Persona: The Side Reflected (IC)

[Renose]

Unlike all of the others, Reno wasn't too keen on searching for weapons. For starters hated any sort of physical confrontation, so confrontations involving weapons were ones he especially wanted to avoid. Of course, he knew that now as not the time to think about such things. When a psychopath and his pet lightning dragon are in pursuit then the best thing to do would to be to get some form of self-defense, even if said defense was futile. Of course, Reno had no idea what else could be out there besides A and his dragon. After all, in this strange world anything could be there, and if anything was there then some defense against it would be better than no defense.

Reno found the fact that all of these weapons were here in this one spot to be too much to be a simple coincidence. Knife and gun laws in Japan made most of these illegalized, and even then weapons like grenades or bow and arrows were things that even most common gangsters wouldn't even be carrying. Reno could understand Yakuza carrying swords and some of the better guns, but even then they would use more efficient explosives over grenades or just guns in general over bows and arrows. Reno shoved his qualms for the situation aside for now and just picked up the first thing he could find. A .45 caliber pistol, two of them to be exact, along with several magazines of ammunition.

Reno had never actually wielded a gun before let alone held one, so their heavy weight in his hand was something that he wasn't just used to yet. For a moment Reno had actually looked over the gun, putting it against his temple for a single moment before shaking his head. He wondered if they could do the same thing to summon some monster like A did, but figured that it wasn't worth gambling since they had no idea what was going on so trying to summon a monster without any remote idea how to would be suicide, especially since the method to do so would be to do something similar to suicide.

After holstering the two pistols Reno looked to the others, then out the doors. "Its nice that we are armed and all...but I doubt these will do anything against A and his draconic companion" Reno told the others in a sort of quiet, solemn tone as he shook his head and heaved a small sigh. "It would be best if we continue on our way, further away from A since we not only know where he is, but also we know that, judging by his desire to toy with us, he has no intention to follow us for the next 30 minutes". Reno then turned just continued to look out the doors after that, trying to contemplate on where they could actually hide from a monstrosity that large and that powerful.

[LentWhiteninja]

Kouta reflected for a moment while everyone chose their weapons. In terms of firepower, his small knife paled in comparison to the majority of the group's affinity for firearms. However, he felt good about the fact about never having to break into a police station or military compound to steal additional ammunition, and cleaning guns after a short time of frequent use is a pain. Besides, if fights could be avoided, he'd choose flight over fight anyway. There is no way of measuring A's full potential at the moment; he could be some god-like being for all Kouta cared. He took a nervous glance at the clock on the wall. They had about ten minutes remaining. "We better hoof it, everyone," he informed the group. Being cooped up in a police station while a psychopath was hunting them down did not feel as reassuring as he originally thought. They had to keep moving, no matter what. Being still will only allow A to zero in on them. Everyone else seemed to have the same mindset. Leaving the police station behind him, Kouta walked out into the warped city, making sure to keep his head on a swivel to detect anything useful or suspicious. Obviously, he still had a paranoid feeling that some crazy thing was going to happen around the corner. For another five agonizing minutes, they walked in silence. Deafening silence.

Suddenly, a shrill cry cut through the serenity. It was a scream that only someone truly horrified could make. Kouta looked back at the group. "What was that? Is someone else here besides A and us?" The senior briefly considered the sound coming from Takashi, but it was too high-pitched for him to have made. Without a better alternative, Kouta bolted towards the sound. After cutting through an alleyway, he found himself on a street running parallel to the one he was on previously. The black moon shined ominously in the sky as the students observed another strange scene to add to their list of strange things. Monsters. More specifically, monsters that looked as if they were made out of black ink, and took on a blob-y, yet human shape. Their most striking characteristics were the blue masks they were all wearing. Almost like A's mask, except his was white and had that hideous smile that was already burned into Kouta's skull. The beasts seem to be either ignoring the group, or were unaware of their presence. Their attention was focused on what appeared to be their target. A girl, a teenage one at that, whom the creatures had successfully backed into the wall. She had straight platinum hair and blue eyes, and was dressed in an equally odd blue dress that Kouta felt belonged in something like Alice in Wonderland. She was crying, too, and looked desperate. Instinctively, Kouta flicked open his knife.

The correct action was obvious for everyone. They had to save this girl, one way or another. Leaving her to the mercy of these animals was something A would do. "Hey!" he yelled out, diverting the creatures' attention away from their intended victim. Just a moment ago, he wanted to avoid confrontation, but here he was now, defending strangers in a strange world. Besides, he had a better chance of taking these guys down them a girl forty pounds lighter than him. The monsters turned to look at the group, and seemed to forget about the girl entirely. Kouta readied his blade, rolling it in his hand in preparation. Were these the same beings A could summon? Speaking of magic, what happened to the Tarot cards everyone got this morning? Kouta had all but forgotten them amongst the chaos of the day. He shot another glance towards the mysterious new girl. They locked eyes for a moment, then something strange happened. It was if this girl had unlocked something within him. It was the strangest feeling. Kouta automatically realized that this girl was special; that she had a connection to the events that happened today.

"Oh, so that's how it is..." he muttered mostly to himself, his eyes turning from their usual brown to an energized teal color. "A... if this is a game to you, then let's play!" His entire body was engulfed in a light blue inferno, contrasting A's red. Kouta's Tarot card, the Emperor, also appeared before him, floating in midair and ablaze as well. "I have no idea what I'm doing, but whatever it is, I'm doing it right!" he exclaimed. And then, the magic word: "Persona!" Kouta slashed at the floating card with his knife, causing it to shatter like glass rather than be cut. The magical fires only intensified, and when they cleared, another person has arrived. However, he was not human. Instead, he appeared to be some kind of cyborg or android, with white hair, eyes, and arms plated with shiny new brass. With a voice of lightning, and an electrified aura to match, the summon proclaimed for all to hear:

"I am thou, and thou are I...
From the sea of thy soul, I cometh...
I am Odysseus: Fabled King of Ithica!"

[Vocalia]

"Hayley, what happened to never talking about Shinjuku again? Seriously, if any of you ask, I'll shoot you. And not with the stun gun."

"And you call me a loose cannon. At least I don't go around threatening people with a firearm." Hayley scoffed, thinking back of a Noodle Incident at Shinjuku that was best left forgotten in time. Had it not been for Marina, she might as well add jail time to her list of delinquency resume. In any case, it wasn't something she was keen on relieving and she happily obliged when Kouta decided to leave the ransacked station as soon as possible with A still on their tail with his dragon pet. Making their way into the city, Hayley noticed how eerily empty the city was. She was used to crowds, noises and fights and, while not a fan of the first two, she grew to miss the normalcy she had taken for granted. So far, however, they had not encountered any other hostile beings yet, but their silence was soon broken by a shrill of terror. Hayley was quite sure that all survivors of the party were all with them and that they had no stranglers. When Kouta decided that the best course of action was to seek out the source of scream, the blonde rolled her eyes and quickly tailed behind their de facto party leader.

The source of the frightful scream turned out to be a young-looking girl, who could blend in perfectly in Harajuku given her choice of attire, being backed into a corner by a group of blue-masked, black humanoid slimes; the masked disdainfully reminded Hayley of A. Without any further consultation with the party, Kouta decided to be a hero and, with a yell, directed the slimes' attention from the girl to him. "... Really? Now, of all times?!" Hayley gritted her teeth and took aim at one of the humanoid slimes with her freshly stolen assault rifle. She barely paid attention to what Kouta was doing until, out of the blue, he was engulfed in light blue flames. With a shout of shock, Hayley shielded her eyes from the burning flames, but she could still see a Tarot card coming to view in front of him, magically floating and wreathed in the same azure flames. He took a much more confident stance, but what he did next escaped all possible course of common sense.

"Persona!"

With that word, he took his knife and slashed the Tarot card which shattered like a broken glass. The inferno intensified and, when it gradually cleared, another being had taken the inferno's place. Despite being shaped like a human, his segmented skin, brass-plated forearms, white hair and eyes clearly gave away his non-human status. Add the electric sparks circling around his body like an aura and his thunderous voice and Hayley had no doubt that this masculine creature was just as magical as A's dragon.

"I am thou, and thou are I...
From the sea of thy soul, I cometh...
I am Odysseus: Fabled King of Ithica!"

Hearing him proclaim his identity, Hayley could only stare at Kouta and this newcomer with mouth open and eyes wide with shock.

[Stalydan]

"And you call me a loose cannon. At least I don't go around threatening people with a firearm." Hayley scoffed back at her, looking very snarky when she did. Matsuhide gave a long whistle back in the corner, indicating the awkward moment for the rest of them. As much he wanted to ask, he knew that Marina could be serious about paint the walls in his brains so he decided not to. Kouta actioned to the group that it was time to leave the police station. Matsu could see why; the whole point was to be escaping from A and Fido the Dragon, not sitting in a weapons vault, hoping to fight him off.

Walking down the streets again, now fully armed and ready to defend themselves as best they could, the group heard a shriek in the distance. "What was that? Is someone else here besides A and us?" Kouta said to them all. "That or this world more messed up that we thought it was. I'm hoping for the former" Matsu replied. Following the source of the scream, the group sounds a young Lolita looking girl being attacked by a group of black blob monsters wearing blue masks that did not look unlike to the mask that A wore. Readying his blade, he clasped at the handle and got into a proper fighting stance. Then suddenly, Kouta's body was engulfed in light blue flames. Gasping in shock, Matsu stood back from the inferno but he could still see Kouta's Tarot card coming to view in front of him, floating in midair and consumed in the blue fire. Matsu then heard as he cried out:

"Persona!"

Slicing the Tarot card with his knife, it shattered like glass. The flames grew even higher and brighter now and, when it gradually cleared, another being had taken their place. The thing looked human but the segmented skin, brass-plated forearms, white hair and eyes said otherwise. The being, with voice like thunder, proclaimed its name to them all.

"I am thou, and thou are I...
From the sea of thy soul, I cometh...
I am Odysseus: Fabled King of Ithica!"

"Oh... my god." Matsuhide said at he stared at the thing. He wasn't sure what else he could say about the thing. Looking around the group, he saw the others looking just the same as he did, turning back to the monsters, he saw the girl looking towards him. Connecting eyes for just a second, he felt as if something inside him had now been opened, something... powerful. "This... is most definitely not the end!" he shouted out loud, his eyes turning from their usual dark blue to a fiery teal. Just then, his body was also engulfed in the same blue flames that Kouta was before. He could feel a massive amount of energy running through his body as the fires surrounded him. The Chariot card then floated from his pocket. Following by the example made by Kouta, he unsheathed his katana and shouted the command.

"Persona!"

Piercing through the middle with the blade, it smashed like glass and made the flames burn brighter and more intense before dying down, leaving a new figure standing behind him. It was a silver knight holding a gigantic medieval style sword on horse back. The armour of the knight was radiant, projecting a sense of command. The helmet left the face exposed, showing a dark black face with yellow eyes. The horse had a natural head, albeit with the same yellow eyes as the knight, but from the neck down, it was entirely machine like with spikes protruding from the ankles of the front legs. It also was silver but with golden armour pieces on the legs, saddle and head. With a calm but strong voice, the knight called to him.

"Thou art I, and I am thou...
From the sea of thy soul, I cometh...
I am Arthur: Master of Excalibur!"

[Psyker Landshark]

Ignoring the weird looks she got from the others as she threatened to blow their brains out, Marina followed Kouta out of the police station, with her gun loaded and its hammer knocked back. And as a scream burst through the air and Kouta suggested following the source, Marina resisted the urge to object to the plan. Despite the fact that it was probably a trap, it'd still be worse for the group as a whole if there was any internal dissent at this point. No, it was better to spring the trap and try to shoot their way out than risk stopping in the middle of the street to argue and wait for A to pick them off.

The source of the scream turned out to be a blonde lolita girl who was being attacked by strange bloblike monsters. Marina shed any doubts about the situation aside for the moment and raised the Contender. This girl might know something that they didn't about this world and A, after all. But then Kouta stopped, pulled out his Tarot card, and crushed it to summon an android out of his head.

"I am thou, and thou are I...
From the sea of thy soul, I cometh...
I am Odysseus: Fabled King of Ithica!"

"...What." Marina gaped at the sight. So they had powers similar to A's, then. Fine. She could work with this. Pulling out her own tarot card, Marina watched as it floated up into the air before her before she crushed it with a pistol whip.

"Persona!"

A pink, winged android emerged, covered in deadly spikes and with a spike impaled through its chest. Lightning crackled in its hands as it began to speak.

"I am thou, and thou art I...
From the sea of thy soul, I cometh...
I am Ceres: Goddess of Earth!"

[Renose]

Reno simply followed the others, choosing to stay quiet as he preferred to talk within the own sanctity of his mind to his own thoughts, asking them questions pertaining to what could possibly be going on. Reno's eyes shifted often to his pocket, which held the Hermit inside which Reno's fingers would run over the surface every now and again as they walked. Reno was soon pulled from the temple of his mind when the group happened upon a girl being attacked by a strange creature. A part of him wanted to believe this was a trap of sorts set by A as he was about to draw his gun to help, but even if it was they could still get information from this girl if they caught her.

"I...am Thou"

A voice suddenly rang out in Reno's mind, making his hand stop as he noticed the others calling forth strange beings. They were much like A's dragon, only these caused the others to give off a blue aura of flame rather than a blood red one. Reno was about to ask what was going on, but before he could even get a single word out another line of that same deep, powerful voice rang out in his mind once again.

"Thou...art me"

As he heard this voice the tarot card suddenly appeared floating before him, glowing with a strange blue light. His eyes widened for a moment as he felt a strange power well up from deep inside of him. The experience felt exhilarating, yet somewhat nauseating as it made his body feel strange. Before he could even contemplate what he was feeling he heard one word in his mind and it was the only word that escaped from his lips as he took a deep breath.

"Per...so...na!"

With the final syllable that he called out he pulled out his gun and shot right through the center of the card. Instead of ripping like most paper would when shot by a gun, the card shattered like glass, the brilliant, glowing shards disappearing the moment they appeared. The moment the card was shattered a blue aura of flame appeared around Reno, and for a moment a small smirk appeared across his face as a figure appeared behind him. The figure had bandages wrapped around one eye with fair skin and strange blue markings on his face and neck. He was wearing a very formal kimono that had a pattern that looked just like the sky at night.

"From the sea of thy soul I cometh"
I am Tsukuyomi-No-Mikoto: God of the Moon"

[Vocalia]

Looking at the rest of the group and the Personas now summoned to the battlefield, Hayley felt a pang of jealousy at how they seemed to brim with confidence. Even Marina could summon her own Persona, but it did gave her some relief to see her closest friend in an even ground against their enemies. Finally having a good look at the girl they were supposed to rescue and seeing how her allies stood up against the humanoid black slime, a spark inside her chest metaphorically burst into flames; the blonde blatantly refused to be left behind. Her card, the tarot card Devil, magically appeared in front of her, wreathed in azure flames. Looking at the floating, spinning card, it was as if she now knew what to do with it.

"This is it! If everyone can do this, then so can I! Persona!"

With a high kick of her left foot, she shattered the card and the azure inferno blazed for a short burst before clearing out, revealing a gigantic, purple bird with a golden gem on its chest. Said gigantic bird stood tall enough to compare to the other Personas and its two tails and two feather extensions on its head further gave away its avian form. By appearance alone, it looked like a raptor, with its sharp, pointed beak and gripping talons, that was surrounded by a fiery aura in comparison to the lightning aura the other Personas possessed. Eyes quickly darted back and forth as it took to the air, letting out a powerful screech and blowing gusts as it flapped its wings and hovered in the air close to the group. Of all the Personas present, Hayley's seemed to stand out due to how it purely looked like an animal instead of the humanoid forms adapted by the other Personas. Despite the clear lack of ability to speak, Hayley could still hear someone speaking out in a masculine accent, yet feminine tone.

"I am thou, and thou art I...
From the sea of thy soul, I cometh...
I am Cinersi: The Hellflame of the Dusk!"

[LentWhiteninja]

Holy fuck, this is awesome! Kouta thought to himself as his hidden potential literally came pouring out of him. His friends seemed to have awakened similar abilities. This is the firepower they needed to stand up against A. At least, so Kouta hoped; he still had no idea how terrifying A at full power could be. For now, the only thing they could do with their new powers was to test them out. "Kill 'em all!" the senior commanded, and Odysseus had no issues in obeying him. With a deep battle cry, the machine charged forward, grabbing one of the monsters by the head and crushing it like a walnut. Kouta himself got in on the action, demonstrating his superior martial-arts skills to any creature that got too close. The fighting didn't last two long with a rampaging Persona tearing the monsters in two or calling down bolts of lightning. Once the battle ended, Odysseus vanished as soon as he appeared, disintegrating in thin air. Kouta's eyes seemed to have returned to normal as well. He felt a little winded, but otherwise perfectly fine.

The mysterious newcomer, however, had that wide-eyed, deer-in-the-headlights look of astonishment on her face. As Kouta approached her, she frightfully scrambled backwards into a building and put her knees up to her chest in a defensive ball. She put her hands up to protect her head, as if Kouta was about to cut her. He could understand; after being through all that, a lot of people would be fearing for their lives. Folding his knife and stowing it in his pocket, Kouta squatted down on her level and spoke softly, "It's alright. They're gone now. We're not here to hurt you." Her dire panic seemed to subside as he continued to spin his words into verbal sedatives. It was something he was particularly skilled at, talking. He's used this skill to win Student Council President elections, weasel his way out of unfavorable situations, and he even talked a student down from jumping off the school roof once. Once the girl stopped shaking like a leaf, Kouta looked her in the eye and stated, "I'm going to ask you a few questions, okay? You don't have to answer if you don't feel comfortable, but you may be a big help to all of us, and I'd appreciate it." She nodded.

"Are you the one responsible for our new abilities?"
"I don't know," she replied, her voice no louder than a whisper.
It could have been involuntary... Almost like a defense mechanism. Kouta thought, then continued, "Do you know what this place is?"
"No."
"Do you have an ability like us?"
"No."
"Do you know who A is?"
"No."
"How long have you been here?"
"I don't know."
"I'm sorry for interrogating you like this. It must be hard for you. My name is Kouta Yamato. What is your name?"
"I don't know..."

[COLOR="GoldenRod"]Crap! Our only potential lead is an amnesiac! Kouta thought. What was he going to do with this girl? Right now, all this lolita was capable of doing was being dead weight. However, moral standards prevented Kouta from abandoning her to those monsters. He'll just have to deal with it. He stood back up, and offered his hand to the girl. Seemingly more comfortable with them around, she accepted. With her now on her feet, there was a dilemma they needed to address immediately. "Well, we have to call you something..."

"Something...?" she replied with a questioning look on her face.
"Not literally. Um... let's see," Kouta said, then he noticed the rose on the girl's dress. He got an idea from that. "How about Hanako?"
"Hanako... Hanako... Okay." She smiled, and seemed satisfied with her new identity.
Congratulations, self. You've just named a human being. Scratch that one off the bucket list when I get home. If I ever... he thought to himself, turning Hanako to the rest of the group. "Everyone!" he exclaimed, "I'd like to introduce you all to Hanako-chan here. I hope you all get along with her." He smiled warmly, then said, "We don't have much time left. Let's get moving."