@vancexentan

A few blocks away from the park

The woman looked in the direction that Hans was pointing in, her expression changing not a single iota even as she focused her shades-obscured gaze upon the supposed pink light that the foreign teenager was claiming to be seeing. She took her sunglasses off, blinking once and squinting, before placing them back onto her face once more.

"You sure you ain't under the weather?" she asked with a note of concern (a surprising new emotion from her) as she turned back to face Hans. "Feel free to take a seat or whatever. I've gotta get to my place uh, pretty urgently, but you can stay here and take a breather if you need to."

Even as she spoke, the pink light that she seemed to be incapable of seeing was still pulsing.

---

@Zelosse@Melpaws@liferusher

The Park

That strange, massive creature - no, that monster that had emerged before the three hapless teenagers, was unfortunately discovered to be an impatient sort. Though the boy had sought to flee, to acquiesce to its demands for the humans to remove themselves from its presence, the stumble and fall of Enju as she was pulled along and Blair's attempt to grab her friend were instead read as a failure to do so. The two powerful fists, attached to arms bulging with muscles, slammed against the earth once more, the soil and grass underneath deforming as the white, oppressive cloud that leaked from its torso intensified in quantity, and the choking golden fog in the air grew more and more untenable to breathe in.

A hissing breath huffed from its reddening snout, even as its crimson, tear-filled eyes trained themselves on the teenagers in a clearly hostile glare. A guttural snarl ripped free from its long, shivering throat.

"HUMANS. MY PREY."

It seemed to thrust its tusks up in a threatening manner.



And from the earth, bursting from the grass and soil in a cloud of white, rose coils of sickly green energy, every single one grabbing the legs of the three teenagers and binding them to the ground.

The monster's clenched fist pulled back ...

---

@Mistress Dizzy@Bornlucky

Uchima Senior High - A Hallway, 1st Floor, Classroom Building???

"Um ... eeehhh?"

Despite the danger that lurked behind the trio of unfortunate Uchima students and the eerie world that they had been thrown into, the expression that found its way to Ai Hanazawa's face was one of awkward confusion as she stared down at the knife being handed her way. The Drama Club's scriptwriter was at a loss for words, quiet sounds of bafflement leaving her mouth as she scratched the back of her neck with one hand, gaze moving towards the floor as she tried to think of a proper response to the offer and the quick lesson that followed.

"Oh ah, thanks!" she finally said with a smile, taking the knife from Jin and turning it around so she could take a better look. Definitely not because it would be great writing material or anything. "But ... how did you get a knife into school, Takahashi-san?"

Even though she seemed as if she had decided to simply roll with things (especially when things couldn't possibly get even weirder than an old, first-time fanfic hidden in the bowels of the Internet), Ai couldn't help but contain her curiosity.

And if they could keep talking, she didn't need to think about that monster as much.

---

@JBRam2002@Suku

The flames reflected towards those burning monsters did no harm, yet unlike in the case of the courageous Kimiko, those wisps of fire did not return in the direction of the young priestess-in-training, merely dissipating inside the bodies of the creatures. They instead glowed and flashed with greater intensity, the seething fire roaring brighter and hotter to a crescendo as they realised, with incredible anger, that their attack had been foiled.

None of the students had fallen prey to their assault.

Not even Kaede, who had been pushed free of the fire, now half-collapsed on the ground next to Kagami.

The scent of charred fabric mixed with skin wafted through his nose.

The heat that licked his arms could still be felt.

The pain as his skin boiled away against the flames.

Yet boosted by that ... magic that Kimiko had cast upon him, Kaede Yamamoto was fast thinking past all of that. His body hurt. His chest was still tight. That brush with death sent sparks through his body. Lightning running through his veins. He had nearly died. The flames nearly consumed him.

Could have entirely consumed him.

He couldn't breathe.

He gasped.

It was like a shock to the system. Air flowed back into him. His body started up once more, like an awakening generator.

The kendo-club girl. He staggered to his feet, the pain so dull now. Almost a forgotten feeling. The heat didn't feel as intense as it once did. Kaede ignored all of that, his legs moving at an incredible speed (was it the work of the priestess?) as he made his way to Kagami's side. In front of her.

"It worked," he managed to breathe out, his harried eyes glancing Kimiko's way as he gave her his reply.

His body was tingling.

It could have been a dream. He could have been dead. But he wasn't. Nor was the girl collapsed behind him. Adrenaline pumped through him, and his eyes met those monsters, those burning figures held back only by the priestess standing in front of them, a pillar that pushed back against the raging firestorm coming their way. It was too unreal, but he wasn't asleep. The beating of his heart, pounding constantly like thunder, reminded him of the reality of it all.

This was his reality.

Every single feeling in vivid detail. It was proof. Every jolt, every burning pain receptor.



The reality of a classmate holding back monsters from killing him.

Nearly succeeding.

Yet they were still coming.



This was reality.

This was Kaede Yamamoto's reality.

He needed help.

He needed to help.

His classmates. His club members. His friends.

He needed to protect every single one of them.



The words slipped out naturally.

"Persona."

The fairy king burst free from his shackles in a glow of golden light, an ethereal warmth that rose above the Drama Club President.

If Kimiko couldn't do any more, than he would help her.

Help her. Help the girl behind him. Help everyone.

Not a superhero, huh ...?

"Oberon, Zio!" he gritted out, thrusting his burnt arm forward. The fae followed suit, and at the tip of its blade burst a bolt of lightning, striking one of the monsters in an explosion of sparks and light.

The creature staggered and roared as its flames dimmed slightly, but it redoubled immediately, charging forth and seeking to bullrush past Kimiko in order to get its shot at vengeance by killing Kaede. And the other was already moving around to flank, seeking to distract the priestess' attentions so that its comrade would have its chance.

If she went for one, then both Kaede and Kagami would be unprotected.

---

@Savo

The mass was taking Alexander somewhere.

The chittering, chattering motions were purposeful.

Somewhere in the school was their destination.

His destination.

And behind that bulbous creature, the masked monster in the gakuran followed.

In this monotone, bloody facsimile of Uchima Senior High, Alexander Furst would be condemned to a strange fate.

"Let's hope not, it'd be a nice change of pace." Ryoma responded back to Ai's comment about encountering anymore monster, he was getting mentally and physically tired from fighting, it didn't help that he didn't heal is wound from the last fight yet. it still ached and ebbed to the surface from time to time, but he couldn't waste his energy just yet. There was too much at risk.

They reached to the first floor of the classroom building with little issues. Ryoma went ahead of the other two, as he figured he's the most experienced and he's not sure yet if Jin can summon their Persona easily yet. And he's not even considering putting Ai in front, she's can't fight like they can, and would be at risk of dying painfully if she got caught in a monster's attack, he couldn't even imagine how a normal human taking one of those strange magical attacks. ... Huh, 'Normal'? Ryoma always wanted to be different, but he didn't expect to so different so quickly, this whole thing felt like a dream but yet it wasn't, it was a nightmarish reality, where Jin and himself became something 'Different' Could they still be called humans? Humans can't summon a metaphysical representation of their ego. Where did this power come from? And is it as much of a miracle as he previously thought? Or is it a curse?

Ryoma's expression turned sullen and thoughtful as he walked down the hall not even noticing the conversation between Ai and Jin. but suddenly he noticed a plank of wood holding a lock in place. Ryoma's expression changed again, to a confuse look and a tilt of his head. Ryoma looked at the lock then at the piece of wood. Ryoma looked back to Ai and Jin.

"Hey guys, this door's barricaded." Is what Ryoma yelled out to the two. Silently, Ryoma looked back at the lock and gently tapped it. He wasn't an idiot enough to break down the plank of wood without second thoughts and back up. This could be locked up for a reason, what that reason was impossible to know. But he should get Ai-Chan and Jin-San's thoughts first.

@Sarcelle Renard @chukklehed

Natsume; Saturday Morning - Practice Building?

---

"Do you know how many more are out there?" Since they ran into the black haired girl, she had a feeling that there were more people stuck here with them. The more the merrier, and if they could get more people together then they could maybe think of a way out of here.

At the back of her mind, she did consider what the girl did say about her not being able to protect herself. She didn't seem like the fighting kind of person either, so leaving her alone would be a very bad idea. But if she doesn't have the power to protect herself, what more the other strangers that do not have the same powers as them?

"Oh well, we'll cross that line when we get there."

Natsume slowly pushed herself off the ground with a grunt, and proceeded to dust herself off once she was standing straight. The floor felt colder than usual when she used her hands to push herself up, or maybe it was just her being paranoid.

”And that’s Ishikawa Natsumi.”

She cleared her throat before narrowing her eyes at Yuuhei as he turned to her uncomfortably. "You're a terrible senpai, you know that? Who knows what would have happened if I misremembered my own name?" She tried to sound a little playful, but she probably came off as more cynical. It definitely has been a while since she tried to make a joke.

Without waiting for a response from her so-called senpai, she turned back to the black haired girl. "But I don't blame him since we just met. It's Natsume. And you?"

@SMS@Crimmy@Sarcelle Renard

Tsubaki blinked as she realized she still hadn't introduced herself. It was understandable, honestly, since she wasn't a people person at the best of times and these were definitely NOT the best of times. Still, she quashed the urge to simply run off after the nearest group of people and bowed to the two who had rescued her, Natsume and Yuuhei.

"My name is... Matsushida. Tsu-... Tsubaki Matsushida. I wish we could have met under better circumstances." She bowed low with her greeting, years of her father's 'society lessons' taking over in the unfamiliar situation. "I am glad to have your assistance," Now all she needed to do was figure out how to get everyone together. None of the other students had been killed yet as far as she could see, but it was only a matter of time...

"I think I can communicate with the others." Tsubaki said, "But I need something more, some kind of transmitter." Now that she was thinking about it, she could see the plans filling in in her mind. It would be so easy to build, like transmitting a cell signal. It wouldn't even have to be that big, but she would need... parts...

"I need to go to the AV Club!" She said suddenly, almost down the hall as inspiration struck her. Only by supreme force of will did she manage to stop and wait for her two bodyguards, as they had somehow become.

@CrimmyHans sighed maybe he was suffering from heatstroke, or maybe he was just tired and he was seeing things because of it. But that light...it wasn't natural he was sure of that. He knew he would regret it but in the end Hans decided it would be best to at least take a look. Hans briskly but carefully made his way over towards the pink light. He chastised himself silently knowing this wouldn't end well at all.

^{Current Group:@Krayzikk@Write@Plank Sinatra}
Detective Sasori mumbled something incomprehensible again at Kazou, mentioning something about the chinese. Daisuke replied as if he could understand what was being said, before the Detective unveiled some modern art sculpture that fell down the uncanny valley. Kazou exclaimed a small "God!" before realizing it wasn't a living being and calming down a bit.

Daisuke spoke a bit again, revealing that that thing was the one who spawned and controlled the advanced robotics. So it was also a robot? Or was that thing human, originally? Kazou had so many questions; apparently they even had backup? "Look, can you guys take it from the top and tell me what's going on? Please?" Kazou asked, concern and a bit of frustration evident with his expression.

_{Also starring: @Krayzikk as the Meat Hunk, @Write as the Yuri Route, @Kafka Komedy as Okama-kun, and @Crimmy as the Father Figure}

---

Kimiko blew out a quiet breath, hopefully to try and exhale some patience directly into the soul of her little kouhai. It was clear that he'd stopped believing this was a prank, which was both super helpful to their current task and kind of disappointing. Kimiko liked the idea that she was industrious enough to make all that weird stuff happen with demons, pizza robots, and the cops just to trap some little first-year in her latest bizarre gambit. If that were the case, she would be ruling the world by first year of uni.

"So let's take it from the top, yeah, Kazou-kun?" she began, slapping her knuckles into the palm of her other hand. She was chewing on some of DRU's excellently reheated food in thought, French fry dangling from her mouth like an unlit Lucky Strike. "Yesterday afternoon, Daisuke-kun and I are walking home from classes and talking about our after-school activities when a transport truck crashes, right where we passed by on our way here. There's fire, there's a crowd, it's a really big incident. Only instead of any survivors, out roll at least five dozen pizza bots--"

She knocked cautiously on the top of the DRU she was sitting on.

"--exactly like this. Only they weren't themselves - or rather, they weren't what you see now. Their eyes were golden, instead of this cute little LED blue, and not an LED gold either. They were thralls to something." She pointed at the disgusting creature that Sasori had unveiled a moment prior, mouth quirked in disgust and slight unease. "That thing, to be precise. When I fought my way to the truck on DRU's back, that thing was inside, in the middle of this thick golden fog everywhere. I gave it a haymaker, cold clocked it, stomped it right to death, and all the pizza bots fell apart except for mine. That's almost exactly where we met Sasori-san, Hitomi-chan, and Cali-senpai. I was planning on coming here after my meal this morning and following things up from there, so I guess it's a good thing we all ran into each other while refueling our stomachs, huh?"

Her eyes slid to the detective before cutting back to Kazou cautiously. She had left out one vital part of the story, but as much as Kimiko may have adopted a leadership role among the group of kids, Sasori was an adult - and had been following this whole weird affair a lot longer than her. So her unspoken message to Sasori was a clear question:

Should we cut him in on the big stuff?

Hitomi blinked back into a clear mind. Have I been staring at commander’s bum for this whole conversation?? She shook her head lightly tossing her hair from side to side before walking up closer to Kimiko from behind her. She thought about whether or not what she was about to do was a smart idea or not. By all means, it wasn’t. However, she really wanted to. So her hand reached out to Kimiko’s round, supple, shoulder and tapped it lightly. She got in close to Kimiko’s ear and whispered softly:

“Up,” this whisper was shortly followed by the slightly smaller girl attempting to climb up on top of her commander so that she could assume the backpack position. She locked her small legs around Kimiko’s waist and made sure to let her arms rest loosely around Kimiko’s collar.

She peered out from behind Kimiko’s bright orange-red hair and rested her head on her Commander’s shoulder. It was clear what this conversation was about, as far as Kazou was concerned. As soon as she caught the look her commander had been giving Sasori. The air in the room grew thick with tension. But Hitomi was to tension as a hot knife was to butter.

“I think that this thing is probably bigger than us, at least the four of us, y’know?” She asked somewhat rhetorically, catching the eyes of Daisuke, Sasori and Kimiko. Even Kazou glanced her way in probable confusion. From her perch however, it was clear that the four of them were somewhat underqualified. While at least two of the people present did have those freaky spirit people that came out and helped during the conflict against the antagonistic robots of dough, cheese, entrapment, and tomato sauce – Hitomi didn’t have her own yet.

She’d have to figure something out as far as that goes.

“It’d be wise to include everyone present in the relevant discussion I think.” Hitomi said no doubt baffling everyone around her she could put on a voice and persona that wasn’t bat shit crazy.

@Crimmy@JBRam2002

Kagami breathed heavily things was not going well and she was nothing more than a dead weight at this rate. What good am I right now she thought as she watched as the other two stood strong standing for what they believed yet here she was unable to do even that she failed she wasn't a leader she wasn't even good in this situation. What was the point than what was she some damsel needing rescue? She didn't want that she never wanted that.
"Are you Content"
She heard a voice echo carrying a stern reprimanding tone to it yet it felt so familiar.
"Have you become slothful"
There it was again echoing yet she could not place where it was coming from.
"Have you exerted all possible outcomes"
It continued its reprimanding tone making her remember her days when her grandfather was instructing her. "no no no" she repeated herself trying to drown out the voice.
"So your content with letting others fight your battles?"
"NO" Kagami yelled she was not content with that but what could she do? She tried and failed what else was she able to do?
"So you have forgotten willing to forsake others cause your weak?"
"No but what else can I do? What good am I in a situation against monsters?"
"You know the answer stand up and remember your name."
"My Name is Kagami Isami! And I will stand and fight!" She yelled slowly standing up her legs wobbling a bit but still she stood firm.
"Now scream it out let the world know of the power you hold!"
It came to her a stern man wearing a somber expression his long hair flying freely as he firmly grasped his weapons "PERSONA! STAND AND FIGHT HIJIKATA!!!" She yelled out

I AM THOU AND THOU ART I
FROM THE DEPTHS OF THE SOUL I COME FORTH
I WILL BY YOUR SWORD AND YOUR LOYAL OFFICER
HIJIKATA OF THE SHINSENGUMI WILL FIGHT WITH THEE!

With Hijikata taking the lead Kagami followed quickly behind using her new found ally in distracting the monsters as she went towards her fallen weapon.

@vancexentan

A few blocks away from the park? bGuREjBEyQ qhATrbA

As Hans' briskly moved towards the pulsing pink glow that emanated from the front of the unassuming streetside house, the questioning voice of his travelling companion calling out from behind him, the world suddenly lurched into yellow. A transition from the clarity of what he was once seeing to a hazy, indistinct fog of gold. As if someone had taken the canvas of reality and splashed the watercolour upon a beautiful painting. Everything had been diminished, rendered into lesser.

The sound of the suburbs, barely audible.

The scent of grass and concrete, too minute to breathe.

The sharp noon air upon his lips, replaced with an uneasy cloudiness.

If he turned around, the woman he was with was gone. There were no cars on the streets. No passersby. Totally barren.

Except for a shimmering membrane, a strange illusion-like thing that hung between him and the sidewalk, disappearing and reappearing in the corner of Hans' eye every time he blinked. And faint sounds - faint familiar sounds - emanated from that flickering film. Sounds of a reality.

Yet a thread of pink light, glowing and pulsing fainter and fainter, dangled out of the door to the house that he had stepped in the land of.

Dangled out of that ajar door.

Saturday Morning - Street

A solitary teenager walked through the streets of Shikatsu, wearing the uniform of Uchima Senior High… along with a short red cape on his back, which certainly drew attention… not that the teenager knew this.

This boy’s name was Ishido Yoichi, and he was focusing hard on a notebook which he held firmly in his hands.

“Uchima Senior High’s in the east… and it’s near some detective agency, isn’t it? That’s what Mr and Mrs Yoichi told me…” Ishido stated, reading out the scrawls he’d written in his notebook. “But I just can’t seem to find it.”

Ishido sighed.

“I’ve been looking for two hours… I think. I just don’t know how it’s so hard to find this place. I’m excited to go to school, but I don’t know I’ll ever find it at this rate. Maybe I should just ask somebody, but….”

Ishido continued his trek down the streets of Shikatsu, earning quite a few odd glances with his odd attire. Eventually, he passed by a young woman behind a stand of sorts. Near her were several cards. ‘She looks young… Maybe… just maybe…’ Ishido began to ponder as his eyes looked upon the woman. ‘Maybe she’s a student too? Maybe she’ll know where to go.’

Ishido calmly approached the young woman’s stall, intent on locating the elusive Uchima Senior High once and for all. In the past few days, Ishido had tried his best to locate the school… but his attempts proved unsuccessful, and usually led to Ishido getting lost and then simply going home.

Ishido stopped to a halt in front of the woman’s stall, taking note that it seemed to deal with ‘Tarot Readings’ – whatever that was. Ishido briefly wondered if he knew what it meant in his past life… before he became afflicted with his amnesia.

Both the woman and Ishido locked eyes, neither of them uttering a word for a brief few moments. Ishido was waiting for the woman to say something, but she herself seemed to be waiting for Ishido to say something. Eventually, the silence was broken by the young woman.

“Prolonged eye contact – the start of any good romance!” The young woman enthusiastically exclaimed. “Are you here for a tarot reading…? I sure hope you are! I’ll even make it free for you, daaarling!”

Ishido scratched his head in confusion. He’d simply had eye contact with the tarot reader… he didn’t exactly grasp how that related to romance.

“Uh… I came over to you because you looked young, like a student or something. I’m looking for Ushima Senior High… school started yesterday, but I’m a day late.”

“I look young?! Oh, you flirt! I’m only seven years out of senior high!” The woman replied excitedly, as she began to play with her dark black hair. “I’ll tell you where Ushima Senior High is… if you take my tarot reading.”

‘This is kinda weird… I thought she was younger…’ Thought Ishido. ‘Plus… I’m not sure if I’m imagining things, but her breath is awful…’

“So what’s this ‘tarot reading’ thing? … Because I’ve got no idea.” Ishido admitted, as he shifted his gaze from the tarot reader to the towering buildings nearby.
With a giggle, the tarot reader motioned towards a large deck of cards, which she then grabbed hold of… and forced into Ishido’s hands.

“Some tarot readers make you draw out six cards,” The tarot reader spoke. “Boring! That’s five too many! That’s why I call myself the fun and unique tarot reader! All you’ve got to do to get your reading is to shuffle the deck, then pick out a random card! That’ll tell you what Arcana is prominent in your life at the moment! It’s kind of like seeing your fortune!”

‘… Seeing my fortune? That’s possible…? I’ll do this – if it’s fortune telling, then it’ll tell me if I find Uchima Senior High… I think.’

Ishido clumsily began to shuffle the deck. He knew the basics of shuffling a deck of cards… but he didn’t know much else about it, which he chalked up to his amnesia. Ishido continued shuffling the deck over and over, for three minutes; which is when the tarot reader told him to stop, with a bit of a giggle.

Somehow, Ishido remembered that the tarot reader told him to pick out a random card.

‘Alright… well… I’ll just take the fifth card. Mr. and Mrs. Yoichi tell me that’s my lucky number.’

Ishido carefully pried the fifth card out of the deck, while simultaneously taking care not to drop the deck of tarot cards onto the ground. Ishido eyed the card he’d drawn from the deck. It was an illustration of an armoured skeleton riding upon a snow white horse. In the skeleton’s hand was a large, ominous black flag, with a bright white insignia of sorts in the centre. Below the armoured skeleton’s horse was a man lying down, seemingly dead… and in front of the skeleton and his horse was another man dressed in bright yellow, his hands held together, along with a kneeling woman in white and a child.

The final detail Ishido noticed was the presence of words near the bottom of the card.

‘XIII – Death’.

As soon as Ishido read this, he was filled with shock and confusion. The card didn’t say anything about his future! It was essentially just a picture! “I thought this was going to tell my fortune?” Ishido inquired. “This card doesn’t say anything, though… are you tricking me?”

In response, a grin formed on the tarot reader's face. “Ah, what a joker you are, darling! You’ve got quite the sense of humor – it tickles my funny bone, to say the least.” The tarot reading woman laughed. “You drew the death card-“

“Wait… death card?” Ishido uttered in worry. “So if this is telling my fortune… I’m going to die, right?”

The tarot reading woman laughed once more as she pulled over a sheet of paper, which was covered in writing.
“It doesn’t mean you’re going to die soon, darling.” The lady spoke, her gaze fixated on Ishido. “From what I hear, the death card symbolizes… beginnings and endings, that kind of thing. My paper compares it to the sun… it says ‘The sun appears to ‘die’ each night but is reborn fresh and new every morning.’ So I think it means something in your life is going to end… but something else will come in its place…?”

Ishido felt as if the woman wasn’t sure of what she was talking about… but he didn’t know if that was truly the case. Regardless, Ishido had a question to ask. “But how’s that relate to my fortune? It doesn’t say if I’m going to find Uchima Senior High or anything.”

“Oh no, darling… that’s not how the tarot works. It won’t tell you exactly what’s going to happen.” The tarot reader explained with a sudden wink. “It gives you an idea, I think. Something is going to end for you, but then something else will begin in its place…”
The tarot reader’s explanation managed to click with Ishido in a way… she spoke of endings and beginnings. Ishido’s old, non-amnesia afflicted life presumably came to an end… but it also led to Ishido’s new life.

Or, perhaps Ishido was giving it too much thought. But he had something else on his mind… “So where’s Uchima Senior High? I need to get there. I’m a day late.”

“Darling… don’t they start on April 5th?” The tarot reading woman asked. “That’s how it was for me – back when I was even younger! I bet you would’ve loved to see that… I was a real bombshell! If you wait around, I’ll get you some of my pictures...”

Ishido ignored the tarot reader’s offer, not wondering why he'd want pictures... and what exactly would they be of? This didn't interest Ishido.

“I don’t think they do… Mr and Mrs Yoichi say they start on April 21st.” Answered back Ishido, to which the tarot reader immediately grinned.

“Aha-ha! You know the Yoichi family? So do I! Maybe we’ll be seeing more of each other…” The tarot reader winked.

“Uh… I hope not..” Ishido meekly muttered back. “So where’s Uchima High –“ Ishido’s question was interrupted by the tarot reader.

“The arcana I drew is The Lovers – “ The tarot reader interjected… but Ishido repaid the favour by interrupting her.

“You’re kind of creeping me out…” Ishido admitted. “I’m leaving unless you tell me where Uchima Senior High is.”

The tarot reader was silent for a minute as she grabbed a piece of paper and a pen, then began sketching directions onto it.
Ishido was quite relieved. He wanted to be away from this strange lady as soon as he could. Ishido wasn’t sure, but he felt as if the woman was hitting on him… but he wasn’t sure.
Eventually, the woman handed over the paper with the directions to Ishido with a sly, almost devilish smile… a smile that revealed the woman’s heavily rotted teeth, some of which were a bright shade of yellow.

“Thanks, I’ll be going now.” Ishido darted off from the tarot reader’s stall and down the street. He could hear the tarot reader calling out to him to stop, but he didn’t listen. He’d had enough of that strange woman for a day, maybe even a week.

As Ishido ran off, he could hear the tarot reader complaining that another ‘cute boy’ had left her. Upon hearing this, Ishido couldn’t help but run even faster… it sounded like Ishido wasn’t one of this woman’s first victims.
‘… At least I’ve got directions to Ushima Senior High now… but that lady was weird. And that tarot stuff… it’s kind of neat.’ Ishido’s mind then began to wander.

‘… Aren’t tarot cards those cards people play that Pokey game with?’

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Saturday Morning - Park

Ishido had followed the directions the tarot reader had given him to a tee. As far as he knew – he hadn’t made a single error…

But if he hadn’t made an error, he would have arrived at Uchima Senior High. Instead, he’d arrived at a location he’d visited occasionally in the past three months… the park, where Mr. and Mrs. Yoichi often visited for a breath of fresh air.

‘This doesn’t look like Uchima Senior High… was that woman messing around with me?’ Ishido pondered to himself, raising a hand to his chin. ‘No… maybe Uchima Senior High is around here. As weird as that lady was… I don’t think she was lying. Why would she?”

Ishido then began to scour the area for anything that looked remotely like a school. His search drew some attention to him, due to his odd combination of school uniform and a small, red cape, which billowed in the wind.

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Saturday Morning - A Few Blocks Away From The Park

To Ishido’s disappointment, the school he sought – Uchima Senior High was nowhere to be found in the park… which led to Ishido choosing to investigate the surrounding areas nearby the park. The tarot reading woman had given him directions to Uchima Senior High, and Ishido couldn’t think of why she’d lie.

Ishido was certain that it was nearby. In search of this oddly elusive school, Ishido headed down into the suburbs a few blocks away from the park. But, unfortunately for the caped amnesiac… he didn’t see any signs of Uchima Senior High on the street. A few people were heading through the area… but there was still no sign of a school.

Lightly cursing under his breath, Ishido realized he’d need to take desperate measures if he wanted to locate Ushima Senior High.
He’d have to ask another person for directions… which he wasn’t too keen on. After all, his last attempt led to an encounter with a strange, black haired tarot reader… whose demeanour made Ishido rather uncomfortable.

Ishido spotted a woman further down the area. This woman was a brunette, and was wearing glasses…
‘Glasses…!? Mrs. Yoichi tells me that many smart people wear glasses. Along with that… smart people come from schools… perhaps this lady can help me out?’ Ishido thought. ‘I don’t particularly want to ask anyone for directions, but I’ve got no choice…’
Hurriedly, Ishido speedily walked over to this brunette wearing glasses, a question on his mind. It didn’t take him too long to catch up…

“Hello. If it isn’t a bother… do you know where I can find Uchima Senior High?” Ishido calmly inquired. “I’ve been looking for it since the school year started – the 21st, I think?”

@Kafka Komedy@Krayzikk@Plank Sinatra@Write

Sasori and Co. Investigations

"It'd be some duck soup if you could just pump the dame," replied the detective, gesturing at the other seat at the desk, one that was currently empty, with a woman's blue jacket hanging off the back as the only sign of the freeloading broad, "but no hitting all eight today."

With the bird lammed off someplace, even if the kids wanted to put the screws on him, he'd at best be able to just take a flutter. Some of his contacts could spill, and if they did their funny business, it could be a cinch. Just scoot by with them and grease some of the rap around town that could grab at all this queer bajoomah. Find out what kind of folks had those "foreign" mitts on the city's pulse and cop 'em with a red-light. Hope that there wouldn't be too much flying iron.

"This talent sure ain't just Chinatown," Sasori Yoshinori, age 31, admitted, after a second. He sure wasn't the broad, but he wasn't going to leave the kids grabbing air for the wire. They needed the square. "I think Old Scratch's leading a pretty dance through town with trouble boys, but don't go taking any wooden nickels."

Shamus like him ending up as some floater upriver was fine, but with the kids getting tangled up, it didn't take too much mind meat to worry about them getting dry-gulched. They'd make dealing with the funny business eggs in the coffee, but that was still a jam a kid shouldn't need to think about. They needed to be really ice about what they wanted, or he wasn't letting them in on the caper.

"You sure you kids still wanna take a flutter at this?"

@AGenericUser

A few blocks away from the park?

The woman seemed somewhat disoriented for a moment, but she recovered as she turned away from the house on the sidewalk to face Ishido. Her eyes, hidden behind a pair of shades, blinked for a moment, before the rest of her brain seemed to catch up and interpret the question the boy was throwing at her.

"Ah, I'm not from around," she said, an awkward tone in her voice as she tried to answer. "You don't got - you don't have a map app on you?"

Meanwhile, in the same place that she was looking at earlier, there was a faint pink glow.

A Few Blocks Away From The Park

The words 'Map App' rung through Ishido's head for a few seconds. Ishido knew what an app was; they were programs on phones that served a variety of purposes. He recalled that Mr. and Mrs. Yoichi utilized an app to travel around the city...

He also recalled that they installed that same app on his phone, but he'd forgotten all about it... in fact, he'd forgotten about apps in general.

"I think I've got a 'map app'," Ishido answered as he reached into his pocket, then pulled out his phone and switched it on. "I'll just need to find it, though... I'm not too great with phones."

The phone's screen lit up, revealing various squares with all sorts of icons on them. Notably, they were very colourful. Ishido looked at the apps, trying to identify which app could be his 'map app'...

"Now which one is-"

Ishido cut his own sentence off as he noticed something in the corner of his eye; a faint pink light.

"Uh... this is a little unrelated, but do you know what that pink light is over there?" Ishido pointed towards the light, a curious expression on his face. "I've never seen anything like that..."

---

Kimiko lowered her head in thought, staring at the ground and chewing away thoughtfully at a handful of French fries. Hitomi had clambered up on her shoulders, and Kimiko was only about as strong as Kazou, so even the other girl's negligible weight on her back was having an effect too. They resembled some cute two-headed beast, a moe hydra that took turns feeding its heads with fast food on a Saturday morning; one wore the thinking cap while the other bobbed cheerfully, parroting the ideas of the girl that shared her body.

"We're already involved, aren't we, Sasori-san?" Kimiko asked the detective. "They nearly killed poor Daisuke-kun. Look at him. He looks like a big, warm, sensually-shaped fry carton that got dropped on the floor and stepped on. And then there's..."

Kaguya.

She knew what she had done yesterday. She had chewed bubble gum and fought monsters. She and Daisuke had stopped them all, and sent the fog running.

But she had to assume that whatever had happened to her yesterday wasn't going to be a one time thing around here, just in case. That's how horror movies worked. Their runaway success at the box office would get sequels greenlit by the end of opening weekend. And it was already Saturday. They had expanded the cast and everything.

Kimiko fed her other head a French fry and nodded.

"Yeah, we're in. I answer for Hitomi-chan and Daisuke-kun, too." Hitomi was a total follower, and Daisuke was a hot-blooded guy on top of being her best friend; she would follow along because it was in her nature, and he would have her back because that's what best friends did. But Kazou-kun was a different story.

Look at him like Dana-sama would. Does he have a spine?

Well, no. Not really.

Will he follow someone with a spine?

Really, that was just as important.

...

"And Kazou-kun too, yeah. I speak for Kazou-kun. So, Kazou-kun, you wanna hear about how we can do magic?"

@AGenericUser

A few blocks away from the park?

The woman's face visibly transformed into an expression of confusion and perturbation, as if she was undergoing a strange sense of déja vu. Yet she still looked in the direction that Ishido was pointing, trying to see the supposed pink light he had mentioned. It was still present, a pulsing glint floating slightly ahead of the door to the house next to where they were standing, but if the woman could see it, she wasn't reacting in any way.

And indeed, she couldn't see it.

"You seeing things?" she asked, though she was definitely somewhat worried. As if she was forgetting something important. "But uh, your map application should look like it has a map or something on it."

She had decided to refocus the conversation on the topic of apps, because she was definitely not sure of the existence of any pink light.

Yet it still continued to pulse visibly to Ishido.

A Few Blocks Away From The Park?

The woman had asked Ishido if he was seeing things... it sounded like the woman couldn't see the faint and pulsing pink light, or at least - Ishido assumed so. Ishido clutched his left eye for a moment, then closed both eyes for a few seconds...

When he opened his eyes once more, the light was still there.

"Am I seeing things...?" Ishido questioned, still clutching his eye. "So you can't see it? Then... are my eyes broken?"

Ishido shook his head.

"This is strange..." Ishido muttered to himself, then tried his best to ignore the pulsing pink light by navigating through the apps on his phone.

Ishido was looking for an icon that looked like a map - and sure enough, he spotted one, which he immediately tapped. But the light still burned in the back of his mind... and shimmered in the corner of his eye.

'How can I see it, but she can't?!' Ishido thought to himself in confusion. 'She looked at where I saw the light... but she didn't seem to see it?!'

Ishido lowered his phone and looked at the light once more, still shimmering. To Ishido, it sounded like a mere mirage... but it looked very real.

"I'll be a moment. I just need to get a closer look at this light." Ishido spoke. "It's weird that you can't see it... but my eyes might just be broken..."

Ishido began to pace towards the light, full of curiosity. Was the light a figment of Ishido's imagination, or was something wrong with his sight? That was a very real possibility to Ishido...

^{Current Group:@Krayzikk@Write@Plank Sinatra}
At the gentle sigh of the group's... leader he supposed, Kazou steeled his nerves. Right, they were probably working through this stuff too, and they may not have been as foolish as he was to believe this all free of mind-shattering revelation. She began her story. Daisuke-senpai and Kimiko were friends simply walking home from school. A transport truck crashed, unleashing golden-eyed robotic nightmares, slaves to the modern art project Kazou had seen earlier. After beating it to death, in an uncharacteristically violent manner he'd add, the Pizza bots were all dead, except for the one Kimiko had been holding at the time who was simply freed from the Golden Fog's stifling embrace.

After that Sasori-san and Hitmoi-kun showed up, as well as a "Cali-senpai" whom Kazou hadn't yet met. He hummed curiously, many thoughts racing through his head. She caught Kimiko glancing at Sasori, though he couldn't tell why, and Hitomi cut in with an oddly coherent thought. Whatever this was, it was bigger than four dumb kids. Or, three kids and a detective it seemed, he wasn't part of the group yet. Obviously. Duh.

But then she said something else. “It’d be wise to include everyone present in the relevant discussion I think.” It was oddly tense, no one was saying anything. "That wasn't the full story..." Kazou mumbled, crossing his arms Sasori spoke up again but Kazou wasn't listening. He was flipping the coin mentally as to whether he could really go through with this, press the issue on what they were hiding, become someone in a group, instead of someone leering at groups, desperately miming 'let me in!' and reminiscing about when he was.

He tapped his foot, face scrunched up in thought, when Kimiko's eyes met his. They were already in this 'flutter' or whatever Sasori-san had said, Kimiko and Daisuke having personal stakes. He nodded his head to her. He needed, more than anything, for himself to be let in.

"Yeah, I agree with Kimiko-ku-"

Did she just say magic?

"I... you can do magic? Not the standard party tricks I assume... Is this related to yesterday?" He asked, but he knew the answer. Those two things were linked, one causing the other. Must have been. The only two people who can do magic just happened to have been attacked by a wooden puppeteer? Maybe if he'd follow these two, he'd get magic of his own.

One can dream, right?

---

"On the contrary," Kimiko told her little kouhai, "I know lots of standard party tricks. Coin magic, card magic, balloon magic, cloth magic, strange magic,, and even Western love magic. But yeah. I did magic yesterday, too."

Kimiko's hands were tracing nonsensical patterns before her detached, expressionless face, fingers fluttering this way and that in an odd facsimile of wing movement. She stopped just as suddenly, though; her fingers were knotted together, orbiting oddly this way and that in odd motions that left her arms trapped in a permanent wave-length motion.

"The kind of magic that ripped the fog out of DRU. The kind of magic that helped Daisuke-kun crush pizza bots one at a time without being torn apart or beaten to death. You could call it an exorcism, or perhaps a summoning, but whatever it was, we did it at the same time--"

She mimicked an explosion with her hands, breaking the knot and raising her hands to either side of her hand. Unfortunately, the odd fluttering of her fingers couldn't quite make up for how cool it was to see the blue butterflies flying everywhere in the street yesterday afternoon when Kaguya had first appeared. It was one of those things you just had to see, like a grand slam in the bottom of the ninth or a UFO or a cheeseburger with three patties.

She fed Hitomi a pair of fries and tilted her head.

"And we haven't been able to do it since. At least, I haven't, and I tried half the night. So if Daisuke-kun can do it I'm going to vote him off the island and trephine him for his secrets."

After Enju had fallen Blair still tried to pull her back up to her feet again but to no avail. Enju just sat there staggered by the creature in front of her filled with helplessness. It knew their language and was so much bigger then them that it was almost impossible to believe that something like that existed.

Enju quietly stammered but no words came out. Fog quickly filled the ground like pouring water. For a moment it was unclear why the fog was there but looking at the creature it was clear that he was the one doing so. The fog felt thick and heavy, it was getting harder and harder to breath. The creature had no mercy for the humanrace it appeared. It wanted to get rid of them as soon as possible. Enju held her hands to her throat trying to grasp for more air. It felt somewhat like she was being slowly drowned. Short breaths escaped her mouth as she swiftly turned her head towards Blair who was experiencing just the same.

With one hand Enju slowly moved herself a little more towards Blair feeling the desired need to at least hug her friend in this nightmare feeling moment. Enju dropped herself against Blair throwing her arm around the girl as tears streamed out. Whoevers sick fantasy it was to think up this creature sure was to die by Enju her hands in the afterlife or not.

Vine like things erupted from the ground quickly wrapping around the students theirs legs binding them stuck to the ground. It was somewhat surprising to suddenly feel those veins but not unexpected anymore from a creature with this much power. The veins wrapped thight around her legs making it quiet an unbearable feeling Enju grabbed for one of the veins on her legs trying to wiggel it loose but the lack of air made it all the more unbearable. Enju tightened the hug she had around Blair trying to think it was just a bad dream she was having.