The TV he'd been expected erupted with a few sparks, but any further prompting got nothing else out of it. Sighing, Sato continued looking around the room. Overlooking the changing family portraits and ignoring the lit stove, he decided to go catch up with Rui. Walking over to his side, Sato watched as their leader picked up a TV guide. Rui put in a specific channel, and it was as he did that did Sato notice the TV guide that they'd found was seemingly the only thing in the house-- dungeon-- that wasn't weirdly pixelated.

The TV channel Rui flipped to surprised Sato. For one, it actually worked. Secondly, the channel was showing what was apparently the story of a girl's life. Sato assumed it was the victim, Ayano. It seemed pretty normal, presented in a generic sitcom fashion. The show eventually ended on some still of Ayano sitting in her bedroom. He watched for a few more seconds, until he noticed that it wasn't a still. Things were moving... just not her.

It reminded Sato of one of those found footage horror movies. Sato half-expected Ayano to leap at the screen in a screamer or something, but it never happened. Instead, as he watched, the TV itself was changing, approaching them as it began to expand. Sato took a step back in surprise as the edges of the TV rushed past them, placing them in the midst of the scene they were just watching.

A chill went up Sato's spine. He clenched his fists, hands ready to reach for a weapon. It occurred to him again that he'd never been in a real fight before... but, these weren't people. Entirely different entities, and Sato had the power of persona. Hopefully he wouldn't choke when he needed to call on the power of Chronos.

The Ayano (which Sato remembered was not the actual Ayano) got of the chair it was in. As it approached them, its figure began to elongate with each step. It became something that looked straight out of a Junji Ito manga, a disgustingly stretched silhouette of something that was once human. Figuring it was going to attack, Sato got his bow out and nocked an arrow. A laughter coming from behind the group caught his attention, and he turned to look at whatever it came from. More Ayanos had appeared, though in different stages of life and different outfits. They all did the same thing as the first, and soon enough the group of persona-users was surrounded by elongated shadows.

"I-I've gotten through! Are you all okay?... Wait these are Shadows! And they have you surrounded!"

It was Megumi! Communication was back, filling Sato with a bit more confidence. What she said confirmed Sato's thought that these things were hostile.

"Excellent... Everyone, attack from all sides. Break their formation," Rui ordered.

Sato nodded, looking around quickly to get a good look at what exactly was happening. They were surrounded by the shadows from all sides, though they didn't seem to be attacking immediately. They just needed to break through their formation before they could do something serious. Sato's fingers clenched on the end of the arrow, but he quickly realized it'd just be a waste of a shot. There were too many to be able to do anything big with just a single arrow.

That familiar warmth... Sato remembered that conviction, that velvet room, that card. Reaching into his pocket, Sato took out that card. He looked at the arcana marked Fortune. Closing his eyes, feeling the power within his chest, a blue glow surrounded the teen. Crushing the card in his hand, Chronos appeared in front of him. A clarity flowed through Sato, heart beat stabilizing and fears slipping away. This was the strength of the persona ability. There was no way he'd let anyone die today.

"Chronos!" He shouted, swinging his free arm in front of him. The figure before him lifted its scythe above its head for a few seconds, before slashing it in a horizontal arc. Following the blade was a powerful trail of wind, blowing away one of the figures with the strength of the blow. The fierce gales dissipated after the blow, staggering the shadows adjacent to it. It didn't feel like he was exerting anything, but after having summoned his persona, Sato felt his breath get a little heavier. Forgetting to continue the assault, Sato looked at his persona, catching his breath. Its majestic blue, the temporal appearance, astounded Sato again. Questions began to flood into his mind again, but he shook his head, only then realizing he'd left himself wide open.

Sunday, June 6^th - 2015

Itoshi Residence

Cleaning his own room was probably Gen's worst decision. One may ask what triggered that particular impulse. The answer would be that he was unable to find the triple A batteries that had escaped from the remote control. They were the smallest things, those batteries, and he had previously lost the thing that sealed the batteries (what was it called again? Cover thing? Black thingie? No, that was just wrong). He was always proud of his vocabulary, and yet, he could not recall how it was called. In any case, that was neither here nor there, because the matter at hand was the batteries, not the... thing.

It was amazing how an object could disappear so easily, especially when one just scattered all his personal belongings on the floor, bed, desk, but nothing on the closet. Even the cubical TV was the bearer of miscellaneous stuff, which was piled up so dangerously that it would put the Tower of Pisa to shame. It could not even be called an organised mess; it was just an outright disaster. His mother had stopped cleaning the room for him long before his father's death, so he could learn how to be responsible. Such was the top first year student's irony.

"Hey, I haven't seen this in ages!" Gen pulled a t-shirt up from the floor and saw a Saint Seiya keychain that he had bought with his first allowance. It was Cygnus' cloth box, linked to a chain and this to a keyring. All this time it had been under something, either a shirt, a magazine, or God knows what. It was faded and dusty, as it had not been used for quite a while. It also brought a certain memory back: when he first showed it to his parents, they did not allow him to take it to school because 1) he did not have any keys to begin with and 2) he might lose it or get it stolen by one of the kids. They were pretty adamant in their decision. So this thing had never left home, and as time passed by, Gen forgot about it, and before he knew it, he lost it. Or so he seemed. It all comes back if one puts effort into finding them.

The batteries were just next to the keychain.

"Welcome home, milady!", the group of waiters in princely costumes greeted in chorus upon an entry of a young maiden. There was something in the cafe that created a dazzling aura with shoujo sparkles flying about today, but perhaps that was just the imagination of the now blushing girl. A white gloved hand reached out towards the dazed customer and as she raised her gaze towards the waiter's (?) face, his azure eyes met with hers, before shutting themselves for a smile as sparkling as his silver tresses.

"Please allow me to escort you to your table, milady. My name is Shimizu and I shall be in charge of serving you on this fine morning." The voice was evidently a female's but one could tell there was effort put into making it masculine. The teen simply nodded out of fluster and gently settled her hand upon the waiter's before being lead to an empty seat. A special menu suited to the new theme was placed into the customer's hands as her eyes were then lowered to scan through the menu. While she did so, Shimizu parted his lips to inform the maiden of the items limited to the current theme. "If I may have but a moment of your time, milady, may I interest you in our new and limited items? The most popular one amongst them is the Royal Jewel Cheesecakes over here," he pointed towards the enlarged image of the cakes on the menu. "We have Ruby Red, Sapphire Blue, Emerald Green, and Topaz Orange. These flavors are cherry, blueberry, lime and orange, respectively."

The prince outfitted waiter kept up the gentle expression all the while explaining in detail. Once the order was taken, the silver haired waiter bowed and once more flashed a soft curve upon his lips. "Your orders will be served shortly but until then, your patience will be much appreciated, milady. If you require any assistance, do not hesitate to call me." With the order sheet in hand, Shimizu left the customer's side and handed it over to the kitchen staff.

Having no customer to serve at the moment, Shizu was proudly overseeing the graceful waitresses (?) at work in all their unique princess outfits. There were several of them who were still clumsy with the high heel footwear they were forced to wear but thankfully, none of them had fallen so far. The cafe was actually busier today, not only because it was a weekend but it was the much awaited crossdressing royalty theme that the customers were after. It was a challenge but Shizu, who was in charge of the hair and make up, managed to pull it off after hours of make up magic. A satisfied sigh escaped her lips as she awaited for any more customers.

He woke up at 4 like the usual, getting into the weekend routine that involved the usual, washing, cleaning and cooking. He also went to the early market to get the good stuff cheap first in the morning. He had made good relations with quite a few of the grocers there. He could get good fish and veggies much cheaper than others.

Today was the day where he'd be taking out his prized kimchi out and making a new batch to replace it. So it was a hard day at the kitchen. Chopping the ingredients and getting stuff ready. Though, it was a Korean dish Alexei couldn't describe its versatility and pairing options, it was like god sent for the families tight on a budget.

He let his beef marinate and began work on it as the time silently passed by. He was almost done with prep by the time Elena got up and from there it took half the time it would have. Elena enjoyed assisting her brother in the kitchen. To her it was one of those bonding times she read it in newspaper articles and heard from friends. Watching Alexei was like watching a calm lake, there were seldom any signs that gave away what he was feeling at any moment. He was always this picture of calm, firm reassurance that moved her. To look at him, one could be at ease instantly, his sincerity was without a doubt one of the most moving qualities about him. But it was that muted aggression in his wine red eyes that sometimes was unsettling.

She knew that there was nothing her brother loved more in this world. Something that he has murmured in his sleep a few times and in those group family hugs that he gives to her mother and herself but she couldn't help shake that lingering feeling that there was a sort of sorrow hidden inside him. As a brother he was too perfect and as a human being too model, she could talk about anything with him but still was terrified probing inside his mind. Often times, she felt that he was pushing himself too hard, that he was too tired but he would always soldier on with a smile. She never had seen her mother take such pains, for she had been stuck to a bed for as long as she could remember, their father's death had devastated her so thoroughly that she was just a shell of her former self, one that she was unlucky to have missed.

Alexei had seen that and judging by how hard he pushed himself, it was something he would trade everything in his life for. She had a mix of pity and envy for him but it was all shadowed by the massive pride she had for him to be her darling brother. She was confident that most mothers don't take such good care of their families that his brother did. He was a mother, a father, a brother, a mentor and a friend all rolled into one and she felt that even with all that she barely knew him. He was an expert at making it everything about the other person, so much that it made the other completely forget that he himself has some passions and interests.

A part of her enjoyed this princess treatment but a part felt guilty, she could only wait for the time she could grow up quickly and get married,so that she can leave him to care for himself and be happy. She often felt like this in the long silences they shared but oftentimes, it all left a bittersweet taste in her.

"Elena!" came a low grumble, breaking her out of her reverie.

"Y..Ye...Yess!" she replied with a start.

"The kidnappings are on the rise again. Have you been taking those Judo classes seriously." he stated calmly, mixing the kimchi in a large bowl to spread the seasoning evenly.

"Ye..Yes." she said with a slight blush, she can't tell him that she had skipped the last few days. Going out with her friends instead on their incessant pushing.

"Good. I want you to know that it is all okay. But should you ever find yourself in a situation. Call me first and then engage if you have to. Okay?"

"Yes..Ni-san!" she replied timidly. Alexei meanwhile finished what he was doing and washed his hand. Wiping it from his apron before heading over to Elena, patting her head lovingly.

"No matter where you are, I promise I'll be there as fast as I can, okay." he said before kissing her forehead. Here it was again, though she couldn't blame him for being protective of her since his schoolmates had been the most targeted in the last few months but she could see that even without these turn off events, he would have been the same.

"Well let's finish the soup and head out for lunch in the evening. You'd like to go to that Cosplay cafe again?" he asked her politely.

"Ye..Yeah, I'd love to."

----



As soon as they opened the door, a string of people dressed as some kind of manga royals greeted them in a flourishing bow.

"Wah!" Elena exclaimed as she went all starry eyed at the handsome men and women in the room. Alexei was a bit surprised as well, about the depth of synchronization of the make-up and the costumes, he certainly felt like Guts walking in on the iconic ballroom scene in Vritanis in the Berserk manga with his tight long sleeved black crew-neck and pair of relaxed cargos. He felt a bit out of place but he was here to have a good time and so it shall be.

They both found a seat and sat down waiting for a server to come over.

Kotori Shirohane - Cave of Solitude | Sunday, June 7 2015

The search was turning out to be somewhat fruitless. The television spewed some sparks, the books remained illegible and unmoving and any secret passages decided to stay secret. The whole house still remained in its strange pixelated state and they didn't seem to be any closer to finding a clue - at least until Rui tuned the television to a station he'd found in the solely unblurred TV guide. Rather than sending out sparks, the screen instead flickered to life as a sound could be heard - before both stabilised into an actual image onscreen accompanied by corresponding sounds.

Stepped closer, as did everyone else, Kotori peered at the screen. On it was a drama of sorts - but verily overdone to the point of being hard to take serious. After needing a moment to get used to the excessively grandiose manner of speaking and overly dramatic musical accompaniment she realised that the person the drama seemed to be about was someone she recognised. She knew it was Ayano Wakahisa and that she went to the same school - that much she'd been told by the others - but it also was the same girl who'd been in a bit of a panic at the idol concert in the mall some time ago.

Thinking on that, she only realised that the events on screen had stopped moving when everyone started to look at each other in confusion at that. Kotori followed suit - until they realised that the screen wasn't actually frozen but rather just Ayano at its center. And then the TV itself began to move; growing ever larger and out of proportion.

Kotori drew a sharp breath and took a half-step aback - but just moments later the TV had stretched out so far that it completely engulfed the whole group, now finding itself in the world that had been shown inside the TV. And now that they'd arrived, Ayano stirred once more - but as she got up, she didn't seem to stop growing taller. In fact, she became ever more drawn out; within a few steps that she took toward the group becoming a barely humanoid shape of... something with eyes fixed on them from above as it had grown to towering proportions already.

Kotori stared wide-eyed at this... thing - was this how it had been with her for the others? But before she could wonder about it, laughter erupted from behind them - laughter which was quickly joined by many more voices. Whipping around, the group found itself confronted by every Ayano they'd seen on the TV show; still garbed in the same clothes - and slowly stepping towards them. And as they did, so too did they begin to contort into the same amorphous shadowy mass; barely even humanoid and with only two giant eyes to stare down at them with.

Staring up at them, Kotori gripped her weapon closely to her - if one could call it that. It had been decided to be the best choice, given that she probably wouldn't be needing one for attack rather than just something to keep any would-be attackers at bay and thus something long enough without being too heavy or requiring actual training to use. And thus, she clutched a traditional umbrella in her hand; even though no one really knew how it had ended on the pile of weapons.

Just then, a voice broke through the eerie distorted laughter from the circle of shadows - Megumi's. She was glad to be through - and surprised at the sudden shadow presence. Luckily though, Rui was less so and calmly ordered the group to attack the shadows. The way he kept his cool did help - if the group leader was confident, then that must mean that they had a chance. Or at least, that's what Kotori hoped.

Drawing a long, deep breath, she calmed her nerves - now wasn't the time to be nervous or scared. She was here to help the others help the girl, Ayano, trapped in this strange world just as they'd done for her. And she'd already decided to do her best - so no more hesitating. Raising her free hand as she released her breath, Kotori uttered a single word: "Kikuri-Hime." And with that, she clenched her hand into a fist - thereby shattering the spectral card that had appeared in her palm. Or perhaps it had always been there?

Either way, the result came immediately - as a ghostly silhouette formed in the air behind her; rapidly solidifying into the already familiar shape of her Persona. It was an action that she'd done for the first time - yet it felt as natural as breathing, requiring not a moment's thought or hesitation. The next step, however, wasn't quite as easy - she'd been told by Megumi about Kikuri-Hime's abilities and how to use them. Strong on the magical, weak on the physical side of things with only one offensive ability - one which she would have to picture in her mind and then command Kikuri-Hime to perform.

Fixing the nearest of the shadowy creatures with her eyes - they weren't really Ayano, they were just Shadows, Kotori repeated in her mind - Kotori focused her full attention on it as she spoke: "Kikuri-Hime. Zio." As if she'd just been waiting for that, Kikuri-Hime brought her hands, holding the large flower in them, close to her chest - when suddenly, without any forewarning, a bolt of lightning struck down from high above; arcing down onto the targeted shadow with a cracking boom even as a scything wind cut into some of the others.

Seeing the attack, knowing it was her power that had caused it - Kotori felt oddly calm. It was strange - looking at the shadows, she knew she should be feeling afraid. They were strange, otherworldy and malignant - yet with Kikuri-Hime at her side and the others, even if she'd only just met them, fighting along with her, she couldn't help but feel a small measure of confidence; hope even. With that, she quickly glanced at the others - knowing of Kikuri-Hime's abilities, Kotori also knew that she'd be able to restore injuries sustained in this mirror world and thus would make sure to keep a close eye on any damage being sustained.

Ryan walked around town, looking for something to do. There was a lot to do in town, yet none of it interested him. That was quite aggravating to him for some reason. After maybe half an hour of walking he decided to head home, right until he sw it out of the corner of his eye. The Star Drop Cafe. His stomach growled and he shrugged. He was hungry and there was a food place nearby, convenience dictated he should go in.

As he opened the door a line of fancily dressed men and women greeted him in a loud fashion. Ryan promptly yelped as if he was a small dog that got kicked. He didn't take being startled very well. Unfortunately he had already entered so it would he rude to leave. Ryan went to a nearby empty table and sat down. "Oh god, why did I come in here. This is the worst decision I made all week." He then remembered how he spent a month's worth of allowance on anime and manga a few days ago and grimaced. Whoops.

Ryan waited for the waiter and reflected on his day. He tried to set up all of the stuff he bought, but he didn't have enough space on his shelves for the figurines. He tried to rearrange stuff, but then he didn't have enough room for his school books. He then gave up and put up his posters. He ran out of tape, so he went out to get tape and somehow he wound up here. Weird day.

The immediate outburst of attacks without hesitation was the right course of action, despite their disadvantage, the immediate and explosive reaction gave the party a chance to change their focus quickly to one of the shadows and break through. Kami amidst the flurry of spells bowled right through one of the shadows with Zeus, and Rui added a Gale Slash to the end of everyone's attacks to cover their movements. In moments the battle was suddenly even in positioning advantages.

"Looks like they go down normally so we can attack them without fear, but watch out for any tricks they might have", he declared. Those elongated limbs weren't for nothing. Moments after he'd said that he was forced to jump back as their limbs whipped at them following a slow heaving movement. The shadows went from painfully slow, to erratically fast in the blink of an eye, and then returned. The whipping motions with their limbs and sudden bursts of speed, plus the range meant they had to be careful on approach, but casters in the back should have no problem out-ranging them. It was pretty straightforward from here on out. Charge them down.

Everyone else started attacking as soon as he did, and without the need for any luck, broke through the formation of the shadows like nothing. None of the shadows managed to hit him straight on in his moment of distraction, though when he looked up he had to dive to the side to try to avoid one. The speed at which the attack came at him was surprising, as it had grazed him. The shadows seemed to be switching up their movement speeds. It slowly lumbered towards him after the lightning-quick slash. It was obnoxious, to say the least, even just watching it. Considering their lanky figure, Sato decided it'd be unwise to try to go for a shot from his bow considering he'd never been in a high-stress situation demanding both quick and accurate shooting before.

Channeling his persona again with ease the likes of breathing, Sato sent his persona forward again. Instead of hitting the shadow, Chronos swung it's scythe to the side, the blue flame flaring up. Around one of the shadows, a polygon appeared on the ground, lighting up in a blinding white. A second passed, the shadow coming to a stop, no doubt about to attack. Right before it could take another swing at Sato, the shape erupted, hundreds of cards rushing out of it and latching onto the shadow's body, constricting its movements. Another moment passed before the cards themselves exploded in a fiery white light. When it cleared, the shadow was nothing more than a black smoke, dissipating into the air. They had this in the bag.

Kotori Shirohane - Cave of Solitude | Sunday, June 7 2015

Kotori quickly looked over the result of the massed attack that the group had unleashed on the spindly shadow creatures - but not in incredulity at the sheer strangeness of the whole scene, though she knew in any other situation that is what she'd be doing, but rather trying to make sure none of the creatures were getting too close as they moved in for a counter-attack even as Rui warned them to keep an eye out for any trickery. With the previous attack putting their foes into disarray, they at least didn't have to worry about attacks from behind - and Kotori found herself toward the rear of the group, leaving the more physically capable team members out front. They hadn't gotten away completely unscathed though - but fortunately, there hadn't been any actual injuries but merely scratches, light cuts and close calls, distressing though those may be.

With enough breathing space, Kotori had time to choose her next target before motioning toward it with one hand - the gesture not even being needed as Kikuri-Hime sprang into action once again; calling down another bolt of lightning from on high to strike one of the creatures. It hadn't even needed more than a passing thought - much like the others had said, it became second nature nearly immediately; as if one had always known how to utilise one's persona - though, in a sense, that was exactly how it was, after all. Still, there was no time to marvel at the sensation - instead, Kotori fixed her eyes on the shadow creatue. It had survived the immediate strike, though clearly taken damage - it seemed her defensive and supporting abilities really did outstrip her offensives ones, though at least the creature would be softened up for any subsequent attacks that were sure to dispatch it.

It looked like the tide of battle was rapidly turning in the group's favour despite having been caught flat-footed initially. Still, Rui had called every to be careful - and as such, Kotori quickly checked her surroundings, just to be sure, before checking up on the others' state, given that they were positioned closer to the enemies. Though she'd been told that Megumi could keep them updated on any strange shadow movements, it was one thing to know it but another to truly understand it for what it was - so Kotori found herself glancing around for any odd movements all the while.

Softening them up while avoiding their range seemed to work. Everyone had some form of magical attack to use, and when the time was right, Rui and Kami would charge in and strike the shadows down. As the battle continued, the numbers of shadows would thin, and thin, until there was nothing left. As the battle ended, the room changed back to the familiar look of Ayano's house.

"It looks like you're all in the clear... The second floor seems to be open now", with that new information, the party decided to move on into the 2nd floor.

---

As the party rose to the second floor, the scenery was... Different. It was dark, illuminated only by webs with what appeared to be electricity travelling through the threads. Kami also made out that this was the second floor to Ayano's house, although all the doors seemed to be locked, except for one it seems, and it was the door to Ayano's room.

"There's a big reading behind that door... But someone is there too. That must be where she is", with that confirmation, Kami without ceremony pushed the door open and rushed in. As everyone trailed behind him, they realized and learned why this dungeon was called the 'Cave of Solitude'. Ayano's room was the cave. They came out into a spacious cavern, and would quickly notice how thick with spider webbing it was, emanating with electricity like some kind of network. As some of them got closer, they would realize that these webs were made from wires and cables. The party would hear talking, between likely Ayano and her shadow, though soon it would be interrupted.

"Ayano!", Kami seemed to be overtaken by a sense of urgency as he swung right at Ayano's shadow, who simply stepped back away as she continued to speak.

Ayano awoke to a familiar scene...It was her room, the hardwood flooring and the wallpaper made that evident, but what was odd is that she could see what seemed like webs formed from wires and cables poking out in various nooks and crannies in her room, with some extending and even clinging to the corners as if enveloping her in some sort of shield.

That wasn't the only thing that was odd, in the center of the room, she could see someone playfully tapping away at the keyboard while giggling eerily, even creepier was the fact that there was nothing showing in her computer screen, just a blank flashing piece of nothing. What was so funny? Suddenly, the figure stood up from the chair and turned around to reveal that it was...her? The brunette was in shock, what is this? Some sort of prank? A set up? Who was this mystery copycat? She looked the same as her...All dressed in the same attire with the sole exception being the fake one is wearing all white...The impostor's lips curved into a lascivious smile, as she strutted forward to the original who was still on the ground.

"My, my, my...Finally awake, huh? I mean...Why did you even bother waking up today? You've got no one to live for, isn't that what you ALWAYS say?"

Ayano was taken aback...This...this person sounds so shrill, her voice so high-pitched it might as well qualify as it's own synthesizer. But what really hit her was how it knew such things, she denied by nodding her head in refusal, explaining to her white copy that she doesn't think that way.

"Oh please, stop being delusional..." The fake Ayano put her hands on her hips. "Who's the fool who constantly wastes away at her computer screen pretending to be someone she isn't?" Ayano stared in wide-eyed disbelief as her mirror image began to deprecate her feelings toward that...that faker!

"Look at me! I'm a super-cute, cheerful and optimistic person who wishes the best for everyone around her...Oh wait...except I'm NOT!"
The white clothing of the figured began to dissipate quickly turning into a pitch black as it's eyes began to close, as it's mouth opened to talk once more, it did so in a very robotic tone. It began to circle the girl, kicking her slightly in the side as she clutched it in pain.

"Why don't you just come clean and admit it?! You hate everyone and everything around you! You hate your school, it's garbage! Why waste your precious gaming time with a bunch of losers who don't give a fuck about who you are?! You hate Chiaki, fucking brat...All that time you wasted with her in that god-awful ditch of an inn could've been used to grind! Why couldn't she just go away?! You hate Kami, who would even give a shit about some lowlife vermin such as yourself, am I right? He has awful taste...If you ask me, he's better off sticking his dick in a black hole! And most of all, you hate your self...I mean who wouldn't?! A miserable, little, pile of insignificant waste of space as a human being! Not even worthy of being called human!

The brunette clutched her head in pain...All of it...it wasn't true! None of it! She swore that this was all some kind of sick and twisted fever dream she must have gotten due to the rain and yet, all of it felt real...but she kept on denying it...No...No...none of it was true! She remained persistent all throughout...Her mirror image began to split, forming a two figures that was both White and Black as they continued to circle the girl while continuing their verbal abuse. The girl could only clutch her head in pain, trying to minimize the torturous words of the two.

Suddenly, the door to her room flung open, and an all-too familiar face greeted all three Ayano's. It was Kami, the real Ayano wasn't sure how to feel, she was both relieved and scared of what will happen...Wait, why was he even here in the first place? Before she could even think, she shouted out,

"N-No, Kami! Don't listen!"

The White Ayano began to giggle coquettishly as the boy finally made his grand entrance. With a sway of her hips and a 'come hither' stare she looked at Kami with a glint in her eyes.

"Lookie here! Our boytoy has finally made his appearance! C'mon Ayano, it's time to say it! Who wouldn't want to listen to this?!

Ayano began to mumble under breath, "N...No! S..Stop it! Who are you?!" she shouted to her two fakes as they began to laugh hysterically. In unison, their shrill and robotic voice began to become one, themselves mirroring each others actions.

"We...are you, Ayano Wakahisa. The real you, the one that is inside. The one who constantly seeks friends but pushes away the ones she has right now...

"Stop..."

"The girl who acts all demure and cute in the internet because she can't bring herself to do it in real life. Hiding behind a handle name and a profile picture. It's easy to become anonymous in the web, Ayano...Why are you denying it? Can't handle the truth IRL? Too scared to confront the real thing out in the open world because it's not digitized? Are the guys not 2D enough for you? All you want is praise and to be noticed, well here's your big chance and your big audience!"

"Stop it!"
She demanded, slowly rising from the floor as she began to face her duplicates eye-to-eye.

"You want to know the kicker? It's easy, all TOO EASY to say you like someone behind a fake screen name. Easy to say it's a joke and treat it like it's no big thing...Then why can't you say it right NOW?! I...L-" Before the two could even finish the sentence, Ayano stopped them.

"SHUT UP, SHUT UP, SHUT UP! You...You...BOTH OF YOU! You're not me!
She cried out in anger, she took a few deep breathes and there was an eerie moment of silence as the two mirror images froze in place. The White Ayano just began to giggle uncontrollably while Black Ayano didn't say anything, there was no need for words as the two began to melt, slowly forming an ooze of both black and white, for a while, Ayano thinks that she's done the right thing and has defeated both of them, but she was wrong...From the ooze emerged a myriad of mechanical hands and legs and a large female head, as it began to rise it made its form more apparent...

The shadowy figure atop the monster pointed at Ayano and everyone else in the room.
"Now you pieces of shit have done it! I'm going to show you that I don't NEED ANYONE IN THIS WORLD! I'LL DO IT, I'LL PROVE IT BY KILLING EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!"

Ayano's shadow immediately began to crawl backwards on it's arachnid legs, and started crawling with alarm speed across the webs strewn out in the cavern, while it occasionally blasted at the party with webs. With Kami grabbing Ayano and taking her to safe spot, they didn't have to worry too much. They were having difficulty pinning it down, they would attempt to strike or cast spells at the shadow, but it would only swiftly dodge or avoid any direct hits. The battle wasn't getting any better either. The webs the shadow was firing at them was connecting with the other webs, and occasionally surged with electricity. In his experience, that electricity was likely not in their favour. The attacks also seemed to become more accurate whenever they were stepping on the web, so there was definitely some kind of detection on it... Among the attacks though, the party was managing to clear the webs... That might be the answer. He was going to as Megumi, but he quickly realized he was hearing the same static the moment the fight began... It was likely the shadow's doing. They weren't going to get navigator support for this fight it seemed.

"Stay light on your feet, and clear the webs", he said, giving the order.

Kotori Shirohane - Cave of Solitude | Sunday, June 7 2015

The tide of battle turned rather quickly - what was left of the imposing circle of shadows was being rapidly mopped up by the group. For all their numbers and disconcerting appearances, they hadn't been too much of a threat. Though Kotori wasn't exactly going to complain - using Kikuri-Hime's healing abilities, she could at least make sure everyone was ready for whatever came next. Megumi quickly guided them up to the second floor. Kaminari raced ahead of the group, quite evidently desperate to help the girl who was trapped in this world. A number of doors awaited them - but each one that was tried turned out to be locked. All except one, as Megumi pointed out a moment later - the very same behind which she could sense something and someone behind. That was all that Kaminari needed as he bolted off right for the door again, pushing them aside as he rushed inside. Not knowing what to expect, Kotori followed the others; glancing around more than a little nervously.

Stepping inside, it the room that she'd expected turned out to be a cave instead - one hung to full of spiderwebs which, at a second glance, seemed to be pulsing with electricity. Whilst Kotori slowed down to take in these strange surroundings, Kaminari had no such compunctions - he raced straight for the center of both the room and the spider's web. Having been distracted by the strangeness of the place, she only now realised that at the very center of both the room and the spider's web stood a figure - or rather three. Blinking once, twice, Kotori first thought she was seeing things. Did she have multiple shadows? Was that even possible? Did that mean they'd be facing multiple enemies? A cold feeling ran down her spine at that - she'd thought it terrible enough just seeing the others have to face off against her shadow, but now two?

Kaminari meanwhile took a swing at one of the creatures - but it stepped aside effortlessly; raising its voice so that it could be heard all throughout the room. They spoke - Kotori only realised it was both of their voices after a moment - about the girl, Ayano, how she hid herself away, why she did it - though the words were spoken by the strange creatures that weren't Ayano, Kotori couldn't help but feel as if she was just scared and confused. But just then Ayano cried the fateful words: You're not me!

And with that, a frozen silence entered the room. It only lasted for a moment though, as it was suddenly broken by a sudden giggling that seemed to fill the whole spider-webbed cave. Left with little else but to stare on, Kotori watched as the two shadows melted down - and just before hope could spring up that perhaps that was all there was to it, a hand broke through the surface of mixed black and white. And then another. Then two, then six. Soon, dozens of both hands and feet were grasping from within the puddle, as if trying to lift themselves free - and slowly they did. And with them rose a face - no, two, no, more.

It took Kotori a few moments before she quite knew what she was looking at - some bizarre behemoth of disjointed limbs and faces, mechanical in nature, frightening to look upon and seeped with malice without a doubt even before it declared its full intention to kill everyone single person in the room. Kotori stepped back at the sight of the creature - but thankfully it retreated instead of surging forward. With a moment's pause, Kotori quickly looked around - and saw that Kaminari had quickly grabbed Ayano to get her to safety whilst Rui had already focused his attention on the enormous spider-like creature in whose web they found themselves. Sato seemed to be holding himself better than her too - leaving her to take a deep breath to try and calm herself as the battle began.

Unfortunately, things weren't quite that simple. Without much trouble and despite its size, the spider-shadow managed to dodge out of the way of their attacks and spewed webs in return. Though for all their attacks that missed the creature, they did strike the web behind - and with it tore strips off it; frayed cables hanging loose in more than one place now. Rui seemed to see this as their best bet - the connection to Megumi seemingly lost once more - and ordered the group to focus on the web rather than the spinner thereof whilst keeping an eye out for it.

It wasn't an easy task no doubt - but Kotori steeled herself for it, having the good fortune that Kikuri-Hime wouldn't need to actually get too close to utilise her offensive Zio spell, which she aimed at the web. Though even as she did, she feared that this fight might require more of her healing abilities than the previous one.

Before long, the shadows were dropping like flies and the battle was over. Sato felt a smile make its way onto his lips, and he breathed out a sigh of relief. There was nothing to be afraid of if they all worked together. The battleground withdrew and returned to the appearance of Ayano's house, the pixelation almost normal looking after looking at it for as long as they had been. Having apparently completed some arbitrary objective, the group was allowed to continue on to the second floor.

As the group went up, the look of the pixel-y yet typical household began to fade into darkness. Sato assumed it was the same house, and Kami confirmed, but the only light came from webs all over the hall that coursed with electricity, spitting sparks at them. They tried doors as they passed them, but they all seemed to be locked. As Sato tried another door, clicking as a lock kept him out, he wondered if there was even anything beyond these locked doors. Probably not, he decided as Megumi noted a particular door as having a girl and a 'big reading' beyond it. The shadow was likely leading them on in some twisted fashion.

Kami rushed in through the door way, Sato trailing behind Rui. What surprised first was how his footsteps went from walking on wooden floorboards to stepping on the stone of a cavern floor. The cave was very open, betraying logic, though that was lost when a TV basically ate the room they were in. There were more electric cobwebs running across the walls and ceiling and everything else. Or... he peered at a web for a second. A spot of the threads was frayed, revealing the copper beneath. Wires? It didn't make much sense to Sato, but at least it solved the mystery of how spider webs could handle that much electricity. Kami's shout drew his attention to the more important matter: the victim. Sato watched as Kami charged at one of the girls standing at the end of the room. Seeing as it avoided the attack without a blink (and how much of a fit Kami had been having over saving Ayano in the first place), it had to be the shadow. That meant the real Ayano was there, albeit not safe and sound quite yet. But...

Who was the third one? As if to answer his question, the third Ayano giggled, before 'greeting' Kami in a way that Sato knew was in no way Ayano, even as little as he knew her, plus how both of the shadows referred to the second girl as 'Ayano'. The shadows continued verbally harassing Ayano, and Sato felt bad for just standing there. But listening to what they were saying... Memories of his own shadow flooded back into his mind, everything that it had said, how he'd reacted, the events that followed. Everything it said was an exaggeration of those dark things he'd thought and done, what he wished would just go away. In a way everything that it said was true, and Sato didn't doubt that what he was listening to was a dramatized version of the dark side of Ayano's life. Sato clenched and unclenched his fists, steeling himself yet again. Like Rui and the others had done for him, Sato wasn't going to let anything happen to the victims. The scene played through his head again, how he'd reacted. It was when he said it that the shadow transformed, those three words. Was that the 'trigger'?

Just as he heard Ayano start to shout at her shadows, Sato lifted his head and called out to Ayano. "Wait, don't say it!"

But it was useless, she was beyond getting through to. Silence filled the room after Ayano had cried out, before one of the Ayano shadows began to laugh uncontrollably. The two started to fuse back into one shadow, though it just looked like a blob of black and white goo. A tense moment passed like molasses before something began to rise from the monochrome ooze. Mechanical limbs dragged a large female head out the puddle. It ripped itself out with one last pull, revealing itself in all its splendor.

Metal arms and legs held up a giant face as its abdomen with bodies composing the rest of its body. Like the punchline to some messed up joke, Sato realized it was supposed to be one hell of a spider. A figure standing on top of the monster pointed at everyone, giving a threat: "Now you pieces of shit have done it! I'm going to show you that I don't NEED ANYONE IN THIS WORLD! I'LL DO IT, I'LL PROVE IT BY KILLING EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!"

And then the battle began. The shadow scuttled backwards until its legs got onto some webbing. Sato watched carefully, knuckles white as he clenched the grip to his bow. He let out an alarmed gasp as it suddenly sped along the webs, spitting webbing at them as it did so. Making sure Ayano was safe before he did anything, Sato nocked an arrow into his bow. He tried his hardest to still his shaky body as he aimed at the spider. It was moving far faster than anything he'd ever shot at before, not to mention having to re-aim every several seconds to dodge a web shot. As the fight went on and Sato had trouble even keeping up with the spider as it scampered across its network of electrical webbing, he started to think that it was hopeless to try to hit it directly, seeing as it had already dodged everything the others had thrown at it. Still, he finally saw a good shot and he let go of the string, the arrow launching at a decent speed. Sato thought it was going to hit, as he had correctly guessed the speed and direction the spider was going and had adjusted accordingly, but it still dodged it with one swift movement around where the shot hit.

The arrow instead pierced through a section of wire webbing. Frustrated, Sato took a step away from the spider, feeling his feet step on a bit of wire, tingling the sole of his foot with electricity. He glanced at it instinctively, and in the time it took to do that, the spider took another shot at him, this time shockingly accurate. Sato fortunately noticed it before it was too late and dived out of the way.

"Stay light on your feet, and clear the webs." Rui ordered. Sato nodded, noting how he'd pierced through the wires with that arrow earlier. Sato reached for another arrow, before realizing that doing it that way was going to do accomplish practically nothing. Instead, Sato reached out his hand again, a card conjuring itself again. His hand closed tight and Chronos appeared, immediately swinging its scythe. A gale whipped around a section of webbing, ripping and tearing it until there was just a big hole in the web.

After the team had blasted the web with their persona's abilities a bit, it was looking a lot less solid. As they continued dodging the shots and pelting the web in reply, Sato prepped another Garula, aiming to rip the hole wider.

The strategy was working it seems, but it was still a rough slog of a fight. The shadow was managing to keep up with the web while slinging some of it at the party... They needed to split up Rui thought.

"Split up, the more directions it needs to aim at, the easier it'll be to get something in", he ordered. Of course, Kami chose to stay with Ayano, while Sato, Kotori and Rui would disperse. As the battle continued, it became increasingly clear that this battle of attrition was foolhardy. It took them far too much effort to reach that spider shadow, and on the web they moved a little slower while the shadow laughed and moved with alarming speed along the web... Taking out the webbing was definitely the answer, but they couldn't keep up.

This was bad... They couldn't call for back up or scan for some kind of weakness. Pretty soon they would need to try and retreat, but they had to try.

"Zzz... Bzt...", Rui could hear it... Communications...? By instinct, he turned to the door as it opened...

---

"I've lost contact with the main party, so we'll need to send you guys in... When things are under control, please return, as once I re-establish communications, I won't be able to keep track of your statuses. Fortunately, this dungeon doesn't have many shadows if at all",

Akane nodded in affirmative. Behind her was Noboru, Matthew, and Leiko. They entered the first floor, and it appears they got the chance to be backup. With communications lost in the boss room, things may be quite dire in there. The first and second floor were a merely creepy house, with not a shadow in sight, and the actual trip to the second floor took less than a minute, but as they reached the second floor, they realized there were webs all over a single door...

"Hey... That must be what's blocking the communications... The web... Please, break the webbing away and proceed", they didn't really need orders for that, after all, they came all this way. Though as they slashed it away, it began to slowly regrow...

[color=megenta]"Two of you should stay outside to keep the door from getting webbed up again, the other two should go and back up the main party"[/color], she suggested.

Once the four decided who was going to be going in, they entered.

Noboru laughed a loud hearty laugh when he heard the orders. It was time to pop in and do what he did best. He drove his foot through the quickly regenerating webs, jumping through. He chuckled all the way through his leap.

"Hey Akane! Better keep up!"

Noboru sized up the room. He scanned the area, looking at his teammates first. They seemed tired, the fight dragging on. He looked around again, scanning the enemies in the room. His eyes slowly settled on the shadow. They widened, and his mouth dropped. The first words out of his mouth would've turned milk sour.

"Holy fucking shit. Goddamn are you ugly! Y'know, I could forgive you if you were just one face, but holy damn I feel offended just looking at you! And besides, isn't the spider thing a little bit overplayed?

Noboru squatted down, as if preparing to catch something large. He looked over to Akane and spoke to her.

"Hey, pssssssssssst, Akane! Play along with me. I have a plan. Insult it as much as you can. Try to piss it off. Don't worry either. If it charges us, i'll take the hit. Now hurry up. Roast it alive!"

Akane Hanazawa // Cave Of Solitude
June 6th, Sunday, 2015
Dungeon

Growing restless from all the waiting, having got benched in favor of that irritating Ba-- Err, Kami, finally they received word from the main team. Despite it kind of being bad news, found herself relieved. "Finally," Her irritation subsiding and a grin forming on her face. "About damn time they failed and called us in. All this waiting was driving my crazy!" Stretching to get rid of the stiffness, she soon followed after Noboru into the dungeon.

Quickly curbstomping the few shadows they've encountered, she finally managed to catch up to Noboru, just inches behind him. Taking advantage of me as I stretch to get a head start, huh? "You're the one that needs to keep up!" she laughed, turning her head as she passed him, giving him a smirk as she turned back around. When they finally managed to break into the clear, they arrived on location.

As her eyes settled on the same target, she couldn't help but announce her agreement with Noboru. "I can totally see why it started to rebel. What an ugly f--" she drifted off as her eyes settled on the top of the creature. "Oh hey, does this thing get free wifi?" she stared at the laptop amusingly. Listening in on Noboru's 'plan', you couldn't even call it that, but she let it slide and said nothing. "Piss it off? Glady" She grinned as she stepped forward while cracking her knuckles.

As she got closer, she stopped, shrugged and shook her head at it disapprovingly. "I can see why you decided to split off and rebel. Looking at her and then back at yourself in a mirror, it's obvious. You're one hideous looking bitch, i'd probably do the samething if I was forced to look like you. Or smash my face in, because who'd want to look like you?" Looking at the cellphone in it's hand, she laughed.

"I'm starting to wonder if you're really worth my time. Though, looking at the others.....Did you happen to talk them to death?" she looked down at the shadow with a smug expression, as she started to prepare herself to get out of the way.

Kotori Shirohane - Cave of Solitude | Sunday, June 7 2015

In between trying to get out of the way of the webs being slung at them by the giant spider-shadow, keeping an eye on everyone to make sure no one was in too dire a need of healing and also trying not to step on the webs in what would seem like the world's highest stake game of hopscotch, the opportunities to actually have Kikuri-Hime summon bolts of lightning to tear at the webbing all over the cave were few and far between - and even when they ecame, the damage was far from spectacular; leaving Kotori to worry if her offensive power might be insufficient to make a difference. Stealing a glance at the others' handiwork, however, she saw that they weren't faring much better, it seemed. But before she could lose heart at what that meant for them in the long term, Rui already spoke up with a new plan: splitting up.

Kotori blinked in surprise - though mostly because splitting up when faced with some large threat usually ended badly for at least one of those involved in all the books she'd raid. Still, those were books and this was the real world - or real other realm, however one wished to called it. Furthermore, he was more experienced with these kinds of battles, so that she quickly nodded to show her understanding and then headed away from the others. Whilst it did relieve each individually a small measure by virtue of the shadow's attacks no longer being fired at a group but rather a single combatant, it didn't make much of a difference. Kotori was already starting to feel her breathing become heavier and more ragged as the constant exertion was starting to make itself known.

But now wasn't the time to falter - and as if to renew her resolve, a momentary crackling sound seemed to come from inside her head. It took her a moment to remember their telepathic support - and their other allies who were still outside. Or rather, had been as the webbed-up door was thrown open in a violent crash - and through stepped Akane and Noboru, Matthew and Leiko standing in the door behind them and keeping any attempt at re-webbing at bay. Relief washed over Kotori at that sight - though the small smile of respite quickly turned into a quizzical look of confusion when both Noboru and Akane both took one look at the creature and outright taunted it. More than just a bit unsure about what do do with their sudden appearance, she glanced between them, the shadow and Rui for exactly what to do.

As Shimizu stood waiting for anymore customers, a pair had entered through the doors to which the usual greeting was said aloud in unison, "Welcome home, milady, milord!" Turning to face the pair, he froze slightly at who they were. The Dragunov siblings. Not too long after, another teen had wandered through the cafe doors, once more having the servers cheerily greet, "Welcome home, milord!" This teen seemed to have flinched upon having greeted, as if he had not expected such treatment in a cosplay cafe. Taking a closer inspection through his azure eyes (from contact lenses as usual), it was for a moment but the silver haired waiter flashed a nervous expression upon his features. Ryan Alon, her classmate.

Was this some sort of 'Shizuka's identity revealing day' or something? That was a silly thought but having one of her classmates finding out about her secret hobby and obsession was not something she will EVER let happen. Who knows how fast rumors and gossips can travel through the halls of Warakuma High. But despite this, Shizuka is an employee of this cafe, she had no choice but to entertain either of the party-- "Dear customers, may I have all your attention over here? Okay, great. First of all, I thank all of you for visiting us today and I sincerely hope you enjoy your stay!" It was Kenji, the manager and the owner of the cafe. Shimizu sighed in relief at such a good timing, why you ask? This announcement was the cue for certain waiters to gather and standby for some sort of an entertainment for the customers.

"For visiting us on the first day of a new theme, as usual, we'll have a performance from some of your favorite waiters and waitresses! Please welcome our dashing princes onto the stage!" As he said the last statement, the manager pointed his arm towards a group of six waiters starting to position themselves on the stage, Shimizu being one of them. There was a pause of silence as the six stood in their position with their heads lowered. As an upbeat melody stated to play, their heads lifted and bodies moved in a lively motion. The dancing performance started as the female populace of the cafe screamed and squealed in their seats, partly because most, if not all, of them recognized this song and mostly enjoyed the performance.

While the performance was on going, this one overly stereotypically suspicious customer under a dark hood with hands in his pocket stood from his seat and stealthily made his way towards the counter with all of the attention was turned towards the dancers. Even Kenji let his guard down as he beamed a grin proudly at his waiters' enjoyable performance. The hooded customer ended up in front of the cash register behind the counter as he brought out some sort of lock picking equipment. It took a few to couple of minutes but the cash register finally opened as the performance was soon coming to an end. The moment the drawer with loads of money opened, some sort of alarm went off from the cash register, something that the thief hadn't anticipated.

The people close to the counter turned their gaze towards the hooded thief and gasped, one of them shouting, "Thief! Someone is stealing money!" Kenji and the employees immediately whipped their heads toward the direction to catch the robber making his get away through the back door. Even Shimizu and the other waiters ceased their dancing at the sudden event. "Someone stop him!", Kenji shouts as he himself started to sprint with a speed not too bad for a retired sentai actor.

As Rui began rearing back to retreat, the doors behind him burst open, and with two familiar voices, Rui was glad to have support. Not to mention their thunderous entry seemed to stop whatever was blocking their communications with Megumi. He didn't even let her properly say anything, there was only one thing he needed right now.

"Scan it, now",

"R-r-right!", with that, they need only buy a little bit of time before they could figure out how to take the spider down.

As Akane taunted the shadow, Rui looked in disbelief as it actually worked. Though it appears the shadow had more tricks up it's sleeve. It fired a blast of web, but spread in a net at Akane, entrapping her before it would lower down above her and land right on top of her. The two hands where stingers should be were suddenly twin large metal blades as she readied to strike Akane... This didn't look like any regular attack, this looked like it was going to really hurt.

Rui would spring into action and summon his Persona to hold the stingers for just a little bit more. This was their chance, but he couldn't hold it for very long.

"Take it down! Give it all you've got!", he ordered.