Hans stood there awkwardly as he looked to and fro as another boy came up running towards his suddenly formed group. What was with people today exactly? Were they so intent on being friendly? Or was all of this some sort of elaborate joke placed on him for some reason or another? It didn't really matter he tried to consider his options and found all of them lacking. He could try and go along with this sudden social gathering, or he could try to bolt. Bolting wouldn't do him any good, and he really couldn't help but feel he'd be labeled as a weirdo. He had to make up an excuse. Hesitantly Hans reached down into his pocket and down into his phone. He didn't have the buttons memorized but he hoped he'd get lucky. And lucky is what exactly what Hans was at this point in time. Hans managed to turn on his phone's ringer making it appear as if someone was calling him. Hans quickly excused himself as he picked up the phone. He pretended to listen to one of his acquaintances talk. He gave non committal generic replies each time. Eventually he 'hung up' on his phone and turned his attention back to his peers. "Sorry someone at my dorm needs my help. Apparently they tripped and something got inside my room and they can't open it without me. I come here pretty often so yeah...I have to go I guess I'll see you around sometime. Sorry I can't come along hope it goes well." Hans said quickly dismissing himself as he threw himself forward running towards the general direction of his dorm but in reality he was just running towards wherever. As he gained some distance he slowed himself down and took a few breathes but continued to run. At the very least he could jog for a bit before he called it quits for the day.

@SMS @Crimmy @chukklehed


Saturday Morning – Practice Building?

---

”Ah.”

It wasn’t much of a response, but there was little else he could say as he stood there like a jackass in front of those unblinking golden eyes. Yuuhei felt his awful moment of realization drag on for what felt like an eternity as the gravity of his situation fully sunk in, his expression was one of reluctant acceptance. After all, not only had his cute little maneuver failed spectacularly, but now it would be even more difficult to try and get Natsumi and the other girl out of this mess. So in a way, he almost felt like he deserved whatever came next.

Before he could even try to haul his rear away from the proverbial coals, Yuuhei discovered that one of its disturbing black tentacles had already gotten a hold of his arm. As the slippery mass tightened around him, the blond clenched his jaw, hard, his gut telling him he wouldn’t like what came next.

Yuuhei casually looked to his side at the dark haired girl next to him, whose uniform was being ruined by the thick, red substance dripping down the wall. ”This is the part where you r-“

He never got to finish his sentence, as the thing effortlessly flung him across the hallway.

It was a terrible few seconds for the blonde, as it gave him just enough time to regret everything he had ever done in his life to get him to this point, but not quite enough to even begin to consider what he should do next after his all too intimate introduction with the wall. The loud smack that accompanied his introduction to the unsettling wet wall was followed by a sickening thud as he gracelessly hit the ground, on the same arm that had been the slimy appendage’s playmate no less.

His eyes slammed shut and the obnoxious background scream was now joined by an equally obnoxious ringing. It rattled around his head endlessly and made it difficult for him to concentrate. The familiar weight of his glasses was gone, but he hardly had time to look for where they could have landed. Especially when his body was practically screaming in protest at the very idea of him moving quite yet. Not to mention the entire outside world was being drowned out by the excruciating pain he was in.



Somehow the voice managed to cut through all of it. It was a bit frightening, honestly, how clearly the president was able to make out the voice’s words.

’Some manners you have. Don’t you know you’re supposed to introduce yourself before asking for somebody’s name?’ Maybe it was the pain talking. Or maybe he was simply getting numb to all the unexplainable nonsense that surrounded him. But still, Yuuhei hardly had anything left to lose at this point, so he decided to humor the disembodied voice.

”Seiho… Yuuhei…” The words barely escaped his lips, his voice no more than a hoarse whisper, but the blond instantly felt something happen inside him.

The pain dulled, as if being chased off by the surge of energy that Yuuhei felt spreading to every pore of his being. His battered body felt light as it worked its way through him, amplifying itself over and over again. But the relief gave way to pain once more as it reached unbearable levels, as if it was trying to escape bloodily through him if it had to. A haggard scream poured out of him and filled the hallway as his good hand crashed into his forehead, as if to dam off the stream of pain that was now coursing straight to his temple.



Once more, the boy’s pain was pierced through by a voice. But this time it was even stronger. Almost familiar.



The question hit Yuuhei hard. He tried to swallow, but the overwhelming beating in his chest made the simple action difficult to accomplish. Much less answer such an existential question.



It wasn’t. Yuuhei stood firm – wait, when had he gotten to his feet? – and glared defiantly at the abomination before him.



”Prospero,” the name he had never heard before came to him as easily as breathing. As did the order that followed. ”Turn this thing to ash.”

Light danced across the hallway as a figure took its place beside Yuuhei. Red tatters made up its robe and hard iron its gauntlets. Where a face should have been, only a white orb peered through the void. Fire crackled into existence in both of its hands, somehow managing to make the act look borderline mischievous. Prospero looked every bit like a demon, ready to burn the world should his master ask him to.

The world faded from view as the creature launched a killing strike on Tsubaki for the third time, and she barely scrambled out of reach of its single minded determination. The voice on her head grew to encompass her entire being, and her minds eye saw a pale, faceless queen on a skeleton throne, looking down on Tsubaki imperiously.

Is my other half really so powerless that she leaves her fate in the hands of others, cowering behind strangers to cling to a few more seconds? Are you really so worthless as to blindly accept whatever path is laid out to you?

The words stung Tsubaki, and she was about to respond in anger when another voice filled her mind.

"Tsubaki, leave that stick alone. I can't believe my daughter would be interested in something so barbaric as fighting."

A little bit of her faded away as she responded automatically.

"Yes father..."

"Tsubaki, come straight home after school. My daughter has no time for friends."

"Yes father..." the girl repeated, a little more of her fading into the darkness as she did. It didn't matter. As long as father was happy with her, she didn't need to be herself.

The faceless queen looked down on her in smug disappointment, knowing she had won the argument she had started. Still, it was a pity. Such a waste.

The girl felt a bit of anger return to her at being looked down on like that. A little of her old resentment crept back into her features as she fought against the darkness.

"Tsubaki, you're calling in sick from school today. School festivals are a waste of time, and I-"

"I refuse." The girl said, focusing directly on the smug queen. The voice cut off the instant she spoke, like a recording, but the queen sat up a bit straighter.

"I refuse. I'm done being a pawn. I'm done pretending to be someone I'm not."

The faceless queen leaned forward in her seat, propping her chin in one hand. "Oh? Is that So? Tell me then, what is your name, you who are not a pawn? Who art thou?"

"I am Tsubaki Matsushida, and I am Thou."

Her last words seemed to come from somewhere within herself, deeper than she had ever felt before, but they felt right. The world faded back in a rush with a blast of heat, and Tsubaki found herself standing in the center of the hallway.

"Persephone." She called, reaching to that deep part of herself. Behind her a woman materialized, hanging by ropes bound to her arms. Looking closer, the ropes were actually cables and wires, disappearing into the wall and extending farther still, all connected back to her Persona. A bundle of wires separated from the rest and reached toward Tsubaki, gently wrapping around her arms, torso and neck, the ends painlessly sinking into her skin and connecting her to that same network. She saw then, more than she had ever seen before. She saw and she KNEW.

"Stop! Fire won't work, use ice or wind!"

@Mistress Dizzy

Uchima Senior High - Another Hallway, 2nd Floor, Classroom Building???



It was a woman.

Clad from neck downwards in the purest of white, she rose into the air in an ethereal, clear light. A body, breathtakingly beautiful, as if a goddess had descended upon the catwalk. A grey garment, made up of interlocking lines, crested her waist, obscuring those pale-covered legs. Gloves of black velvet marked her hands, and in one rested a spindle that seemed to roll out a dark length for eternity.

Golden hair, tied into complex knots and braids and buns, carefully enwreathed a golden face, and above that perfectly-crafted nose was a simple mask of white. It sat there, hiding the skin around her soft eyes from outside view. Conservatively protecting her beauty.

Clotho of the Moirae.

She who span the thread of human life.

She hovered above Jin. As if to declare that it was yet their time.

That their foe would not take them today.

She gazed upon that foe.

The frost retreated.

A humanoid figure, faceless, assembled from pieces upon pieces of shards of ice.

The frost became it.

Then ...

- it shattered.

And the floor was snow.

Clotho faded.

And only Jin Takahashi remained.

Their wounds had lessened. They would not die.

Yet the pain remained. And the damage could not be so easily ignored. Cuts were healed, but broken bones had not been set. Organs were no longer punctured, but muscles remained torn. Jin was alive, but they were still in a situation most dire.

---

@Bornlucky

Uchima Senior High - A Hallway, 2nd Floor, Classroom Building???

The samurai had made no move to follow, merely watching as Ryoma and Ai fled from it. And soon, it seemed to disappear into the darkness behind them, waiting for the clock to tick down to the end of those five minutes. They were alone once more, turning a corner into a hallway where their hunter did not seem present. Gasping for short breaths now that they had escaped the first hurdle in their survival.

Yet that did not mean they were free.

"W-what do we do?" asked Ai, her voice clouded with worry, tone with an undercurrent of panic as adrenaline rushed through her. She had not let go of Ryoma's hand. "Should we hide? Where do we run?"

---

@chukklehed@Sarcelle Renard@SMS

Uchima Senior High - Hallway Outside Newspaper Clubroom, Practice Building???

Fire met the oozing black in a rush of heat and light -

And the creature hissed, retreating a step. Yet the tentacle, slightly singed, was unharmed. The gears whirred as it sloshed through the air, retreating into the shadowy mass that was its strange torso. The insectoid eyes all moved as one. All gazed upon the manifestation of Prospero.

Judging.

Though Yuuhei's attack had done little to the beast, it stepped forward with clacking pistons, heavy footsteps pulsing against wood. Its rotting arms seemed to tense, the visible, purple muscles that coiled within the dessicated, powerful limbs shuddering with every forward motion.

It would kill him first.



Machinery screamed.

It charged and swung its massive fist towards Yuuhei's head.

It would pulp him.

@Savo@Suku@JBRam2002

NPC: Jihei Okazaki - Kendo Clubroom, Practice Building???

There was nothing inside.

Even with the constant, painful drumbeat rattling off in his skull, Okazaki could still muster up enough focus to shoot a glance towards the empty space where Alexander had chosen to swipe at, the sound of the baton rushing through the stagnant air fading away like the noise of a room after a joke failed to land. Given the worries and rising tension of the others as they had approached the entrance to the clubroom, the revelation of there being nothing was almost anticlimactic.

A poor ending to a scene.

"I guess we will be borrowing your club's weapons, Isami-san," he said, before taking a moment to press two fingers against his temple. The headache was intensifying. It was very much his hope that the emergency exit not too far away could give them a chance to escape, if only for the pain to stop. "You are more familiar with where everything is stored, so would you mind taking them out?"

He looked towards the emergency exit, a simple door mere steps away. They simply needed to check if it was the correct path for their escape.

---

?????????

His vision was blurring.

His breath was ragged. His legs were numb.

His blood was rushing. He could hear his heartbeat as loud as a thundercloud.

It drowned out the noise of his steps. The noise of aging wood underneath running feet.

It hurt to run.

Yet he kept running.

He had to keep running.

He would still have control of the situation if he could just keep running. The situation. It had to be okay. He wouldn't fail. Ignore the weakness of his body. Ignore the pain stabbing into his feet. Ignore the wheezing. Just keep running. That was his responsibility.

Turn the corner. Don't crash. He can't be late.

He won't fail.

Can't fail.

It was coming. It was his responsibility to stop it.

To not fail again.

Stop.

Don't remember.

Three still left.

Keep running.

Don't be late.

As the pair of third years ran, the icy Samurai was out of sight, but not of mind. Ryoma hated running away instead of fighting, but his Persona's not meant to combat such a strong foe by itself. Ryoma let out a visible breath as he sighed at his lack of combat ability, but he knew his skills are useful but he needs others to work off of. Ryoma and Ai ran around a corner to a hallway, Ryoma could see that it either leads left or right. He has to deal with that as it comes.

Ai spoke, worry and adrenaline clear in her voice, her grip on his hand was still tight. "I have an idea." Ryoma responded, "We have to find others with a... Persona." Ryoma responded, he paused due to wondering where he heard that word from, he never heard of it nor has Anubis call themselves as such, but honestly, its nothing to worry about, just weird. But what out of this day isn't?

Ryoma and Ai made it to the T crossing, Ryoma looked both ways, to his left was the same dreary, blood covered wall, but to their right was a hallway with its floor and walls covered in snow and ice and suddenly as he gave it a second look, Ryoma let out a small gasp as he sees a human body in the middle of the floor of the hallway. Ryoma's grip on Ai's hand tighten.

Ryoma paused for a moment, Ryoma has never been one to handle violence a great deal, but he steeled himself and made his way to the crumpled body, Ryoma could see blood combined with the snow and ice surrounding the person. Before long Ryoma could make out the shirt and face of the person. It was Jin. Ryoma freezes in place. Ryoma could see the injuries on them and the blood around their form. Ryoma let out a shaken sigh as he tried to steel himself for the worst case scenario, but amazingly, Jin was still breathing and alive. Ryoma let out a relived sigh and finally talked, his previously stilled tongue was finally free to speak up. "Jin-Kun... my god..." Ryoma spoke with clear worry for them, his expression was pained with a hint of guilt.

Suddenly a glowing blue card with the number XX on it materialized in front of Ryoma's face. Ryoma looked at knowing full well what to do. It would seem to be this card is different from the mind's eye version. It was a signal for Persona users. Rather it was a warning or not Ryoma didn't know but it would a sign of his ability to Jin. If what will happen next doesn't already prove that. He let go of Ai's hand and lifted that hand up to the card before crushing it. " I can help you... Anubis!" Ryoma yelled out as he brought the hand that crushed the card to his chest, Anubis appeared behind Ryoma and lifted the same arm that Ryoma used to crush the card. Suddenly a healing light surround Jin which should heal the majority of their wounds.

Ryoma hopes it will be enough. Ryoma can't handle losing a friend no matter how brief.

Why did we even come in here? Kimiko asked herself. The room was empty, thankfully, making the slash at the air that Frosty demonstrated look utterly ridiculous. Kimiko shook her head and entered the room, quickly searching around for a better replacement for the plastic sword she carried. As fortune would have it, a wooden practice katana was among the gear. Although it was certainly no sharp blade, the weapon had some heft to it and could certainly cause harm in the right hands.

The right hands... Kimiko glanced down at the wooden blade she now wielded. Fighting wasn't a miko's place. If her father knew, he would be furious. Why was she even here? She hadn't chosen this path; she had simply been dragged along. What even was this place? It was certainly no longer the school, despite sharing the same hallways. This also couldn't be a dream unless it was the most realistic dream imaginable.

She shook her head, clearing it of the doubting thoughts. Now was the time for clarity, not hesitation. Kimiko reached over to retake Suzune's hand as she drew in a deep breath. "Well, there's the exit," Kimiko said, her voice quiet and meek. "Perhaps we should use it."

@Sarcelle Renard @chukklehed @Crimmy

Natsume Natsumi(?); Saturday Morning - Practice Building?

---

The girl was still on the ground trying to catch her breath as her body ached from the blow she took and the subsequent crash that followed. Her head was throbbing in pain and her hearing continued to be clouded with a loud ringing.

"...h-help-" A desperate call out from her, probably not even audible unless they were right next to her.

Why did this happen? All she wanted was to live comfortably, in the presence of her friends and her parents. Laughing together, doing homework together, eating dinner together, living life together.

But all of that was irrelevant now. She was gonna die here. All alone, in a place she didn't even recognize.

"I just want to go back to the way things were."

...

"A simple test; can you state your name?"

A voice called out to her.

"My... name?"

The voice was warm, comforting even. It felt familiar, yet foreign to her. Like an old friend that she hasn't met in some ten years or so. Her hearing began to clear up little by little, and the pain in her head was subsiding.

"This... should be easy. My name is Natsu...mi?" Her thoughts paused for a second as the name sunk in. "Wait, is that my name?" It sounded almost correct. But she couldn't tell what was wrong.

"I am-... I'm..."

"Stop! Fire won't work, use ice or wind!"

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard another voice shout out. The pain had almost completely disappeared, and Natsumi was finally able to relax a little and open her eyes. Looking for the source of the command, she found the black haired girl from earlier with... wires sticking out of her. The sight of someone else behind the black haired girl with wires and cables connecting them both looked unnatural to Natsumi. But the other girl didn't seem to be in pain from it. "What is she-?"

She finally found the strength to sit up right, and once again found the source of her fear and despair in front of them. Her body froze at the sight of it, and the voice from before spoke once more. This time, it sounded much clearer in her head.

"Do you truly wish to go back to the way things were?"

The voice was angry, no longer comforting as it was before.

"...I-" She hesitated, and the voice cut her off.

"Back when things were simpler?"

"I-...!"

"Your answer!?"

"I DO!"

"..."

No answer came from the voice.

"I do want to go back." Her voice was trembling. "I miss everyone. I miss all the laughs and the fun we were having." She paused for a moment as she pondered about her answer a little more. "But I-... I know things can't be the same anymore. I know that I can't change the past either."

"...And so, what will you do now?"

The voice was warmer now, like a father talking to their crying child.

"You should already know right? I might have some regrets, but I won't forget. And I will move forward. I know things will be hard, but I have to."

The girl was now standing up, with a clear head and a regained resolve.

"Heh... Very good. Now then, tell me- What is your name?"

This time, the answer was crystal clear.

"Natsume Ishikawa."

Her body started to feel a little lighter and warmer. The mysterious voice had manifested behind her as a large white tiger. The tiger itself was glowing, with certain spots being covered with a blue flame that was warm to the touch. She could feel its power flowing through her body, its presence also very comforting.

Looking forward, the monster had began to charge towards Yuuhei as it reeled back its arm for a swing at him.

The girl held out her hand as she ran forward. "I won't make it in time-" The monster was simply much closer to Yuuhei than she was. "Byakko!" The tiger's name had come to her mind unconsciously, as if she had known it like a very close friend's.

With a roar, the tiger had sent out some of its power from her hand towards the blonde and formed a defensive shield of sorts. Natsume couldn't stop the attack, but she could at least try to stop the blow from killing him if he can't dodge it.

The doggo in question still wasn't quite trustworthy. Not to Daisuke. He didn't fear DRU, not in the slightest, but whatever Kimiko did to sway it? He wasn't sure it wouldn't wear off. It had only been a day, after all, and he wanted to be sure it wasn't gonna turn murder-y again. One of those pizzas took off a man's arm, he wasn't too keen on seeing what it might do to someone's back. He could deal with it if it happened but only if he was ready. Hence, he still didn't quite trust DRU.

Still, the little guy was kinda cute. In a way.

And Kimiko certainly liked him. His one line was a lot less scary when there were pink hearts in his eyes. And seeing Kimiko plop down on his head for a ride sparked up a certain empathy. The little guy would do his duty like a good doggo. Kimiko was even talking about teaching him to fetch fries, which would certainly be interesting. He wasn't sure his boss'd like taking an order from a robot, especially a delivery one at that, but it'd probably work. He'd just need to explain it was a regular.

Daisuke swung a leg over and off the bike to dismount and flip down the kickstand, parking it next to the detective's office door. He gave a little wave to DRU, as odd as it seemed, and swiveled to look at Kazou.

"She's got a point. Anyway, this is DRU. There were about... Sixty of them, yesterday. Maybe a couple more."

With nary a word Kagami went to the back and pulled out a large umbrella holder full of kendo sticks and the like before heading back and pulled out a katana. Though it was a imitation it was probably a lot better than her bokken plus no one really knows what was in the storage locker really not even the couch fully knew. So them missing a imitation katana was unlikely. "There grab a better weapon if you needed bamboo is bound to be ten times better than some props from the drama club" She said as she started putting on the kendo armor of hers. Forgoing the helmet she looked at the group "You guys ready?" she ask not looking up as she started to fix the strap on the chestplate to fit her better.

Suddenly, a series of blue lights began to materialize one at a time. At first these lights proved difficult for Etsu to identify, but after some time they slowly began to take shape, all the while drawing ever so closer to her.

"Are these... butterflies?" Etsu wondered, extending her hand out of curiosity. She wanted to ascertain that what she was seeing was real, but she could easily cause any of these delicate beauties to disperse on contact; this was on the back of her mind as well.

A voice was then heard in the background.



'Soil... Laughter... Mother?' repeating the last words of those three lines in her head, Etsu paused in thought, before reaching an epiphany, 'Wait. Is this the Greek goddess of...? An actual goddess is trying to reach out to me?!'

...

Sure enough, reality kicked back in for Etsu. She regained vision of that hideous monster before her, and she immediately recollected the appendage wrapped tightly around her neck. She brought her hands up to her eye level, only for the damage to her fingernails to remind her that she already tried to claw her way out... as well as how fruitless that turn out to be. There was only one thing she could do.

'Here goes...' Etsu inhaled deeply, trying accumulate as much air as she could into her lungs; she had to maximize her chances of the voice being able to hear her given the circumstances of her throat being constricted, even if that meant yelling at the top of her lungs, "DEMEEEETEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!"

@SMS @Crimmy @chukklehed


Saturday Morning – Practice Building?

---

The crackling blaze met the creature’s oozing body, which Yuuhei found to be an oddly satisfying sight. Part of him would be rather disappointed if it turned out that deep down he was actually a pyromaniac, but for now it was probably much more important to focus on making sure that the thing in front of him burned to a crisp. And so far, that plan seemed to be going quite smoothly.

"Stop! Fire won't work, use ice or wind!"

Well, except for the part where the flames died down only to reveal those insectoid eyes looking more annoyed than in pain.

The order caused Yuuhei to jerk his head towards the source of the apparent voice of reason, only to find Ms “I Want Off This Ride” with cables coming out of her and behind her was a strange, blindfolded woman who was also bound by those same cables. Strangely enough, the sight didn’t even surprise him, as if it was just obvious that there would be other Persona users like himself. Not that he knew what a Persona exactly was or how he knew the word to begin with, but there would hopefully be time to worry about that noise later.

”What do you want me to do, blow on it really hard?” he retorted a bit too good humoredly for what the situation was calling for. Besides, it wasn’t like Prospero had anything like that hiding up its tattered sleeves. But as he glanced at his Persona, Yuuhei could have sworn that the white orb that served as its face was somehow smirking at him, as if it found what he was thinking unbelievably amusing.

The blonde’s eyes lit up as realization hit him. ”Garu!" he called out just as he heard the thing’s cumbersome footfalls growing louder. But by the time he turned his attention back to the thing, Yuuhei realized that he had reacted far too slowly, his body still unbearably sluggish from being tossed at the wall. His legs started moving in an effort to jump away, but he already knew he wasn’t going to make it. So instead, he raised his arms in some vain attempt to protect himself.

"Byakko!"

The veiny, white mass of flesh grazed his arms and sent the blond tumbling away from it. But just before it's fist had connected, Yuuhei felt some kind of aura surround his body, taking a good deal of the hit for him.

He was still in quite a bit of pain, but at least he wasn't dead just yet.

As he was sent sprawling, Prospero finished conjuring up a noisy sphere of wind in its hands and launched it directly at the thing’s eerie golden eyes.

@Bornlucky@Mistress Dizzy

Uchima Senior High - A Hallway, 2nd Floor, Classroom Building???

"Do you think there are more?"

That power that Ryoma had called upon to save them still seemed so unbelievable to Ai Hanazawa. It was something that would've been - should've been - more at home in her writing than in real life. But real life didn't look like this horrible place or have such horrible monsters of a samurai that wanted to kill them. She tried to quash that jolt of fear that ran through her skin like lightning. They'd escape it. They just had to.

Her answer, however, may have been answered upon the sight of the figure lying on the wooden floor. This time, Ai wasn't able to hide her gasp, recognising the person immediately. Jin Takahashi. They had been thrown into this world too? And the extent of those injuries, she wasn't good at stuff like that, but she knew that they were hurt.

Ryoma was already using his powers on Jin.

She hoped that it would work.

"Takahashi-san!" she cried out, quickly moving to Ryoma and Jin's side. "Stay in there!"

---

@AdmrlStalfos19

Uchima Senior High - Hallway outside Faculty Office, 3rd Floor, Classroom Building???

There was light.

Energies crackled. The mighty tempest burst from her very body, a bright, warm overflowing that seemed to send her mind rising into a dizzying realm of sharp coherence as the monster was blown free of her body, breath returning to her with the disappearance of its weight. It, disjointed and distorted limbs and all, flew like a ragdoll, slamming against a wall with a mighty thud. Something like the sound of old bone shattering resounded through the hallway, and pale chips clattered to the wooden floorboards.

The matted, disgusting thing shifted. Its chittering, its chattering of teeth, no longer seemed as threatening, as dangerous as before. It lurched suddenly upwards, ugly, disfigured skull trying to glare wit those pained golden eyes at Etsu. More and more sickly green was dribbling from its hanging jaw. Its shattered jaw. It mixed into the dirty hair. Into the black goop that made up its shadowy, clawed arm.

It tried to push forth. It could still stand, and it did. A horrid sight, the sound of limbs and muscles stretching as they tried to click together. Yet it was no longer charging. No longer launching its needly claws to pierce and drain Etsu's lifeblood away.

Because she was here.

Red flowers in grey, noble flowing hair. Beautiful, soft skin. Fair features, nose aquiline.

A goddess descended.

She cradled that golden column of humanity within her arms.

A daughter of the soil.

Demeter had arrived.

---

@chukklehed@Sarcelle Renard@SMS

Uchima Senior High - Hallway Outside Newspaper Clubroom, Practice Building???

The creature couldn't move away in time. The sphere of wind slammed hard into its shadowy torso before it could act, grinding hard and sending black ooze flying to the sound of gears whirring with an almost-insane intensity. It, the Myrkálfr, fought to resist, but it was hopeless. The gust exploded, and it staggered back, heavy earthen feet stumbling, pistons jittering, before it was forced onto a knee. Those rotting arms pressed down against the wooden floor. The golden gems upon its eerie face had lost some luster. And its torso, that oozing mass, was trying to rebuild.

Two insectoid eyes had burst. Splattered, staining the floor.

The black sloshed and sloshed, trying to knit back together.

It was open.

^{Current Group:@Krayzikk@Write@Plank Sinatra}
Kazou hopped off the bike as soon as possible. They'd reached their destination it seemed, Sasori and Co. Investigations. Kazou had never seen the building before, he had no use for a private detective currently, but he did not expect the red-eyed man with green hair to be Sasori himself.

But Kimiko referred to him as such and he was wearing fairly fancy clothes. The two talked for a bit, Kazou himself coming up but all he could gather was she thought he was wise, which was nice. She took a gander around the man's beatup car before taking a look inside the building itself and emitting a girly moan.

Out of the building came, as stated, a robot. This was an expensive piece of technology from the looks of it, with sensors to keep it from bumping into things, speakers, all that. To drop upwards of 50000 yen on a prank seemed dubious at best. Maybe they were telling the truth and something dubious was happening on the streets of Shikatsu? Kazou could only hope.

"Huh. I guess you guys were telling the truth..." Kazou said, getting closer to examine the little wheely-bot. Its LED's even changed colors and the such when seeing different stimulus. "So, an army of these little guys attacked you? Are there more on the loose? Do you have any leads on who set them to attack, and why this one isn't trying to hurt me?"

@Crimmy@Bornlucky

Jin was on the ground. They'd seen a woman in a white dress, and was pretty sure they'd waved at the Grim Reaper. The pain had gone from deadly to terrible, and Jin could barely draw breath for the pain. They were desperate. To move, to call for help, anything. But the pain was too much, and their body wouldn't obey, and Jin drifted in and out of consciousness.

And then, suddenly, the pain was gone. Jin heard a muffled cry of "Anubis" and suddenly felt impossibly better. Wait, Anubis? That was another death god, right? From... Egypt?

"No, no... Not dead yet, I'm not... I'm not dead yet. Come back later." Jin opened their eyes, and blinked several times before the dots cleared from their vision. "Um... Ryoma-kun? And... You're Hanazawa=kun. How...?" Already, they were trying to get up, but managed to get to a sitting position before a wave of dizziness made standing a bad idea. "How did you do that?"

@Kafka Komedy@Plank Sinatra@Write@Krayzikk

Sasori and Co. Investigations

The shamus scratched at his pale cheek, seemingly pondering on what he could say. He didn't know the new kid, not when they could easily be a wrong gee, but if the bearcat thought he wasn't just some chiseler, then Yoshinori Sasori would give him a chance to take a flutter at the caper too. He couldn't rattle much out of this queer case, so maybe the kids could take a squint instead.

"All the other cans have gone croak," he explained, crossing his arms. "But the goons behind this lav got a clean sneak. Lammed off before the prowl-car boys even got an eyeful."

He'd gone 'round to grease something out after the kids had left, but no dice. It should've been eggs and coffee to nab some extra, but the rest had gone and faded by the time he drove back. Without even the bulls noticing. Man, he thought he was a bit of a card sharp, but whoever were these hard numbers certainly made him look like a real dope.

And if that dingus inside was a sign, he fingering them on being definitely from upriver.

"You kids wanna come in?" asked the detective for a second, adjusting his hat. "Don't want no rough customers catching wind."

---

@Mistress Dizzy@Bornlucky

Uchima Senior High - A Hallway, 2nd Floor, Classroom Building???

A breath of relief left Ai as Jin pulled themselves up off the floor. Her face, initially filled with stress, seemed to relax instantly, the edges of her mouth curling up into a quiet smile. She seemed incredibly glad and relieved to see that Jin was safe.

"Um," she said, nudging Ryoma's arm with friendly gentleness as she thought of how to explain quickly, "Ryo-kun has um, superpowers."

It wasn't a very succinct explanation from a girl who prided herself on being a good writer, but it was quite clear that shock and fear was still definitely present in her, as was the pumping adrenaline.

"Ryo-kun healed you!" she hurriedly continued, expanding on the point. "We got attacked by this um, monster thing and he saved me from them with his powers and ... and then we tried to get away and we found you!"

Too many unexpected things were happening at once, the poor Blair barely knew how to react at all. Not only did Enju seem focused on taking this unknown boy with them but yet another one decided to join them while they were in a conversation. After what he told them it was clear that he was from their school, but who just goes up to people and talks to them because there are from your school? Blair just couldn´t understand such behavior, it seemed weird.
Luckily for her though, Blair wouldn´t have to deal with them as much. Hans went home because something happened in his dorms. Yes! That was incredibly lucky for Blair and it almost made her smile. Enju wouldn´t be sad or disappointed or anything, Blair was with her after all! The two besties together to hang out! That sounded like the perfect plan for Blair... if only there wasn´t a certain someone from their school who wanted to be polite and greet them. Well, as far as Blair knew Enju, she knew that Enju would probably want to chat with him more. She had to avoid that somehow.
"Oh uhm... we are just... enjoying the nice weather! We are actually in a hurry since we don´t want there to be too many people when we get icecream sooo..."

Blair sincerely hoped that Enju wouldn´t want to talk more to this guy. Of course, Blair was not able to judge whether he was nice or not, but she did not want to bother trying anyways. With an intense stare she looked at Enju, trying to get her point across. However, since Blair knew Enju for quite a while now, it was sort of obvious that she would want to have a longer conversation.
@Zelosse @liferusher

@Savo@JBRam2002@Suku@GarlandDaHero

Santen

Okazaki stepped up silently towards the emergency exit, hand reaching for the knob. If all went well and the eerie facsimile of their school proved to work the same as their reality, then it would give them a path to escape. It was entirely possible that this strange world was bound by different rules, or that the exit would lead to absolutely nowhere they wanted and rendering their entire trek here entirely moot, but to be perfectly honest, the Drama Club's Vice-President doubted he would be particularly fazed by such an occurrence. A success sounded invigorating, and he definitely wanted that, but if it didn't pan out, then they would just have to try again.

He just needed to open this door. That was all.

His hand brushed against the flaking brass.

Magma.

A thousand burning pinpricks ran through his arm and lanced right through his head, a jagged lightning bolt of searing hot white. He staggered back, unconsciously raising his right hand to his forehead, left gripping tightly onto his wrist.

Pain.



A loud chime.

It resounded across the school.

The chiming of ... of a bell.

Even despite the burning, he knew it.

The clock tower bell.

And they came.

Neon green oozed from the windows, a mass of shocking colour filling the monotony of the glass and walls as they rose up from the Expanse outside the windows, cutting short Alexander's peek into the haze of purple and red that dropped into a chasm of nothingness. They oozed and rippled, coalescing, and the ears of the children would hear.

Hear the chittering.

The walls seemed to rust.

A film of acidic emerald became legs.

Happily dancing closer.

Bulbous, gangrenous masses of pink. Almost unidentifiable.

Yet the sight of human flesh, no matter how distorted, will never be one that Man can mistake.

The pink, leaking green, flow from all sides.

And they are born, one by one.

Little, little feet. Milliard in number.

And their golden eyes awoke, turning in perfect synchronicity upon the visage of Alexander.

Ugly, uneven masses, bulbous like fungi. Rotting in scent, rotting in looks, pink giving way to black and sickly yellow. And upon that black were the cysts, little, pulsing as if to pop. And some had, the leeching of neon green acid from small holes flowing over their sides and towards the floor.

Keratin protrusions from a mouth.

Two mouths.

Far too many sets of two mouths.

Sickly claws as sickly teeth.

Chittering. Chattering. Shambling and dancing along. A wave of pink masses upon a wave of green liquid.

And the tide fell upon Alexander, drowning him beneath the stench of flesh.

Beneath the green, heavenly hellish liquids.

And with seraphic, beauteous tones, they buzzed their delightful cries.

For they were here.

@vancexentan

A few blocks away from the park

As he jogged along, he would catch sight of a brunette in glasses standing hidden in the shadow of a tree, glancing with an expression of irritation at her wristwatch every once in a while. She was humming something melodic under her breath, but unless Hans came closer, it was unlikely that he would be able to identify the tune, if it was a familiar one. A strange sight to behold, particularly given her choice of clothing in a suburban environment, and that patch on her jacket seemed familiar, as if it had appeared somewhere on television or the Internet.

She huffed with clear frustration, hands immediately shoving themselves into her pockets. It was clear that whatever she was looking for hadn't revealed itself. At the same time however, she glanced up, and though her eyes were still hidden behind those black shades, it was immediately that they had zeroed in on Hans.

He was pretty popular today, it seemed.

"Oi!" she called out. Her manner of speech was rougher than one would expect of someone from these parts. "You got a nav on y-"

Immediately, she attempted to compose herself, shades flashing as she stepped forward and out of the tree's shadow.

"Ah, sorry, but do you have a phone on you?" she asked, this time speaking far more politely. "I left mine with ... a friend, so I'm a bit lost right now. Can I borrow some directions? It's very urgent."

She clapped her hands together, smiling at Hans.