2026-09-25: Ignition
- Log: Ignition
- Cast: Hana Fukami, Shadow Bar-a, Goro Akechi, Ren Amamiya, Shinobu Shimizu, Ririka Kawase, Hibari Aoki, Maya Amano, Futaba Sakura, Umie Akabane, Katsuko Yoshinaga, Julian Marlowe
- Where: Red Light District - Main
- OOC Date: September 25, 2026
- IC Date: January 15, 2013
- Summary: The time of the final confrontation is nigh: Producer Matsumoto has arranged all his remaining defenses in an effort to draw in and crush the Rebel Union once and for all. The Will of Rebellion sparks into a fire--or dies out forever. Combat scene, and the finale of Hana's Kingdom: Studio 4. CWs: Transphobia, violence.
(|======================== Red Light District - Main =========================|)
-===================================================== Tokyo/Shinjuku Ward ====-
It's said if you go out the wrong side of Shinjuku Station, you lose a whole
day. Go out the correct side though, and you still might find yourself on the
wrong side of town. Even walking into Shinjuku's Red Light District subjects you
to endless barkers and touts, looking for opportunities to pull tourists and
young women alike into places where they might get scammed and exploited by the
predators of this place.
Neon signs glare offering disorienting guidance to businesses stacked upon one
another. All the vices of the city are available in smoky bars where one might
forget their dreams at the bottom of a glass, or take offers of companionship in
shady host or hostesses clubs.
Be careful. As smart as you are, wiser people than you have lost everything
here.
AS: Shinobu Shimizu has readied for combat as Lachesis! She is now fully healed! AS: Katsuko Yoshinaga has readied for combat as Edmond Dantes! She is now fully healed! AS: Hibari Aoki has readied for combat as Danzaburou! She is now fully healed! AS: Umie Akabane has readied for combat as Badb! She is now fully healed! AS: Maya Amano has readied for combat as Maia! She is now fully healed! AS: Hibari Aoki has readied for combat as Danzaburou! She is now fully healed! AS: Futaba Sakura has readied for combat as Necronomicon! She is now fully healed! AS: Ririka Kawase has readied for combat as Amphion! She is now fully healed! AS: Goro Akechi has readied for combat as Robin Hood! He is now fully healed! AS: Ren Amamiya has readied for combat as Arsène! He is now fully healed! AS: Hana Fukami has readied for combat as Lady Rokujo! She is now fully healed! <Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
Up here on the top floor, it's luxurious. Wood-paneled walls, fine carpeting, windows that look out over the whole Studio kingdom... And all sorts of art. Busts of powerful men on pillars; paintings of movies and shows created by the Producer. The chamber is largely open, but for a large desk in the far corner, with all of these objects to serve as cover or other purposes. ...And the lighting is great. More to the point, the hall behind with the elevator is clear, and this chamber is large enough for everyone.
The strategy worked perfectly. The Produer's office was mapped out--his forces fell under the power of the Rebels and the supplies the Persona-users assembled gave them. That leaves the Producer himself...
The Producer is a towering green man in a dark suit, black with a white shirt and a gold tie. it's an old-fashioned cut. In this world, he's used to getting what he wants even more than in the real world, ruling the Studio with an iron fist. And here?
"You! You, the one who's been giving me so much trouble! HOW DARE YOU!"
Kato steps up. "It's over, Producer Matsumoto. We're taking the studio back from you." Captain Kato remains a broad, muscular man--and suddenly, Hana looks over at him in wonder. "You..."
Kato plants a flag in the ground, shining and glorious, and the Producer stumbles back. "Aaagh!"
Hana steps up with him. "You should never have threatened the people I care about. I could've forgiven it, if it were just messing with me... But no more."
"You're a joke! A washout! I fired you, and you should be satisfied with that!"
"But i'm not," Hana answers. "It's over!"
"No! No! Nooooooo!" calls the Producer... and then he starts melting, falling to the ground as his Cognition unravels.
There is a shudder in the world, and a pop. Suddenly...
Hatching out of the Producer's husk as if a chick from an egg, a woman with purple-black hair and bright yellow eyes rises. She's dressed in a fine black suit, just like the Producer's, with a green tie--but this one is tailored to her body. She looks good--but some might be alarmed by the studded fingerless gloves she wears with the suit.
Her golden eyes flash. "I am you, Hana Fukami. ...Or was it Touri, still? It looks like you've decided, but you're still going halfway." She smiles, sickle-sharp. "But you know the truth. Playing around in this little Kingdom is one thing, but in the real world...?"
"You're afraid. You don't know what to do about his blackmail attempts. And in the end... You know you have to pick. Being a man was fine enough; it let you get respect. But if you're going to be a woman, you have to go all the way--and you have to keep acting like one. None of this playing around with women. Settle down with Teruo, be a good girl, and play your part in the system. ...Or go back, and forget about all this. Keep your life as it was."
"...You... Aaaagh--" Hana doubles over suddenly, with the force of her emotions--but before anyone can go to help her, she throws out an arm, bracelet clacking on her wrist. "No--I--"
"I remember," Hana says, and looks up at her Shadow. "I remember everything." She curls her hand into a fist. "...No. The world is unjust. If that woman has to suffer in a world like this... if I can't love freely... If these people are wrong--"
"Then I don't wnat to be 'right'! I'll fight you, even if I don't know how!"
Captain Kato shines, and turns to Hana. "Ah," he says. "So that's how it is... You're finally ready." He smiles, and pats the flagpole. "I'm proud of you, Hana-chan. I always knew you could do it. Now... Let's get going!"
Light shines so brightly that it's impossible to see anything for a moment--and when the light fades, Hana and Kato are both gone. Instead, a woman in white and blue stands facing off against the Shadow. Her wooden mask is stylized after a Noh Hannya mask, though it only covers her eyes and mouth, with golden circles for the eyes. Her clothes are stylish, a short dress under a long coat, with twin fans and twin pistols at her hips. She has knee-high boots, and her coat is edged in fur.
She pulls one of her guns, and aims it at the Shadow. "For Hana... for Touri, too. We won't give up!"
<Pose Tracker> Shadow Bar-a has posed.
"And what's this?" Shadow Fukami asks, as the masked Hana takes the field. "Don't give me that look. If you want to prove you're really a woman, go ahead! Do it now!" Shadow Fukami crows, as she spreads her hands. "You should know the role off by heart... 'women are caretakers, and men go to war!' I'll expect the same from you as any wife: 'Support those around you'! Go on... I'll give you an 'extra shot', just so long as you withstand my stunning introduction!"
The spotlight falls on her, as she twirls, her voice going to an ultra-cute register -- a Shadowed mockery of typical polite and approachable female speech. It's just one extra barb she's throwing at the retreating Hana, knowing how 'that woman' is Yua... even before one gets to broadcast expectations. "Hiiii~! Transformed Woman Hana-chan will present for you today! Oh, what stories will we hear?! Hana-chan just can't wait! Tell me something good, okay? All the housewives of Japan are really counting on you...!"
She throws her arms out, as to embrace you all... but it's the light of Maragilao, shining down from a dozen more spotlights, which curls around your skin.
The last of those spotlights lingers on the woman they do not know as Hana, goading her to pick a side... even though it's Shadow Fukami wearing the tie which tips her costume from 'butch' to 'cross-dressing'.
Those spotlights escalate matters sharply -- and dozens of Security Legionaries pour into the hall leading to the elevator, trying to catch you in a pincer attack. A few members of your company will have to make the decision to thwart Shadow Fukami's backup rather than fight her directly -- amongst them, Phoenix, Ogre, and Queen, who nod sharply to Joker when they're assigned to defence and urge their team to count on them before they slip out the doors.
... Isabeau Fontaine, as it happens, was late to the assault thanks to working alone, and so she got caught in that upwards flood of Legionaries before she could even reach the elevator. She'll be fine on her own, but she definitely won't get here on time -- and other latecomers will experience similar teeth-gnashing frustrations as every threat in the Kingdom starts fighting.
AS: Shadow Bar-a has readied for combat as Shadow Fukami! They is now fully healed! Ready for 11 opponents! AS: Persona! Shadow Bar-a has used the Fire skill Maragilao on Julian Marlowe, Futaba Sakura, Umie Akabane, and Maya Amano! | Pressure: Shadow Bar-a gains 1 Limit!
AS: Persona! Shadow Bar-a has used the Fire skill Maragilao on Shinobu Shimizu, Goro Akechi, Hibari Aoki, and Katsuko Yoshinaga! AS: Persona! Shadow Bar-a has used the Fire skill Maragilao on Ririka Kawase, Ren Amamiya, and Hana Fukami! AS: Persona! Shadow Bar-a has used the Recovery skill Tarukaja on Shadow Bar-a! AS: Bomb (Attacker takes damage on damaging attacks!) applied to Hana Fukami! AS: Shadow Bar-a spends Limit on Shift! Hana Fukami can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Block Neutral! Ririka Kawase takes 62 Fire damage from Shadow Bar-a's Maragilao. | Haze (Physical and Block Penalized!) added! AS: Avoid Worst! Hana Fukami takes 230 Fire damage from Shadow Bar-a's Maragilao. Critical Hit! | Haze (Physical and Block Penalized!) added!
AS: Block Neutral! Shinobu Shimizu takes 68 Fire damage from Shadow Bar-a's Maragilao. AS: Counter Best! Goro Akechi takes 68 Fire damage from Shadow Bar-a's Maragilao. | COUNTER! Shadow Bar-a takes 130 Pierce damage in return for their attack! CRITICAL COUNTER!
AS: Counter Worst! Umie Akabane takes 181 Fire damage from Shadow Bar-a's Maragilao. Critical Hit! | COUNTER! Shadow Bar-a takes 27 Fire damage in return for their attack! Resist!
AS: Avoid Worst! Maya Amano takes 204 Fire damage from Shadow Bar-a's Maragilao. Weak! | Haze (Physical and Block Penalized!) added!
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
That look. Snow stands strong despite the taunting, though the flames will be as difficult. A powerful attack sees Snow disappear against one of the objects of art with a crash and a clatter.
BGM Interrupt: Ironspy - Splashdown https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0e223ADJAJE
"Women, men..." Snow rises from the flames, calling out, "And everyone else! We can all do more than we're told! And I'll take anything you throw at me!" She grits her teeth. "...Even a terrible performance like that."
She looks behind for a moment, suddenly, as the Legionnaires flood in, and as Phantoms and others rush back to hold them off. "No!" she calls, because she didn't even know about these additional forces, couldn't account for them--
But they took down the Producer already. "...We can do this!" Snow calls, turning back towards the Shadow. "Follow me!"
She takes a breath, and time seems to slow for her, her hand rising as if in slow motion, though it looks like a smooth and rapid motion to everyone else. She takes hold of her mask.
"I am thou," she hears in her mind. "Thou art I..." No one else hears it but her.
"If you truly wish to seize freedom... Then grasp it with your own hands! Take 'justice' as your own!"
Time catches up; she rips off her mask in a flash of blood and seething blue light. "PERSONA!"
A shadowy figure in a beautiful snowflake kimono spins into existence, wearing a broken Hannya mask. The sharp teeth, weeping expression, and horns of the mask shine in the mist. Her clawed hands rise as she casts--
For a moment, it looks as if Snow will obey the stricture, as Lady Rokujo casts forth a sinking wave of diminishment to the Shadow. Only a moment, though, as after that the shadow whips her hand forward and the a rush of icy wind crashes towards the Shadow, jagged snowflake edges striking!
"I know how to bend the rules--and I'm going to break them when I want to!"
AS: Persona! Hana Fukami has used the Almighty skill Submission on Shadow Bar-a! | Ruin: Hana Fukami gains 1 Limit!
AS: Persona! Hana Fukami has used the Water skill Flurry Bufu on Shadow Bar-a! 3 Hits! | Hana Fukami takes 90 damage from Bomb!
AS: Avoid Worst! Katsuko Yoshinaga takes 166 Fire damage from Shadow Bar-a's Maragilao. | Haze (Physical and Block Penalized!) added!
AS: Block Worst! Hibari Aoki takes 183 Fire damage from Shadow Bar-a's Maragilao. Critical Hit! | Haze (Physical and Block Penalized!) added!
AS: Take! Shadow Bar-a takes 0 Recovery healing from Shadow Bar-a's Tarukaja. | Atk_Up (Damage Up!) added!
AS: Block Neutral! Shadow Bar-a takes 0 Almighty damage from Hana Fukami's Submission. | Crt_Dn (Critical down!) added!
AS: Block Best! Futaba Sakura takes 60 Fire damage from Shadow Bar-a's Maragilao. AS: Block Neutral! Shadow Bar-a takes 48 Water damage from Hana Fukami's Flurry Bufu. Critical Hit! Weak! | Bind (Magic and Avoid Penalized!) added!
AS: Block Best! Shadow Bar-a takes 11 Water damage from Hana Fukami's Flurry Bufu. Weak! AS: Block Best! Shadow Bar-a takes 21 Water damage from Hana Fukami's Flurry Bufu. Critical Hit! Weak! AS: Avoid Neutral! Ren Amamiya takes 97 Fire damage from Shadow Bar-a's Maragilao. AS: Avoid Best! Julian Marlowe takes 0 Fire damage from Shadow Bar-a's Maragilao. AS: Shinobu Shimizu spends Limit on Help Up! Bomb removed from Hana Fukami! Hyper (Next Attack Boosted/Incoming Damage Down!) applied to Hana Fukami!
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
Goro Akechi stands back, as Captain Kato confronts the producer, a hand upon his chin as he contemplates this entire interaction. Including the moment Hana stands up to the Producer herself...
"Not quite." He murmurs, to Hana's 'It's over!' as the Producer begins melting. "I do believe it's only just begun."
And as if to prove his point, so too does a Shadow rise up, from the melted form. Still, he keeps watching, listening to her Shadow.
In how she too stands up to her Shadow-
While impressive, a woman with the Will of Rebellion appearing, he's forced to turn his attention back to the Shadow.
Then- the spotlight, and that ultra cute mimicry of her personality on that talk show.
Maragilao spreads, but it is met by a laser, parting the flames- grazing the hair of Shadow Bar-a as if to say he could have struck her quite easily. As he walks forward, one step at a time.
"Are you quite finished? As I'd rather not listen to you speak any longer. You received her answer- you simply didn't like it."
His arm swings up, as he points his laser pistol right at the Shadow's chest, "'Prove to me you're a woman'- you must think you're quite clever, demanding that. When by your own definition- many who were born with the so-called 'necessary qualifications' wouldn't meet the standards of the performance you're putting on."
"Frankly..." His expression changes as he pulls the trigger, once, twice, thrice, "...I'm not inclined to let you continue making a mockery of her resolve."
The laser beams that erupt from the barrel of the gun are larger than one might expect... indeed, they're just as accurate as well.
AS: Weapon! Goro Akechi has used the Pierce skill Implacable Pursuit on Shadow Bar-a! 3 Hits! | Pressure: Goro Akechi gains 1 Limit!
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Everything seems to be going swimmingly. The Producer is defeated with relative ease; a flag of rebellion is planted that allows them to watch him simply melt away. But once he does... a woman emerges. A woman with familiarly golden eyes.
Joker tenses, ready for Round 2 of a fight. Hana's Shadow underscores how she's of two minds with her own gender, how she's afraid to be true to herself in the real world. Hana, too, collapses for a moment--but she rises again, now with the strength of her full memory.
But then Hana and Kato disappear, and someone new appears to trade shouts with the Shadow. Thanks to the Will of Rebellion, it seems as though someone new has arrived right after Hana left, much as Cherry did with Maria Sakurai.
But then the spotlights that burn down to herald a more literal burning through Maragilao fire. Before that part happens, Joker shares a sharp nod with Ogre and the others. They trust them to keep the Legionnaires at bay. They'll have to keep moving to avoid the worst of those flames themself, and while they aren't scorched, damned if they aren't singed.
As they join up with Oracle and Mujina, they glance towards Goro Akechi. His retort towards the Shadow gets Joker's eyes to soften. "Heh. Well said, Detective," they remark, bowing their head for a brief moment. When it rises, they nod to their companions, then look over at Snow.
"Very well," they tell her, for they aren't going to turn down additional pro-Hana forces. They smirk at her pro-rule bending/breaking stance, then clasp a hand to their own mask. Blue fire bursts up around them, and the black-winged Great Thief arises overhead, their face a cackling mask.
"Arsène! Steal her speed away!" they command, grinning in the shadows beneath their palm. Arsène twirls a clawed finger, and a dire light seems to drain away the reflexes from Shadow Fukami.
AS: Persona! Ren Amamiya has used the Almighty skill Sukunda on Shadow Bar-a! | Ruin: Ren Amamiya gains 1 Limit!
<Pose Tracker> Shinobu Shimizu has posed.
They've made it to the top. The luxurious office sprawls before them - and standing in front of them is the Producer that's given them so much trouble. Shinobu is here, and she stands back with her arms crossed in front of her as Captain Kato and Hana confront him. This part is their fight - they've earned the right to shout him down. If it becomes physical she'll step in... but she can trust them now to handle this.
With a planted flag and a shout of defiance, the Producer starts to melt... and then Shinobu flinches back as someone hatches from her husk. It's...
Hana. Or rather, her Shadow. Shinobu listens to her words, and her eyes narrow. This... are these the fears plaguing her? The way people see it...
But Hana remembers everything... and she makes a declaration. A grin crosses Shinobu's face.
"Hell yeah, Fukami-san. You tell her." Shinobu encourages. "Nothin' wrong with being who you are and loving who you want."
And then, there's a bright flash of light and Shinobu recoils back, shielding her eyes and cursing under her breath. In her place there's a woman in white and blue...
"Who-" Shinobu starts, but Shadow Fukami bites back. A grimace crosses her face as Shadow Fukami recites those roles - and launches into a mockery of Hana. Shinobu reaches for her duffel bag, drawing out her staff and getting ready.
"Alright. I think I've heard enough." She starts - then braces herself as the spotlights glare down, Maragilao scorching the entire room. She hisses, spinning her staff to divert the flames... but the scattered heat still burns.
"Yeah, I've got a story or two for ya... but just so you know, I've always been the type to get right to the point!" Shinobu shouts, raciing down toward Shadow Fukami and punctuating her sentence with a series of jabs with her staff.
As her attack concludes, she glances to the newcomer - Snow, who she doesn't realise is Hana.
"Pretty cool entrance back there... Uh, no pun intended. And you're damn right. If we keep bending to what society tells us is right, we're just gonna break eventually..." Shinobu agrees. "You got a name?"
AS: Weapon! Shinobu Shimizu has used the Strike skill Jab Flurry on Shadow Bar-a! 3 Hits! | Aggression: Shinobu Shimizu gains 1 Limit!
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
It took a lot of planning and effort, but they're here. A flag is planted, and the PRoducer... melts. And then another woman appears, and the things she's saying... sets Ririka's teeth on edge.
Blackmail attempts(!). Settling down and being a good girl. Giving up her relationships with women.
"You think after coming this far she's just gonna turn back now!" Ririka spits out. But Hana remembersm, there is a bright light--
Ririka covers her eyes, wincing at the brightness, and when it settles down, there's someone she doesn't recognize. "Who..." She reaches out with her senses. "Where's..."
But fire comes, and Ririka stands her grounds as she counts on Amphion's magic to shield her, though she's still driven back a little bit. "Guh..." Shadow Fukami transforms...
And Ririka cowls as she comes out of the flames, to see that mockery. "Why you..."
She can't find Hana, but she does see Snow, who calls on them. "Right."
She's here in her SEES uniform, that looks so much like the Gekkoukan uniform, with the addition of a red armband, a belt and holster for her Evoker, and fingerless gloves and boots.
"Nobody gets to tell anybody else how to live their life or who to love!" she shouts as she points. "Amphion! Analysis!"
Amphion strums his golden lyre, strings appearing as he plucks them, sending waves of Resonance towards the enemy to scan her.
"If you're here to fight with us," she calls to Snow, "Then... you'll have my support, too!"
(In the background, Kazusa retreated with the others to provide healing for those holding off the swarms. And somewhere, in the midst, may be a mysterious woman in a black fencing suit cutting her way through the forces.)
AS: Persona! Ririka Kawase has used the Almighty skill Full Analysis on Shadow Bar-a! | Insight: Ririka Kawase gains 1 Limit!
<Pose Tracker> Hibari Aoki has posed.
After her chat with Hana last night, Mujina promised she'd be here for the main event. She hates leaving things half-finished...
It's more than that, though. She likes Hana; more, she understands at least some of what Hana's going through, especially after their talk. It led to her opening up a little more than she usually does, and perhaps a little more than a Phantom Thief should to keep the mystique, although not about anything that could possibly identify her either to Hana or Tamaki.
(And Mujina has doubts that Hana will remember that discussion very clearly afterwards, anyway. Tamaki, though...)
Pretty soon the flag of Rebellion is raised. It's too easy, Mujina thinks. She didn't expect the Producer to just... melt like that, whether or not Hana stood up to him. That a Shadow to come out is perhaps not as surprising as exactly whose Shadow it is...
"You can do it," Mujina says to herself, too quiet for Hana to hear, when she stumbles - and then straightens, with enough defiance to throw words back at the Shadow. The *last* thing she wants to do is get in Hana's way! And it seems that she was right to do so, as Hana and Kato both vanish, and someone new arrives. Mujina fingers the fur collar of her own coat for a moment, seeing it matched, and smiles.
It's hard for her to see too clearly, though, with the spotlight glare. Worse than that, the spotlights *burn*. As Joker joins up with her (among others), she steps back to let them take the lead, throwing up her arm to try to cover herself from light and heat. It's a mixed success at best; little wisps of smoke rise from some parts of Mujina's coat. It's in no danger of burning through but it might scorch a little, and unfortunately Mujina feels a little scorched too, with a little hiss of pain as she smacks one of the scorched spots to make sure it doesn't actually burn.
The Shadow is making it worse with her words. Those are roles Hibari knows, too, and while she's generally all right with her position on that front, hearing it exaggerated like that stings. There's a difference between being supportive, which she is, and being passive, which she no longer wants to be...
"I've got you," she calls - not to the Shadow but to the new masked figure when the Shadow focuses on her. "Danzaburou!"
The tanuki lord appears above Mujina, sweeping his gunbai in a wide arc, and a bubble of shade appears around Snow. Not enough to make things dark, but enough that the lights don't burn so badly, shielding her from the worst assault of the Shadow. It revitalizes and the barrier remains, a rippling bubble like a shady heat haze, if such a thing existed.
"I did say I'd be here to help."
AS: Persona! Hibari Aoki has used the Recovery skill Deep Shroud on Hana Fukami! AS: Take! Hana Fukami takes 149 Recovery healing from Hibari Aoki's Deep Shroud. | Eclipse (Weakness turned to Resist!) added!
<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.
Maya pats down a few smoldering embers on her outfit. Ouch, that _really_ hurt! Soon enough, the little slips of smoke are gone, even though the sting of the attack isn't.
"Man, woman... it's just another way to box others into roles! No one has any right to decide what other people should be!"
Maya unholsters her pink pistols; she raises them up, her lips quirked in a slight smile.
"It's Whoop-Ass Time!"
AS: Weapon! Maya Amano has used the Pierce skill Whoop-Ass Time on Shadow Bar-a! 2 Hits!
<Pose Tracker> Futaba Sakura has posed.
Oracle has not had a lot to say during the journey up. Supervising the route, watching the flanks, there's a lot she's been able to distract herself with. Despite her whole-body baptism by network and sincere faith in being online, Oracle has not found herself missing the Internet.
But as they reach the final pitch, the confrontation with the Producer, she says with quiet sincerity, "This Shadow's pissing me off, Joker."
And that Shadow shows Shadowy appreciation for this vote of confidence and/or hatred in a classical style: incineratingly bright light! There's a non-verbal "ngh!" of effort from Oracle as the surreal disk of Necronomicon gets bombarded, though the flames smash against a close-to-the-skin shimmering iridescence, trending towards green. That shield flickers like a cheap lightbulb before fading, as if strained by the impact. An audible exhale, and then!
Her voice lifts. "Reinforcements?? They're coming in from multiple directions. Someone's gotta counterattack or we'll get crushed!"
Fortunately, the problem is addressed before the crushing actually happens. Top marks all around. Exhaling with force, Oracle steers the scanners - Hana, newly awakened, with steel in her spine and defiance in her garb, is there before her. "We're backing you up! You are being helped, do not resist!" Keys are pressed:
Energy flows, bolstering. Strengthening. Reinforcing!
Meanwhile, Joker gives their opinion and so, too, does Goro Akechi. Oracle comments, with a deliberately detached tone, "I'm glad to hear your ideals are so high, your detectiveness." (That one's to Adachi.)
Mujina might not *specifically* enjoy the brief sensation like a desert sun shining on her for a moment, but that doesn't actually hurt (unless she is, somehow, a vampire). "Hang in there! I'm queueing some stuff up but the engine's got limitations!"
Her Persona has an engine? Mystifying. Inside of that hidden seat, Oracle's mind wheels a little. Empathy, as well as the quaking fear -- this isn't fiction. Hana's as real as any of them. The thought is abruptly derailed by the voice of Maya Amano, and Oracle says, "I'm stealing that!" immediately.
AS: Persona! Futaba Sakura has used the Almighty skill Rakukaja on Hana Fukami! | Support: Futaba Sakura gains 1 Limit!
AS: Take! Hana Fukami takes 0 Almighty damage from Futaba Sakura's Rakukaja. | Def_Up (Block Improved!) added!
AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 84 Pierce damage from Goro Akechi's Implacable Pursuit.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
A slip of a white coat and hood, and, like a rabbit popping out of a hat, the paragon of lackluster potential and shame, Umie Akabane, is there. "Oh no, the person you thought would wither away has found the will within herself to climb on out and challenge you." After Tatsuzou Sudou's speech a day or so ago, Umie's... especially spicy, right now.
One thing of note, on Umie's face, is a paper maiche half-mask, covered in red glitter. In honor of Hana's will to fight back, Umie bought the most cursed mask she's ever created. There will be red glitter residue on her jacket, her clothes, her face, her hair, but most of all, there will be glitter allll
over
this
office.
Umie even itches underneath her mask, and, making sure to scrape a red nail over the top surface for some small chunks, and wipes it against the most expensive and receptive item she can find within reach. She would have rubbed it further in while Hana had the Producer's attention, but her attention is called back towards the beginning of Hana's stand--
'I do believe it's only just begun.' --and her confidence in how the play of the field will go is disrupted by the appearance of the Shadow that crawls out of that husk.
"...!" She looks at Akechi for a moment. Well, if he looks like he was expecting this, then... maybe it's still all to plan. She then presses that mask closer to her face, trying to widen her field of view, in order to glean where that moment lies, when someone stands up and declares their rebellion to the world.
.... To catch what it means for someone to Awaken.
Unfortunately, try as Umie might, the moment passes in a flash of fire and ice. "Ghh!" The blonde is bowled over, thrown back against some expensive (and equally useless) bookcase.
"Ow..." Umie stands up, pulling her hood back over her blonde hair. (.... THE UFO IS BACK. DID IT FOLLOW HER?!)
Now then. Umie glances over new(?) Persona User and shadow hostess alike, and straightens, readying her counterattack.
"All your backup forces are being dealt with, looks like, you lost your captive, and you're outnumbered. I guess this really isn't your lucky day, is it?" She cackles, summoning the Badb's ragged edges and feminine smile as she points ahead at Shadow Fukami.
"Your fate's sealed!"
AS: Persona! Umie Akabane has used the Dark skill Bad Moon Rising on Shadow Bar-a! | Umie Akabane takes 45 damage from Stress! | Ruin: Umie Akabane gains 1 Limit!
AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 0 Almighty damage from Ren Amamiya's Sukunda. | Spd_Dn (Avoid Penalized!) added!
<Pose Tracker> Katsuko Yoshinaga has posed.
A shadow moved through the Kingdom. Black as the night sky, quiet as oil streaking over still water, and quicker than a blink, Grim was more a concept than a living thing. A streak of darkness cutting through the light, relentlessly making her way towards the target, her rifle at the ready all the while. Dantes followed close behind, his cloaking magic obscuring her even in places where the light yet shone, dimming even the glint from the silvered half-skull that covered her mouth in a permanent, unerring, richtus grin.
She watched in shrouded silence, eyes narrowed beneath the raven-black hood that shadowed the rest of her face. Grim did not care to speak - she had nothing to say to the coalescing of psychic energies that was the man before her. He infuriated her to no end - even if she did not show it - but she knew she had to show restraint. Wait for the right moment, or force an opening if one did not present itself, then break the opponent apart before they had a chance to strike back.
The producer's form collapsed without needing a show of force, but Grim didn't think she'd be quite so lucky with what came after. She lifted her rifle in a heartbeat once the Shadow began to emerge, her finger twitching outside the guard as her very instincts told her to fire. They screamed at her not to stop shooting until the thing was gone, and to put a few more rounds in just to make sure. But she resisted the urge - not because she needed an opening, but because that brilliant light left her lowering the scope, and turning her head away.
It felt like fire. It felt like she was being scoured from the face of the Earth, withe very inch of her disintegrating under a light that threatened to leave her a smouldering ruin. It was only through supreme force of will that she threw herself out of harm's way, but when she rose, it was not just Dantes that emitted thin wisps of grey smoke.
"Don't tell me what's 'right.'" Grim said, as soon as she'd recovered. Her voice manifested as a winter wind - sharp and echoing, cutting the bone when it filled the air. "Fukami-san is not yours to control. Her life is her own. *Our* lives are our own. We'll do what we want with them, and if you insist on standing in our way, you'll face our justice."
Suddenly, Dantes surged forwards in a streak of grey haze, and struck with a savage blow from his razor-edged sabre. It was not simple steel that carved into it - it was the debilitating magicks of a vengeful spirit, cursing its target with the knowledge that it had been judged... and found wanting.
AS: Persona! Katsuko Yoshinaga has used the Dark skill Jury on Shadow Bar-a! | Ruin: Katsuko Yoshinaga gains 1 Limit!
<Pose Tracker> Julian Marlowe has posed.
For various reasons, Vesper's activities in regards to the Kingdom had been mainly outside of it. The most obvious one, a worry that those close to Hana Fukami who are not supernaturally empowered in any way might yet choose to involve themselves. The mind does tend to be at its most irrational where it comes to those one is closest to. It seemed prudent to keep an eye out, and make sure that nothing on that side would cause Hana to be unable to return to them, at the end of it all.
5rBesides, many were already involved in the lending of more direct assistence, and surely had the matter of the Kingdom itself well in hand. The final push, however, the now-or-never moment... obviously he could not afford to miss being a part of that in a more direct fashion.
At the Producer's seeming defeat, the appearance of a Shadow - Hana Fukami's Shadow - takes him by surprise. He wasn't familiar with this aspect of a Kingdom, or indeed the possibility of encountering one's own Shadow in such a fashion. A daunting prospect to be sure, and Hana, in spite of her resolve, indeed faces quite the struggle to overcome.
His stance - so far relaxed, by all appearance - becomes guarded only by the sudden light, raising an arm to shield himself. Whoever that new arrival is, their allegiance is soon made clear, which informs his actions to come.
Right after the spotlights come on, that is. Blink and you'll miss it - Vesper is quite abruptly not there anymore, gone before the fire that follows even happens. One might extrapolate that being in the spotlight, even literally speaking, may be the last thing he wants.
Did he flee? Hardly. Merely searched out an area still cloaked in Shadow, from which the grey-suited gentleman calmly emerges unscathed when he feels the time is right.
"I've often found it strange, these sorts of insistent attempts to dictate one cannot act as one wishes. Have you never heard the common wisdom that telling someone 'no' will only make them want to oppose you that much more strongly for it?" A hand raised to press against his stark white opera mask, he intones, "Raffles."
The iron helmeted, dark figure clad partly in a fancy suit, partly in cricket attire appears at this command, the diamond-tipped cane in its left hand leveled towards Shadow Fukami. "It's lights out for you," he quips, as a wave of pure darkness is sent forth - as forceful as it is oddly beautiful, like a velvet cloth cast to drape over the illuminated stage.
AS: Persona! Julian Marlowe has used the Dark skill Beguiling Eiga on Shadow Bar-a! AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 84 Pierce damage from Goro Akechi's Implacable Pursuit. AS: Block Best! Shadow Bar-a takes 6 Pierce damage from Goro Akechi's Implacable Pursuit. Critical Hit! AS: Block Best! Shadow Bar-a takes 2 Strike damage from Shinobu Shimizu's Jab Flurry. Resist! AS: Block Best! Shadow Bar-a takes 3 Strike damage from Shinobu Shimizu's Jab Flurry. Critical Hit! Resist! AS: Block Best! Shadow Bar-a takes 3 Strike damage from Shinobu Shimizu's Jab Flurry. Critical Hit! Resist! AS: Block Best! Shadow Bar-a takes 0 Pierce damage from Maya Amano's Whoop-Ass Time. Critical Hit! AS: Block Neutral! Shadow Bar-a takes 23 Pierce damage from Maya Amano's Whoop-Ass Time. Critical Hit! AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 0 Dark damage from Umie Akabane's Bad Moon Rising . | Omen (Damage in 2 rounds!) added! 60 damage!
AS: Block Neutral! Shadow Bar-a takes 77 Dark damage from Katsuko Yoshinaga's Jury. | Dark_Break (Dark Affinity Down!) added!
AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 177 Dark damage from Julian Marlowe's Beguiling Eiga. Critical Hit! AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 0 Almighty damage from Ririka Kawase's Full Analysis. AS: Ririka Kawase's Strength Scan! Shadow Bar-a resists Strike and Fire! AS: Ririka Kawase's Weakness Scan! Shadow Bar-a is weak against Water and Light! AS: Ririka Kawase's Support Scan! Shadow Bar-a has passive skills Apt Pupil, Block Physical, Fire Amp, Heavy Weapon, Nerve Shield, Strike Amp, and Strike Riposte! <Pose Tracker> Shadow Bar-a has posed.
"You can't fight it," Shadow Fukami insists, as Lady Rokujo rises. "There's nothing someone like you can do... just pretend you didn't see anything!" But there, beneath the submission, is the steel of Bufu -- and she throws her hands up to defend herself against the icicles. "You brought this on yourself," she chastises her, darkly.
"Hee hee... you can do more than you're told? But you're the one telling them, sweetie!" Shadow Fukami chastises Snow, wagging a finger, as the ice of Bufu fades. "You know better than anyone that you're a laughing stock! If you ever want to be more than an 'Otokonoko', you've got to prove you're not a freak... and haven't you been working so hard? Veil your lips when you laugh," her painted nails lift over hers, "and never speak loudly, and never interrupt a man! Remember your polite particles, and intuit the needs of your man!"
She sighs, as she takes a step back. "Not that you've been very impressive there... don't you think you're letting him down?" Her voice drops to a venomous hiss, serpentine, as she says: "... you can't marry Teruo if you stay a freak, you know. Have you asked him whether he's all right with you breaking the rules?"
The draining light which settles on Hana threatens to force her to submit.
And there is Akechi -- and her voice is chipper and cute, again, as she turns to him. "Oh? And you think you're so much better? Prove you're a real man, and fight!" She demands, as a spotlight shines on him. "You're right, of course... so many women fail to live up to their purpose. It's so sad! Hana-chan is going to cry...!"
Perhaps doubly so, as she braces against that laser beam -- and it pierces right through her crossed arms.
Sukunda weaves through her body -- and she turns, to Joker, pouting mightily. "Ohhh... you're right, sweetie! I should be dancing more! Sure, it wasn't always traditional, but there's places for women in the theatre! But what's this about stealing from me? That's soooo impolite! I'll shine a light on you, and --"
She pauses, squinting at them, for a moment.
"-- you'll prove you're a real woman!"
It's kind of hard to tell what gender they are with an androgynous mask and costume like that, huh...?
Both Joker and the Prince will find themselves at risk as she picks up a bust of the Producer -- and flings it at them.
There, Shinobu's staff cuts into her assault -- and Shadow Fukami is driven back by the force of it, despite the way her fists don't waver. "Ha ha... yes, just like that! Do you remember?" She's not speaking to Shinobu. "Do you remember how it felt when you were thrown to the ground, and his boot met your head? How you went limp and played dead, and it didn't even STOP?! Oh, yes, tell her your NAME. It's what you throw on a fire, isn't it?" Fire meets Shinobu, just the same.
OST Interrupt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=auzfTPp4moA Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Roll
What Ririka hears, as she analyses Shadow Fukami, is electronic and distorted and pounding with an insistent dance beat. And what she is met with is her fists, as she charges her, and swings her fists into her, mightily. "Remember?" She asks, again, tone mocking in its sweetness. "Remember?"
Maya declares Whoop-Ass time, and the bullets sink into her, but strangely, she does not fall. "I think you ought to learn a woman's role," she remarks. "Demonstrate submission." Here -- she'll help.
"How shameful... you're teaching the youth poor morals," she adds, turning to Oracle. "You, girl -- you understand support better than that, don't you? Tell the audience something good... perhaps you've got a cruuuush?! Like this, tee hee!" She throws another statue at Oracle!
"Oh, that's my secret, sugar," Shadow Fukami smiles, to Umie. "I'm not lucky... I'm cursed, just like all women are. You know that the Gods had misshapen children when Izanami spoke first in their marriage? Don't you think that says something about us?" Well, she certainly is cursed.
"A woman's life is never her own," she says, to Grim, as she catches Dantes' blade in her gloved hands. "Allow me to educate you on the three submissions. As a girl, you submit to your father. When you're grown, you'll submit to your husband. And in your old age... you'll submit to your son. This is the way of things for us -- as it's always been." As that blade sinks into her existence, she flings a punch at Grim!
"Of course it sounds strange to you," she adds, sweetly, to Vesper. "Men are so often unaware of the bindings which surround us. You know, it's your wife who calls for support when you work your fifteen-hour days?" She's presuming he has a wife? Well, he's of that age, it seems, behind that mask. Darkness consumes the arena -- and when it fades, she lays on the floor, though she soon rises. "My, my... you want to invite me somewhere with the lights off? Hana-chan will weep for that wife of yours," she says, as she lights up the top floor with brutally punishing flame! Once again, it's not him she's speaking to: "How tragic... everyone can see the way you'd betray him! Your heart's a traitor, even if you justify it to yourself!"
<Pose Tracker> Shadow Bar-a has posed.
To Mujina, she issues: "You seem to know the role of a woman. Show them, won't you?" Submission leeches into her bones, too.
AS: Persona! Shadow Bar-a has used the Almighty skill Submission on Hana Fukami! | Pressure: Shadow Bar-a gains 1 Limit!
AS: Persona! Shadow Bar-a has used the Strike skill Crazy Chain on Ren Amamiya and Goro Akechi! AS: Persona! Shadow Bar-a has used the Fire skill Agi on Shinobu Shimizu! AS: Weapon! Shadow Bar-a has used the Strike skill Savage Beating on Ririka Kawase! 2 Hits! AS: Persona! Shadow Bar-a has used the Almighty skill Submission on Maya Amano! AS: Persona! Shadow Bar-a has used the Almighty skill Submission on Umie Akabane! AS: Persona! Shadow Bar-a has used the Strike skill Black Spot on Futaba Sakura! AS: Weapon! Shadow Bar-a has used the Strike skill Suckerpunch on Katsuko Yoshinaga! AS: Persona! Shadow Bar-a has used the Fire skill Agidyne on Julian Marlowe! AS: Persona! Shadow Bar-a has used the Almighty skill Submission on Hibari Aoki! AS: Shadow Bar-a spends Limit on Shift! Goro Akechi can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Pain (Attacker takes damage on healing and PL 0 attacks!) applied to Goro Akechi! AS: Shadow Bar-a spends Limit on Shift! Ren Amamiya can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Bomb (Attacker takes damage on damaging attacks!) applied to Ren Amamiya! AS: Shadow Bar-a spends Limit on Shift! Maya Amano can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Bomb (Attacker takes damage on damaging attacks!) applied to Maya Amano! AS: Shadow Bar-a spends Limit on Shift! Futaba Sakura can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Bomb (Attacker takes damage on damaging attacks!) applied to Futaba Sakura! AS: Shadow Bar-a spends Limit on Shift! Hibari Aoki can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Bomb (Attacker takes damage on damaging attacks!) applied to Hibari Aoki! AS: Avoid Neutral! Goro Akechi takes 109 Strike damage from Shadow Bar-a's Crazy Chain. AS: Avoid Neutral! Hana Fukami takes 0 Almighty damage from Shadow Bar-a's Submission. | Crt_Dn (Critical down!) added!
AS: Block Worst! Katsuko Yoshinaga takes 70 Strike damage from Shadow Bar-a's Suckerpunch. AS: Avoid Worst! Hibari Aoki takes 0 Almighty damage from Shadow Bar-a's Submission. | Crt_Dn (Critical down!) added!
AS: Avoid Neutral! Umie Akabane takes 0 Almighty damage from Shadow Bar-a's Submission. | Crt_Dn (Critical down!) added!
AS: Avoid Neutral! Maya Amano takes 0 Almighty damage from Shadow Bar-a's Submission. | Crt_Dn (Critical down!) added!
AS: Block Best! Shinobu Shimizu takes 22 Fire damage from Shadow Bar-a's Agi. AS: Block Best! Julian Marlowe takes 70 Fire damage from Shadow Bar-a's Agidyne. Critical Hit! | Haze (Physical and Block Penalized!) added!
AS: Avoid Best! Futaba Sakura takes 0 Strike damage from Shadow Bar-a's Black Spot. Critical Hit! AS: Block Worst! Ririka Kawase takes 120 Strike damage from Shadow Bar-a's Savage Beating. AS: Block Worst! Ririka Kawase takes 120 Strike damage from Shadow Bar-a's Savage Beating. AS: Avoid Neutral! Ren Amamiya takes 120 Strike damage from Shadow Bar-a's Crazy Chain.
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
'Just pretend you didn't see anything!' The same thing Yua said to her--that made her so mad, for Yua. And she brought it on hrself... Indeed, Hana's loved ones have stayed out of this... though not entirely by choice. But the battle at hand:
It's not over, as it happens--but Hana had no way of knowing this would happen, unlike Akechi. ...The Prince is pretty cold when he wants to be, Snow reflects. She can't immediately answer--but Shinobu gives her an opening. "Thanks," she says--and then... Hm. A name...
"Call me 'Snow'," Hana says. And then she looks to Joker, and grins. "Good."
"I think she'd appreciate not being mocked," she offers Akechi.
"We'll keep Hana-san safe," she says, realizing that people don't recognize her--and thinking back to what Joker said about the mask of Rebellion. There are people she'd tell...
But better not to make it everyone.
Mujina's got her. Snow nods sharply. "I'll count on you!" she calls. Shinobu too has a way of getting to the point that she appreciates. And Rirka--
"I am! Thanks!"
'You are being helped, do not resist!'
"Uh?" Snow asks, taken aback by the phrasing--but indeed, she is energzied, reinforced. "Well, thank you!" she says.
"Well-said," she says to Maya then, and laughs. "Whoop-ass time!"
She isn't laughing when the Shadow retorts, though.
"I know!" Snow snaps. "She knows all about what you're saying. ...But she can do better. I'll give her that chance."
She can't bhelp but flinch about 'letting him down'. "He's--He's not like that!" Snow retorts. "He said to her--"
The light shines on her. Hana can't help but feel weighed down by it--she knows, in that moment, that this is not a fight she could win by herself.
Particularly as she speaks to Shinobu, and remnds her, "SHUT UP!" Snow calls. "Don't make her think about that!"
She remembers, of course.
But she talks of curses... Yes. And a woman's life is never her own. That's what she says. and men--she says it to Julian--
"That's not true!" Snow shouts, and then Lady Rokujo appears again. "I... won't give up. Not even if I get hurt!"
Snow darts across the room then--and offers a hand to Joker. "...'Justice', wasn't it?" she asks, and tries to meet their eyes. "Let's get it."
Then she turns, and Lady Rokujo extends both hands. Ice gathers in her palms--and a twinned assault rushes Shadow Fukami!
AS: Hana Fukami spends Limit on Help Up! Bomb removed from Ren Amamiya! AS: Persona! Hana Fukami has used the Water skill Gemini Bufula on Shadow Bar-a! 2 Hits! | Ruin: Hana Fukami gains 1 Limit!
AS: Counter Best! Shadow Bar-a takes 124 Water damage from Hana Fukami's Gemini Bufula. Weak! | COUNTER! Hana Fukami takes 104 Strike damage in return for her attack! CRITICAL COUNTER!
AS: Counter Best! Shadow Bar-a takes 126 Water damage from Hana Fukami's Gemini Bufula. Weak! | COUNTER! Hana Fukami takes 107 Strike damage in return for her attack! CRITICAL COUNTER! <Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
"I do have my moments." He replies with a smug sort of cheer to Joker's 'Well said' before turning, and winking with the right eye under his Tengu Mask.
However, so speaketh a young woman from a UFO-sona, and he looks up. "Haha- and that would be 'Oracle' speaking, I take it? That's quite the observation from a woman whose Persona carries her around 'on high'."
Could it be her? Some part of him truly hopes not.
"Yes, I think so as well." He says with a smile, towards the new Masked Will of Rebellion User, "Snow it is."
'It's Whoop-Ass time.'
"Ah, journalism at work..." He quips, with no small amount of mirth.
'Prove you're a real man, and fight.'
Again he smirks as the spotlight shines, "With great pleasure." He remarks- in a sense like he believes she's played right into his hands.
The chain that comes for them next, with a swish of his band major's cape, he turns- "Look out!" -to Joker. There's a swish of movement, like a lightning fast smear of ink across cognitive reality.
Joker disappears- then the Princely figure and he reappear not so far away. Save, that Joker is now being dipped in the arms of the other.
"Well well... to have the lovely leader of the Phantom Thieves- right in my grasp." He smirks. "Perhaps I shouldn't let you go, this time."
He teases, as if it were merely the Detective teasing the Phantom Thief in this moment- and nothing more, trying to sell it that way.
And yet is it not proof enough that he is a man and that Joker is most certainly a woman?
Then, he allows himself to sigh- as if 'reluctantly' giving up his collar of this femme fatale that has become 'Public Enemy #1', "Another time, perhaps." As he assists them back to their feet, placing his opposite white gloved hand to his mask, "Take Aim- Robin Hood!"
The Persona manifests, before taking a knee in mid-air with the bow, shining arrow nocked- and fired.
Right as he does- a crack opens up right above the Shadow. As another spiritual arrow appears, trying to pierce right through with an accursed punishment.
"Haha- do you require further proof, or have you learned how futile this game of yours truly is? ... You've lost, Shadow. She won't return to the stage you've set for her."
AS: Tandem! Goro Akechi has used the Pierce skill Take Aim - Robin Hood! on Shadow Bar-a! 2 Hits! AS: Persona! Goro Akechi has used the Pierce skill Arrow of Perjury on Shadow Bar-a! AS: Block Neutral! Shadow Bar-a takes 62 Pierce damage from Goro Akechi's Take Aim - Robin Hood!. Critical Hit! AS: Block Best! Shadow Bar-a takes 15 Pierce damage from Goro Akechi's Take Aim - Robin Hood!. AS: Block Best! Shadow Bar-a takes 11 Pierce damage from Goro Akechi's Arrow of Perjury. | Atk_Up removed!
AS: Ren Amamiya spends Limit on Shift! Goro Akechi can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Ren Amamiya spends Limit on Help Up! Pain removed from Goro Akechi!
<Pose Tracker> Futaba Sakura has posed.
Oracle exhales with force as she focuses on the close-in Shadow. The big one. The boss, the big fish, the kingpin, the oyabun. Occasionally she thinks she glances at the scope, the one that shows Shadow density in the area.
Everything that comes out of the Shadow's mouth is cruel. Are they all like that, in situations like this? wonders Futaba Sakura, even as she feels her mouth go dry. Everything is making her want to shrink back into the seat. To stay behind everyone (which she is doing already). To not have to think about it. To run away. Maybe even reject this cruel world and go back inside, for good. But it's a passing thought. An old reflex.
It isn't an option, now. Even as she feels herself cringe down, the poison words are turning over Akechi, over Joker, and then relentlessly towards her. None of them can hide from the truth. The jeering tone rings out, and a statue rises. That distorted voice reaches her ears as the blunt object, destined for her face, starts to move.
Necronomicon, of course, isn't good at emoting, though it's somehow easy to *read*. But the rock is in motion.
It's all committed. It's not something you can do anything about.
or is it
For a moment Futaba feels like she's, not quite, staring in a mirror. A moment later she's staring at the statue. A moment after that, she's staring at -- a jeweled fishnet? -- and FORTUNATELY, three moments weren't enough for the statue to hit Necronomicon!
Instead it sort of stops moving in the air. (Seen from the side, the truth is clear: the snaking nest of horrid tentacles that Oracle embraces to ascend into her seat of extreme nerd visualization snapped out and caught the statue.) (Also visible is the strain marks and multiplying chorus of sweatbeads of effort, formed out of lambent flame but *pretty clear.*)
"Tell the audience something good...? Fine!"
Oracle's voice lifts. "Every word out of your dumb mouth is a total lie! Even if you're describing social realities, they're just that, social! They're not written in stone! People can change. The world can change! Both can happen and are gonna happen constantly, no matter how hard you try to mash people into a mold like they're a bunch of takoyaki!!"
Necronomicon sinks downwards, the vast bulk of a middle-aged man's horrible visage quite the burden to bear! But not QUICKLY.
"What you're doing is the exact opposite of support! Watch this, clown!"
Necronomicon exerts the effort of every tentacle to the utmost and... drops the statue slightly to the left, where it lands and topples threateningly over... towards... Ririka?? No, not on Ririka, but laying on its side in front of her. "Chest high hard cover! Use it with your gun!" Oracle huffs to her, even as she shakes her head starts tapping things out.
"And that's not all! Hold on -- Joker, Mujina, wipe the smirk off this clown's face! No, I take that back." A half-beat. "Because I don't want to insult clowns!! Even the police detective's saying you're full of it, so just SHUT--"
Now unburdened, Necronomicon's tentacles have been withdrawn, and where they had emerged is only a convex disk, which glows and sends circle-ringed green emanations of light towards the other two Phantom Thieves, as well as Akechi and -- as foreshadowed -- Ririka!
"UP!!!!" Oracle finishes her thought.
AS: Persona! Futaba Sakura has used the Recovery skill Rally Up! on Ririka Kawase, Ren Amamiya, Goro Akechi, and Hibari Aoki! | Support: Futaba Sakura gains 1 Limit!
AS: Take! Ririka Kawase takes 0 Recovery healing from Futaba Sakura's Rally Up!. | Crt_Up (Critical Up!) added!
<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.
Maya grins up at the voice emanating from the UFO. "Go for it!" she says, flashing its occupant a thumbs-up. Would this be the next trendy, hot thing that The Teens said? You'll have to find out in the next issue of COOLEST.
"No thank you!" Maya is anything but submissive; even when she was a child, she went her own way. She wasn't about to stop now just because someone thought it was "unlady-like"!
"If you're going to force your views on everyone, we have no choice but to stop you! Pixie! Come to me!"
Pixie manifests seemingly out of nowhere, corkscrewing skywards in a tight spin. She smiles slyly at the shadow as she unleashes an "unlady-like" attack in its direction, then almost immediately follows it up with "feminine" heals.
AS: Take! Goro Akechi takes 0 Recovery healing from Futaba Sakura's Rally Up!. | Crt_Up (Critical Up!) added!
AS: Persona! Maya Amano has used the Almighty skill Terror Eyes on Shadow Bar-a! AS: Take! Hibari Aoki takes 0 Recovery healing from Futaba Sakura's Rally Up!. | Crt_Dn removed!
AS: Persona! Maya Amano has used the Recovery skill Media on Hana Fukami and Maya Amano! AS: Take! Maya Amano takes 89 Recovery healing from Maya Amano's Media. AS: Take! Hana Fukami takes 89 Recovery healing from Maya Amano's Media. AS: Persona! Futaba Sakura has used the Recovery skill Moral Support on Hibari Aoki, Ren Amamiya, Goro Akechi, and Ririka Kawase! AS: Take! Goro Akechi takes 0 Recovery healing from Futaba Sakura's Moral Support. | Regen (HP restored on end of turn!) added! 30 healing!
<Pose Tracker> Shinobu Shimizu has posed.
Shinobu grins as Maya declares that it's whoop-ass time.
"Hell yeah." She encourages. Snow thanks her, then, and thinks it over. And when she gets an answer, Shinobu nods.
"'Snow', then. Nice to meet you. Let's give her hell, yeah?" She encourages. She turns back to the Shadow, gritting her teeth. What she says is infuriating... but she knows she's parroting what the rest of society thinks. It's nothing she hasn't heard before - but it doesn't make it any less painful when used as a weapon against someone else.
And then she responds to her - but she can tell the words aren't directed at her.
"...Shut the hell up." Shinobu replies. "You think picking at old wounds is going to help anyone? That's why we need to people to understand, instead of suppressing it and playing along. Just smacking people down doesn't help anything!"
She does flinch, though, holding back her staff. Now that she's brought it up, it's a little hard to swing at her again...
"You said Light, right, Kawase?" Shinobu said, glancing briefly toward Ririka. "That I can do. Lachesis!"
The shadowy hooded woman appears behind her. She levels her measuring rod across her hands, centering them on the Shadow - and then heavenly lights fall from above toward her, exploding in bright flashes.
AS: Persona! Shinobu Shimizu has used the Light skill Nirvana on Shadow Bar-a! 3 Hits! AS: Take! Ren Amamiya takes 0 Recovery healing from Futaba Sakura's Rally Up!. | Crt_Up (Critical Up!) added!
AS: Take! Ren Amamiya takes 0 Recovery healing from Futaba Sakura's Moral Support. | Regen (HP restored on end of turn!) added! 30 healing!
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
"Me too," Joker murmurs back to Oracle. Good thing they're both about to be able to beat it up!
And good (?) thing Goro doesn't actually know who Oracle is. They hear the deliberateness to her detached tone. That's something they'll leave alone--Oracle and Mujina both have the right to engage, or not engage, with the Detective Prince who's sussed out so many of The Phantoms' identities but not yet either of theirs.
At least they grin when Oracle immediately latches onto Maya's 'It's whoop-ass time!' If there's any one adult to imitate, it's her.
Though there's a good number of great adults around, like Hana and Kato, Vesper, and let's never forget Umie and her truly abominable red glitter mask. It's halfway a shame that, for all Joker's masks, they can't customize theirs like she can (by hand-making them, but still).
Akechi shoots them a wink, and they can't help but flash him a fond grin. "Few and far in between though they may be," they quip back.
But then Shadow Fukami turns to them, and in her sickly-sweet voice, demands they prove--
Their eyes narrow. As weirdly gender-affirming as the demand is, especially after she just yelled at Goro to prove himself a man, it's still a demand, and their soul rebels. That chain whips out towards them with blinding speed despite their Sukunda spell, and they'd no doubt have trouble evading it--if not for the blinding speed for another. When both of them come to a stop, Joker's being dipped in the arms of the Detective Prince, and they clearly don't mind at all, if that still-present grin is any indication.
"I'm afraid you'll need to cuff me for that, Detective," they counter, winking up at him. Then, pitching their voice in the sultry, low, feminine tones of Ran Umemura, she adds, "Possibly to your bed~."
Did Akechi really think he could out-tease a femme fatale? Try harder. <3
He lets them go of his own accord, though, and they twirl a couple of steps away, flicking their fingers off his as if challenging him to just try to catch them now that he's let them go. Snow offers her hand to them next, and they accept it with a smile. "My thanks, Snow," they reply. "We will, without fail." Both protect Hana, and get their Justice.
Oracle shouts out something good then: specially, that Shadow Fukami is full of crap. She urges them and Mujina and even Akechi to show her what for, and they grin at her in her UFO Persona, standing tall. A clown, huh? There's a loaded implication there, but Oracle does take it back, doesn't she?
"With pleasure," they reply smoothly, and whirl towards the Shadow, the tails of their coat spinning in their wake.
For all that Grim's broken Shadow Fukami's resistance to darkness, Joker will leave it to Umie and Vesper to take advantage just now. Arsène's as androgynous as they are, and for good reason; they might have ample Dark magic, but Joker can't summon them--or rather, they don't want to. If they're to prove they're a 'real' woman...
"A real woman--"
A mask switches in their soul, and rises in blue flame. It is a distinctly masculine figure with bowl-cut hair, armor, and a spear--the Emperor Persona, Setanta.
"--does whatever the hell she wants!!"
Setanta twirls hishertheir (because they are Joker and Joker is them, and Joker is all of those pronouns, and so Setenta is too) spear and crouches before launching herself forward at Shadow Fukami and lashing the tip across her in a sharp, slicing motion.
"You only think otherwise because you've let society convince you otherwise. But the mores of Japan aren't the only mores there are."
AS: Persona! Ren Amamiya has used the Slash skill Zan-ei on Shadow Bar-a! | Pressure: Ren Amamiya gains 1 Limit!
AS: Persona! Ren Amamiya has used the Slash skill Raving Cut on Shadow Bar-a!
<Pose Tracker> Katsuko Yoshinaga has posed.
Grim did not consider herself an emotional woman. She certainly did not attempt to project such an image - hence her flat voice and still body, her every movement and word calculated for efficiency over emotion. But when the Shadow delivered that maxim unto her, she could not help but notice the distinct feeling of her jaw clenching. It was unpleasant. It was unneeded. It got in the way. But to so confidently be told that it was her place to submit - to bow and scrape before anyone, men or otherwise - had her clutching her rifle all the tighter.
It was no surprise, then - as much as she hated to admit it - that she was too distracted to react in time to avoid the blow levelled at her. She brought her hammer up to block in an instinctive display of agility, but it was too little and too late. The blow sent her careening backwards, sliding across the floor on her side, until she could rag herself back to her feet and retreat to cover. There was an ache in her side, and a rattle to her breath, but she ignored it. She had to ignore it. There was a job to do.
"Snow, was it?" Grim called out, in an unusual display of volume. Hana was nowhere to be seen, and though that concerned Grim to no end, she refused to let it distract her. There would be time enough to figure that out later. "Don't let that thing get to you. It wants us to break and submit. But you're like us, aren't you? You won't stop until justice is done." It was a rhetorical question. Snow's actions were proof enough of who she was.
"And you..." Grim said, turning her attention back towards the Shadow. "That's the way of things for you. But I'm more than that, and I'm more than *you.* I submit to nobody. I bow to no-one. But since you're so eager to tell everyone else to submit... You can lead by example." Dantes moved in on Grim's command once more, his black-wreathed blade piercing through the air in twinned strikes so fast they seemed to move as one. Each was burdened by loathsome magic - the first curse to seize the limbs, the second to bind them.
AS: Persona! Katsuko Yoshinaga has used the Dark skill Twinvenom on Shadow Bar-a! 2 Hits! | Ruin: Katsuko Yoshinaga gains 1 Limit!
<Pose Tracker> Hibari Aoki has posed.
"The three submissions are really old-fashioned," Mujina replies, having un-scorched herself to her satisfaction. She doesn't precisely say they're wrong, but she certainly doesn't say they're right, either. "We live in the twenty-first century these days, you know."
Rather than a direct violent attack, which she was prepared for - flame again, maybe, or light - submission flows into Mujina. It's all the more surprising because she wouldn't have thought that was a thing you could strike *with*. The way Shadow Fukami puts it is more reactive, more passive -
But she's a Shadow. Those follow their own rules.
And she has a point, at least a bit of one. Don't speak over people, don't interrupt, don't talk back - these are all things *Hibari* has learned, and some she still struggles with. How often has she not been direct to avoid hurting someone's feelings? Even with Kenzo, she had trouble telling him that his plan was a bad idea, and turning it down... and when Morgana was fighting with Ryuji, she couldn't bring herself to take a side, and only let it get worse because of it.
She still feels awful about that one.
So she wavers for just a moment -
Right up until the instant that she realizes Akechi has got Joker in a sweeping dip.
Now, Hibari actually knows who Joker is behind the mask. She also knows what Ren's relationship with another boy is (and who it's with). But she *doesn't* know the details of how Ren identifies themself; as far as she knows, he's a guy, whatever the Shadow said.
He's got the bravery, in this case, to act as he is. And she does too - she wouldn't have the mask she does without it. So why is she even *considering* letting herself - her goals, her hopes, her dreams, her actions - be driven by someone else, who she neither respects nor likes?
(Shadow Fukami, not regular Fukami. She liked Hana.)
Mujina flushes with embarrassment that she almost accepted some of the Shadow's arguments, though it's not particularly obvious under her mask. She lacks the sheer volume of Oracle, but: "I'll do what I want," she says. "Sometimes it's appropriate to support others. I wouldn't be here without others, and vice versa. But other times you just have to take a hand in things yourself!"
Despite her words, when Danzaburou reappears, it *is* for support; this time his gunbai releases a cloud of cognitive fog that drifts down, shimmering with colours like a soap bubble. It surrounds herself, and Joker, and Akechi by sheer proximity to Joker, and this time Oracle, who may have inspired her to act with her own temper.
The fog obscures. It sinks down, blurring with a shimmering opalescent rainbow, fuzzing their edges as if they weren't quite solid anymore while simultaneously re-energizing them. (They are, of course, just as solid as always, but it does make them hard to spot, especially if they stay in Danzaburou's illusory fog...)
And at the same time, Mujina reaches out, and Danzaburou manages a *second* spell. Mujina has a ball of energy in her hand now, and she throws it at Shadow Fukami - not a real throw, it's more like she's pushing it. And if it hits it doesn't hurt, precisely. It feels almost electric, the pop of a fuse blowing or the sudden jolt of a shock, right behind the forehead; confusing, dazzling, and momentarily mind-scrambling all at once.
AS: Take! Hibari Aoki takes 0 Recovery healing from Futaba Sakura's Moral Support. | Regen (HP restored on end of turn!) added! 30 healing!
AS: Persona! Hibari Aoki has used the Almighty skill Stun Sphere on Shadow Bar-a! | Ruin: Hibari Aoki gains 1 Limit!
AS: Persona! Hibari Aoki has used the Recovery skill Madoronpai on Futaba Sakura, Ren Amamiya, Goro Akechi, and Hibari Aoki! AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 0 Almighty damage from Maya Amano's Terror Eyes. | Charm (Attacker or Ally takes Damage!) and Poison (Damage on end of turn!) added!
AS: Take! Hibari Aoki takes 0 Recovery healing from Hibari Aoki's Madoronpai. | Cloak (Non-Area Damage Mitigated!) and Regen (HP restored on end of turn!) added! healing!
AS: Take! Futaba Sakura takes 0 Recovery healing from Hibari Aoki's Madoronpai. | Cloak (Non-Area Damage Mitigated!) and Regen (HP restored on end of turn!) added! healing!
AS: Take! Ren Amamiya takes 0 Recovery healing from Hibari Aoki's Madoronpai. | Cloak (Non-Area Damage Mitigated!) and Regen (HP restored on end of turn!) added! healing! <Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Ririka frowns as she listens, and she hears that distorted music, with an insistent beat. And without really thinking about it she's bobbing her head in time to that beat...
"She's strong against Fire and Strike damage, and weak to Water and Light," Ririka announces to the crowd. "And watch out for--"
Her eyes fly open as Shadow- Bar-a is already on her, and with a shout she scrambles back. "Shit--!" She does /not put up a good defense, and she ends up dropped on the ground afterwards. "Owww..." She has to push herself back upright. "... her Strike and Fire attacks are going to be /really/ intense," she announces, perhaps a little unnecessarily.
But it's then that Oracle comes and gives hre cover. Ririka had been pushing herself up but also pushes herself forward to try and take advantage of it. "Uh, thanks! But my gun doesn't really-- you know what, I'll explain later." But there is a convex disk and emenations of light, and Ririka feels a surge. "Oh-- thanks!" She sends a pulse or Resonance Futaba's way, that carries a simple stream of notes and her own name, Ririka Kawase', by way of introduction.
She turns her attention back to Shadow Bar-a, feeling a bit more focused now. "That's-- that's only going to keep me down if I let it-- and you're some kind of hypocrite, throwing punches while lecturing the rest of us on being 'proper women.'"
But the mystery Persona User gives a name, Snow. "Got it!"
Shinobu asks for confirmation, and Ririka nods. "Hai!" she calls back.
She reaches out with her senses again, taking note of everyonee's condition as she listens to the rhythm of the battlefield. She seeks out for the weakest signals-- there. "Amphion!" she calls out with a sweep of her arm. "Let's ensure that everyone here has a better future!"
Amphion will strum, wrapping heavy music and resonance around Ririka herself, Snow, Grim, and Umie (even if she still has a few misgivings about her, but this is not the time or place.) It will try to give them just a taste of the possibilities of what's to come, before ending with a final surge.
"And-- let's return the favor from before! Energizing Song!"
A second wave of song, this one fast and vibrant, rushes out to wrap around Maya, Snow, Oracle, and Mujina to keep their reserves up.
AS: Ririka Kawase spends Limit on Exploit! Ririka Kawase can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Take! Ririka Kawase takes 0 Recovery healing from Futaba Sakura's Moral Support. | Regen (HP restored on end of turn!) added! 30 healing!
AS: Persona! Ririka Kawase has used the Recovery skill Lithomancy on Ririka Kawase, Hana Fukami, Katsuko Yoshinaga, and Umie Akabane! | Insight: Ririka Kawase gains 1 Limit! AS: Take! Hana Fukami takes 0 Recovery healing from Ririka Kawase's Lithomancy. | Prophecy (Healing in 2 rounds!) added! 60 healing! AS: Take! Umie Akabane takes 0 Recovery healing from Ririka Kawase's Lithomancy. | Prophecy (Healing in 2 rounds!) added! 60 healing!
AS: Take! Ririka Kawase takes 0 Recovery healing from Ririka Kawase's Lithomancy. | Prophecy (Healing in 2 rounds!) added! 60 healing!
AS: Persona! Ririka Kawase has used the Recovery skill Energizing Song on Maya Amano, Hana Fukami, Futaba Sakura, and Hibari Aoki! AS: Take! Hana Fukami takes 0 Recovery healing from Ririka Kawase's Energizing Song. | Vigor (SP restored on end of turn!) added! 10 SP regained!
AS: Take! Hibari Aoki takes 0 Recovery healing from Ririka Kawase's Energizing Song. | Vigor (SP restored on end of turn!) added! 10 SP regained! AS: Take! Katsuko Yoshinaga takes 0 Recovery healing from Ririka Kawase's Lithomancy. | Prophecy (Healing in 2 rounds!) added! 60 healing!
AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 102 Light damage from Shinobu Shimizu's Nirvana. Weak! AS: Block Best! Shadow Bar-a takes 32 Light damage from Shinobu Shimizu's Nirvana. Weak! AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 102 Light damage from Shinobu Shimizu's Nirvana. Weak! AS: Block Neutral! Shadow Bar-a takes 117 Slash damage from Ren Amamiya's Zan-ei. Critical Hit! AS: Block Best! Shadow Bar-a takes 21 Slash damage from Ren Amamiya's Raving Cut. <Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Well, Joker, you can always ask! There's always some value in having an extra mask around~
As for the dashing new Persona User, Umie takes a second to look her over, failing to connect the comments of Shadow Hostess Fukami with that of Hana.
... Snow, huh. Umie notes the name as the Persona-user gives it to Shinobu. .... And, doesn't give it another thought, at the coincidence. She is only grateful, especially as Snow manages to hit the shadow hostess's weak point (with a little pain in return, but that's just life).
It's all obscured with shadow and mirrors, which is a sorry outcome for Umie, so eager to see what it is when someone of this sort of Persona User manifests.
That leering mask of Umie's straightens to concern, briefly, as shadow Fukami focuses on Akechi, and then Joker.
"Joker, Prince, watch out!" There's no telling what this Shadow is able to do in this domain!
----! Ah.
Alarm turns to something else, as Umie's cheeks blush to a fine rosy red at the display of the two.
Of course, the most appealing outcome of rivals in fiction is to directly play with that dynamic, taking violence and overcoming each other with another sort of battlefield.
Ahem. Focus, Umie Akabane.
Umie gives a moment to nod in appeciation to Ririka for the burst in healing, but then, her attention goes right back to Joker, for a number of reasons.
'"--does whatever the hell she wants! 'There's a brief glance over at Joker at Setanta, as the Badb reacts. Setanta, who would go on to become Cu Chulainn, and the Badb, who is a part of the Morrigan, and--
yeah let's not go into it, it gets really weird
"That's it..." And Umie lets loose a cackle more becoming of a feminine figure: that is, the crone. "And you know what they say about scorned women, right?"
As Joker's attack hits home, Umie raises her hand, summoning the Badb to follow. "And who is more scorned than the ones who are *especially cursed*?! So show me your rage, before your voice is taken away from you!!"
There's the ring of a bell, a signal to battle, but on the other hand, the battle will come to the hostess herself, as the mires of old come to slow her steps.
AS: Umie Akabane spends Limit on Exploit! Umie Akabane can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Persona! Umie Akabane has used the Dark skill Warrior's Bell on Shadow Bar-a! | Ruin: Umie Akabane gains 1 Limit!
AS: Persona! Umie Akabane has used the Water skill Howling Mire on Shadow Bar-a!
<Pose Tracker> Julian Marlowe has posed.
Upon learning the name of the surprise addition to their roster, Vesper can't help but give into his gentlemanly impulses, removing his hat and offering a quick bow. "A pleasure, then, Snow. Proper introductions to follow later - for now, please accept my humble apologies for intruding in what appears to be a personal matter for you, if I haven't misjudged the situation. We all are ultimately here to support Hana Fukami, which I do believe makes us allies here."
Which isn't to say that the Shadow doesn't have ways of making things personal for the various people involved. Even in the generalizing way she addresses him, she doesn't miss the mark in making it in some way hurtful. Working fifteen-hour days, well, one might say he's no stranger to that. The notion of marriage though...
"I'll thank you to stop making assumptions," he responds, calmly enough, but with an edge to it. A Gentleman's way of showing he takes offense, without getting rude about it. Or addressing the matter any further at all.
However, the more immediate threat is the giant ball of flame heading straight for him. To which he responds by quickly taking his umbrella to hand, unfurling it in front of him. He's learned that this gesture tends to be far more protective than it by all rights should be - and indeed, though the proximity of scorching hot flames may not exactly be comfortable, they do break and scatter upon impact with what generally only protects well against water. Even though the sheer force pushes him back, it managed to take the edge off things in a major way.
The sweat on his brow masked by his, well, mask, Vesper calmly folds up the umbrella and returns it to dangling off his arm, continuing to speak as if nothing much happened just now.
"As for these bindings of which you speak... your absolute point of view is laughable," he states, briefly pointing an accusing finger before making a sweeping motion with his arm. "Enough power, influence, wealth... and one can simply enforce rules as one sees fit. Your 'Producer' demonstrated that well enough. What meaning then is there to believe in the sanctity of incorruptible rules to start with?"
All too casually, he takes an old-fashioned pocket watch out of his breast pocket, flipping it open. "Your way of thinking is, and has always been, outmoded. I believe it's high time you moved on."
One might question exactly what this action was leading up to, right until the timepiece snaps shut, Vesper's hand closes around it, and the distinct sound of a single, silenced gunshot informs what happens as a result.
AS: Weapon! Julian Marlowe has used the Pierce skill Warden's Watch on Shadow Bar-a! | Defense: Julian Marlowe gains 1 Limit!
AS: Block Neutral! Shadow Bar-a takes 61 Dark damage from Katsuko Yoshinaga's Twinvenom. | Bind (Magic and Avoid Penalized!) added!
AS: Block Neutral! Shadow Bar-a takes 100 Dark damage from Katsuko Yoshinaga's Twinvenom. Critical Hit! AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 0 Almighty damage from Hibari Aoki's Stun Sphere. AS: Take! Maya Amano takes 0 Recovery healing from Ririka Kawase's Energizing Song. | Vigor (SP restored on end of turn!) added! 10 SP regained!
AS: Block Neutral! Shadow Bar-a takes 0 Dark damage from Umie Akabane's Warrior's Bell. | Rage (Weapon Attack and Incoming Damage Up!) added!
AS: Block Best! Shadow Bar-a takes 74 Water damage from Umie Akabane's Howling Mire. Weak! | Spd_Dn (Avoid Penalized!) added!
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Umie Akabane sadhulk walks away
AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 82 Pierce damage from Julian Marlowe's Warden's Watch.
<Pose Tracker> Shadow Bar-a has posed.
Shadow Fukami holds those things which struck deeply against Hana; holds them like weapons, strapped to her fists. "Snow?" She remarks, canting her head. "That's a silly name! You won't fuel any fire for long with a name like that!" She giggles, even as Snow screams at her to shut up and to not make her think about that. "Soooo... you admit it! Empty-headed Hana shouldn't think at all! Tee hee~ <3"
That's not what Snow said, but Shadow Fukami twists her words just like the media always did, reporting on her successes.
"Isn't it true?" She wonders, as Bufula twins for her -- and she meets each icicle with a mighty PUNCH which sends the ice crashing back into her, even as she's first sent skidding backwards and then down to the floor. "He's not like that... but he does insist on being the one to marry you, doesn't he? Hee hee... isn't there someone you're forgetting...?"
Her lips curl, as she picks herself up. "... you could always live with Emisa instead," Shadow Fukami points out, her tone growing acidic again. "You know she wants you, man or woman. But what can you offer her halfway? You know why I'm wearing this tie," she issues accusation. "You know how to have her. What life will she lead as your side piece? Even if you have children with her as this half-phase freak you are, without a ring on her finger, they'll be bastards! Do you want that for her?! For her to swallow a gun like that girl," she gestures to Ririka, "one night in the bathroom, unable to bear the pain and the shame any longer, just because you valued your PANTOMIME more than her love?!"
She pauses, the spotlight falling over her in such a way that it shadows her eyes, gleaming gold from the black beneath. "Or are you going to kill her, too... just like you killed Itaru Oshida in your selfish lust? If you hadn't seduced him, he'd still be alive today."
It's a terrifying edict she issues her, as embers settle over her shoulders.
She shakes her head, as if relenting. "... of course, it would be fine if you got Emisa a man of her own to be with," she adds. "Just like that friend of yours you're so cut up about -- I'm sure you can find Emisa a man to cuckold just like Yua did to be with her woman, with a network like yours. Even a good man, if you like! But it's beyond irresponsible to ask her to bear your child while she's playing with that woman! Of course, you know, already -- Miyako's the weak link. Run her through, or run her out, and you can all be happy..."
Has she played right into Akechi's hands? It certainly seems that way, as he fires on her with his Persona. "I never had to learn the game was futile," she insists, as she staggers. "She's the one who's living in denial! I know there's no fighting it! I know I can't fight! But if she keeps up with this pointless stubbornness --" her voice grows sweet and saccharine again, "men don't like it when Hana-chan pouts, you know! It's sooo not cutie babie! Hana-chan can't get away with it like some women can... if she steps out of line, it's into the fire for her!" And into the fire for him!
Perhaps it's something of a sick mirror, for Oracle, who is in something of a unique position of those with Palaces for having met her Shadow too. Of course, all Shadow Fukami sees are those tentacles. "Oh, that's what the allies always say," she says, venom creeping into her voice again. "'We'll vote for change! We'll walk with you! Don't give up! Society will get better!' Idealism is easy when it doesn't give you a concussion! Here on the ground, we accept abuse just for a shot at legitimacy! We compromise! We make do! Even those loud children will grow up and realise they need to fit in sooner or later... though some of them are ahead of the curve," she adds, looking to Joker. "She's fortunate that she can pick a side -- she just doesn't realise how good she has it! If she'd been decisive earlier in life, she wouldn't have earned that beating!" She demonstrates, as her fists hail down on that UFO.
"You think it's me forcing my views on everyone? Ask her! Haven't you watched Flower Talk even once?! Tsk, and at your age... try it, you could use the advice!" Maya isn't Ulala, Shadow Fukami! Regardless, Pixie's terrifying eyes flash over her, and she laughs, even as those evil energies wave across her body. "Even as you resist, you still can't help but be demure... that's it! Heal them all right up! Why don't you burn, while you're at it?!" There -- she casts her flames upon her.
Shinobu tells her to shut up too, though, and Shadow Fukami flashes a sickly-sweet smile at her, just as society says a woman ought to. "Oh, Wakato smacking her down helped plenty," she says. "He taught her a thing or two about how the world works. If you ask me -- she's due for another! It's the only way she'll learn! You need to learn a thing or two, too... at least try to behave like a woman! I bet you're still single, even at your age, aren't you?! Oh, but then again... if you want them to understand... ahhh, don't worry!" She chirps, sweet again. "I'm sure there's someone out there patient enough to teach you, too!"
The light knocks her down with a brutal series of blows, though, and she growls as she picks herself up: "Ooooohhh... Hana-chan is running out of patience, you know!! Sure, you're not a man... but if you're going to light it up, I'll light you on fire, too!"
A real woman, though, Joker says, does whatever she wants, as Setanta carves into her -- one of the blows staggering enough to make her fall to the ground. "What good are civil agreements in Denmark when we live here?!" She demands, as she stands. (Denmark, famously, has had 'separate-but-equal' civil unions for same-sex couples since the late 80s -- and indeed expanded that to marriage rights just last year.) "Are you going to steal me a plane ticket? A nice home up north? And how will that solve this little problem of loving two people -- let alone the spare? Tell me... what country embraces that?" Joker is embraced, in turn, as Shadow Fukami steps forward with arms spread to...
... just kidding! Her hand snaps up in a backhand across their masked face!
Grim issues her a demand, though, and thanks to her earlier set-up she is thrown back into one of the ornate Producer's statues with her second blow. "'It', you say?" She asks, and laughs -- not the cutesy, girly laughter that men expect from women, but something venomous and acidic and sharp. "Haha... HAHAHAHA! That's right! That's precisely right! In their eyes, you'll always be an it! Neither she nor he but it! A thing! Just a thing, free to be hated, free to be hurt! It doesn't count if you beat me, does it?" She asks Grim, her smile savage and wild, now. "It doesn't count if I scream? I bet it's even rewarding, you're correcting a wrong... even though you must know it's the way of things for all of us! Instead of saying such wretched things, act properly!"
Shadow Fukami is twisting her words, of course -- it's surely plain to the Supernatural fighters here that a Shadow can be called an 'it', rather than a trans woman -- but the way she's taking it may well echo things she's heard in her own life...
And some of those things were surely deeply old fashioned, as Mujina says. "And in the twenty-first century, there's an epidemic of single women! Do you know how many women can't even find a good man when they're looking any more?!" (In her messy apartment far from here, Ulala Serizawa sneezes, and blames the dust she stirred up as she dug out a snack from her snack mound.) "The hand of a woman must be subtle," she chides her, then. "It's a shame you're so resistant... you'd make a fine wife." That's surely enough of an insult -- but to add injury to it, she grabs that statue Grim knocked her into, and tosses it lengthways to slam into both Mujina and Grim!
"I'm throwing punches," she explains, for Ririka, patiently, "in an effort to remind her of Wakato Enomoto, the man who beat her unconscio
<Pose Tracker> Shadow Bar-a has posed.
"I'm throwing punches," she explains, for Ririka, patiently, "in an effort to remind her of Wakato Enomoto, the man who beat her unconscious when he heard about her reputation dallying about with men and couldn't stand the idea of his sister becoming a beard in a dead bedroom. You see, dearie, this --" here, she holds up her fists, "isn't about being a 'proper woman'... it's about being a proper man. A man who lies with a woman, a woman who lies with a man... even if society never really accepted her, she could take either path and be excused from her perversions. But why don't you go ahead and act like a proper girl?" The flames rise to meet her!
Scorned women, though, are who Umie invokes, as she invites her to battle. "Oh, no," she smiles, again, putting on that sweet act even as that water drenches her -- and reveals the artifice of her chest, as a couple of pads are swept away to leave her much flatter, just as wet t-shirts have always invited particular scrutiny on her. "Hana-chan can't be angry. Women aren't angry. Men are the ones who get angry! If Hana-chan gets angry, she's not being a proper woman! If Hana-chan gets angry, she's just proving she's a joke!" She huffs, her hands planting on her hips. "You're too angry, too. Can't you be a proper woman?" She throws a statue at her to underscore her point!
"Hee hee... you really think that powerful people can ignore it? Bzzt! Wrong!" Shadow Fukami wags a finger at Vesper. "Even wealthy women need to bow and scrape to men who'd sooner eat them alive, if they're like me! You just think they can get out of it -- because they're lying to your face! You need more than power to get out of the rat race... you need the right KIND of power! So long as you lack that, you'll always end up having to compromise... and if you're lucky, it'll just be your morals, not your safety!" Right now, though, the only thing that's piercing her is Vesper, and she answers with the lack of safety that is her flames.
Power blazes around her, as the spotlights centre her in stage. "Don't tell me you're sick of pretending -- I'M sick of pretending! Sick of pretending that everything will be okay if I just waffle and hedge and act like I can have everything! I'M TELLING YOU TO MAKE A CHOICE!" Her demand echoes out, across the room... as she takes a step back.
"Oh... a woman can't be raising her voice..."
There! An opening!
AS: Shadow Bar-a spends Limit on Break! AS: Persona! Shadow Bar-a has used the Almighty skill Edict of Fear on Hana Fukami! AS: Charm results in party damage! Shadow Bar-a takes 90 damage! AS: Persona! Shadow Bar-a has used the Fire skill Agi on Goro Akechi! AS: Weapon! Shadow Bar-a has used the Strike skill Savage Beating on Futaba Sakura! 2 Hits! AS: Persona! Shadow Bar-a has used the Fire skill Agilao on Maya Amano! AS: Persona! Shadow Bar-a has used the Fire skill Agilao on Shinobu Shimizu! AS: Weapon! Shadow Bar-a has used the Strike skill Backhand on Ren Amamiya! AS: Persona! Shadow Bar-a has used the Strike skill Swift Strike on Katsuko Yoshinaga and Hibari Aoki! 3 Hits! AS: Persona! Shadow Bar-a has used the Fire skill Agilao on Ririka Kawase! AS: Persona! Shadow Bar-a has used the Strike skill Black Spot on Umie Akabane! | Pressure: Shadow Bar-a gains 1 Limit!
AS: Persona! Shadow Bar-a has used the Fire skill Agilao on Julian Marlowe! AS: Shadow Bar-a spends Limit on Shift! Julian Marlowe can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Pain (Attacker takes damage on healing and PL 0 attacks!) applied to Julian Marlowe! AS: Shadow Bar-a spends Limit on Shift! Umie Akabane can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Bomb (Attacker takes damage on damaging attacks!) applied to Umie Akabane! AS: Shadow Bar-a spends Limit on Shift! Shinobu Shimizu can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Bomb (Attacker takes damage on damaging attacks!) applied to Shinobu Shimizu! AS: Shadow Bar-a spends Limit on Shift! Katsuko Yoshinaga can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Bomb (Attacker takes damage on damaging attacks!) applied to Katsuko Yoshinaga! AS: Shadow Bar-a spends Limit on Shift! Ririka Kawase can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Bomb (Attacker takes damage on damaging attacks!) applied to Ririka Kawase! AS: Persona! Shadow Bar-a has used the Recovery skill Uprising on Shadow Bar-a! AS: Shadow Bar-a's turn has ended. It's time for an All-Out Attack! | Shadow Bar-a: Loses 72 HP from Poison! Break and Omen removed! Omen: 150 damage!
AS: Take! Shadow Bar-a takes 0 Recovery healing from Shadow Bar-a's Uprising. | Crt_Dn, Dark_Break, and Spd_Dn removed!
AS: Nemesis! Shadow Bar-a can take another Weak action this round! AS: Avoid Worst! Hibari Aoki takes 68 Strike damage from Shadow Bar-a's Swift Strike. AS: Nemesis! Hibari Aoki can take another Weak action this round! AS: Block Worst! Hibari Aoki takes 54 Strike damage from Shadow Bar-a's Swift Strike. AS: Block Best! Hibari Aoki takes 10 Strike damage from Shadow Bar-a's Swift Strike. AS: Avoid Worst! Maya Amano takes 153 Fire damage from Shadow Bar-a's Agilao. AS: Nemesis! Maya Amano can take another Weak action this round! AS: Block Worst! Katsuko Yoshinaga takes 47 Strike damage from Shadow Bar-a's Swift Strike. AS: Nemesis! Katsuko Yoshinaga can take another Weak action this round! AS: Block Worst! Katsuko Yoshinaga takes 47 Strike damage from Shadow Bar-a's Swift Strike. AS: Block Worst! Katsuko Yoshinaga takes 71 Strike damage from Shadow Bar-a's Swift Strike. Critical Hit! AS: Counter Worst! Julian Marlowe takes 99 Fire damage from Shadow Bar-a's Agilao. | COUNTER! Shadow Bar-a takes 34 Fire damage in return for their attack! Resist!
AS: Nemesis! Julian Marlowe can take another Weak action this round! AS: Block Best! Shinobu Shimizu takes 12 Fire damage from Shadow Bar-a's Agilao. | Haze (Physical and Block Penalized!) added!
AS: Nemesis! Shinobu Shimizu can take another Weak action this round! AS: Avoid Worst! Hana Fukami takes 0 Almighty damage from Shadow Bar-a's Edict of Fear. | Atk_Dn (Damage down!) and Crt_Dn (Critical down!) added!
AS: Nemesis! Hana Fukami can take another Weak action this round! AS: Block Neutral! Ririka Kawase takes 50 Fire damage from Shadow Bar-a's Agilao. Critical Hit! | Haze (Physical and Block Penalized!) added!
AS: Nemesis! Ririka Kawase can take another Weak action this round! AS: Take! Goro Akechi takes 0 Recovery healing from Hibari Aoki's Madoronpai. | Cloak (Non-Area Damage Mitigated!) and Regen (HP restored on end of turn!) added! healing!
AS: Avoid Neutral! Goro Akechi takes 47 Fire damage from Shadow Bar-a's Agi. AS: Nemesis! Goro Akechi can take another Weak action this round!
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
Vesper introduces himself, and Snow is delighted briefly. Despite the horrors and the stress, a good greeting can make someone feel nice if only for a moment. "Thank you," Snow says. "You have it all correct!"
Akechi speaks to the Shadow directly, and it gives Hana some heart. She won't return, even if this hurts. Didn't she say that was her resolve? 'Even if she got hurt'?
Futaba, too, argues with the Shadow, and while Hana can't say she thinks everything is a lie, exactly... She appreciates in the moment the way only a teenager can mouth off. Maya is definitely not submissive, and Hana appreciates that about her.
Shinobu answers her. "...Let's," Snow agrees with Shinobu. She has those old wounds, all right. "Right. If we can... spread understanding..."
"...Even if we can't," Snow says then, "I won't hide!"
'Without fail', Joker replies. Snow gives another sharp nod.
Hibari calls them old-fashioned, says that they live in the twenty-first century now. ...The Shadow is saying things she's afraid of.
She's glad to see so many able to speak against the Shadow, do as they wish. Like Ririka. Ririka gives her energy through music and song, and Hana? Hana grew up with musicals. It works.
"Thank you!"
She still wonders, though... How does this copy of her know so many of her own fears? Is it really 'her'?
Is she like this, on some level? ...If she had to simply accept it, there'd be no way.
But Shadow Fukami twists her words. "I don't care if you--" She shouldn't think at all. And her twin Bufula takes a trip back, and Hana is driven down to one kne. "...That's..."
Emisa. Hana, somewhere, assuredly hates to hear this--and this Hana has thought about it, too. "That's..."
Itaru. A choked noise issues from Snow's throat. "That's..."
She can't move, for the next few moments. Someone might be able to see how difficult it is, even as the magic of Rebellion prevents the mind from concluding that Snow is Hana.--just someone clsoe to her, maybe. She remains on one knee, afraid. But...
But there is an opening.
...not that Snow can take advantage of it right now. She's stuck, staring down at the ground. "It's not--"
"It's not..." It's almost too much.
AS: Take! Futaba Sakura takes 0 Recovery healing from Ririka Kawase's Energizing Song. | Vigor (SP restored on end of turn!) added! 10 SP regained!
AS: Avoid Best! Futaba Sakura takes 0 Strike damage from Shadow Bar-a's Savage Beating. Critical Hit! AS: Nemesis! Futaba Sakura can take another Weak action this round! AS: Avoid Best! Futaba Sakura takes 0 Strike damage from Shadow Bar-a's Savage Beating. Critical Hit! AS: Avoid Worst! Umie Akabane takes 154 Strike damage from Shadow Bar-a's Black Spot. AS: Nemesis! Umie Akabane can take another Weak action this round! AS: Avoid Neutral! Ren Amamiya takes 88 Strike damage from Shadow Bar-a's Backhand. Critical Hit! | Blast (Magic and Block Penalized!) added!
AS: Nemesis! Ren Amamiya can take another Weak action this round! AS: Katsuko Yoshinaga spends Limit on Exploit! Katsuko Yoshinaga can use another Weak skill this round!
<Pose Tracker> Maya Amano has posed.
Maya winces as the flames lick her skin a second time. It's nothing that a Dia can't handle, but she wants to push herself. If they can just keep going...
"Snow! You know yourself better than anyone!" Maya shouts out at her. "Trust yourself!"
She doesn't give herself time to wait for a response from Snow. They've still got a battle to fight!
"Pixie!" Maya summons her Persona and as it casts it magic on the shadow, Maya fires off a few shots from her set of pink twin pistols. "Masculine", and yet "not".
AS: Persona! Maya Amano has used the Wind skill Garula on Shadow Bar-a! | Pressure: Maya Amano gains 1 Limit!
AS: Weapon! Maya Amano has used the Pierce skill Lead Story on Shadow Bar-a!
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
'Few and far in between though they may be'
"Haha- from the consummate silent type- I choose to take that as a compliment."
That Oracle- Akechi listens to her speak, and there's a chuckle as he's imbued with green light and tentacles? "Takoyaki you say...? I suppose it makes sense that a girl whose Persona takes such a form would have it on the mind. Unusual imagery aside... I can't find a single flaw in her argument."
With Joker in their arms though, taking on the voice of Ran Umemura, he gets MORE RED than he'd like- hesitating as he recomposes, before he clucks his tongue, and issues, more husky than he'd like in a performance.
"Don't tempt me." As he sees Mujina's and Umie's eyes upon them- the soap bubble like glitter that was framing them from Mujina's spell as if this were some manga, he coughs once. "Yes, quite right, Akabane-kun." Now he's even more red, though at least he matches the color of his mask.
The magic of the moment from Joker breaks the spell upon him. As Joker defies the restrictions upon them with a summon of Setanta.
He lets out a low whistle, as if impressed by the show. "Well, well..." What he doesn't say is that he doesn't really have the option to defy the restrictions himself.
Robin Hood adheres quite strictly to the gender norms in his abilities.
But his face becomes inscrutable- as Shadow Fukami speaks of the 'half-phase' option. Positively stony.
For a while, he says nothing, as his chin dips, face partially shadowing under the mask. "Pointless you say?" He murmurs. As the Shadow responds to others, one by one, he doesn't respond for some time, like he's dwelling on something, but when the flames come, he barely manages to dodge out of the way.
Inextinguishable -
Persona 5 Tactica OST - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAfSVXf8n1U
He sees Snow on the ground, overwhelmed, he may not know she's Hana- but he understands things are grim. "This needs to end." Locking eyes with Joker, he makes a motion with his Left Hand, not unlike a pool cue- then cants his head.
He waits a few moments addresses the Shadow by taking a step forward.
"Society's expectations are like a curse." He says as he spreads out his arms, as if to show his wrists, and something ephemeral upon them, "Shackles that are placed upon you from the moment of birth. People see them- and understand who you are purely by the ones they wear- or don't. To wear them is to accept them- and attempt to find what they would call happiness, or the harder road- to break free of them."
Putting his arms down, "Even if her only options were to remain on the stage before her- or- pursue who she truly is, and be viewed as a detestable 'it' by society for living without them? The path of heaven or hell- with no in-between?"
He sees the opening, he doesn't need to tell Joker when the moment will come. Then even someone on the side of the Angels such as myself would prefer that for the sake of her Justice-"
Placing a hand to his mask, it erupts into blue flame as Robin Hood manifests, as he nocks a shining arrow, suffused with light, as they draw it back further and further and further, the strings of the Persona's bow all but vibrating from the force of the draw.
"-she chose to become a demon in the eyes of all-!"
The arrow takes flight, but it is not alone. In flight, it is joined by something else.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Don't tempt me, Akechi tells them.
Joker's grin only grows wider and sharper. For now, though, they let him have the last word. (After all, you can communicate so much more than with mere words.)
And isn't that exactly how The Phantoms should be, Mujina? Though Joker doesn't know how affected she'd been by Shadow Fukami, to the point she'd almost gotten taken in by her, inspiring each other to take heart and show courage in the face of that which would grind them down is just how they want the team to be. When she parallels what they said about doing what she wants, Joker crooks a lopsided smile at her.
"A fine example of a real woman right here," they remark. "Panther would be proud."
That defensive fog helps protect them from Shadow Fukami too. It protects them less from Umie's Persona. Joker isn't all that familiar with Irish mythology, and so doesn't know why Badb would react to Setanta that way, but there's no mistaking that Umie is reacting. But if it's only a somewhat more exaggerated version of her normal, is there really anything to worry about?
Ririka calls out the Shadow's weaknesses and strengths. Fire they figured, but weak to Water and Light... Joker has access to both of those elements through their varied masks, but...
Those are some incredibly intense things Shadow Fukami says to Snow, though. Joker's eyes widen at the implications. (No, not the implications that she's Hana Fukami. The implications of her own trans identity and her love life.)
Those eyes narrow when Shadow Fukami calls them out indirectly on their own transness, then shouts them down on the matter of other countries before backhanding them. They stagger under the force of it, and blood trickles down the side of their face--but they stand their ground, and lock their intense gray gaze on her. However, they can only shake their head slowly. They haven't ever met their own Shadow, but they spoke quite a bit with Futaba's, who they've gotten close to, so they know how to compare and contrast one with their original.
Akechi repeats something Shadow Fukami says, and Joker glances his way. He seems to be affected to... by exactly what, they're not sure. Maybe later, when they have time to think on it, but right now, it's enough to tell that something's struck home for him. They face the Shadow.
"It's not your views you're forcing on others. It's your pain," they observe quietly. "But lashing out at everyone around you won't ease it, and neither will burying everyone with you in the oppression you've suffered under. If you acknowledge that things are and can be different in other countries, then you must acknowledge that hard, rigid gender roles are a construct propped up by those who benefit from them! You're just bitter things don't get to be perfect for you right now--and you're right to be. But you change that by taking a stand--by living true to yourself, come hell or high water--not groveling at the feet of your oppressors and praying if you perform well enough, you won't get hurt!
"Take pride in yourself, Hana Fukami's other self! You are you, however you present yourself! You are a woman, and you get to be angry too!"
Though it's directed at Shadow Hana... Hana Fukami is here too. Perhaps that will help Snow rally, too.
Akechi catches their eye here and makes a certain gesture. They recognize it, and their lips peel into another feral smile. It ebbs as he gives his own response, making it clear how his heart was scarred by Shadow Fukami's lashing out. Joker stands with him, though, a hand rising to their face as they call yet another mask to the forefront of their mind. They too know how some people will think of them as an 'it,' a thing--but that won't stop them from being themself, either.
"As for my part, I reject hard binaries," they declare. "Hana Fukami need not 'choose.' She need only be 'decisive'--to have the strength of will to carry Heaven in one hand and Hell in the other!"
As if to demonstrate this, they call up the azure flames of a Persona summoning. As Robin Hood arises over the Detective Prince of Justice, Joker summons a shining paragon of light of their own, despite the darkness that remains in their own mask and costume. Heaven in one hand and Hell in the other. Principality emerges and points their staff towards Shadow Fukami, calling forth shining, brilliant light to shoot like an arrow and join with Robin Hood's attack.
<Pose Tracker> Shinobu Shimizu has posed.
"Right." Shinobu replies with an encouraging nod to Snow.
But it isn't that easy. Shadow Fukami's words are like knives. Shinobu's upset for Hana's sake. How much of these words are things she's heard? ...And how much of these she tells herself all the time? She hears how she brings up Emisa, and Yua...
...And also an Itaru Oshida. She can hear the weight of those words and draws in a breath. She glowers, though, as Shadow Fukami flashes that smile at her.
"Her 'taught' her to be scared. And she deserves better than that." Shinobu replies. "She shouldn't have to be scared. Yeah... the world's messed up, but we shouldn't have to stand for it."
Behave like a woman, huh. She snipes at her single status, too. ...Well, she isn't wrong, but she's wrong about the reason.
"Hey, it's not my fault that the dating pool is slim. It's hard finding someone for a lesbian my age." Shinobu replies with a shrug, letting the insult roll off her... at least outwardly. She realises she's outing herself in front of the whole room - but the vibe has been pretty accepting so far, and with everyone encouraging Hana to be herself there's not a lot of point in hiding herself, too. "But don't worry. I'm plenty woman enough just how I am - and I'm not gonna stand for anyone who tries to 'teach' me like that. Being 'proper' can go to hell, far as I'm concerned."
She readies her staff again - this time with conviction.
"Oh, you aren't the only one, Hana-chan. But you're gonna have to turn the heat up more than that." Shinobu replies, as she says she's losing patience. Fire meets her and she swings her staff to part it... but the flame still clings to her, she can still feel it ready to punish her if she acts against what society expects of her.
What Shadow Fukami says is harsh, and some of it isn't even wrong, but she sees past her words to the fear and self-hatred lying underneath. She readies her staff, and looks toward Snow as she hesitates. She doesn't recognize her - can't - but she can see how much the Shadow's words are agonizing to her. She must be close to Hana, somehow...
"...I dunno what your connection to Fukami-san is. Or... who 'Itaru Oshida' was. ...But I don't think it was her fault. It's this damn world we live in, that smacks down anyone who tries to live differently." Shinobu comments. "...But she's not alone. She's got people who understand what she's going through. And I bet the people who love her would be glad to talk things over with her. ...If you see her before I do, tell her that, alright?"
She levels her staff at Shadow Fukami.
"And as for you... I'll behave 'like a woman', alright. Lemme show you what that means for me!" Shinobu declares. "Lachesis!"
Lachesis materializes behind her. She spreads her hands, and light showers over her, mending her wounds. And just when it seems like she's acquiescing, giving in to the support role... until the two of them charge together. From her coat, Shinobu draws out a tarot card of the Hanged Man. It infuses her and Lachesis both, and they ready their weapons in tandem.
"Yeah, this world's hard... and I bet it's even harder for you." Shinobu says. They face similar challenges, but they have different ones, too. "But living in fear is just going to hold you back! Is being 'safe' worth it if you have to squish yourself down into a miserable box?"
Shinobu and her Persona swing their weapons in tandem, in a flurry of strikes. And then, with one last swing of Lachesis's measuring rod, Shinobu is sent toward Shadow Fukami with a flying kick!
"You deserve better than that!" She declares.
AS: Shinobu Shimizu spends Limit on Psych! AS: Persona! Shinobu Shimizu has used the Recovery skill Bright Dia on Shinobu Shimizu! AS: Take! Shinobu Shimizu takes 84 Recovery healing from Shinobu Shimizu's Bright Dia. | Crt_Up (Critical Up!) added!
AS: Tandem! Theurgy! Shinobu Shimizu has used the Strike skill Measured Fate on Shadow Bar-a! 3 Hits! | Shinobu Shimizu takes 90 damage from Bomb! | Aggression: Shinobu Shimizu gains 1 Limit!
AS: Goro Akechi has initiated a fusion spell! The spell still requires 1 Strong attacks and Light! Anyone can join! AS: Ren Amamiya has joined Goro Akechi's fusion spell! The spell is ready! AS: Persona! Ren Amamiya has used the Light skill Holy Light on Shadow Bar-a! 3 Hits! AS: Persona! Ren Amamiya and Goro Akechi has used the Light skill Holy Fury on Shadow Bar-a! 2 Hits! | Pressure: Goro Akechi gains 1 Limit!
AS: Tandem! Goro Akechi has used the Pierce skill Take Aim - Robin Hood! on Shadow Bar-a! 2 Hits! AS: Persona! Goro Akechi has used the Pierce skill Double Shot on Shadow Bar-a! 2 Hits!
<Pose Tracker> Hibari Aoki has posed.
Mujina gives Akechi a look-over, once, as he meets her eyes... more or less, given they both have masks on, Goro's tengu-like mask and Mujina's broad raccoon or badger. She seems thoughtful. She says nothing to him, but just gives him a slight nod.
Hibari is aware of how hard it is to find a boyfriend because she doesn't have one either right now, more's the pity (her last serious one did not end well, as the Phantom Thieves are very aware, given they had to fight his Shadow - though it was a fair bit less developed than *this* one!)
But *Mujina* is not prepared to announce that in front of God, the Devil, and everybody in between. Fortunately she is not the sort of person to say the first thing that pops into her head 100% of the time, so she doesn't. This time the intrusive thoughts do not win. She grins back at Joker, just visible under her mask, before doing a little sweeping half-bow, hearing them but having no good answer in words of her own.
Sometimes, you don't need one. As Ren themself is very aware.
Instead, she says to the Shadow, "From you, I don't think 'you'd make a fine wife' is a compliment!" There are some people who can get away with saying that to her - but someone who says that the purpose of a woman is to be submissive, be passive, let people do whatever they want to her -
Hibari may have her own struggles over this sometimes, but she isn't prepared to simply take someone's word - orders, really - for it. What kind of Phantom Thief would Mujina be if she only accepted other people's truth?
"A woman can raise her voice. Some things cannot be borne! You want something, and she wants something - your happiness! It's no crime to reach out and take it! Sometimes it hurts to do it, but if it's important enough, do it anyway! Snow, that goes for you too - don't give up because she tells you you have to. You don't have to!"
Unfortunately for her, Shadow Fukami's words are accompanied with force. And more words, not at her; some more vicious than the ones aimed at her, because she at least seems to be partially approved of. The way the Shadow speaks to Grim gets a frown; the way the Shadow throws a statue at her and Grim -
"Watch out!"
Mujina isn't fast enough to get Grim out of the way, not even with her Persona. She's not even fast enough to get *herself* out of the way; the statue cracks into her, sending her rolling back. Mujina has learned how to roll with the impact after a few months of going into dangerous places with Danzaburou for support, but it still knocks the air out of her, and leaves her down for a few moments.
She manages to roll to the side, and then to her knees, and then rise, though it's a little slower than she'd like. That one really hurt! But she rises, and Danzaburou rises too, holding his gunbai and pointing it at Shadow Fukami before thumping his belly. Once, twice, three times: pon-poko-pon, the traditional drumming. It's not being submissive enough for the Shadow, and the spotlight returns to her, but Hibari accepts this pain - it only emphasizes her point.
And with every impact, force pulls *inward* around the Shadow, a pulsing echo. It's a minor spell, though, meant mostly to hold her in place while Danzaburou's true power is unleashed: a Navigator's power, but used to disrupt, as Danzaburou was said to trick and bedazzle... even to kill with his tricks.
Energy starts to build. Not at Mujina, but around the Shadow, a whirling storm of fireflies that swirl into a rough sphere around her. They collapse inward, to a point, then zigzag inwards and outwards, a chaotic storm of moving sparks that builds and builds and builds, the sphere brightening around the Shadow and crackling white-and-black like old static -
- until it EXPLODES in a chaotic storm of mental and physical energies!
AS: Persona! Hibari Aoki has used the Earth skill Echo Beat on Shadow Bar-a! 3 Hits! | Hibari Aoki takes 90 damage from Bomb! | Ruin: Hibari Aoki gains 1 Limit!
AS: Persona! Hibari Aoki has used the Almighty skill Mystery Megido on Shadow Bar-a!
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
Indeed, there's nothing to worry about, Joker! It's just going a little further down the cobblestone path of 'I am thou, thou art I' in a fun* new way!
The shadow's language is dehumanizing, even through the obscuring veil of the Will of Rebellion. Glancing to the side, Umie sees the triumphant lines of Snow struck down.
"Hey... Don't listen to her," Umie weakly encourages. Something tugs at the blonde; the sight of someone at her limit, needing someone to extend a hand to her so she can keep going.
"You're a Mask-san, people like you don't fall that easy..." Why do Umie's own attempts sound hollow in her own ears? That's no way to make Snow get back up.
Problem is, Umie's attention is taken by that Shadow.
'Women aren't angry. Men are the ones who get angry!'
'If Hana-chan gets angry, she's not being a proper woman!'
'If Hana-chan gets angry, she's just proving she's a joke!'
'You're too angry, too. Can't you be a proper woman?'
*sounds of statue hitting, ow*
Umie is thrown back off her feet, red sneakers flipping up in the air as she flies back.
..... By the time she gets back up, the whispers of another shadow are filling her ears.
'Are you going to take that, Umie-chan~?' Mai-chan breathes, in Umie's ear. 'Oh, right. What was it the foreign minister called you, again..?'
"... Lacking potential. Dross. Forgettable. 'What a shame', 'What a waste'." Umie grumbles below her breath, blind anger clouding her sense.
(BGM: https://youtu.be/vDPnyWke9jY?si=k7Qnnt1oSPCXkQFH)
'You are a woman, and you get to be angry too!' And it's Joker that politely gives Umie the ability to cross this raging train back on track, once more. "Let me show you how angry a woman can *be*!"
But not with violence; no no. Barbs and thorns, smokespun prophecies, a nice dash of forbidden power...
"Scarlet fire cleanses the lion's throat, a dance of death cast in shadow. Reset the clock, let the bone pieces fall across the board. From a child's respite blooms a wretched flower."
All these things Umie weaves together, to form a wonderful hot pot of flavors, forming a supreme mark of the Badb's power, a recipe of violence and glory into one deliciously painful package.
AS: Tandem! Theurgy! Umie Akabane has used the Dark skill Garden of the Crow on Shadow Bar-a! 3 Hits! | Umie Akabane takes 150 damage from Bomb and Stress! | Ruin: Umie Akabane gains 1 Limit!
AS: Umie Akabane spends Limit on Psych! AS: Persona! Umie Akabane has used the Dark skill Final Warning on Shadow Bar-a!
<Pose Tracker> Futaba Sakura has posed.
They're pushing back. Somehow it's incredibly reassuring to Oracle. So it *wasn't* just her who thought this was a load of bull. And maybe more importantly, it wasn't just her quailing in the face of that torrent of cruelty. Other people not only heard it, but stood up to it. (This will get less astounding to Oracle after a while - but she still has to remind herself, on some levels, that she really isn't alone out there.)
Her mouth is still kind of dry. Futaba's right hand reaches down and clasps, after a little searching, a 250ml steel can which she brings up. Popping open the lukewarm can of Creature, she tilts her head back to more or less just pour it down her throat. It's well practiced. Familiar. Comfortable. All those other good things.
Honestly, it does taste better cold.
"Hmm... you might be a cop," Oracle answers Goro Akechi, "but it sounds like you've got something underneath that super fluffy hair." She sounds pleased, if in a distracted sort of way. The drink helped her.
The Shadow is moving. And, even worse, it - she - is talking! Some part of Futaba twitches, in a 'can't they just scream and attack?' way, but *what* the Shadow is saying makes her feel another surge of that anger. Oracle breathes in.
The Shadow's coming *straight* at her.
How does she get out of that jam?
Oracle stares into the deadly eyes of the Shadow, in the grip of its profound fury, and a moment later, she stares into them *directly*, because *just* as the Shadow was going to smash hell upon the UFO's hull, the UFO isn't there.
In her rage, the Shadow moves towards Maya. And *not* towards the orange-topped nerd-meats inside of the abruptly dissipated shell!
Oracle is five meters above the surface of the Kingdom. There is a heartbreaking moment where she simply seems to levitate, looking downwards with a nearly audible '?' above her head.
Then she falls down.
Five meters isn't *that* deadly of a fall. She had been kind of sitting upwards which means she's leading with her legs, and the raiment of the Will of Rebellion is a protective sheath for the body. Perhaps more so, given the all-in-one skin-tight rubber frogsuit look of a tactical operator that Oracle assumes. Even so, it's enough that she hits the ground with a tumble and an undignified 'wagh' as she ends up sprawling behind the same statue she'd given Ririka for cover. "bluh"
Shaking her head, Oracle looks up towards Ririka. Whether by artful pass of her hand or just because, the goggles are in the way. "You're really expressive with your music... but you should work on your opsec, unless that's a code name. Is that really a gun?" Either way, she pushes herself upright, crouching behind the fallen-down statue and exhaling.
There's a little 'urp' in her stomach as the Creature makes a considered gambit on coming back up. It doesn't, but it's a moment that passes. A moment later her head snaps towards Maya again, who has busted out her pistols. She adjusts her goggles, and above her, there's a jittering polygon mesh that flickers in and out as Necronomicon strives to reassert itself.
Which does mean Oracle can see, and hear, Joker and Akechi make their strike. "Don't let up!" Oracle cries, before looking upwards, and telling Ririka, "Tfyp," before tangling herself into the tentacles and rising upwards back into the seat of her power.
"Look out!" she calls to Maya, and another of those swivelling green circle-lights-that-go-wom-wom-wom pivot towards her and Pixie, emanating mysterious energies. At this point her head turns to see Mujina sends... "It's a completely chaotic complex! Hah! There's zero underlying dynamic to it I can detect! Mess her completely the hell up, Mujina!!"
"You! Gankutsuou!" Oracle continues, even as another of those green quasi-searchlights turns towards that darkling form. "Move on the left flank and go all out!"
AS: Persona! Futaba Sakura has used the Almighty skill Rakukaja on Maya Amano! | Support: Futaba Sakura gains 1 Limit!
AS: Futaba Sakura spends Limit on Shift! Katsuko Yoshinaga can use another Weak skill this round! Hyper (Next Attack Boosted/Incoming Damage Down!) applied to Katsuko Yoshinaga! They both receive 8 SP and 30 HP! AS: Persona! Futaba Sakura has used the Almighty skill Tarukaja on Katsuko Yoshinaga! AS: Take! Katsuko Yoshinaga takes 0 Almighty damage from Futaba Sakura's Tarukaja. | Atk_Up (Damage Up!) added!
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
Riri-ka returns the nod to Umie, but there's still a little bit of a frown as she returns her attention back to Shadow Fukami. "... just don't mess this up," she mutters.
She hasn't forgotten. She still has a LOT of questions for Umie.
But Shadow Fukami just won't quit, and drags her into the object lesson. The thought of swallowing a gun does take her off-guard, though--not that she doesn't get it. "H-hey, step off! You don't know a damn thing about me!"
Ririka scowls, as Shadow Fukami so patiently explains. "Being a proper 'man'? Yeah, right. You just--want to inflict abuse and enforce your point of view on others, to make anyone you don't agree with fall in line! Because you can't stand the idea that anybody in this world can exist in a way that you don't approve of!"
Her own expression grows tight. "... I've seen it before. I've seen what that does to a person, how it hurts them--how it affects everyone else around them. But I've also seen how people can-- can find their way to a brighter future despite going through that!" She's thinking of her sister Ichika, who she doesn't know is just over there helping handle the influx of Legionnaires.. "And I'm not gonna stand by while I can keep you from trying to inflict that on someone else!"
Ririka throws an arm in front of her as the flames come to meet her. It hurts, but she grits her teeth through it. "Sorry--if you want a 'proper' girl, you're gonna have to keep looking! I've got a rock band!"
"You're welcome," Ririka says to Snow. But then...
'... just like you killed Itaru Oshida in your selfish lust? If you hadn't seduced him, he'd still be alive today.'
Ririka gasps sharply, eyes wide as she remembers--
"...he died. I didn't... I didn't help him."
... she'll never be able to ask Hana about any of this--Ririka can't even know if she's drawing the right conclusion--but seeking the stark consequences (and hearing Shadow Fukami speak of the costs of being on the ground fighting, on top of that) makes something deep inside her ache for so, so many reasons.
She can't put together that Snow is Hana, but she's obviously still deeply affected by this. "That's an awful way to lose someone," she says. "To lose someone to something so cruel... I know--" Her voice shakes for a moment. "I know it's not easy to deal with the death of a loved one. It can be so hard to... to deal with all those tangled memories and emotions..."
She reaches up to wipe something away from her eyes with the back of her hand. "... but the living are the only ones who can carry their memory forward, right? To make what they gave us mean something."
Shadow Fukami identified her Evoker later, though she wildly misidentified its purpose. Still, it might be alarming to see Ririka pull it from her holster, to load it with a special cartridge.
It's not easy to use. It's never easy to use. Is that part of the design? Ririka's not really in the right frame of mind to get philosophical about it. Futaba comments on her opsec and then asks about her Evoker. "No codename. And as for this... just watch." But her hand still shakes a little as she brings it up to the side of her head. Just pull the trigger--
BGM: It's Going Down Now (P3R) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6PDPMQVGDM
Shattering glass and blue fire burst as Amphion surges with renewed strength. "Let's put on a little show, Amphion!" Amphion strums rapidly, and a surge of Resonance wells up around herself, Snow, Grim, and Vesper. It's like the chanting, roaring adoration of a crowd.
And for Snow, a little extra boost, as a spotlight shines on her--but this one isn't one of Shadow Fukami's--it's Ririka's, giving her the green light to use her magic to its utmost. "Knock her dead!" she shouts.
AS: Persona! Theurgy! Ririka Kawase has used the Recovery skill Power Chord on Hana Fukami, Ririka Kawase, Katsuko Yoshinaga, and Julian Marlowe! | Insight: Ririka Kawase gains 1 Limit!
AS: Ririka Kawase spends Limit on X Soul! Earth_Wall applied to Hana Fukami! AS: Take! Hana Fukami takes 0 Recovery healing from Ririka Kawase's Power Chord. | Inner_Strength (Affinity Damage Up!) added! Atk_Dn removed!
AS: Take! Julian Marlowe takes 0 Recovery healing from Ririka Kawase's Power Chord. | Inner_Strength (Affinity Damage Up!) added!
AS: Ririka Kawase spends bonus actions on Recover! Ririka Kawase converts bonus actions into Limit! AS: Ririka Kawase spends Limit on Help Up! Bomb removed from Katsuko Yoshinaga! Hyper (Next Attack Boosted/Incoming Damage Down!) applied to Katsuko Yoshinaga! AS: Ririka Kawase spends Limit on Help Up! Pain removed from Julian Marlowe! Hyper (Next Attack Boosted/Incoming Damage Down!) applied to Julian Marlowe! AS: Ririka Kawase spends Limit on Help Up! Haze removed from Julian Marlowe! Hyper (Next Attack Boosted/Incoming Damage Down!) applied to Julian Marlowe! AS: Take! Katsuko Yoshinaga takes 0 Recovery healing from Ririka Kawase's Power Chord. | Inner_Strength (Affinity Damage Up!) added!
AS: Take! Ririka Kawase takes 0 Recovery healing from Ririka Kawase's Power Chord. | Inner_Strength (Affinity Damage Up!) added!
<Pose Tracker> Katsuko Yoshinaga has posed.
Ririka's efforts to keep Grim standing did not go unnoticed.
"My thanks!" She called out, facing Ririka for just long enough to be recognised, before darting back to cover again. The healing was welcome, but it wasn't enough. Everything from her skull to the ends of her limbs screamed and ached, begging for just a moment to rest. Or, at the very least, a salve to ease the pain. But she couldn't let up - not now. There was a mission to take care of, and they couldn't fail. Not at the last hurdle, and especially not to this *thing.*
But then the Shadow turned its attention to her. Not just her either - it took the words she'd spoken and the knowledge she'd acquired, then spat it back at her laced with venom to match her Persona's blade. The tone by itself was enough to churn the stomach, sending bile roiling in her stomach, and a bitter taste spreading across her tongue. Grim, against her will - and very much to her surprise - wavered in the face of that onslaught. The words struck like knives to her mind, twisting her conviction until it snaked back around against her.
She didn't have time to lament it. She was only distracted for a moment, but a moment was all that the Shadow needed to land its blow. Grim knew, in that instant, she hadn't the time to move. She doubted her battered body would have been able to leap out of the way quickly enough anyway. That heap of stone slammed into her like a wrecking ball, once more sending her hurtling back, but there was no gradual slide that time. She bounced across the floor, grunting out in pain, only to tumble to an undignified, unceremonious, halt.
But she had been thrown into the shadows. It was only a small patch of dark, but it was shrouded, it was far, and it was hers.
"No." Grim said simply. Her voice was the crackle of energy before the lightning strike. The howling winds that preceded the storm. The herald of the end. "Hana Fukami is a woman. She's a person - a human being. You... You're nothing." In a blink, Grim's voice dropped, and took on such coldness that the air around her threatened to fog, and her mask verged on frosting over. "You're a shade. An echo of her. It doesn't matter what you say about her, or what you threaten her with... You're no more a person than her reflection. It's time we rid her of you, and let her forge her own future, free of your poison."
A dim light shone from the gloom as her speech drew to a close. It ran across her body, easing the pain which plagued her, and spread out to those she her mind settled on. Umie, Maya, and herself were granted the healing glow of a Media. Then, finally, Snow.
"On your feet." She said. The words fell halfway between encouragement and a command, though with her tone as cold as the grave and venomous enough to leave the air around her tasting bitter, it was impossible to say which it leaned to. "Are you going to betray Fukami-san's conviction? Her belief? Her *strength?* She found the resolve to strike back against everything that *monster* is screaming about, and so will you. So get up, and *fight back.*"
Grim did not know how to comfort someone. She could offer trite words and polite sympathy, but in truth? Too much anger, frustration, and pain lingered in her - physically or not - for her to think of how best to approach what Shadow Fukami had said. So she had not. She addressed things the best way she knew how, and that was to tell Snow to fight back and take control of her destiny. And, she supposed it was time to do the same with herself.
It was time to finish things, once and for all. Ririka's magic, in addition to Futaba's - and her encouragement - only served to reinforce the idea. Grim turned, the silver of her half-mask catching a stray streak of light, and she nodded.
"I will. Thank you - both of you. I'm going to make sure this ends here, and now."
The shadows churned like roiling water, and something emerged from them. Something wreathed in black and bearing vengeance on its blackened sabre. Over and over again, Dantes swung, hacking and slashing with skill and bitter rage. All the while, Grim stood back, her rifle steadied on that selfsame chunk of statue that had threatened to cave in her ribcage mere moments ago.
"Your pain is immeasurable. But what you have endured does not grant you the right to inflict your pain on others, least of all Fukami-san herself." Grim spoke, in the solemn and thunderous tone of a judge delivering the final verdict. "Your existence threatens hers, and that cannot be allowed to pass. Justice comes for you... and I am its herald."
Dantes drew back, his sabre lowered in favour of his pistol. Suffused with black, it did not simply emit darkness - it robbed the very world around it of light and life. Katsuko steadied her rifle, and as she drew it into place, it too began to sap the inches around it of anything lit and living, until both held the void in the palms of their hands. Two sharp thundercracks split the air, and those dark energies were focussed into streaks of black, perfectly straight as they surged towards the Shadow. For a moment, the paths they took were inky voids, and only faded back into view as the projectiles pierced into their shared target.
AS: Persona! Katsuko Yoshinaga has used the Recovery skill Media on Katsuko Yoshinaga, Umie Akabane, Maya Amano, and Hana Fukami! AS: Take! Katsuko Yoshinaga takes 105 Recovery healing from Katsuko Yoshinaga's Media. AS: Tandem! Theurgy! Katsuko Yoshinaga has used the Dark skill Executioner on Shadow Bar-a! 2 Hits! AS: Persona! Katsuko Yoshinaga has used the Dark skill Shadowed Blade on Shadow Bar-a! 3 Hits! AS: Persona! Katsuko Yoshinaga has used the Dark skill Shadowed Blade on Shadow Bar-a! 3 Hits!
<Pose Tracker> Julian Marlowe has posed.
Vesper is answered by more fiery words, and more actual fire. This time, Raffles intervenes, the Persona intercepting the damage while using its giant cricket bat to return some of it back to the sender. Vesper staggers back from the backlash, but retains his footing, steel blue eyes narrowing behind the mask.
All of this has started to grate on him. Not in the least place because he's well familiar with the line of thinking. Having once been surrounded by it, accepting of it at the time... it feels like just one of many of his personal failures, now.
This isn't something the Shadow could know, of course. But she's very obviously using everything she does know against people. And now poor Snow seems to buckle upon the dropping of a particular name. He very much doubts the words used are fair, few of Shadow Fukami's words have been. This is a clear effort to hurt Snow, and it's very much working.
Vesper pulls his bowler hat down a little lower. "...If you consider idealism an invalid option, then optimism would be a much better choice than fatalism. Regardless, it's hardly respectable to seek validation by attempting to infect others with your most poisonous thoughts."
It is true enough, he supposes, that he's in a poor position to speak too much on aspects of gender. So he steers away from it, generalizing. "To consider no option valid except to accept one's fate would not only be tragic, it's fundamentally flawed. Yes, you may end up punished for what might be considered stepping out of line, yet so too may you be punished for the decision to take no action at all. That being the case, there is no reason not to follow one's heart."
Is it a mistake to speak to this Shadow version of Hana with words he would prefer to direct to the real Hana? He's unsure if she can hear him right now. However... Snow is here, seeming to suffer to Hana's behalf. It is to her side he moves as he continues to speak.
"Major life choices are not meant to be made in a spur of the moment, it's unreasonable to demand such of yourself or others. If you are truly sick of pretending, then stare deep into the mirror and ask yourself - that which society would have me believe, is all that truly fair? Am I alright with there being no more to my life than this? If they have been fighting me every step of the way, am I not justified in fighting back?"
The second he feels Ririka's empowerment take hold, he abruptly whirls about, Raffles imitating the motion, before slamming the dark tendrils of its right arm into the floor. Up from below Shadow Fukami, the tendrils reemerge, seeking to bind and constrict. This would be the perfect time for a strong follow-up, but rather than take advantage of that opportunity... Vesper lifts up his hat, as he faces Snow.
"Please understand that what I'm about to do is not out of any sense of obligation in regards to rules, or roles. Rather, it is my own personal code that compels me..." Vesper simply takes a few steps to the side, giving Snow an encouraging nod. "...To step aside at this time. And let someone more fitting than me take the stage instead."
AS: Julian Marlowe spends bonus actions on Recover! Julian Marlowe converts bonus actions into Limit! AS: Julian Marlowe spends Limit on Shift! Hana Fukami can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Julian Marlowe spends Limit on Shift! Hana Fukami can use another Weak skill this round! AS: Persona! Julian Marlowe has used the Dark skill Blackroot Curse on Shadow Bar-a! 2 Hits! | Defense: Julian Marlowe gains 1 Limit!
AS: Take! Umie Akabane takes 105 Recovery healing from Katsuko Yoshinaga's Media.
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
It's a long few moments that Snow feels stuck there. This, indeed, is a fight she cannot win by herself. Is she meant to be a saint? A bodhisattva? A wise old master? She could never hope to prevail against her own Shadow without help. ...But as it happens, there is help.
'she chose to become a demon in the eyes of all!'
It reminds her of what brought her here. Not just the desire to help, not just what was right, but what made it personal to her to have to come.
Joker observes something about the Shadow that Hana has noticed, too--her pain. Hana is Hana... "I... I am angry..."
To be decisive.
Shinobu outs herself, which Hana had forgotten until this moment--but Shinobu reaches out, even not knowing it's her. "...I will," Snow says quietly to Shinobu. And Mujina, too, says that soe things cannot be borne. ...She doesn't have to.
Umie says that people like her don't fall that easily. A 'Mask-san'. Umie's anger helps, too. And Oracle? Well... She falls. "!" Snow reaches an arm out--but she's fine.
And Grim... "Hm," Snow says. "...That's true. I do have to fight back."
Ririka seems to know--and of course, she would. Hana remembers talking to her, now. 'Living' is what they can do. "...I understand."
Vesper... Vesper speaks with heartfelt words, it sounds like. "We were," Snow says quietly. "...Punished, for that decision. Even for playing along..."
"It's not enough to keep you safe."
But he offers her a space. Not an obligation; not a role...
"...You remind me of someone I care about," Snow says to Vesper. "Thank you."
With difficulty, Snow pushes herself back up. "I won't give in," she says. "Even if I understand the things you're saying... Because she's afraid of those things. ...It's pain."
"Pain, and fear."
"But..." Finally, Snow approaches the Shadow, her weapons at her side, not in her hands. "They can't rule us anymore. You, or her... or me."
Snow walks forward, past broken statuary, across ruined, burned carpet. Her boots are silent against that floor, her coat rustling slightly.
She extends a gloved hand down to Shadow Fukami. "...I can't lie," Snow says. "We'e all going to get hurt. I'm sure of that."
"But that's not the end. We'll live. ...And we'll make the world choke on its expectations... because we're not alone."
Her weapons remain at her sides. ...She doesn't need them for this.
AS: Take! Hana Fukami takes 105 Recovery healing from Katsuko Yoshinaga's Media.
AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 156 Wind damage from Maya Amano's Garula. | Haze (Physical and Block Penalized!) added! Bind removed! Explosion! 120 damage! AS: Hana Fukami has ended her turn.
AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 127 Pierce damage from Maya Amano's Lead Story. Critical Hit! AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 120 Strike damage from Shinobu Shimizu's Measured Fate. AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 120 Strike damage from Shinobu Shimizu's Measured Fate. AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 156 Strike damage from Shinobu Shimizu's Measured Fate. Critical Hit! AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 68 Light damage from Ren Amamiya's Holy Light. Weak! AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 184 Light damage from Goro Akechi's Holy Fury. Weak! AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 184 Light damage from Goro Akechi's Holy Fury. Weak! AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 89 Pierce damage from Goro Akechi's Take Aim - Robin Hood!. AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 135 Pierce damage from Goro Akechi's Take Aim - Robin Hood!. Critical Hit! AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 119 Pierce damage from Goro Akechi's Double Shot. Critical Hit! | Bind (Magic and Avoid Penalized!) added! Haze removed! Explosion! 120 damage!
AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 73 Pierce damage from Goro Akechi's Double Shot. AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 47 Earth damage from Hibari Aoki's Echo Beat. AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 47 Earth damage from Hibari Aoki's Echo Beat. AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 47 Earth damage from Hibari Aoki's Echo Beat. AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 158 Almighty damage from Hibari Aoki's Mystery Megido. AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 144 Dark damage from Umie Akabane's Garden of the Crow. AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 196 Dark damage from Umie Akabane's Garden of the Crow. Critical Hit! AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 196 Dark damage from Umie Akabane's Garden of the Crow. Critical Hit! AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 80 Dark damage from Umie Akabane's Final Warning. | Shadow Bar-a is unable to continue fighting!
AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 200 Dark damage from Katsuko Yoshinaga's Executioner. | Shadow Bar-a is unable to continue fighting!
AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 278 Dark damage from Katsuko Yoshinaga's Executioner. Critical Hit! | Shadow Bar-a is unable to continue fighting!
AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 114 Dark damage from Katsuko Yoshinaga's Shadowed Blade. Critical Hit! | Shadow Bar-a is unable to continue fighting!
AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 55 Dark damage from Katsuko Yoshinaga's Shadowed Blade. | Shadow Bar-a is unable to continue fighting!
AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 114 Dark damage from Katsuko Yoshinaga's Shadowed Blade. Critical Hit! | Shadow Bar-a is unable to continue fighting!
AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 111 Dark damage from Katsuko Yoshinaga's Shadowed Blade. Critical Hit! | Shadow Bar-a is unable to continue fighting!
AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 53 Dark damage from Katsuko Yoshinaga's Shadowed Blade. | Shadow Bar-a is unable to continue fighting!
AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 111 Dark damage from Katsuko Yoshinaga's Shadowed Blade. Critical Hit! | Shadow Bar-a is unable to continue fighting!
AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 144 Dark damage from Julian Marlowe's Blackroot Curse. Critical Hit! | Bind (Magic and Avoid Penalized!) added! | Shadow Bar-a is unable to continue fighting!
AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 144 Dark damage from Julian Marlowe's Blackroot Curse. Critical Hit! | Shadow Bar-a is unable to continue fighting!
AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 68 Light damage from Ren Amamiya's Holy Light. Weak! | Shadow Bar-a is unable to continue fighting!
AS: Block Worst! Shadow Bar-a takes 68 Light damage from Ren Amamiya's Holy Light. Weak! | Shadow Bar-a is unable to continue fighting!
<Pose Tracker> Shadow Bar-a has posed.
Snow knows herself better than anyone...
... a thing which is true once, and once again.
The first way Maya know this is true is the manner of her knowing -- her convictions as a reporter, a seeker of truth, a Whooper of Ass. The second way, perhaps, is a thing yet unseen -- yet unspoken; what is known and unknown and cannot be known, though a whisper, silken smooth as that tentacle lashes against Oracle's UFO, wonders how well she knows herself.
Another breath -- look back to her -- and the feeling is gone.
Just a strange sense of deja-vu...
It isn't deja-vu, though, which pierces Shadow Fukami as she storms towards Snow. It's Maya -- using the violence of masculinity with an unmistakably feminine Persona. "Don't try to stop me!" She warns her, as she staggers back. "I've been protecting her longer than ANY OF YOU!"
Akechi steps forward, though, to command her attention for a precious moment. "Those who accept their fate will be granted happiness," she insists, too afraid of the idea that those who defy it might instead find glory. "Living in-between... it just means you're a freak! Doesn't it?!" Her voice tears, as she demands it of him -- and Joker's analysis is given an aura of truth as her eyes tear up. "What if I can't fight against something as big as society?! Isn't it safer to just be quiet?! Be good?! I always knew horrible things could happen to me if I stepped out of line... but when I learned just how bad it could get, it was too much to bear! It was happening right in front of me -- and -- was it happening this whole time?! What if I'm hurt again, just for speaking out of turn! What if I'll never be safe?!"
Light and arrows bathe her; she is a Shadow, and for precious moments, almost seems to cease to exist, as that light centres on her existence and leaves no room for shadows cast.
Even so, there she is, when that harsh light fades.
"I am a Shadow, the true self," she says, to Shinobu, as she rises.
And Akechi is not out to kill her today.
"... all those things she's buried... all those things she fears. Everything she threw away, and couldn't bear to face... in the end, that's all me." Shadows fall over her face, obscuring all but her sharp grin and the glint of her gold eyes, as she bows her head and steps forward. "Like the body she buried... Itaru Oshida... did you know he died? He killed himself before they even graduated high school, so ashamed that he'd dated a man... Touri was his first. Like an albatross around his neck..."
She laughs, as she straightens, her head cracking back at an unreal angle. "Of course, she didn't literally bury a thing. Why, his parents wouldn't even let her attend the funeral!"
There, Shinobu shows her her way of womanhood -- and it crashes through Shadow Fukami's broken defences, until she ends kicked into the wall. "I don't... get it," she coughs, as she straightens up. "How... are you so confident when you're a lesbian yourself? How is it... that you keep getting back up?! Living in fear at least means I'm alive, doesn't it?!"
That there's another way to live -- through fire and blood, they're showing her their conviction, but the fears of unchanging society are so hard to escape.
Part of her rejects it, even as her path has already been decided.
She lost the minute Lady Rokujo stepped forward.
"What if my happiness... means the people I love suffer? What if it means they'll die?" She asks Mujina, visibly dishevelled, now, all pretense of her performance shattered. "Being myself got Itaru killed... and Yua's so scared of her child growing up a bastard that she married a dirty cop! If she had to take a man like that, what's going to happen to Emisa if we have a baby?! What if she ends up trapped, just like that?! She could even end up dying, too! And it would be my fault again -- all my fault...!"
Drum drum a-drum, the fireflies explode, and Shadow Fukami drops to hands and knees. "Getting hurt... is the scariest thing in the world," she admits, and it's the ground facing her, as she weeps. "When a man is shouting at you, shouting the worst things, the words not even I can say out loud... and you're trying to act like you're dead, but you can't help your breath catching in your chest, and it doesn't stop..."
Umie expresses the anger of a woman, though, with the Badb's visions. "Oh, don't talk to me about Death's dancer," Shadow Fukami scowls, as she tries to stand -- only for the dark prophecies of Badb to throw her down once more. "Ugh... what are you trying to say... that she'd be strong if she were just angry for once? I... I don't believe you!" But there is a hitch in her words, now; it is a thing she has to bring herself to, forcefully.
"You," she says, looking to Oracle, "you, in that strange, creepy UFO of yours... you've little to say to me. Do you really rely so heavily on your friends...? Even that girl who says she's disregarded the binary..." She takes another look at Joker, as she says, "... I guess I can see why Hana would have thought of a boy first." She shakes her head, as she stands, looking back to Oracle. "Why do you think you can direct the battle when you're so young...? Seeing confidence like that... it really pisses me off!"
Eh? Oracle? Confident??? Congrats, Oracle! You've officially FAKED IT 'TIL YOU MAKED IT!
... but getting the Shadow to admit she's angry is, itself, a victory.
Ririka has a lot of words about what Shadow Fukami is and is not -- and hearing them, she laughs. "Do I make you uncomfortable?" She asks, her face splitting in a grotesque grin. "I'll make you squirm a little more... there's a girl inside you, just... like... me. Holding everything you hate about yourself, everything you're scared is true... the rotten underbelly of every little white lie you tell. Careful, rock girl... or one day, we might meet your true self, too."
Despite not having had a formal speaking meeting with her Shadow, though, Ririka did look her true self in the eyes that night as she tried and failed to skateboard away from her problems -- and she proves it, as Amphion performs for the crowd. "You think you're so strong -- just because you've faced it?!"
Grim, though, invokes a fate she knows not... and Shadow Fukami shakes her head. "Who is the reflection? Who is the projection? Hana can't exist without me! I really am Hana, you know!" That anger pierces her -- and she screams, for Grim certainly seems as if she had the conviction to kill. She thrithes, for terrible moments, on that inky blackness, spearing her to the ground at two sharp angles.
But Hana insists that she won't give in -- and as she does, Shadow Fukami reaches up with a hand, to grasp first one bolt of black and then the other, pulling them out and throwing them from her body.
She is not kind, or fair, or gentle, Vesper, no; she is everything Hana left behind, every cruel thought and ugly demand. Still, he urges her to consider the cost of neutral action -- of inaction. "... you know, she... wasn't cheating on Naho, when Wakato came to beat her up. He said she was just using her as a smokescreen so she could sleep around with other men, but she really did love her... Wakoto just assumed she wasn't trustworthy. And... when she was fired, too... this very Producer, Daiki Matsumoto... it's not like she said anything to make him do that. She was just living her life, and it wasn't... enough..."
... her Shadow pauses, then.
"I wasn't... enough."
As she takes a breath, and pushes herself to her knees.
"... I really am Hana... that means... if she's hurt, I'm hurt, too..."
Snow insists they can't rule her, any more, and her Shadow looks to her with a gentle expression, as she takes her hand. "You don't... need to be protected, any more, do you...? No... feels like... you've really turned the tables..."
With her own help -- and the help of everyone behind her -- Hana stands, and embraces herself.
"... I'm wary... but let's try it your way, okay? If you're really that strong
<Pose Tracker> Shadow Bar-a has posed.
"... I'm wary... but let's try it your way, okay? If you're really that strong... let's fight!"
It is the last cracks of a weight Hana may not have left, crushing on her shoulders, day after day.
Those shackles shatter, as her Shadow disappears -- though she isn't dead nor gone.
She's still right here, on the inside.
... with the Legionaires behind you defeated, it's time to go.
<Pose Tracker> Hana Fukami has posed.
When the Shadow fades, Snow remains, still looking where she was.
With the defeat of the Producer and the disappearance of Shadow Fukami, the Kingdom loses its hold on Hana Fukami. A golden door appears, just like the one that led here, right here in the middle of the hall.
"...I'm going to take a few to talk to Hana," Snow says. "Don't worry. I'll get her home."
"...And when you've all left, I'll turn out the lights, and we'll go too."
She's free.
<Pose Tracker> Shinobu Shimizu has posed.
'I am a Shadow, the true self,' Shadow Fukami says. It took her a while to pick up on that. All the things she buried, and feared...
And Itaru Oshida... She didn't know him. But she gathered as much from the Shadow's words. And hearing that she wasn't even allowed to attend the funeral...
"...It's awful. I can see how that'd stick with her, but..." She trails off, shaking her head.
And she attacks - and the Shadow expresses her confusion. How is she so confident? How does she keep getting back up?
"...Yeah, you're alive... But it means you're always gonna be waiting for the next pin to drop. Making yourself so afraid that you'll find something that matters to you, only to lose it, that you end up holding yourself back... Is that any way to live?" Shinobu replies. She pauses, as something occurs to her - that she might have cut a little close to her own bone, there. "...I'm not gonna say it's easy. It's something you gotta learn. But... you just gotta keep moving forward. Pick yourself back up, brush yourself off, and keep going. It can be a long, difficult road. But it'll be worth it, once you've found your legs."
And eventually, through their strength, their words... The Shadow slows. And admits that Hana doesn't need her to protect her anymore. Hana embraces herself - though Shinobu can't parse the true meaning behind the gesture, through the protection surrounding Hana.
She understands the weight of it, at least.
Shinobu shuts her eyes, and exhales.
"...Good luck, both of you." She offers the Shadow as she disappears... and then looks toward Snow as she speaks.
"...Alright. We'll be counting on you, then." Shinobu replies with a nod. "She's got a lot of people worried about her out there."
She starts toward the door, though she pauses to look back.
"You're pretty good, yeah? Next time we meet, hopefully it's under better circumstances." She offers.
<Pose Tracker> Umie Akabane has posed.
"Anger is as valid an emotion as any other, if it gets the point across!" Umie hisses to the Shadow. Despite banking on that shot taking her own self down, the foresight of others keep her from falling down just yet.
But it's Vesper that provides the better avenue, bowing away for Snow to take her rightful place on the center stage.
And like that... it's over.
"....." A hush falls over Umie, her battlelust lapsing into silence, as she observes the golden door. ".... So that's a wrap, huh..."
Hesitating, Umie takes a moment to give a slight nod of thanks to Joker, moving her gaze over towards Akechi to give him a seemingly clueless, brief questioning look.
.... unfortunately, it turns to a sly smile, like a flicker of a blackbird's underwing. Maybe Akechi's fallen a little for Joker too~?
.... Or maybe it's just an act that happened to fall into some wishful thinking, on her part.
"Is the UFO... friendly...?" Umie wonders aloud now, as she glances towards it, as if that smile hadn't happened in the first place. ".... I suppose it makes sense; nothing I summon'd be that helpful to anyone." She shakes her head, and chuckles.
'...I'm going to take a few to talk to Hana.' "... When you do see Hana, Snow, tell her..." She rubs the side of her neck. "I guess she'll figure it out, when she looks back at those scents I gave her."
'Kokoro Akechi' came to her aid, but it was Hana herself who made the decision to stand up.
<Pose Tracker> Goro Akechi has posed.
"Haha... I'm definitely not a cop." Akechi says drolly to Futaba, "I'd have to tell you if I were."
Before he then turns away and mouths the word 'Fluffy'- as if he were low key offended that's the only descriptor she had for his hair.
Fortunately, he's distracted away from his offense by Joker telling them 'you get to be angry too'. "I couldn't have put it better myself..." He declares, with a SLIGHTLY jealous smile, right as their attacks conjoin into a barrage of heavenly fury.
And as the Shadow addresses him, that question. It does sting, but it's nothing he hasn't told himself a million, million times in his own head. A cursed child. "A freak? Perhaps- but you speak of the other choice as 'safer'- do you truly think it is?"
Akechi asks the Shadow, pointedly, in the wake of their assault. "If your life is not your own, then whoever it belongs to can discard it at any time... and for any reason. If you wish to live your life buffeted by arbitrary and capricious whims of fate- then by all means. Make the 'Safe' choice."
A Shadow, the creepy Other. An unpleasantness buried inside each and every person. He listens to the fate of Itaru Oshida.
"Tell me then. Are you responsible for the choice he made? Is she?" It's a question he too has asked himself, if he's responsible. "She isn't. Nor are you. But, if you can't convince yourself otherwise... then why not pursue justice for him as well- against a society who sent him to an early grave?"
Shinobu- coming out is something of a surprise. Not that she is a lesbian, mind you, but that she's willing to say it in front of so many people.
There's more to be said- but at this point, it is awaiting the inevitable. A sorrowful catharsis in the wake of ego death. Five stages in total.
"Well I've accomplished what I came here for." He says, as he feels that effect start to take them away, looking Joker's way. "By the by, if we spot a Pink Cockatoo during our departure..."
A beat.
"... shoot to kill." He says so gravely, before his visage transforms into bearing a whimsical countenance, "... Just kidding."
Cheerfully, right at the moment they all disappear back to the real world, such that nobody has any time to protest his dumb joke.
<Pose Tracker> Ren Amamiya has posed.
Joker whirls towards Oracle in alarm when she falls--five meters is a long way, even if it isn't a fatal fall, and she's fragile. However, she lands more or less safely, and behind cover at that, so they breathe a sigh of relief. What's more, she returns to her place of relative safety within Necronomicon. "I've no intention to," they call to her, voice confident.
They definitely utter a low 'pfft' when Akechi claims he'd have to tell her if he were a cop, though. He and Oracle have a fun dynamic already. If it gets under his skin without truly upsetting him, all the more so. He might be a little jealous of Joker's words at that, but Joker thinks he's got a lot of good things to say too.
Mujina's in a tight spot for a moment too with that statue thrown her way, and she doesn't have the benefit of a UFO shield--though she's also less squishy than Oracle in general. Joker checks in on her visually, but it seems like she's not willing to simply roll over--at least, not without getting right back up. Joker makes a nod of approval, both at her spicy little bow and at her counterattack via Danzaburou. Being in the spotlight can be painful, but it can be a thrill too, can't it?
However... Shadow Fukami is Hana Fukami, or at least a part of her. Joker can say (well, think) that with confidence due to their own experience with human Shadows. To deny that is to deny this ugly anger and fear of hers, and that's precisely what made her so angry and fearful in the first place. Snow too, from the sounds of it. Perhaps it's an all-too-common experience in their community.
This isn't the time or place to get into that, though. They look on Shadow Hana as she breaks down in tears for her fears, especially once Vesper takes his bows and exeunts. Everybody may want to rule the world, but some only want it to find someplace where they'll be safe. Joker looks upon her with compassionate eyes as they listen to her say how she really feels instead of hiding behind a sugary shield of crab-bucketing.
...though she does smile when Shadow Hana calls her a girl.
"Futei-sei, actually," they reply casually, slipping their hands into their coat pockets. Futei-sei, or in Western terms, genderfluid. "I'm only sometimes a girl."
It feels good to say it out loud in front of everyone. It's always been their truth, but so often they only share their truth with those they're sure will listen. Considering this crowd, though, especially with Shinobu also speaking her truth out loud, it doesn't matter--and after taking their turn with it, they quietly continue to listen to Hana's.
They know a little of this already, after that conversation they had the other day in the cafe. It's good to know the rest of the context, especially with regards to this Itaru. What a horrible experience. When Shadow Hana finally relents and returns to her other self, Joker shuts their eyes and smiles.
As the golden door appears, they look over at it, then at Snow. "All right. There should be no more threats here now, so we'll leave it to you," they reply.
Umie catches their eye, and the two of them share a slight nod. They choose not to explain about the UFO. Some things are more fun left a mystery.
They turn, coat flaring in a snap in their wake. "Let's go," they call over their shoulder to Oracle and Mujina, as well as the other Phantoms who make their way back from the defeated Legionnaires to rejoin the group. They keep who they're calling to vague, though, considering Akechi doesn't seem to know about Mujina. She might want to keep it that way.
To Akechi himself, they slip a half-smile. "Another rousing game, Detective. I look forward to however our next clash takes shape."
With one last chuckle at his cheerfully macabre joke(?), they'll stride out--at least, once everyone else is ready to leave, too.
<Pose Tracker> Ririka Kawase has posed.
And the Shadow all but confirms Ririka's guess--though she couldn't guess the particular detail of Itaru's suicide... and al albatros... Maybe that's what Hana meant, when she said she didn't help him.
She thinks of Ikumi, and feels a sickening worry in her gut.
The Shadow, the 'true self'...
-- Wait what was that about Yua? Ririka can't worry about that right now. (Can she worry about it later? Or will Ijuuin-sensei just ask for no questions again...)
Does Shadow Fukami make her uncomfortable? "... yeah. But also kind of sad. If you're part of Fukami-san, then... it doesn't sound like things have been easy. That's not right--but I won't let you inflict that on anybody else."
Ririka doesn't know about her Shadow self, but even without that, she still knows what she's up against. "... maybe. I guess we'll just have to see."
Is she strong. "I don't know. But... I have to keep moving forward."
They embrace, Shadow Hana vanishes, and Ririka lets out a huge sigh of relief as she puts her holster away and dismisses Amphion. Why do these places always have to deal with such brutal topics... Ririka suddenly looks very tired.
She looks at the spot where Shadow Hana was.
It's not like I don't get why you were so scared.
She won't be finding the courage to reveal her own truth today. Not even in front of this crowd. But she does look t Shinobu, who did, and at Joker, who identifies as Futei-sei. She does manage just a little bit of a smile. "... cool. Good for the both of you."
Okay maybe she'll let a tiny bit of her truth slip out.
She looks to Snow, who says she's going to talk with Hana. "Cool. Then, thanks for your help. And I guess I'll..." 'Talk to Fukami-san later, then.' Now why would she be doing that?
So instead she says. "... head out, then." And with that she heads for the door.