Sato gave a weak smile when Mako agreed to play it with him, even if it apparently had been a while since either of them had played it. Hours seemed to fly by as Mako instructed Sato on how to do fighting game things-- he knew the basics, as he'd been taught before, but any of the combos were beyond him. It was, suffice to say, pretty one-sided. But, it was fun at least. Trying to figure out his character proved interesting, even if Mako was bludgeoning in his head while Sato tried to figure out how to do a double quarter-circle in the middle of battle.

Once they got sick of burning coins, it struck Sato how familiar the game's subject matter was, but he brushed it off as Mako lead them out of the arcade. Walking out of the front door, the setting sun lighting the world in its soft yellow glow, Sato turned to face Mako as the latter boy expressed his gratitude for Sato showing up. Sato nodded weakly, still a bit hesitant about the whole... 'date', but it was undeniably a good time, so... Yeah. Mako awkwardly touched Sato's hand, an action he couldn't help but smile at. Not because of the sentiment, but because of how adorably awkward it was. Nonetheless, Sato gave a smile wave as he took a step away from his kouhai. "See you soon," He said, turning away.

---

JULY 5TH 2015, SUNDAY
Daytime
Too soon.

This was definitely sooner than Sato wanted to see Mako again, especially in the context of a warehouse meet-up. Standing next to Mako, the teen watched as some of the other team members discussed Rui's new hawk and the latest kidnapping victim. The latter wasn't exactly surprising-- it was almost like another Sunday to Sato at this point, but he felt dirty thinking of it like that, so he focused on the hawk. And it didn't make sense, since apparently it had a persona or something. Did that mean they had air support, a la an airplane? Sato felt the bow slung around his arm digging into his shoulder with its string, the quiver weighing on his opposite arm. Hopefully, uh, the hawk wouldn't get in the way of anything.

Sato felt Mako's eyes on him, and he looked over at the younger boy hesitantly. He wasn't really sure what to do, but since Rui was busy doing whatever Rui does, the duty of keeping an eye out for the new kids felt like it fell to others. In a way, it made sense for the archer to keep an eye on the front-line guys. "Hey, uh, I guess you should probably stick with me, since this is your first time going into the mirror world. I'll watch your back as you figure things out, and then I hope you'll do the same for me. Does that sound good...?" Sato looked over back to Rui, avoiding eye-contact with the hawk that seemed to be staring right back. "That is, if we're on the same team. I'm not sure how Rui wants to do things, but I trust his judgement on this stuff. Don't do anything reckless, Mako. I know you probably don't need to hear it, but this is life-or-death, and a mistake can get you hurt. Healing spells can't fix everything. Just... be careful, and don't get in the way of an arrow or anything."

Akane Hanazawa // Abandoned Warehouse
Sunday, July 5th, 2015

As she arrived at the warehouse, she glanced at everyone that's there. But given this and the messages, it seems like things are especially serious this time. Well, not like it has ever been NOT serious, given, you know, kidnapping and shadow stuff here and all but you know. It's supposedly just one person this go around, after the string of double dungeons we've had but....this many people for just 1? Hmm...

Megumi would then clarify that while there was only one person this time around, there was dozens of people inside and they were all be influenced by one person. It couldn't be the cult, not after that last time, right? They seemed so out of it and knew nothing about the Mirror world so... Well, in any case, it seems like shadows wouldn't be the only thing they'd be combating today. With a grin on her face, it was like an early birthday present or something.

Anyways, the only thing to note would be that hawk thats perched on Rui's shoulders. Isn't that the same one from before? As strange as that might seem to most people, stuff like that is becoming quite common place ever since she started all of this. "Oh, Looks like we've got ourselves our own mascot character, huh? Looks like him and Kazuki have already bonded." She laughed at his plight. This is getting more and more like a game.

Hopefully he won't suddenly turn into one was those talkative-annoying types or they just might be having some fried sparrowhawk for an after dungeon snack. Akane wasn't sure how they were going to sort who to do what, but as long as she gets a lot of the action and isn't overly crowded, it'll work itself out. Grabbing her katana, she made her way towards the mirror as she waited for the others to get ready so they can leave.

The dungeon before them was a tower mountain, like those you would see in valleys in Japan, atop it was a structure, but before them was what looked like the entrance to an inn that led directly into the mountain. So basically, this mountain was going to be the dungeon itself. Ayano had finished a scan and confirmed that this was a two-sided dungeon, so there will be two teams.

Rui will lead the first team through the front with Akane, Sato, and Kotori, while the other team consisting of Mako, Ryan, and Shizuka, led by Kami, will go through the other side. It seems there were switches inside that would affect each other's dungeons.

Zeke will be put on auxiliary support, if anyone needed an area cleared, they call for its assistance. It will take time, but it's an option.

"I'm also detecting around a dozen strong signatures, those are likely the other people who got thrown into it. They're likely influenced by the mirror world, so expect a tough fight when you run into them. We'll also want to rescue them too, so me and Ayano will keep you all informed if there's one near", she warned.

"Understood, let's move out", he ordered, as his team went to the front on the Inn entrance, while Kami's team went around and entered the cavern entrance in the side of the mountain.

Kotori Shirohane - Sapphire Inn | Sunday, July 5 2015

Once the initial surprise at the fourth new addition to the team in the form of Zeke had subsided - some seeming to take it more in stride than others - the preparations were made to head into the mirror world itself. Kotori would be following Rui, together with Akane and Sato, whilst Kaminari would be leading Ryan, Mako and Shizuka from the other side as Ayano had surmised that the dungeon itself was unusual in that it had two separate entrances and thus allowed for a simultaneous two-sided approach. Remembering her own unease when she'd first entered the mirror world, Kotori tried giving an encouraging smile in their direction - at least that was the intention; the result being more akin to an awkward half-smile.

Though she would have liked to be able to help both Mako and Shizuka, seeing as it was their first excursion into the mirror world, Kotori also trusted that Rui knew what he was doing when he made the groups and that Kaminari and Ryan in turn, together with their navigator and, if need be, Zeke, would make sure that not only those two but also whoever was kidnapped would return safely. Megumi and Ayano meanwhile had continued to scan the area to glean any information they could and chimed in with their discovery of a dozen strong signatures - strong shadows, though not quite as powerful as the ones which were the basis of a persona, would be dotted around the upcoming area it would seem; a prospect that Kotori wasn't exactly too thrilled to hear about.

Still, they had managed to get through things this far, so the least she could do was to hope they'd do the same here - and looking about her team as Rui gave the order to move out, neither Akane nor Sato seemed to - at least outwardly - show much of a lack of confidence; prompting her in turn to take a deep breath to calm herself and then follow them into the mirror world as they headed toward the inn after giving a brief bow to the other team and wishing them the best of luck and to stay safe.

After the two teams parted ways, Sato couldn't help but question the logic of putting two newbies on the same team, but he trusted that the others knew what they were doing. Ryan and Kami were with them, so it wasn't like the new guys were being put to their own devices. While that team went one way, Sato found himself in a fairly familiar team as they marched into the front entrance of the inn. Was there ever a time where he went into the mirror world without Kotori in the same team...?

As they walked through the doors of the shadow world inn, he wondered about what their navigator had told them. Apparently, almost twelve other people had gotten thrown into the dungeon as well. If previous battles were any indication, running into them would prove extremely tiring... But, it wasn't like they could just purposely avoid the other victims. They'd have to deal with what they find, and then perhaps the rest of the team could come in once their main objective is completed, seeing as how it'd be pushing it if the current two team members did everything. But... why didn't the dozen or so victims form individual dungeons? Was this mountain a collective, or was one of the victims just that much "stronger" than all the others? Regardless of the answer to his questions, Sato realized he wouldn't get anywhere asking them now, as the only way to find out was to get to the center of the mountain or where-ever they were headed.

Sato let out a small sigh. Seeing Mako again had just broken his composure again. It's not that he hated Mako, but it irked him to be losing his cool around the others. Besides, it wouldn't serve anyone good to get side-tracked with 'real-life' things while trying to fight off shadows. So, he tried his best to put aside anything in his mind that wasn't important to the situation at hand (which was a lot), and gave a confident smile to the rest of his group.

Shizuka Otonashi || Sapphire Inn || July 5 SUN

With a pink magical staff in hand, adorned with a star atop the tip, Shizuka was among the crowd of teens who seemed to have owned the same unique abilities that she had recently discovered. Despite the calm expression upon her face as she intently listened to Rui for instructions, Shizuka was amazed by all these, magical powers to fight crime like they did in games and manga. But as any rational person in her situation would be, she was afraid and worried what lied beyond the safe area they were currently at. Were there going to be some kind of monsters? Insane murderers? Something she couldn't have ever imagined?

As her thoughts wandered off, Shizuka recalled the events that led her to where she was, starting from the previous day. As she paid a visit to the manga club room, it had started off with a series of screaming and jumping, specifically by the name of Shizuka and Ryan. After such an embarrassing scene, the club president briefly introduced what the club was about, since Shizuka's reason for her visit was evident. After a couple of exchange of formalities and club application paper in hand, Shizuka left the club room with a smile upon her face.

Since it was a weekend, Shizuka had the shift at the cosplay cafe, Star Drop Cafe, where Rui had been awaiting for her. As he was a customer, Shizuka having a conversation with him as a waitress was totally not considered as skipping work. As she had been dying to know ever since she was released from the hospital, Rui gave a detailed explanation on what was going on, what they have been doing so far and what he asked of her. There was a moment of thoughtful silence but Shizuka being Shizuka, seeing this as some kind of fateful encounter and events that led her to become a magical girl persona user, and that she was given her power for a reason, Shizuka accepted the offer.

Now here she was with the rest of the team. Seeing as they were to be heading to the cavern route, Shizuka stared at the cavern in dread. The place screamed danger all over it yet they had to. "Um... Are we truly going there?"

Rui led the party through the Inn entrance, as expected the rooms in here had a standard design like that of a traditional Japanese Inn, the enemies encountered were shadows that seemed to be engorging themselves on drinks, as well as female body typed mannequins that look as if they're floating, still, they weren't a problem. Although as they were nearing the further end of the floor, some knight-like enemies began to appear, and then at the end of the hallway was a black knight. Behind it was a kind of giant incense pot.

"That's... That's one of the other people! We need to rescue him. Defeating the shadow form should free the person inside... Also that thing behind it... It looks a little strange, I'll start scanning what it is, I sense something coming from it", she pointed out, as her analysis was beginning.

"Alright then, me and Akane will cleave a path through. Sato, Kotori, cover us and keep the small ones off our backs", he ordered, as soon as he did, he swat a little knight minion back into the ground with his fist before slashing it. After that, he started off in a sprint.

---

"Everyone stay alert... It's quite dark in here, they could attack at any moment", he said.

"I am sensing enemies... But... Something is jamming my visuals... I'll try and find the source. For now, stay alert", she warned. Made sense that that would be the thing they had to deal with. Pretty soon though they would find themselves spooking for one reason or another. Something was definitely here, stalking them, multiple of them likely... With a quick reflex, Kami turned around,

"Zio!", before the Persona even fully formed, Zeus struck the area between Shizuka, Mako, and Ryan with lightning, and a wispy figure was struck down. A shadow? Right there...? Almost as soon as he did that, white eyes began to open up in the distant shadow, and stepping out in front of the party was a white knight...

"I can't get a visual just yet, but I sense that one... There's a person's signature covered by a shadow's... You probably found one of the others who ended up here", she said. So... A white knight, and a bunch of ghost shadows to deal with, all while in the dark. At least they could see the shining white knight amidst all this, but the ghost shadows seemed invisible until they were hit.

Kotori Shirohane - Sapphire Inn: Floor 1 | Sunday, July 5 2015

With all parting words spoken, the groups had set off on their respective paths, prompting Kotori to put her worries for the others aside and focus on the task at hand - after all, getting distracted by her own thoughts when everyone was relying on her would most definitely not do. Rui took point as, with Megumi's guidance, he led the group into the dungeon which had the looks of a traditional inn about it. However, there was no time to enjoy any relaxing atmosphere one might associate therewith as Megumi chimed in with a warning just as soon as the group spotted the first shadows themselves. Not wasting any time, Rui and Akane were quick to attack them - and dispatch them too, as they turned out to be of the weaker variety; leaving Sato and Kotori to take on those further afield as they moved on mostly uncontested by the seemingly eating shadows and their hosts.

However, this didn't continue on forever unfortunately - as the opposite end of the floor drew closer, some more incongruent opponents presented themselves in the form of armored knights. These could take a bit more of a beating than the weaker shadows before them - but couldn't stand up to the combined attack power of the whole group; serving more to slow rather than stop their progress. Kotori hoped that they weren't indicative of how things would proceed - a continuous increase in the shadows' power - when they came upon yet another kind of knight; this time clad in black armour and seemingly guarding both the hallway and an odd pot of sorts from which wispy strands of smoke seemed to emanate.

Megumi was just as quick to realise that this was no ordinary enemy and informed the group that they were facing one of the captured people's shadows - though by the sound of things, they weren't the progenitor of this whole dungeon. Still, even with her previous hopes dashed Kotori knew from more than enough experience that these kinds of shadows tended to be far tougher than the 'normal' ones - if there even was such a thing in this world. Plus there was that pot to be aware of until Megumi could fully scan it - thus leaving the group to fend off the knight to the best of their abilities. Rui meanwhile quickly formed the plan of attack - together with Akane he'd rush through whilst Sato and Kotori would make sure that they got through.

"Ah, right," Kotori said, adding a quick nod as she once more called upon her persona, Kikuri-Hime. A comforting calm enveloped her as she felt the presence of the floral shrine maiden more acutely and prepared herself for the fight ahead. Though she hoped it wouldn't be necessary, she was ready to heal any incurred wounds at a moment's notice - and until then, she glanced about to see if any shadows were trying to sneak up on herself and Sato, who were staying further back, or trying to get behind Rui and Akane as they charged off and through the ranks of shadows.

With a single word, "Zionga," a bolt of lightning came crashing down on one of the shadows which looked to be trying to move around Rui and Akane in order to attack them from behind. Seeing the two of them taking on the shadows up close, Kotori was somewhat glad that Kikuri-Hime's abilities lay where they did - the prospect of fighting these creatures from such a short range was a rather frightening one, even with the aid of a persona.

Ryan and the rest of his group headed into the dungeon, which apparently had two entrances. The group Ryan had been placed with was familiar enough to him, all people he sorta knew except for Kami. As they went in Shizuka voiced the thought that was probably on all their minds yet nobody would say. Ryan gulped and nodded shakily.

Ryan got out a combat knife and held it tightly, as if it would actually defend him against the monsters that lay within this mountain of darkness. Their navigator told them something was jamming her visuals, leading Ryan to prepare to summon his Persona. Which was well justified when Kami struck down an invisible ghost and a white knight stepped out of the shadows.

"Gale Slash!" Ryan materialized his Persona and Erec slashed at the darkness, striking down several Shadows by pure luck. "I think we need to take out the knight first, maybe it'll make the ghosts go away." Ryan voiced his thoughts with a minor shake in his voice as he kept Erec close to him unconsciously.

Upon entering through the front door of the inn, the first thing Sato noticed were the shadows lounging about in the fairly standard-looking traditional inn. His first instinct was to draw his bow, but the shadows didn't seem to be... doing anything. The "female" ones were just kind of floating, and every other shadow drowned themselves in alcohol. Sato gripped an arrow tightly in between his fingers as they passed by the groups of alcoholic shadows. It wasn't the first time they've encountered beings of the mirror world that were passive in nature, but it was still far from a comfortable feeling. Images of the shadows suddenly turning on them in mass filled his head, but as they approached the other end of the floor, there were other things to worry about.

As they walked towards the end of the hallway, more shadows started appearing, this time different from the others. They didn't seem to be indulging themselves or innocently floating, and as a black knight at the end of the hallway came into view, it became readily apparent that these new shadows were more than background characters. The navigator pointed it out as such, and informed the team that this black knight was apparently one of the dozen or so people that were trapped inside of the dungeon. That, of course, meant they were forced to engage. Rui and Akane took front, keeping Sato and Kotori at the back to properly use their ranged abilities.

The first thing Sato worried about was the weird incense pot sitting behind the black knight, as it apparently was starting to leak something. Whatever it was, it couldn't spell anything good for them, so Sato made a mental note to keep an eye out for it. With Rui and Akane taking the charge with their superior combat abilities, all they could do is make sure they only have to deal with the main target. The weaklings, him and Kotori could take. Summoning his persona, Sato watched carefully as several of the small knights tried to approach. Kotori seemed to be covering any shadow that tried to sneak up on them, so Sato tried to take them out before they could try to get into an opening like that.

Chronos appeared in front of Sato, before spinning its scythe around and sending a large blast of wind at one of the little knights. It was sent flying into another, taking them both out. Unfortunately, there was no shortage of other shadows trying to get in on the action, so Sato nocked a few arrows and tried to spread both his persona's attacks and his own shots across the entire group of shadows as a form of crowd control. Kotori would hopefully use precision lighting strikes to eliminate everything he missed, which would be plenty considering his attacks weren't always lethal.

Akane Hanazawa // Sapphire Inn - F1
Sunday, July 5th, 2015

It was decided that she'd be part of Rui's team, along with Kotori and Sato, to hit up the Inn entrance. Though, the initial enemies they faced in the early portion of the floor weren't even good enough to call it a proper warm up. It was just another case of 'going through the motions' but it's to be expected in the beginning of a dungeon, after all, lull the players into complacency and then hit them with a stronger wave when their guard is down. Well, that was how it usually goes, in games that is.

Thankfully, when they got closer towards the end of the floor, their enemy got upgraded and no longer facing cannon fodder. Well... the kind that goes down in one hit, at least. She smirked as her eyes fell on the black knight at the end of the hallway. Behind the knight was a giant incense pot that, according to Megumi, had one of the many people they detected from before, captured in it. Once Rui gave the attack order, she took the opposite side of him and matched his pace.

Like always, it was Rui and Akane being the lead attacked while Kotori and Sato were long distance support and just as they got closer to the knight, a shadow moved in from behind. Not bothering to slow down even a little, she ignored it and her faith was rewarded via a crack of lightning from Kotori. She was glad she wasn't given support this time. Akane has no problem with the support role....when behind a monitor or console at least but when she's actually in it, there's nothing like crushing your fist or weapon up close and personal.

Pressing onward as she charges in, she summons her persona. Regardless of the shadow's strength or type, she just hopes this one won't go down as easily as the others have. "Kill Rush"

"I've finished my scan. That incense pot's scent is seeping into the cavern. Ayano told me there's something interfering with her visuals, that must be it", as Rui charged forward listening, Kotori and Sato's coverage with their more powerful spells keeping their backs safe, and Akane going for the first hit before the knight could properly raise its weapon, he stopped short of Akane and circled around as he thought of his next move.

So this pot was interfering with the other group... Okay. As soon as he took a step toward it, from behind the pot came a small swarm of the little shadows, forcing him to ward them off, and then clear them with a Gale Slash. While that was happening, Akane's attack was being repaid in kind as the knight retaliated with a Fatal End. The blow was too slow to be a clean hit, after being backed down from the Kill Rush, but it was enough to tell Akane that the knight boasted some serious physical prowess.

"We're going to move our formation. Kotori, Sato, move to surround, fire at will", he ordered. The shadows they were clearing were thinning, and beginning to concentrate around the pot, especially after Rui took a step towards it, almost as if they were protecting it. Strangely enough the knight was uncaring of it, and almost just happened to be here. Still, it seemed to be capable of slaying one or two of them if they weren't careful.

Now came the next bit... Aim the pot first, or the knight?

---

As Ryan's Gale Slash echoed through the cavern, there was only one resounding clang as it landed... It only struck the knight. It seems even as Shadows, ghosts cannot be hit by physical attacks. Upon seeing this, Kami cast a Mazio, which lit the whole cavern up, while clearing away some of the ghosts.

"I see, so only magic will work on them... I'll hold them off, the rest of you focus on the knight", he ordered.

The knight was not one to wait it seems, it's gleaming silver blade was already upon them as it charged the party's front line, a wide slash coming for both Kami and Mako. Without navigation support for now, they would have to rely on what they saw to overcome the knight.

Kotori Shirohane - Sapphire Inn: Floor 1 | Sunday, July 5 2015

Between Sato's arrows and Kikuri-Hime's lightning bolts, the two at the back managed to keep most of the shadows attempting to strike Akane and Rui from behind off them, allowing the two frontline attackers to make good headway and even reach the black knight. In doing so, Akane wasted no time to go on the offense and struck a persona-assisted blow, even as Megumi finished her scanning and let them know exactly what the incense pot was doing - by her words, it didn't seem to be affecting this fight, but rather the one that the other group had on their hands. With Akane's initial strike making a dent, Rui took the opportunity to go for the incense - but it seemed that their initiative and luck ran out as a bustle of shadows swarmed out from behind the pot and forced Rui to retaliate whilst the knight managed to take a swing at Akane.

Immediately, Kotori's worries crept back up as she flinched at the sight - but luckily, Rui managed to get enough distance between him and the shadows to avoid any rebuttal whilst Akane managed to avoid taking a direct hit. Still, seeing how even a glancing blow could do significant damage, Kotori was rather quick to mend what had been wrought. "Kikuri-Hime, Diarama," she called, in turn enveloping Akane in a soft golden glow - though it only lasted for a moment, it seemed to seep into any wounds and restored her to full; letting Kotori breathe a little easier - she hoped that this way, even if the worst came to pass and either of the two at the front took a direct hit, they might be able to hold on for long enough for her to intervene.

However, just undoing damage was no way to win a battle - which was something Rui had already realised and thus called for a new approach; ordering both Sato and Kotori to go for a surrounding maneuver. "Right," Kotori quickly said, adding a nod, before complying - with their continued attack on the shadows, they'd managed to cut down on the number of shadows so that both the older archer and she didn't need to worry too much about being attacked by any stray shadows. Still, she didn't like the prospect of being surprised by any particularly sneaky mirror world dweller and thus still occasionally gave a wary glance about when she wasn't looking between the other three group members to make sure none of them might be getting snuck up on or taking any hits which would require her immediate aid.

Akane Hanazawa // Sapphire Inn - F1
Sunday, July 5th, 2015

As she attacked, the shadow knight responded in-kind. Though, the shadow's blow was too slow to deliver a clean hit on her, possibly from being pushed back from Kill Rush, but it was enough to please Akane....Good, she grinned upon seeing that the shadow indeed had strength to'em.

While she attacked the knight, Rui went for the pot and from the looks of it, he was stopped as well. While the blow she received didn't cause her any serious damage, she was thankful when Kotori casted Diarama on her. As Akane's health was restored in the golden glow, she turned to Kotori and said her thanks.

From what they saw, the shadows concentrated their remaining numbers around the pot as if protecting it. They knight didn't seem to care, so she wondered if that one wasn't with the others. It wouldn't really surprise her if shadows, like humans, took different sides or went about things differently. Anyways, if they wanted to get at the pot, something needed to be done.

Regardless of whether or not the knight was with the others, I don't think he'd just let them simply waltz near the pot. She made her thoughts known to Rui, thinking that if they wanted to get near the pot, they'd have to deal with the knight first or at least distance him from it. Though, it doesn't need to be said that Akane would rather fight with the knight than deal with the pot.

After a bit of battling, Megumi chimed in with an update on the situation. Apparently, the incense pot was leaking out into the cavern side of the dungeon and the smoke was inhibiting the other team's navigation. Meaning, it would be in their best interest to take it out so the other team could progress further (or, at least quicker). That was easier said than done, however, as the shadows were seeming to be concentrating around the pot. Sato doubted they could shatter it with all the shadows in the way, so they'd probably have to pierce through their numbers first.

Luckily, the knight appeared to be apathetic to its existence, instead merely focusing on trying to attack the team. While it seemed powerful, its bulk slowed it down to the point where Sato felt comfortable with the idea of ignoring it until after they deal with the incense pot. Akane would probably keep it busy anyway, and Rui was already engaging the mob of shadows that came out to protect the urn.

The decision was pretty much for the two long-ranged fighters, as Rui quickly ordered them to try to flank the pot and assault it whenever possible. Thanks to the work he and Kotori did on thinning out any stray groups of shadows, Sato wasn't very hesitant on running over to deal with the pot, but he made special attention to staying out of sight from the knight. That was something better left to the front-liners, of course.

Kotori, however, seemed less keen on going into the fray like they were ordered to, and made sure to keep a close eye on everyone, including herself. If she was going to trying to be so careful, Sato decided to watch out for everyone himself. The concern of shadows creeping up on them as they flanked the pot was probably what was bothering her, so he made a note to be especially aware of himself as he started to sling spells at the shadows guarding the pot. It wasn't tearing through the group by any means, but before long a sizable dent was already being made in their numbers as the gusts of wind blew around and apart the shadows.

==~==

Mako leapt back from the knight's sword swing, the tip of the blade whistling past his chest, less than an inch away. Mako swallowed, forcing his nerves down. He didn't know how durable he was in this world, what with the kinda-JoJo enlightenment superpowers thing he had going on, but a sword to the guts wasn't how he wanted to test those limits. Speaking of... Mako turned his awareness inward, toward that flare of warmth he felt in the back of his head, which was now a roaring blaze by comparison to how it felt in the "real" world. Interesting, he thought to himself as he contemplated his power. He seemed to have some intuitive grasp of how his powers operated- an innate sense of what he was capable of. It was by no means comprehensive, but it gave him some general ideas.

It feels like... I'm more well-suited to single target, one-on-one combat. Should have guessed. I am a boxer, after all. In that case, it was a good thing that Kami was here- he seemed more well-suited to AOE effects. Which meant Mako could focus his attentions on the thing he could actually do something about. A glowing blue tarot card floated down into Mako's outstretched palm from nowhere, and Mako grinned fiercely.

"Here goes nothing, I guess. Persona!"

He crushed the card in his hand, and felt a rush of power as his Persona flowed out of him in all its splendor. Still grinning, he cast a Debilitate on the knight. A sickly aura surrounded the Shadow, weakening its armor, dulling its blade, and slowing it down. Not giving it the chance to react to what he'd done to it, Mako took brief aim and fired off an Agidyne. A gout of flame erupted from the ground under the knight's feet, enveloping it. Mako turned to the rest of the group.

"Its defenses are down, as well as its attack! I can keep debuffing it, so jump in on it and grind it down!"

"I see... Akane, draw the knight away. Sato, Kotori, clear a path for me to the pot", so the idea was going to do it all at once. Rui had a Gale Slash ready to cut through the projected wave that would emerge to defend the pot, the knight was the only rogue element. If Akane was careful she could keep it busy for long enough for the pot to be dealt with.

"I'll take care of this pot, it might be the source of this small swarm of shadows", a scan could confirm, but that would take some time, regardless it was going to be a good idea to take care of it now.

---

As the knight charged in, it was met with a stiff defense, and punishment. The Debilitate from Mako was really taking effect as its speed, power, and its defenses crumbled, yet another Mazio came out from Kami as everyone laid on as much damage as they could in this short space of time. It worked, causing the knight to go stumbling back,

"Not enough, significant damage but it's still standing",

"So another wave then... Also these ghosts just won't let up", he was right, they kept coming back no matter how often Kami destroyed them. The Debilitate helped a lot, so this didn't seem to be too difficult a fight. Ayano still didn't have proper visual, so she couldn't properly scan the ghosts to figure out the source, so for now the pressure was still on and all they can do is counter-attack. If they go too far it becomes difficult for Kami to cover them with Mazio.

@Sho Minazuki@EnterTheHero@Amaterasu

Ryan layed down a Garula on the knight right after Mako had hit it with Debilitate, holding back Gale Slash after seeing the results last time. Kami had the ghosts handled for the most part, which allowed Ryan and the others to focus on the knight in not so shining armor.

"Good stuff Mako-san!" Ryan threw a compliment Mako's way while throwing another Garula the knight's way. The fight was going well, he wondered if Rui and the others were having as easy of a time as them.

Rui was pretty clear about his intentions of moving in to destroy the pot himself, seeing as all Sato and Kotori could really do was throw spells at it, which probably would've worked eventually... But regardless, this was probably pretty optimal. Thus, Sato merely followed Rui's commands and tried to dig a hole through the enemy wall. It was difficult by himself, but hopefully, with Kotori's assistance, they could tear right through the crowd of shadows. All they needed is a good opportunity for Rui to move in, and for Akane to keep the knight busy.

Akane Hanazawa // Sapphire Inn - F1
Sunday, July 5th, 2015

In the end, it all worked out well for her. Akane got her fight with the knight, though, technically she's to get it away from the pot and 'hold it off' but a fight nonetheless. Then again, maybe 'distracting the knight' would be a better way to phrase it because if before was any indication this shadow may not exactly be allied with the other shadows. But in their position, it's better to be safe than sorry. From their recent exchange, this shadow has quite the physical strength, so it might be best for herself to avoid going in close. Which means...it's time to play bait again.

Drawing her katana, she charged towards the knight as if to attack before stopping and jumping to the side, calling forth Setanta, having him attack from behind the knight with 'Kill Rush'. She then moved in with a strike of her own but only a light strike, to draw the shadows attention and striking just within her attack range so she can drop back and lure it away from the pot, and the others. Once she's able to lure it away, she will then be able to fight 'till her hearts content without having to worry about the knight getting in their way.