like the fun is sitting on a table. It's there but she isn't in it yet. Or it's not in her.
"... Yamagashi," Hitomi says presently, leaning over to speak to her quietly. What secret plan could this be?
It's not really a secret but Hitomi isn't advertising it. "If you have to run, I mean, with them. Six blocks south, start heading west, just follow the curve. When you can smell the ocean a little you're basically there. Tell one of the priests you know me."
She pushes her glasses back up her nose.
Hitomi does her best to smile for the children, but she's keeping her lips together, so it looks a little fake. Nevertheless, smile! Smile! now please get moving, Hitomi prays wordlessly.
She gets an idea.
"We're detectives!" Hitomi says to the kids, with a brief V-sign.
MONAD: Hitomi Mandai has acted with Understanding toward Grab Your Asses!! Base!
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Shinjiro is a second off, but does return the fistbump to Suzume, once he notices. He's clearly not handling this well.
"That was one hell of a scream," he mutters, as they enter the room with the children. He pauses.
A memory plays over and over in his brain. An orphanage burns, and a friend with it. He was just a kid. He was so, so powerless.
And even if he now has the strength, he feels powerless once again.
"Hey." Shinjiro tells the kids. He's big and scary and perhaps intimidating.
He kneels to their level. "My name's Shinjiro. You all have family waiting for you? Anyone have brothers or sisters or friends at home? They need you to be brave. They need you to be safe. Come on, let's get you back to them."
As he's doing this, Hitomi tells them they're detectives. He sighs. Now he has to play along if they get suspicious. But he won't rat her out. She's trying too.
MONAD: Shinjiro Aragaki has acted with Tough Love toward Grab Your Asses!! Amrita! (|============================ Monad - Results =============================|) -==== Grab Your Asses! - Round 3 ============================================- Fuuka Yamagishi Understanding Success Understanding Base Fatigue: 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shinjiro Aragaki Understanding Success Tough Love Amrita Fatigue: 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hitomi Mandai Understanding Failure Understanding Base Fatigue: 1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Suzume Fukura Charm Success Charm Base Fatigue: 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ririka Kawase Charm Success Charm Base Fatigue: 1 -============================ Party Conditions: =============================- Starting Conditions: Clumsy-1, Scary-1, Smooth-2, and Soft-2 Final Conditions: Smooth-1 and Soft-1 -====================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====- -==== Reach: 3/6 |=== | ===================================================- -==== Loot So Far: ==========================================================- Items: 0, Money: 1, Gear: 1 (|=========================================================== Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
In a situation this urgent, Ken could be fighting with them. ... As distressing as that is to contemplate.
"Welcome," Ririka says to Hitomi. They don't normally work on time limits, but... tracking time feels like something that falls wihtin a Navigator's remit, at least.
Ririka flashes Suzume a smile as she tells the kids they can trust her. She's hoping she's good with kids, because eery second might count here. Fuuka encourages them to find someone and stay close. "That's right! Buddy system!"
Hitomi's smile makes the kids uneasy, and the detective line gets a confused look from them. Ririka shrugs apologetically to Hitomi at that even as she keeps clapping her hands to make a rhythm for the kids to follow.
Shinjiro might be big and intimidating, but he's got that big, strong presence about him that makes him seem safe and helps put the kids at ease. Nothing can go wrong iwth him on their side, right?
With everyone's efforts they all come around, softly singing a song along with Ririka as she leads the way. Through the Link she sends Fuuka a quick message: <I'll keep track of the kids, but can you please keep scanning, Yamagishi-san?>
MONAD: Fuuka Yamagishi has drawn a new Challenge!
(|======================== Monad - Aerospace Museum ========================|)
-==== Round 4: SCREAM for Ice Cream - Challenge Level 2 =====================-
| Approach Options: Charm or Academics |
| Conditions: Curse - -1 to Group Roll (Per Character), Fairy - Subtract 1 |
| Fatigue on success., Smooth - Charm Up L1, and Soft - Understanding Up L1 |
-==== Challenge =============================================================-
It's only getting worse as more devices are going off, the hallways are
choked with smoke, and the kids are coughing the whole way.
But! Sanctuary! Glorious sanctuary! You see the outline of a doorway which
leads to a certain money-grubbing fairy's shrine.
Entering the spring is an instant relief. The kids breathe easier. You'll
have to move before long, but any reprieve is welcome.
"Hey rugrats! Nothing in life is free, and that includes fresh air!" Trish
crosses her arms, tapping a riding crop, "Since you're exceeding maximum
occupancy, I'll have you know that I'm charging by the minute. I'd put it on
your tab but... ha! You don't have one. Tabs are for deadbeats and losers."
Then, with a grin, the fairy suddenly goes to stand behind a new fixture in
her fountain, covered by a bright red cloth, which she pulls off with a
sudden flourish, to reveal an ICE CREAM COUNTER and brandishes a scoop.
"Also I'd like to introduce you all to the latest addition to my business,
the Trish Refreshment Stand. Who wants Ice Cream? Only 5000 yen per scoop."
"Me!"
"Please! My throat feels like it's on fire!"
"Is she a real fairy!?" "Nah, it's gotta be a costume."
"That's right kiddos." She winks at them, before looking at all of you.
"Just a costume." She makes a gesture of two fingers rubbing against each
other at you. You start to realize, you've been CONNED! She's definitely
price-gouging in the middle of the raging inferno, tugging on your heart
strings and using the kids as props.
Are you really gonna let these kids go without ice cream?
Maybe you can convince her to be reasonable. That's one big maybe.
(|=========================================================== Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Fuuka Yamagishi has posed.
Fuuka looks toward Hitomi as she addresses her. She considers her words with a slight frown.
"I... don't think that'll be necessary, but..." Said with all the conviction of someone who's trying to convince herself more than anyone else. "...Okay. I will."
They're able to rally the children, at least. Hopefully they can keep this going until they're all to safety...
<Understood. I'll do what I can.> Fuuka confirms, as Ririka asks for her to keep scanning. She keeps her eyes open as they proceed - but the further they get, the worse the smoke gets. Fuuka covers her nose and mouth with the sleeve of her uniform, but the smoke is filling up the hallways fast - and the kids aren't weathering it well...
But, up ahead, there's a doorway. The smoke doesn't seem to be going into it...
"This way!" Fuuka says, for everyone's benefit, hurrying toward that doorway as they enter the spring.
Just being here is a relief. It's cool and pleasant, and just like it seemed, there isn't any smoke at all here.
...But things don't remain pleasant for long.
Because this shrine belongs to a certain money-grubbing fairy, with a scheme practically engineered to force them to pay up.
Putting ice cream in front of a bunch of elementary students... it's like throwing oil on a fire.
...Okay, maybe not the most sensitive comparison, considering the current situation.
5000 yen, though... That's a lot.
"Trish-san... Everyone here is a student. We don't have that kind of money." Fuuka says, shaking her head.
MONAD: Fuuka Yamagishi has acted with Bookworm toward SCREAM for Ice Cream! Escape and Smarts!
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Shinjiro helps gets those kids forward, but soon, they reach the ICE CREAM MAN.
Or more specifically, ice cream fairy, Trish.
"...are you serious?" he asks, approaching Trish. "...look, what would it take to get a discount? We're good for it. Hell, if I have to pay you back later, I will."
This is important enough. If they can't get these kids to keep going, they'll have problems. And getting these kids out of here is the priority.
MONAD: Shinjiro Aragaki has acted with Charm toward SCREAM for Ice Cream! Base!
<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.
How long do they still have? Hitomi doesn't have a watch on, so she'd have to check her phone. She doesn't want to check her phone. It'd just fly out of her hand and she'd be out how many yen? Too damn many. There's a space --
-- and it's --
The fairy. And she's charging...
Hitomi's face slowly falls as she realizes they will perish not merely in flames, but in poverty. She sweeps a hand up through her bangs, exhales -- and brings her head back around, glasses gleaming.
"I must've misheard you on that one, ma'am," says Hitomi, straightening up and stepping forwards. "Five thousand for a quick grab set to cheer up these poor kids, right? Covers everyone? If that one wasn't a mistake then I'm afraid you might have to file with the ward authorities since at that level of traffic, you're liable for..."
Her head lifts up.
"Sales taxes."
Hitomi stares at Trish after this. No blinking. No fear. She will empty her wallet out if she loses this one. But sometimes you just have to lean on a local merchant...
... when you're a detective.
MONAD: Hitomi Mandai has acted with It's Time For Some Game Theory toward SCREAM for Ice Cream! Smarts and Patra!
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Once again Suzume takes the lead, both because she's REALLY not sure what to say to the kids and because they need to find a way out of here.
As the smoke gets worse, Suzume crouches down - she's heard it helps, and indeed it does, some; the smoke tends to go up. Her windbreaker isn't the right kind of fabric she can breathe through it if she holds it up and she's in a short-sleeved shirt, though, so those are out of the question.
The kids aren't handling it well. Neither is Suzume, really, but she's the sort of person who's going to put up with it and endure as long as she can. Still, she's grateful when Fuuka finds the door, and -
"Where the heck is this?"
Suzume is PRETTY SURE this that this kind of place is not in the Aerospace Museum. Nor is she sure that fairies (ugh... she's had a bad experience with Pixies) really have... ice cream stands?
"Five THOUSAND yen?? Did you put an extra zero on that or something?" Suzume's pockets contain - well, probably not even enough for one scoop at Trish's prices. "Forget it," she starts to say, but the kids are desperate...
"Is this really the time for ice cream?" Suzume likes ice cream. Suzume is pretty sure that in a burning building is not the place for it. "Maybe when we get out instead!"
She doesn't want to admit she can't afford it. Even for one of the kids, let alone all of them!
MONAD: Suzume Fukura has acted with Charm toward SCREAM for Ice Cream! Base!
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
<Thank you!> Ririka sends back to Fuuka with a healthy dose of gratitude. The smoke is getting really bad, and they can't afford to lose any of the kids. Even with her trying to lead them on with a song to keep their spirits up, the smoke is making everything difficult.
But Ririka spots a door and Ririka rallies the kids. "This way!"
They get inside, and it's free of smoke.
Thank goodness they found Trish's fountain!
... Oh no, they found Trish's fountain.
Or... her ice cream stand, apparently.
Ririka sighs, then coughs a little, trying to force some smoke out of her lungs. "Oh come on..."
Fuuka insists they're just students. Shinjiro is trying to bargain. Hitomi brings up sales taxes, and Ririka kind of hopes that will work. Suzume thinks it should wait for later, and Ririka's inclined to agree, but she looks at the kids...
She rubs the back of her neck. Her wallet's still a little light from that run-in on the path near the Sanitarium... then she snaps her fingers. "Hey, Trish... tell you what."
She cracks her fingers together and starts to play on a piano keyboard made of light that appears at her fingertips. "You can't run an ice cream store without a really cool jingle, right? So how about... I write you one super quick and let you use it to attract more business in exchange for a discount?"
She's alraedy cycling quickly through several different styles of music, hoping to find one that will appeal to Trish.
MONAD: Ririka Kawase has acted with Music Talk toward SCREAM for Ice Cream! Find and Patra! (|============================ Monad - Results =============================|) -==== SCREAM for Ice Cream - Round 4 ========================================- Fuuka Yamagishi Academics Success Bookworm Escape and Smarts Fatigue: 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Shinjiro Aragaki Charm Failure Charm Base Fatigue: 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hitomi Mandai Academics Success It's Time For Some G Smarts and Patra Fatigue: 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Suzume Fukura Charm Success Charm Base Fatigue: 0 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ririka Kawase Academics Success Music Talk Find and Patra Fatigue: 0 -============================ Party Conditions: =============================- Starting Conditions: Curse-0, Fairy-0, Smooth-1, and Soft-1 Final Conditions: -====================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====- -==== Reach: 4/6 |==== | ===================================================- -==== Loot So Far: ==========================================================- Items: 1, Money: 2, Gear: 1 (|=========================================================== Monad 1.1 ====|)
MONAD: Suzume Fukura has drawn a new Challenge!
(|======================== Monad - Aerospace Museum ========================|)
-==== Round 5: Déjà View - Challenge Level 1 ================================-
| Approach Options: Guts or Understanding |
| Conditions: Hard - Understanding Down L1 and Heartening - Guts Up L1 |
-==== Challenge =============================================================-
You rush into one of the hanging displays in the Aerospace Museum. A
life-sized model airplane hangs from the ceiling over an open floor plan. A
portion of the floor acts as a walkway that leads right up to it. There's no
reason to approach it, given that the place is actively on fire and you
still have a ways to go before you reach the roof.
But... you could swear--some of you--that you hear a young girl screaming
for help from over where the model airplane is. No matter how much you look,
though, there's no one there. Eerie.
Not everyone will hear. Just those who might be getting reminded of a past
that never was, if they were a part of it. Those who wouldn't are simply met
with another empty room.
Whether you hear or not, do you move on, or do you double down? Tick tock...
(|=========================================================== Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Fuuka Yamagishi has posed.
Trish might be the most dangerous opponent any of them have ever faced. Sure, demons and Shadows are dangerous, but those are things they can fight. But the power of money?
That's invincible. They can only do their best.
Shinjiro suggests paying Trish back later, and she gets a worrying gleam in her eye that suggests that road, if taken, may bear a cost greater than any of them can afford...
Hitomi, meanwhile, points out that at the prices Trish is suggesting, she runs into the issue of sales taxes. Are demons subject to such things? Does Trish really want to find out?
And with Suzume raising the question of if they even have time for this, a time crunch begins to be put on the situation...
Ririka volunteers to write a quick jingle in exchange for a discount...
Ultimately, the need to make a sale wins out. Ice cream is had... but even with all their bargaining their wallets will still be feeling it later, assuming they make it out of the museum.
At least it made the children happy.
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
Suzume contributes to the Trish Fund. Under duress. (She has about 1700 yen in her wallet plus some random odds and ends in the form of Mementos and Tartarus debris and consumables, a chunk of which came from the earlier demons. She is not rich.)
The group moves on to another hallway. Up on the third floor, now.
This hallway actually overlooks an open area - you can see all the way to the ground floor from here. It's where the Zero visible from the main lobby is hanging from, in fact, held up by thick cables, halfway between this floor and the one below it.
Suzume doesn't even spare a glance for the fighter plane, even though there's a walkway right to it... or, at least, to a few feet above it. You'd still have to jump to get onto the Zero, or climb carefully down to it.
But there's a voice.
'Noooo! Help meeee!'
Suzume clearly doesn't hear it; she has no memories of the Aerospace Museum, she's never been here before in this life or any other. She doesn't even look over. Nor does she when there's another voice, a different one, that follows it up, sounding afraid but not as panicked:
'She's going to die if she stays in there much longer! What should we do?'
Suzume looks around. Not at the plane, but at the next stairwell. She checks it by gripping the handle and counting to three to make sure it's not too hot, then yanks it open when it fails to burn her hand. It's hot in there, but the flames are below - they can still move up from here.
"...what?" Suzume asks, as she looks back at anyone who's fallen behind because of the voice. The Zero rocks, as if somebody was standing on it - but there's nobody there, no matter how hard you look. "Come on, kids! Over here! We got a clear path to the roof!" Where they can be rescued...
...well, there's also that zeppelin, too, right? Maybe they can rescue themselves...
MONAD: Suzume Fukura has acted with Dare toward Déjà View! Specialty!
<Pose Tracker> Shinjiro Aragaki has posed.
Shinjiro's wallet is hurting...
But as they proceed to the room with the plane overhead, he pauses. That voice...
He feels like he's heard it before.
He's clutching his head, before looking up and trying to rush up to the plane. There's a mix of feelings - both deja vu, and the worry that a girl like Miki might be trapped in there. He can't let someone die here. Not again.
But he'll find no one. And he's just wasting time. Hopefully he can get back to the others before the fire is too heavy but...
"Goddamn it! I hear a voice! Where is she?!"
MONAD: Shinjiro Aragaki has acted with Tough Love toward Déjà View! Amrita!
<Pose Tracker> Hitomi Mandai has posed.
That basically emptied out Hitomi's wallet. She is gonna have to borrow money for a train ticket. At least she got a quick bite of ice cream herself. They move forwards-- and someone screams.
Hitomi turns her head.
[She's] going to die if she stays [in there] much longer.
Who?
"... it might be a demon trying to stall us," Hitomi says, as she looks at the Zero. It was moving. It was rocking. She has a horrible foretaste in her mind. Something is going to happen with the plane. Hitomi stares--
They can't hesitate there long.
And now, implausibly, Hitomi begins to grin to herself. Did she seriously just end up balanced on a knife edge like that? She outsmarted herself, huh? With another push of her glasses, she starts to walk over, to join the others.
Yet she keeps looking at the plane.
An idea flickers through her mind - get in it and fly everyone out - and it is so absurd that even in this weird manic state all it does is make her grin further. "I see what you're doing," she addresses the plane, before saying to someone else bringing up the rear--
"... the roof??"
MONAD: Hitomi Mandai has acted with Raise -- All In toward Déjà View! Bravery and Focus!
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Through all of their efforts, ice cream is had. But their wallets will surely feel it later... good thing Ririka finds some spare cash laying around as they go to get going again.
"Okay, everyone," she announces to the kids as she starts clapping a steady beat. "Here we go, stay with your buddies!"
That display is impressive, but... now's not the time to stop and admire it. She doesn't hear anything in there--
Until suddenly she does. Ririka falters again, hands gripping her head for a moment as something disorienting washes over here. "But there's no one here," she mutters.
Her hearing can't be lying to her, right?
"Fukura-chan, don't you hear that?" Ririka calls as she heads to the door. "I think we should check it out, but..." They don't want the kids hanging around. The longer they're in the smoke...
She looks to Hitomi. "It's not a demon-- it's not anything-- I hear someone calling for help but I don't... hear someone calling for help." That is probably a confusing way to phrase it but time is tight. She looks to Fuuka. "Yamagishi-san--can you sense anyone in there? I don't understand--"
This is confusing. Maybe her fellow Navigator has a read on things that will help clarify everything.
She nods. "Yes. We have to get everyone to the roof."
She'll open a Navigator Link for Shinjiro as he goes to check out the plane. <Let me know if you find anything, senpai.>
But she turns back to the kids and puts on her most confident, rocker grin. "Alright, everyone! Let's keep going! We're gonna get you to safety but I need you all to keep being brave, okay?"
She's projecting the stage presence she uses when she performs as she keeps moving and clapping the way, it's to keep the kids' morale up.
And it's to keep her own morale up, too.
MONAD: Ririka Kawase has acted with Band Leader toward Déjà View! Bravery and Escape!
<Pose Tracker> Fuuka Yamagishi has posed.
They're on the third floor, now. They can see across to the life-sized airplane, and as they pass it by... Fuuka pauses. She hears a voice.
"Did someone call for help...?" Fuuka asks. Suzume doesn't notice it at all - but Shinjiro does. Ririka asks if she can sense anyone. Fuuka closes her eyes. "I'll look for her!"
She focuses, casting her net over the entire area. If there's any chance someone escaped her notice, she has to find them. But no matter how much she looks for signs of life...
"...There's no one there." Fuuka says, shaking her head. "I thought I heard, but... I'm not sensing anyone."
There's always that little thought in the back of her head that she might've somehow just missed her, but - no. She's confident. Still...
"Be careful, Aragaki-senpai!" Fuuka calls out to Shinjiro. If he wants to confirm, just to be safe, she won't stop him. They can't miss even a single person.
As for where they're headed...
"Yes... If there's any escape route, it'd be on the roof." Fuuka agrees. She's been keeping an eye out, but she still hasn't picked one up yet. That's their last chance... but she doesn't say that out loud.
MONAD: Fuuka Yamagishi has acted with Analytical toward Déjà View! Automap!
(|============================ Monad - Results =============================|)
-==== Déjà View - Round 5 ===================================================-
Fuuka Yamagishi Guts Success
Analytical Automap Fatigue: 0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shinjiro Aragaki Understanding Success
Tough Love Amrita Fatigue: 0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hitomi Mandai Guts Success
Raise -- All In Bravery and Focus Fatigue: 0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Suzume Fukura Guts Success
Dare Specialty Fatigue: 0
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ririka Kawase Guts Success
Band Leader Bravery and Escape Fatigue: 0
-============================ Party Conditions: =============================-
Starting Conditions: Hard-2 and Heartening-2
Final Conditions: Hard-1 and Heartening-1
-====================================== Party Result: Success: Reach Up! ====-
-==== Reach: 6/6 |=====| ===================================================-
-==== Loot So Far: ==========================================================-
Items: 1, Money: 2, Gear: 1
(|=========================================================== Monad 1.1 ====|)
(|======================== Monad - Aerospace Museum ========================|)
-==== Round 6: A Page from an Old Script - Challenge Level 1 ================-
| Approach Options: None |
| Conditions: Revelation - The best result. |
-==== Challenge =============================================================-
You burst out of the third floor's entrance, where the Zero hangs from the
ceiling; the entire ground floor is up in flames now.
Some of you may get a sense you've seen this before. A sudden fear that
someone might fall into the blaze. But when you search, no one is here.
As soon as you make it to the next floor, you feel it.
Sound effect: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RARotEaobh0
The world shifts into a monochromatic hue, and nausea churns in your gut. A
familiar presence awaits you on the rooftop.
You feel as if you're repeating the same actions. Reading from the same
script. That's impossible.
You know he's there. Steeling your resolve, you head up to the roof.
OOC Note: If you got this card, you'll start the next battle with the
Prophecy buff.
Final Loot: 1 Item, 2 boxes of Money, and 1 Pieces of Gear!
(|=========================================================== Monad 1.1 ====|)
<Pose Tracker> Suzume Fukura has posed.
"Yeah, the roof," Suzume calls back to Hitomi. "It's burning if we go further down! At least up there we might be able to get out. With the - the fire department, or..."
If the rumour about the zeppelin is true... "Maybe we can ride down ourselves." Suzume is hoping. She'd rather ride than jump. Or climb.
But Suzume clearly doesn't hear whatever other people are hearing. She has no memory of this place - not on fire, or *not* on fire. There is no deja vu that hits her because she's never heard it before. "I don't hear anyone," she says, before raising her voice: "Hey! Did anyone call out?"
...
That memory of a voice fails to respond. The Zero remains still. None of the Navigators can find anyone, nor can Shinjiro. Even if there's the sense that there *should be* someone there, that someone is about to fall...
"Come *on*," Suzume repeats, raising her voice. "We gotta get out of here!"
Up the stairs. Suzume almost takes them two at a time, but she refrains; she takes them one at a time, but at a jog. She does pull ahead a little, but only one switchback up the stairs; the rest of the group can still see her, a little.
There is a strange twist - and the feeling of deja vu intensifies.
Suzume has still never been here before. But she has a memory of something else - somewhere else. She shouldn't be here. Her body feels horribly weak, for a moment - like it doesn't work at all, so unlike reality - and she stumbles, slipping on the stairs. She catches herself by the railing, wrenching her shoulder as her knees bash against the edge of a stair hard enough that she hisses in pain.
Pulling herself up, Suzume hisses again at the twist in her shoulder and wrist. ow ow ow. She has to push on, but she really doesn't feel like running... "Go, I'll catch up!" she directs the others. "I'll count heads, make sure we didn't lose anyone."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Fuuka looks, and Ririka is glad for that--it's hard enough keeping tabs on the kids, to make sure they don't get lost or separated--she can't afford to stretch herself too thin.
And no one. "Yeah, I heard it to. I tried to take a quick look, but..." She inclines her head towards the kids. She's keeping tabs on them. "I was hoping... well... if you didn't find anyone then it must just be the stress messing with our nerves, right?"
She hopes so, anyway. She's... honestly not sure what's going on, here.
That sickening feeling hits her on her way up the stares, that awful sensastion, for her, like something is trying to crawl in her ear. "Ugh." She stumbles, hand clutched to the side of her head. "Ngh."
Why do the smoke and flames feel so familiar? Why does she feel--so much fear--
Helplessness.
She tries to shake her head to clear it. She's not helplewss--she has her Persona, she's helping these kids, she's supporting her team, there's no girl this time.
Wait, that can't be right--
That nausea overtakes her, and she drops to her knee for a moment, clutching her stomach. But she sees-- "Fukura-chan! I'll... we'll get the kids to the roof, then we'll come back and help you out, okay?"
They have to keep going. She grits her teeth, and keeps climbing up.