[IC] Shin Megami Tensei: Persona

[RiverMaiden]

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| April 10th, 2018 | Unidentified Location |@Scribe of Thoth@Asura@Lord Orgasmo|

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"Is that so?" Clearly going along with the explanation rather than truly understanding it, Yori merely nodded her head as a courtesy, the frown not leaving her face. Talk about 'souls' and 'reborn selves' wasn't something that was usually considered to be realistic, but in the world of the supernatural, such things may not be as far-fetched as they seem. One only needed to look at her classmate, who was a result of such happenings, to understand that such things were the truth.

With an expression that wished for a deeper dive into details but understood that there was no time for it, the green-haired student only hesitated for a moment before following behind the cat-eared guide. As she walked down the lengthy corridor, her eyes couldn't help but be drawn toward the occasional window. The darkened figures, unidentifiable shapes scattered across a sea of red, caused Yori's sullen look to only deepen. Her gaze quickly moved back to the path before her, grumbling something ill-mannered under her breath. The sight only solidified the fact that the group's location was in a place far removed from what would be considered ‘Japan’. Expected, but distasteful nonetheless.

When the unnatural, more-mouth-than-body creatures appeared to bar the path toward the massive curtains, she would have no doubt released a shriek of fear had it not been for feline companion's notice. Even so, Yori couldn't hide her dread entirely, her pupils shrunken to pinpricks and sweat rapidly gathering in her palms and on her forehead, but at the very least she hadn't been the cause of spreading panic. Unlike before, where a single being had dragged them all through a mirror, there were now several of those monsters gathered in front of them that were certain to do more than just grabbing. Incapable of even running away, the previous instance of being unable to even scuff the arm that dragged them into the situation in the first place was no doubt reminding her of her uselessness.

Yet, someone else seemed to be in an even worse state than her, the sound of someone hitting the floor catching her attention. Though it visibly pained her to look away from the monsters, Yori did so to glance at her fallen classmate, maybe only emboldened enough to do when Noriaki rushed ahead to engage the creatures. Watching Daigo crawl away, his desperation strong enough to throw away every last iota of dignity, a flash of envy flickered in her eyes toward the unenviable sight, only to morph into shock as her classmate suddenly curled up as if in pain.

"H-Hey! Are you..." Beginning with a stutter and quickly rising in strength, only for her words to trail off just as swiftly, Yori wasn't able to finish her sentence as a strange sequence of events occurred. A butterfly, like the ones that had entered the mirror, fluttered down to the fallen Daigo, but he had stamped it beneath his hand with a strength that contradicted his terror-induced state. Soon after, he rose the same hand, yet it held not a crushed insect but a card instead, one depicting some sort of symbol that she couldn't discern from where she was.

His eyes, which Yori assumedly believed to have mirrored her own, showed a level of willpower that far surpassed what his timid stature displayed before as he rose from the ground. And after a blazing inferno, his attire mirrored such, donned in armor that mirrored the honored warriors from the past. For one to take Daigo’s appearance at face value, not much changed. He still carried a fluffy vibe around him, they were still outnumbered by the monsters, and compared to the mighty being behind him he looked little more than a child playing soldier.

However, for the student whose legs regained their strength, it held more weight than gold.

Unable to speak a word, the fear that overtaken her eyes before completely replaced by shock and awe, Yori was held in place by something else entirely as she watched Daigo launch into the offensive, standing on the sidelines as an observer to what could only be described as an 'Awakening'.

[Lord Orgasmo]

April 10th. The "Other Side".

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So the cat lady's name was Mira, huh? Well that's one step forward in getting to know each other. And apparently this place was called the "Other Side". Well that sounded kinda lame. Then again, something like "Mirror World" or "Reverse World" didn't sound much better. And something cool like "The Shadow Realm" or "The Twilight Zone" were already taken. But that was besides the point. He could worry about that kind of stuff later, or if he lucky, he would get out of here and never have to worry about that again.

The other two students he didn't know introduced themselves as Hinari Daigo, and Sasaki. So now everyone knew each other's names at the very least. The two then brought up an interesting topic: Killing shadows. Sasaki managed to speak up before Genki could, saying almost exactly what he would've. Considering the group had two "Awakened" people, they should be fine right? And considering that a single attack from Mira managed to drive away that big hand thing, he felt confident in their chances.

Afterwards, Mira began to go into more detail about said awakenings and how to defeat shadows. Apparently, because none of the party had become shadows at this point that the members of the group had "The Potential". Was that supposed to be some sort of Chosen One thing? Well, that'd likely be important later. Mira also went on to say that when you awaken, you take on the form of your "Reborn Self", whatever that means. So Hoshino saw himself as some sort of demon or imp, and the cat apparently saw herself as a human? This was all sorts of weird.

But then Mira suggested that the group move on ahead. Safety in numbers and all that. There looked to be only one way forward, down some kind of hallway. Mira motioned the group forward, and away they went. The hallway seemed mostly barren, the only real exception being windows on the walls. All that could be seen outside was some sort of endless redness. Freaky. Genki silently wondered if there was a bottom. Or if there was anything at all out there. Were they just in a big box, floating in the aether? Well, it didn't really matter, but the distraction helped ease his mind.

Eventually, the group arrived at what looked like a giant red curtain. The hell? That seemed a little random. Mira seemed to know about this though. She said that the shadow hadn't formed a dungeon yet. A dungeon? Like... a video game dungeon? Filled with traps, enemies, treasures and puzzles that are there for whatever vague reason? How was a big hand supposed to make all of that? Maybe there were more hands around here...

As if on cue, Mira mentioned a "Welcoming Party" as she raised a hand and looked around. Following suit, Genki turned around, looking for the danger. His eyes fell on two large balls of goop that had fallen from the ceiling. Genki watched in confusion as the two spheres began levitating and taking a more definite shape, eventually settling on a black and white stripped orb with a comically large tongue and pair of lips. Genki sighed, saying "First hands and now mouths? What's next, feet demons?" There was a thud near him as he watched Daigo fall to the ground in, presumably, fear.

Deciding to stay back and let those who could actually kill these things do their jobs, Genki watched as Hoshino pulled a sword out of seemingly nowhere and charged forward with it. He then heard mumbling next to him. It was Daigo. He didn't look so good. He also seemed to be holding something. Darting his eyes back and forth between Daigo and the two shadows, he suddenly was met with a blue flash from his side. Closing his eyes instinctively, and opening them when the light had died, he looked on to see that Daigo had changed. Some sort of beetle-man stood behind him, and he was now wearing some old timey samurai armor.

Before Genki could even get a word out, a ray of light flew out from between the horns of the beetle-man, absolutely annihilating the mouth orb thing. Genki stood dumbstruck at the new Daigo. That was cool as hell! Was that the Awakening thing Mira had them about? If so, that makes three of them, further improving the chances they'd make it out of here alive. But was the danger over? Were there more shadows? Genki looked around frantically for more danger.

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Interacting with: @RiverMaiden@Scribe of Thoth@Asura@Hero

[Hero]

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"That's the way!" Mira cheered Noriaki on, though she stopped to dig her sword into the shadow closest to her. The feeling was familiar, her body all too used to the movements. It was exhilarating, the urge to charge forth and throw caution to the wind overwhelming, but she knew better than to ditch three vulnerable people. She remained close, ready to deal with anything that decided to mess with them.

The loss of two shadows didn't seem to deter the rest as they swarmed and surrounded the group. Once the flames consumed Daigo, however, they backed away from the source. Mira winced slightly, her hand covering her golden eye as she turned to him. After seeing his Awakening, however, she ignored her eye as she let out a yell of excitement, practically bouncing in place.

"I never thought I'd be so happy to see my Sun!" She practically squealed in delight, completely overjoyed. "See? I told you, you had the potential!"

As she said that, however, her expression fell as she heard something in the distance. Was the big guy coming to them? No, it was something else, wasn't it? Had it been Daigo's Awakening that caused the feeling? She couldn't really tell, but it made her a little nervous. They hadn't finished with all the small fry just yet, but she felt like they couldn't stay here for too long. At the very least,

"Let's cut our way through and keep going," She told the crew, motioning for them to follow suit.

Once they managed to cross into the room, the doors closed behind them, blocking the shadows from following. Surprisingly, the room made it seem like they had gone outside. Grass and stone were now beneath their feet, a myriad of vines snaking up the stone walls and fading into a pitch-black ceiling. A well sat in the middle of the room.

Mira frowned as she looked around, scratching her head. "Weird, I can't sense him anywhere," She said, her eyes landing on the well. "...unless it's in there."

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@Scribe of Thoth@Asura@Lord Orgasmo@RiverMaiden

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"Yes. We'll check in with Nakano periodically, so I suggest you stay on your best behavior," Taniguchi said, albeit he didn't bother sticking around as he decided to rejoin the other teachers.

Suzuki resisted the urge to roll her eyes, focusing instead on Maki. "How about you and Asakura head on over together? Nakano-san will answer any questions you might have," She suggested.

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@WXer@psych0pomp

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Sakuya was relieved that at the very least Ueno was on her side. That said, she was a little confused by her line of questioning. Delinquency was usually the result of some bored people, she couldn't really say there was any particular source. Well, they had a ringleader and a few idiots running around, but that wasn't really out of the ordinary.

Still, there was that conversation yesterday, wasn't there? "There's the accident in the gym that happened, but I don't think Yamamoto would've cared much about that. It's also off-limits," She would divulge that much. "By what I saw and experienced, I'd chalk it up to male frustration."

Sora blinked slowly, looking at her curiously. "Male...frustration?" He repeated. "What do you mean?"

Letting out a sigh, Sakuya shrugged. "He came onto me yesterday and I rejected him. By his words, I assume the same thing happened with Mina. The string of rejections led to frustration, thus he lashed out."

Sora shifted his weight from one foot to the other, uncomfortable. "O-Oh..."

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@Obscene Symphony@Entityx

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[Asura]

HOSHINO NORIAKI

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx D A T E April 10th 2018 L O C A T I O N The Hall of Mirrors T A G S @Hero@Scribe of Thoth@Lord Orgasmo@RiverMaiden

There was something absurdly satisfying about the feeling of a blade biting into the flesh of the bizarre monstrosities assailing them. The satisfaction it provided might have been something to worry about, if not for the adrenaline that pumped its way through Noriaki's veins. But his body wouldn't not allow him to doddle on idle thoughts, the shadowy creatures swarming upon him in greater number, ignoring the redheaded classmate in his peripheral vision in favor of the one attacking them. That much he was glad for—as much as he snarled and griped, he didn't want Daigo getting hurt. The entire reason Noriaki had been dragged to this horrible place was to keep him out of harm's way, and it would be all for naught if he and the others ended up devouring by these things. Confident his initial charge had drawn enough of their ire, the teen narrowed his attention on those which came snapping at him with slavering jaws, returning the favor with a series of powerful swings and daring thrusts. Consumed in the newfound battle as he was, his mind drifted away from thoughts of Daigo. Perhaps that had been folly. As he chopped and hacked, his classmate was forced to confront something more dire than a few errant shadows. A confrontation he too had suffered through in the days prior, and one which resolved in a manner that seemed to pull the spotlight away from him and right back onto the ginger. Noriaki cast a glance over his shoulder as the brightness reached a radiant peak, witnessing the golden figure that had come to the aid of their cowardly food snob. Whatever reverence he could have had for the birth of a new Persona and its show of force against a stray shadow was quickly quashed by Mira's squealing, and he rolled his eyes at their irritant of a guide. "If you've got time to shriek and bark orders, you've got time to fight. Focus on... whatever the fuck these things are," He grumbled sourly, before returning to what he had been doing before; slaying the creatures that wanted them all dead. Thankfully, his efforts and those of his fellow 'awakened' had been enough to get the group through the door at the end of the hall. It was almost like they had escaped, but as usual when the cat-girl he had grown to disdain got involved, things were not so simple. A look to the sky and its endless void robbed Noriaki of any sense of relief, and Mira's orders only earned a groan from him. Of course 'he' wasn't going to just come out and fight them. There just had to be more bullshit to go through. The devil-boy affixed the well before them with sharp eyes. "I didn't even like InuYasha," He grumbled to no one in particular, proceeding to march forward, his blade dragging through the grass behind him. "You grab me and drag me into this fucking well and I'll ram this sword so far up your ass you'll be tasting iron for a week, you hear me?!"

[Hero]

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"I don't know if threatening it is gonna be--eh, never mind," Mira sighed, albeit she turned towards the still-ordinary duo. "Stay behind us, okay? We don't know what's going to happen. The three of us can handle it. Probably."

Not the most convincing vote of confidence, but admittedly she wasn't entirely sure what to expect. There should have been something here waiting for them, and to see nothing was just jarring. Maybe it was because the dungeon hadn't fully formed yet? She could theorize all day, but she snapped out of her thoughts as Noriaki decided to approach the well. She had to hold back a sigh at his comment, wanting to say something along the lines of Shadows not really having the same forms as humans did, but she decided it was better to have him point his wrath at something that wasn't her.

She was about to say something to Daigo before every hair stood on the back of her neck, the chill in the air returning. So Shadows could just mask their presence until they wanted to now, could they? Once the thought crossed her mind, she knew what was gonna happen. Rushing forward, she took a hold of the back of Noriaki's jacket and pulled him back as a blob slowly rose from the well. It stopped as it rose about ten feet into the air, though it split into four different large hands.

"I guess it was hoping one of us would stick their head in there or something," She mused, watching as each hand moved this way and that. She raised her sword as the hands all stopped, shooting towards them.

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@Scribe of Thoth@Asura@Lord Orgasmo@RiverMaiden

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[Asura]

HOSHINO NORIAKI

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx D A T E April 10th 2018 L O C A T I O N The Hall of Mirrors T A G S @Hero@Scribe of Thoth@Lord Orgasmo@RiverMaiden

Noriaki's forward advance was cut short of its goal, as he found someone tugging on the back of his jacket. He scarcely needed to turn his head to figure out the source of the interruption, and he growled in irritation as he spun around, giving the cat-girl who had been trying his patience for the better part of an afternoon a good shove for her trouble. "You're on thin fuckin' ice as it is. The next time you grab me, I'm throwing you down that well!" The inhabitant of the aforementioned well must have taken a level of offense to that, for it rose out of the depths and branched itself into four separate halves shortly after his comment, each shaped like the damnable hands that had gotten him—and everyone else, for that matter—into this mess in the first place. If there was anything worthy of taking the brunt of his ire, it would be this thing and all its god damned hands. He dragged his hefty blade up off the ground as the appendages swayed back and forth, perhaps looking for targets, before they suddenly fired forward at the group. It didn't take an athlete's eye coordination to realize one of them directed itself towards him, and so Noriaki threw his weight backwards, avoiding the clutching digits as they snapped to grab him. His immediate instinct was to simply slash it while it was overextended, but he recalled how it had proved resistant enough to the ice shards Mira had rained on it before. It would likely just shrug off a single cut and retreat back to strike again. He wasn't about to let it get off that easily. Lunging forward, the teen held his sword high above his head and switched it around so the tip faced downwards. With all his weight, he thrust it downwards. There was a sickening crunch as he drove the blackened blade through the shadow's flesh and further beyond, embedding his weapon into the ground to pin the hand and block its retreat. A move which likely bought him more time, but took away his main avenue of attack. But a simple sword was not his only avenue of attack, he remembered. He was not alone in this fight. "Helel!" As he called the name, the blue flames which had been the crucible of his rebirth exploded forth from his shoulder blades. The fire branched out like so many petals of a flower, forming six pairs of luminous wings that stretched wide behind him. The fires coalesced, as they had before when he summoned his blade, only rather than form another weapon, the wisps gave way to a cherubic figure, the azure wings replaced with radiant white feathers that enclosed Noriaki. The angelic being placed its small hands atop the devil's head, leaning over him as if to view the prize he had trapped with vague interest. "Agi!" Then there was more fire. Only, instead of the cerulean that had summoned the angel, the fire that burst around the hand was a deep, hellish violet, and brought with it not only light but horrible heat. Heat which did not bother Noriaki in the slightest. He merely continued holding the creature's limb down with his sword, hoping to burn it away with the power his Persona had given him.

[Scribe of Thoth]

_{April 10th - ???}

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Khepri faded with none of the fanfare that preceded its arrival as soon as the door closed behind them, leaving Daigo with a vague feeling of unease. 'Awakened' or not, he felt practically naked without his magical protector looming over him, and he had no idea how to call it back. If he even could call it back. The redhead still wasn't certain what had even happened back there, just that instinct had kept him alive so far and that too much thought was probably counterproductive in circumstances this nonsensical.

Of course, with the short respite from the shadows' assault also came a chance to analyze his new appearance. Daigo was Mira's Sun now, was he? It beat the Devil label, at least, but what the hell happened to his clothes? A cursory overview of his new attire didn't reveal anything too unusual, in fact it looked almost familiar. There was a display case in the entry hall of Kaiseki Hinari that housed a roughly similar harness that tourists used to fawn over. Daigo concluded his self-exploration with a haunted gaze turned slowly backward as an unpleasant thought crept across his mind. To his great relief, no tail waited for him back there, nor any other unfamiliar limbs.

A million questions about what 'Awakening' entailed raced through his head, but Hoshino seemed intent on rushing ahead despite Mira's warnings. The room they'd arrived in was almost homey, familiar even; no reason to ruin it by agitating the evil well so quickly. He could've at least waited until Daigo knew how to help out now that he apparently could. Even that was a development he hadn't quite processed fully, but he took it with the same grain of salt one takes the contradictory happenings of a strange dream. Daigo thought they were in the clear when Mira yanked Noriaki back toward the group, only to be promptly proven wrong when that shadow hand creature from before made its return.

Daigo hopped backward as one of the hands swooped for him, momentarily taken aback by how light on his feet he was now. That had to be part of the awakening - or maybe it was a side effect of the outfit. Was there a functional difference between the two? Unfortunately, the hand was far less impressed with his newfound agility, and curved back around for another attempt. Right, he had to look out for the other two as well, he couldn't just dodge until someone else solved the issue.

"Um. Sword?" Daigo called out experimentally, unsure of what to do besides mirror what Noriaki had done earlier. No sword answered his call, unfortunately. The teen persevered in lack of better options, flailing his arm as though he were swinging a weapon with each evasion. The shadowy appendage seemed to catch on to his tactics, and missed by a smaller margin on each attempt. It shot forward and Daigo made one last desperate swing, answered by a torrent of blue fire that extended from his palm to meet the aggressor. The hand drew back as it made contact with flame now solidified into blade, deterred but not defeated. Daigo held the newly-formed polearm before him awkwardly, as if he were unsure of the proper way to grip it. He wasn't even entirely sure what it was. It wasn't quite a spear; the point was curved like a slashing weapon, more like a sword with a very long handle. A glaive, maybe?

Whatever, he could worry about the semantics later. He heaved the weapon at the hand in an aimless tantrum, which only seemed to taunt him as it danced around his clumsy attacks in a mockery of his earlier dexterity.

"Get. Back. Here- Khepri!" Daigo tried at last as the burst of cyan in his periphery tipped him off on how to summon his Persona again. The Sun card fluttered into being before him, and just as the butterfly that preceded it, it shattered inside Daigo's fist in a blaze. A swell of fire leapt out of his chest and the armored figure seemed to materialize from it. No sooner had Khepri's hand coalesced did it seize hold of the shadow's wrist and shift its weight backward as plumes of golden fire exploded from beneath its elytra, attempting to outright yank the shadow out of the well by one of its arms. Daigo himself maneuvered around his terrifying other self, his weapon at the ready to sever the limb in case of any surprises.

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@Asura@RiverMaiden@Lord Orgasmo

[WXer]

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Contrary to every fibre in his being, Kazuyoshi had remained silent at the snipe Taniguchi-sensei had uttered. He really couldn't afford to get suspended for talking back - or worse - after getting ostracized and spending the majority of the summer vacation in isolation. In fact, this sort of presented a unique opportunity that just clicked for Kazu at that moment. While he wasn't exactly Nakano's number one fan, this did mean he had an excuse to hang out with a clique again and not be the exiled loner of the second year students.

That mischievous smile he entered with was once again etched across the luckless lad's face. Elated, Kazu made a quick bow at Suzuki-sensei's suggestion and made for the exit as he tried to hide his gleaming grin. Stopping just outside the teachers' lounge door, he would await for Maki and ask a simple question with no ulterior motive.

"You wanna head on out and check in with the our new jailer before heading back to your chicken fryer?"

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@Hero@psych0pomp

[Lord Orgasmo]

April 10th. The "Other Side".

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As the slaughter of the shadows continued, Genki heard a shout from Mira telling the group to push forward into the room ahead. Seeing as staying here and potentially getting eaten didn't exactly seem like the brightest idea at the time, he followed Mira's motions and ran towards the curtains along with the others.

Practically tumbling into the room, Genki head a slam behind him as a pair of doors shut behind him. Well, if there were doors, then what was the point of the curtains? Whatever, that didn't matter now. What did matter, however, was the new room he found himself in. It almost looked like the entrance to some sort of overgrown temple. There were stones at his feet, with sprouts of grass coming out from the spots between, and vines on the walls that seemed to stretch on forever. There was also a suspiciously nice looking well in the room. It even had a nice little pagoda.

As Genki observered the room, Mira mentioned that she couldn't sense the shadow that dragged them here in the first place, unless it was hiding in the well. "Well, either that or..." Genki's voice trailed off as he looked straight up at the ceiling, which seemed like less of a ceiling and more of a darkened hallway. "...Up there." With any luck, it'd be the well, as that would be significantly easier to see.

Hoshino, as usual, seemed very angry, though this time at the shadow and not Mira. The last thing the party needed was another argument. Unsure of what to do next, Genki's train of thought was broken by the sound of Mira telling him and Sasaki to stay put. Well, that was kind of the plan anyways. The two of them probably couldn't do much to something that could only be killed by a persona user.

There was a shout from Hoshino, and as Genki turned to see what the commotion was, he saw that Mira had grabbed ahold of him, as a black glob rose from well, before turning into four black hands as they had seen before. Not good. Since he couldn't fight, flight was his only option, except, he couldn't fly, either, so running would have to do in this scenario. As long as he stayed near the persona users, maybe the hands wouldn't go after him, since he was near something that could hurt it.

One of the hands dove towards Genki, and he put his plan into action. He took off, running near the others. That was step one. Step two was evasive maneuvers. Dip, dodge, and duck. Don't stay in the same place for long. Ready... Steady... Go! As the hand grew closer and took a swipe at him, Genki had already lept to his left in what he thought was a cool dodge roll. As his knees hit the stone floor, however, the jolt of pain reminded him that this was not, in fact, a movie or a game. It also caused his knuckles to whiten as he clenched his fists in anger. No, now wasn't the time for that, getting angry would just get him killed. He just needed to keep dodging, and hope one of his companions might help when they got the chance.

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Interacting with: @Scribe of Thoth@Asura@Hero@RiverMaiden

[RiverMaiden]

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| April 10th, 2018 | Unidentified Location |@Scribe of Thoth@Asura@Lord Orgasmo|

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The call to advance snapped Yori out of her reverie, her attention turned from Daigo's glowing guardian and toward the other two 'Awakened' as their weapons rent the shadow creatures and cut a path for the rest of the group to follow. Rushing from the rear, she gave the remaining monsters a worried glance over her shoulder just as the doors closed shut between her and them. They may be closed out for now, but there was always a chance they could break through the door.

Ignoring the potential problem left behind, she attempted to pay attention to the surroundings. The overgrown plant life crawling over a rock-carved floor and walls was a stark contrast to the bland hallway they had passed through just a moment ago. A strange change in scenery, but not unwelcome, the recognizable, earthy feel preferable over the ominous red skies and unrecognizable silhouettes from before.

Though nothing new, as her classmate had continually made his displeasure known every chance he got, the contents Mira and Noriaki's banter drew her attention to the ominous well sitting in the middle of the chamber. Just in time to watch as appendages similar to the one encountered in the gym rose from its depths, hovering menacingly before stretching forth toward the group.

While the amount of 'Awakened' had increased from two to three, that still left two students incapable of doing anything. Understanding full well from previous experience that allowing the hands to get close would result in a one-way trip down the well without her consent, Yori started running in the direction opposite from Genki in an attempt to outrun them. It may have been a little foolish, pulling away from the group rather than staying near them, but the assumption was that there would be more hands reaching for the party rather than for a single person.

That didn't mean she was left unharassed, however. Less than how many shot toward her classmates, but more than she'd like, one of the four shadow hands raced toward her fleeing figure. It reached for her legs, similar to the event that had brought the students here in the first place, and she quickly leaped to let it pass by just as it was about to catch her ankle, only to release a yelp and quickly duck as the arm retracted with a backswing and missed her by a hair.

Taking a moment to look toward the few capable of putting up a fight against the limbs, Yori felt a burning in her chest that wasn't entirely from onsetting exhaustion. With teeth clenched from was undoubtedly a feeling of uselessness, she continued to avoid the hand's attempts to latch onto her, only capable of waiting for the others to hopefully deal with the source of the problem. As if brought about by her frustration, an unreasonable demand toward the already busy fighters rose to her lips. "Could one of you with those 'Persona' things blow up the well or something? Genki-san and I can't keep running forever!"

[Hero]

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The creature didn't take too kindly to getting set on fire, an unholy shriek emanating from within the well. It writhed and desperately tried to pull back from Noriaki to no avail, the flames burning through the darkness. At some point, it began to decay, its stringy tendrils pulling and yanking until it broke off, the hand pinned by Noriaki reduced to ashes.

Mira swung her sword as a hand made a bold attempt, though she heard both Genki and Yori's comments. "You're doing fine so far, though, aren't you?" She cheerfully pointed out.

As Khepri pulled on the hand, it resisted greatly and used the other hands to prevent itself from getting dragged out. The action did at least cause it to stop attacking the others as it used the rest of its arms to cling to the well. Despite its numerous appendages, however, it was clearly struggling to stay inside. Khepri's efforts would pay off as a massive black blob was pulled out, though it made every effort possible to get back into the well.

"Like pulling a hermit crab from its shell," Mira mused, twirling her sword. "Alright, then! Here I go!"

Dashing forward, Mira chose to dive right in, leaping forward and into the well. After a few seconds, however, she met something solid. It was a lot more shallow than she thought, the exit just above her. Changing her grip, she knelt down as she held her sword with both hands, plunging it into the darkness below her. No sound was made, though she noticed that her sword was slowly starting to sink in.

"Uh oh," She gasped, letting go of her weapon as the creature shook. She let out a yell as it surged upwards, stretching itself up and out of the well entirely. Its form was nothing solid and resembled a soft putty, oozing on the ground like toothpaste out of a tube. Falling to her knees from the movement, Mira realized she needed to get away, only to find herself stuck.

"Ah...hm, this isn't good," She muttered, though she raised her voice as she continued. "Well, it's out now, but don't let it get you or you'll get stuck!" She called as it sprouted more hands. She was surprised to see Khepri unaffected by it, although she wasn't sure why that was the case.

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@Scribe of Thoth@Asura@Lord Orgasmo@RiverMaiden

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[Obscene Symphony]

_{April 10th—Afternoon}

---

Emi crossed her arms as her contemporaries gave their answers, though to her chagrin, it seemed there wasn’t much to tell. Maybe she shouldn’t have expected so much; it was the very beginning of the school year after all, nobody had seen each other for months, why would they know what was going on? Not to mention Yamamoto. Emi was disappointed in herself for that one. She used to be the one who insisted that regular, everyday causes for discontent be ruled out before they jumped to mirrors and Shadows, and here she was, jumping the gun. Maybe she overestimated herself here; maybe it was just her desperation to find her friends that had her seeing clues where none existed.

Of course, self-aware as she tried to be, she couldn’t let go of the hope—no, the fact—that something beyond the normal stresses of life was riling the school up. She didn’t survive fretting for months with nothing just to wave off a new pattern when it was dangling in front of her face, even if the real-world evidence was shaky. Hell, she and her friends had gone into the mirror over less, right? And those dreams couldn’t possibly be coincidence. There was something to it, there had to be. It was just a puzzle, that was all.

As luck would have it, feeling her way through mazes was something of a specialty.

But for the moment, Naomi’s questioning demanded her attention. Yikes, it did kind of sound like she was a little suspicious, didn’t it? Of course, Naomi had no reason to think there was any supernatural explanation to the school’s recent unrest, but that didn’t mean someone couldn’t, say, go around anonymously stirring up drama to make everyone tense. That said, she was a little put out that Naomi could think she was capable of such a thing!

“I don’t know what I know,” Emi blurted out, somewhat unhelpfully. “I mean… hey, for all I know, it really could be the storm working everyone up. Or it might be something else.” Naomi had made a good point earlier; it was strange that the school administration asked the Council to help them with the rise in delinquency. That, at least, was a helpful indicator that unrest in the school was objectively higher than in previous years. Not conclusive, but a decent start.

“...For one thing, it could be that the fires last year are still weighing on everyone’s minds,” she suggested, biding her time until she really had to make herself look crazy. “I know the vast majority of the school didn’t personally know them, but the deaths of classmates have got to carry a lasting burden, whether people realize it consciously or not. Sorry, Nakano-san,” she added at the end, nodding in Nakano’s direction. It was probably a sore topic—it certainly was for her—but it needed to be brought up nonetheless. “Aside from that, we have too little information to say. But I can weigh in on a game plan to deal with it.”

Emi folded her hands together in some imitation of authority, addressing the whole group. “I’m not saying we go vigilante on our classmates and confront them over their actions—like I said before, only the administration has that authority. But,” she held up a finger, “we can try to find the cause of the issue. There’s gotta be something behind it, right? So, I propose that we cooperate with the administration to try and talk to offending students. If we know why they’re lashing out the way they have been, we might find a common thread between them. If such a thing exists, we can deal with the rise in unrest at its source. Thoughts?”

There; a realistic enough approach. But, if she was lucky, she might figure out if the source of all this unrest really was Shadow activity. Her only fear was that it would take the entire school year to find out.

---

_{@Entityx @Hero}

[Scribe of Thoth]

_{April 10th - ???}

---

The shadow was bigger than Daigo expected. Okay, he wasn't really sure what to expect - and in hindsight, he should've expected something with such long arms to be massive - but when the first part of the thing's body peeked out of the top of the well and kept coming, Daigo was at a loss for what he should do. He'd done a good job so far; clearly they could hurt it if they got it outside, but with Mira being sucked in and restrained so easily, he wasn't sure how to go about attacking it. Even tugging it around was exhausting, and he hadn't even been the one pulling. Or... was he? Was Khepri him? Or thou? Thee? If someone last week told him archaic grammar might be the key to understanding his superpowers, he would've laughed in their face.

Unfortunately, biology class quickly became more relevant than Japanese as the shadowy ooze engulfed his persona like those white blood cell animations he also didn't pay enough attention to. Khepri thrashed and pulled away with surprisingly little resistance as the goop sloughed off and the beetle creature tore itself free. Judging by how Mira had faired, Daigo had to assume his own body wouldn't be so lucky. Or the other students, now that the shadow was no longer concerned with only their game of tug-of-war. Khepri dematerialized in a tuft of flame rather than wrestle with formless slime, and the ginger made a few evasive hops to backpedal from the encroaching monster. Physical attacks weren't working on the body itself, so the spear in his hand was essentially worthless. Maybe Hoshino needed to light it on fire again. He may not've known what a neutrophil was, but he knew the thing was definitely flammable by the way it screeched at the other teen's attack. Wait, couldn't he do that too?

"Oi, Sasaki-san, Mori-kun, get behind me," Daigo called out while he internally fumbled with command of his persona. Even if he did get it right, they were just as likely as the shadow to get hit while they jumped around unpredictably.

"Okay Khepri, um... fire? Or, uh... no, that wasn't it. Maybe... laser?" The redhead deliberated under his breath while his persona reformed to hover defensively before him. His face twisted into a frustrated pout briefly before he shouted, "Just blast it already," though Khepri was already in motion from the moment it sensed Daigo's resolve. Another Kouha manifested between the figure's horns as its master snapped his head around sporadically in search of a target. The beam earlier was pretty precise; Daigo could probably melt Mira free without collateral damage to the girl herself. Probably. No, it'd be fine! Besides, if he left it to Hoshino, his flames would burn the catgirl too out of spite if not inaccuracy.

Then again, it might not be a good idea to draw the thing's attention now that he'd foolishly volunteered to be the unawakened's shield. Whatever, they'd all get swallowed by goo if he hesitated. If Mira was free, it would have more targets to focus on and less means to attack Daigo and the others anyway.

"IfthishitsyouI'msorry!" He frantically yelped with barely a pause between words as he released the beam straight at the mass that held their feline companion, careful not to pierce any area that was obviously wrapped around one of her body parts.

---

@Hero@Asura@RiverMaiden@Lord Orgasmo

[Entityx]

April 10th- Afternoon

---

Oka mulled over her explanation. Initially when she spoke more about the storm she didn’t completely believe what she was saying but there wasn’t exactly anything that she could go by to not believe her explanation. She quietly continued to listen as she further explained what could be happening to the students. The probability of students lashing out because tragedy had struck was very high. A lot of people had a hard time processing their emotions and sometimes their way of dealing with those emotions was to lash out.

Oka’s problem with that was that it had become such an issue at the school that they were called to intercept. She let out a sigh, trying to calm herself. The more she got worked up about it, the more she was actually starting to believe her. Personally, Oka was not as severely affected as many of her peers. She didn’t know the people at her school that well. And by well she meant that she wasn’t very close to anyone. It didn’t change the fact that she felt bad for the people that were close to the victims.

She decided it was best to concede. If she let herself get upset, she knew she was going to get too deeply involved and that was something she did her best to avoid. “You’re right Ueno-san. Let’s try to talk to the students. But, I think that we should try to find Yamamoto-san as our first student. I don’t want to assume it’s just adolescence. I think that typically he’s an upstanding student. He can be a creep, but he doesn’t act out physically towards anyone. This is the first I’ve heard of such behavior from him, which is why I’m so concerned.” Oka looked at her other classmates, making sure to make eye contact with them all. “If this request is reasonable for you all, I’m ready to try to tackle this.”

She didn’t want to combat aggression with more aggression--no. That was never the way to solve problems. But she didn’t want to let the situation slide. And as Ueno had said, maybe they could try to talk to the offending students and find out the source of the issue. If it turned out to be some defense mechanism for the students then that would be one thing but everything just didn’t feel right. She supposed she would just have to wait and see what happened.

---

_{@Obscene Symphony@Hero}

[RiverMaiden]

---

| April 10th, 2018 | Unidentified Location |@Scribe of Thoth@Asura@Lord Orgasmo|

---

Even as she threw her body this way and that in order to keep herself out of the shadow arm’s reach, Yori took a moment to throw a glare in Mira’s direction after the latter’s cheeky reply. A choice she visibly regretted a second later when her frown drew into a grimace as she did her best limbo impression to avoid a swipe toward her face, the arm having caught up in the small amount of time she lost focus on it.

Thankfully, she didn’t need to keep up her evasive maneuvers for much longer after that, with Daigo’s efforts drawing all the rogue hands back to their owner to keep the orange-haired student from pulling it out of the well. A sigh of relief released itself as Yori took a few moments to catch her breath, but those few moments were all she was able to get as the well suddenly erupted with black goo. To make matters worse, the cat woman seemed to have been caught, drastically lowering their fighting force, and the hands seemed to have multiplied from within the inky putty.

Yori heard Daigo’s call to regroup, there wasn’t much she could do on that front. Her earlier choice to split from the group came to bite her as she found herself on the other side of the shadow, close enough to still see her classmates but far enough that running over to meet with them would end with her being in the same situation as Mira. Several of the hands, now that there were more of them to spare, turned in her direction, and Yori knew that there was no way she was going to be capable of avoiding them if she had trouble with only one.

As they approached, Yori couldn’t help but wonder where she went wrong. Was it when she ran from the others? When she grabbed Daigo’s leg in the gymnasium? Did she step on a crack in the road somewhere that somehow led her to this situation after a culmination of bad luck? Taking in a breath to relieve at least some of her fatigue, she prepared herself to run as fast she ever had-

Are you simply going to allow this to happen?

Her head began to throb with pain, a calm yet firm voice echoing within her mind as her eyes screwed shut and her hands flew up to her temples in a vain attempt to somehow dampen her unprompted suffering. What was… happening?

Restricted by the weight of responsibility, yet apathetic to your own wearisome burden, the lonesome path of stifled desires and forgotten dreams leads to naught but self-destruction. To walk alone is not a sign of strength. It is merely a circumstance brought about by your fragile pride. Unable to speak out for yourself, yet unwilling to stand by for the sake of others. To both those who stand in opposition and those who you mean to shield, the you who hides behind a veil of duty is nothing more than a ruinous storm.

Forced to breathe through gritted teeth, Yori pushed back the vertigo that threatened to consume her as best as she could, one of her hands falling down to her knee to steady herself while the disembodied voice continued to speak to her. Though she hated what little she could understand from the voice’s speech, the green-haired student paid attention to the words it spoke in an attempt to distract herself from the pain.

But even a storm is welcome during a drought. Whilst it first rampages without restraint, the rainbow left in its passing promises growth where there was once destruction. The other-self who dwells within you cries out a song of freedom, seeking for both the fury of lightning and the solace of unfettered rain. Will you cling to the stillness of your preconceived notions; or will you embrace the downpour and step forward into the typhoon, leaving every place you rampage brighter than you found it?

From beneath her eyelids, she could see a source of blue light suddenly flash in front of her. It pained her to do so, but Yori slowly forced open her eyes enough to see what had caused it: a familiar butterfly. This would be the fourth one she’d seen, and every single one has been a force of change. The first two, causing the students to be pulled into this otherworldly realm, and the third, somehow connected to Daigo’s persona.

Instinctively, she understood what it meant for the butterfly to appear, but she hesitated. This whole supernatural business, the persona, the shadows, Mira, everything, was something she still couldn’t believe. Despite being a participant, watching impossible things happen one after another, even running with her very life at stake, there was a barrier that kept her from grabbing the butterfly at first. A simple, selfish wish to pretend that she wasn’t involved, that she could stay normal and just let everyone else deal with it.

But her thoughts drifted toward a trio of smiling faces, looking up at her from below, and the moment passed. As if she’d never been in pain at all, she reached out and firmly grasped the butterfly mid-air, narrowed eyes set with resolution.

Is that the sound of thunder I hear? Wonderful. Allow us to form a contract.
I am thou, thou art I.
Release the storm brewing from within thyself.
Thou who threads the boundary between austerity and prudence,
smite the wicked who refuse to acknowledge such distinction!

Yori’s hand opened to reveal a key, a match, familiar yet unnatural regardless. Similarly unnatural was the card that just so happened to appear nearby depicting an angel with a pair of cups, blue and red. Around this time, the hovering hands decided to act as if waiting for Yori to recover from her ‘episode’, darting forth to grab at their stationary target.

Allowing herself to act on instinct rather than thinking too deeply about what she was doing, she struck her match across the outside of her sleeve, the otherworldly azure fire produced not as hot as she expected it to be. With the tarot card now by her foot, she let the match drop from her hand and onto the card, a phrase and a name rising to her lips as the card caught aflame. “Ride the lightning, Raijuu.”

The flame rose to a conflagration around her, larger than she was tall as it momentarily repelled the hands from coming closer. But just as soon as it raged forth, the flame was blown away by a large creature that appeared from within it, a loud whiny heralding its arrival. With golden rings encircling various areas of its silver-colored form, the horse-like beast known as Raijuu shook its head to readjust to its new surroundings, its three horns crackling with energy just above the person riding atop it.

The rider herself was garbed in an attire that resembled her steed in both colors and make, the long sleeveless coat flowing around her like the beast’s mane, and her head adorned with a crown that mirrored Raijuu’s central horn. The three golden bands on either of her arms made a light clinking sound as she moved, specifically to grab the edges of her coat and pull them in to hide the skin showing underneath, her eyes narrowed for an entirely different reason other than the enemy in front of her as she mumbled her misgivings under her breath. “Couldn’t I’ve gotten something less breezy to wear from this ‘Awakening’ thing?”

Just as the arms began to recover, encroaching on Yori and her newly revealed persona, a beam of light drew both sides’ attention as Daigo’s persona fired upon the black goo in an attempt to free his fellow Awakened. Seeing her chance, Yori directed Raijuu around the shadow arms, the unnatural appendages unable to keep pace with the dragon-horse as it rode off toward the students. Dealing with the arms wasn't going to change anything. If the main body went down, the arms should stop being a problem too. Hopefully.

With her free hand, the other keeping her coat closed up as best it could, she pointed her palm toward the main body of the large shadow. A word rolled across her tongue like it was natural, its meaning both familiar and new to her as the air began to crackle around herself and her mount. “Zio!”

From the endless ceiling above the shadow monster, bolts of lightning arced down at incredible speeds, the air quickly filling with the smell of ozone as the electric attack supported Khepri’s sunbeam. Yori belatedly realized she might’ve hit Mira with her attack, but after taking a glance at where Daigo had aimed his own attack, she just assumed the cat woman probably wasn’t getting out of there unscathed regardless.

[psych0pomp]

| 𝖣𝖠𝖳𝖤 : 10 APRIL 2018 | 𝖨𝖭𝖳𝖤𝖱𝖠𝖢𝖳𝖨𝖮𝖭𝖲 : ASSHOLES TEACHERS & CHICKEN GUY| 𝖫𝖮𝖢𝖠𝖳𝖨𝖮𝖭 : HINOTORI HIGH |

Maki gave a somewhat disparaged thumbs-up to the teachers’ words and the suggestion that she travel with chicken boy. “Thank you,” she said, smiling. She then bowed as she had when she entered before exiting just as quickly. Of course, they were going to make sure that she was held accountable, and that they would invite the other boy to come along with her. Maybe he’d want to skip out on this as well? Maki remembered his complacency with his other friends last night. It was probably easier to fight a cat for a piece of tuna than to lead him away from social acceptance.

Maki looked left and right in the hall as if they were the object of interest to anyone besides themselves. She turned her attention back to the tall blue-haired kid. Her lips pursed. “You really do love that chicken, do you? Fucking weird. But I was going to ask if you wanted to skip this whole stupid thing. But you’re right, we need to check-in, at least. The teachers said they were going to make sure that we attended.”

She moved towards the student council office. “I mean, I have work to go to. You could also have work? Check-in and then check out because we’re reeeesssppoonnssiiibbllee.” She waggled her eyebrows as she started to book it towards the Student Council Room. The quicker they got this over, the quicker she could leave. Honestly, Maki didn’t want to bask in whatever smug-ass smile that was going to be plastered all over Nakano’s face when she received this news. She feared if she stayed too long, she’d want to punch President Bitch.

^{| 𝖳𝖠𝖦(𝖲) : @Hero @WXer|}

[Lord Orgasmo]

April 10th. The "Other Side".

---

The hand continued taking swipes at Genki, each time getting closer and closer to landing an actual hit, but whether through luck, skill, or divine intervention, somehow Genki kept himself away. Fortunately, this game wouldn't have to continue much longer, as a combination of efforts from the group of Awakened seemed to draw the hand away, and as Mira went towards the well, presumably to go after the source.

And what a source it was! Almost as if the well was erupting with ooze, more and more of the monster began to appear. Well, now that more of it was exposed, they could start hitting the main thing, right? Though as if on cue, more problems began arising. First, Mira seemed to be stuck in the goo, as if trapped in sticky slime, though she only seemed slightly concerned about this. Perhaps she had a way out, or had been in this situation before. Then, there were more hands. Several of them. Just one was hard enough to dodge, how was he going to deal with three or even four more hands.

Well, now what? He could stay near the Awakened, but that just puts them in more danger. Running away might make him safer, if the hands choose to go after just the ones fighting. But if they didn't... he was toast. Just then, a shout from Diago caught his attention, telling him to get behind him. Well, if he was so sure, then the decision on where to go next was practically chosen for him. He dashed off towards Diago, hoping him and his beetle man ghost thing would be able to defend him. If anything, he at least try and offer moral support. He watched as Diago fumbled over his words, trying to get another ray of light to be fired, this time at the black mass near the well. All these lights, and monsters, and running... all of these butterflies and talks of responsibility, and this whole mirror world debacle... it was really starting to take its toll. He could feel the beginnings of a headache come on. And to-- wait... where was Sasaki?

He looked over just in time to see a burst of blue light, and after a brief moment, Sasaki stood, Awakened. She had some sort of crown, and a flowing silver robe, albeit sleevless, and boots that looked like she was getting ready for winter. Was she supposed to be some sort of... ice princess? The colors certainly matched that theme. He then saw her persona. Some sort of silver deer unicorn looking thing. She was riding it. You could do that? Just then he had also noticed the hands it had blown away when she had Awakened. Though, now it was likely she could fight back.

There was a sound behind him as Diago fired off his light ray, and he heard Sasaki follow up with her own attack, as a bolt of lightning rained from the blackness above. Okay, that one definitely hit Mira. Well, that made four persona users. The only one left was...

The realization hit him like a ton bricks. He was the only one left. He was useless. Defenseless. A liability. His headache only seemed to grow out of frustration as he balled his hands. He looked towards where the hands previously going after Sasaki were going. They were trying to sneak up on him. All of the others were busy and the hands saw the opportunity. He wanted nothing more than to be able to do something. Anything. But all he could do now was cry for help. He usually had no problem relying on friends or family before, so why was he feeling this way now? Was it the absurdity of it all? The pain, slowly turning into anger? Or were these his true feelings all along? Just then, it felt like a sledgehammer hit him on the back of his head.

You. You're pathetic.

Was that... the shadow? Was it taunting him? Genki gripped his head and tried to keep his eyes open as searing pain ran through his head. He'd never hurt so bad. The pain was maddening.

You should be ashamed. Every one of your comrades is out there fighting. But you, you hide behind them like a rat. You should have been the first one on the field, ready to die for your allies. But no, you've chosen the path of cowardice. Your life of luxury has made you weak. It has made you into target practice for the shadows. Your anger is your strength, yet you choose to actively avoid it. You choose every day to be weak, and never to stand with others. What would Zhao have to say?

The searing pain only increased as the speech went on. Zhao. That name only brought bad memories and anger. He way he singled out Genki and made his time at the orphanage hell. He fell to a knee, the impact of the stone ground sending a familiar jolt of pain through him. The voice continued to speak over the pain.

You think he singled you out for no reason? He could see your anger. He could see what you could have been. He made you stronger. Your strength lies in adversity, Genki. Do not run from trouble. Run towards it! From difficulty and adversity, you will find opportunities. Take yours now, and use it to fight back!

From the corner of his vision, a now all too recognizable blue glow appeared. The butterfly. Was this damn thing the source of all his woes? It didn't matter. Genki felt only rage against it. Genki reached out and slammed the butterfly towards the stone floor. But there was no satisfying crunch. No blood. No insect guts. Just a key. Genki let out a frustrated grunt at the resolution.

And so you have taken your first step. Your first opportunity. Let us create our contract, and continue to thrive in the face of adversity.
I am thou, thou art I.
Let your fury be your weapon, and your tenacity your shield.
Rise to the challenge!
Destroy all of those who would oppose you and your allies!

And just like that, the pain was over. But the anger wasn't. His rage still bubbled and swirled like a magma in his chest. So much so that the key in his hand had become a match. The perfect vessel for the fire of his metaphorical magma. He looked to his other hand. Inside he was clutching a card. It depicted an old man in armor atop a throne, wielding a golden scepter. As if instinctually, he struck the match against his pant leg, and began burning the card. The blue fire sat in his hand, yet did not burn him. A single name swirled in his mind. The only person he knew of who could be as indescribably infuriated as he was. And the same person who fought until his death -and even after it- for those who would call him their brother in arms.

Genki clenched his fist around the fire and raised it towards the infinite darkness of the ceiling as he stood up. He looked up shouting: ["Give me your power! Xing Tain!"] The deep blue flame exploded out of Genki's hand, covering his entire body in its light. As the flames enveloped him, burning brighter and taller, Genki let out a nearly inhuman roar in unison with an actual, inhuman roar, causing the flames to disperse.

Genki now stood, covered in interlocking plates of a glittering dark yellow metal, resembling the scales of a fish. Many were a dark crimson, though it was hard to tell from what. All the way from his neck to his knees the metal scales clanked and jingled. A pair of metal greaves that shone like gold adorned his legs, matching the color of his scalemail-like armor. A deep red cape the color of blood flowed behind him, its edges frayed as if it had seen countless battles. And in the middle of Genki's chest was a circular breastplate, depicting the face of a monstrous creature, its mouth agape in a defiant roar.

And behind Genki stood the source of the inhuman shout: A monster of a man, a head, shoulders, and most of a torso taller than Genki stood Xing Tian. His wide chest still burning in eternal rage. His fiery eyes and sharp teeth leaked blazing flames with every breath, and his helmet shone like a kiln, with fire pouring out of every direction. His mighty axe and shield, nearly the size of Sasaki stood ready for slaughter.

Genki looked towards the hands that were previously attempting to go around for the flank. They were closer now. Close enough to hit. Close enough to hurt. The perfect chance to release his rage. ["I WILL RAIN HELLFIRE UPON YOU!"] He let out a battle cry as Xing Tain did the same, difference being that Xing Tian's thunderous uproar was enough to send a torrent of black and red flames towards the hands, incinerating most of the fingers off of one of them, and the rest of the same hand shortly after. Genki reached out his hand, subconsciously reaching for something. "Come and get me..." An axe appeared in his hand, it was hefty, but in all the right ways. It looked just like Xing Tian's. Similarly, a rectangular shield manifested in his left hand, strapped to his arm. The time for running was over. It was time to fight.

---

Interacting/Mentioning with: @RiverMaiden@Scribe of Thoth@Hero@Asura

[Asura]

HOSHINO NORIAKI

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx D A T E April 10th 2018 L O C A T I O N The Hall of Mirrors T A G S @Hero@Scribe of Thoth@Lord Orgasmo@RiverMaiden

It seemed as though Noriaki didn't need to make good on his threat—no sooner than Daigo's newly formed Persona yanked the creature up from its well did the cat girl go throwing herself down it. Not a minute beforehand she had been pulling him away from it, warning him of the danger. He had to bite his tongue to keep from chewing her out for her hypocrisy. While she had been spared from his verbal assault the shadow certainly seemed intent on assaulting her itself. The teen watched as their opponent came pouring out of the structure it had hid within, Mira apparently having been lodged in its body thanks to her foolhardy antics. A flick of his weapon sent the ashy remains one of its many appendages, and he leveled the sword to prepare for another assault. Being unable to simply hack into it—lest he himself become snared by its gelatinous body—he was left with only one other option. Any misgivings about possibly striking the girl he had saved from a similar fate just nights before faded as a bolt of light shot from behind him towards the beast. It seemed as though Daigo was intent of pouring attacks into it regardless, although the direction of the assault almost made it seem like he was purposefully trying to hit their trapped 'ally'. If the scrawny ginger had been more prone of malice, he might have assumed that was a purposeful act. Perhaps it was an attempt to free her? It didn't matter. Even as more brilliant lights exploded onto the scene behind him and lightning came raining down from the sky, his goal remained the same. "Agi!" His sword pointed directly towards the center mass of the monster, aiming the resulting blast of flame so that it would begin in the middle of the creature and begin to burn its way outwards. His pinning and subsequent roast of the monster's arm had proven that it was not impervious to fire, and that with enough heat, the substance it was comprised of began to break down a carbonize. Either this thing was all goo, or it had some kind of core. Either way, violet flames would reveal all. "AGI!" Another burst followed the first, fanning the inferno of hellish fire that localized itself on the blob's center. The question of just how many blasts it took to cook the little bastard out would come to reveal itself in time.

[Hero]

---

---

The many attacks were appreciated in the ffort to free the captured catgirl--although she had to admit, she sincerely wondered if the others shared the Devil's disdain. The Awakenings were a welcome sight, of course, but the attacks afterwards were so close to hitting her that she was pretty sure she was going to end up roasted alive. Or shocked alive. Or fried alive, judging by that beam.

Fortunately, death had not come for her just yet, albeit her legs shook so much as she got to her feet that it took her longer than she would have liked to get a safe distance away. Eventually, she managed to trip over and fall a ways away, letting out a small, defeated whine. She was so sure she was going to die that she thought that she nearly forgot that the danger was very much there.

Still, their efforts were not in vain as the blob shifted and moved erratically. Its hands retreated into itself, with a single pillar rising. Peeling away the ooze, a blue and dull grey mask popped up, eyes empty with a crescent shaped smile plastered onto it.

"There!" Mira called out. "That spot is its weak point! This is our chance to finish it!"

---

@Scribe of Thoth@Asura@Lord Orgasmo@RiverMaiden

---

[Asura]

HOSHINO NORIAKI

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx D A T E April 10th 2018 L O C A T I O N The Hall of Mirrors T A G S @Hero@Scribe of Thoth@Lord Orgasmo@RiverMaiden

Like most things in life, a show of overwhelming force seemed to settle the issue. Noriaki watched as the torrent of flame and lightning and energy besides peeled away at the layers of the beast until it was forced to retreat into itself. Something rose from within its depths, and the athlete certainly didn't need a catgirl shouting out him to realize what it was—something solid had finally manifested, which meant something that could be properly struck. Wrapping both his hands around the hilt of his sword and leveling it towards the beast, he burst out into a mad dash towards the creature, keen on seizing this opportunity while it was still present. He crouched low as he approached, aiming the tip of his blade upwards as he coiled down like a spring. Then, when he was finally close enough, he launched himself forward. A sickening crunch followed as he rammed the length of the blade up through the bottom of the mask. There was no way of knowing whether or not it would be lethal, these shadows being what they were, but he was certain it would at least hurt. Wrenching the blade to try and do as much damage as possible, he turned his head over his shoulder, calling out to the others and their assembled Personas through the cherubic wings of his own. "Don't just stand there! Get over here and stab it!"