2026-06-20: The Curse of Joka
- Log: The Curse Of Joka
- Cast: CD Penguin, Katsuya Suou, Maya Amano, Ichika Kawase, Ririka Kawase, Shinobu Shimizu, Hyousuke Suzuki, Shizuka Kuroki, Julian Marlowe, Tsubasa Seki, Moriko Kumamoto, Umie Akabane, Tamaki Uchida, Eriko Kirishima
- Where: Yumezaki - Main
- OOC Date: June 20, 2026
- IC Date: THu, Nov 27, 2012
- Summary: Take one Ulala Serizawa. A woman who knows what she likes, and what she likes is punching a photograph of Youichi Makimura's face as she trains to box. Unfortunately, it has been decreed by fate that it is her Time of Joka! And so she took it like any emotionally healthy woman would, by barricading herself into the GOLD Gym, demanding you bring back the one she hates the most! Well. You've done that. Time to see what happens next!
(|============================= Yumezaki - Main ==============================|)
-=============================================== Sumaru City/Yumezaki Ward ====-
With a name that means "Dream Peninsula," it's no wonder that the glitziest part
of the city is Yumezaki. All kinds of fun and exciting business can be found
here, up to and including a game center (or is it a casino?) called Mu
Continent, where rumor has it one can potentially win big at slots, bingo,
poker, or blackjack. Pachinko Silver is right next door if one wants one's
gambling activities to be a little more subtle.
Across from Mu Continent, there's Club Zodiac, a techno dance club where the
boots are always bumping--but rumor has it the back is a maze that will lead you
to some very dangerous places... To be specific, supposedly it was bought out by
the Taiwanese mafia and is now their hideout. It's best not to pay too much mind
to those kinds of tales, though--or else.
The ward also includes a robust multi-story music store and an impressive gym.
Oddly, the music store, NOT the gym, is called Giga Macho. The gym, which is
bright, clean, and amply furnished with all kinds of equipment, is called GOLD.
Nearby, the shopping street, Yumezaki Center, invites spendthrifts and window
shoppers alike to browse its indoor and outdoor stores.
BGM: Map I - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0B_2vwPcxc
AS: Shinobu Shimizu has readied for combat as Lachesis! She is now fully healed! AS: Ichika Kawase has readied for combat as Momiji! She is now fully healed! AS: Julian Marlowe has readied for combat as Raffles! He is now fully healed! AS: Umie Akabane has readied for combat as Badb! She is now fully healed! AS: Ririka Kawase has readied for combat as Amphion! She is now fully healed! AS: Tamaki Uchida has readied for combat as Arianrhod! She is now fully healed! AS: Maya Amano has readied for combat as Maia! She is now fully healed! AS: Katsuya Suou has readied for combat as Helios! He is now fully healed! AS: Ichika Kawase has readied for combat as Momiji! She is now fully healed! AS: Moriko Kumamoto has readied for combat as Otohime Gitsune! She is now fully healed! AS: Shizuka Kuroki has readied for combat as Galatea! She is now fully healed! AS: Tsubasa Seki has readied for combat as Izbushka na Kur'ih Nozhkah! They are now fully healed! AS: Umie Akabane has readied for combat as Badb! She is now fully healed! AS: Ichika Kawase has readied for combat as Momiji! She is now fully healed! AS: Crt_Dn (Critical down!) applied to Umie Akabane! AS: Crt_Dn (Critical down!) applied to Hyousuke Suzuki! AS: Crt_Dn (Critical down!) applied to Ichika Kawase! AS: Crt_Dn (Critical down!) applied to Julian Marlowe! AS: Crt_Dn (Critical down!) applied to Shinobu Shimizu! AS: Crt_Dn (Critical down!) applied to Tsubasa Seki! AS: Crt_Dn (Critical down!) applied to Katsuya Suou! AS: Crt_Dn (Critical down!) applied to Maya Amano! AS: Crt_Dn (Critical down!) applied to Moriko Kumamoto! AS: Crt_Dn (Critical down!) applied to Tamaki Uchida! AS: Def_Up (Block Improved!) applied to Shizuka Kuroki! AS: Def_Up (Block Improved!) applied to Ririka Kawase!
<Pose Tracker> CD Penguin has posed.
After it's unlocked by the key, the door opens to the gym room Ulala has barricaded herself, and while it takes some brute force- the barricaded objects part. It's just a regular workout room, mats strewn about, equipment in the corners, heavy bags suspended from the ceiling.
And one singular occupant.
That horrible feeling arises. That tinnitus in your ears, the pounding of a hideous heartbeat. The world flashes into a photonegative, everything just feels wrong.
And there Ulala is, in her green dress, covered in spiderwebs, hunched in the corner, facing away, trembling. Do her hands look... paler than usual?
Whatever is going on- a sense of dread hits you. Something bad is about to happen, and no one feels fully prepared to face it.
Nyarly Wvoop Wvoop - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RARotEaobh0
"Gu- Duh-Don't... come near me."
Youichi Makimura, courageous as ever, hides behind Katsuya Suou, "See? She doesn't even want to see me- let's go man-"
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
Something terrible is about to happen. With any luck, they're still in time to prevent it. Katsuya peers at Ulala, trying to get some sense of how she's doing. If she's able to tell them to stay back, is she still sufficiently 'herself'?
But similarly, there's no point in asking how she is. It's clearly 'not well'.
He shakes his head when Makimura speaks.
"Serizawa-kun! Please, stay calm. We have taken Youichi Makimura into custody and will take him to the station shortly! All will be taken care of legally there's no need for you to throw your life away because of a man like this!"
He doesn't look back at the man behind him, perhaps trusting even now that the con artist won't attempt to run...
Yet, with all the other people here, would he really be able to escape?
A man in a golden suit, 'Baofu' to those who know him, had already been lingering towards the back of the group. He spots something and turns. Then, without a word, Baofu vanishes into the hallway outside the gym, seemingly departing on some unknown task.
<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.
"...Ulala."
Maya's usual cheerful smile fades at the sight before her, replaced with an expression of concern. Even as Maya's expression falters, her body doesn't hesitate. Without even giving Ulala's warning a second thought, Maya approaches her best friend with her arm extended, prepared to put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
AS: Eriko Kirishima has readied for combat as Nike! She is now fully healed! AS: Moriko Kumamoto has readied for combat as Otohime Gitsune! She is now fully healed! AS: Crt_Dn (Critical down!) applied to Eriko Kirishima! AS: Def_Up (Block Improved!) applied to Moriko Kumamoto!
<Pose Tracker> CD Penguin has posed.
Katsuya speaks of Makimura- his crimes. Makimura himself looks alarmed. "Hey wait, you didn't say anything about that before!"
The air thunders, like a beating heart, after Katsuya speaks, "Y-You brought... you brought... guh... I-"
'...Ulala.'
Maya Amano approaches, for a moment it feels like everything might be just fine, with her presence. "Maya" Ulala stands herself up as Maya reaches for her, back to Maya, rigidly, then turns- and swings a vicious haymaker to the center of her chest, knocking her backwards.
Boss Theme - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TVkaYZqoR0s
"You stupid bitch! ... You still don't get it?"
Now everyone can see her, as she puts her hands up in a gesture of 'Oopsie, my bad' however- take a good look at her. Her skin is chalk white, her eyes so sunken as to look like they're a part of her skin, ruby lips taut as if the muscles simply can't relax from her doing anything but smile.
"You're the one I want dead, Ma~ya! Who do you think called the Joker on you!?" She laughs, as her giggle becomes a howl, then a shrill shriek, "Ahaha-AHAHAHAHA!"
Crimson flames flare out of her feet, trailing up her body, as she raises her hand skyward, and what coalesces is unmistakably the Joker Persona that Tatsuya Sudou used, however, there are changes- like something about it has changed, degraded.
Instead of a red suit, it's taken on a more demonic appearance, as its black skin with purplish markings descends into devilish forked tail and feet that appear as pointed shoes. Its wrists and torso are surrounded by barbed wire- a pair of wings of crimson metal that looks similar to the suit it wore before.
And yet, that same smiling mask is there, grinning death as it looks down upon them.
"Hehehe- you have no idea how good this feels! To just let go!" As she shadow boxes right in the air, the air pressure of her punches felt as a physical thing to all in front of her. "You've all stepped into my ring- so how about I just slaughter all of you?"
The Persona Joker extends its hands out like a dramatic ringmaster at center stage, as power thrums, fractals of mirror like shards spin out of its hands. The shards strike the ground, and there's an illusion that a laughing Ulala begins to double- then split into more and more images in a flickering haze. They surround everyone giggling asynchronously in everyone's heads as she blurs and surrounds the party.
Suddenly, several of them feel fists lashing into them from an off-angle, while others see one- or two- or far more of the blurred Ulala images bobbing and weaving as they get close- far too close. Her wrapped hands attempt to batter their bodies from top to bottom, making it difficult to retaliate.
Then Joker arises, and a harsh wind rips through the gym room, trying to knock multiple people against the walls to give the Ulala like mirages.
And all the while, a multitude of Ulala Serizawa's grin and laugh at everyone, as she attempts to murder them one by one by one.
AS: CD Penguin has readied for combat as The Fear Has Been Spread: Joker! They are now fully healed! Ready for 13 opponents! AS: Weapon! CD Penguin has used the Strike skill Knockout Punch on Maya Amano! 2 Hits! | Aggression: CD Penguin gains 1 Limit!
AS: Persona! CD Penguin has used the Almighty skill Fata Morgana on Umie Akabane, Hyousuke Suzuki, Ichika Kawase, and Julian Marlowe! AS: Persona! CD Penguin has used the Almighty skill Fata Morgana on Katsuya Suou, Maya Amano, Moriko Kumamoto, and Ririka Kawase! AS: Persona! CD Penguin has used the Almighty skill Fata Morgana on Shinobu Shimizu, Shizuka Kuroki, Tamaki Uchida, and Tsubasa Seki! AS: Persona! CD Penguin has used the Almighty skill Fata Morgana on Eriko Kirishima! AS: Weapon! CD Penguin has used the Strike skill Rush Down on Umie Akabane! 3 Hits! AS: Weapon! CD Penguin has used the Strike skill Flurry of Blows on Hyousuke Suzuki! 3 Hits! AS: Weapon! CD Penguin has used the Strike skill Flurry of Blows on Ichika Kawase! 3 Hits! AS: Weapon! CD Penguin has used the Strike skill Rush Down on Tsubasa Seki! 3 Hits! AS: Persona! CD Penguin has used the Wind skill Maha Garu on Eriko Kirishima, Tamaki Uchida, Julian Marlowe, and Katsuya Suou! AS: Weapon! CD Penguin has used the Strike skill Flurry of Blows on Moriko Kumamoto! 3 Hits! AS: Weapon! CD Penguin has used the Strike skill Rush Down on Shizuka Kuroki! 3 Hits! AS: Take! Tamaki Uchida takes 0 Almighty damage from CD Penguin's Fata Morgana. AS: Block Best! Shinobu Shimizu takes 0 Almighty damage from CD Penguin's Fata Morgana. AS: Avoid Worst! Umie Akabane takes 0 Almighty damage from CD Penguin's Fata Morgana. | Panic (Damage when using Persona/Tandem!) added!
AS: Weapon! CD Penguin has used the Strike skill Rush Down on Ririka Kawase! 3 Hits! AS: Avoid Worst! Maya Amano takes 165 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Knockout Punch. Critical Hit! AS: Avoid Worst! Maya Amano takes 120 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Knockout Punch. AS: Avoid Worst! Umie Akabane takes 81 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Rush Down. Critical Hit! AS: Block Best! Tamaki Uchida takes 33 Wind damage from CD Penguin's Maha Garu. AS: Avoid Best! Tsubasa Seki takes 0 Almighty damage from CD Penguin's Fata Morgana. AS: Avoid Worst! Maya Amano takes 0 Almighty damage from CD Penguin's Fata Morgana. | Panic (Damage when using Persona/Tandem!) added!
AS: Avoid Best! Maya Amano takes 10 damage from #-1 NO SUCH OBJECT VISIBLE's . Critical Hit! AS: Avoid Best! Umie Akabane takes 16 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Rush Down. Critical Hit! AS: Counter Best! Tsubasa Seki takes 35 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Rush Down. Critical Hit! Resist! | COUNTER! CD Penguin takes 50 Slash damage in return for their attack!
AS: Counter Best! Tsubasa Seki takes 35 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Rush Down. Critical Hit! Resist! | COUNTER! CD Penguin takes 50 Slash damage in return for their attack!
AS: Counter Worst! Tsubasa Seki takes 71 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Rush Down. Critical Hit! Resist! | COUNTER! CD Penguin takes 30 Slash damage in return for their attack!
AS: Avoid Neutral! Umie Akabane takes 46 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Rush Down. Critical Hit! AS: Avoid Neutral! Shizuka Kuroki takes 0 Almighty damage from CD Penguin's Fata Morgana. AS: Block Neutral! Shizuka Kuroki takes 34 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Rush Down. Critical Hit! AS: Avoid Best! Shizuka Kuroki takes 18 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Rush Down. Critical Hit! AS: Take! Hyousuke Suzuki takes 0 Almighty damage from CD Penguin's Fata Morgana. AS: Avoid Neutral! Shizuka Kuroki takes 51 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Rush Down. Critical Hit! AS: Block Best! Ririka Kawase takes 0 Almighty damage from CD Penguin's Fata Morgana. AS: Block Worst! Ichika Kawase takes 0 Almighty damage from CD Penguin's Fata Morgana. | Panic (Damage when using Persona/Tandem!) added!
AS: Block Best! Hyousuke Suzuki takes 6 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Flurry of Blows. Resist! AS: Block Worst! Hyousuke Suzuki takes 33 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Flurry of Blows. Resist! AS: Block Neutral! Hyousuke Suzuki takes 17 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Flurry of Blows. Resist! AS: Block Neutral! Ichika Kawase takes 24 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Flurry of Blows. AS: Block Neutral! Ichika Kawase takes 24 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Flurry of Blows. AS: You have 1 more attack in queue! AS: Block Worst! Ichika Kawase takes 42 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Flurry of Blows. AS: Block Best! Ririka Kawase takes 11 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Rush Down. Critical Hit! AS: Block Worst! Ririka Kawase takes 55 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Rush Down. Critical Hit! AS: Block Best! Ririka Kawase takes 11 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Rush Down. Critical Hit! AS: Block Neutral! Julian Marlowe takes 0 Almighty damage from CD Penguin's Fata Morgana. AS: Avoid Worst! Julian Marlowe takes 69 Wind damage from CD Penguin's Maha Garu. | Haze (Physical and Block Penalized!) added!
AS: Avoid Neutral! Moriko Kumamoto takes 0 Almighty damage from CD Penguin's Fata Morgana. | Panic (Damage when using Persona/Tandem!) added!
AS: Avoid Best! Moriko Kumamoto takes 12 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Flurry of Blows. AS: Avoid Neutral! Moriko Kumamoto takes 34 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Flurry of Blows. AS: Avoid Neutral! Moriko Kumamoto takes 54 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Flurry of Blows. Critical Hit!
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ichika Kawase was going to leave Ulala to her friends. ...But that awful heartbeat pounding makes her look to Tsubasa and Hibari, instead. "Hibari-chan," she suggests. "Keep people out. Tsubasa..."
"Let's go."
She ducks into the changing room and wills herself into the attire of Rebellion--and in moments, Ogre steps into the room at the back, where Ulala is. Something is happening--something is wrong. And she aims to be able to help.
Which means she's there when Ulala turns on Maya. "Amano-san!" Ogre calls in alarm, stepping forward with her hand out as if she can do something about it. Except...
Except--
"She...?"
"Serizawa-san," Ogre says, still with a strange respect, as if she knows her. But the combat starts. The Joker is strange--
"I won't let you kill your best friend!" Ogre calls, and then suddenly--power thrums. Ulala is too many all of a sudden, and Ichika almost can't take it. She breathes sharply, heavily--
And the bright side is that she's good at catching punches, so she manages to almost block two until the last slams into her armored stomach. "Gh--"
"Amano-san!" she calls then, seeing her taking a lot more damage. "I've got you!"
Who is this girl, who cares about Maya? She's dressed like some kind of samurai, in an oni mask, with great horns. And her Persona, another oni in a beautiful kimono, rushes down healing light on Maya, as well as a barrier that ties the two of them together for now with a great big green line.
AS: Persona! Ichika Kawase has used the Recovery skill Shield Diarama on Maya Amano! | Ichika Kawase takes 90 damage from Panic! | Support: Ichika Kawase gains 1 Limit!
AS: Take! Maya Amano takes 142 Recovery healing from Ichika Kawase's Shield Diarama. | Cover applied! AS: Block Worst! Katsuya Suou takes 0 Almighty damage from CD Penguin's Fata Morgana. | Panic (Damage when using Persona/Tandem!) added!
AS: Block Worst! Katsuya Suou takes 144 Wind damage from CD Penguin's Maha Garu. Critical Hit! | Haze (Physical and Block Penalized!) added! AS: Ichika Kawase spends Limit on Help Up! Panic removed from Maya Amano! Hyper (Next Attack Boosted/Incoming Damage Down!) applied to Maya Amano! They both receive 8 SP and 30 HP!
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka is not having the best of days--it took way too many miles and way more train fare than she thought she'd be using today. And she's still recovering from her incident a couple of weeks ago, but... this takes priority.
And as they step in-- Ririka clutches the side of her head. "Nngh. E-everyone, look out! she's--" But then, maybe everyone felt that one.
Ririka gasps as that Joker Persona appears. It's different, but still similar enough--she can feel that Resonance. "Oh no--"
But maybe in this case, forewarned is forearmed. Panic threatens to take her, but Ririka pushes that back, and when the blows come for her she's pulled a katana out of her bag, raising it to block the strikes--she deftly manages most of them but some of those hits still get through. One to the stomach momentarily winds her. "Ugh--!"
"E-everyone--" she gasps, catching her breath. "Let me--" Her Evoker is out. With a shaking hand she raises it to her head and fires, summoning the giant stone Amphion in a whirl of shattering glass and blue flame.
She points the katana at Ulala. "Amphion-- Analyusis!"
Amphion strums his lyre, sending waves of sound--Resonance--echoing for Ulala. Ririka dons a pair of headphones handed to her by Amphion, ready to analyze what she hars and search for weaknesses.
AS: Persona! Ririka Kawase has used the Almighty skill Full Analysis on CD Penguin! | Insight: Ririka Kawase gains 1 Limit!
AS: Take! CD Penguin takes 0 Almighty damage from Ririka Kawase's Full Analysis. AS: Ririka Kawase's Strength Scan! CD Penguin resists Wind! AS: Ririka Kawase's Weakness Scan! CD Penguin is weak against Earth! AS: Ririka Kawase's Support Scan! CD Penguin has passive skills Ailment Boost, Avoid Earth, Explode Boost, Quick Weapon, Sharp Student, Strike Amp, and Wind Amp!
<Pose Tracker> Shinobu Shimizu has posed.
It's been a hell of a day, chasing Makimura to Tokyo and back. Shinobu's temper has just about reached its limits from dealing with two different terrible men. But they're back, and they've got the key.
"We're coming in, Serizawa." Shinobu announces. That horrible feeling washes over her, that heartbeat, as the world seems to turn on its side... She steels herself. They can't just leave Ulala to whatever... this is.
Ulala is here - and she's looking worse for wear. So pale... Shinobu grimaces. She looks to Katsuya as he takes charge of the situation, then Maya, and then -
Shinobu's eyes open wide as Ulala punches Maya, and...
"...Shit, Serizawa? It was her?" Shinobu gasps. "Why?"
Weren't they friends? What could push Ulala to call the Joker Killer on Maya...?
Ulala laughs a terrible laugh, her Persona materializes...
...No, that isn't hers - it can't be hers. That was Sudou's, wasn't it...?
Ulala makes her declaration and threatens all of them, and then she attacks. Illusory Ulala's surround her. Shinobu shuts her eyes tight, trying to focus, trying to block out the echo.
"...Hey! The hell do we do about her!?" Shinobu calls out to the others. "Sudou was one thing, but I can't just..."
She grits her teeth. They can't just sit back and let her kill Maya. If they want to stop her, there might be only once choice...
"...To hell with it! Sorry, Serizawa!" Shinobu calls out and rushes toward Ulala. She draws out her staff - a recent acquisition, a length of twisted, flame-blackened metal fashioned into a staff - and jabs it toward her repeatedly.
AS: Weapon! Shinobu Shimizu has used the Strike skill Jab Flurry on CD Penguin! 3 Hits! | Aggression: Shinobu Shimizu gains 1 Limit!
AS: Shinobu Shimizu spends Limit on Help Up! Haze removed from Julian Marlowe! Hyper (Next Attack Boosted/Incoming Damage Down!) applied to Julian Marlowe! They both receive 8 SP and 30 HP!
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
Hyousuke trod forward carefully, moving slowly enough to give others a chance to act before him. He was no diplomat, and certainly no detective - he was a sledgehammer, and to rush in guns blazing was a terrible idea. Even so, there were signs that he was prepared to for a fight. Tensed muscles, sharp eyes, his Resonance bristling as he made ready to call upon Achilles in the blink of an eye... It was almost like he was spoiling for a fight. But something hit him before he had the chance, and Hyousuke staggered beneath the weight of it.
Something clawed at his mind, scratching and tearing and gnawing as ringing and pounding and wrongness flooded his every sense. It was the shock of it all, more than anything, that caused his legs to weaken for that split second, but it was nevertheless enough to give him pause.
"The hell was that?!" He grunted out, speaking through clenched teeth, and making an active effort to not tell the coward and fraud behind him to shut up. He needed all the focus he could spare - something was terribly, terribly wrong, and Makimura was barely worth more than a passing thought.
Hyousuke recovered in time to see Maya approach, but didn't put the pieces together until it was too late. He didn't know the details of the situation, their relationship, their past, anything - he thought Maya knew best. He thought it was best to stand still, and let the smarter ones handle the situation. But Ulala put paid to that notion, and Hyousuke assumed a fighting stance in less than a heartbeat. Fists clenched until the knuckles were white, teeth bared in a snarl no longer hidden by a visor, and sharp eyes focussed like a predator's, Hyousuke stood his ground against the onslaught.
Instinct took over as soon as he saw the fists lashing out at him. Countless hours of conditioning had him throw his arms up into a tight guard the very second that he knew he was being struck, and the first he weathered with barely a scratch upon him. The second hit like a cannonshot, staggering him sideways as the breath left his lungs. The third he blocked only with the aid of Achilles, calling upon his shield to intercept the blow. So surging with adrenaline was he that he did not even notice Ulala had attempted to try and debilitate him.
Or was it just anger that clouded his vision?
"Goddamn it, get a hold of yourself!" Hyousuke bellowed, surging forward and making ready to strike. "You're gonna kill your friend?! What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Somewhere deep down, he was aware that it most likely wasn't her, and that the curse had likely screwed with her mind. But that part had been buried beneath bloodlust and adrenaline. "Snap out of it! Or I'm gonna beat some sense back into you!"
Achilles surged forward ahead of Hyousuke, and empowered by the indignity of the curse weakening him, he thrust the gleaming tip of his spear towards Ulala.
AS: Counter Best! CD Penguin takes 24 Strike damage from Shinobu Shimizu's Jab Flurry. | COUNTER! Shinobu Shimizu takes 21 Strike damage in return for her attack!
AS: Counter Neutral! CD Penguin takes 31 Strike damage from Shinobu Shimizu's Jab Flurry. | COUNTER! Shinobu Shimizu takes 16 Strike damage in return for her attack!
AS: Avoid Neutral! CD Penguin takes 38 Strike damage from Shinobu Shimizu's Jab Flurry. Critical Hit!
AS: Persona! Hyousuke Suzuki has used the Pierce skill Counterthrust on CD Penguin! | Defense: Hyousuke Suzuki gains 1 Limit!
<Pose Tracker> Shizuka Kuroki has posed.
Shizuka freezes at the sight of the Joker, memories of her run-in with the other Joker bubbling up in her mind. She whimpers softly as she forces her hand over to her Evoker.
Oh God, I don't want to die I don't want to die I don't want to die
At the last minute, she grabs the gun and fires it off, the stalwart Galatea standing in front of her and taking the brunt of the attacks as she jumps out of the way. She grunts and tumbles to the ground, pushing herself up as she pulls her knives out. Her brain moves at a mile a minute, bouncing between 'I've gotta get out of here' and 'I've gotta stop this thing,' a simple moment feeling like an entire volley at Wimbledon.
Eventually, 'stop this thing' gets the game, set, and match. So be it. "Galatea!" Shizuka calls forth her Persona again to shoot off a barrage of stones towards the Joker.
AS: Persona! Shizuka Kuroki has used the Earth skill Landslide on CD Penguin! AS: Avoid Worst! CD Penguin takes 45 Pierce damage from Hyousuke Suzuki's Counterthrust. AS: Avoid Best! CD Penguin takes 39 Earth damage from Shizuka Kuroki's Landslide. Critical Hit! Weak! Avoid Earth! AS: Take! Eriko Kirishima takes 0 Almighty damage from CD Penguin's Fata Morgana. | Panic (Damage when using Persona/Tandem!) added!
AS: Avoid Worst! Eriko Kirishima takes 80 Wind damage from CD Penguin's Maha Garu. | Haze (Physical and Block Penalized!) added!
<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.
The air rushes out of Maya's lungs as Ulala slams her fist into her chest. Her body is thrown back like a rag doll, rolling on the floor before coming to a stop. In the back of her mind, Maya is aware of the pain thrumming within her body, but her mind is so focused on Ulala that it doesn't truly register.
Ulala... Did she really feel that way?
Memories flash in Maya's head, one after the other. She and Ulala scrambling to get their homework done ten minutes before class. The day they graduated. The day they moved in together. Maya attempting (and failing) to make Ulala a passable birthday cake almost a year before.
No, these can't be Ulala's feelings! Maya refuses to believe it.
It's only when someone calls out her name that she's able to snap out of it. Her eyes widen as she looks up at Ogre's mask. She recognizes Ogre -- but not the girl behind the mask. But even if Maya doesn't know _her_, it's clear from Ogre's actions that she knows Maya.
"Thank you." She takes the girl's hand and pulls herself to her feet. Ogre's healing magic restores her and she feels extra grateful to the stranger...
...and to the growing number of people that are here to help.
Maya stands determined among them, ready to do whatever it takes to save her best friend.
"Give me back my Ulala!"
AS: Persona! Maya Amano has used the Water skill Wonderful Aques on CD Penguin!
<Pose Tracker> Julian Marlowe has posed.
Funny thing - up until a very short while ago, Julian Marlowe was here, having assisted with the whole misadventure leading up to these events. One might worry about an ordinary, powerless person getting mixed up in what rapidly turned quite openly dangerous... except it looks like he must have made a real quick exit once he saw the way the wind was blowing. Good call, if maybe a little odd that he didn't say anything beforehand.
In truth, Julian figured which way the wind was blowing once he felt that unmistakable sensation. With that kind of supernatural pressure being applied, there was little choice but to hurry and get out of sight, to keep from being unmasked. Or... publically masked, as the case may be. Surely there are more pressing matters to attend to than paying much attention to there being one or two people less around than there were before.
Another soon arrives to take his place, seemingly late to the party. The grey-suited, white-masked gentleman, Vesper, barrels onto the scene, quietly declaring, "It seems I've come in the nick of time." Although one look at Ulala's countenance has him amending, "...in the assumption that this was not something that could have been prevented."
The Joker Persona... even in its changed form, not something he'd hoped to see again. But, as usual, the rumors were true - became true, rather.
He isn't able to get another word in edgewise before Ulala seizes the initiative. Though he quickly withdraws from the mirror images, this doesn't keep him safe from the subsequent blast of wind, momentarily flattening him against a wall before he drops down in a crouch. Quick to rise again, he adjusts his bowler hat, ever so slightly knocked askew.
"I rather feel that reasoning may be out of the question here, Shimizu-san," he responds to Shinobu's question of what to do. He concurs with the following action, lending her support by calling for, "Raffles!"
In a flash of blue, the iron-masked spectre with elements of both a classy gentleman and a monstrous cricket player appears, bringing its latter half into action through charging forward, and swinging its massive bat downward.
AS: Persona! Julian Marlowe has used the Strike skill Skull Cracker on CD Penguin! | Defense: Julian Marlowe gains 1 Limit!
AS: Hyousuke Suzuki spends Limit on Help Up! Panic removed from Ichika Kawase! AS: Hyousuke Suzuki spends Limit on Help Up! Panic removed from Moriko Kumamoto! AS: Avoid Worst! CD Penguin takes 150 Water damage from Maya Amano's Wonderful Aques. | Paralyze (Physical and Avoid Penalized!) added!
AS: Avoid Neutral! CD Penguin takes 97 Strike damage from Julian Marlowe's Skull Cracker. Critical Hit! | Panic (Damage when using Persona/Tandem!) added!
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
Hibari -- that, is, Mujina -- volunteers to watch the exit, but that still leaves Ichika-as-Ogre and Phoenix-nes-Tsubasa...
... and the Boss's orders take care of that. "Right," and it's Tsubasa which answers her, in the wake of that oppressive beat forcing its way through their ears and intruding to their skull...
... but it's Phoenix who's screaming, as they double back -- they must have just been hiding in the shadows before now! Surely Tsubasa fled shortly after Katsuya demonstrated he had the situation all under control! -- with a greatblade dragging sparks along the ground. A business tie flaps from the edges of the fabric wrap around its hilt, the sharp, square lines of a traditionally Japanese Kagi chart etched into its blade, running vertically along its length and offering a futuristic flair. Crafted from materials stolen from Maria's Kingdom and paid for with the wealth from Futaba's Phaorah tomb... it's the Boardroom Broadsword!
"You stupid--!" They yell, only to get a look at her face -- her mask? -- she wears no mask! -- and pull up, sharply, their orange feather cloak fluttering as the pulled-up hood and edges sway forward with their arrested momentum. Behind their dark grey mask, pointed like a witch's hat, their blue eyes widen. Their arms and legs and belly are all bound in white cloth, a sharp contrast to the dull grey ninja robes beneath it.
"Bwah?"
Their gaze tracks up, as that degraded Joker Persona rises up. "... whaFUCK!"
Their ninja tabi shift back half a step, but when they realises that laughter is the herald to an assault, they press forwards, slicing at those strange images of her fists as they strike.
Maya's saying to give her back...
"Sick porcelain," Phoenix snarls. "Gon' rip it off. IZBUSHKA NA KUR'IH NOZHKAH!"
They tear their mask off, and in a mist of blood and blue flame, a massive beast rises behind them. Chicken legs as large and tall as any one of them support a broad thatched-roof hut, its thatched windows flapping like little chicken wings as a fence of spines and skulls form a skirt around its base. The skulls in front glare at Ulala -- and a flame lights under her, hot enough to burn through her defences...!
AS: Persona! Tsubasa Seki has used the Fire skill Meltdown on CD Penguin!
<Pose Tracker> Moriko Kumamoto has posed.
Moriko's about as haggard as Ririka. Long days, longer school days, longer still days. The appearance of the Joker, along with that burst of mental static and feedback. Is that what it was? Moriko couldn't put her finger on it, but she does squeeze her eyes shut, trying to erase those starbursts behind her eyes.
. Pulling her attentio na second time. With a scramble, her satchel's pulled and she clutches it in her hand, ready for the worst of it. Evoker's holster loosened and just don't worry where she pulled the polearm.
She ducks and weaves, to the best of her ability, dodging some of the hits to myriad, success. Flinching away with the hits and grazes. Clearly doing what she can, but there's only so much right?
"What's the call." Moriko mutters, not quite wanting to shout it out, maybe she should be? Her eyes are on the navigators though.
"Not happening." She calls out to the idea of you know, them dying. Face set in a serious scowl. Notably different than her usual look by the intent in her eyes.
"Is it a possession thing?" She doesn't know the others well enough. That's on her. She does know the vibe though.
A hand goes up to Hyousuke, "Thanks." As he helps her out. Then, somewhat following the example, "Screw it." She mutters, "Break now, fix later." And turns her head to the side, watching the movements before the Evoker is lifted and she calls out, "Otohime Gitsune-" with the sharp crack of the evoker firing. The ornately dressed fox twists from behind her like it was rising and dives forward, creating a short series of spikes, that suddenly jutt out into a larger spike of earth at Joker(?). "Wildcard?" She asks, almost to herself. Maybe flagging them each? She's not sure. Why are her thoughts going there? It does this while she rides too.
AS: Persona! Moriko Kumamoto has used the Earth skill Magna on CD Penguin! | Ruin: Moriko Kumamoto gains 1 Limit!
AS: Counter Best! CD Penguin takes 42 Fire damage from Tsubasa Seki's Meltdown. | Def_Dn (Block Penalized!) added! | COUNTER! Tsubasa Seki takes 46 Fire damage in return for their attack! Weak!
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
ONE SERIES OF TERRIBLE ADVENTURES EARLIER--
Dressed in a sporty windbreaker with a blonde ponytail threaded through the back of a baseball cap (labeled with a cursive 'P' for the Aoba Penguins, of course!), black leggings, and sneakers, the semi-disguised Umie's given up on those now sweat marked glasses, shakily collapsing them down and shoving them in a pocket. ".... Akechi-kun, you'll be able to handle any reports against us, right?"
Except... Umie feels it, in the air. Something that burrows behind her teeth and sticks of ichorous decay. She sways slightly, a half covered hand pressing to her temple. "... Akechi-kun. Could you escort Sakurai-san out?" she hisses out.
====NOW===
There's a whooooole lot of people here. "... just how many people did you manage to drag into this shit, Makimura-san?!" Umie snaps. Her words are muffled, however, as she's still holding a hand to her face, rubbing against her mouth and nose.
While she wants to pay attention to what is happening between Maya, Katsuya, and Ulala, there's that same *pulse* in the air that's announced the Joker Killer in the past. She should be used to it by now. So why does this feel so different? It's like the itch of 'bad luck', but ten times worse, like that same feeling had been left to ferment in the sun.
... Like the way the Joker Persona that erupts from Ulala is so much worse, an uncanny aberration of something already 'wrong' on a visceral level. Likewise, Umie's expression of annoyance underneath that hand drains away to one of primal disgust. In contrast, the Badb in her is restless, shrieking, wanting to fly.
"... Disgus--" AND THEN UMIE GETS PUNCHED IN THE FACE OW FUCK
Combined with the wind, Umie is sent flopping against the wall, then collapsing down into a heap.
Now Umie is now rubbing her face for a *different* reason. Digging into her jacket, she hastily presses a plastic half mask over her eyes, slipping the ties over each ear. At this point, with how her heart is beating, the mask's just for her sake, and Badb's.
She meets the two drives within her somewhere in the middle, drawing on Badb's cloak to obscure herself, drawing back into the background as best she can.
AS: Persona! Umie Akabane has used the Recovery skill Dark Tear on Umie Akabane! | Umie Akabane takes 90 damage from Panic!
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Tamaki stands a short distance away from Ulala, further than Maya. She feels every hair stand on end in the room's tense atmosphere. Her first instinct is to look around the room for the cause, unable to believe that Ulala herself is the source of this dangerous feeling. She curiously regards Makimura for several moments, but breaks her gaze away in disappointment as she finally comes to terms with the truth. Rumor verified.
"Serizawa-san," Tamaki starts hesitantly. "Please, it's okay. We can ... we can figure someth -- " Words do her no good here, as Ulala stands up, turns around, and strikes Maya with enough incredible force to shock Tamaki to speechlessness. The revelation that they had misjudged Ulala's target was bad enough, let alone that she had called the Joker's curse on Maya, of all people. "Hey! We got the wrong guy!" Tamaki steps back between Ulala and Makimura and addresses the con artist, "We said we'd keep you safe, right? You're not safe here, we'll keep her at bay." She doesn't make any further motion to keep him here, but she does give Katsuya a nod -- she'll follow his lead on that matter.
If it weren't for some other details, Tamaki would remain stunned and likely be caught flat-footed, except ...
That white skin. Those sanded-off features. That constant grin. Adrenaline starts pumping through her system as she recognizes those visual traits and associates them with one near-lethal encounter. Between breaths, she utters, "She looks like ... a Homunculus ... outside of an Atelier ..." Except not quite. It shares surface similarities, sure, but she can't draw any premature conclusions.
Here, as Ulala shadow-boxes unfettered and free, Tamaki gives her the same wide-eyed look she had given to her most fearsome opponents so long ago: the same fear and healthy respect for who were handily capable of killing her.
That state of clarity is what animates Tamaki to respond swiftly. Mirror shards and mirages form around them. One illusion begets another as Tamaki manifests "Arianrhod!" to bend and warp light in a gridlike chessboard pattern of black and white squares which wrap around Ulala. What form it'll take remains exactly to be seen, but Ulala may soon find herself lacking part of the strength she was so brazenly brandishing before.
When the gust of wind comes, Tamaki trips, but manages to wrap her arm around Arianrhod's ankle as her Persona plants her broadsword in the ground and hangs on for dear life. As she stands back up, Tamaki glances between Shinobu and Ulala and nods. "It'll ... it'll be okay." Now's hardly the time or place to explain how she knows, but she has some reason to believe they can return their friend to her normal self.
'Is it a possession thing?' Moriko asks. Tamaki scrunches her face and shakes her head. "Haven't seen this yet. Hard to say. 'Transformation' is perhaps closer?"
AS: Take! Umie Akabane takes 0 Recovery healing from Umie Akabane's Dark Tear. | Cloak () and Eclipse (Weakness turned to Resist!) added!
AS: Persona! Tamaki Uchida has used the Almighty skill Dazzling Deprivation on CD Penguin! AS: Avoid Neutral! CD Penguin takes 50 Earth damage from Moriko Kumamoto's Magna. Weak! Avoid Earth! | Bind (Magic and Avoid Penalized!) added!
AS: Take! CD Penguin takes 0 Almighty damage from Tamaki Uchida's Dazzling Deprivation. | Spd_Dn (Avoid Penalized!) added!
<Pose Tracker> Eriko Kirishima has posed.
Eriko Kirishima has had a frankly awful, no good, very bad day and that is primarily the fault of one Youichi Makimura.
The last straw had been at GOLD Gym itself, where, when presented with the situation in there Eriko had left the others to handle the situation before she did something... inadvisable.
This means she is near the back with Baofu when he suddenly turns and disappears, and Eriko blinks. "Mr Baofu?"
Still, Katsuya and Maya are headed in try and calm Ms Ulala down-
And that familiar wrongness washes over the battlefield. "Ms Maya, Mr Katsuya, get back!" Eriko shouts, a heartbeat or two too late as Ulala declares, exactly, who she called the Joker Killer on, and Eriko draws her Epee in a defensive stance- but the sheer, cruel presence of Ulala and her... 'new' Persona still instill a panic, and she's caught flatfooted to a powerful gust of winds that forces her back.
"...That's... the same Persona, isn't it?" Eriko asks, quietly, mostly to Tamaki and those closest to her- it feels the same to her resonance, but she had been so sure that no two people could have identical resonance...
"Nike!" Eriko calls, the metal angel of victory emerging above her as she manifests her Persona. At this early stage, there's something strong to be said for simply impairing the Ms Serizawa until they know what they're doing. "Mafui!"
And, hopefully, the muting sickness will be enough to actually impair the woman, even a little.
AS: Persona! Eriko Kirishima has used the Almighty skill Mafui on CD Penguin! | Eriko Kirishima takes 90 damage from Panic! | Pressure: Eriko Kirishima gains 1 Limit!
AS: Take! CD Penguin takes 0 Almighty damage from Eriko Kirishima's Mafui. | Blast (Magic and Block Penalized!) and Sick (SP Damage on end of turn!) added! Paralyze removed! Explosion! 22.5 damage!
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
SLIGHTLY EARLIER
t"Huh? Wait, what do you mean--" a bewildered Maria says, perhaps even as she's taken by the arm and escorted towards the door. She doesn't put up much of a struggle.
HERE AND NOW
Katsuya appears to pay Makimura no mind, his attention solely on Ulala. He watches her as she stands up, as Maya calls out to her, as...
...as Maya approaches her side. Too late, Eriko calls out a warning.
Ulala responds by striking her.
"Amano--! Serizawa--!?"
He has only a moment to register both things, that Maya has been struck, and that Ulala... has changed.
"Serizawa-kun, you... Is this--"
And she calls upon her Persona, her new Persona, its once-familiar 'form' greatly changed. "Wasn't that Sudou's Persona...? But it's... changed?" he utters in disbelief, his gaze upon its distorted shape. He can't keep his eye on it long. The image of it, and Ulala both, quickly distort, splitting into twins, triplets, quadruplets. Katsuya shakes his head as if to free himself from the effect, but it's to no avail.
It also costs him reaction time he doesn't have. Wind rips across the gym, and despite his attempts to hold his ground, he staggers. "Amano--"
Others, some of them familiar faces by now like 'Ogre' and Hyousuke, rush in to intercept where he cannot.
"Amano-kun, are you alright?" he calls out. "The rumor... she's been changed by it! I'm sorry, but I don't think we have any choice!"
But all the same, he leaves his gun holstered at his hip. Against another Persona-user, certainly, it's just enough weapon. If it becomes necessary, then he'll-- still, Ulala is a friend and ally, and thinking about it quite like that make some part of him recoil.
Instead, in this moment, he invokes his Persona. "Helios!" he calls out, the be-suited feline Persona appearing in a blaze of blue. "Amano-kun, we'll try to subdue her!" he says, though the fact is that to do that...
Flame appears in each of Helios' clawed hands. One after the other, it hurls them at Ulala's 'new Persona'.
AS: Persona! Katsuya Suou has used the Fire skill Double Agi on CD Penguin! 2 Hits! | Katsuya Suou takes 90 damage from Panic! | Defense: Katsuya Suou gains 1 Limit!
AS: Avoid Worst! CD Penguin takes 63 Fire damage from Katsuya Suou's Double Agi. AS: Avoid Neutral! CD Penguin takes 68 Fire damage from Katsuya Suou's Double Agi. Critical Hit! <Pose Tracker> CD Penguin has posed.
'I won't let you kill your best friend!' says Ogre
"HahaHAHAHA-! Go on then, prolong her suffering, I'll enjoy every minute of it!" The Joker raises a palm, and suddenly three bursts of a vicious killing wind smash into Ogre.
Amphion gets an unsettling feeling to convey to Ririka- that this truly is the same Persona as Tatsuya Sudou, the Joker Killer's- but why? How? How could this ever be possible? Why has it changed!?
'...Hey! The hell do we do about her!?'
Shinobu draws her staff, and abruptly the grinning Joker is weaving in and out of her staff, taking some hits. "Hehehe- I know what you do!" But then trading blows back with her furious fist, "You DIE right here and now!" And then getting inside of her guard, she swings suddenly, with a left hook that's powerful enough that it'll potentially send her sprawling, just as Raffles' cricket bat comes down at her. Unfortunately the illusion spell is still active. It slams into her right shoulder, disrupting her rhythm for several long seconds.
"A true gentleman." Ulala giggles at Vesper, eerily, "I usually don't do this kind of thing on the first date, but for you- I'll make an exception."
Joker reappears over her, and draws back a fist, before sending a series of wild blows at Raffles, in the form of shockwaves of thunderous force.
'Snap out of it! Or I'm going to beat some sense into you!'
Hyousuke's spear is dead on, but in a blur of motion, it sinks into the chest of the Joker Persona instead, as it reaches out to hold it fast. "Oooo - you're a handsome one. Ordering me around like that you'll probably grow up to be just like Maki-chan over there." She says with a devilish grin, "How about I snuff out your adorable life before you do?"
Power flares, and the Joker appears, balling up a fist. And an enormous, ephemeral one appears by Hyousuke, attempting to slam him straight through the wall of the Gym.
Galatea appears, and a barrage of stones cause Joker to flinch enough to back off from the assault, Ulala herself recoiling before then surging forward, whipping wildly back and forth in the fractal like mirages Joker has created, on Shizuka in a split second. "Body blow!" She swings hard- at the chin, not the body. "BODY BLOW!" Before she swings again at the head. "Hehehe- clumsy me, did I mess up your pretty face, kiddo? Well, you won't have to worry about getting married anyway!"
'Give me back my Ulala!' The Aques spell splashes Ulala pounding her back heavily enough that she loses her footing briefly, needing to regain it, dripping wet. "Hahaha-HAHAHA-! I am your Ulala Ma~ya! You just never NOTICED!"
Phoenix sends roaring flame, from the Baba Yaga's hut, and Ulala just grins, stepping side to side in a boxing stance as it comes. Then suddenly, sends out a terrible punch- splitting the flames, the air pressure enough to send some of the flame BACK at Phoenix.
'Is it a possession thing?'
A series of spikes of earth come at her, ripping into that spider webbed green dress. "Ahahaha-HAHAHA! Nope! All me! And all you too one day- if you live long enough." As she drags Moriko's tomboyish appearance.
Tamaki had kindly tried to talk Ulala down, before the horror began, and she knows when to admit to someone else she doesn't know. "That's right- hehehe- a successful young woman like you never sees someone like me! A real loser! Hahaha- well, I'll be sure to send my condolences to your boy~friend~ after I'm done here!"
That isn't even what she said! She's twisting her words somehow- to make it about her situation, when the statement had nothing to do with it.
The Joker hurls more killing streams of wind at her mercilessly. Also Umie gets punched again this time by Joker. She might swear the Joker is winking at her. What the heck?
The muting spell from Eriko tries to take hold, and it looks like it might work before, "Guh- Oh look! It's the model! Trying her best to silence me-heheHEHEHE! I bet you and Ma~ya~ would be best friends- if either of you were going to live MUCH LONGER!"
The Joker appears, and its grinning mask suddenly distends, opening into fangs, as it HOWLS. A hysteria resounds as a physical thing, screaming these feelings of uncontrollable feminine rage into Maya, Phoenix's, Moriko and Eriko. Letting out every emotion that society demanded she keep to herself, lest she be deemed one of the worst things a woman can be deemed- 'hysterical'.
Helios sends out flames from each clawed hand. And Ulala weaves out of the way of one, only to catch another head on. "Haha- Oh Officer~ You were never my type- but I was always hoping you'd at least notice me. But who would, when Ma~ya~ is around- don't you agree?"
She grins at him, and in that smile, and suddenly strikes a pose, which the Joker mimics, trying to catch him in the thrall of her 'Sex Appeal' with a dance.
"And speaking of noticing me- want to hear something funny, everyone! I'm twenty four and don't even have a boyfriend. In three days- it's my birthday! I'm going to be genuine Christmas Cake!" She giggles at the idea as she grins those rictus muscles of her face far too wide- impossibly so, "Come on, everyone laugh it up with me! Then take a big bite- I'm going to make sure all of you CHOKE ON IT!"
Joker appears again, and makes a motion, like a blackjack dealer playing the next hand, from Ulala's feet a spiral of enormous ephemeral cards appears, filling the room, face down. Then just as quickly they all move to face up in sequence.
Some may even have time to notice that the Major Arcana are upon them, all in order from the Fool to the World. But more importantly, a sickening feeling of absolute dread settles in.
What did the Joker just do?
Not even the navigators can figure it out. Just a sense that Joker has done something terrible, but what? What?!
AS: Persona! CD Penguin has used the Wind skill Killer Wind on Ichika Kawase! 3 Hits! | CD Penguin takes 90 damage from Panic!
AS: Weapon! CD Penguin has used the Strike skill Mean Left Hook on Shinobu Shimizu! 2 Hits! | Aggression: CD Penguin gains 1 Limit!
AS: Persona! CD Penguin has used the Strike skill Gigantic Fist on Hyousuke Suzuki! AS: Persona! CD Penguin has used the Strike skill Serial Kill Rush on Julian Marlowe! 3 Hits! AS: Persona! CD Penguin has used the Strike skill Sonic Punch on Umie Akabane! AS: Persona! CD Penguin has used the Wind skill Killer Wind on Tamaki Uchida! 3 Hits! AS: Persona! CD Penguin has used the Almighty skill Sexy Dance on Katsuya Suou! AS: Persona! CD Penguin has used the Almighty skill Old Maid on Maya Amano, Katsuya Suou, Ichika Kawase, and Tamaki Uchida! AS: Weapon! CD Penguin has used the Strike skill A Cash on Delivery Woman's Fury on Shizuka Kuroki! 3 Hits! AS: Persona! CD Penguin has used the Strike skill Hysteria on Maya Amano, Tsubasa Seki, Moriko Kumamoto, and Eriko Kirishima! AS: Block Neutral! Hyousuke Suzuki takes 120 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Gigantic Fist. Resist! AS: Block Neutral! Ichika Kawase takes 16 Wind damage from CD Penguin's Killer Wind. AS: Block Worst! Ichika Kawase takes 47 Wind damage from CD Penguin's Killer Wind. Critical Hit! AS: Block Neutral! Ichika Kawase takes 16 Wind damage from CD Penguin's Killer Wind. AS: You have 1 more attack in queue! AS: Block Best! Shinobu Shimizu takes 39 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Mean Left Hook. Critical Hit! AS: Block Worst! Shinobu Shimizu takes 66 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Mean Left Hook. AS: Avoid Neutral! Eriko Kirishima takes 120 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Hysteria. Critical Hit! AS: Block Best! Ichika Kawase takes 0 Almighty damage from CD Penguin's Old Maid. AS: Avoid Worst! Shizuka Kuroki takes 89 Strike damage from CD Penguin's A Cash on Delivery Woman's Fury. AS: Avoid Neutral! Maya Amano takes 0 Almighty damage from CD Penguin's Old Maid. | Sick (SP Damage on end of turn!) added! | Cover! Ichika Kawase takes half of the damage, 0!
AS: Avoid Neutral! Maya Amano takes 47 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Hysteria. | Rage (Weapon Attack and Incoming Damage Up!) added! | Cover! Ichika Kawase takes half of the damage, 47!
AS: Counter Worst! Shizuka Kuroki takes 113 Strike damage from CD Penguin's A Cash on Delivery Woman's Fury. | COUNTER! CD Penguin takes 17 Strike damage in return for their attack!
AS: Block Neutral! Shizuka Kuroki takes 61 Strike damage from CD Penguin's A Cash on Delivery Woman's Fury. AS: Avoid Worst! Julian Marlowe takes 72 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Serial Kill Rush. AS: Block Neutral! Julian Marlowe takes 42 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Serial Kill Rush. AS: Block Best! Julian Marlowe takes 24 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Serial Kill Rush. AS: Counter Worst! Tamaki Uchida takes 94 Wind damage from CD Penguin's Killer Wind. Critical Hit! | COUNTER! CD Penguin takes 25 Light damage in return for their attack!
AS: Counter Worst! Tamaki Uchida takes 94 Wind damage from CD Penguin's Killer Wind. Critical Hit! | COUNTER! CD Penguin takes 25 Light damage in return for their attack!
AS: Counter Worst! Tamaki Uchida takes 94 Wind damage from CD Penguin's Killer Wind. Critical Hit! | COUNTER! CD Penguin takes 25 Light damage in return for their attack!
AS: Take! Tamaki Uchida takes 0 Almighty damage from CD Penguin's Old Maid. | Sick (SP Damage on end of turn!) added!
AS: Tamaki Uchida spends Limit on Shift! Ichika Kawase can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Persona! Maya Amano has used the Almighty skill JOKER on Katsuya Suou, Ichika Kawase, and Tamaki Uchida!
<Pose Tracker> CD Penguin has posed.
The next time Maya calls upon the power of Persona does the Joker emerge instead of Maia, as if it were their own, its mouth open in a wide grin, as it raises a hand and power appears, in the form of purplish-black force that descends upon their own allies, consuming Officer Suou, Ogre and Tamaki in a punishing attack- as if they had played some card game with the Joker and lost.
It then vanishes, back into the person, leaving the question an open one. What did the Joker do to them? And will it remain?
AS: Block Neutral! Ichika Kawase takes 86 Almighty damage from Maya Amano's JOKER. AS: Block Worst! Tamaki Uchida takes 125 Almighty damage from Maya Amano's JOKER. AS: Avoid Worst! Umie Akabane takes 111 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Sonic Punch.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ogre spots Raffles, and she feels a little more confident. He's probably right, though; Shinobu seems to want to reason, but...
"There's got to be something we can do!" Ogre says. "But we can't do anything if we're dead! Fight!"
She worries a little about Hyousuke--but his harsh words snap her out of her own panic. She has to watch this--she has to be careful with this.
Prolong her suffering. Maybe that's what she's doing, in a way--but--
But Phoenix is already there on the front line, and Ogre won't let them down. And Suou, too--"Yo, officer! I'll keep us up if you can pin her down!"
The Phantoms don't usually work with the cops... but Ogre can make an exception for Suou sometimes.
"We're not just gonna die," Ogre answers, and then raises her shield to deflect the wind. Her Persona's affinities help her here; some scythes through, cutting her armor, but for the most part she's able to stand strong.
"Cards? The fuck?" Ogre looks around. She doesn't know what that means, but she doesn't like it.
And when Maya calls on her Persona--"What the--" Ichika throws up her shield, and is knocked back bodily by the sheer force of that purple-black force. "What the fuck just happened!?"
"MOMIJI!" Ogre calls, "Help us out!"
Light sparkles down in great intensity, as the Oni Momiji spreads her clawed hands and rains health upon the group.
"Phoenix!" she calls. "Kick her ass, we'll figure out the rest later!"
"Look... I know how important it is not to be alone," Ogre says to Ulala, "But this isn't how you get there! I'm not going to laugh at you--Just let us /help/!"
AS: Persona! Ichika Kawase has used the Recovery skill Mediarama on Eriko Kirishima, Tamaki Uchida, Shizuka Kuroki, and Ichika Kawase! | Support: Ichika Kawase gains 1 Limit!
AS: Take! Ichika Kawase takes 148 Recovery healing from Ichika Kawase's Mediarama. AS: Persona! Ichika Kawase has used the Recovery skill Media on Tamaki Uchida, Katsuya Suou, Umie Akabane, and Julian Marlowe! AS: Take! Shizuka Kuroki takes 148 Recovery healing from Ichika Kawase's Mediarama. AS: Take! Tamaki Uchida takes 148 Recovery healing from Ichika Kawase's Mediarama. AS: Take! Tamaki Uchida takes 109 Recovery healing from Ichika Kawase's Media. AS: Eriko Kirishima spends Limit on Shift! Tamaki Uchida can use another Weak skill this round! Ichika Kawase says, "i'll bluray it in a minute"
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Shinobu asks what they do about Ulala. "Please stand by!" Ririka responds. "I'll-- I'll try to keep analyzing her."
Several people have expressed disbelief about whether this can really be the same Persona as Tatsuya Sudou. But when the Resonance comes back, Ririka gasps sharply/flinching back. "I-- No-- I don't understand... Everyone! This... this /is/ the same Persona as the Joker Killer! Please be careful! I'll-- I'll keep trying to study it."
She shares what other info sh learned, too, to give everyone the best chance in this encounter.
"Suzuki-san, I don't think she can help it right now," Ririka responds to Hyousuke, though she's still plenty concerned. "She must have used that rumor..."
"Kuroki-senpai, Kumamoto-chan, I'll back you both up, okay? Please hold that thing off so I can keep studying it. Maybe we can find a way to undo this..." She doesn'tneed to hear Moriko physically, at least, thanks to the Navigator Link.
She's no combat leader, but it is her job to offer guidance, so she does.
Tamaki calls out Ulala as potentially being a Homunculus. Ririka frowns at that, as she considers. "I'm not sure..." But she'll be keeping that in mind. Posession, transformation.. either possibility is very worrying.
She recognizes the Tarot--mainly because of their association with the Full Moon shadows. But she frowns as she turns her attention to them, feeling that sickening feeling. "I don't know what she just did-- please be careful!"
That Persona appearig in place of Maia is... very concerning. Ririka's already directing Amphion. "Amphion! Please help us!"
Amphion strums, soothing melodies circling and envoloping Ogre, Umie, Shizuka, and Moriko to try and keep them in fighting shape and weather the battle.
AS: Persona! Ririka Kawase has used the Recovery skill Healing Song on Ichika Kawase, Umie Akabane, Shizuka Kuroki, and Moriko Kumamoto! | Insight: Ririka Kawase gains 1 Limit!
AS: Ririka Kawase spends Limit on Shift! Umie Akabane can use another Weak skill this round! Hyper (Next Attack Boosted/Incoming Damage Down!) applied to Umie Akabane! They both receive 8 SP and 30 HP! AS: Take! Shizuka Kuroki takes 0 Recovery healing from Ririka Kawase's Healing Song. | Regen (HP restored on end of turn!) added!
AS: Take! Julian Marlowe takes 124 Recovery healing from Ichika Kawase's Media. AS: Take! Ichika Kawase takes 0 Recovery healing from Ririka Kawase's Healing Song. | Regen (HP restored on end of turn!) added!
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
Even while taking up his frontline position, Hyousuke recognised some of those gathered there. Two of them - Ogre and Moriko - seemed to be afflicted by something or other, though he could not have been certain in the heat of battle. He suspected Ulala wouldn't care to give him the time to examine them, so he decided to simply shout at them in the hopes that he was right.
"Kumamoto-san! Ogre-san! Catch!" Hyousuke hurled healing items at them unceremoniously, not caring to look and see if they were caught before turning back to the matter at hand.
Another he recognised immediately was Vesper. An ever-reliable ally, even if he was rather inscrutable.
"When the hell did you get here?" He asked, a grin on his face as he flashed a glance over at Vesper. Or was it a grimace, in the face of all that they were up against? It was difficult to say, and Hyousuke was not inclined to spill his secrets. "Whatever! Let's kick this curse's ass and figure it out later!" Now that he thought about it, where had Marlowe-sensei gone? Somewhere safe, perhaps? Hyousuke briefly wondered if he'd have to explain himself to his teacher come the next schoolday, but that was a problem for tomorrow-him.
And then there was Tamaki. The detective - the smart one. If she didn't know what was going on, surely she'd be able to figure it out, he hoped. With Achilles raising his shield up so that Hyousuke could spare a moment to spare a glance, he looked over at Tamaki.
"Uchida-san! What the hell is this?" He called out above the din, before returning to look back at Ulala, ready to intercept whatever came next. "There some kinda rumour going around about her?! I've never seen anything like this!"
Ririka was the one to provide some kind of answer, though it was not one he was happy to hear, despite it shedding light on things.
"You mean there's something possessing her, like Kumamoto-san said? Shit... What the hell are we supposed to do about that?" Gratuitous violence seemed to be doing the job just fine so far, but was it a long-term solution? He didn't know. He didn't think he could know. That was for others to figure out. For now, they needed their hammer, and their shield.
Hyousuke tried to recall Achilles, but with his spear caught firmly in the Persona's grasp, even the general's might was not enough to rip it free. Hyousuke tried to call him back and summon him to the fore again, but his mind was not quicker than the Joker Persona's attacks. It was all he could do to throw his arms up and brace against the oncoming strike, clenching and hunkering down with every fibre of strength in his body. A great shout of pain ripped through the air as it collided with him. His own strength, compared to that of his Persona, was meagre - the force ripped through his body like a shockwave, and though he was sure his arm had not snapped from the impact, it sure as hell felt like it.
Flung away like a kickball, Hyousuke felt his back slam into the wall, and the air left his lungs in a single grunt. Yet still, he refused to fall. He was wracked by pain, the skin on his arms and his lips had split, and he needed to heave air into his screaming lungs. But still he stood, and still he cannoned forward.
"Shut the hell up!" Hyousuke called out, Achilles's shield raised to block anything further flung at him. "I'm not dying here! Now get out of her, or I'll DRAG YOU OUT!" Achilles shot forward first, shield slamming forward with a deafening ring. But his was not the only strike. Surging around him, Hyousuke darted in a blur of blood and skin, body low and eyes up. Drawing in close, he cannoned a fist into Ulala's liver, bellowing "BODY SHOT!" out with a beastly roar to his voice.
When he stepped back, it was not from caution, but from surprise.
"Cards? What the hell are you doing?" He asked, once more bracing and guarding. His voice then lowered, the target of his speech shifting to whoever was closest, and whoever would listen. "Seen something like this in Mementos, but this... This feels different. Keep your guards up!"
AS: Tandem! Hyousuke Suzuki has used the Strike skill Brutal Onslaught on CD Penguin! 2 Hits! | Defense: Hyousuke Suzuki gains 1 Limit!
AS: Avoid Best! Katsuya Suou takes 0 Almighty damage from CD Penguin's Sexy Dance. | Charm (Attacker or Ally takes Damage!) added!
AS: Block Neutral! Katsuya Suou takes 0 Almighty damage from CD Penguin's Old Maid. AS: Block Best! Katsuya Suou takes 71 Almighty damage from Maya Amano's JOKER. AS: Take! Katsuya Suou takes 113 Recovery healing from Ichika Kawase's Media. AS: Take! Umie Akabane takes 109 Recovery healing from Ichika Kawase's Media. AS: Take! Umie Akabane takes 0 Recovery healing from Ririka Kawase's Healing Song. | Regen (HP restored on end of turn!) added!
AS: Counter Best! CD Penguin takes 51 Strike damage from Hyousuke Suzuki's Brutal Onslaught. | COUNTER! Hyousuke Suzuki takes 24 Strike damage in return for his attack! Resist!
AS: Counter Best! CD Penguin takes 51 Strike damage from Hyousuke Suzuki's Brutal Onslaught. | COUNTER! Hyousuke Suzuki takes 24 Strike damage in return for his attack! Resist!
AS: Take! Eriko Kirishima takes 148 Recovery healing from Ichika Kawase's Mediarama. AS: Avoid Neutral! Tsubasa Seki takes 45 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Hysteria. Resist!
<Pose Tracker> Shizuka Kuroki has posed.
Surrounded by Jokers, Shizuka tries her best to put up a brave front until the daylights are knocked out of her, then once more! She barely has time to double over in pain before being knocked back by the final face blow. She crumples onto the ground, face beginning to swell from the repeated blows, glasses knocked askew. Ulala was right, she did look pretty pathetic right now.
As the healing power showers over her, she finds enough strength to pull herself up, wiping a bit of blood off her brow as she wheezes. "Thanks, Rika-chan..."
She nods at Ririka's request. She was the senpai here, so she should be taking the lead, right? "Riko-chan! I'm gonna try to keep 'em in place! Strike it before it can get out!" She fires her evoker and Galatea slams onto the ground, bringing up its trademark spires of earth below Ulala and Joker!
AS: Persona! Shizuka Kuroki has used the Earth skill Marble Snare on CD Penguin! 2 Hits!
<Pose Tracker> Shinobu Shimizu has posed.
Vesper(when did he get here? He always seems to show up out of nowhere...) points out that reasoning might be out of the question - Ogre says they can't do anything if they're dead. Tamaki, meanwhile, says it'll be okay.
"...Yeah. Yeah. Just - damn it. This sucks." Shinobu sighs, tightening her grip on her staff. A transformation... they'll have to figure out how to revert it somehow. She nods, when Ririka says she'll try to keep analyzing her.
"Yeah... let us know as soon as you figure anything out, alright?" She nods back to her. Katsuya explains that it's the rumor.
"So... it really did come true. Is this gonna be happening to more people?" Shinobu mutters. ...Of course it would. Why wouldn't it? But to think it would happen like this...
Shinobu lunges and Ulala weaves through it. She manages to clip her, but Ulala gives as good as she gets, forcing Shinobu to shift her staff to try to defend with the other end. She has reach to her advantage - but Ulala gets in close with a mighty left hook. Her strikes with enough force to turn her head and send her reeling back. She jabs her staff downward for support to keep herself from toppling over.
"I'll admit, you've got a pretty solid hook, Serizawa..." Shinobu says, massaging her cheek. "But you'll need to hit harder than that to put me down. The only thing you're killing here is time!"
As Shinobu speaks, Lachesis rises behind her, her measuring rod drawn. She centers Ulala within her hands and there's a pulse, amplifying Shinobu's words. Trying to incite anger - while also making it harder to notice how much weaker she just got.
Ulala, though, has 'something funny' to say.
...Shinobu isn't laughing. She massages the back of her neck.
"...I've always thought that was a pretty shitty thing to call someone. Thinkin' you've gotten worse or unwanted, just 'cause you hit an arbitrary age and you don't got anyone... But maybe I get you, 'cause I don't exactly have anyone either. I'm comin' up on thirty, myself." Shinobu replies. "I can get how desperate it makes you not to be alone... so I'm not gonna laugh at you."
AS: Persona! Shinobu Shimizu has used the Almighty skill Goading Break on CD Penguin! AS: Avoid Worst! CD Penguin takes 126 Earth damage from Shizuka Kuroki's Marble Snare. Weak! Avoid Earth! | Bind (Magic and Avoid Penalized!) added!
AS: Avoid Worst! CD Penguin takes 126 Earth damage from Shizuka Kuroki's Marble Snare. Weak! Avoid Earth! AS: Take! CD Penguin takes 0 Almighty damage from Shinobu Shimizu's Goading Break. | Phy_DN (Physical Attack/Defense Down!) added! AS: Avoid Worst! Moriko Kumamoto takes 194 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Hysteria. Critical Hit! | Rage (Weapon Attack and Incoming Damage Up!) added!
AS: Take! Moriko Kumamoto takes 0 Recovery healing from Ririka Kawase's Healing Song. | Regen (HP restored on end of turn!) added!
<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.
"I'm okay!" Maya shouts back at Katsuya. And the truth is, she is physically, but there's something inside of her that feels slightly unaligned, like going down a familiar set of stairs and discovering the step beneath her foot isn't where it should be.
'I am your Ulala Ma~ya! You just never NOTICED!'
Maya had never sensed this bitterness from her best friend. Was this truly buried beneath the surface? Was Maya blinded by her rose-colored glasses?
There's no time to dig deep for the answers. Whatever has its claws around Ulala is doing some serious damage -- and she needs to stop it before any of this gets any worse.
Maya attempts to summon Maia to heal the others -- but when she pulls her Persona to the surface, a different Persona emerges. She can't stop it from happening; try as she might, she can't dismiss the Persona. It attacks their allies and disappears just as quickly as it emerged.
"W-What?!"
Maya looks at the others, hoping that one of the Navigators might be able to provide some explanation as to what just happened. She's hesitant to summon Maia again -- just in case the same thing happened -- so she takes hold of her twin pink pistols.
"Even if you don't have a boyfriend, you have Katsuya-san and me and the others!" she shouts at Ulala before taking aim and firing. "All of us want to support you!"
AS: Weapon! Maya Amano has used the Pierce skill Cover Shot on CD Penguin! 2 Hits! AS: Avoid Worst! CD Penguin takes 52 Pierce damage from Maya Amano's Cover Shot. AS: Avoid Best! CD Penguin takes 42 Pierce damage from Maya Amano's Cover Shot. Critical Hit!
<Pose Tracker> Julian Marlowe has posed.
Vesper isn't often struck witless, but he doesn't appear to have a quick retort for the date comment. Momentarily flustered, his failure to react is his Persona's failure to react. With the first strike, the image of Raffles shatters, prompting a wince from Vesper and leaving him unprotected from the follow-up strikes.
Or so it appeared. In a reflex, he opens his umbrella - which serves as an effective shield against the Persona's strikes, somehow. A bead of sweat runs down the gentleman's brow as he's forced to back away, though he's quick to regain composure when the assault ends.
Folding up his umbrella, Vesper responds with a hat-tip, before adding calmly, "Begging your pardon, miss. But your make-up is wholly inappropriate for a proper lady." Took him a little while, but he found his quip, in the end.
With timely healing provided by a familiar (masked) face, Vesper calls out, "Appreciated, Ogre-san!" As he repositions, the corners of his lips curl up when Hyousuke notes his 'sudden' presence. When did that happen? "Exactly when I meant to. Take heart and gather your strength, Suzuki-kun!"
As for Shinobu... seeing the Joker Persona again, he can't help but be reminded of that time, and the Black Mask's threats at that time. Which is what prompts his following question, though it may appear to be out of nowhere. "Shimizu-san. Your sisters... are they well?"
Those cards, and what he can only guess was the result, in the Joker's appearance from someone else, prompt him to shift to the defensive, clutching tight his mask as he once more calls out Raffles with a "Persona!" A pitch-black yet wholly beneficial protective aura briefly surrounds Vesper and the allies he most recently spoke to, as the Persona raises its diamond-tipped cane... which is then lowered towards Ulala, upon a wordless command to sap her strength.
"...Assuming that is something that bothers you, I sympathize," he calmly responds to Ulala's 'funny thing'. "I don't make a habit of laughing at others' misfortune. Though I will listen to whatever it is you need to get off your chest."
AS: Julian Marlowe spends Limit on Exploit! Julian Marlowe can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Persona! Julian Marlowe has used the Recovery skill Shade Revel on Julian Marlowe, Ichika Kawase, Hyousuke Suzuki, and Shinobu Shimizu! | Defense: Julian Marlowe gains 1 Limit!
AS: Take! Julian Marlowe takes 0 Recovery healing from Julian Marlowe's Shade Revel. | Def_Up (Block Improved!) and Spd_Up (Avoid Improved!) added!
AS: Take! Shinobu Shimizu takes 0 Recovery healing from Julian Marlowe's Shade Revel. | Def_Up (Block Improved!) and Spd_Up (Avoid Improved!) added! AS: Take! Ichika Kawase takes 0 Recovery healing from Julian Marlowe's Shade Revel. | Def_Up (Block Improved!) and Spd_Up (Avoid Improved!) added!
AS: Persona! Julian Marlowe has used the Almighty skill Tarunda on CD Penguin! AS: Take! Hyousuke Suzuki takes 0 Recovery healing from Julian Marlowe's Shade Revel. | Def_Up (Block Improved!) and Spd_Up (Avoid Improved!) added!
<Pose Tracker> Moriko Kumamoto has posed.
Moriko's reply to Tamaki's speculation is met with a confused look, "Willing?" she's not sure how else to put it. "Uh.." she starts, trying to piece it together. "Nope, I think I was right. Break now, apologize later."
Moriko is, Moriko. "All me?" She seems utterly confused about the idea. She shakes her head, missing that it was taking a shot at her appearance. Not enough to distract her, entirely. Though a part of her, the back of her brain maybe is stuck there for a moment.
Her hands go to her ears at that howl, though she'd been a bit slow. On some level, is she any better? She has her own hangups.
Then again, she's here to help. A foot hooks the polearm, kicking it up back to her hands as she tries to get the ringing to stop.
It may have been a bit of a slow burn, but she did figure something out. "Nah. Ain't gonna be me." She insists, raising her voice, drawl coming out, "It sucks, but you can find your place." The comiket had come to mind. She'd known more than a few of the guests and a good chunk of the artists after all.
"Yeah." She calls back to Ririka, "Got it Kawase. Just duck behind me. Up or down I've got you." Which wouldn't be the first time she's over extended. "Thanks." The healing will help. Even if she's probably worse of than she'd want to admit. Just don't show it.
Hyousuke's support is fumbled though. And caught. Her reply to his question is met with, "Well if you've got engine problems, you take it apart and put it back together." Which, to be fair is what she's been saying. Break it and fix it after. "Sorry."
The earth spike had seemed to help out. She can sort that out easily enough. "Otohime, one more time." She calls out, head canted up, showing some of her pride in her actions as she casts a bigger version of the spell. The fox letting out a sharp bark (You know. The foxy kind.) before bouncing around, creating a series of those earthen spikes across a wider area. And hopefully hitting a bit harder.
She's going to have to go all out isn't she? She's a bit rough around the edges already.
AS: Persona! Moriko Kumamoto has used the Earth skill Mamagnara on CD Penguin! | Ruin: Moriko Kumamoto gains 1 Limit!
AS: Take! CD Penguin takes 0 Almighty damage from Julian Marlowe's Tarunda. | Atk_Dn (Damage down!) added!
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
"FUCK OFF!" Phoenix yelps, as Ulala punches their flames right back onto them, proving that feather cape burns just as easily as silk does. (Somehow, it always seems to regenerate, though, never burning away to leave Phoenix unveiled. Is this the true power of the Phoenix...?) "THAT'S MY SCHTICK, ASSHOLE!"
Hearing Moriko ask whether it's a possession thing, Phoenix yells, across the gym: "Possessed by a pain in my ASS!" Translation: they have no fucking clue what's going on, and if they yell and swear hard enough that will somehow fix it. Ulala saying it's au naturale (Phoenix keeps assuming their enemies are going to be French assholes after that one mack truck motherfucker of a medic fucked them up) just makes them feel worse about the whole thing.
(Distantly, some part of them is glad that Tamaki is protecting Makimura from Ulala's rage. Not that he's not a piece of shit, but, like, he doesn't deserve to die about it.)
But then, the Joker howls --
-- and Phoenix leaps out of the way of that earth-shattering scream, with an honestly disturbed, "FUCKIN' NOPE!" as they leap, with surprising alacrity and grace considering that greatsword they're hauling with them, onto the bar supporting a punching bag and then down behind a desk.
"I AIN'T NO FUCKIN' CHICK!" They yell at Ulala, then, which may or may not actually make sense to the people who weren't subject to that striking feeling of hysteria.
The cards kind of flick past their conscious processing -- at least, until Ogre calls attention to them. "RAW DEAL!" They protest, a touch belated.
Hearing Hyousuke despairing over what to do about it, Phoenix yells back: "Fuckin' -- beats me, man! Hit her 'til she stops th' freak shit!"
But it's Shinobu, wondering whether this is common, which has a pit setting in Phoenix's stomach. "Ain't watched no news, Shimizu-san?" They shoot to her, grip resettling over their greatsword as their weight shifts from one foot to the other. "It's jus' like that fortune teller said -- th' one that's right, fuckin', wassname, that Chizuru Ishigami -- what goes 'round comes 'round, man! Call up th' Joker, an' th' Joka Dragon comes shittin' up ya horoscope with filth, like, fuckin' Kegare, 'til ya so fucked you become th' Joker!"
And then... Maya summons something entirely different to Maia.
"AN' IT'S CONTAGIOUS?!" Phoenix realises, as that horrific Persona assaults -- "OGRE!"
Phoenix tears forward towards Ulala, swinging their massive greatsword in a thunderous circle that ends with a titanic upwards diagonal slice. "FUCK NICE," they don't meet her with compassion, the way they hear Vesper reaching out to her, "EAT SHIT! FUCK! YOU SHOULDA FUCKIN' KNOWN, IDIOT!" All the compassion they fought so hard to find for Maria feels so distant, now they're facing down what's going to replace her face, too.
... and... what's going to happen to their mother?
AS: Weapon! Tsubasa Seki has used the Slash skill Greatest Sword on CD Penguin! 2 Hits! | Aggression: Tsubasa Seki gains 1 Limit!
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
"Unfortunately so... with the case unresolved," he answers Shinobu, his mouth pulling just that tense, "it stands to reason that it would spread!"
Maya says she's okay. He nods in response. "We will save her!" he tells her, and he can only hope that he'll be able to keep that promise. If they can subdue her, then what?
Ulala addresses him, then. She tells him that...
"What... what are you talking about?" says Katsuya, staring at her like a deer caught in the headlights. "You're our ally, not--"
She strikes a pose which is almost certainly skirting the edge of scandalous, and the flummoxed Katsuya stares at her as the Persona mimicks the action... and then some.
"What... what is this?" he utters, heat rising to his face in spite of himself. "What did you do-- Serizawa-kun!" It's clearly an unnatural effect, but at the same time, he has the sense of almost being adrift, like it's a struggle to tell who are his allies, and who is his opponent.
"There isn't-- anything wrong with being," he starts, wrestling with the charm that seems intent on turning about the sides of this conflict for him, "twenty-five! I know that there's a stigma against-- there are women on the force who are just as old, or older--"
Something happens, before he can get all the words out.
Something's just changed. But what?
He'll get his answer when Maya summons her Persona and instead of Maia, instead calls up the Joker Persona which immediately explodes in a burst of uncanny light the color of a particularly ugly bruise. Even if he throws up his left arm, and even with Helios close at hand, he can still feel it burn him, body and soul.
It's a small mercy that Ogre shows him some pity and extends a helping hand, as if were. Healing magic is the rock beneath his feet, and he's able to rally in spite of the insult and injury he's taken. "My... my, thanks," he tells her, shaking his head as the charm still clings to him. "I will do my best!
Pin her down...
"We cannot hold back!" Pointing, he directs Helios. "With me! We need to fuse a spell!"
Flame gathers in his Persona's grasp. This isn't the finest element he has to use against her, certainly, but it is what he has in spades.
AS: Katsuya Suou has initiated a fusion spell! The spell still requires 1 Strong attacks and Any Physical! Anyone can join!
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
It'll be okay, Tamaki says.
I'm sorry, but I don't think we have any choice, says Katsuya.
...That's... the same Persona, isn't it? asks Eriko.
"Feels like it, but ten times worse," mutters Umie to Eriko, looking a tad miserable even with the mask on. "Didn't Ishigami-san do some special about Wang Long or whatever? Rumors must have gotten ahold of that."
It feels like an explanation as good as any, as Phoenix also seizes on.
'I am your Ulala Ma~ya! You just never NOTICED!' Something twists in Umie's chest at those words. "Amano-san, don't get bogged down. If you're going to figure out what happened to your friend, you *have* to survive."
The same goes for JOKER Ulala's words to Tamaki. Umie gives Tamaki a quick look, studying her reaction. "Uchida-san, that Persona's trying to get into your head. Don't let it; it's all delus--"
And Umie gets punched in the face *again*, the impact easily cracking the plastic of her cheap mask. As shards flick away from her eyesight, she can see what almost seems to be a *wink* by that damned Persona. It could have been a trick of the light, maybe.
.... The anger in Umie's chest would like to refute this claim and put forward the notion of 'angry' towards the defense. "You... FUCKER!" Umie yells, as she's slammed into the padded walls *again*. Ow ow ow ow...
Ogre's and Ririka's healing softens the bite of that second impact, easing Umie back to her feet again. Yet, when she pauses to pick at the pieces of sharp plastic away from her eyeballs, she can see the Joker Persona erupt now from a confused Maya. "... The rot's... spreading around..." she growls beneath her breath.
.... Kegare. Is it... Kegare, like Phoenix mentioned?
....
_Does it fucking matter?!_ She's had enough of this nonsense!
"Badb." She raises her hand above her head, her thumb and index finger pressed together. "I'm ending this *myself*."
No mask, naked, angry, afraid... Umie's beyond caring about who's there, likely suffering under this parasitic Persona's possession. This is a matter of survival.
"Ash falls through the sky from the frozen shrine. A mournful cry _cut short_!!" Umie shrieks, reaching her two red-nailed fingers up and *snapping*, as the cost briefly knocks the wind from her.
The red lips and grey-black robes of the Badb burst from Umie in a burst of blue, swirling light as brambles erupt from the air, intent on wrapping around the cursed Ulala.
"How's *that*, whatever the fuck you are," Umie shouts, with a shaky gremlin smile.
AS: Avoid Neutral! CD Penguin takes 167 Earth damage from Moriko Kumamoto's Mamagnara. Critical Hit! Weak! Avoid Earth! | Bind (Magic and Avoid Penalized!) added!
AS: Avoid Worst! CD Penguin takes 147 Slash damage from Tsubasa Seki's Greatest Sword. AS: Avoid Neutral! CD Penguin takes 129 Slash damage from Tsubasa Seki's Greatest Sword. Critical Hit! AS: Tandem! Theurgy! Umie Akabane has used the Dark skill Garden of the Crow on CD Penguin! 3 Hits! | Umie Akabane takes 150 damage from Panic and Stress! | Ruin: Umie Akabane gains 1 Limit!
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
'A successful young woman like you never sees someone like me! A real loser!'
That's not true, Tamaki thinks. If anything, she expressly tries to keep an eye out for the people that society otherwise overlooks. Confusion overtakes her -- they had drinks over this, they commiserated over their poor luck with men and their apparently shared fate. Tamaki may appear successful, but she's floundering just like the rest of them now, no one sees her struggles --
'Hahaha- well, I'll be sure to send my condolences to your boy~friend~ after I'm done here!'
Of all the topics to bring up, of all the sore spots to press on, Ulala has found one of Tamaki's weakest. Anger drives through Tamaki's skull like a spike, and as the winds buffet into her, she loses any sense of self-preservation she had to lash out in spite. The pin on her outfit shines briefly.
She staggers up to her feet and tersely responds with choked-back fury and indignation, "You KNOW my fiancé left me," moments before Arianrhod fires beams of light in a return volley.
It's only in the aftermath of that exchange that she realizes that Umie was completely correct, that something in the chaos may have been deliberately trying to goad her, and she fell for it. Nausea and weakness take hold as she notices her mistake. "No -- wait, no -- " she stammers out before she retches.
As the Joker deals out a new hand, Tamaki stares dourly and mutters, "... always did like board games better." In one moment, she feels her guts twist even further in dread. In the next, Maya plays the card she was dealt. As she's knocked down to the floor again, some part of her thinks, Yeah, I probably deserved that.
"Ughhh ... thanks, uh, Ogre, was it?" she says with a grimace as she rises back up to her feet. Despite their yelling (or even because of it), she adds, "Glad you're here, too, Phoenix."
"-- Similar, at least," she replies to Ririka. "I can get into the differences later, but some aspects rhyme."
Hyousuke asks her about what's going on here, if it's a rumor about her or what. Moriko asks if the transformation was one Ulala took 'willing.' "A rumor is at play, but not one specifically about her. It's about anyone who invoked the Joker curse. She's one of them."
As she says that, she looks back over in Eriko's direction and catches her meaning. Speaking of Personas which can persist, which multiple people can apparently have ... the Joker's not the only one. "'The Joker never dies,'" she repeats from the moments after that ill-fated zeppelin flight.
It wasn't just in Sudou. It wasn't just in Ulala. It was in Maya. It could even be in herself. Feeling now as if she should shed the anger and spite in her heart, Tamaki turns the blade of her sabre away and wields it as a scepter instead as she places a card-holding hand to her necklace and calls forth "Arianrhod!" in a burst of blue flame. A wave of healing light washes over the crowd as she pays the favor forward.
Katsuya calls for a fusion spell. Tamaki was following his lead. Arianrhod remains summoned and holds her hefty-looking broadsword aloft, ready to cleave or skewer something with it. Tamaki tilts her gaze over to him and nods. "On it. What do you have in mind, sir?"
AS: Persona! Tamaki Uchida has used the Recovery skill Media on Tsubasa Seki, Ichika Kawase, Moriko Kumamoto, and Hyousuke Suzuki! AS: Tamaki Uchida has joined Katsuya Suou's fusion spell! The spell is ready! AS: Take! Hyousuke Suzuki takes 118 Recovery healing from Tamaki Uchida's Media. AS: Take! Ichika Kawase takes 103 Recovery healing from Tamaki Uchida's Media. <Pose Tracker> Eriko Kirishima has posed.
Eriko can't help the grimace that comes over her face as Ulala refers to her as 'the model'. Maybe it's the Persona she's using- or is using her- but there's still a sting for that sort of venom being held for other women, because they're younger, or 'prettier' or whatever else. She's encountered it enough in the industry, but...
Well, usually they are only threatening to kill her, not actively attempting it. "Perhaps we could be friends too when this is over, Ms Serizawa- but I have too much to live for to die here. And I'm afraid I won't be letting you kill anyone else." She manages to keep her composure-
Even as the hysteria washes over her- but Eriko doesn't allow it to consume her. She's always been a bit the nail that sticks out- raised by very liberal parents, choosing an industry about standing out and drawing attention to herself. So she feels all those feelings- and sits with them, even as she fights. And that wave of magically enforced emotion hurts- but she can handle it for now.
What she doesn't expect is the way the Joker persona suddenly manifests *from* Maya!
"...How...? Is her Persona parasitic...?" Eriko pauses for a second, and while the terror is there, there's also something else. "I wonder how it feels... Horrible, probably, but imagine connecting to the inner self of another persona user..." Tamaki please rein in your friend, she's getting ideas again. "...You know, the last time I saw close friends fight each other like this I was a statue, I didn't expect to see something else that interesting..."
Okay yeah maybe she's compartmentalizing a little.
Umie, however, mentions Ishigami-san and Eriko frowns. "...She did. It's worse than I thought... and the rumours will keep growing..." 'The Joker never dies', as Tamaki intones. ...was THIS the NWO's plan? Or just a side effect? Chizuru wasn't specific about what the curse was, but this would certainly be a curse. "Does it only work on Persona users?"
...Matsuoka is gonna drag her over the coals for not predicting this...
Still, there's a fair understanding of the battlefield right now. "You're right, Mr Katsuya. Ms Serizawa seems like a strong woman- she's going to be strong enough to tear us apart and strong enough to withstand what we put her through until we can get her to her senses!"
With that, Eriko reaches into her purse and draws a spell card, channeling Nike's power into it. "I believe this is one of Mark's favourites. I do hope you don't mind the weight of gravity, Ms Serizawa! Gry!"
The gravity orb manifests in the air, sudden and instant, trying to crush Ulala and the Joker into the ground. That's one way to take advantage of an earth weakness.
AS: Persona! Eriko Kirishima has used the Earth skill Gry on CD Penguin! | Eriko Kirishima takes 90 damage from Panic!
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
Tamaki is here to follow his lead, lending her sword in accord with his own Persona's spell.
"This," Katsuya says, pushing against the vestiges of the charm still clinging to his psyche. Helios' flame joins Arianrhod's sword, and as it is brought down, there is not just flame cast upon the intrusive Persona of Joker but blue light billowing off the end of Tamaki's Persona's blade.
Disconcertingly blue light.
The blue, in fact, associated with radiation.
AS: Persona! Tamaki Uchida and Katsuya Suou has used the Fire skill Nuclear Fury on CD Penguin! 2 Hits! AS: Charm results in party damage! Katsuya Suou takes 90 damage! | Defense: Katsuya Suou gains 1 Limit!
AS: Avoid Best! CD Penguin takes 44 Dark damage from Umie Akabane's Garden of the Crow. AS: Avoid Worst! CD Penguin takes 87 Dark damage from Umie Akabane's Garden of the Crow. AS: Avoid Best! CD Penguin takes 44 Dark damage from Umie Akabane's Garden of the Crow. AS: Avoid Worst! CD Penguin takes 109 Earth damage from Eriko Kirishima's Gry. Weak! Avoid Earth! | Paralyze (Physical and Avoid Penalized!) added!
AS: Avoid Worst! CD Penguin takes 198 Fire damage from Katsuya Suou's Nuclear Fury. Critical Hit! AS: Avoid Worst! CD Penguin takes 164 Fire damage from Katsuya Suou's Nuclear Fury.
<Pose Tracker> CD Penguin has posed.
"Hahaha- of course you won't!" She says so merrily to Ogre, "You're so kind to other women- when they aren't a threat to your love life! Look at you! Tall as a house- but I bet you've got no trouble getting a guy, right?" She giggles, and there's a hollow, resonant echo of that around them, as if it were coming from around them. "I think I'll laugh at you instead, it's just so funny that you think you're not looking down on me!" Joker immediately aims a vicious Sonic Punch at Ogre, "That too- ehehehehe!"
Hyousuke tells her to Shut the hell up! As he aims a fist at her liver- and what he finds is that Ulala is ready for her- with one- two flicker jabs, slamming painfully into his arm pit, then at his jaw.
"Oh you don't want to hear me? My mistake! I forget that men like a woman that doesn't talk too much." She laughs gleefully with that rictus grin right in his face, "Well- I've given up on being liked by men! I'm utterly, completely, hopeless!"
Then, without mercy she punches him with a truly alarming amount of force, truly testing his resistance to blunt force. As she pounds into him again, and again, and again with a brutal violence that doesn't just match him - but tries to exceed his pace. ! "Tell me anyway, do you find a real woman pounding you into the dirt to be hot at all, kid? Or are you more about a girl like Ma~ya~ over there? Come on- you can admit it to everyone here."
Shizuka tries to hold her in place! As the spires of Earth surround her, eliciting a shriek as she's battered by the stones, Shinobu is quite easily able to take advantage of the momentary stumble for Lachesis to rise, with that pulse of anger that enrages her- but also makes her misunderstand her own strength, in the face of the disempowerment.
Her hair is messed up more than usual- but she's still smiling, grinning wide, "Guess you can join the club. Except- there won't be one. Women like us- we belong in the garbage as far as everyone else is concerned. Not married by twenty five- without kids by thirty. It's all so HILARIOUS!"
The winds rise, except more viciously than before, enough to cause every window in the building to rattle, as they boom outward, slamming into Shizuka, Shinobu, Moriko and Ririka as the glass mirrors in the room all shatter into shards.
Before she then grins at Ririka again having noticed her healing from the backlines, "You're right to ask for help kid- you're gonna need it." The Joker appears again, and swings its demonic fist, which reappears, ephemeral and enormous.
But there's nothing ephemeral about the impact, hard enough to pulverize stone and concrete.
Phoenix demands for Ulala to acknowledge they aren't a chick, shouting obscenities at her. And to their Greatsword swings, the Joker Persona is forced to catch it upon the arm, lodging briefly in the barbed wire, as part of its arm begins to crack.
"Hehehee- you want to be treated like a guy instead?" The Joker Persona releases the sword abruptly, to force a stumble back, before sending brutal impacts, one after another their way. "Well if you want to switch teams- I'm game for that! I don't pull my punches with guys in the club!"
Katsuya, poor Katsuya- is enthralled by the sexy dance, as he stumbles over the bane of all guys- being caught in a verbal trap.
"Oh noooooo did I cause you to look away from her for once?" Her entire body trembles with laughter, "I'm so sorry, Off~i~cer~!" As she giggles at his humiliation.
Whereas Tamaki yells at her about the sore spot, "Of course I know! But he'll be back one day right? And you'll take him back." She says with a wide grin, "You'll always take him back. Isn't that what is expected of you?" There's an unsettling certainty to the words, like there's not a doubt in her mind.
High school sweethearts- that is the expectation of society, that love will always win the day- that those bonds will last forever. What woman can resist such a narrative?
Whatever is behind this- it fully deserves the nuclear fire alit upon Arianrhod's blade. For the first time today, the Joker Persona takes it head on- and begins to melt- before what's left of it shatters. "Guh!" Ulala reels for a moment, as she suffers a Persona break. Before dark flames erupt from her again as she stumbles forward, trying to regain her footing as the Joker emerges, reborn from her psyche, "Haha- did I strike a nerve, you two?"
'Perhaps we could be friends too when this is over, Ms Serizawa.'
The gravity spell smashes into her, the weight of it pressing down, and Ulala's shoulders buckle, her back hunches. "It's so easy to offer a hand- to someone beneath you-! Hehehe-ahahahahahHAHAHA! Let me give you one back!"
The sudden punch erupting from the Joker, is nothing if not predictable
Badb's light bursts out into brambles, which she's suddenly struggling as the darkness clings to her. And yet, she rips herself away from the dark, grinning at Umie. "How do you think? I'm doing great!"
And in that moment, Joker weaves a spell of confusion, straight into Umie's consciousness. After all, all of this is so darned confusing, for the poor girl- might as well make things worse.
When Maya summons Maia again, this time, the Joker seems to be gone- and she can feel the absence of its presence, but what's this unsettling feeling in the air?
"Hehehe-HEHEHE! Wow Ma~ya~ do you not even realize you're asking me to be your THIRD WHEEL? Are you going to invite me to the wedding? Maybe I'll even be your maid of honor! Always the bridesmaid"
The pistols are fired, and Ulala weaves out of the way of one, before getting clipped by another shot, spoiling her charge. "What next? Are you going to invite me to clean your new home after the honeymoon? You are utterly hopeless as a homemaker." Yet she continues the rush down, punching into her again and again. "Not that anyone CARES!"
Vesper sympathizes with her, and that's enough to at least interrupt her pattern of laughing at her own misfortune. Seeming vaguely startled, but then she throws an arm around Maya, like a far too tight hug from the side, "Off my chest, huh?" She grins, as she forces the two of them to line up, as they might in front of demons, "Well since you offered- which chest do you prefer? Come on, be honest."
Before she then shoves Maya away from her, after using her like a prop.
"HahaHAHAHAHAHA- it's so funny. I put in all this effort for men to notice me- when I really shouldn't have bothered. No matter what I do- all they care about is that your bra size is bigger Ma~ya~" Ulala grins that wide grin, "Well I might as well show off what I learned anyway!"
And what may shock them is that Joker emerges again, holding- holding-! An acoustic guitar!? And it tosses Ulala a long stemmed rose, which she catches in a hand. Suddenly- the Joker is strumming the guitar!?
While Ulala is holding the rose as she dances a passionate Flamenco dance, shaking her hips and twirling as she plays the castanets with an opposite hand- before throwing the rose herself to Katsuya.
And as the Rose lands, so too does the spell in a flare of purplish dark power from the Joker. There is an unsettling sort of second hand embarrassment that permeates everyone- making it difficult to watch her, an unsettling squeamishness to the display of a woman laying everything she kept secret to herself.
"Olé!"
The Joker bows then casts away the guitar, and as he does- the cards unfold again in a spiral. The Arcana by which everything is revealed appears, one by one by one. And as they vanish, that unsettling feeling is in the air again.
AS: Persona! CD Penguin has used the Strike skill Sonic Punch on Ichika Kawase! AS: Persona! CD Penguin has used the Wind skill Maha Garula on Shizuka Kuroki, Shinobu Shimizu, Moriko Kumamoto, and Ririka Kawase! AS: CD Penguin spends Limit on Exploit! CD Penguin can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Persona! CD Penguin has used the Strike skill Gigantic Fist on Ririka Kawase! AS: Weapon! CD Penguin has used the Strike skill Rush Down on Maya Amano! 3 Hits! | Aggression: CD Penguin gains 1 Limit!
AS: Persona! CD Penguin has used the Strike skill Serial Kill Rush on Tsubasa Seki! 3 Hits! AS: Persona! CD Penguin has used the Almighty skill Pulinpa on Umie Akabane! AS: Persona! CD Penguin has used the Almighty skill Dark Flamenco Dance on Umie Akabane, Hyousuke Suzuki, Ichika Kawase, and Julian Marlowe! AS: Persona! CD Penguin has used the Almighty skill Dark Flamenco Dance on Katsuya Suou, Maya Amano, Moriko Kumamoto, and Ririka Kawase! AS: Persona! CD Penguin has used the Almighty skill Dark Flamenco Dance on Shinobu Shimizu, Shizuka Kuroki, Tamaki Uchida, and Tsubasa Seki! AS: Persona! CD Penguin has used the Almighty skill Dark Flamenco Dance on Eriko Kirishima! AS: Persona! CD Penguin has used the Almighty skill Old Maid on Umie Akabane, Tsubasa Seki, Julian Marlowe, and Ririka Kawase! AS: Persona! CD Penguin has used the Wind skill Maha Garula on Tamaki Uchida and Katsuya Suou! AS: Block Worst! Ichika Kawase takes 44 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Sonic Punch. Critical Hit! | Haze (Physical and Block Penalized!) added!
AS: You have 1 more attack in queue! AS: Avoid Best! Ichika Kawase takes 0 Almighty damage from CD Penguin's Dark Flamenco Dance. | Def_Up and Spd_Up removed! AS: Avoid Neutral! Shizuka Kuroki takes 47 Wind damage from CD Penguin's Maha Garula. | Haze (Physical and Block Penalized!) added!
AS: Avoid Best! Shizuka Kuroki takes 0 Almighty damage from CD Penguin's Dark Flamenco Dance. | Spd_Dn (Avoid Penalized!) added! Def_Up removed!
AS: Block Best! Shinobu Shimizu takes 23 Wind damage from CD Penguin's Maha Garula. Critical Hit! AS: Block Worst! Ririka Kawase takes 46 Wind damage from CD Penguin's Maha Garula. | Haze (Physical and Block Penalized!) added!
AS: Block Best! Ririka Kawase takes 25 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Gigantic Fist. AS: Block Best! Ririka Kawase takes 0 Almighty damage from CD Penguin's Dark Flamenco Dance. | Spd_Dn (Avoid Penalized!) added! Def_Up removed!
AS: Take! Shinobu Shimizu takes 0 Almighty damage from CD Penguin's Dark Flamenco Dance. | Def_Up and Spd_Up removed!
AS: Block Best! Hyousuke Suzuki takes 0 Almighty damage from CD Penguin's Dark Flamenco Dance. | Def_Up and Spd_Up removed!
AS: Block Worst! Ririka Kawase takes 0 Almighty damage from CD Penguin's Old Maid. | Sick (SP Damage on end of turn!) added! AS: Avoid Best! Julian Marlowe takes 0 Almighty damage from CD Penguin's Dark Flamenco Dance. | Def_Up and Spd_Up removed!
AS: Avoid Worst! Julian Marlowe takes 0 Almighty damage from CD Penguin's Old Maid. | Sick (SP Damage on end of turn!) added!
AS: Avoid Worst! Umie Akabane takes 0 Almighty damage from CD Penguin's Pulinpa. | Panic (Damage when using Persona/Tandem!) added!
AS: Avoid Best! Umie Akabane takes 0 Almighty damage from CD Penguin's Dark Flamenco Dance. | Def_Dn (Block Penalized!) and Spd_Dn (Avoid Penalized!) added!
AS: Avoid Neutral! Umie Akabane takes 0 Almighty damage from CD Penguin's Old Maid. AS: Avoid Worst! Maya Amano takes 54 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Rush Down. AS: Avoid Worst! Maya Amano takes 77 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Rush Down. Critical Hit! AS: Avoid Worst! Maya Amano takes 54 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Rush Down. AS: Avoid Neutral! Maya Amano takes 0 Almighty damage from CD Penguin's Dark Flamenco Dance. | Def_Dn (Block Penalized!) and Spd_Dn (Avoid Penalized!) added!
AS: Take! Tamaki Uchida takes 0 Almighty damage from CD Penguin's Dark Flamenco Dance. | Def_Dn (Block Penalized!) and Spd_Dn (Avoid Penalized!) added!
AS: Avoid Best! Eriko Kirishima takes 0 Almighty damage from CD Penguin's Dark Flamenco Dance. | Def_Dn (Block Penalized!) and Spd_Dn (Avoid Penalized!) added!
AS: Avoid Worst! Katsuya Suou takes 0 Almighty damage from CD Penguin's Dark Flamenco Dance. | Def_Dn (Block Penalized!) and Spd_Dn (Avoid Penalized!) added!
AS: Block Worst! Tamaki Uchida takes 157 Wind damage from CD Penguin's Maha Garula. Critical Hit! | Haze (Physical and Block Penalized!) added!
AS: Counter Worst! Katsuya Suou takes 175 Wind damage from CD Penguin's Maha Garula. Critical Hit! | Haze (Physical and Block Penalized!) added! | COUNTER! CD Penguin takes 14 Wind damage in return for their attack! Resist! AS: Take! Tsubasa Seki takes 108 Recovery healing from Tamaki Uchida's Media. AS: Katsuya Suou spends Limit on Shift! Ichika Kawase can use another Weak skill this round! Hyper (Next Attack Boosted/Incoming Damage Down!) applied to Ichika Kawase! They both receive 8 SP and 30 HP! AS: Persona! Umie Akabane has used the Almighty skill JOKER on Umie Akabane, Tsubasa Seki, Julian Marlowe, and Ririka Kawase! | Umie Akabane takes 90 damage from Panic!
<Pose Tracker> CD Penguin has posed.
This time it is once Umie tries to summon her Persona, that the Joker rises instead of Badb, radiating out dark flame, which immolates Phoenix, Vesper and Ririka in purplish flames of pure power.
Also Umie takes backlash as well, unlike Maya last time, because - and this is true, Nyarlathotep is a supreme jerk.
The Joker then vanishes into Umie again without a trace, grinning fiendishly all the while.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
It sucks. "Yeah, it sucks," Ogre agrees with Shinobu. This is the kind of thing that affects a lot of people...
Still. Maya seems to be OK. That's good enough for Ichika for now. And Vesper--"Anytime, dude!" She likes Vesper; he's reliable. He helped her out. And now,he's helping her out a different way.
Listen to her... Hm.
She's sturdier at least, now. She feels it. And thanks to Ririka, she'll recover over time, too. "Whatever you can figure out!" Ogre calls to Ririka. "We're counting on you, Kawase!"
And Phoenix... explains. They explain, and Ogre tries to listen to it--until...
"I'm okay!" Ogre says to PHoenix, reaching out--but she can't quite reach them. "Shit!" Their mother... It's like that, isn't it? "We'll figure it out!"
But Katsuya says he'll do his best... And immediately moves for a Fusion Spell. "You got it," she says of thanks.
But Umie freaks her out a little here--with some kind of omen, she calls forth an attack. Ogre blinks at her. "The fuck was that?" she asks the other Persona-user.
Tamaki thanks her. "You got it," Ogre says to Tamaki. "You do the smart lady shit, I'll make sure you don't die."
And Eriko... calls it 'very interesting'. Ogre turns to stare at her for a bare instant. "You're weird," she tells Eriko. "Good at this shit, but weird. ...Hope you're right, though."
But Ulala--she's so cheerful about it. And Ogre blinks because she's got by it. "Hey, that's not--"
No, she doesn't have trouble getting guys at all. Would she be as 'kind' to women who were threatening what she has? Is reaching out like this just looking down on her?
The punch interrupts that worry. Ichika's shield can't get up in time and she gets slammed in the chest, tumbling, backward. "Gh--"
It does get worse. The dance might be impressive in other circumstances... But not these. In these, that awful power is difficult to watch. "That's..."
The cards, again.
"Momiji," Ogre says more quietly.
"...Sometimes men notice you and it's not that great," Ogre says instead to Ulala then. "If you just settle for any man you can get... you'll regret it. It's better being alone than being with the wrong guy."
"Hey! Suou! Look out!" Umie may have just hurt them, and may be creeping her out, but she gets help, too. As do Maya and Tamaki, in the form of intense healing sparkles raining down from a laughing Oni's hands.
Pink light suffuses more of them, to do away with mental ailments.
AS: Persona! Ichika Kawase has used the Recovery skill Mediarama on Katsuya Suou, Tamaki Uchida, Umie Akabane, and Maya Amano! | Support: Ichika Kawase gains 1 Limit!
AS: Persona! Ichika Kawase has used the Recovery skill Me Patra on Eriko Kirishima, Katsuya Suou, Maya Amano, and Moriko Kumamoto! AS: Take! Tamaki Uchida takes 119 Recovery healing from Ichika Kawase's Mediarama. AS: Tamaki Uchida has no more TP available for healing! AS: Take! Maya Amano takes 144 Recovery healing from Ichika Kawase's Mediarama. AS: Maya Amano has no more TP available for healing! AS: Counter Worst! Tsubasa Seki takes 50 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Serial Kill Rush. Resist! | COUNTER! CD Penguin takes 35 Slash damage in return for their attack!
AS: Take! Maya Amano takes 0 Recovery healing from Ichika Kawase's Me Patra. | Rage removed!
AS: Maya Amano has no more TP available for healing! AS: Counter Best! Tsubasa Seki takes 11 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Serial Kill Rush. Resist! | COUNTER! CD Penguin takes 57 Slash damage in return for their attack!
AS: Counter Neutral! Tsubasa Seki takes 26 Strike damage from CD Penguin's Serial Kill Rush. Resist! | COUNTER! CD Penguin takes 46 Slash damage in return for their attack!
AS: Avoid Worst! Julian Marlowe takes 107 Almighty damage from Umie Akabane's JOKER. AS: Avoid Best! Tsubasa Seki takes 0 Almighty damage from CD Penguin's Dark Flamenco Dance. | Def_Dn (Block Penalized!) and Spd_Dn (Avoid Penalized!) added!
AS: Avoid Worst! Tsubasa Seki takes 0 Almighty damage from CD Penguin's Old Maid. | Sick (SP Damage on end of turn!) added! AS: Avoid Worst! Tsubasa Seki takes 155 Almighty damage from Umie Akabane's JOKER. AS: Take! Katsuya Suou takes 178 Recovery healing from Ichika Kawase's Mediarama. AS: Take! Katsuya Suou takes 0 Recovery healing from Ichika Kawase's Me Patra. | Charm and Haze removed!
AS: Avoid Worst! Umie Akabane takes 142 Almighty damage from Umie Akabane's JOKER. AS: Take! Umie Akabane takes 100 Recovery healing from Ichika Kawase's Mediarama. AS: Umie Akabane has no more TP available for healing! AS: Take! Eriko Kirishima takes 0 Recovery healing from Ichika Kawase's Me Patra.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Hyousuke asks if it really is possession. "I don't know! I've-- I've never seen this before! I'm going to keep studying her. Please just try to hold out." She nods to Ogre. "Right! As soon as I can figure anything out, I'll let everyone know."
Ririka will follow her SEES (and school) senpai's lead! "Welcome, senpai!"
Shinobu asks her to let them know if she finds something. "Hai!" Unfortuantely, she doesn't have answers for Maya, at least not yet. "I don't know how that happened-- I'll see if I can track the Joker's movements."
She glances askance at Vesper, though, and that comment about the makeup. "Come on," she snaps. "Is now really the time for that?" She might be a big on edge considering everything it took to find Makimura.
And what happened in the locker room.
Ririka is definitely trying to keep to the back, so Moriko can definitely help defend her. For as much good as that will do with all the illusions running about. "People aren't engines, though..."
"It's way too similar to be a coincidence," Ririka rplies to Tamaki. "I know it looks a little different, but I know what I sensed."
But whatever they're going to do in the future, in the present they still ahve to fight. Ririka staggers back as the winds rise, feeling the winds cutting into her despite her attept to raise a guard. And then-- She whirls around, and this time brings up her sword to block that blow, struggling against the force of it. "Ngh-- However this happened-- we'll figure it out!" She's solid enough for that block, at least, though i winds her.
She feels bad for ulala's romantic woes--however much she can trust what this version of her is saying about them, and she can sympathize to some degree... but her worries vary in some important ways, too.
She can keep tempo with the Flamenco dance, at least--but she has nothing for that unsettling ease. She'll keep trying to analyze it, but first--
She reaches out with the Navigator Link to Shizuka and Moriko. "Kuroki-senpai, Kumamoto-chan, she's weak to Earth. Let's coordinate our spells!"
"Amphion! get ready!" The Persona starts to play, weaving Resonance in a way to invite the others to lend their efforts.
AS: Ririka Kawase has initiated a fusion spell! The spell still requires 2 Weak attacks and Earth/Any Magical! Anyone can join!
<Pose Tracker> Hyousuke Suzuki has posed.
What Hyousuke thought were simple words of encouragement shifted quickly into actual, literal, strength to be taken. Hyousuke was, of course, only too happy to take it. Ulala - or, rather, whatever had possessed her - had proved to be a formidable foe, and he needed every advantage he could get. And with him on the front lines, something fortifying his already-battered body was more than welcome. He flashed a grin at Vesper, not daring to look away from the fight for more than a second or two, then called out to him.
"Thanks! Now let's make this thing pay!"
When Hyousuke had asked a question about how best to deal with the situation, he had expected something a little more involved than beating the thing until it stopped. However, that did not stop him being disconcertingly eager that both Moriko and Phoenix had more or less told him that that *was* the correct course of action. Through teeth drenched in pink from the blood leaking into his mouth, Hyousuke smiled a maw-bearing, bloody, smile at the Joker persona, and steadied himself past any aches and injuries that savage blow had dealt.
"Hit it until it stops being a problem?! Fuck yeah, now you're talking!"
There was something in Tsubasa's voice that gave him pause, though. It didn't take a genius to tell that they were angry. They weren't exactly making an attempt to hide it. But had their fury always been like that, in anything but the most dire of circumstances? Hyousuke shook his head. He'd ask them about it later. Or Ichika. Whoever he could catch first. Before he could start again, however, Tamaki's explanation gave him a more complete pause, and despite him maintaining that bloodstained grin, the fire in his eyes turned cold for a spell.
"The Joker? Like Sudou? Shit, this is bad...! Uchida-san! You're telling me about this when all this is over!" It was less a demand and more of a plea that his pride would not allow him to phrase differently in that moment. He scanned his eyes over the porcelain-faced Ulala, searching for any kind of relation between her, the rumour, and the monster that had carved a bloody path through Sumaru. But as hard as his mind worked, answers were thin on the ground at best. At the very least, Tamaki's healing would let him keep doing it. "...And thanks!" He tacked on at the end. Curt as the response was, he was no less grateful for the assistance - just a little too busy to stand on ceremony.
Hyousuke stuck close, guard up and feet ready to shift against the coming blows. This was what he'd trained for - this was what Mutou-sensei had drilled into him over countless hours. But his training had been for human foes. The Joker persona and Ulala working in tandem? That was far beyond the remit of any clubs he knew. He grunted as the first blow slammed into his pit, twitching his arm just enough that the strike to his jaw sent him reeling backwards. His defences pried open, he could do little to block the onslaught she delivered.
But he didn't care to either.
Every savage blow she delivered against him, he retaliated against. Every strike to him was met with a blow cannoned into her face or her gut. Every vicious attack she levelled unto him drew more blood and scored more bruises, but even against that tide, Hyousuke only surged forwards. It was a vicious, bloody, melee where skill was forsaken and tact was trampled underfoot. And he *grinned* through it all. Teeth bared like a hound lunging in for the kill, he suffered everything she took so that he might do the same to her, looking as though he might have burst into laughter at any moment.
"Hopeless?!" He called out, spit and blood flecking out as he shouted with frenzied look in his eyes. "Fuck you! You don't know shit about hopeless! But you're kinda right about one thing... I don't like listening to *anyone* yapping in the middle of a fight!" Even amidst the storm of punches, he lashed out with foot and fist, heaving his body into her like some swiping, slavering, animal. "I don't give a shit about love or cake or whatever the fuck you're talking about! I want to hear what the REAL Serizawa-san's got to say! So shut the fuck up and fight me! Let it all out, and show me how you REALLY feel!"
Propelled by fury and frenzied excitement, it took the full force of Ulala's strikes to repel him. But, despite everything, Hyousuke did not re-engage. The cards took care of giving him pause, and forcing him to reconsider. Lips curled into a snarl again, he tensed, resisting the urge to fight back with every fibre of his being. It was just long enough to keep him from interrupting the dance as well. It was a strange thing, drawing his eye more because of the spectacle than anything else, but the reasons mattered little. Whatever strength Vesper had lent him evaporated with the Persona's influence, once more leaving him weakened. That would not stand. Not when the cards were building to something huge.
"Brace! Something's coming! I'll hold as long as I can, Kawase-san, but it's building up to something big!"" He called out, suddenly rushing forward to use his body as a shield, while Achilles thrust his shield into the air. While he hunkered down and prepared to stand before whatever threatened his allies, Hyousuke commanded Achilles to cast his protection onto those behind him. Then, from above, a golden light bathed his targets, and gave to them the protection of the pantheon.
AS: Shizuka Kuroki has joined Ririka Kawase's fusion spell! The spell still requires 1 Weak attacks and Any Magical! Anyone can join! AS: Persona! Hyousuke Suzuki has used the Recovery skill Godly Ward on Tsubasa Seki, Moriko Kumamoto, and Tamaki Uchida! | Hyousuke Suzuki takes 45 damage from Stress! | Defense: Hyousuke Suzuki gains 1 Limit!
AS: Take! Tamaki Uchida takes 0 Recovery healing from Hyousuke Suzuki's Godly Ward. Safety! Damage reduced! | All_Safety applied!
AS: Tamaki Uchida has no more TP available for healing!
<Pose Tracker> Moriko Kumamoto has posed.
Moriko scowls, "So.." deciding for once that tact might be the better call there. She doesn't comment on what that rumor might imply from Tamaki. Instead she answers it with a nod of understanding.
AS: Hyousuke Suzuki spends Limit on Help Up! Sick removed from Tamaki Uchida! AS: Hyousuke Suzuki spends Limit on Help Up! Sick removed from Tsubasa Seki! AS: Take! Tsubasa Seki takes 0 Recovery healing from Hyousuke Suzuki's Godly Ward. Safety! Damage reduced! | All_Safety applied!
<Pose Tracker> Shizuka Kuroki has posed.
Shizuka's ready this time, jumping out of the way of the broken glass with only a mild graze! It might just be the adrenaline overwhelming the cortisol, but she feels like she can take on the world at this point! She's definitely going to be extremely sore tomorrow but that's tomorrow and this is today.
Ririka proposes a combination attack. They might as well go all-out, she supposes. "Gotcha, Rika-chan! Let's rock the place!" She summons Galatea to bring up an array of floating stones unde Amphion.
And she's also just about had it with all of Ulala's talk of relationships and whatnot. Why, Shizuka had never even HAD a boyfriend or a girlfriend or an anykindoffriend and she was just fine! ...right? Right! "Look, I may not know much about much, but guys like that wouldn't be worth your time anyway! There's no point in throwing everything away for all that! It's like they say, there's plenty of fish in the sea, so maybe look at things from another ANGLER~!"
AS: Take! Moriko Kumamoto takes 103 Recovery healing from Tamaki Uchida's Media. AS: Block Best! Moriko Kumamoto takes 23 Wind damage from CD Penguin's Maha Garula. | Haze (Physical and Block Penalized!) added!
AS: Avoid Neutral! Moriko Kumamoto takes 0 Almighty damage from CD Penguin's Dark Flamenco Dance. | Spd_Dn (Avoid Penalized!) added! Def_Up removed!
AS: Take! Moriko Kumamoto takes 0 Recovery healing from Ichika Kawase's Me Patra. | Haze and Rage removed!
AS: Take! Moriko Kumamoto takes 0 Recovery healing from Hyousuke Suzuki's Godly Ward. Safety! Damage reduced! | All_Safety applied!
AS: Shinobu Shimizu spends Limit on Shift! Eriko Kirishima can use another Weak skill this round! Hyper (Next Attack Boosted/Incoming Damage Down!) applied to Eriko Kirishima! They both receive 8 SP and 30 HP!
<Pose Tracker> Shinobu Shimizu has posed.
Shinobu offers a small nod Ogre's way. She seems to get it.
Shinobu does a brief double-take at Vesper's question. ...Oh yeah. He was there, wasn't he. The Black Mask threatened her family on that zeppelin, and took her niece hostage right before her mother's eyes... She nods.
"Yeah, they're doin' okay, thankfully. Koume-chan's doin' alright, too." She replies. "...Been keeping an eye out. Dunno what good it'll do, but..."
A dark aura surrounds her - but not the kind that makes her flinch. It feels protective, like it'll conceal her from harm.
She looks toward Phoenix, then.
"I watch the news, but... I don't put a lot of stock in fortune telling... Or at least I didn't, until today. Guess I oughta be paying more attention..." She replies with a shake of her head. If this fortune came true, if she has that kind of sway... Following her might be vital going forward. Katsuya drives it home. With the case unresolved, it stands to reason that it'd spread. "Guess so... Damn it."
'The Joker never dies'... It really does never end.
And the point is driven home most directly by the Persona that emerges from Maya - instead of Maia, the Joker... And it lashes out at the others.
"The hell...?" Shinobu gasps. It happens to Umie, too, not long after.
"Amano! You alright? What was that?" Shinobu calls over to Maya. Is it contagious, like Phoenix says?
"Right." Shinobu nods to Ririka - and her attention snaps back to Ulala.
"...Heh. Yeah, don't I know it." Shinobu replies with a shrug. "We gotta fight just to be taken seriously by society... And even then, there's the expectation that it's all just 'practice' for when we settle down with some guy."
The winds rise violenty and Shinobu braces herself as she's buffeted by galeforce winds, pushing her back. It feels like being hit with a literal wall, nearly causing her to stumble.
"Shit-" Shinobu grimaces, jamming her staff into the gym floor again. It takes some effort to stabilize herself. As she does, Ulala dances, as the Persona... plays guitar? ...It's uncomfortable, like she's just forcing herself. Shinobu cringes, wanting to look away but finding herself unable to - and she feels the protective dark Vesper places on her melting away, replaced by that unsettling feeling as the cards unfold.
"We can't let 'em dictate our place like that, Serizawa. We shouldn't be fighting like this..." Shinobu shakes her head. "Things aren't as hopeless as they want you to think. So I'd say it's too early to try to be burning all your bridges, even if we've gotta drag you back across 'em."
She races forward with her staff ready once more - and then uses it as a polevault, leaping at Ulala in a flying kick. The moment she touches down the staff comes sweeping out twice, using its length to create some extra room.
AS: Weapon! Shinobu Shimizu has used the Strike skill Overdrive on CD Penguin! 3 Hits! | Aggression: Shinobu Shimizu gains 1 Limit!
AS: Avoid Worst! CD Penguin takes 101 Strike damage from Shinobu Shimizu's Overdrive. AS: Avoid Worst! CD Penguin takes 149 Strike damage from Shinobu Shimizu's Overdrive. Critical Hit! AS: Counter Worst! CD Penguin takes 90 Strike damage from Shinobu Shimizu's Overdrive. | COUNTER! Shinobu Shimizu takes 22 Strike damage in return for her attack! <Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.
"Don't worry! I'm not going to die without saving Ulala first!"
Those might not be the most reassuring words given how much of a pounding they're taking, but Maya is filled with determination.
"You're right," Maya concedes to Ulala. "I'm an awful homemaker. I'd be a lost cause without you with me." Their apartment, at least, definitely wouldn't be. "But if you're going to be jealous, you should at least acknowledge that you have qualities others want, too!"
But it's time to address the other thing Ulala keeps bringing up.
"Katsuya-san isn't even interested in me anyway! Right?" Maya glances at Katsuya to confirm the facts before letting her eyes flicker back to Ulala. "If you want to ask him out, I'll cheer you on! But you're not going to be able to go out with him like this!"
Maya yells out a shout of 'thanks!' when she feels the heal hit her. And then she launches an attack of her own.
AS: Persona! Maya Amano has used the Almighty skill Multi-Dimension on CD Penguin!
<Pose Tracker> Moriko Kumamoto has posed.
Moriko scowls, "So.." deciding for once that tact might be the better call there. She doesn't comment on what that rumor might imply from Tamaki. Instead she answers it with a nod of understanding.
The idea of a persona being parasitic drifts by, she seems confused about it. Giving Eriko a quizzical look, but not expanding on it as other things are currently doing their best to figuratively catch fire. Maybe literally.
The rising winds boom, once again making the tomboy's ears pop with the pressure differential, right before the windows shatter inward, throwing shards of glass everywhere. Swatting at one piece with the broad blade of her polearm, the others she does her best to get out of the way. Though she's not exactly.. able to get away from the rest of it. Feeling dragged down, slower.
She wants to shout at the Joker possessed(?) woman, but who is she to talk about it? She hasn't even remotely tried to date anyone. She's gotten into fights, done weird nerdy things and been a bit strange about being caught with hte nerdy things. Mellowed out or not.
There might be an attempt to pull her eyes away from that display with the dance though. Why? She didn't agree with her. She also doesn't have any experience in the field. She's oblivious in a lot of ways. Nothing she could say would help and once again, she's determined that not saying anything is the correct call. She can learn!
"Sure they are." She says over her shoulder to Ririka, "In abstract, aren't they?" That's about as philosophical as she's going to get when it's appropriate. "Just you know. Tea and bad food powered.'
"I noticed the Earth one." She admits, somewhat simply, "Was my usual opening move even!"
The aid from the others is met with a raised hand, her free hand, a look to each. Something's up though and they're coordinating a setup one-two... three? Whatever.
Either way, she does call out, "Do something about it." Almost taunting. Rather than listening to her insist it's out of her hands. The pistol is put to her chin and the trigger is pulled without a callout. The fox doing a little hop, staring at Ulala before bouncing once more of Moriko's head to start things up on her side. Joinng together with the others to do a fusion.
AS: Moriko Kumamoto has joined Ririka Kawase's fusion spell! The spell is ready! AS: Avoid Worst! CD Penguin takes 171 Almighty damage from Maya Amano's Multi-Dimension.
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
Phoenix's sword can't quite shatter that horrible visage. One could ask whether it's the physical might which makes them stagger, though -- or the way she asks whether they'd rather be treated as a guy, a question which has their eyes widening and nostrils flaring beneath their mask as they're forcefully disengaged from their assault.
"I ain't switchin' SHIT, this how I always BEEN!" They yell, meeting her ferocity with roused anger. Her fists flurry out, and Phoenix takes a blow on the shoulder as recompense for slicing their greatsword up into her space, feels a blow to their back as they heft that massive weapon around to strike her again, and then --
Did you know that getting a knee to the groin hurts regardless of the configuration of your plumbing?
"Fuck you," Phoenix spits, forced to back off from their assault for those few precious moments.
Man, Badb's shrieking... that's really pissing Phoenix off, too.
It's not like Phoenix doesn't kind of get Ulala worrying about being the third wheel in Maya's marriage -- even if they trust Ogre, they're far too aware of the lack of room outside the binary, when it comes to adult life. Perhaps that's why they bark, with such venom, hearing Ulala taunt Maya about what she could do for her: "Ya right, who fuckin' cares?! Rrrgh... figure it out!" That, at least, must suggest that they're absorbing some of what Ogre's telling them... right?
Phoenix is all anger, right now. All their stress, all their grief, all their worry, all their fear: it all focuses down to rage. Is breaking the porcelain the way to save Ulala? It's the best advice they have for Hyousuke. Perhaps it's the only advice they could have for Hyousuke...
"How she feels... reckon this is it," Phoenix adds, panting, a touch, once they've sprung back from that provocative dance. "On the inside... everyone's so... ugly."
Their nostrils flare, mouth yawning open to bare their teeth.
"All it took was a little jealousy... and she let herself call a hit on her own fuckin' best friend. And when it came back 'round, she gave up... forgot every fuckin' guardrail jus' fer th' chance to wreck Amano-san's shit."
Backed by the song of the Badb and Ulala's provocative violence, there's nothing which feels more true -- more immutable.
"Fists as theatre... she was never gon' fight."
Is Eriko's philosophy really the most twisted one here?
Hyousuke's defensive paling does what it can to mitigate the damage of the Joker, as it rises and silhouettes Umie just as it did Maya. His efforts stop the Joker's flames from forcing another death-rebirth cycle on Phoenix, as they take the chance to spring away -- but even his ultimate defence can't stop that outrageous power from reaching them entirely, and they roar, wordlessly, as the flames violate a foundation which was not built for such dark egress.
They roll, and when they come up to a knee, they stow their greatsword -- somehow?! -- in their feather cloak, only to pull out
A FUCKING ROCKET LAUNCHER!
"BUT I AIN'T GIVE UP THAT EASY!" They scream defiance, as they fire a massive shell at Ulala...
... and at Umie, who by their logic just attacked them, too.
One can call it 'collateral damage'.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
"It suck when you can't be in a relationship like you want, but listening to what other people think is just gonna drive you crazy!"
She groans at the pun. "Senpai," she says quietly but urgently. "Please don't provoke her right now!"
Moriko comments about her opening move. "I know, I was just-- Stop arguing and let's keep fighting!"
But Galatea and Otohime Gitsune lend their strength to Amphion's, and between them the ground in the gym starts to rumble, before three huge boulders erupt in sprays of dirt and come falling down onto Ulala in a crushing, calamitous, cavalcade.
AS: Weapon! Tsubasa Seki has used the Pierce skill Rocket Launcher on Umie Akabane and CD Penguin! | Aggression: Tsubasa Seki gains 1 Limit!
AS: Block Best! Ririka Kawase takes 63 Almighty damage from Umie Akabane's JOKER. AS: Persona! Shizuka Kuroki, Ririka Kawase, and Moriko Kumamoto has used the Earth skill Boulder Smash on CD Penguin! 2 Hits! AS: Counter Worst! CD Penguin takes 303 Pierce damage from Tsubasa Seki's Rocket Launcher. Critical Hit! | COUNTER! Tsubasa Seki takes 70 Pierce damage in return for their attack! AS: Counter Worst! CD Penguin takes 130 Earth damage from Ririka Kawase's Boulder Smash. Weak! | Bind (Magic and Avoid Penalized!) added! | COUNTER! Ririka Kawase takes 7 Earth damage in return for her attack! Resist!
AS: Counter Worst! CD Penguin takes 130 Earth damage from Ririka Kawase's Boulder Smash. Weak! | COUNTER! Ririka Kawase takes 7 Earth damage in return for her attack! Resist!
AS: Umie Akabane spends Limit on Brace! AS: Avoid Worst! Umie Akabane takes 204 Pierce damage from Tsubasa Seki's Rocket Launcher. | Umie Akabane is unable to continue fighting!
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
Come to her senses, Eriko says. Is such a thing possible? If this is a possession, then-- maybe. He'll have to hope for it.
The Joker that Ulala has become taunts him. "It's not-- that isn't--" Katsuya is able to get out, struggling against the enchantment that has turned his whole concept of the battlefield on its head. He has to get it together, he can't-- he can't just--
Maya, at least, has less compunctions about what her best friend can manage. Still, Katsuya considers, while they of course shouldn't hold back, he's an officer of the law. Is it appropriate to shoot at someone who isn't a criminal, and is merely possessed?
He gets about as much time to dwell on this conundrum as one might expect when Ulala compares,
Yeah. The expression on Katsuya's face does the talking for him. He looks away sharply from that display, even if he can't unhear what Ulala is saying. ...Isn't enough that fighting their friend and ally is a terrible turn of events? Does it have to also be so... tawdry?
There is, then, the tell-tale sound of a certain form of guitar.
"...Flamenco?" Katsuya wonders aloud, in spite of himself and everything. Ulala Serizawa dances... Flamenco.
Ah.
There's the rose, and is it just him, but is that deep, discomfited feeling not just from watching such a (passionate) display? He has not much time to consider it, not with the burst of wind that rises on the tail-end of that performance; he strikes back at her and that fell Persona through Helios, deflecting just some of the wind her way.
Alas, it may not be to any great effect. He, for his part, staggers but does not, yet, drop.
Help is on the way. Healing force, followed by a flood of easing pink light, manages at least some of the unnatural effects currently plaguing his mind. "Thank you," he tells Ogre, and not for the first time.
He has a moment A parasitic Persona, as Eriko puts it. What a horrifying thing to consider, and yet, that's exactly what's happening now, isn't it? First it jumped to Maya, and while it may not be top of attention right this moment, he's well aware that it's now jumped to Umie.
He's not interested in her, anyway, Maya says to Ulala.
Right?
"That's--"
'That's right', he'd been about to say, but something stops him. Even now, she's only thinking about how to snap her friend out of this. She's telling her friend that she'll support her every step of the way if she's interested in...
...in him.
Amano, Maya, she's always doing things like that, and he hasn't been able to help it, has he?
'That's right', he realizes, is a lie.
"...That's right," he finally answers, looking like a man for whom the world has tilted.
This is not good, he thinks to himself privately. And it's also a terrible time to have this sort of revelation...!
"Helios!" Katsuya calls out, throwing himself into the offense. His Persona surges ahead, eager to answer at Katsuya's call. Snapping a clawed hand, the Persona points at Ulala's 'parasite' Persona, bringing down a bolt of lightning upon it.
AS: Persona! Katsuya Suou has used the Elec skill Zio on CD Penguin! | Defense: Katsuya Suou gains 1 Limit! [OOC] Katsuya Suou says, "oops bluray "he has a moment to consider what Eriko has said. A parasitic persona. What a horrifying' blah blah blah. missed that in my pass."
AS: Avoid Worst! CD Penguin takes 102 Elec damage from Katsuya Suou's Zio. | Paralyze (Physical and Avoid Penalized!) added! <Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Eriko mentions her suspicion, and Umie nods. "Could be either. As for whether it's just Persona Users, we'll likely find that out pretty quickly, if this isn't a one off."
But for the moment, Umie's the one in control, using the very power that was supposed to remind her of her own curse. It feels wonderful... but only for that moment.
'The fuck was that?' Umie hears Ogre's reaction, and, as Umie looks over her shoulder at the tall 'Mask-san', there's a brief, sad grimace before she adopts a confident smirk to cover it all. "Don't worry about it~ Just focus on the fight."
Umie wishes she knew.
She also wishes she knew how to make this damned host stay down! All that, and it's still not enough?! "Can't we figure out how to knock her unconscious?! At this rate we're going to hurt her as much as she's hurting us!" .... So Umie *does* care, so there's that.
Umie's also afraid, of what may happen next. A feeling of dread and chaos persists in the air, and when the Joker emerges with an acoustic guitar, Umie'd be surprised, if something more surprising hadn't happened the moment she tried to react.
The itching, nagging fear that crawls in the pit of her stomach intensifies as something unlike the ichor black feathers and shawl of Badb comes from her. It's a violation of a deep order, to have something that was supposed to be a given be taken away by an Other.
A haunted Umie is backlit by the light of Joker.
The fiery Phoenix, the gentlemanly Vesper, and the melodic healing Ririka suffer the infected(?) Umie's wrath, as does Umie Akabane herself, as she fails to slip away from the enemy inside herself.
.... Over and over again... It won't stop will it...?
Just keep going forward, as long as you can.
But the mechanations of the shadow are far more tangled than Umie could ever account for.
.... Such as the equal lode of anger coming from Phoenix from being attacked.
The outline of Umie's body disappears in the explosion, and she's rocketed (no pun intended) into some dumbbells, going finally still, but thankfully still alive, if unconscious.
<Pose Tracker> Eriko Kirishima has posed.
"Tamaki, don't let her get to you! She's just trying to make you angry!" That's perhaps easy for Eriko to say, after all she's never been in a relationship like that... "It really seems like it's taking advantage of her pain... and using it to lash out in every direction." Eriko frowns again. "...maybe it's the Persona equivalent of Mr Makimura." ...or Eriko's maybe just making excuses for Ulala's anger.
'It's so easy to offer a hand- to someone beneath you-!'
"...is that really what you think?" The question is, honestly, kind of genuine- is it what Ulala thinks, or what the Joker thinks, or some mix of the two. "Do you honestly think you're below me, Ms Serizawa? Do you truly think you're below anyone here?"
"Very!" Eriko calls back to Ogre, a little too cheerfully. "I understand my management finds it a problem sometimes, but so be it. I've learned how important it is to be my true self."
She has... hasn't she?
Phoenix's fury and anger, though... "...It might surprise you how easily one can decide to kill." She manages, to the thief. "We are ugly and beautiful inside in different measure." ...And it's not like Eriko can judge, her best friend tried to kill her repeatedly, in various faces and means. She doesn't hold it against Maki, but she can hardly explain it here.
The dance, though... it's strange. A passionate dance like that should be impressive- Eriko too knows flamenco- but maybe that's what makes it so unpleasant. It's not trying to bear passion, not the bear the flames of the heart, but to show off every perceived sick, foul part of her. 'Christmas Cake', rotting on the shelf. Is that what the Joker wants them to see...? Is it like a Shadow, then?'Katsuya-san isn't even interested in me anyway! Right?'
"...Ms Maya, I think you should focus more on your bond with Ms Serizawa for now. Bringing in others might not be helping your case." Eriko's advice is meant kindly but, well...
Not everyone in book club is oblivious, Maya....
Still, they don't know how this Persona works, but it's emerged from two others now with an upsetting ease. "...I know it's the work of the Crawling Chaos, but this Persona... It's unlike any I've encountered before." Eriko frowns again, blade held defensively. "I don't know what sort of mythology it could be from- if it has any at all. Even Nyarlethotep's minions are still born from such things, aren't they...?"
Unfortunately, the person most knowledgeable on the subject is a dead man who nearly wiped out a practical army of Persona users.
As difficult as it is to deal with that lingering panic, and the sickly, sluggish feeling from the dance, Eriko is still a veteran. It has to count for something.
Like tracking who is in the worst shape. Both Umie and Phoenix are badly beaten, but Phoenix is the one charging into the battlefield. She may find the youth somewhat callous, but... well. Weren't they all, once upon a time. "Phoenix, yes? If you're going to keep fighting like that, you might need a boost! Nike, alleviate their wounds! Diarama!" The healing energies wave out- she did often say she wanted to look out for younger persona users, after all. And Tamaki seems to trust Phoenix.
This is a decision Eriko quickly comes to regret. "Ms Akabane!" Eriko yells, as it's not the Joker that drops Umie, it's Phoenix. "For someone talking so much about the ugliness of people, do you really care so little about who you hurt? Is this how the Phantom Thieves operate- with no care for collateral?"
She frowns. Are these people who can be trusted with something so valuable, so precious as a Treasure?
"Ms Amano, watch yourself! I fear you may just be making her angrier!" Raising her sword, Eriko salutes with her blade to summon the steel angel. "Nike, grant her your blessing! Rakukaja!"
AS: Persona! Eriko Kirishima has used the Almighty skill Rakukaja on Maya Amano! | Eriko Kirishima takes 90 damage from Panic!
AS: Persona! Eriko Kirishima has used the Recovery skill Diarama on Tsubasa Seki! AS: Take! Maya Amano takes 0 Almighty damage from Eriko Kirishima's Rakukaja. | Def_Dn removed!
<Pose Tracker> Julian Marlowe has posed.
Hey, that was a great quip, Vesper thinks, but doesn't say. At least it wasn't a terrible pun. More importantly...
Though he doesn't give too much outward indication of it, he's genuinely relieved to hear those threats to Shinobu's family weren't followed up on. "...Good. Family is a precious thing. Doing your best to safeguard it is never a wasted effort."
As for his words to Ulala... it's only natural for him to want to counsel those suffering from personal misfortune, try to help them get their life back on track. He had no idea what to expect from someone in this bizarre condition, but figured there'd be nothing to lose by at least offering a listening ear.
Clearly he was mistaken. If nothing else, he loses his composure, from being asked a question like that. Obviously there won't be a direct answer, the gentleman averting his eyes as he stammers, "Th-that... you are being most uncouth, young lady!" At least he called her young, that's a win isn't it? Turning back, he declares, "...But you're not in your right mind right now, I will not... blame you for it."
That was close. He almost said 'hold it against you'. He's seen enough to know that would have been a mistake. Perhaps he shouldn't be the one who does the talking here.
After that, he really didn't need any more embarrassment, but whatever his impression of the dance, any greater reaction fails to happen when his attention is aggressively demanded from a different direction than he was looking. Dark flames coming at him from none other than, "Akabane-san?!"
One roll out of the flames later, he is too late to anything but yell, "NO!", when he sees Phoenix's response. His, instead, is to run over to where Umie ended up, to shield her from any other such responses there might be. "Akabane-san! Are you alright?!"
He can't really afford to do more in the middle of a fight... except attempt to more actively dissuade the most certain threat. To that end, his next word is, "Raffles!" His Persona's cricket bat vanishes, shifting roles from batter to bowler as it creates an orb of darkness between its dark tendrils. With a hand gesture from Vesper, the orb is lobbed towards Ulala, exploding in a blast of dark energy on impact.
AS: Persona! Julian Marlowe has used the Dark skill Black Pitch on CD Penguin! | Defense: Julian Marlowe gains 1 Limit!
AS: Avoid Worst! CD Penguin takes 322 Dark damage from Julian Marlowe's Black Pitch. Critical Hit!
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Tamaki nods at Hyousuke. "Explanation later. You got it."
She pauses as Ogre suggests that she 'does the smart lady shit.' "I'll, uh. I'll try my best."
'But he'll be back one day right? And you'll take him back. You'll always take him back.'
Tamaki stutters out, "N-no, I've moved on. I -- " Instead, her eyes wander across the room, and her cheeks flush as they meet several faces. "I've been trying to date -- go to those goddamned mixers, a-and -- he had his chance, okay?!"
In truth, Ulala is half-right, but she's misidentified just who it actually is that she hasn't truly moved on from, who she'd take back in a heartbeat, whose bonds it is will persist. Tamaki can say that he had his chance, but she can't ever bring herself to say that other person had her chance with the same sense of finality to it. She rubs her thumb over the amber gemstones along her sabre's hilt. "Look, I've got my own struggles, I -- I told you. -- I mean, I can't tell you, but c'mon. Please believe me on this."
Together, Katsuya and Tamaki's Personas combine their strengths to form a Cherenkov Thrust and Flash Cut. While her blade may shimmer with the rainbow, it hasn't ever been quite that color before. Tamaki's mouth twitches as she tries to suppress a smirk as satisfaction wells up within her when the hits connect solidly enough to cause a Persona Break -- which swiftly vanishes when Ulala asks if she had struck a nerve. That's a 'yes.'
As she watches the salacious display of Ulala's flamenco dance, something cracks and gives way in Tamaki's heart, despite Umie's and Eriko's warnings, despite her earlier show of resolve. She finally succumbs. Tears sting her eyes as a sardonic grin spreads on her face, accompanied by a bitter chuckle. "Heh. Aheheheh. Suzuki-kun, this is the real Serizawa-san." Turning to Ulala, she starts shouting, "You -- you want to know what your problem is?!"
The kinder interpretation of Arianrhod's myth is that she places trials in front of people so that they might grow stronger from the challenge. By being deprived of their natural gifts and talents, they may seek out new ones and hone new skills, and thus emerge improved by their struggles. This is usually the portrayal which Tamaki's Persona reflects, but ...
"You just wallow in your own self-pity! You just compare yourself to others instead of really -- and I mean really asking yourself what it is that men want in a partner! Instead of asking yourself what kind of qualities you'd want in your boyfriend! You're missing the forest for the trees!" Tamaki doubles over and clutches her head in frustration. "You don't have any idea what I've had to go through! The things I can't talk about! YOU'RE invisible?! THIS is 'letting it all out?' This is NEWS to anyone with pulse and an attention span?! Don't make me laugh!"
The more uncharitable reading is that the geases that Arianrhod placed on her son were borne of pettiness and spite, revenge for burdens and embarrassments that she should never have had to bear in the first place. Right now, it's this aspect that surfaces in Tamaki, aimed squarely at Ulala.
Arianrhod menacingly holds her blade in one hand and points it at Ulala, as if issuing a challenge. "But maybe I can give you some idea." Tamaki's Persona begins to mutter dark incantations and curses, spells which bind and restrict and close off pathways and sap away strengths.
"... that's the gist of it, at least." The exertion from the attack took a lot out of her, and she slumps over as her breaths turn ragged. She looks back over at Ogre apologetically. "I don't mean to squander your help. Thanks anyway."
The weight of her own tirade begins to press down on herself even heavier. Is she really sure that anyone here's going to look at her the same way again after snapping like that?
An image of an old Shadow flickers in her memory. Can she look at herself the same way after that?
-- the tension of the moment may be undercut as it's here that Tamaki realizes just what occurred between Phoenix and Umie, and she holds up her hands placatingly towards the rocket launcher-wielding Phantom Thief as she blinks in wide-eyed terror. "Mitsuhide-san! Whoa, hey, I'm on your side, Phoenix-kun. I think she was too, ultimately, just." Tamaki glances over at Eriko. "It's ... complicated."
AS: Persona! Tamaki Uchida has used the Almighty skill Threefold Tynghedau on CD Penguin! | Tamaki Uchida takes 45 damage from Stress! | Ruin: Tamaki Uchida gains 1 Limit!
AS: Avoid Worst! CD Penguin takes 0 Almighty damage from Tamaki Uchida's Threefold Tynghedau. | Charm (Attacker or Ally takes Damage!), Pain (Attacker takes damage on healing and PL 0 attacks!), and Poison (Damage on end of turn!) added!
<Pose Tracker> CD Penguin has posed.
"Cow~ard~" Ulala says to Julian, as he stammers over the results of the contest. "Hehehe- the winner is obvious, right? You can't even hide it by being the gentleman."
Indeed, Tamaki stammers- says she's going on dates, "Soon it'll be speed dating." She agrees with her as if it's the logical next step, "Then, when even someone like Maki~chan~ looks like a catch- that's when your ex? Will look like a Prince-"
Ogre points out that men notice her and it's not that great. "HahahahaHAHAHAHA-" She laughs uproariously, "-you think I haven't already learned that lesson!? You even brought Ma~ki~chan over there! The guy who scammed me out of everything I was saving up for my wedding!"
Makimura tries to make himself as small as possible in this moment, for obvious reasons.
Ulala puts a hand on her hip, grinning at Ogre, "Come on then. Tell me how I should wait- when all the great guys my age are already married- and the ones who aren't, are just like him!"
Ririka says they'll figure it out. However, is there more of an explanation than the rumor itself? Rumors come true in Sumaru City, after all.
Hyousuke, curses her, telling her he doesn't like to listen to anyone yapping in a fight, "Hahaha-HAHAHAHA! What makes you think I'm not her! What else would I be? Just because I'm not so nice and demure - just because I'm not your type- you think I'm possessed by something evil." Ulala Serizawa grins far too wide as she leans forward towards him, "But it's just me."
Shinobu's stick fighting skills begin to drive her back at first, before Ulala manages a clumsy haymaker in riposte, "Hahaha- and what does that look like?" She grins at Shinobu, "You're not really selling the spinster lifestyle all that well, Shimizu-san."
Then she gets you know, hit by a Rocket Launcher, which sends her flying against one of the heavy bags in the room, which burst, spilling their sand on the ground.
Then she slowly drags herself up, brushing off sand, and puts her dukes back up looking a little dazed, "Me neither, hehehe-I didn't hear a bell."
'so maybe look at things from another ANGLER~!'
"HEhehehe-AHAHAHA!" Wait is she laughing at Shizuka's pun, "I'm going to enjoy smashing your face is so much."
Maybe things would be better if they would, as three huge boulders suddenly cascade down, and the Joker Persona is forced to interpose itself, getting battered again and again trying to shove them away.
'you should at least acknowledge that you have qualities others want, too!'
"Ma~ya~ if that were true. Then tell me one thing." She grins at her, with those ruby red lips, "Who wants them? Guys our age can't look past one thing. Can't be the wife if I can't even get to girlfriend."
'Katsuya-san isn't even interested in me anyway! Right?'
'Let's hear it from his mouth! What do you say- Off~i~cer~?'
'That's--' For once, Ulala is silent, just a grinning effigy, waiting for his answer, '... That's right,' "Pfft-hahahaha! And they say De-Nile isn't just a river in Ejiputo!" She cracks up, but doesn't actually press the point home further. "It's okay Off~i~cer~! If you're not ready - I don't mind being the consolation prize. I'm used to it!"
Eriko asks a sad question in whether she honestly thinks she's below her. Whether she's below everyone here...
"HeheheheheHEHEHE- do you really even have to ask? Remember-! I'm Christmas Cake in three days. Happy~Birthday~to~me~!"
How terribly sad, that whatever is doing this to her, forces her to laugh at her life, her own self-loathing, like it was all some stupid- joke.
An Orb of Darkness careens into her in that moment, from Raffles, exploding upon impact, as she vanishes. And when she reappears, her skin seems if anything even paler, her breathing growing harder, raspy.
Tamaki begins letting her have it, emotionally. "Hehehe- that's why I like you, Tama~chan~" Serizawa says with a grin, "You're willing to kick a girl when she's down- just to avoid coming to the conclusion you already know-"
She looks on her last legs, when Arianrhod afflicts her with those curses. "Here~I~come~" She rasps, "JO-"
Then it's like something in her just seizes up. Her body spasming with pain, as the manifold curses finally overwhelm the last of her endurance. Ulala makes one final rasping breath- that sounds nearly agonal, before she falls, heavily to the floor. There is a sensation in the air like something has departed- a foul miasma, in a sense.
For now.
Her skin gains its normal color again, her eyes become more visible again but glassy as she looks up, punch drunk. Have they done it?
Unfortunately, not yet.
The navigators sense it first. The Curse is still with her. It's not completely gone. Whatever just happened, Ulala Serizawa is in control of her senses. However, they can already feel it building inside. It's only a matter of time before it reemerges- as violent and terrible as ever.
"Uhhh..." She groans, before looking at Maya, "... sorry... Maya... I was drunk... when I cursed you... I can barely even remember doing it." Tears spring to her eyes, "When I woke up after- I thought it was just a bad dream."
There's a self-loathing dripping off of every word, "I'm such a failure... I did so many things trying to... improve myself. Took classes, obtained licenses... And I saw you over there- it just felt like you had everything I ever wanted. Sorry... Maya. You were always my best friend- and I was always... a fool."
Youichi Makimura has been trying to stay out of this since it began, in the hopes that she wouldn't notice him, while focused on Maya, but now?
Now he implores the whole group to one end.
"H-Hey! What are you doing? Don't just stand there! You have to finish her off now! You saw what she was like! It was pure evil. If you let her off - she's going to kill someone!" As he turns to Katsuya in particular, for emphasis, "Officer! Do your job and protect the public!"
He then glances towards Phoenix, "Although, we already saw that a gun probably won't be enough. Say--"
He certainly is looking at the Rocket Launcher pretty pointedly.
<Pose Tracker> Ichika Kawase has posed.
Ulala's already seen it. Ogre steps back. "That's..." Of course she'd laugh; of course Makimura got her first. But when she grins, Ogre says, "I don't--"
Shinobu is the one who says it; fight just to be taken seriously... and then settling down. Ogre is already on the back foot emotionally here, but that resonates with her, too. 'Practice'...
Maybe it's not just about how careers are given up. But she hears how Phoenix reacts to what Ulala says, too, and winces behind her mask. She hates to hear them treated that way--hates to see them feel so awful. And that talk of third wheels...
Eriko counters with how she's weird, and that's her 'true self', and Ogre actually grins at her. "Fair enough!" she says. "Keep bein' weird, then!" And Tamaki, uh... Well. Ogre has no answer to that. But... They aren't that hopeless, Shinobu says, and others. And she's still fighting, too. "Not just ugly," Ogre tells Phoenix. "Ugly, yeah. But beautiful, too. People are... a lot, on the inside. You know, right? ...Because we know. You're my guy."
But that message delivered, she hears Eriko, sees Umie go down in flames. Then she grits her teeth. "I don't think it was her fault!" Ogre calls to Phoenix. "Akabane, I mean! I think it's just something the Joker does to you!" 'Help' Phoenix asks...
She calls to Eriko, "Everybody's a little fucked up right now! I got her, lay off!" Umie, that is. Ogre's got Umie. Ripping off her mask once more, Ogre summons Momiji--to heal Umie from her crashed-out status. "Up you go! We'll sort you!"
But Ogre... doesn't really know what to do with the adult romance drama before her. She is even less sure to do with the fallen Ulala, who explains. Ogre can't sense that she's still the Joker--but that self-loathing...
"Serizawa-san..."
She starts to say something--but then--'Finish her off'. "YOU!" Ogre roars, throwing away her shield (it disappears) and stalking towards him. "You asshole! You're the one who should be 'finished off'! Men like you, who take advantage of--"
The Rocket Launcher.
"You--!" Ogre's hand snaps out to grab Makimura by the collar.
AS: Persona! Ichika Kawase has used the Recovery skill Recarm on Umie Akabane! | Support: Ichika Kawase gains 1 Limit!
AS: Ichika Kawase has no more TP available for healing! AS: Take! Umie Akabane takes 0 Recovery healing from Ichika Kawase's Recarm. AS: Umie Akabane has no more TP available for healing!
<Pose Tracker> Tsubasa Seki has posed.
Alas and alack, Phoenix is too angry to realise that Katsuya is caught in the world's most uncomfortable revelation.
You see, they have to deal with their own.
Because Umie's swallowed by that same explosion, and something in their hindbrain processes the damage done by landing on those dumbbells, just like Ulala hitting that punching bag, blunt trauma, batter the body, good --
-- wait --
As if through deep water, they hear the voice of the woman who healed them moments prior. Their eyes widen, beneath their mask; that massive rocket launcher tumbles from their shoulder to the ground beside them.
"She... she attacked me," did Phoenix see that as Umie's power, in that moment, Badb's song still ringing in their ears? "An'... an' I..." They hear Tamaki pleading reason alongside her, those wide eyes snapping to her as they try to explain, "I wasn't thinkin', uh..." Their voice grows thinner, more stressed, as their palms hit the ground and their head bows. "Ogre! Help...!"
They're not asking her to help them.
But they can't fix the problems they make on their own.
Right now, all they can think about is how Ogre's guy... is the kind of violent prick who'd blow up someone forced to hit them, just because their first instinct is to bash back.
"Th' bell..."
Why don't they ever hear it ringing?
Seized by that horror and doubt, there's no more violence they can raise against Ulala... but it might have been a mercy, in the end, because the pain which wracks Ulala's body stops her first. They listen to her regret, still crouched on the gym floor.
"... guess you never said nothin' when you was doin' all that shit to make up for it, huh," they say, without meeting her eyes.
... unempathetic as they've been, do they really not get what it's like for Ulala at all?
Makimura's panicking, and Phoenix shakes their head. "Hey, uh... I was lyin' when I was trickin' ya back here, but... I get it. You don't wanna die. Ain't oughta. Bein' a shithead... ain't a killin' offence. Jus'... fuckin' up... that ain't oughta get ya dead either."
Drawing a breath, they stand, stowing that FUCKING ROCKET LAUNCHER! in their feather cape as they slouch over to put a hand on Ogre's arm -- between all those spikes. "Yeah?" They ask, still clearly disturbed, as they try to intercede on her anger. "Ain't it like that for us?"
Aren't they better than going that far?
<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.
Relief pours over Maya as Ulala's face regains its usual luster. Everything that just happened and everything happening right now flies out of Maya's area of focus. There's only one thing in her line of vision: her best friend.
Maya rushes to Ulala's side and wraps her arms around her. Even if she knew the Curse was still inside of Ulala, that wouldn't stop her.
"I'm sorry, Ulala... I didn't notice you felt this way." They were best friends, right? So shouldn't she have been able to notice it? Maybe she wasn't as good of a friend to Ulala as she had ought to be.
"I promise I'll be a better friend to you."
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Hyousuke comments it's building up to something big. "I know! Just-- I'm doing what I can."
But once she's free from navigating the fusion spell, she looks to Moriko. "You can't just-- take people apart and put them back together, though!"
Girls having to be nice and polite and demure is kind of bullshit. Ririka agrees with that... but this isn't the way to course correct on that.
But with everyone's efforts, Ulala collapses. There's a miasma, but Ririka lets out a tense breath. "Okay, maybe... maybe we can stop and think..."
She frowns, focuses her senses on Ulala. No, that strange, uncomfortable feeling is still crawling in her ear. "... she's still cursed, or... whatever it is," Ririka reports quietly. "I think she's in control, but... it's already getting louder again-- I mean, growing stronger."
She turns and stares at Makimura as he implores them to kill her. "Okay, you can shut up now. If you'd been a more decent person you wouldn't be wrapped up in this, so you're the last person who gets to decide anything here."
But she turns back to Ulala and takes a cautious step closer. "I don't know if this will help, but... Amphion, play something soothing." The Persona starts to play, while Ririka keeps studying the Resonance. And she'll see if she can try to push back against the curse, to give Ulala some peace before that Joker takes over again.
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
Something catastrophic has just happened because of Umie's possession by the Joker Persona, but in the moment, Katsuya's whole world might as well just include him, Joker Ulala, and Maya Amano.
One of these people is now taunting him after his answer to her.
Katsuya, for all his pains looks desperate as Ulala remarks that (more or less) 'denial isn't just a river in Egypt'. "Serizawa-kun, you've got it all wrong! It's not like that--"
He's, he's not that transparent about it, is he?? And he's only just realized!
This is bad. This is terribly bad.
Shaking his head, he forces himself to focus on her, on the struggle that's still ongoing. Just now it seems like she's about to temporarily pass on the curse, but--
--But Tamaki's faster.
And Eriko is right. This is a sort of 'possession', something that fades as Ulala collapses, falling to the ground. "Serizawa-kun! Are you--"
There on the floor of the boxing gym, she sobs as she expresses her regrets, the depths of her own self-loathing, and of course, her envy of Maya.
He looks away. It's not his place to forgive her. It's in the silence that follows that Katsuya realizes that someone who should be here isn't here. That in fact, Baofu hasn't been here this entire time. When did he...?
Before he can dwell on this mystery, though, Makimura turns to him and tells him to do his job.
To do the thing he'd very purposefully been trying to avoid this entire altercation. "...You--" he starts, his expression in this very moment unreadable.
Ogre intrudes, grabbing the man by the collar.
"Nice try," says a voice from the doorway. "...That's what you want to happen. If she dies, all the evidence against you dies with her. Do you think we're idiots...?"
There's no mistaking the expression on Katsuya's face now. He moves sharply towards Makimura, fury written across his face. "You bastard--"
Baofu is faster than him.
"Hold it, kid," says Baofu, looking at Ichika through dark, impenetrable lenses as he takes hold of her wrist and tries to ease her hand free of Makimura's collar. "Leave this one to me." Ever so slightly, he smiles like a cat that got the cream. "...Assault's a crime, and I wouldn't want you to get in trouble..."
He then slugs Makimura, right in the face.
<Pose Tracker> Moriko Kumamoto has posed.
Moriko glances back and says, "I'm not being literal Kawase." She wobbles her hand, "Figuratively speaking anyone that's that bad off has to hit the ground before you can fix the problem right?"
As for nice and demure and all that, Moriko's already brushing against the grain. That she's found places elsehwere helps at least.
She points, "Taht creepy feeling aside, this isn't that far off from that, is it?" Taking a moment to tap the polearm butt against the ground, then she tries to organize her thoughts. Frowning. though, those thoughts are interrupted by Makimura talking. "You should probably shut up." Keeping it short and simple at this point.
The admission to cursing a friend, even while drunk gets an almost sad look. She doesn't really know how to broach that at all. She couldn't imagine herself doing it, but she's seen those kind of dark moments.
She brushes her skirt, turns away and tries to sort out what needs to be done. Like the mechanic she sort of tries to present herself as.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
'They don't even trust you, Umie-chan. They don't know you, like I do.'
A child's fingers run through Umie's hair gently as the blonde rests prone in a perfect void, at peace. 'But It's alright. I'm always here for you.' Long hair drapes over Umie's face at impossible angles, overwhelming the blonde hairs until it disappears.
Dark eyelashes twitch and open slowly, sensing distant sounds of people calling. Arguments, yelling. Confusion. Apologies. Crying. Frustration. Resolution.
So noisy. So messy. Getting louder and louder, pulling on strings in Umie's heart that had only strengthened in the half year or so.
'No matter what, your heart still belongs to me.'
---------
There are some very cool silhouettes in front of her.
".... Vesper-san... looking cool..." Umie grumbles as Ichika's magic brings her back. "... is it over, or do I... gotta get back up?"
Dark eyes flicker underneath heavy eyelashes, towards Tamaki and Eriko.
She tries to consider the consequences of getting up.
...... then she sees Katsuya slug Makimura across the face, and the Badb in her just starts hopping and cawing with glee.
"... That's it..." Umie weakly encourages, with a Badb's smile. "Fuck that guy..."
<Pose Tracker> Julian Marlowe has posed.
As rattled as he was just now, being called a coward doesn't phase Vesper at all. That's preaching to the choir of little voices in Julian's head. Another one of those is saying that not being able to have this conversation makes him a failure at his day job, too. But he's not about to let any of that show. Which is easy when most of your face is hidden behind a mask. And you were raised to keep your emotions in check.
The moment it's clear that the battle is over, Vesper is back to his usual calm appearance, even when looking back to the fallen, but still breathing Umie. That's where he keeps his attention, leaving the more personal matters to those directly involved. "Yes, well... no hard feelings," he mumbles, almost inaudibly. He can say that much for himself, turning his head to Phoenix to add, a little louder, "We all make mistakes. Thankfully, this was not one that cannot be put to rights."
Ogre handles one part of that equation. He won't further involve himself with what happens after Umie regains consciousness, just chuckling at her comment while he steps back. Then, at the opportune moment where everyone's attention is elsewhere (possibly beating a poor excuse for a human being half to death), they may at best picture a dotted outline where Vesper once stood. Typical!
<Pose Tracker> Shizuka Kuroki has posed.
Shizuka stands there, panting as Ulala crashes out. The cortisol is starting to overpower the adrenaline again and her face is starting to hurt. Legs too. Oop, there they go. She slides down to her knees with a ragged sigh, followed by a weak laugh.
"Hahahaha... I made her laugh, at least! ...I'm so damn tired... I wanna go to bed... Rika-chaaaaaan... Riko-chaaan..."
Part of her wanted to join in and kick Makimura's ass for causing all this trouble, but she could barely stand, let alone raise a fist. Maybe Sanada-san could help her endurance...
<Pose Tracker> CD Penguin has posed.
"Eeeep-!" Makimura makes a small squeal as Ogre picks him up, "U-Uh- hey babe- chill it's- I get that her sob story sound real convincing, but you saw the things she did, right?"
He puts up his palms as if in a gesture of appeasement as Phoenix is charitable to him.
"Y-Yeah- listen to her- I mean him! I mean- I'm just scared, that's all."
Ulala doesn't seem to even be pleading her case not to be killed. After all, she's in that place of self-loathing.
If they killed her, she'd think it'd be entirely fair.
"Maya it's... you don't have anything to apologize for... you're..."
Pause.
"... you're you. It's like you're the Moon- so bright, that you're all anyone can look at in the sky. And I'm just one of a million-million stars. It's not like I ever told you I felt like this... I just get- stupid when we're both drunk and... I'm taking you home after you pass out."
She closes her eyes, but still is obviously crying despite herself, as she sniffs.
"The stupidest."
In the background, Ulala doesn't even notice it when Baofu slugs Makimura- so that Katsuya doesn't have to do it. Calls him out for wanting her dead so they can't prosecute him for his scams.
"MOFFER-" Makimura exclaims as he gets slugged in the face, "-not the face... ish my livelihood." As his face quickly starts to swell, it's fairly obvious that Baofu PROBABLY broke his jaw.
This is for the best, for everyone involved, since every word coming out of this guy's mouth tends to make people feel like they have to take a shower.
Yet all the same, he glares at Katsuya.
"Y-Yur jush gonna look the otha-way- officer?!"
It's only now that Ulala seems to notice the argument there, long enough to softly say in an attempt to defuse things between everyone, "W...Wait... he's right..."
<Pose Tracker> Shinobu Shimizu has posed.
Shinobu starts pushing her back - but Ulala still gets her hits in. Shinobu grits her teeth as Ulala retaliates with a haymaker, if a clumsy one. She massages her jaw.
"Yeah, well... It'd be a lie to say it's a walk in the park." Shinobu admits. "Beats acting like I'm something I'm not, though."
She also watches as Phoenix blasts Ulala - and also Umie with a rocket launcher. She opens her mouth to say something - but it looks like Ogre's got it.
Finally, with one set of triple curses... Ulala's strength gives out and she collapses. Shinobu waits, tense.
"...Is she alright...?" Shinobu asks - and exhales, when Ulala speaks. The curse is still with her, Ririka says... but she seems a little more like herself. Shinobu rests her staff on her shoulder.
...She was drunk when it happened, huh... Shinobu massages the back of her neck.
"...Musta been a bad night." Shinobu offers. "Sorry you went through that, Serizawa. ...I get what it's like to feel directionless."
She doesn't say more than that, though - this moment is between Ulala and Maya.
...Fortunately, Makimura draws her attention. 'Finish her off'?
"...The hell'd you say?" Shinobu seethes. She slams her staff downward with a 'crack' against the gym floor, letting it clatter to the ground before turning her eyes on him. "You wanna see 'pure evil', look in a mirror. You lie to women as easily as you breathe, take 'em for all they're worth, and leave 'em in the dirt. How many has it been? Do you even remember?"
Ogre grabs Makimura's collar - and a voice from the doorway gives context to Makimura's words. Shinobu looks at Baofu, then looks at Makimura, still held by Ogre.
Ah. So it was self-interest.
There's a complete lack of surprise on Shinobu's face. There wouldn't be a place for it anyway, amidst the smoldering rage.
Shinobu stalks toward him. And as she does - Baofu prevents Katsuya from committing assault, slugging Makimura in the face in his place.
Well, she'd hate to ruin his livelihood, as he complains about... so in her infinite mercy, Shinobu winds up to plant a fist into his gut instead.
"Just shut your mouth and stay down." She hisses - then backs up, raising her hands.
"...Sorry, Sergeant. If you need to cuff me too, I get it." She apologises. The only thing she's sorry for is possibly making more work for him.
She looks toward Ulala then, with a frown - and then a sigh. She turns away.
"...What do we do now...?" She murmurs.
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Umie stirs. "I think it's over. Take a breather if you have to. I might take a seat there in a few moments, myself, given how beat I'm feeling." She wonders: Umie didn't hear any of that earlier, did she?
All Tamaki has to offer Makimura is a coldly stated, "... she's not pure evil. Not any more than you or me."
That doesn't mean that she doesn't give a wan smile when Baofu pops him one. When he glances at Katsuya, Tamaki pre-emptively offers, "Ah, don't look at me, I'm just an apprentice PI. I'm not even law enforcement."
<Pose Tracker> Eriko Kirishima has posed.
Eriko's eyes flit quickly, from Tamaki to Ulala, the venom flying freely, violently, viciously. Ulala may be taken by her shadow, but that doesn't excuse her from the pain that's being forcibly ripped out of Tamaki. She knew things were rough since Tadashi, but...
Eriko finds herself moving quickly to take advantage of the fact that Tamaki has planting a hand on Tamaki's shoulder with, perhaps, a little too much force. "...Tamaki, it's over, okay?" Her voice is soft and gentle. Soothing. Calming. "...I'm not going to say she doesn't deserve it right now, but... we've done what we came here to do, okay?"
Her eyes cast to Ogre- who at least rushes to mend Phoenix's mistake. And in all likelihood, it was a mistake.
It's just a mistake with a rocket launcher tends to be a dangerous mistake to make. At least, as Phoenix withdraws and starts to calm down, Eriko is prepared to lay off and focus on her friend.
She casts a look over to Umie (or Mitsuhide, whoops, she forgot about the whole masked identity thing). "Are you alright? Can you stand?"
That said, she's not moving on from Tamaki yet, and a little more quietly, she whispers to her friend. "...Are you okay?" She asks, not quite a repetition. Ulala's words must have hurt, and hurt badly.
Still, she raises an eyebrow as Baofu emerges from wherever the fuck he went off to, stopping Katsuya and Ichika both.
Well, even if Umie can't stand, she's at least conscious enough to enjoy Baofu's intervention.
"...Only one, Mr Baofu?" Eriko says, after a moment, as Makimura is sent sprawling. Eriko does not- as tempted as she is- walk over and finish Makimura for the good of women everywhere. But she does pull out her flip phone. It's the new model from one of the Nanjo subsidiaries. With a really good camera.
"Say cheese," Eriko says, in English, before snapping a shot with her camera. Did she aim the flash for his eyes? No one will ever know.
"It would be a shame if this photo of a serial marriage scam artist ended up on the net, wouldn't it, Mr Makimura? It would be a shame if every woman in Sumaru and beyond knew about everything you did? You'll find the court of public approval much less forgiving than the courts of Japan." Eriko smirks. "Consider this your warning." She looks to Phoenix and Ogre- they're tired, it's probably dirty play right now to extract an answer, even though she's curious. "...Unless, of course, you are planning to intervene? I'm sure none of us would object to Mr Makimura having a change of heart."
The bigger problem, remains, however.
Ulala might be in control of herself, a sniffling wreck, but...
Shinobu asks what should be done, and Eriko looks over to her. "...I don't think Ms Serizawa is out of the woods yet." Eriko says, a little quietly. "We don't know if that Persona will reemerge. We... might need to speak to someone more knowledgeable on Personas than mere humans. Maybe Igor will know what to do." Eriko pauses. "...The nearest door I know of is across the way, at the mall. Do you think you can carry Ms Ulala, Mr Suou?"
Why not ask Baofu to do it?
Well, one, she doesn't think he should really be touching a woman with the way he acts. The second is more practical: it's really hard for Katsuya to arrest anyone if he's handling Ulala.
[OOC] Umie Akabane says, "bluray: then she sees Baofu* slug Makimura across the face"
<Pose Tracker> Tamaki Uchida has posed.
Eriko can feel that Tamaki's body is rigid and tense. She nods, slowly at first. "Yeah. Yeah, I said my piece. I figured that would be the end of it, one way or another. I was expecting to be struck down for my hubris, but it worked out."
She meant what she had said earlier to Makimura about how Ulala wasn't pure evil. If anything, she's doing her best to not let her self-loathing get to her. As to whether she's okay or not, she freezes. "Uh -- probably more than Serizawa, honestly." That's not a 'no', but it's a low bar to crawl over.
Moments ago, she had complained about feeling invisible, but it does strike her that this isn't the first time Eriko has taken notice.
" -- wait, the Velvet Room?" Eriko's suggestion causes Tamaki's eyebrows to shoot up in mild alarm. "I mean -- sure. I should -- I should go in there more often than I have, really. As long as I don't have to talk to the piano player."
<Pose Tracker> Katsuya Suou has posed.
Any questions Katsuya might have had about where Baofu was and what he was doing wither and die on the vine between the man's reappearance and the statement that getting them to kill Ulala was just the sort of thing that Makimura would prefer, anyway.
Also, the part where Baofu slugs him and maybe breaks his jaw. That swelling doesn't look good. He still rounds on Makimura all the same as the man staggers, moaning about the hurt he's just received. Shinobu follows up with a strike to the stricken man's gut; Baofu makes no move to stop her.
Is Katsuya just going to look the other way? As an officer, he ought to hold up the law.
"I should--" Katsuya starts, making a fist with his left hand.
But Ulala speaks up and here Katsuya looks at her and notices that Maya has gone to her side. Forgiven her for this, it seems.
'Wait, he's right', she had just said. Katsuya takes a breath and relaxes his left hand. He instead glowers at Makimura. "...You should thank her," he tells Makimura. "If I ever see your face again after this, I will personally hunt you down!"
Eriko calls out, then, offering a very particular course of action.
"To the Velvet Room...? I see," he says, pulling away from the injured Makimura. "Then, we should hurry. But you are sure about that and not a hospital...?"
Baofu shakes his head, abandoning Makimura to Shinobu and possibly Ichika's mercy. "It's like a Persona, right...? There's no doctor that can help her. It'll have to be 'there'..."