Persona: The Wild Card [IC]

[Hazuki]

The invite came in an email, headed with a picture of a blue butterfly. The Golden Lovers Cafe. Sixteenth of May. 5pm. Everything is free, if you find the man in the blue suit.

After school, you walked the streets of Itami Marina Island and found yourself standing outside the cafe. You'd passed by it many times before - but this was your first time inside. It was covered in rich dark surfaces, a bar against one wall and warmly lit with paper lanterns. A few people were scattered around the seats, but your ear was drawn to a song from the far side of the room. It was slow and somehow enigmatic, being played on a piano that was framed by a pair of deep blue curtains.

The man playing it was lean and a little short, with unnatural blonde hair swept to the side and golden eyes that peered out from under his blue bowler hat. He wore a cashmere coat in the same hue as his hat, with a matching vest and bowtie. His pants, shirt, and boots were a deep black, unmarred as though they'd just been made. His pale fingers stopped playing as you came close and he got to his feet with practiced grace. He strode to the curtains and closed them, separating the group from the rest of the cafe.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room. This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter." He says, as the sound of small talk and clinking spoons can still be heard from the rest of the cafe. "My name is Artorias. Throughout history, there have been conflicts that went unseen by scholars. There is always a great evil, there are always noble warriors, and there is always a wild card." He reached into his coat and pulls out a tarot card - The Fool, which he slides onto the top of his piano. "In the past, it has always come out on the side of good."

"The fall of Tanahashi," You recognize the name - The Chairman of the National Public Safety Commission whose recent confession of decades of corruption shook the nation. "The seizing of the Osaka Switchblade," A prolific serial killer, who might never have been caught had she not turned herself in. "The redemption of Yiruma," You recognize the name, though only faintly. It's that of a young politician, notable for missing three of his fingers, who'd been advocating for orphaned children and other needy groups, when he was suddenly sectioned in the Miyuki Mental Health Facility. "And his succumbing. All of these are the work of the last Wildcard - Saito Aoi."

"After defeating her great evil, she turned on her friends and allies. She has trapped me in this world, done terrible things to those who were once her friends, and is moving through here and the Metaverse with impunity. I..." He tucked his trembling hands behind his back. "Cannot go there. But you can. Each of you have the will to become something greater than you are, to break free from the chains of circumstance and prove to the world that you are. All you need to do," He said, as he withdrew a deck of tarot cards from within his coat and spread them with his hands. "Is pick a card."

You emerge from the journey to the center of your mind...not necessarily wiser, but certainly having learned things you'd never have thought possible. You know of the sea of souls, of the twisted reflections of the Metaverse, and of the Persona that now rests within you. You find yourself back in The Golden Lovers Cafe, the Velvet room, where you now sit exhausted on Artorias' piano bench.

"Eat." Artorias says, as he gestures at the plate upon plate of rich dessert food that rests upon his piano. "You'll feel better." He smiles earnestly, though eating even a tenth of the expensive cakes, ice cream, and cookies would leave you feeling even worse than you do now. The blonde boy tucks his deck of tarot cards back into his coat and folds his hands behind his back.

"I'm sure you have many questions, but since I am not eating, it seems proper for me to speak." He pauses for any objections. "Very well. Each of you now possesses a Persona - and with it, the unique responsibility of protecting those who don't."

"The most important thing you should know is that you must not share your new gift with anyone who does not already know. There are many reasons, but one you must know above all: The more people know, the more likely it is that Saito Aoi will hear about it, and you, and...you are not yet ready to face her."

"To be ready, you must learn about her. Knowing yourself is how you gain power - and knowing your enemy is how they lose theirs. So they say. I know the locations of two of her friends - Sane Yiruma and Juba Junko. These will be good starting points for your investigation."

"You must also improve your bond with your Personas, grow with them, and your allies. This will require venturing into the Metaverse - which you can do with an application you will now find on your cellphones." Artorias explains, as he pulls a cellphone out of his pocket and shows the group an app-screen, which presents a drawing of an eye held closed by chains, against a purple background. "And don't worry - I have not fiddled with them. The Nose made it so that it appears on all Persona-users."

"You can use this app to take a picture of somebody - when you do, you, and anybody nearby, will be transported to the Metaverse. You must be within a certain range, they must be the focus of the picture, and you must be careful not to drag anybody in with you. For most, you will simply encounter a small space, where their twisted desires exist. These can be defeated, and the person cured, but they will be slight things, like petty thieves, or bullies."

"All of those things are worthy of challenging, and fixing, but it will not let you grow more powerful. Every trip into the Metaverse will drain you, as you have just felt, and venturing in more than once per day..." Artorias bites his lip. "Well, just don't. Please."

"The people you are truly looking for will have what is known as a Palace - a much wider space, molded by their twisted desires, and writhing with Shadows. Only the most twisted individuals have these, and they will present the most formidable threats, Your goal will be to steal what is known as a Treasure - a physical manifestation of their warped psyche, an object of obsession. The Ruler of the Palace, the individual's abberant reflection, will do everything in their power to stop you, should they realize your presence."

"Whether you fight them to steal the Object of Obsession, pass by unnoticed, or perhaps even turn the Shadows inhabiting their Palace to your own ends...does not matter. But you must ensure that you do not kill the Ruler of their Palace. Once you leave with their Treasure, the Palace will collapse and leave the individual recuperating and, ultimately, freed from their distorted ways. If you kill the Ruler...the individual will die as well."

"You may be thinking it would be easier to find Saito Aoi and sneak through her Palace - but this is not so. For one, she is difficult to track down - I have spent months trying, and she either spends too much time in the Metaverse, or she is all too adept at hiding herself. And for another - Persona-users cannot have Palaces, or Shadow-selves. If you were to take a picture of one another, nothing would happen."

"As for Saito Aoi herself...you may be wondering why it is worth standing against her. I cannot tell you what her plans are, because I have not seen her since the day she fought my sister and locked me out of our haven. I know of her only through what my sister had told. If you doubt it, I beg that you go to the Armstrong Sports College and seek Juba Junko. She was once Saito Aoi's closest friend."

Artorias' gaze falls solemnly to the ground, then he clears his throat and smiles. "But, of course, that won't be possible until you've all had some rest. And I'm sure you have some questions I haven't thought of, so, please - ask away."

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Mmmh..." A girl with a green coat blinks and runs a hand through her long black hair. In this reality, it's all been set back into place as though she'd never left. Perhaps she hadn't. She picks up a pair of cookies and slowly takes a seat as she listens to the Man in Blue.

"...The Nose."

It's unusual for Shinkyo Kimiko to be the first one to talk. Up to this point, one might not have even noticed she was there. Her two-word phrase was clearly intended as a question, but she's too groggy from her extra-planar dream-quest experience-thing to clarify or add an inflection.

[Hazuki]

"Ah, yes, apologies." Artorias says. "It's a nickname of sorts, for our...boss. He has a large nose. He would normally do...this," He gestures to the Velvet Room. "But he is locked away, along with my siblings."

[AtS]

Ryoma's head is spinning as his consciousness returns to the real world. When he finally regains his composure, he blinks a few times to clear his head, then looks down, patting his chest and legs to make sure everything is still there. Then, realizing that Artorias is speaking, he looks up at the Man in Blue. He stares into Artorias' golden eyes, transfixed, until the boy meets his gaze. Ryoma quickly looks down, face flushing red. H-He's really handsome... Who the hell is he?!?

The young athlete continues to listen to Artorias explain the Metaverse, Palaces, and the story of Saito Aoi, enraptured with Artorias' gentle voice and good looks. Slowly, Ryoma grows more comfortable and less self-aware, as he listens. He glances around the cafe, at the fellow highschoolers seated on the bench with him, taking a moment to process it all. He'd seen most of the others in the halls of Yamamura, but hadn't ever engaged with them in any meaningful fashion beyond some polite greetings. This strange, enthralling kid with amazing hair has gathered a group of teenagers to give them special powers and send them off to save the world? What is this, a comic book?

Finally, he's able to shake off his initial infatuation and confusion just in time for Artorias to prompt for questions. "Ok, s-so, can we just talk for second about how crazy this all is?" Ryoma asks, his voice faltering a bit. "I mean, there's another world... there's more people like us, and the last "leader" has turned evil?" He shakes his head, incredulously. "I know what I just saw," he says, referencing the feverish visions everyone had just experienced, "and I'm not saying I don't believe you, but this is a lot to take in! How do you know we won't go crazy like Aoi did?"

For now, Ryoma doesn't mention that he knows exactly where Armstrong Sports College is located - it's on his shortlist of places to apply for next year, after all. The boy needs more answers from their newfound patron before he'll warm up to the situation they've all found themselves in.

[Hazuki]

"I...don't." Artorias says, taking a moment to adjust his bowtie before smiling.. "This has never happened before. Persona-users are usually resistant to the desires that twist a person - hence, no Palaces. They have fully realized themselves. Perhaps...perhaps something is different with Wild Cards. They are capable of using any Persona, they are usually the only ones who might enter a Velvet Room and meet my siblings, meet The Nose. Maybe that...puts them on a pedestal of sorts...maybe the space between Personas allows for distortion to slip through." He pauses. "I wish I had an answer for you, Tatsunagi-san, but I am still young. Perhaps my siblings would know, those who completed their training. In a way, I am as lost as you are, but this is the best I can do."

[DaedalusMkV]

A hallway in school, seeming to stretch forever in both directions. In front of her, a familiar scene. A small boy, glasses on the floor, and three larger ones around him, uniforms messy. One of the bigger boys has the small one by the collar, shoving him into a locker, while the other two look on with cruel grins. Kaede doesn't hesitate for a moment, calling out angrily, "What the hell do you think you're doing? Let the kid go, cowards."

All four figures turn to face her, eyes shadowed and disgust plain on their face. "Stay out of this, freak. Nobody wants you here." The first speaks with a sneer. "Just run off to do whatever weird foreign girls do." The others speak in exactly the same voice, but Kaede can't focus on that right now. "Back off. You're all alone, you can't take on all three of us."

Kaede steps forwards, fingers balled into fists, and is opening her mouth to respond when the fourth figure speaks, quietly and in a broken tone of voice. "Why are you doing this? We don't want your help. You're just going to make things worse for everyone because you don't know what you're doing." She stops, eyes wide, as the area around her slowly fills with people, watching, judging. "You don't belong here. You aren't welcome. Just... Leave."

Kaede hesitates, feeling the eyes of the dozens of people around her. How did everything turn around like this? She's supposed to be the good guy here, and everyone is treating her like the villain. She stammers a bit, uncertain. "But... I was just trying to help. I can't just stand by and watch..."

The response is immediate as the crowd closes in, taking a step forwards in lockstep. "Everyone else does. You're all alone. One person can't change anything. Just give up. Stand aside. Keep your head down. That's what we do. That's the right thing to do. If you keep fighting, you'll be alone forever." Kaede staggers back, voices ringing in her head, as the crowd closes in a circle around her. Sneering faces fill her vision, and she stumbles for a moment. One final voice, a whisper in her ear. "You are nothing. You don't belong anywhere. Your father died a pointless death and you will do the same..."

Her face hardens and she stands up straight, then shouts at the crowd. "No. That's not true. I don't care whether you want my help or not, somebody has to do the right thing!"

Pain. Everything blurs as a resounding voice echoes in her head. "Yes, that's right. Evil cannot be allowed to stand unchallenged. Injustice must be sought out and crushed, lest it grow and thrive. The pact is forged, and with my power evil will tremble in your shadow. I am thou, thou art I... Even if all the world stands against you, even if you walk the hunter's path alone, never falter. Because some battles need to be fought, and if you do not fight them then who will?" A mask, smothering her. Kaede grabs for it with trembling fingers, clutching, pulling. Ripping it from her. Pain. Blood. Fire. Everything changes, and the world fades away...

She stands in a desert, stretching endlessly to the horizon. Behind her a great temple, ancient and impossibly vast. In front of her something... Great. Herself, but more. Sekhmet stands in a regal pose, one clawed hand holding a golden sickle-sword, leonine features communicating an aura of restrained fury behind an elegant demeanor, crimson robes stained faintly with blood. "We stand now in the realm of souls, the land of gods and demons that dwells in the hearts of humanity. This shall be our hunting ground, young lioness. I shall be your strength in this place, but it is your will that will guide us on our hunt. Here all the evils that lurk in Mankind's heart are made manifest. It is time now to return to your own world, but you will find this place again. A hot wind blows across the desert, sand slowly blotting out her vision, and Kaede awakens...



Kaede returns to her senses with a splitting headache, and it takes a few moments for her to fully regain her senses and focus on what the odd little boy in blue is saying. Without even thinking about it she grabs a plate of cake from the piano and begins shoveling it into her mouth. Strange, that a dream could leave her starved. Eventually Artorias finishes his speech and the others begin to ask questions. After a moment, she raises her voice and asks her own. As usual, her accent is just a little bit off, enough to make it clear that she isn't from Japan. "I think I get what's going on, but... Why us? You could have picked anyone, right? Police, soldiers, uh..." It takes her a moment to remember the right word. "Scientists. Wouldn't they be better at this kind of thing than us? Why a bunch of high-school kids to try and stop the... Uh, crazy girl with superpowers?"

[Hazuki]

Artorias hands Kaede a handkerchief to clean up the crumbs from her sudden cake-eating and shakes his head. "You had the potential to make a contract with your Personas. There may adults, professionals, who may have had the same, but I could not find them. I was taught that it is often the case that adults are already too set in their ways to Awaken. Without a Persona, people who venture into the Metaverse quickly succumb to Shadows and would be near-useless against Saito Aoi. And in this world...she is a law-abiding citizen like any other. Persona-users must fight her, and only you have the potential for Persona. I will keep looking for others, but, for now, you are the only hope I have."

[OutOfThyme]

"Right, and next you'll tell us to get into our own giant robots that combine or something," said Shiro, taking a seat with the others, but not bothering to touch any of the desserts. He paused for a moment, trying to piece together something that didn't sit right.

"Jokes about this aside, wouldn't interfering in this 'Metaverse' warn Saito? What's to stop her from attacking put friends or family from there?"

[Hazuki]

"I don't understand that reference." Artorias tells Shiro. "But you should be at little risk of encountering Saito Aoi. A Persona is similar to a Shadow, and people often indistinguishable from their Shadow selves. To find you, she would need to look into a slice of the Metaverse, see you doing something a Persona-user can, and find out who you are. Supposing, that is, she doesn't decide to enact some dreadful fate upon you. The most vulnerable you will be is when you are inside a Palace, if she happens to be in the same one as you, at the same time."

[DaedalusMkV]

Kaede quiets down for a moment, taking the opportunity to clean some cake crumbs off of her face, then leans back in her chair. "So, let's um... Summarize. Because even though this is crazy, somehow I know you aren't lying. There is a girl out there who can pretty much mind control people into doing what she wants, and only someone with a Persona can do anything about it." She waves one black-gloved hand across the table. "That's us, and we can't count on any help. We can't beat her right now, so we need to figure out what she's doing and mess up her plans until we either can beat her or... Maybe we find her in the real world and throw her phone off a bridge? Would that work?" She shoots a questioning look at Artorias before continuing. "If we don't, she probably declares herself god-Empress of the world or something, and I don't think that would be good. We've got an idea where to start, so I guess that's something..." She sighs gently, rubbing her fingers across the bridge of her nose, then stands up.

"I don't know everyone here, so let me introduce myself. I'm Ka-... Er, Lochlear Kaede. I know my name's a bit of a pain, so you can just call me Kaede if you want to. I don't mind. I can handle myself pretty well in a fight, if it comes to that, so stick behind me if you're worried about something." She smiles and holds out her hand to the others. "You guys want to save the world with me?"

[Amaril]

Kai holds his tongue as the others bombard Artorias with questions. The fading rush of a moment ago has left his head pounding again; looking at the pastries makes his stomach turn.

This has to be a dream.

He digs his nails into his palms, fighting through the headache to focus. You walked into the cafe. You saw him at the piano. You sat down. You took the card...

So you are suggesting that I am not real?

Kai's head snaps up. "Hold on a second. What did you all see, just now?" A note of panic creeps into his voice. "This...Persona thing, you said...are you guys all, like...hearing voices?"

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Green Jacket Long Hair Girl seems lost in thought. If a palace is about the same thing as the nightmare she had a minute ago, we're in for a rough ride. Then again, given the circumstances, it's possible that her own palace was more hostile than most.

"...fewer voices than usual, if I'm honest," she says to Kai. "But more to the point, I also have a persona-demon now, yeah. Miaoshan, I think."

She nods to Kaede. "...and I'm in, obviously. It's too important to ignore. It's weird that this being real somehow isn't common knowledge, but I guess that's the world we live in right now." She nibbles on one of her cookies and thinks of something to ask Arthurias. "You said you have siblings in the other world. Do we have any idea where they're being held? Are they stuck in someone's palace in particular?"

[Hazuki]

When Kaede asks Artorias about her phone idea, he considers it for a moment, then shrugs. Kimiko's question draws his attention, and he shakes his head. "My siblings are not in the Metaverse. They are in The Velvet Room." He briefly puts a finger to his lip. "It is a space overseen by The Nose, between this world and the Metaverse. Me and my siblings are raised there and help guide Wild Cards. Only they can see the doors that lead there, thanks to forming a contract with The Nose. Then, they are provided with a key. Saito Aoi has used this key to lock the Velvet Room - were it not for Ginevra, I would be locked inside as well. My hope is that defeating her will allow me to retrieve the key."

[AtS]

As everyone else talks, Ryoma stands up from the piano bench to stretch his legs. He wanders over to examine the curtains Artorias has strung up, feeling the fabric between his fingers. He nods at Kaede when she introduces herself, adjusting his glasses. When she asks for commitment, Ryoma takes a moment to think about his answer. Save the world? Can we really do this? The girl's plucky attitude is endearing though, and both Kaede and that girl in the jacket seem to think its possible.

One of the other boys, who had been quiet for all of the conversation so far, suddenly asks about 'Persona'. The word rings a bell in Ryoma's mind, though he's not sure how he knows it.

Yep. Persona, that's me. I guess I didn't give you the full schpiel, but, eh, it's more fun for you to figure out on your own. Somehow, Ryoma can feel Mq'ii winking at him in his mind's eye. Patronizing, as usual.

And then, Green-Jacket-Girl confirms the boy's question, stating that she too, has formed a bond with... something. So, we've all got... powers? Abilities? A contract? Mq'ii, what exactly does a Persona do? Ryoma thinks, hoping his Persona can read his thoughts. Unfortunately, the Coyote is uncharacteristically quiet, which just makes Ryoma roll his eyes and audibly sigh. With a start, he realizes that Artorias had been speaking, answering Green-Jacket-Girl's question about his siblings.

"Oh crap, my bad. Not trying to be disrespectful - sorry 'bout your missing family," he says, apologetically, taking a few steps to rejoin the rest of the group. "So, we stop Saito Aoi, grab that key, and we can reunite you with your siblings?" He adjusts his glasses, again. "If we're gonna work together, and it sounds like we don't have much choice, I think L-lo-ko... umm..." He struggles to pronounce Kaede's unfamiliar surname for a second or two before throwing in the towel. "Kaede-san's got the right idea. We should at least know each other's names - I'm Tatsunagi Ryoma. Call me Ryo-kun."

[OutOfThyme]

"Yeah, I've got a 'Persona', I guess." Shiro paused for a moment, trying to consider if the disembodied biker that called itself Gilgamesh was like the others. Did they all have disembodied people?

"The name's Nikaido Shiro. I suppose that I'm in, since I agreed to come to this." Reaching into his pocket, Shiro pulled out his slightly-battered phone. "Since we're all magic people, I guess we need to stay in touch somehow?"

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Shinkyo Kimiko. And that's a good idea. Everyone tell me your number, I'll send a group text. You too, Locklear-san; I don't think I saved yours last time."

While she's doing that, she keeps on pressing the quest-giver for information. "Okay, so, who is Ginevra?"

[Hazuki]

Artorias nods at Ryoma's apology, then looks to Kimiko and speaks slowly. "Ginevra is my sister, and the attendant who tended to Saito Aoi, The last time I saw her, she threw me out of the Velvet Room while fending Saito Aoi off."

[Amaril]

"Whoa, whoa, hold up," Kai cuts in, placing a hand on the piano as he turns to his classmates. "Am I seriously the only one who thinks this is completely nuts? I mean, we just walked in here and sat down with this guy, who we still have no idea who he even actually is, and then apparently all had some kind of magic vision, and now we're all hearing voices, and you're all just gonna accept this and agree to work for this dude? I mean, it's..." He struggles to even find the words for a second. "This can't be for real!"

Well, what is reality, when you think about it?

Even without the voice's input, Kai already knows it's futile to disbelieve. Somehow, presumably the same way as everyone else, he knows what he just saw wasn't a dream, or a hallucination. But just accepting all this without question is more than he can handle, dammit.

[DaedalusMkV]

Kaede nods at each of the others in turn as they introduce themselves, repeating their names quietly to herself afterwards. It wouldn't be very polite to forget the names of her world-saving compatriots, after all. Which is still something of a strange thought, but she can worry about that later. She pauses for a moment after Ryoma's introduction. "Ryo-kun?" It sounds... Weird the way she says it. "Oh, I remember you. You're one of the strikers on the Foot... Er, Soccer team, right? You're actually pretty good." It's not much of a compliment, really, but at least she sounds enthusiastic.

Kaede sighs in response to Kai's theatrics, and turns to him. "I don't know what you saw, Matsuda, but my... Um, imagination, isn't about to come up with a daydream like that in the middle of some weird meeting at a café." She shrugs. "Also... As much as I'd like to question it, I can't say I don't believe what Artorius has said without feeling like a liar. Maybe it's the effect of this Persona... Thing?" She sighs again. "I don't know. Do you really not believe... Or are you just afraid to deal with the fact that you do?"

With that, she reaches into a pocket in her hoodie and pulls out her phone. It takes her a few seconds to actually get the screen out, since it seems to be protected by some sort of monster case. The thing looks like it's designed to be run over by trucks, or dropped off buildings. Her eyes widen for a second as she looks at it, and she remarks. "Huh. Yeah, definitely a weird new app on here. Some kind of purple eye thing. <Have to look at that later, see if there's anything the little blue guy missed...>" She mumbles the last bit to herself in English, then fiddles with the phone for a moment and shows the screen to Kimiko so the other girl can copy down her phone number.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Kimiko sighs sympathetically to Arturias. "Oh... I see." I didn't make him repeat himself, did I? "Sorry, it's just a lot to keep straight... I know this isn't easy for you, either."

Kai's turn. She follows up on Kaede's rebuttal. "...and it is still crazy. I don't think anyone's disputing that. That's why it's so important we investigate further."

She sends the group text.

Shinkyo K: Hello everyone. Welcome to Magical Nightmare Detective Club.
Shinkyo K: Be sure to add everyone's phone numbers to your contact lists in case of emergencies.

"OK. So, I imagine our first order of business is to find Saito-san's friends. Juba Junko, right? If they went to the same school as us, I might be able to find their pictures in the old yearbooks."

[AtS]

Ryoma pulls out his cellphone and drops an emoji into the group text. I’ll add everyone to my contacts later.

Tatsunagi R: ✌️

Then, after Kimiko mentions finding Junko, he agrees. “Sounds good, gotta know what she looks like. The Armstrong Sports College is on my list of places to apply for after high school. I’ve visited it once, to check out the facilities. Would be no sweat for us to hang out there sometime and look for Junko.”

[Hazuki]

"Um," Artorias clears his throat. "May...I be included in this discussion?" He asks, as he waves his phone in the general direction of everyone else's. "If I find another Persona-user, it may be helpful to have a way to contact me. Or, the other way around, I mean."

[OutOfThyme]

Shiro can't help but let out a slight chuckle as Ryoma mentions wanting to go to Armstrong Sports College.

Yeah, of course the soccer star would want to go there...

Shiro glances at the others in response to Artorias' question. It would make sense to keep in touch with their... patron, if you could call him that. But he wasn't sure if the others were on board with that.

"I'm fine with that," says Shiro, as he texts the others with only a brief look down at his phone.

Nikaido S.: Got it.

"Back on the topic of Junko, we could always look her up on the Internet. There's probably something about her we could find out quickly."

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

To Artorias, Shinkyo just nods and lets him give her his contact info. She lets him enter it on her phone if it's really long or otherwise strange.

"That works, too." Kimiko doesn't do the internet search herself, at least not right now. Her phone isn't very good in that regard. She'll probably be able to come up with something when she gets to a library computer, though.

"I should probably ask... Artoriasan, do you just... live here? In this room? Or did you find a place to stay in the ah... regular... universe?" She stumbles through the question, embarrassed at not having a good name for the prime material plane in her vocabulary.

[DaedalusMkV]

Kaede nods in response to Shiro's suggestion. "Yeah, I thought so too. It's pretty hard to stay off the internet these days, so we should probably be able to get some info on this Juba person ahead of time. At least some pictures or something so we know who to look for. Maybe we can dig something up on Saito too." She looks down and begins fiddling with her phone again. A few moments later she blushes a bit, shakes her head, and begins tapping furiously at some sort of menu screen, then finally looks up with an embarrassed grin on her face.

"So, ah, does anyone else have any ideas? Oh, is everyone free after school tomorrow? It might be a good idea to get a head start on this, just in case Saito is following Artorias somehow. We don't know how long we can keep the uh... Advantage of surprise."


Kaede L: <Understood.>
Kaede L: ...
Kaede L: Oops. Ignore that.

[Hazuki]

Artoria's contact information turns out to be a perfectly normal phone number. "Fujiwara-san and his wife have provided me with a room in this cafe." He answers Kimiko, smiling briefly as he glances at the curtains through which the rest of the cafe lies. "I am not always here; I'm investigating Saito Aoi myself, I'm always searching for other Persona-users, and I need some form of currency to operate effectively in this world. I perform tarot readings."

[AtS]

Ryoma shakes his head as he answers Kaede’s question. “I’ve got practice, I can’t start ditching now. Coach is gonna bench me if I screw up again.” He sighs and adjusts his glasses. “I’ll be free by 6pm... I can meet up with you guys then?”

Screw practice! They’re all gonna be having fun and you’ll be left out. Don’tcha wanna play with your new friends, Ryo-kun? Coyote’s mocking voice echoes in his mind.

Ignoring the heckling from his Persona, Ryoma responds to Artorias’ statements. “Not all of your tarot readings come with powers, right? And on that note... what exactly do OUR cards mean? I don’t know anything about Tarot, but The Hanged Man sure sounds morbid. Should I be worried?”

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Shinkyo nods at Artorias, seemingly satisfied with his living situation. After adding him to the group chat, Shinkyo reexamines her own card and returns before she forgets. The High Priestess might have some symbolic significance, but he'll probably need them all back if he uses them for work.

"OK... I guess we should probably all go home and get some rest before our brains melt any further. If no one else has anything later than Ryokun, we can meet here again at 6 PM. We can use the text log to jot down anything interesting we find in the meantime." She sighs when she realizes she's taking a whole day of otherwise normal life for granted. "Time is probably of the essence here, but I hope we can safely count on Saito not to destroy the world in one night."

[DaedalusMkV]

Kaede frowns for a moment, but nods. "I understand. Your team is counting on you, you shouldn't let them down. Six is probably too late, though..." She rubs her fingers against the side of her nose. "Maybe... Some of us can go ahead and see if we can gather some information on our target? If we can find her, maybe follow her, it shouldn't be too difficult to snap a picture once everyone's present." She resolves to herself to do some research once she gets home. In this day and age it's nearly impossible to avoid any internet presence whatsoever, and if nothing else a picture of this Junko person, and maybe Saito herself, will be very useful in identifying the person they're looking for.

[Hazuki]

The group finds themselves standing outside The Golden Lovers Cafe at 6pm the next day, after a perfectly uneventful day at Yamamura Academy in mildly cloudy weather. It's not a bad time to spend some time in the dwindling spring sun, which means a few more people are on the streets of Itami Marina Island, and they have to tuck themselves partway into an alley so as not to interfere with the foot traffic.

Those who've been looking up information on Juba Junko and Saito Aoi have found their endeavors fruitful.

Juba Junko's InstaGrat page stretches back roughly four years. The bio reads Juba Junko, Athlete, Weight-Lifter. Soon attending Armstrong Sports College. The profile picture is of a young woman wearing sunglasses, her short black hair tied up in a bun while she wears a gym top and flexes her more-than-considerable muscles.

The page itself is perfectly prim and proper, mostly featuring shots of the same girl from the profile picture in various school events. She wears her uniform properly, save for the sunglasses that remain constant. There are pictures of her in Cooking Club, performing in Track, lifting weights at a gym, and, most recently, graduating from Yamamura Academy with the rest of Class 3-3, dated Marsh 21st. She is noticeably taller than most other girls.

Careful observation reveals a few things. One is that Juba Junko is never behind the camera - she is always in shot, and it is never a selfie. The other is that, in some shots, a white cane can be seen just off to the side. There are only a handful of pictures that break the pattern of her partaking in school or athletics-related events, including a three-year old post with her smiling for a picture with a police officer on Yamamura grounds, a couple of photos with what could easily be assumed to be her parents, and one that features a leaflet for the play "The Barren Goddess" accompanied by the message "Even I can see this is crap."

All her regular posts feature a matter-of-fact statements about the date and nature of the event, such as "Track Club 06/18" and "125lbs. Uzamaki Gym. First try."

Unfortunately, that seems to be the limit of Juba Junko's social media presence. A few other things pop up about her on Noodle, but they're mostly referring to Yamamura Academy and not her in particular.

More luck is had in searching for Saito Aoi.

Saito Aoi's InstaGrat is something of an oddity. The biography reads "Saito Aoi, Independent Actress (Theater). Hire me at Saito-Aoi.jp. The profile picture is of a pair of black flats with purple stockings being worn by a woman, but you can't see much above the ankle. The rest of her posts are entirely of pictures of random shoes, sometimes just one woman's, or sometimes multiple pairs of shoes being worn. The ones featuring just one are often accompanied by messages like "Just arrived in Osaka anywhere good to eat?" or "New jacket do you like it?". The ones with others feature messages like "Met this guy grabbing ramen." or "Picture with co-stars they're so cute!".

It has a surprisingly large following with two thousand people following the account. The comments are filled with a mixture of people complimenting the shoes, asking why all of the pictures are just shoes, pretending that they can see the rest of the picture, or being perverts. There are also a handful complimenting Saito Aoi on her performance. She sometimes replies with thanks and answers questions about her posts with some variation of "Oops silly me!" or "My hand slipped I'll get it next time!"

These posts go back at least two months, where there's a post featuring the shoes of a portion of Class 3-2, and the shoe trend continues in school events and other mundane activities, like getting food, a haircut, or finishing Judo Club. There are a couple of play-posts taking place during school breaks.

The account appears to be roughly two years old.

This website features actual pictures of Saito Aoi, professionally taken. There is a gallery of headshots, featuring a beautiful young woman with an elegant build and no unnecessary curves, muscles, or fat. She has long, wavy black hair held up in pigtails in most of the pictures. She has striking purple eyes, and an earnest smile. There is a wide variety of outfits, from school uniforms, to nurse's outfits, to kimonos.

Her resume includes mostly small plays at theaters, with a few quotes taken from reviews she's been in with links to the source. It seems that she mostly plays side characters, often comedic ones, where she performs admirably and seems perfectly suited to the role of a cute, clumsy girl. A few of these are from the last couple of months, featuring one-off plays by new playwrights such as "Clumsy Maid Royale", "Yokai, Ikai, Shekai", and "Cinders of The Dying Love Between A Man And His Meal And The Repercussions Of A Life Lost To Bara".

There is an email address, fax number, and a phone number to contact Saito Aoi.

There is a page for Saito Aoi on FB, though its content is relatively sparse due to the fading popularity of the network. It doesn't seem to be official and mostly features pictures of her on stage, selfies taken with her, and even some fan art. Most tales about encountering her say that she's adorable and kind.

The woman herself doesn't make an appearance, but there are posts talking about her being in shows, potentially becoming an idol, or even meeting with other famous people. The most recent post is about a fantasy meeting between her and upcoming exotic idol Nakamura Michiyo, which went into a discussion about how Michiyo is already dating someone, Saito Aoi probably is, and she's never done girl's love anyway, before devolving into some name-calling and being locked by a moderator.

[AtS]

Ryoma arrives at the cafe, checking his smartwatch for the time, cleats slung over his shoulder. Huh, I don't see anyone else? Are they already inside?

I'm sure they ditched you. You have got to stop with the stuffy stuck-up athlete schtick already, bud. Mq'ii giggles gleefully in his mind. Ryoma groans. "Are you ever going to say anything actually useful, Coyote?" he asks, out loud. With a push, he opens the door and steps inside the cafe and walks up to the counter to order a coffee while he waits. It takes a minute or two for his drink to arrive, piping hot and dark black. He drops a few yen into the barista's till and scoops up his cup. Coffee in hand, he walks over to Artorias' curtained-off stage and peers behind the curtain. "Artorias? You there? Anyone here yet?"

Artoriaaaaasssssss where areeeeee youuuuuuuuuuuuuu, my loveeeee?

Seriously, could you stop it?

[Hazuki]

Ryoma finds that The Velvet Room is currently unoccupied.

[DaedalusMkV]

Kaede enters the café quietly, taking off her sunglasses and ball cap and pocketing them. Today she seems to be wearing a pair of track pants instead of her normal apparel, but otherwise looks much the same as she did yesterday thanks to having the opportunity to head home after school. She notices Ryoma sitting at a table by himself and heads over, frowning slightly as she moves to sit down, and waves a greeting. "Good afternoon, Ryo-kun. I hope your practice went well." It still sounds unnatural when she uses the familiar form of his name. "Does... Does your Persona speak to you? Mine hasn't said a word since I left the, uh, desert." Did everyone else have the same experience? The vision before she gained the power seemed so personal, but the part after she'd just kind of assumed was the same for everyone. That was probably a mistake. She pulls out her phone, bringing up one of the pictures of Juba Junko she found in her searching, and shows it to him.

"Anyways, this is who we're looking for. She's a first-year at Armstrong, a weightlifter. She's... Probably blind, I think. So that's something to keep in mind as we go." She shrugs. "It's pretty impressive, honestly. Once everyone gets here we can come up with a plan. If she's a weightlifter she'd need to train a bunch, so we might be able to find her at a Gym or something. If nothing else, I bet they have competitions pretty often."

[AtS]

Ryoma smiles and waves when Kaede enters the cafe.

Tee-her, don’t be too friendly, you’re gonna give her the wrong idea, Coyote teases, silently.

When Kaede asks about his persona’s voice he answers bluntly. “Yeah, Mq’ii, er, Coyote is kind of a chatterbox. Be glad that yours keeps quiet, I think mine just likes to ‘hear’ himself ‘talk’. Or is it think?”

You’ve always been a sensitive, introspective boy, despite your best efforts to appear otherwise. I’m you, after all, shade and everything. I’m gonna keep calling you out whenever you try to hide. Someone’s gotta keep you honest!

Ryoma shakes his head and adjusts his glasses, laughing nervously. He listens intently as Kaede recounts her discoveries about Juba Junko. “Sorry I didn’t get the chance to do any recon myself, but sounds like you’ve been busy! With this info, it shouldn’t be hard to find her at all.” He pulls out his phone and navigates to the Armstrong Sports College website. With a few deft taps, he’s loaded up a campus map, complete with facilities icons and labeled buildings. “There’s a couple of gyms on campus,” he says, pointing to some buildings on the map. “Here, here, and here. Oh, and there’s the student recreation center here, too. It’s a sports college, so it’s kinda the ‘thing’ on campus. Tons of facilities for students to use, so you don’t get that ‘traffic jam effect’ we get at Yamamura when both the track and soccer teams need to use the locker rooms. So, when we go find Junko, we can start by checking these places.”

[OutOfThyme]

"I saw something about an 'Uzamaki Gym,'" says Shiro, before nonchalantly sitting down at the table with Kaede and Ryoma. Given that it's a good amount of time after school, Shiro's now wearing a black tank-top (with All-Star Boxing's logo across the chest) and a pair of shorts. "If she still works out at a public gym, it might be a lot easier to keep an eye on her that way."

Honestly, she's kind of a badass. I gotta figure out her routine someday...

Shiro crosses his arms, and leans back into their booth. "I'm fine with heading to Armstrong, but it might be a little hard to make a college visit believable for me."

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Excuse me..."

Kimiko uses her shoulder to push through the curtains to the blue room, carrying a small stack of yearbooks. "Sorry I'm late. The library doesn't usually lend these out, so I had to wait until Ms. Shirakawa went home." She slowly lowers the books to the table, but they still make a pretty impressive thud when she sets them down. "I was hoping we could cross-reference these and see what changed when they first started doing... whatever it is we're doing. Maybe we can guess when or how Jubasan lost her sight."

Whether she gets her wish for a study session is more or less up to the group. She and Kaede have already linked to the relevant websites in group chat, making them easy to check regularly on the off chance that something changes. The chat also features Kimiko wondering who has been running Junko's website for her, since she doesn't seem to get along with technology well on her own.

Of course, by this point, the conversation has already turned to heading out to find the athlete. "OK. What are we planning to do when we find her? This camera application feels as invasive as it is dangerous, and I don't think we have any normal conversation topics."

[DaedalusMkV]

Kaede frowns, something with Kimiko's last statement not sitting well with her at all, and shakes her head. "We don't need to worry about that yet. I don't think Artorias would have told us about her if she wasn't important to this in some way. Once we have a better idea of her situation, we can figure out the best course of action..." She sighs. "With that said, the, uh, camera application is our only advantage. Without it we're just a bunch of kids, trying to stop someone who does have access to the other world and isn't afraid to use it. We... Probably should be careful how we use it, though. It's pretty clear that it could just as easily cause a lot of harm if misused."

[Hazuki]

Their plans made, the group sets off for Armstrong Sports College and, thanks to the speed of the Kurunoa Bullet Train, arrive at a nearby station with almost two hours to spare until the 8pm closing time. Located on the far East side of Itami Marina Island, the Sports College is quite an impressive sight - with three primary buildings visible as they approach the outer bounds of the grounds, which consist of low walls with well-maintained gardens.

The first building they see is all-white, only one story tall, and laid out like an "M". This is the administration building, where official business, non-physical classes, the cafeteria, and the security are held. The second white building, off to the side, is at least three storeys tall and where most of the students would take part in personal training, indoor sports, as well as showers and rehabilitation. The last building, which they can just make out the edge of, is black and shaped like two Cs with a garden between them. These are the student dorms. There are numerous sports field between the grounds, and, at the far back, a section of the beach that is private and for the College's use only.

When they approach the front desk of the administration building, the group is greeted by a receptionist who provides them with a leaflet containing general information for visitors (They cannot go to the beach or the gymnasium, but are allowed to wander the grounds, the public section of the administration building, and the common rooms of the male and female dorms). The backs of their palms are stamped with red ink, containing the current date and the symbol of the school. Considering their limited time, they ask for directions to Juba Junko and are directed to the cafeteria.

The cafeteria is quite packed, with many of the College's students clad in what are likely their personal, comfortable clothes. The atmosphere is subdued, with only a handful of students talking above a regular conversational voice. The circular design of the area is quite unique, with the chef's section at the center, and the tables scattered throughout - though with three colored trails, with one leading into the administration building, one leading to the outside grounds, and another to the supply rooms.

Even here, Juba Junko is relatively easy to spot, considering her standing a good half a foot above most of the other female students. She sits at a small table by the exit to the college grounds, clad in a fitted Armstrong Sports College t-shirt and sweatpants, with her hair done up in a tight bun. She sits straight-backed at the table, her gaze hidden by her sunglasses. An older woman is sat beside her, perhaps a little younger than thirty, with an exceptionally attractive face. She wears a white blouse with a pink skirt and blazer. She seems to be feeding Junko her meal of lean meat, oily rice, and vegetables, most of which she cuts into small pieces before feeding them to the silent young woman.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Shinkyo examines the piano bench before leaving the coffee shop. As she hoped, it has a fairly large compartment for sheet music, making it a suitable place to stash the yearbooks for the time being.

Did you bring those as an excuse to put off doing what everyone was planning?
Or do you just have a creepy obsession with the personal histories of strangers?
Are you sure you're not dead weight on this team?

She has to take a deep breath to snap out of it as she closes the lid on the bench.

I guess having these thoughts to go away overnight would have been a lot to ask.

It's easy enough to put it out of her mind by the time the group gets to Armstrong and finds Juba. For a moment, the group pauses to watch from the other side of the room.

"That's her... and I guess that person with her is an aide, or maybe a sister? I wonder if she's the one taking all the pictures, too..." she trails off as another disturbing thought comes to mind. She lowers her voice to a whisper. "You know, if someone wanted to seriously hurt her, it would be really convenient to know someone who's always handling her food..."

[AtS]

Upon arrival at the Armstrong Sports College, Ryoma walks around campus impressed by the schools architecture and extensive facilities. It's his first time actually visiting the campus, and the sheer grandeur of it all really strikes home for him. "Man, its one thing to look at pictures on the web, and in brochures, but to see it for real?" he says, excitement palpable in his voice. He takes a second to close his eyes and remember this feeling. I gotta react just like this when Dad takes me here for our summer college tour. Can't let him know I've been here already. His elation fades a little when he finds out that they won't be able to tour the gymnasium. I hope they let official applicants check out the facilities for real. I bet they have all the cutting-edge, top-of-the-line equipment!

When the group reaches the cafeteria he listens to Kimiko's musing, but does a quick double take when she mentions hurting Junko. "Wait, we're not, uh... gonna do anything to her, right? What is our plan here?"

[DaedalusMkV]

Kaede spends the time on the train either tabbing through photos on her phone or looking out the window, watching the city pass by. I should probably talk to them. Get to know them better. But... What would we talk about? Can't discuss what we're doing in front of all these people. In the end, she doesn't do much talking.

She takes in the sight of Armstrong Sports College with a fair bit of appreciation, though nothing near the level of enthusiasm Ryoma brings. In response to his amazed comments she simply shrugs and says. "It's cool they have a private beach. It's pretty small, though. I guess that'll make it easier to find Juba Junko, at least." Which, indeed, it does. Almost disturbingly so, in fact. She frowns noticeably when the receptionist notes that visitors are allowed in the student dorms unescorted. That sounds like a serious security risk... But, I guess they probably don't have to worry too much about terrorists here, do they? She shakes her head, then follows the others to the cafeteria.

After locating their target, Kaede breaths a brief sigh of relief and spends a few moments watching her, somehow unsettled. The feeling only gets worse when Kimiko and Ryoma bring up their points, and she shudders slightly. She sounds a bit unnerved when she speaks, her accent a bit thicker than normal. "I don't think we should assume we have to hurt anyone... Except maybe Saito. But there's something... Not right here." She rubs at her face, closing her eyes for a moment. "She's a weightlifter, right? That takes a lot of protein, to keep up that strength. That food isn't right. And she might have an aide, but she's been blind for years. She shouldn't need that much help..." An awful thought runs through her mind, memories of their first conversation with Artorias. Saito Aoi did horrible things to those who were once her friends... Juba Junko was her friend. What did she do?

Kaede speaks again after a few moments, her tone grim. "I think maybe someone should go talk to her. She... Might not be alright. Remember what Artorias said about Saito's friends?"

[AtS]

"I could go talk to her," Ryoma volunteers, hesitantly. "I can make something up about being on a college visit. It's not too far from the truth. And, Junko went to Yamamura, after all. I'll start there and see where it goes." He adjusts his glasses on the bridge of his nose. "Sound good?" Ryoma waits for the rest of the group to weigh in on the situation before taking action.

[OutOfThyme]

Shiro spends most of the train ride flipping through a small pocket-sized notebook. If the others decided to look over his shoulder, they'd see that it was full of little chemistry notes. Occasionally, he'd close the book for a bit, before reopening.

Iron is 2+ and 3+, copper is 1+ and 2+, and lead is... Lead is... 3+ and 4+? Or was it 1+ and 2+?

As they leave the train, Shiro seems a little bit frustrated by his notebook. As he followed the others into Armstrong, he couldn't help but be impressed by the college. This was the kind of place that he could go to, if he hadn't wasted the past couple of years of school. Still, there still were two years left of high school, so... maybe he could come here for something he was good at.

Spending most of the time lost in his own thoughts as they walked towards the cafeteria, only to pipe up when Kaede commented on Junko's diet. "Nah, her food looks about right. She probably has more than three meals a day, so it's probably fine. It's close to what I make when I'm trying to put on muscle, actually. Oil for the fats, meat for protein, vegetables and rice for fiber and all the other vitamins." Pausing for a moment, Shiro gestured for Ryoma to go ahead with his plan. "That sounds good. If they ask why you came with a group, just say we're moral support or something like that."

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Huh?" Kimiko is verbally off-balance until Kaede brings Saito back up. "Right, exactly. I didn't mean us hurting her. I don't think someone passing by is going to notice a bunch of students talking nonsense, but we'd have to get the handler out of earshot before bringing it up."

She follows along as the group weighs their options. Kimiko isn't much of an athlete, so she takes Shiro at his word as far as diet is concerned.

[AtS]

Ryoma swallows hard and bounces up and down on the balls of his feet, psyching himself up. He nods to the group then starts walking towards Junko. Unfortunately for him, he's so distracted with thinking about what he's going to say next that he doesn't notice a group of students walking past Junko's table, carrying trays of food freshly prepared by the chef. At the last possible moment, he looks up, yelps, and attempts to sidestep right into Junko's table. He bumps into her and crashes into the table, bonking his head on the edge, then lands, sprawled out partially under the table, glasses askew. "Uhhhhh... h-hi, I'm T-Tatsunagi Ryomaaa...." his voice trails off, defeated.

Nice one, dude. Coyote chuckles silently in his mind.

[Hazuki]

Ryoma's bump into Junko is met with a wall of impartial muscle, and his tumble results in laughter from a nearby table. Though Junko herself doesn't react,t he woman next to her looks at the fallen Ryoma and gets to her feet, then shifts around to the other side of Junko so that she can lean down. "Let's see if we can save you a trip to the doctor's office, shall we, Tatsunagi-san?" She says, as she opens a white pouch on her side and retrieves a first-aid kit.

The woman quickly performs several small checks on Ryoma, like checking his responses to questions, checking if he has a few specific symptoms, checking where he hit his head.

"There." She finally says, as she leaves Ryoma with a cool gel pack to hold against his head and she steps back to stand behind the unresponsive Junko. "Make certain you're not alone for the next two days, and visit your doctor if you get any sudden symptoms." She says, flashing a polite smile that nonetheless lights up her features.

[AtS]

Ryoma sits next to Junko, his cheeks flush red with embarrassment. With a hand holding the gel pack to his forehead, he gives the surprisingly agreeable woman a grateful nod. “I’ll do that, thank you! I’m not usually this clumsy... believe it or not, I’m planning on applying here when I graduate from Yamamura High School.” He removes the gel pack, and pokes the quickly swelling bump on his forehead. “Ouch!” He winces, then places the pack back into position.

“I already know Juba-san from all the records she broke at Yamamura, she’s kind of a legend. I had to come say hi when I saw her.” He gives the unresponsive girl a concerned look, since she hasn’t responded to him or any of the commotion, but doesn’t speak his mind.

Of Junko’s handler, he asks, “But I don’t know who you are. What is your name?”

[Hazuki]

The woman briefly places a hand on Junko's shoulder, and she shifts away, creating some space between her and Ryoma. "I'm Suiren Akira, and I'm Jubo-san's personal nurse." She introduces herself, her polite smile turning sad. "But, I'm afraid that Juba-san won't be able to talk with you. She's been quite ill for some time now."

[AtS]

"Juba-san is ill? Is she not speaking?" A look of concern flashes across Ryoma's face, as everything clicks into place. Looks like Kaede was right, something did happen to her...

I mean, look at her, she's practically a vegetable. Coyote's vulgar musings echo in his mind, and Ryoma breaks out in a cold sweat.

[Hazuki]

Suiren-san looks away for a moment, then looks back and nods. "She's able to maintain her daily routine, but she requires me beside her at all times. I'm sorry."

[AtS]

Ryoma lets out a hurried, "Oh, ok... I'm sorry for disturbing you! Best wishes, Juba-san. It was nice meeting you, Suiren-san, and thanks again for patching me up." He hands her back the cold pack, and promptly stands up and walks back to the group. He turns to give the women a short wave goodbye over his shoulder before leaving.

When he reaches the others, he relays everything he discovered. "So, you guessed it, Kaede, there's definitely something wrong with Juba-san. She won't or can't speak to me. The woman with her is really nice, though. Her name is Suiren Akira, and she seems like a nurse, or personal aide? She had first aid supplies at the ready." He completely glosses over his wipe-out, as if everyone there hadn’t just witnessed him eating it a few moments ago.

"What do we do now?"

[OutOfThyme]

"Having a nurse is probably good for her. I hear that they can help when you need help, said Shiro, pausing for a moment." Well, something's keeping Juba from being herself, so it's probably got to do with the whole Metaverse thing..."

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Wait, what?"

Kimiko hesitates for about one second to weigh the advantages of just hanging back and stalking them from here on, but finds herself approaching Junko nonetheless. She needs to see this for herself.

"Is it true, Jubasan? You really can't talk to anyone, now..." She looks up at the statuesque woman trying to read her reaction, but it's nearly impossible to tell through those dark glasses. "Sorry, excuse me, I know I shouldn't be staring. I was just hoping to interview you, too, for the school paper."

It seems unlikely that anyone would question that. An article about a blind athlete alumnus is pretty standard material. Kimiko looks back and forth between her and the nurse, unsure of how to politely address the situation. "Ma'am? May I ask how this happened?"

Sneaky empathy! [roll0] -8 (normalization) +3 (sneakification) = 素敵 (+4)

[Hazuki]

Kimiko's questioning of Junko is met with no response whatsoever, as the young woman continues to sit in front of her plate of food with her arms at her side. Even with all of her intuition, she can't get any idea of what she's feeling. There's no facial tic, no body language, just regularly-paced breathing.

Akira, who's just slipped her gel compress pack away, looks at Kimiko and scratches her collar. "I'm afraid I don't know." She admits. "I was told that she just was this way, one day, and that I was being picked to help her." The pretty nurse seems entirely earnest in her response.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Ah... OK. Thank you." Thankfully, it would seem Kimiko's paranoia about Miss Akira was unjustified.

She looks up again at Juba's blank face. A few minutes ago, Kimiko's best-case scenario for the phone application was that it would turn out to be a useless prank. Now, she can only hope that we can wield it precisely enough when the time comes. "Keep fighting, Jubasan. We'll see you again soon, OK?"

Kimiko wasn't really expecting a reaction there. It was kind of a weird thing to say, but it wasn't that weird, and somehow it felt necessary.

When the group reconvenes, Kimiko quickly suggests we check out the dorms. Male first, since this is ostensibly Ryoma's school visit, but in group chat she clarifies the need to check for after-hours entry points.

[Hazuki]

"Oh. Goodbye." Akira says, as she watches Kimiko return to the group and her gaze lingers there as she sits down.

[AtS]

Noticing how Akira is still stealing glances at the group, Ryoma gives Kimiko a nudge. “Hey, she’s still watching us. Did we attract too much attention to ourselves, or do you think she wanted to say something more?”

He adjusts his glasses, thinking. “Should we ask her if she’s ever seen Saito Aoi before? Maybe just like ‘have you seen this girl?’ and show her the InstaGrat page? Could be useful info either way, to know if Saito-san and Juba-san have been in contact recently.”

[DaedalusMkV]

Kaede gasps and is halfway out of her chair to run to help when Ryoma manages to somehow trip up and smash his face into the table, but sits down once it's clear he's not too badly hurt, waiting for him to come back with news. She merely nods in response to his confirmation of her suspicions, though her face is grim, and she listens to Shiro and Kimiko's comments before replying.

"Yeah, you get a bit of attention when you do stuff like that. Oh well." With a sigh, she turns her head so she isn't looking at Juba Junko's table, then continues. "I bet that Saito used to Metaverse to mess her up. Artorias said that you can kill someone with it, so she probably figured out some way to do... Well, whatever happened to Juba-san. And if she's willing to hurt her friends that badly... We have to stop her, for sure." She closes her eyes, thinking as hard as she can. "I don't think we should involve anyone else if we can avoid it. We can at least defend ourselves; if anyone else goes after Saito, they'll just wind up like Juba-san... Or worse. I think we should try to find an opportunity to use the Metaverse app on Juba-san. It might give us some clues, at least... And maybe we can find some way to undo what Saito did, as well."

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

This wouldn't be the first time Kimiko inadvertently walked away from someone mid-conversation. At Ryoma's urging, she awkwardly meets the nurse's gaze and looks away again, embarrassed. "I guess we can probably talk to her some more, but I don't know what either of us would get out of it..."

Is that what you expect whenever you talk to someone? To get some thing?

Kimiko doesn't know why that question hurts so much.

"...and I really don't want it getting around that we're looking for Saito. I agree with Kaede; we need to get to Jubasan when she's alone. Tonight, after Nurse-sama puts her to bed."

[DaedalusMkV]

Kaede's jaw drops, and she merely stares at Kimiko for a moment. "I... But..." She stammers. "There's got to be a better way to do it. That just sounds creepy..."

[AtS]

Ryoma backs Kimiko up. “Look, if we need to use the Metaverse app on Juba-san, and we need to do that when she’s alone... nighttime just makes the most sense. She should be alone in her room, sleeping. No one else should be around, unless she has a roommate.” His own words start to make him second guess the plan. “Well, I guess we should at least find that out first. Maybe I’ll try asking Suiren-San some more questions. Or should we go ask reception if students have their own rooms or if they bunk with a roommate?”

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"<Too... creepy?>" Kimiko hadn't considered that, nor the idea of a roommate. Whoever heard of a living space with an expectation of privacy?

"Hmm... Well, we can ask Suirensama what the rest of their day is like and if we can tag along. We're still mainly here for your college visit, right?"

[AtS]

"That's what I told her," Ryoma answers, then shrugs. "Right! Can't go any worse than last time..."

Are you sure about that, buddy?

Shrugging off his persona's telepathic heckling, Ryoma sheepishly returns to ask Suiren Akira some more questions. "So, um... For this college visit, we were supposed to shadow another student. Any chance my friends and I could join you for the rest of the day? I don't know anyone else here." He steals a couple of glances at Juba-san, starting to feel incredibly awkward.

[Hazuki]

Akira watches Ryoma walk back, listens patiently to his question, then shakes her head. "I'm sorry, but I don't think that would be possible. I'm only qualified to take care of Juba-san, and she is in no position to help you learn more of the College. I've no doubt there are other students who would be much more suitable for you and your friends."

Junko remains sitting still beside Akira.

[AtS]

"Ah... Right. Well, thanks again for the help earlier. And have a nice rest of the day!" Ryoma says, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. Ehhhh, I hope she doesn't think I was hitting on her...

He returns to the group and relays the news. "No dice on shadowing them. Any other ideas?"

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Um..." Kimiko pipes up, having accompanied Ryoma to talk to the targets. "Nursesama, if you don't mind my asking, you said you took her through her normal routine, right? Does that include the gym, or class? It's really interesting that you can provide this level of care at a sports college."

[Hazuki]

Akira nods at Yukiko's words. "It's because I'm not one of the services this College provides - I'm a volunteer for the Makankosappo Mental Health Association. It was quite clear that Juba-san would struggle to maintain her position here without help, so...here I am." Her tone is reaching peak levels of politeness. "May I ask that you take any further questions about my role to our website, or this College to its? I'd like to finish feeding Juba-san before her dinner gets cold."

[OutOfThyme]

While the others were awkwardly talking to the nurse, Shiro was looking at his phone and the pamphlet. As negotiations began to fail, Shiro started typing into his phone.

Nikaido S.: You guys want to look around the college instead?

Nikaido S.: We can get a feel for the place if we're going to stay here for a bit longer or until we figure this out.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Kimiko can tell this conversation has already outstayed its welcome. She excuses herself as politely as an awkward teen can muster. "Right, sorry! Thank you very much!"

Shinkyo K: Seconded. We should probably eat, too.
Shinkyo K: It sounds like Ryoma needs to find someone else to shadow. Do we know anyone else who goes here?

[DaedalusMkV]

Kaede watches the exchange with a growing sense that they really should have come up with a better plan before doing this. She wanted someone else to go talk with Junko and her attendant because she tends to stand out too much, and now there's pretty much no chance of the group being forgotten any time soon. Oh well, nothing much do be done for it now. They'll just have to figure out a way to make it work. When she starts getting texts from the others, she responds in kind.


Kaede L: I could go for some food, thinking about it. And I agree with Nikaido-san, we should take a look around. I think the best way to catch Juba-san with the app now is to snap a picture while she's going between buildings or something.

[AtS]

Ryoma also joins the texting frenzy.

Tatsunagi R.: Food sounds good. I also need to figure out the shadowing situation... if we can’t tag along with Juba-san, well, guess I’m gonna go make some friends.

He scans the cafeteria, looking for anyone else that seems approachable.

[Hazuki]

Ryoma spots a relatively young student with a slick undercut nearby, his hoodie bearing an enigmatic "Give A Bow To The Archer" slogan. He's slightly taller than average, shorter than the males of the group, with an obviously lean build. He's just finished his meal when Ryoma approaches and he offers a lopsided smile. "Kagune Rin. What can I do for you?" He asks, as he takes out his cell phone.

[AtS]

"Nice to meet you, Kagune-senapi. My name is Tatsunagi Ryoma, and I'm here on a college visit," Ryoma says, lifting his hand to reveal the school's stamp. "I don't know if you remember, but we've got to shadow a current student as part of the tour." He sighs, adjusts his glasses, and then continues. "I was originally supposed to shadow Juba-san, but it turns out she's, uh, not available, so I'm kind of scrambling to figure out what to do."

He scratches the back of his head sheepishly. "So, yeah! This is out of nowhere, but can you help me out and let me shadow you? I still really want to see the facilities and dorms, but I don't think we can get in unless we're shadowing a student." He gestures back at the rest of the group. "And yeah, it's a 'we'. My parents couldn't make it today, so I brought my friends with me. This is Shinkyo Kimiko, Lo-ko-lee-uh Kaede, and Nikaido Shiro. We're all students from Yamamura High." Ryoma hopes that just the plain, simple truth will work out better than lies and deception did before.

[Hazuki]

Rin listens through Ryoma's introduction, nodding as each of his companions are introduced, and runs a hand through his hair. "Certainly. I have time to spare, and I can't say no to Yamamura kids. I was in the Archery Club when I was there." He says, as he gestures towards the exit to the dorm grounds and starts to lead the way with a gangly gait. "Any of you in the Archery Club?"

[DaedalusMkV]

Kaede smiles in greeting to the affable young man and replies with genuine warmth. "Hah, I never even thought of joining the archery club. I used to practice back in the United States, since my dad sometimes went bow hunting in the off-season." She frowns for a moment, suddenly quite a bit less cheerful. "I haven't held a bow in years... Maybe I should check in on the club at school, though. No shooting ranges around here, so at least I could practice something useful..."

[Hazuki]

"You should do that." Rin nods approvingly. "Archery is the true way of the warrior, and everyone fears a woman with the skill to shoot out a crow's eye from a hundred paces!" He laughs. "Creeps will flee and you'll have dowries by the dozen."

[AtS]

"I've never shot a bow in my life," Ryoma remarks. "Never knew archery could be so magical, though I guess if Cupid is any indication... In any case, I'm on the soccer team at Yamamura, which keeps me pretty busy." As they exit the cafeteria and head outside into the dorm grounds, the bespectacled boy asks their guide a quick question. "So, where to first? You're the tour guide after all!"

[Hazuki]

The tour starts just by exploring the grounds of Armstrong Sports College, which starts in a roundabout way. They go from the area outside the cafeteria, to the entrance grounds, then the garden-like grounds surrounding the male and female dorms, then proceeds in a circular motion around the rest. They pass through the baseball field, the archery grounds, catch sight of the path to the private beach, then see the football grounds, soccer grounds, then the gymnasium (Which they aren't allowed inside), and the track fields. Throughout the tour, Rin makes small talk with the group, mentioning some of his time at Yamamura Academy, his girlfriend (He recommends not getting an athletic one, if you don't want that competitiveness outside of the College), and some of his best bow trick shots.

Along the tour, the group notice the security along the grounds, which mostly seem to be stationed near the entrances and exits of buildings, with a couple of couples strolling around the rest of the grounds. Their brief dip into the male dormrooms, which are just starting to fill up as dinner has finished, reveals that getting any deeper than the common room requires getting passed a checkpoint with Student ID.

"...pow! Through his legs and right into the apple hanging from his belt. I mean, we didn't think about the pendulum effect...but, hey, at least he's walking straight again." Rin laughs. "Hm, looks like that's the end of our tour." He says, as you step out of the male dorms and he smiles broadly. "Hope you enjoyed it. Make sure to mention me to your sponsor or...whoever organized this," He flippantly waves his hand. "Got to get credit where you can, you know?"

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

“Of course! Kagune Rin, right?” Kimiko types the name into her phone. “That was great, thank you. Also, if we were to try and send you something, would we need your student number or a mailbox or anything?”

[Hazuki]

"The College keeps PO Boxes in the administration building. Throw a name on there, address it to the college, and we'll get it eventually." Rin explains. "You should be able to drop it off at the reception desk, if you're passing by, too."

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Okay, got it. Thank you!" Kimiko's a little disappointed, not that she's showing it this time. The small school's mailing system isn't going to make her plan any easier.

She sticks around while everyone else asks their questions and says goodbye, and watches as other students get past the security checkpoint. Is it an automatic scanner, or are there more guards stationed here or checking ID remotely? The latter would be weird, but she's already seen some security people around.

[AtS]

As the tour comes to its end, Ryoma pulls out his phone and taps out a couple of messages to the group chat. Then, when Rin gives his last speech, Ryoma extends his hand to their gracious tour guide for a shake. "Thanks again for the help Rin, I really appreciate it. And yeah, we've got these forms to fill out, I'll make sure you get marked down as my student advisor."

Okay. I think I saw a couple of good places where we could set up to snag a pic of Juba-san, Ryoma thinks to himself. Let's see if the others agree.

Tatsunagi R: So, Kaede's original plan seems like the easiest to pull off. We could hang out in the gardens around the female dorms and try to snap a pic of Juba-san when she returns from her daily activities for the night. Just have to make sure we're alone.

Tatsunagi R: Shouldn't even be that suspicious, there were some students just hanging out chatting and studying, but it wasn't so crowded that we wouldn't be able to find somewhere secluded for just us... Of course, totally open to hearing anyone else's ideas too.

[DaedalusMkV]

Kaede seems a bit distracted throughout the tour, rarely responding to Rin's explanations and jokes, and as things finish she smiles and utters a quick "Thank you for your help."


Kaede L: Yeah, I agree. There's also a couple of benches over by the entrance to the Gym, if we wanted to try to catch her after she leaves from her workout routine.
Kaede L: Either way, we can always come back tomorrow if it doesn't work out, but I think we should at least try to find a place and see if it will work.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Shinkyo K: Sounds good. We can see how visible the gym is to us and how long Junko is there.

[Hazuki]

The group finds a spot between the female dorms and the administration building, where they don't have to wait for long to be able to take a quick picture of Junko through the Metaverse App. Within seconds of them taking a picture, they each feel a tugging in their guts, as though they're being yanked with a giant fishhook. When they open their eyes, they find themselves standing in a great black void where even the floor doesn't seem to be beneath their feet, even though they can feel it there.

Then, they feel faint flickers of various sounds, scents, sensations that quickly come and go. Things like cheers, grunts, freshly-cooked lean meat, even things that are familiar to them from Yamamura Academy, like the polish the janitor uses. They notice that their clothes have changed, too, into the same things they were wearing when they Awakened to their Personas - who now feel so much closer than they do in the real world, like all it would take is a distinct motion to bring them to their side.

The only other inhabitants of the void are women, milling around apparently randomly, though they are all blindfolded, with great feathery wings on their backs and, strapped between those wings are various objects - some carry an entire door, some a frame, some a dorknob, and some a key, or long thin stretches like a frame. Their bodies and clothes differ as well, some simply waifish while others have hulking bodies much like Junko's. Some wear tracksuits with medals around their necks, some walk hunched over canes in baggy clothes, while others are naked save for the wings folded over their nude forms.

None of them seem to notice the arrival of the group, at least, not for now.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Kimiko appears in her metaverse form. Her coat turns into a dark, hooded cloak that swallows up her long hair. Her shoes and stockings morph into thigh-high boots strapped with extra knives, leading up to a combination of studded leather and linen wrappings to make up the rest of her thief-like attire. A dark green eye patch completes the ensemble, but a vague translucent tint lets a glint in her eye shine through as she takes in the spooky environment.

"Well... That was easier than I expected. Now what?"

She will need a second to recover when she sees her teammates in varying states of embarrassment regarding their costumes.

[AtS]

Suddenly, Ryoma finds himself in the Metaverse. With shock, he looks down to witness his complete transformation. His shirt has been replaced with a black mesh vest and collar, under a spiked leather harness, colored bright red, that encircles his torso. He puts a hand to his face to adjust his glasses and finds a jet-black visor with red trim there instead. His pants have been replaced with a skintight latex piece, matte black, patterned with geometric shapes and stripes in various hues of red and orange and yellow. Afixed to his crotch with several leather straps around his waist and thighs is a massive steel codpiece, made of polished metal. It gleams, catching the light with it's almost impractical size. His hands are covered with fingerless leather gloves, affixed by straps at the wrist. His fingers are perfectly manicured, and have striped red, orange, and black polish applied impeccably to each nail. In one hand, he grasps the hilt of a gleaming, silver sword-whip, currently locked in blade position. The hilt has a switch to unleash the whip form of the sword, giving the weapon tremendous reach as each blade segment extends from a metal chain. Tall, shiny black boots with laces all the way up the shin finish off the ensemble on each foot. "Wh-what is this?" His incredulity is palpable in his tone of voice.

Without thinking, he summons Coyote, who answers the beckoning almost immediately, appearing in a flash of multicolored light. "Lookin' good, buddy. And FINALLY! I knew you'd come around." The lupine creature twists his lithe form around Ryoma's body, wrapping his tail around the athlete's leg, and twisting his torso around his human patron. He perches his paws on Ryoma's shoulder and lifts his snout right next to Ryoma's ear then whispers something to the boy, and a mischievous smile spreads over the Persona's face.

Then, Coyote glances out at the rest of the Persona-users gathered nearby in the Void. "Name's Mq'ii, or Coyote if you're boring. Good to finally meet you all. Goddamn, I've been WAITING for this to happen! You've got me howlin' with excitement... Especially you, sexy biker-man!" His words are bursting with excitement as he directs the last lewd statement to Shiro. Ryoma's face burns hot red with embarassement, both for his appearance and Coyote's vulgar demeanor.

"Uh, yeah. Coyote's my Persona. I'm... sorry he's so... extra?"

[DaedalusMkV]

Kaede seems almost surprised as her plan works without any complications. Still, there's no sense complaining about good fortune and she doesn't comment on it.


In the Metaverse she looks like a completely different person. Gone is her shapeless grey hoodie and track pants, absent the nearly omnipresent baseball cap with a logo for a sports team nobody cares about. The most striking feature of her transformed visage is the long, brown leather coat that hangs down to her ankles, buttoned across her chest but hanging loose around her legs, which somehow billows behind her in a phantom wind that does nothing to affect anything else in the empty void. The top button is undone, leaving the coat just open enough to reveal some sort of tight black shirt underneath, and black cargo pants and combat boots complete the ensemble. What looks like a pistol holster hangs on one hip from a belt that crosses her waist at an angle, while some sort of black cylinder rests on the other side. A black mask covers the upper half of her face, vaguely catlike in shape though it lacks the ears that would really solidify the image, and her hair spills back from her head in a cascade of shining golden braids, reaching her mid-back, in sharp contrast to the simple ponytail she normally wears. If anything, it's hard to believe that she has that much hair in the real world in the first place. She seems to be focused on the space around her at first, green eyes seeming to almost glow in the darkness as she surveys the void, but she turns to the group in response to Kimiko's comment, tugging at one of her gloves as she turns. Strangely, those seem to have stayed pretty much the same.

When Kaede takes in Ryoma's appearance her eyes widen and her pale skin reddens noticeably. "Gah." Truly, an eloquent response. "<Is that... Some kind of huge jockstrap?>" She blurts out, switching to English in her shock.

Surprisingly, Coyote's arrival seems to give Kaede the chance to regain some of her equilibrium. She actually giggles for a moment before remembering herself, raising one gloved hand to her mouth and turning it into a cough, though only someone impossibly gullible could be fooled. "Ah. Hah. He's been doing that to you in the real world too? Man that must suck." She chuckles, this time a lower-pitched, throatier sound, which she must somehow consider more dignified because she does nothing to cover it up. A moment later she snaps her fingers and blurts out. "Oh, yeah, before I forget. I was thinking, we should probably avoid using our real names in here. These costumes should make us pretty hard to recognize, but if we run into someone in here and they hear us use names they might be able to track us down in the real world... Which would be bad. We should probably come up with call signs or something to use while we're here."

[Hazuki]

As the group speaks, several sounds and scents echo through the void they find themselves in. Manly grunts in the distance, giggles and indistinct whispers. The smell of sweat, fruity perfume, and rain hitting dirt. Ryoma could swear he felt a face under his fingertips, just for a moment. Kaede, feels a hand cupped against her ear, a hot breath brushing against it. These sensations fade as quickly as they arrive.

[OutOfThyme]

Shiro folds his arms as he glances at the others in their Metaverse outfits, raising an eyebrow at... whatever it was that Ryoma was wearing.

Shiro himself is wearing some kind of biker jacket with a furred collar, with bronze bands wrapping around his upper arms. Silver chains dangle from the bands, but don't seem to make any sort of noise as they move about. A set of scuffed jeans, combat boots, and fingerless gloves complete the ensemble, and a blue glass visor covers Shiro's eyes, framed by bronze to suggest something similar to the visor of a bike helmet.

"Right, I'm glad I don't have to deal with... That," he says, gesturing at Ryoma and Coyote. "As far as code names go..."

"I'll go by Rebel. Sounds cool, and fits with the biker gear."

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"<Indeed, truly a top-of-the-line luxury cod.>" Kimiko jokes in a deadpan tone. "I didn't think we could see each others' personas, much less talk to them... Hi, Coyote."

She gives the ferret-dog-monster a half-hearted wave, like you might a receptionist or a sales clerk. No one ever told her the proper way to address an external projection of one's inner demons.

"Rebel. OK. So that would make yours Cowboy or Gunner, probably," she says pointing to Kaede. Kimiko hadn't really examined her own in detail up to this point. As she does so, she has no idea what she's supposed to look like other than a cartoon character. "...and mine One-eye or Knives or something. Which leaves..."

...

"...Dancer?"

[DaedalusMkV]

Kaede shudders slightly as she feels someone breathing against her neck, whipping her head around to see the total lack of anything behind her. "Ugh. Of course this place doesn't respect my personal space..." She mutters to herself, before returning her attention to the rest of the group.

She nods at Shiro's suggestion. "Rebel works fine."

When Kimiko makes her suggestions Kaede looks down at herself for a moment. "Cowboy? Because of the coat? No, I'm short a hat and a horse for that. Call me Hunter." She grins. "And you could be Ninja or Ghost or Shadow? Unless you really want to go by Knives." She looks at Ryoma again, frowning slightly, and shrugs. "I dunno. Jackal? Because of your Persona?"

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"OK, Ghost works. I'll go with that."

Not wanting to put her foot in her mouth any more than she already has, Kimiko turns her attention to the spooky angels while Ryoma picks his handle. All of the vague sounds and images from the city seem like a side-effect of whatever the heck this palace is doing.

"Doors, knobs, keys... it looks like it's supposed to be a puzzle, if we can just get the pieces together."

[AtS]

Ryoma nods at Kaede's suggestion. "Jackal is short and sweet, I like it."

"Well, I don't. Anaconda sounds like a much better and more appropriate codename," Coyote interjects, kicking off Ryoma's shoulder and floating lazily in the air above the group. He makes a vulgar gesture toward his crotch and unleashes a barking laugh, his tongue lolling out of his fanged jaws. It'd be playful if the Persona wasn't so rude. And if his teeth weren't so sharp and vicious.

Again, Ryoma finds himself rolling his eyes in annoyance. "Anaconda is twice the syllables and just... embarrassing. It's Jackal." The strange sensation of a face at his fingertips suddenly breaks the athlete's attention, and he lifts his hand to stare at it for a bit. Then, he looks around at the strange void surrounding them.

"Where the heck is Junko? I don't see her," he asks, peering at the various forms milling around. "Should we go talk to one of those... girls?"

[Hazuki]

The sound of a snake hissing echoes through the void, followed by the feeling of coils wrapping briefly around Ryoma's shoulders. This is followed by the sound of greetings in the background, a cascade of voices welcoming Junko. It's hard to pinpoint any single person among them.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Maybe, but..." ...but these spirits remind her too much of the ones in her own palace for Kimiko to trust the talking idea. While she's thinking of an alternative to suggest, she startles and turns around trying to find the source of the sudden hissing. After a brief pause, she manages to put something together.

"That's interesting... I wonder if..." She closes her eyes and reaches out her hand as though feeling for a switch or knob. "I wonder if we can find a door this way."

[Hazuki]

The sound of creaking, sliding, and slamming echoes through the void and nothing seems to happen, for a moment. Then all of the women with knobs on their backs turn to face Kimiko, then start wandering towards her with feet that pad, or stomp, or sprint.

[DaedalusMkV]

Kaede nods to Ryoma. "Good. Now that that's settled, we can..." By which point Kimiko is already making her own move. Kaede's eyes widen behind her mask as the numerous female figures turn and begin rushing in their direction. "I... Don't think they're friendly. We should probably try to move before they get here... Damn. I wish we could see the walls here. Especially if those... Things are drawn to touching stuff." She begins walking slowly in the opposite direction that Kimiko moved, holding her hands in front of her and mentally crossing her fingers that the floor is level. "Maybe there's another way out of the room... Or we can hide at the back or something. Ugh."

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Hm? ...oh."

Kimiko opens her eyes to assess the general commotion, which does seem to confirm her suspicions about the spoop-angels.

"Are we even sure there are walls? The darkness looks like it stretches on forever..."

Looks like?

"...right. This is still Junko's palace - we need to see this the way she would. That means not relying too much on eyesight."

She closes her eyes again and listens to the approaching monsters. Some were sprinting toward her - not anyone else, she noticed - but if she sidesteps quietly enough, she might be able to grab one of their prizes as they run past.

It's kind of risky and stupid, but if someone has to get trampled, it might as well be me.

[Hazuki]

Shiro avoids being hit by the bulk of the women wandering in their direction, most of them heading straight for Kimiko, by stepping and twisting out of the way when they get close. Kaede carefully changes position well before one might run into her, and Ryoma just straight runs in the other direction, easily having avoided them by the time they surround the group. With the creatures already there, Kimiko can stop focusing on summoning a doorknob and reaches for the one on the back of the nearest angel. With a quick tug and a slip of the rope, she finds the hefty doorknob sitting in her palm.

That's the good news. The bad news is that the creatures have stopped their charging and are meandering about, as they were before, but having surrounded three fourths of the group. They don't seem to be aware of their presence, yet.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Got it! Now what are you going to do with it, idiot?

Kimiko looks up from the item in her hand to watch its previous owner for a moment. She was expecting at least some kind of reaction, but as it stands the angel probably doesn't even realize it's missing. Which is... good? Probably?

"OK, that's step 1, I guess..." She beckons Shiro and Kaede for a whispered huddle. "It looks like we need to collect a full set to build an entrance."

I'm surprised no one is questioning this. In your reality, this sort of logic would make no sense at all.

"To be honest, I'm not sure if it makes sense even here, but that's how it works my brother's video games."

[AtS]

Ryoma grimaces as he watches the rest of the group be surrounded by the figures, clenching his fists into tight balls and panting slightly from the exertion of the sudden sprint. He waits for the worst to happen... but it doesn’t. After a second or two, once it seems like the creatures have returned to a docile state, he calls out to the others. “You guys alright?”

“Seems like you might need some help. The kind of help that burns. Lemme flambé one of those things. C’mon. Please?” Coyote licks his lips and raises his eyebrows suggestively as he floats over Ryoma’s head.

“I’ll even show you how. It’s real simple. Just concentrate and feel my power flood your loins. I mean, your body. That’s good. Feel the heat?” Ryoma looks up and his eyes widen at the wreath of flame that has surrounded his Persona.

“No, not fire! I don’t want to hurt my friends on accident!” The boy retorts, and the flames disappear with a crackle. Something more subtle...

Not completely understanding what he was doing, Ryoma instructs Coyote to unleash a hex on the nearest creature, to weaken it. Unfortunately, his aptitude is lacking and Coyote is not particularly helpful. The beast makes a half hearted gesture and a faint green glow appears around one of the shadows, lingering only for a fleeting second before it fades. “Hmmm, guess that didn’t work. Wanna try fire now?” Again the lupine creature raises his eyebrows and waits for Ryoma’s reply.

“Maybe it did work? Let’s see what happens.” Ryoma watches carefully to see how the things react.

[DaedalusMkV]

Kaede takes a few seconds to process everything that's happening, including the strange women not seeming to bother any of them after rushing in to surround them. She had thought they were attracted to whatever sound Kimiko had made, but apparently not to any other sounds. She looks confused at Kimiko's explanation for a moment, then shrugs her shoulders and replies. "Okay, I guess. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but there's no harm in trying. We need to get away from this group first, though, unless we want to get trampled.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Surrounded by a sea of doorknobs, it will be hard to make any headway on this silly plan without first slipping out of the crowd. They seem to have lost interest in accosting her, so Kimiko just keeps quiet and blends in with the meandering horde as she weaves through it.

Sneaky escape! [roll0]+3

[Hazuki]

Kimiko successfully navigates through the blindfolded beauties, leaving Shiro and Kaede in there as she steps into the bulk of the empty void, which continues nothing but another set of angels and the much denser crowd of doorknob-carrying creatures.

[DaedalusMkV]

Seeing no need to further delay, Kaede takes a moment to try and figure out how the weird winged women move around then attempts to sprint away from the horde, hoping to clear the few of them between her and empty space before the situation can become more difficult.


Quickly escaping from the crowd, using the old dice roll for a total of +3.

[Hazuki]

The women shift as Kaede runs through them, but Kaeda just manages to slip by quickly enough that none of their focus is held for very long. She soon joins Kimiko in the space between the groups.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Kimiko directs Kaede’s attention to one of the ladies with a door between her wings. “Those look like they’re the heaviest. Do you think you can carry one if I cut it loose?”

[DaedalusMkV]

Kaede nods. "Yeah, that shouldn't be a problem. It's big, but doors are usually a lot lighter than they look. How... Did you make all the doorknob ones come over here in the first place? Because it would be a lot easier just to catch one at a time, and avoid getting swarmed."

[AtS]

Calling out across the void to the rest of the group, Ryoma asks a question. "So, uh, what are we doing with these doorknobs? Trying to insert them into a door and open one?" He glances around at the group of milling creatures. "S-should I grab one too?" He seems a little uneasy with the prospect of engaging with the group of angel-women any further. "At the very least, I'm coming over to you guys, get ready!" He takes a deep breath, blinks, then rushes into the mass of creatures. The athlete's legs carry him fast through the crowd, spurred on by his discomfort with the situation. He reaches up to try to snag a doorknob as he passes by, practically covering his eyes and cringing while he does.

Using Speedy Overcome roll of 6 from Discord.

[Hazuki]

Ryoma's yelling across the void draws the attention of the horde right to him. It is only through several speedy ducks, dips, dives, and dodges that he succeeds at making it through the suddenly-focused women without scraping any of them as they rush to where he'd just been standing. He emerges on the other side, where Kaede and Shiro are, without incident.

Shiro takes advantage of the distraction to follow him, joining up with the rest of the group.

[AtS]

Ryoma starts to realize how these creatures work, at least, a little bit. "I think they're drawn to sound," he whispers to the others. "Seems that's why they went after Kimiko, and then me. How can we use that to our advantage?"

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"I'd guess primarily by staying quiet," Kimiko replies once the whole group is back together. It's fun to state the obvious sometimes. "...but I think they do listen to what we say, somehow. When you mentioned a snake, we heard a snake noise in response. When I closed my eyes and reached for a doorknob, that whole group rushed in to oblige."

Maybe the call signs are more important than I thought...

"...anyway. Doors. Let's try to get one from the edge of that group over there."

Unless someone volunteers another idea - say, providing some manner of distraction to give them an advantage - Kimiko points the way and softly walks over to one of the door-carriers to enact Operation Portalswipe. That is, to release the door and let Kaede nab it and zip away.

Creeping up, cutting wing/door ties:

[roll0]+3

[DaedalusMkV]

Kaede shrugs. Something seems to be paying attention to them, but it seems like it takes more than making a little noise to attract attention here.

After Kimiko points out a target Kaede nods, getting ready to grab anything that Kimiko manages to knock loose. "Understood. I'm ready."


Kaede is going to Forcefully grab that door.

With a +1 on the dice rolled in Discord, she has a total of +4 to Get Dat Door.

[Hazuki]

The angel that the pair of girls sneak up on is clad in simple training gear, standing at about equal height to Kaede. Her back is turned to them as Kimiko sneaks up and her fingers slip a couple of times a she attempted to unstrap the door from the creature's back, tugging on it. Her wings twitch, but she does nothing, until Kaede yanks the door off of her back and the straps whack the angel's posterior. She spins around and swipes her hand at the air, sending a wave of golden energy at the nearby Kaede - who raises the door in her hand, using it as a shield that makes the magic harmlessly dissipate around her. But, all is not good with the world, as the rest of the nearby angels seem to have noticed the commotion...

Kaede is subject to the Holding A Door situational aspect.

You are in a Conflict with the nearest Angels. The condensed horde hasn't noticed you yet, but may if the Conflict continues. Ryoma and Shiro are currently between the dispersed horse and the condensed horde, while Kimiko and Kaede are partially into the dispersed horde and, as such, are subject to the Partially Surrounded situational aspect.

If you suspect something about the nature of the Angels, you may attempt to Create an Advantage to discover it as an Aspect and make it Compel-able.

It's y'all's turn to act.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Mph! Come on..."

What's the matter? Are the knots too tight? ...or did you just get lucky on the last one?[/color]

Kimiko stumbles backwards as the monster catches on and spins around, but Kaede maintains her grip on the door and rips it off, thankfully.

So, now what?

Acting more or less on instinct at this point, Kimiko reaches an arm to her her left and snaps her fingers, trying to confirm that it gets the monster's attention. They can hear us, but they can't see us.

It seems pretty obvious, but an advantage is an advantage. All Kimiko has to do is exploit it.

Create an advantage! [roll0]+3 for using trickery.

[Hazuki]

Kimiko successfully identifies the Blind As a Bat Aspect on the Angels, and gets two free invokes for herself or her allies.

She also notices that, although the blindfolded Angels couldn't see them before, they are exceptionally aware of the group's presence now that they know thy're there.

[DaedalusMkV]

Kaede takes a moment to re-centre herself after instinctively raising the door to block the... Weird magic wave thing? Huh. Not exactly what I expected. At least it didn't hurt the door... She quickly looks around, noting that the commotion has definitely got some attention, then grips the door tightly and swings it at the angel she took it from in a powerful if clumsy overhand smash, hoping to gain some time and maybe take that opponent out of the fight before she can cause any major problems.

Regardless of the outcome of her strike, she calls out to the others. "Ghost, we should probably get away from these things before they swarm us. Jackal, can you make some kind of distraction?"


Kaede is Forcefully Attacking the angel in front of her, trying to smash her with her own door. I got -2 on the dice in the OOC, so that's a total of +1 for the attack.

[Hazuki]

The angel that Kaede tries to whack over the head finds that it is, indeed, getting whacked over the head as it stumbles backwards following the blow. The rest of its group surges around it, just in time for the girls to spot what the boys are doing.

What the boys are doing is charging together into the crowd, their Personas helping them push aside the crowding demons until both of them find themselves standing beside the girls near the center of the larger crowd, having pushed through just enough to avoid any opportunistic blows.

Ryoma and Shiro are now have the Partially Surrounded circumstantial aspect.

"Well, here we are." Shiro says, as he adjusts his biker gloves. "What now?"

"Coyote was a fan of fire..." Ryoma suggests.

Their banter is quickly interrupted as both hordes of angels surge around them, one sect of them raising their hands and sending a flash of light cascading across the group's eyeballs.

Defend actions, please. Failing to beat a 1 results in gaining the Dizzy circumstancial aspect.

Ryoma calls Coyote, who darts around the light and shields the boy's eyes with its serpentine form. Ryoma hides his eyes behind his raised fists, successfully avoiding that attack.

But, not all is well for long, as the Angels who hadn't cast the spell suddenly dived at the group, their wings batting at them and attempting to bowl them over.

Beat DC 3 with your Defend or else take points of damage the difference between your roll and it. Sneaky will take a -2 penalty. Ryoma mostly to weave his way between the flapping wings, but Shiro is not so lucky, as his raised fists are knocked aside by one set of wings and even his fancy footwork can't keep him from being toppled over, wincing as he's knocked down.


Shiro has taken three damage.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Well, they're certainly onto us now...
They know what we're trying to do? Good, maybe they can tell us!

Clever defense vs. Flare: [roll0]+2

A flash of blinding light forces Kimiko to close her eyes. To be fair, she was thinking of doing that again anyway.

"Maybe I'm making this harder than it really has to be..."

Why isn't your demon helping, anyway?
Is she waiting for you to call her out loud?

"No sense in holding this back now," she says as she takes hold of her eyepatch. "Nn... PERSONA!"

She rips off the blinder, summoning Miaoshan in a flash of green light from her eye. The half-mummified ghostlike character doesn't waste any time and whips out a bandage arm to trip an incoming angel...

Clever defense vs. Tackle: [roll1]+2

Kimiko tries to assess the situation, keeping her non-glowing eye clenched shut. She sees the world in strange neon outlines as a result.

"OK, so they can't see, but they're aware of us for some other reason... Can we draw a ring of fire on the floor?"

She's kind of talking to a combination of herself, Miaoshan, Ryoma and Coyote there, trusting that Kaede's door-based strategy continues to hold up on her end. If we can put up some kind of barrier, we can at least protect Shiro...

Cleverly Create Advantage: [roll2]+2

The idea is that Miaoshan's magic can plant fire traps in the floor tiles - ideally, ones we can see and they can't, but the effectiveness of the Fire Ring Strategy obviously depends on degrees of success.

[DaedalusMkV]

As the horde of angels bares down on her, at first Kaede starts to worry. That's... A lot of them. Can we handle this? Damn... Still, there's no avoiding it now. When the rear group of enemies finish their spell thing she instinctually puts the door between themselves and her, completely ignoring it, then braces the solid wooden construct against the ground and leans into it just in time for the other group to sweep in from that side like a tide...

And roughly as effectively as a tide washing against a rock. Those angels that try to run over her are simply forced to a stop by a door that seems to be about as solid as if it were firmly affixed to a wall. Kaede grins as she realizes that, somehow, she can simply overpower all of them. Am I... Stronger in this world? Huh. She is just about ready to counterattack when Kimiko's plan backfires... Literally. With fires flaring in her face she hesitates for a moment, then lets go of the door in front of her for just long enough to take a single step back and deliver a solid kick to it, smashing it forwards on top of the flame in front of her and smothering it. Kaede looks up at the enemies around her, grins ferociously, then reaches down to her belt and grabs... The black cylinder, leaving the pistol holster alone. She rushes forwards, coat streaming behind her like an afterimage, and whips her hand at the first of the enemies. The cylinder in her hand extends rapidly into a long, black club, which she smashes one of the angels with and then growls out to any of them that happen to be listening. "Is that all you've got? Just a bunch of bullies..."


Per the Discord, Kaede winds up expending both of her temporary Aspects to defeat the angels' defenses and foil their counter-attack. She Attacks Forcefully with a net total of +8, versus whatever their defense wound up being after Kimiko's plan helped them out.

[AtS]

Ryoma finds Kaede's show of strength inspiring. "Awesome work, Kaede! Way to put 'em on the back foot!" he calls out in encouragement. However, Shiro's still in trouble. The creatures have surrounded the two boys and have doled out quite the beating on the ex-miscreant. Ryoma decides to draw the creatures' attention away from Shiro by using Coyote's fire to create gouts of heat and light while taunting the creatures loudly. "C'mon uglies! I bet you can't catch me!"

Using roll from Discord of 1, then I'm spending a Fate point to invoke the Partially Surrounded aspect to boost it to 3. Attempting to Flashily Create an Advantage (Ryoma, the Center of Attention).

[Hazuki]

Kimiko's attempt at conjuring a fire trap succeeds...though the first victim of it is Kaede, who has to fight through them after the Angels fan the flames at her. She does manage to smack a pair of them as they fly through the air, making them wobble but just manage to save themselves from crashing.

Kimiko successfully created the Fire Ring Strategy aspect.

Kaede loses the Holding A Door aspect.

Ryoma's attempt at riling the angels up with a fiery, light-filled display does not seem to get him the attention he deserves. But what it does do is catch the ears of the other group of Angels that Kimiko had initially summoned, who have become increasingly agitated through the commotion from the surrounded group.

Shiro pulls himself back to his feet while the other group of Angels rushes towards the group, shaking his head and running a hand through his hair. "Hey...cool as you're all being," He says, sardonically. "Why don't we just finish the door and get out of here? Worst case, we force them into single file." He holds his left arm to his chest as he ducks beneath the raging horde, and his nimble fingers just manage to snatch a key from one of the Angel groups. He holds it up and wiggles it, like a smug prick.

The magic angels repeat what they did the last time, as another flash lights up the group's eyes and they find themselves having to defend themselves from further bouts of dizziness.

DC 1 or Dizzy.

The flying bruisers whirl around, except this time their volley comes in the form of wings being batted at the group, seeking to knock them to the ground with surprising force.

Damage DC 1.

Then, the pitter-patter of angelic feet graces the group's ears as the final group of angels joins in with the assault by charging in, their fists swinging while surrounded by holy light that threatens to burn unholy creatures, regular creatures, humans...basically, anything that's not them.

Damage DC 1.

Shiro manages to close his eyes to avoid the blinding light of the angels, dodge out of the rippling air the angels send the group's way, but unfortunately stumbles into one of the new group's fists aimed at his face.

Shiro has taken: First Consequence (Sprained Arm) and 2nd Stress Box.

[DaedalusMkV]

As more angels begin to pile in and the rest continue their attack, the group becoming more and more direly outnumbered, Kaede's focus narrows immensely. The real world slips away, her troubles forgotten. Even the voices of her teammates seem to fade away. Only the enemy matters, as they begin another wave of attacks. As another wave of blinding light gathers she simply... Blinks, closing her eyes for no more than a second, just long enough to escape any effects of the light, and she sees both the blast of wind and the charging assault of the next wave of angels coming in advance. Her weapon arm raises into a defensive stance as she leans forwards, bracing against the force to come, while her free hand reaches down to her belt, to the pistol holster. A flick of a finger to release the strap holding its lid in place, a thumb sliding across a ridge to flip it open and reveal the grip of a weapon. Her eyes close as she focuses, hand closing on the pistol. She shouts as her eyes open. "Sekhmet! Now!"

Blue flame spreads from her feet as a figure materializes in front of her in an instant. Sekhmet towers, crimson dress billowing in the wind, leonine face snarling a challenge. In each hand she bears a golden sword, sickle-like blades dripping with blood, and in an instant she sweeps both in front of her, striking at the angels that would presume to wield a gale against the mistress of the desert winds.

Kaede, at the same time, turns her focus to fending off the burning fists of a new group of angels. She spares only a moment for her allies, focused as she is on the battle, a brief response to Shiro. "Do that, or fight. No more talking."


Kaede successfully defends against all three enemy actions, and gets a temporary Aspect out of the wing attack.

Which she then immediately spends on a Forceful Attack against the angels she's been beating on, rolled in the Discord, for a total of +4.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"Hm!" Kimiko nods in Kaede's general direction, the most she can do to apologize for her failures and acknowledge Kaede's orders in the time allotted.

Kimiko closes her eye again as the monsters close in. The fire doesn't seem to be deterring them at all... but if she stays close, the crackling can drown out her footsteps and the heat can disguise her breath.

Well, now that's just reaching.
This is all your fault, you know. We're all going to die because of you.
Why did you even come here?

The angels don't make a lot of noise themselves - no screeching, no threats or accusations or battle cries. They're stoic in their madness, not unlike Juba herself. Still, Kimiko tries to peek only long enough to get an advantage and parry their fists. She doesn't want to lose sight of the signals that are really giving her away.

Kimiko has one full stress box from the last attack.

Clever Vs. Flare: [roll0]+2

Sneaky Vs. Fists, using Blindness invoke to dodge and parry: [roll1]+5

Sneaky Vs. Wings, dropping prone to throw them off: [roll2]+3

She scoots along the fire wall, limiting the number of angels that can reasonably swarm her at once as she approaches the door that Kaede dropped a moment ago.

You know what would make this whole ordeal a lot easier, for everyone?

When she reaches it, she hears a set of winged chargers outside the wall immediately set on tackling her.

If you would just lay down...

She peeks. By sheer luck, the leader of that pack is straddled by a door frame. Kimiko was wondering earlier how they could fly with this stuff strapped to their wings. It makes more sense when you actually see it; the wings just kind of fit through the frame and let it hang loosely. If the angel bent down, it would probably slip right off.

...and let the shadows take you.

An instant before being struck, Kimiko saves the charger the trouble and drops prone on top of Kaede's door, intending to trip the monster and pull off the last puzzle piece. Once that's accomplished, she pulls it over the grounded door and adds the knob before calling over Shiro.

...oh, crap, Shiro!

Sneakily... overcome? This is technically door-related, but using her stunt right now is probably a little cheeky, so she's spending AP to invoke her Trouble let the relevant angel collapse on top of her with the last puzzle piece: [roll3] +5

[AtS]

When the angel's eyes flash, Coyote defends his master, wrapping his body around the boy's head to block the dizzying flare. Then, using his speed to his advantage, Ryoma deftly dodges the flurry of attacks from the angels, ducking under the buffeting wings and sidestepping the smiting fists. "Thanks, Coyote, that was a close one!" Then, he draws power from within, channeling it through his lupine persona floating overhead. "Let's show these guys what for!" the athlete says, flexing his muscles and striking a pose, his index finger pointed directly into the crowd of angels. Coyote lets out a howl and gouts of flame unleash from his mouth and paws, which he sprays into the crowd.

Defense
0, -1, -2 from Discord, using Clever, Quick, Quick for 1, 2, 1

Actions
Flashily attack the new group of angels using fire: 0 from Discord, using a Fate Point to invoke Big Shot Showoff.

[Hazuki]

Kaede beats off two angels with her door, distracting them enough for a single one of them to charge Kimiko and gets its frame torn off. They have a door, a knob, a key, and a frame, and just need to put it together.

Frame get.

Also, Kimiko gets a Boost.

Shiro tosses the key to Kimiko and attempts to provide some cover for the rest of the group, but finds that his distracting dashes do little beside result in being shoved aside by the angels.

Ryoma's attempt at lighting the punchers up results in them shielding themselves with their aura-clad wings, protecting them from most of the damage.

Ryoma gets a Boost.

The beaty angels once more assail the group with their bodies, though a good chunk of them have hit the floor. Shiro and Ryoma, despite their poor previous dodging, manage to get out of the way this time.

DC 2.

The blindy angels attempt to blind, but SHiro and Ryoma both manage to avoid the flashing.

DC 2

And the punchy magic wahey angels once more rush in, managing to land a solid punch on Shiro's jaw while Ryoma dips out of the way.

DC 3.

[AtS]

"Coyote! Stop with the fire already, can't you see they're blocking it?" Ryoma calls out to his persona, who continues to blast flames toward the punchers. "Oh fine, be a wet blanket and ruin my fun." The lupine spirit turns from the roaring wall of flames he's created around the punching angels and floats lazily back toward his master. Ryoma backs up from the fray, falling back to Kimiko's position. He nods, and the two have a wordless understanding. He takes the door frame from her and slams it into the ground, wedging it in place. "Let's get the hell out of here!" he calls out to his companions, hoping that each will help assemble the door so they can all escape.

Ryoma creates the boost "Roaring Flame Wall" with one free invoke, but doesn't use it just yet. Hopefully someone can use it if there's any more Defending this scene. He establishes the Door Frame in the ground.

[DaedalusMkV]

By this point, the attacks from the angels seem to barely phase Kaede. She simply weaves between the flaming-fist angels, blocking strikes whenever they get too close, while Sekhmet's bulky form keeps the other aggressors at bay. The blinding attack is as useless as ever, predictable in the extreme at this point. Seeing what the others are doing, Kaede abandons her attack for just long enough to kick up the door she had dropped earlier into her free hand, like it barely weighs anything at all, and slams it into the frame that Ryoma planed a few moments earlier, not bothering to make sure it's properly aligned. With that brief distraction out of the way, she returns to her efforts keeping the angels at bay while the others focus on finishing the door.


Kaede meets or exceeds all DCs, avoiding all the damage. She succeeds with style against the normal melee attacking angels, gains the "Sekhmet's in the Way' boost. It can be used to boost people's defense, if nothing else.

[Hazuki]

With the door frame firmly on the ground, and Kaede slamming the door home, it's up to Kimiko to screw in the doorknob and Shiro to turn the key. He flings it open and the group jumps through, with him being the last, pocketing the key and tucking it in his pocket before jumping through.

They find themselves in new, though famliar, surroundings. They're standing in the gym of Yamamura Academy, as though an artist had drawn it and removed everything but the line-art. There are no details, simply simple shapes cast in black and white. The only colors are the thick lines on the floor, forming various paths that lead to particular sections - such as the benches, the closet doors to the changing rooms, and the shelves of equipment along one wall. There are three particularly thick lines, with one by far the thickest, that lead to open doors.

The group notice that, as they breathe, visible ripples escape their lips. But most of all, their eyes are drawn to the pale, lanky creature that's hunched over by the closed doors to the changing rooms. It has four scaled wings on its back, though they, like the rest of its body, are weighed down by all of the scrolls that are strapped over its body - or else stuffed into bags, which also hang off of its body. Its vaguely draconic face has two huge ears, with a crest atop its forehead. It wears a pair of sunglasses, which it peers through at the seams of the door. It holds a quill in one hand, a blank scroll in the other, and subtly shifts, taps, or otherwise puts its huge ears to the door. The group notices that every movement, every scribble, causes a few ripples that scatter and dissipate across the room.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Playing dead has its advantages. Kimiko crouches and keeps her head down to avoid being smacked in the face, and stays focused on door assembly rather than facing the flash or confronting the fighters.

Having gotten herself out of fighting mode, she's going to be Focused on the Objective as a boost...

[roll0]+3 (sneaky) vs. wings

[roll1]+2 (Clever) vs. flash

[roll2]+4 (careful+Focus boost) vs. fists

Kimiko makes sure the door closed behind Shiro before letting out a sigh of relief. She opens her mouth to say something, but stifles herself on seeing the goofy dragon.

Miaoshan doesn't follow through the door, instead opting to disappear Batman-style and continue stalking Kimiko as a vague spiritual presence. You could have tried talking to them, you know. Those angels are my sisters.

Kimiko... obviously didn't know that. Why didn't Miaoshan mention that earlier? Why didn't Coyote say anything?

Naturally, these would be pretty weird questions to ask aloud, so she shelves the idea for now and focuses on Shiro's limp. "Is everyone alright?" she asks in a whisper.

I'm not sure what the appropriate procedure is for dealing with physical consequences. [roll3]+4 (Clever) is what she uses on physical ailments if a roll is called for, but I should probably ask about more specifics OOC.

[AtS]

After leaping through the doorway with the rest of the group, Ryoma takes a moment to pat himself down while he takes in the new surroundings. At Kimiko's question, he nods. "Yeah, I think I'm still in one piece. And let me help you out with that," he says, walking over to help her tend to Shiro's wounds. With curious eyes, he watches as each footstep sends a cascade of black and white ripples that dissipate into the surroundings. He quizzically arches an eyebrow at this strange effect, but then he returns his focus to the task at hand. Grimacing at Shiro's injury, he tears off a sleeve of his mesh outfit to use as binding. His eyes widen as the outfit instantly repairs itself, the sleeve reappearing unmolested in an instant. "Huh. Didn't expect that to happen..." Ryoma mutters quietly to himself, offering the shred of fabric to Kimiko.

Coyote blinks out of existence overhead and teleports to Ryoma's feet, curling up like a cat. "That was pretty fun. Let's do some more fighting soon!" he says, yawning with a wide-open mouth.

Ryoma will aid Kimiko for a +1, if possible.

[DaedalusMkV]

Kaede jumps through the complete door in a diving roll, coming to her feet with surprising grace, and settles into a low crouch as she scans the new surroundings. For a few moments she doesn't do anything except look around and take a few deep, measured breaths, baton held low at the ready. Kimiko and Ryoma break her reverie as they begin talking and moving to help Shiro, and she relaxes a bit, folding up her weapon and slipping it back into its holster at her belt. A few moments pass, and then she begins... Chuckling. She laughs for a few seconds, closing her eyes and bending over a bit, then gets herself under control and turns to face the others. "Okay? I feel great. That was awesome! Hah. Maaan, that got my blood pumping." She at least has the presence of mind to keep her voice quiet, but the excitement in her tone is plain to hear.

Kaede doesn't even seem to notice Shiro's injuries, or at the very least doesn't acknowledge them. "So, what do we do now? Sneak past the dragon or something?"

[Hazuki]

Shiro seats himself on one of the vague shapes while Kimiko tends to his leg. "Thanks." He says, as he takes in the sights of the gym. "I'm happy you're happy, Hunter." Adds the heavily injured boy.

[AtS]

Seeing that Shiro is in good hands with Kimiko, Ryoma stands. "Looks like you've got a knack with bandages, Ghost. Maybe your codename should actually be Mummy." Ryoma laughs a little at his lame joke, then adjusts his massive, oversized visor. He peers at the three thickest colored lines that form a path on the floor, stooping over to touch the shape on the ground. "So, there's the creature, for sure. But, isn't this Yamamura Academy's Gym? I wish I had paid a bit better attention to the layout when Kagune-senpai gave us the tour. These strange lines lead somewhere, so I'm inclined to follow..." With a gesture, he indicates toward the lines on the ground. He takes a few careful steps following the thickest line, until he arrives at the opened door through which it leads. Sidling up against the wall, he peeks around the doorframe, trying to avoid disturbing anything in the adjoining room while also getting a good glimpse of what's through the doorway.

[Hazuki]

Ryoma sees a long room stretch out before him. The floor is dark wood, the walls black velvet, but what catches his eye most is the array of faces sticking out of the walls. They're pure white, like they've been made out of wax, and vary from small to dominating the height of one of the four walls. The thickest line that he's been following leads up to the largest of the faces, going up over its bottom lip and into its mouth. He recognizes the face from the pictures he's seen of Saito Aoi. It's her.

[AtS]

Startled by the unexpected contents, Ryoma quickly withdraws from peeking into the hallway and tiptoes his way back to the others. "That hallway is filled with... Faces. Like they're made of wax, affixed to the walls! They're all different sizes, and the biggest one? It's Saito Aoi! The line that I followed, it leads into her mouth!" he says, his voice a shaky, raspy whisper.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Kimiko smiles at the mummy joke and can’t help but be infected by Kaede’s excitement. “Well, it wouldn’t be too far off...”

Everyone seems more or less intact by the time Ryoma gets back and delivers the weird scouting news.

“I guess it kind of makes sense... We can see the paths she knows to walk from memory and some faces she knows by touch. Meaning either one path dead-ended with our wild card or she blocked it off to hide something.”

She looks over again at the big lop-eared note-taker. The dragon seems like they might actually be helpful.

“...let’s try talking this time.” The fact that you can’t really sneak through a door that’s being so closely watched plays a factor in this decision. She gets everyone together to approach the scroll monster and ask one opening question.

“Any luck?”

[Hazuki]

"Patience, patience, it'll all come out..." The creature answers, its voice somehow shrill and struggled despite its demeanor. It suddenly pauses its tapping and turns its head around to peer at Kimiko with it slit-like eyes. "Hmph. Newcomers."

[DaedalusMkV]

Kaede doesn't seem to know how to respond to Shiro's comment. Her mouth hangs open for a moment as she considers, then simply shrugs and says nothing. When Ryoma comes back with news of a hallway filled with faces she takes a moment to jog over and take a look for herself. By the time she gets back, Kimiko is already approaching the dragon-woman at the end of the gym. Surprisingly, the... Whatever it is doesn't actually attack immediately upon Kimiko approaching, and when it looks like the situation isn't going to erupt into a fight immediately Kaede approaches from behind and asks quietly.

"I... Don't suppose you'd be willing to tell us what's going on here?"

[Hazuki]

"I can spare...a moment." The creature says. "I am The Ties That Bind. I was drawn to this place some time ago. There were others, then, but they got in the way - tried to influence things. Corrupt these memories." It runs its long fingers along some of the scrolls that adorn it. "I couldn't allow that, so they're dead, and so will you be - if you do the same."

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

"I see..." Ghost goes over a few possible reasons for this in her head.

This one was drawn here; it wasn't here originally. It killed someone, thinking they were corrupting the memories. That someone wasn't necessarily benign themselves, but the fact remains that the memories have been moved.

"Wouldn't it be better to keep the scrolls where you found them? I'd think they could get damaged if you drag them around everywhere."

[Hazuki]

"What? No. These are my notes." The Ties That Bind once more runs its hands down some of the scrolls. "I would never disturb the memories themselves."

[AtS]

Ryoma joins the others warily, the imposing form of the creature somewhat intimidating. "C'mon, don't be a wimp. I'll back you up if and when things go south..." Coyote whispers his unique kind of reassurance in Ryoma's ear from his perch around the boy's shoulders. He's draped his slender lupine body like a sort of necklace or boa, lazily hanging there with his head resting against his master's neck. The athlete waits for Kimiko and Kaede to speak and for The Ties That Bind to answer. The creature's response regarding the scrolls is especially intriguing, and Ryoma is driven to ask about them further. "Uh, a-any chance we could take a peek at your notes?" he inquires, his voice slightly shaking. He clears his throat and swallows his fear before continuing. "We're newcomers here, after all, and your wisdom and experience could come in handy. Might help us avoid making waves accidentally."

[Hazuki]

"Just don't try to influence it with your thoughts." The Ties That Bind says with a scowl. "That's all the advice you need. I've got something to do..." It says, as it turns back to the closed door.

[DaedalusMkV]

Kaede looks at the strange woman in front of her for a moment, then shrugs. "Well, I guess that's something. Not sure how it helps us, though... I'm going to take a look through the other doors." She sighs, turning and heading to check out the other two open doors leading away from the gym, the ones Ryoma didn't head through earlier. While she walks she mutters under her breath. "Artorias never mentioned anything about any of this junk... Damn it, I don't know the first thing about puzzles or psychology or whatever. He made it sound so straightforward..."

[Hazuki]

The second line, the one that Kaede follows leads to...a rather conflicting room. With its wall-set seats, standing poles, and embedded windows, it clearly resembles a train cab, though one slightly different to what she's used to on the bullet train. The line she was following has a big circle in this room, then continues out of the opposite end, along with the other lines.

[Dr.Gunsforhands]

Kimiko continues regarding dragon-farnsworth as she ponders the mystery.

"We'll try not to mess with it too much... what are you doing, anyway? Can you not get the door open?"

[Hazuki]

"I will. In time." The Ties That Bind says.