[IC] Shin Megami Tensei, Hollow Authority

*Ching Ching*

“Ah! Come again!”

The bell atop the door rang as a highschool couple walked out of Kaito’s as the owner waved to the two from behind the counter. The cafe hummed with noise as a small group of friends conversed in the corner near the door, and soft light shining through the windows of the café, illuminating the whole room and provided most of the rooms lighting. 

Kaito sat behind the counter on a stool as he brewed himself his own cup of coffee. It was a slower than usual day and he had nothing better to do then enjoy his own brew. As the water boiled, he flipped through the pages of a gossip magazine one of his patrons left behind before chuckling to himself. 

“ ~Boogeyman scares children in local school~? Jesus, they'll report about anything these days.”

*Ching Ching*

“Hello, welcome to Kai- OH! Mr. Yumiki!” He said as an older man with tied up hair in a business suit came in. “Welcome, are you here for a coffee?” Kaito asked asked with a small strain in his voice. 

“Good afternoon Kaito.” The business man said as he placed a briefcase on top of the counter. “And no, I'm here regarding our ‘night shift’.” 

Kaito chuckled. “Y’know, people are gonna spread even more rumors about me if you phrase it like that.”

“Yes yes I know, and we wouldn't want that now can we?” The older man said sarcastically. “Anyways I came here to tell you 2 things. One.” He started before pressing the latches of the cases open. “Thanks to your help with the prototype, I was able to create a final product.” He said as he opened the case. The insides contained what looked like a dozen or so black watches, with the screens widened and extending up the arm an extra 5 inches. 

Kaito immediately went wide eyed at the sight. “O-oi what the hell.” He yelled in a hush voice as he turned the case to a he side, away from the customers eyes. “Didn't I tell you I didn't approve of this? If these were to fall into the wrong hand bad things can happen!!! Which by the way, WHY are there multiple copies?!” He asked as he picked up the case. 

“Hey, I don't remember needing your permission for anything. Besides, whether you approve of them or not, you're going to need it.” He said as he grabbed the case out of Kaitos hand, fumbling and causing all of the watches to fall to the floor. 

“What do you mean by that Yumiki?” Kaito asked concerned. 

Yumiki smirked, a dark look in his eyes as he began to slowly walk backwards towards the door. “What I mean … is that our night shift starts .. now.”

As if rehearsed, the light in the room began to fade as the sky outside began to darken rapidly, turning the bright Cafe into a dark room with only a single light shining above Kaito. “Y-yumiki, what did you do!” Kaito asked panicked. 

Yumiki rolled up his left sleeve showing that he is wearing one of the devices. “Ah ah ah, I'm sorry Partner but I can't have you ruining things just yet!” He said as the screen began to glow. The whole room began to follow, walls the roof and the ceiling all glowing before the light shined so bright it was blinding. 

When the light fades, all the patrons open their eyes to an unfamiliar sight. A strange hallway with vines along the walls and lights coming from between them. 

“No … a Domain” Kaito said shocked. Before anyone could ask anything, a low growl filled the air. Around the corner came a sight none of them were probably expecting, a lions head and legs appeared around the corner but was completed by the back end of a giant ant. The lion and ant chimera roared as half a dozen more marched out from around the corner. “Shit! Myrmecoleon!!!” He yelled as he looked around only for his eyes to land on the pile of watches that Yumiki dropped. Kaito immediately went over and grabbed one before putting it on his wrist. “Anyone who wants to fight grab one of these!!! Everyone else hide behind us!!!” He said as the screen turned on. 

Identifying … Kaito Tsukitora. Registering … Complete. Logging in … Access Granted. COMP activated, Harmonizer Activating. 

Kaito’s body glowed for a bit as energy courses through his body. “These COMP’s will make you stronger, trust me!!!” He yelled as one of the demons charged at him, which he responded with a punch powerful enough to knock it back. 

The rest of the monsters split off to attack the patrons of the cafe individually.

H I M I K O   S U Z U K I 

Kaito Café
???

All Himiko had wanted was a peach iced tea and a moment to herself after a busy morning of work. Kaito Café had seemed like a cute, quaint little place to do just that, and so she'd swung by on her way home. She'd greeted the owner with a smile, flopped down with her drink and pulled out her phone for some idle browsing, not really paying attention to the conversation at the counter - or her surroundings in general.

Until a sudden light rendered her blind.

Himiko let out a startled shriek, dropping her phone and hurriedly burying her face into the side of her purse. Wh-what-- what was going on?! That was much brighter than a spotlight or a camera flash-! S-so it wasn't just a sudden fan taking a photo and--- and...

And then the light faded as suddenly as it had come. Colour returned to the world, and the idol dared a timid peek from behind her pouch. Her eyes took a moment to readjust to her surroundings - and once they did, Himiko was sure she was dreaming.

Where she'd previously found pretty little paintings in decorated frames she now saw vines, thick and monstrous as if pulled from a horror manga. Light poured out from somewhere behind them, almost as if they were bright, thin fingers reaching for prey. 

But morbid as they seemed, the vines were nothing compared to what crawled out from behind the closest corner; half-lion and half-ant, followed by way too many others of its kind. Himiko could only faintly hear the café owner's words; something about fighting, something about hiding, and nothing that made sense. None of this made sense.

Except--- o-of course! This had to be the set of some sort of a TV show or a movie. Was... ooohh, was this the big opportunity her agent had talked about earlier in the week? He had mentioned a chance for a breakthrough in acting--- this had to be it! Ohh, but why did they spring all of this on her without warning her first? 

Well, no time to huff and puff about it. If this was a job, she had better get to work.

Himiko stood up from her seat, legs still wobbly and head dizzy from the sudden turn of events. She wasn't sure what sort of a role she was supposed to play--- so she figured that perhaps they wanted her to improvise. The café owner seemed to be using one of the peculiar watches on the floor... then, she would, too-! People probably usually went for the cowering damsel in distress option, so she would do the opposite and dazzle whatever judges watched her right now!

Heels clicking against the floor as she speed-walked to grab herself a watch, Himiko positioned herself next to the blue-haired man and gave him an exaggerated wink and a peace sign. As one does, when in a movie. "No worries, Hime's got your back~" she chirped, then turned to the monsters. Which, by the way, looked super real! She wasn't aware they could make such realistic monsters nowadays.

Identifying … Himiko Suzuki. Registering … Complete. Logging in … Access Granted. COMP activated, Harmonizer Activating. 

Oohh, Harmonizer! She liked the sound of that. 

With a smile, she pointed a finger the ne'er-do-wells-- only to realize she wasn't sure what, exactly, to do now. How were they meant to fight? See, this was why they should've at least given her a basic script first! 

Unable to do anything else, she turned to the man next to her in a whisper. "Um, s-so-! How exactly do we fight?"

[IC] Shin Megami Tensei, Hollow Authority

Crimson Lion Watch Me Roar

Vertigo watchful