Fandom The City That Never Weeps

[Celestial Speck]

TRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR~!​

When he came to be, all memories of the past hour had been nothing but dreams inside his head.

Hiru's eyes opened from his bed. Their usually tired and half-open appearance seemed different today, and the boy couldn't place his finger on it. Was it perhaps that he surprisingly didn't feel the morning sensation of still being asleep? The strange feeling of surfing between the realm of unconsciousness and consciousness like he always does? No, no. While it was rare, he could feel surprisingly awake at times, yes. So what~ RRRRRRRR~ could~ RRRRRRRRR~ it be~

The sound of the alarm clock ringing next to his ear didn't seem to bother him. As the boy simply stood there, looking up at the ceiling like some sort of coma patient who had just woken up. The noise meant to wake him up that should last only a few seconds before he turned it off seemed to last longer than necessary. Soon, the sound of the alarm clock ringing all over the Namaya household could be heard, as Hiru simply stood there.

"Hiru-? Hiru!" A muffled voice from downstairs called him, seemingly going up the stairs. That caused a reaction. His eyes blinked, as he turned to look at the door of his room. Ah, right, it's...

From the door, came a middle aged- maybe a bit older- man. His grey hair reached his shoulders, and a large portion of it was kept in a ponytail. His face showed that age got to him, but it didn't make him feel old as hell, or with his skin hanging by a thread. It seemed to accentuate a healthy lifestyle with constant aging. A familiar figure, yet as Hiru looked at him as he sat on his bed, he tilted his head. The alarm clock was still ringing.

"Hiru! Why aren't you downstairs? I thought you managed to fall asleep to the sound of the alarm clock, jeez..."

...Kiryu Namaya. Hiru's grandfather and guardian. Now he remembered it. His memory seemed so fuzzy all of a sudden...

Offering a smile that seemed a bit too wide, Hiru put his hands on his mouth and chuckled. "Hehehehe...Sorry, grandpa~ I just woke up...I was going to turn off the alarm clock right now..."

The man raised an eyebrow, before crossing his arms and sighing, adjusting the glasses on his face. "...It's been 3 minutes that your alarm clock has been ringing nonstop, kiddo. I feel like you wouldn't have moved an inch if I didn't come here. Seriously, do you want me to start screaming to the neighborhood?" Despite his tone, there was no malice in his words. Yet, his comment only made Hiru tilt his head. 3 minutes...? It felt less than 1...Wasn't there a term for that? .flow? No, that's a videogame...Flow. A state where the body goes on autopilot, or just--

"Hiru. Hiru. You're spacing out again."

The boy blinked, scratching the back of his head with a chuckle. "Hahaha...Sorry, gramps...This feels so weird...It feels like I've woken up from a dream...I never felt so refreshed..."

The man snorted and offered his grandchild a smile. "If you're like this when you're refreshed, then I don't want to see you when you're completely exhausted." With a nod to his head gesturing to outside the boy's room, Kiryu started to walk downstairs. "C'mon. Breakfast is ready. You gotta go to school today. It ain't Saturday yet."

Ah, right-! School! Despite Hiru's smile not faltering, he couldn't help but remember strange flashes inside his head. A school bus...A cop...A dark mine...A nightmare...A terrible nightmare...

...Ugh, his head hurt just thinking about it. He shouldn't focus too much on that...He'll space out again and make grandpa angry...With relatively quicker speeds to his usual self, Hiru quickly changed from his long pajamas to his usual uniform. A long jacket that covered his hands, (a gift from someone) the usual uniform underneath, eye covers, his phone, his headphones...His bag, his stuff, ahh...Is that all? It should be, it should be...He promised gramps he wouldn't forget anything anymore, and to make gramps happy, he's gotta be determined! With puffed cheeks and a smile, Hiru essentially slid downstairs with notable energy.

It was the usual scene. A little ritual he went through. Grandpa on the table, reading the news on his phone and the local news on his newspaper (somehow), and they chatted for a bit before Hiru went to school, or rather, his grandpa led him there. Despite it being not too far away from his household, Kiryu just felt more comfortable driving Hiru there.

Hiru smiled. "Good morning, grandpa~" The boy said in a drowsy tone, his smile still on his face, as his hands popped out of his jacket like Bobbit worms to snatch some food. Hmmm...Toast...Not the best, but not the worst... "How are you feeling today, grandpa? Are you happy? I hope you're happy today...I'm feeling really fine myself today, y'know!" His voice was filled with energy. Something that Kiryu was not used to. The man blinked and stared at Hiru like he was some sort of alien.

"...You sure you're Hiru? I never saw you speak so loudly before, kiddo." A sip from his coffee, and analytical eyes. It was clear he was trying to figure out what has gotten Hiru, resident narcoleptic in such a strange mood today. But, the boy just chuckled.

"Sorry, gramps! I just feel...Energized today. Like a weight was lifted from my shoulders, I dunno why! It just feels...I dunno, I just feel comfortable today."

The face of Kiryu seemed like a mix. A part of him was eyeing Hiru with suspicion, the other seemed pleased with the fact the boy seemingly felt 'happy' today. Although, he gave an occasional glance at his newspaper, before going back at Hiru, almost as if reading something. Soon, closing it, a smile came from his lips as he gave the boy a pat on the head, messing up his already messy hair even further. "Well, I'm glad you feel that way, Hiru. Any reason as to why?"

"Ah, well, I dunno...I just had a strange dream today, but that's all, really."

"A dream?" Kiryu asked, raising an eyebrow. He had a feeling he's had this conversation with Hiru before. The boy wasn't one to talk about his dreams or his sleep so freely. "...Well, you mind tellin' you old fart 'bout it? Must'a been one hell of a dream if it managed to get you in this mood."

"Hmmm~ Maybe later. I still have to go to school today, don't I? I don't wanna be late~"

Kiryu's other brow was raised, now making his face form a look of genuine surprise. The words 'I don't want to be late' were never muttered by Hiru before. At least not in such a serious tone before. After all, it was Hiru. If he gained a 1000 Yen every time he fell asleep or overslept, he wouldn't have a lot but it would still be weird. But...Regardless of that... "...Mrghm-" He cleared his throat, and at the same time, his surprise.

"...Right. About that. Hiru, you mind walkin' to school by yourself today? I gotta pick up a friend from work and I feel like we'd take too much time if I'd be bringing you as well. I don't mind, I just feel like you'd end up late, aye? You don't want to end up in detention, do you?"

The boy blinked. His smile was gone for a moment, as he tilted his head. "Detention? Didn't I..."

...

"...Hmm~ Nevermind~! It's no problems, gramps! I remember the way to school...I'll arrive there in no time, I promise you!"

"You sure? I don't want you gettin' lost, kiddo. I don't want to end up havin' to drag your butt from the Red Light District." Kiryu insisted on the fact it wasn't a good idea, despite being the one who suggested it in the first place. A part of him regretted telling Hiru that.

"I'll be fine, don't worry! I know I sleep in the car a lot...But believe in me, gramps!" With a strangely enthusiastic smile, Hiru offered a grin, and a thumbs up, as eating his last piece of toast, he got up from his chair, putting his backpack on. "Now, go on, gramps! I probably took too much of our time with my spacing out. We better get going! I love you!" With a hug towards Kiryu, who seemed surprised yet again by this gesture, Hiru made his way towards the door.

"Ah, Hiru, wait!"

The boy did so. Midway through opening the door to the outside, he looked back at Kiryu, a confused expression on his face, as he awaited his grandfather to tell him what was wrong.

Kiryu seemed to struggle with the correct words to say for a moment, before sighing, shaking his head. Soon, a smile was given towards his grandson, doing its best to have the same level of energy as Hiru, despite the muscles on his face growing old. "...Stay safe, alright? And don't feel afraid to call gramps if something goes wrong. I'll come over no matter what."

Hiru smiled, and with a nod, he made his way outside.

That day, things felt awfully different for me.
Maybe it was the crayon-colored sky.
Maybe the clouds that looked like I could touch them if I tiptoed enough.
Or maybe the warm and comfortable sun in the sky that I could look at without burning my eyes.
I never felt happier. But deep down, I knew something felt odd.
I didn't lie to gramps. I was happy because it felt like something was weighted from my shoulders.
Something that I loved deeply.
Something I promised to remember.
Even that beautiful dream, where it felt like I could do anything, lacked that.
I realized too late I wasn't happy. I never had felt so...
Hollow.​

 

[Aegis]

5/14
Wednesday
7:00PM

Elixir-777, an unforgettable experience for any who enter residing in a rather forgettable alleyway when composing the symphony that makes up the sounds and sights of Kayatomi, this was the name of the bar that cared no mind to the patron as long as they had the cash and the balls to handle the scum-ridden underground of reality. Funny that the place people count on to drown out their lives in a splash of alcohol is that realest place one can visit. The alleyway outside is guarded by a mere chain-link fence with a door affixed in the center. Walking up to E-777 (as some call it) is as unassuming as walking down any alley—you might get stabbed, or hell maybe even Spider-man will dangle down from the nearby rooftop, beat up a couple thugs, kiss you, and then be on his merry way but really E-777 is no place for heroes. A roof-like construct slithers down the alleyway and prevents any rain from mucking up the entrance as two gutters run alongside it and bucket the rainwater into small grates on either side of the alleyway. Some have compared this to a hidden entrance unlocked only by parting a waterfall, but the treasure within is a viper coiling to strike and tear down your life with crippling addiction, sex, drugs, and bad choices. E-777 is not for the faint of heart or the adventurous. E-777 is not a place for anyone with common sense or a lingering taste of morality. E-777 is a place for people who want to be different. E-777 is a place to forget about everything else and relax in the opium-laced smoke of growing the fuck up—if you can even get in. Invitation only keeps out the simps and brings in the pimps, or the ones they trust.

After passing through the gates of hell, you’ll be greeted with an open room like a cave snugly crouched in between the mess of space left behind by a crummy city planner’s design. This extra space was swept up, roofed, and carpeted with crimson fabrics made to look like Indian silk but imported from China. Aside from the low-lit fluorescent bulbs that glaze the room in a pink glow, E-777 maintains a dark and introspectively numbing atmosphere for the booths that line the walls to the left and right of the room. The cave swallows up your mind and its well-dressed employees squeeze you for every dollar you’re worth because when the place looks classy, feels sophisticated, and you’re drunk—then it is something more than just a black hole you’re sliding dollar bills into the g-strap of while your wife sits at home nursing the third child you never should have had. Hey, at least the make-up sex was good. Speaking of g-straps, if exotic dancing is on your mind then Elixir-777 has the jig for you my friend. Two stages are impaled by a pole and presented at approximately twelve feet and three inches apart from each other in the center of E-777. Music kicks from speakers protruding from the roof as dancers take turns providing entertainment for the guests, but never nude shows. There are kids in the club after all. If your eyes can make the journey toward the back of the establishment then you’ll see a bar flanked on both sides by stools. Assuming you approached it head-on from the entrance it also has a part where a customer might stand to enjoy his 700 Yen cocktail if he can hold his liquor and avoid making a mess of both himself and the glass containing his drink when he falls over. The back wall is inset with layers of shelves each lined with anything from cheap beer to “damn I just wasted a paycheck and I don’t care”. This is where we find Rhyme.


Rhyme stood behind the counter doing his best to maintain a disinterested, yet receptive customer service smile. He had learned in his few months here that anyone coming into the bar was nobody that he wanted to know on a personal level. This was just business and he was in the position of fueling it- nothing more. His hand reached under the counter and produced three shots glasses as he walked them over to the right side of the bar and placed them in front of the third stool from the left as he spotted a regular creep his way into the bar. “The usual, Kousuke?” Dry words printed from Rhyme’s mouth while he turned to take a bottle of whiskey from the shelf behind him.

“Something stronger,” The man waved his hand in dismissal of the boy’s previous offer “I have some shit to work through tonight.”
“Here we go.” Sighed Rhyme on the inside as he swept his hand along the glass wall of bottles in the shelf until he arrived at vodka. The bottle almost danced in his hand as he flourished it around toward that bar and in two motions took the lid off and filled the man’s shot glasses. Rhyme went to place the bottle back on the shelf, but the man reached out and took him by the sleeve sending a jolt of shock through him before he witnessed the defeat stomping out the light in the man’s eyes. He gave him the bottle and positioned himself a few steps away from the man. His hand fished into the pocket of his dress pants and recovered a handkerchief that he proceeded to wipe the place a rather sloppy customer had been a few minutes ago. Then, the regular started on his story. Rhyme nodded along as he focused on the work before him only acknowledging with the occasional “Uh-hmm” or “Yeah” as the regular used the alcohol to spill his guts. He wasn’t really invested in the details. He never was. Just something to keep him occupied and play into the ambiance of E-777 on a Friday night. Really, they were just going through the motions and that’s all they ever did. Tonight, it seems, was the continuation to the long saga that is the regular’s failing marriage. His wife finally took the house and kids and here he was spending what little he had after the divorce on alcohol, and if Rhyme knew this regular, a bag of coke to take back to his hotel. The student never stuck his hands into any of that though; serving the alcohol is just business for Rhyme. Remorse does not keep his bed warm at night because Rhyme bears no responsibility for decimating these people’s lives. They do it themselves. It’s business. Just business. The suit he was wearing that made him look like a dealer at a casino was purchased with the proceeds acquired from said business and his paycheck was very happily accepted knowing his next meal was being purchased with the essence of people’s lives. It was just business.

Rhyme pondered this fact to himself as the regular finally shut up. He was proper drunk now and he always got quieter when he was like this. Rhyme scanned the room after wiping down the table and noticed they weren’t particularly busy for a Friday night, but the unusually soothing music playing on the speakers made for a quiet and social mood. The few customers that were present, however, were “happily” chatting away with one another at separate corners of the bar providing a buzz to the atmosphere of E-777 even without the dancers as they weren’t there this early in the evening.

The young student spent the better part of an hour rotating drinks and waiting for things to pick up during the city’s teeming night-life hours. However, as he droned about his duties someone came behind the bar. Rhyme snapped his head up to ask them what they were doing noticing a familiar face. Jeremy Rodriguez, the owner of E-777 and a Mexican American immigrant to Japan who grew up cutting drugs in a cartel, whose word was the law everyone followed upon entering the Pandora’s Box of E-777. For an ex-cartel member still sporting a 3.7 million USD bounty placed on him by the cartel for stealing the money he needed to start Elixir-777, he was a good, if not intimidating guy.

“Your tie is crooked, amigo. Let me fix it up, yeah?” Jeremy walked up to the young man and took him firmly by the collar of his uniform as he began straightening out the tie hanging from Rhyme’s neck.

“Sorry, sir.” Rhyme let out a formal, emotionless response. He felt his hands getting sweaty from Jeremy’s intimidating presence and he wished this would be over quickly despite the generous gesture. Jeremy’s hospitality quickly froze before Rhyme’s cold reaction as he responded in a thick Latino accent “Don’t be sorry: Be better. It’s our reputation, si?”

“Of course, sir.”

“Great. Lookin’ sharp. Keep up the good work.”

Like that, Jeremy vanished into the back of the club.

Rhyme sighed as relief permeated his body for a moment and he melted into the bar. He hated standing out like that. This is how it should be: Just following the motions and blending in. Either way, customers were now arriving, and he had work to do.

( Showtime Jet BriiAngelic Blemmigan )​

 

[The Regal Rper]

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Erasmus | The Site​

New song. New beat. Steps matching to that sick heat he was slinking along with the clacks and baps, soul on fire, world so bright, all while making sure he was out of sight.

Eras bobbed on his heels to the tune in his ears and counted the seconds as he watched feet pass on by. Ever so slowly he poked his head out of the racks, hidden among a collection of clothes. A group walked on by, splitting like bugs and moving in different directions. The closest he saw spotted gold glowing eyes and for a brief moment he sunk back into his camouflage and counted the seconds till he reached 60. Only then did he part the blanket of XL shirts and step through the metal rack carefully to look around in the open.

No one. The game was now hide and seek. If they caught him the jig was up. All he had to do was reach the exit and then speed walk across three streets to reach the school. Time was of the essence and he had to move fast because the moment one of them spotted him they would all come rushing. Like fangirls and fanboys at a rock band concert.

Crouching low and moving quick, the wind instruments tune had a nice rhythm to sneak to. Erasmus poked his head out, looked around, heard footsteps and did a dive into a stack of clothes, blending right in as a person walked on by unawares.

I need a disguise or I'll never get out of here, he decided. And a disguise was exactly what he gathered. Hat, jacket, shirt, shoes, Erasmus went like a shark in a circle swiping clothes in a way Swiper The Fox would be proud all while actually avoiding his pursuers as he moved.

With little to no trouble he slipped inside the changing rooms, checked for feet behind stalls, and after finding one empty, quietly slipped inside. Donning his disguise.


In disguise with a hoodie, jacket, hat, and scarf, topped off with a wig and dressed in nothing but black, Eramus exited carefully.



Shoulders and head bobbing to the rhythm as he exited the changing rooms and leaned in to take a look at his east and west. When the coast was clear, he sunk back into the changing room, out of sight to anyone and then jumped out to the open walkway, shooting fingerguns at two mannequins on the other side about four feet across him, unaware that a kid had stopped to see the strange man posing at two mannequins Erasmus began hip thrusting in perfect sexual sync to the beat. A clear symbolic sign to any dancer out there that he was boundless and this game of tag was ultimately won. Only one true lyric reaching his mind in that exact moment:

Dancin!​

Thus began each step met with a thrust in the air. Sauntering his way with every drum beat and guitar flick, Erasmus performed the hip thrust waddle for several paces, earning a distracted woman's glance, one he was glad to see did not have yellow eyes as he merely winked since that was honestly the only part of his face she could see. It would have continued like this had something in his head not clicked that he should be running, not showing off what years of indoor training and practice could bring to the dance floor, especially in a public area.

Straightening up, Erasmus dusted his totally not about to be stolen jacket, and began snapping as he walked swiftly towards the exit.

The moment he passed through the door the sensors went off to alert a cashier noiselessly, in the same instant her eyes flashed yellow and the dead, unamused gaze she had probably been holding since work started vanished into a wide eyes look that ended with the pop of her bubblegum.

"FREEZE THIEF!" she cried.

For one second, he did, thinking he had been caught. Instead, Erasmus' pause led to a swift dab, and immediately he was out the door.

Walking swiftly towards the exit and sticking with a crowd of passing teens, he snapped and shimmied by their side. Slipping by a single person that had been left to guard the doors, their yellow eyes passing over him as he kept his head bobbing but kept his eyes cast low and thankfully his disguise had worked perfectly.

The moment he felt the sunlight and fresh air, he broke off from the group like a steed on a mission.



Like a cowboy on the ranch, Erasmus grabbed invisible reins and whipped the air as he giddied on down the sidewalk, turning his mossy into a canter as someone shouted from behind him "there he is!"

The proper response to this was to twirl his cap like a cowboy, and bolt. So bolt he did. The chase was once again on and like a western saddle rider, Erasmus was chased down the sidewall, crossing one street just as the light went red and turning to see his pursuers were still after him.

Sticking his arm out as he saw a chance Erasmus grabbed the light pole of a traffic light and using momentum swung himself into literal traffic that was about to move forward. Screams of car honks hit him like a wave but as he ran inbetween the vehicles, Erasmus found that his rather charming display of bravery had worked, forcing his chasers to stick to the sidewalks as he went to the other side of the street. It was practically child's play to cross the second one and in the distance he could see the school gates ahead. Taking his cap off and tossing it because he was really working up a sweat now, Erasmus made his way towards the school's gates as the light went red--

Heard the screech of tires, tried to jump backwards out of the way, and got hit by a silent firetruck instead.

Flipped over in a lopsided fashion Erasmus hit the ground rolling, twisting, spinning and when he finally came to- the music no longer mattered. His breathe was heavy, his vision was fading, the titling that had been pleasant in his body for the first time stung, and just as he was about to truly scream he saw a blurry casing of gold, and felt himself being dragged, lifted by multiple hands, placed on something soft and then--

"We finally caught you."

He had a nice nap.

Mentions: n/a

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[Blemmigan]

Seigen Hayashi (CS)
Location: Elixir-777
-

This place is disgusting.

Oh, it looked passable enough, and most of the surfaces were at least capable of being wiped down, but there was a cloying air of tackiness that made Seigen's skin crawl. He didn't really want to touch anything.

But it was obvious why it attracted one particular group: underage drinkers weren't out of place somewhere like this. Unless they were dressed like they were visiting their grandparents and looked as though they wanted a piece of newspaper to cover the seat with. At least the two classmates he was with were better at looking like they wanted to be there.

"You do it, Hayashi," one of them said. "Buy us... get us three beers."

That was the real reason he had been dragged here, of course. He had money, and he looked old enough for his classmates to pass the responsibility of ordering alcohol over to him. He was older: only by a year, but he talked and acted like somebody who was already disappointed by life. Or at least, like somebody who wasn't losing their mind over discovering a bar that would serve minors.

"Fine," Seigen answered, and walked up to the taps while the other two hung back.

The boy standing there looked no older than him, which went some way to explaining the complete lack of care over age. And it meant he probably went to the school, but Seigen didn't know him, and didn't expect to be known either.

"Whichever beer you sell to students who want to brag about it, please," he said, as politely as possible. It seemed accurate. "But strong." The faster they got drunk and decided this was a bad idea, the faster they could all leave. "Two of those, and one water."

True, he could leave them here now. But that wasn't his way, just like how he knew he was here for convenience rather than companionship, and didn't care that they didn't try to hide it. Seigen was going through the motions of a sociable school life and seeing if anything came of it. And...

And, well a part of him was curious about this place and where the evening was headed, even if it was hidden underneath a veritable landslide of disgust.

-
With Aegis

 

[Thepotatogod]

--Ross Aisatsu--
Interaction: Toro( Jet ), Junichi( BriiAngelic )

"Haha, yes!" Ross prematurely celebrated as he saw the winged creep be pushed back by him and his Persona, who continued their idle waltz as he stood up from his breakdance kick, soon seeing that he's in danger as the winged figure then conjured what seems to be spears of holy light. "Aw crap!" Ross gulped, and like a Power Ranger, he backflipped his way out of danger, realigning himself with the other two as Franz spun in front of him, soon spinning the manequin forth in a twirl as a kaleidoscope visage clashed with the last light spear, followed by the eye pushing forward. Shortly afterwards, Franz then disappeared in a blue light. Somehow, using that particular move caused the Persona itself to disappear.

"No guns here, man!" Ross answered Junichi, asking about a gun, soon noticing the one with the afro's sweet glowing red samurai armor, soon giving them the plot to rush the guy. "Sure! Just watch where you're swinging that knife, alright?" Ross gulped as he followed Toro's lead, rushing forth as he tried to will his Persona out, clutching his chest as he circled the bird man.

. . .

Ross tucked and rolled, followed by a somersault to dodge one of the attacks. Soon enough, he got behind he creature.

. . .

"How do you summon it again?!" Ross couldn't help but ask as performed a round house kick at the angel's backside. Soon hopping back before calling its name, "Come on, Franz!" A red string materialized around Ross, and in a burst of light, Franz Coppelia reappeared, rushing in a foxtrot before launching themselves with a kick.

 

[CapRock]

Shirou Lancaster

Taking the new baby for a ride.

Interacting with: Jordan Midrick Alex Jeef_jones GM Veradana

When Shirou first came to his senses, it was hard to believe it hadn’t been all a dream; yet, believing or not, he was now face to face with King Arthur in his full appearance. He took a quick glance around - cringing at the horrible smell - and saw both Jordan and Alex there with him, also boasting now their own personas. Had he always remembered their names this well? He wasn’t sure.
“Hey, you two. Any idea what the fuck is going on?” Shirou asked.
Not shortly after, the strange figure caught in the red ribbon showed up, and then dismantled itself into a monster. As if the day hadn’t been crazy enough already. This was far beyond anything he had ever known so far, and, maybe because of that, it felt as though as if it called for a different approach as well. The young man nodded for King Arthur, who hesitated not a second before leaping into the way of the icy attack, taking the blunt of its blow in Alex’ stead. in response, Shirou instantly winced and grabbed his shoulder, falling on one knee.
“What…?” He glanced at King Arthur, whose armor was encased in ice and cracking at its fringes. It simply nodded in confirmation. “Well, this just sucks ass. Stay behind me, I’ll take this little shit down.”

 

[Jet]

Keona 'Aukai



Guest starring Moby the car!


​

Windows down Keona swerved through traffic, blasting music like a party bus. Quaking storefronts her song shook the area but locals raved despite their age-gap and foreign culture! Going crazy they head-bobbed horizontally while punching air like wasted fans forming a mosh-pit on the street. Keona was super-stoked by the energetic residents and they knew lyrics too, yelling them out as she darted past! Almost right they added words in translation but the attempt was so admirable it made the student blush. Shouting — "shut it off and drive normal" they were so close to Rihanna's own,

"Now shut up and drive-drive-drive, shut up and drive-drive-drive"

The culture blend amazed Keona as she cut lanes like a hummingbird through stacked cars. Avoiding their bumpers required finesse on the filled street but Aukai's talent was lucky, and below skyscrapers she redlined to catch a fresh yellow light. Driving double speed's limit the distance evaporated fast and she narrowly caught the changing signal with Moby's transmission screaming like a dying giraffe in the background. Unfortunately for him the suffering was tough-titties, they had somewhere to be and would be there fast.

She was not gonna be late meeting her boyfriend after the drama. Cam was pissed and for good reason after the past week's bullshit. Making him wait was insult to injury so she drove hard, clamping the wheel with undue strength from anxiety and self criticism. Damn relationships were so annoying half the time; having to worry about someone's mindset dragged but that didn't pardon the last five days. Excused by me-time her solo adventure was fine after explanation, but ghosting texts for endless hours wasn't. Focused on climbing trails and rockface she blanked on getting back and now everything was so tense! Cam wouldn't get a written apology any time ever, but Keona hoped a few rounds and alone time would do the trick. He deserved effort and hey; drinks were fun!

Well being drunk was fun anyway and Keona tasted cocktails in the wind. Sure the bar served basement shelf battery-acid made from boiled leather and shoebox but the ABV went hard. Hype welled inside the girl who wondered which poison marked today's daily special. Keona hoped for something insane while parking afront Elixer's alley, scouting for Cam's car but "where is he" she muttered after a moment. Her punctual boyfriend ran late and pulling phone from aux-cable Keona killed her music with a static burst. Opening inbox she wanted to send a simple "wya" message but held back after seeing a text from seven minutes past that read —

"My car is having a problem and you know my dad wont give me a ride to a bar IM SO PISSED but I'll see you tomorrow at school! Love you weirdo!"

Keona didn't know what to think. Assuming honesty she trusted Cameron but good lord there was doubt. Making stories about car trouble wasn't really his style but she sighed unsure of what to believe. Slipping under black emotive clouds Keona wobbled on a toxic precipice but then BOOM, suddenly she smiled wide like a bandit! Cutting Moby's engine our girl twice pat the dashboard with a friendly palm, joking "When in Rome right? No-one's gonna steal you out here with all your rust Mobester, I'll see you tomorrow!" and sparing loiter she moved like an off-brand flash.

Hopping from her rustbucket she locked the door and was soon inside the bar without a hitch. Keona knew what to expect after previous visits but the baroque atmosphere still unnerved her. Everything down to the carpet raised eyebrows; Keona shuddered to think what a black-light would reveal. Gross was the overall impression and 70s porn-theater the vibe but hey, they served underage people and thats what mattered! Hopefully the demonic owners of mock-hell didn't also serve underage people after kidnapping them and Keona prayed for non-spiked liquor as she asked for "rum and coke, make it a double" with forced composure as she slid on a barstool.

 

[Aegis]

Rhyme Ryujin
Location: Elixir-777 (behind the bar)
[ Interacting with Seigen ( Blemmigan ) and Keona ( Jet ) ]

The bar's music picked up as people began filling the establishment:

Lights that were affixed to the roof began to glaze everything in a neon light that kicked to the sound of the beat. The light provided a nice visual effect to each person as Rhyme entered into an internal narrative on each customer that entered. Each face that parted the entryway into the E-777 was someone he had seen time and time again: Mr. Hyers going on his third marriage, Mrs-- excuse me, Ms. Hayazaki looking for a hook-up, or even the rarely seen Mr. Hayamoto who hadn't had a drop since he found his new girlfriend. Rhyme settled on him for a moment before a morbid thought splashed into his stream of thought "It can't be... she didn't get with his best friend? I know they were drinking together the other night but..." Rhyme's cheeks flushed a bit with shared embarrassment as he hung his head in mourning over the guy's lost love-life.

Then, a new guy showed up with a group of kids that Rhyme remembered were too nervous to order drinks last time they came in, so instead they ordered soda and stared at a dancer like they'd never seen a woman before.
His eyes trailed the kid's figure as he approached from the murk of cigarette smoke that pervaded E-777. He wasn't expecting much to say the least.

​

This place is disgusting.

Oh, it looked passable enough, and most of the surfaces were at least capable of being wiped down, but there was a cloying air of tackiness that made Seigen's skin crawl. He didn't really want to touch anything.

But it was obvious why it attracted one particular group: underage drinkers weren't out of place somewhere like this. Unless they were dressed like they were visiting their grandparents and looked as though they wanted a piece of newspaper to cover the seat with. At least the two classmates he was with were better at looking like they wanted to be there.

"You do it, Hayashi," one of them said. "Buy us... get us three beers."

That was the real reason he had been dragged here, of course. He had money, and he looked old enough for his classmates to pass the responsibility of ordering alcohol over to him. He was older: only by a year, but he talked and acted like somebody who was already disappointed by life. Or at least, like somebody who wasn't losing their mind over discovering a bar that would serve minors.

"Fine," Seigen answered, and walked up to the taps while the other two hung back.

The boy standing there looked no older than him, which went some way to explaining the complete lack of care over age. And it meant he probably went to the school, but Seigen didn't know him, and didn't expect to be known either.

"Whichever beer you sell to students who want to brag about it, please," he said, as politely as possible. It seemed accurate. "But strong." The faster they got drunk and decided this was a bad idea, the faster they could all leave. "Two of those, and one water."

True, he could leave them here now. But that wasn't his way, just like how he knew he was here for convenience rather than companionship, and didn't care that they didn't try to hide it. Seigen was going through the motions of a sociable school life and seeing if anything came of it. And...

And, well a part of him was curious about this place and where the evening was headed, even if it was hidden underneath a veritable landslide of disgust.

Rhyme let the student's words stew a bit as he rolled his tongue in annoyance. He's here to serve not to pick for a couple of kids out of their maturity league. The bartender let out a sharp exhale that signaled to the student he was unhappy with his request and ran him over with a cold stare as he reached under the counter and placed two mugs on top before fiddling around with a cooler he had just for this type of situation. "Two beers..." His voice dragged and was devoid of interest as it was doused in a frank manner that showed he had better things to do with more valued customers. Yet, as he looked back behind the boy who was all kinds of "ready to leave" by this point, he saw his two dip-shit friends gawking at him with the most third-wheel look imaginable. Damn. He felt bad for this new guy, so he pulled out a couple stronger beers that had more sugar added in fermentation like the kid asked. Rhyme stood up and with a bottle in each hand he slung them down on bottle-cap tools he had built into the counter and popped them open with a bit of flair as he spun them around in his hand like a cowboy showing off his gun-play. Somehow managing to avoid spilling a drop, Rhyme filled each mug with a more average technique. He discarded the empty bottles into a bin with a blasé toss and slid the mugs forward to the boy. "... and a soda on the house." His voice was calmer and more open to conversation now as he produced a bottle of ginger ale and filled another, frosted mug with it.

"Enjoy," The bartender gave the student a "hang in there" wink "that'll be 1300 yen."
​

Pedal and windows down, Keona weaved through traffic with her music booming like a party bus. Shaking storefronts the song quaked earth but the locals raved despite their age and entirely seperate culture! Many pedestrians head-bobbed horizontally as she passed, and punching air they obsessed over Rihanna's music. Keona was stoked by the awesome residents, they actually knew lyrics too and yelled them out as she drove!
Almost right they added words in translation but the attempt was so admirable it made the student blush. Screaming "shut it off and drive normal" they were so close to Rihanna's own —

"Now shut up and drive-drive-drive, shut up and drive-drive-drive"

The culture blend amazed Keona as she cut lanes like a hummingbird through other cars. Avoiding their bumpers required finesse on the filled street but Aukai's talent was lucky, and below skyscrapers she redlined to catch a fresh yellow light. Pushing at double speed's limit the distance evaporated fast to fire past the changing signal with Moby's transmission screaming out for help. Unfortunately for him the suffering was tough-titties, they had somewhere to be and would be there fast.

She was not gonna be late meeting her boyfriend after the drama. Cam was pissed and for good reason after the past week's bullshit. Making him wait was insult to injury so she drove hard, clamping the wheel with undue strength from anxiety and self criticism. Damn relationships were so annoying half the time; having to worry about someone's mindset dragged but that didn't pardon the last five days. Excused by me-time her solo adventure was fine after explanation, but ghosting texts for endless hours wasn't. Focused on climbing trails and rockface she blanked on getting back and now everything was so tense! Cam wouldn't get a written apology any time ever, but Keona hoped a few rounds and alone time would do the trick. He deserved effort and hey; drinks were fun!

Well being drunk was fun anyway and Keona tasted cocktails in the wind. Sure the bar served basement shelf battery-acid made from boiled leather and shoebox but the ABV went hard. Hype welled inside the girl who wondered which poison marked today's dailt special. She hoped for the insane while parking outside Elixer's alley, scouting for Cam's car but "where is he" she muttered after a moment. Her punctual boyfriend ran late and pulling phone from aux-cable Keona killed her music with a static burst. Opening her inbox she wanted to send a simple "wya" message but stopped short after seeing a text received seven minutes past that went —

"My car is having a problem and you know my dad wont give me a ride to a bar IM SO PISSED but I'll see you tomorrow at school! Love you weirdo!"

Keona didn't know what to think. She assumed honesty but good lord there was doubt. Making stories about car trouble wasn't Cam's style yet the girl sighed unsure of what to believe. Slipping below black clouds she wobbled on a toxic precipice but then BOOM, suddenly Keona smiled wide like a bandit! Cutting Moby's engine she twice pat the dashboard with a friendly palm, joking "When in Rome right? No-one's gonna steal you out here with all your rust Mobester, I'll see you tomorrow!" and without wasting time she moved like an off-brand flash.

Hopping from her rustbucket she locked the door and was soon inside the bar without a hitch. Keona knew what to expect after previous visits but the baroque atmosphere still unnerved her. Everything down to the carpet raised eyebrows; Keona shuddered to think what a black-light would reveal. Gross was overall impression and 70s porn-theater the vibe but hey; they served underage people and thats what mattered! Hopefully the demonic owners of mock-hell didn't also serve underage people after kidnapping them and Keona prayed for non-spiked liquor as she asked for "rum and coke, make it a double" with forced composure as she slid on a barstool.

"Rum and coke coming right up!" Rhyme responded out of sheer reflex as he began preparing the drink without even looking to see who asked for it. He glanced in the direction of the request as he poured the cola over ice and into a glass he had placed on the table and noticed it was a customer he had seen several times, but usually in the company of a boy. "No company today?" He asked her as he walked over to the side of the counter with stools placing the cola in front of her as he fished Bacardi out from the shelf behind him. He twisted around like a skater on ice flourishing the bottle as he mixed it with the cola. Waiting for a response, he went for a lime and crushed the juice out over the the drink while he stuck and stirred it with a straw for good measure. Rhyme gave her a good look and noticed she seem oddly upbeat for someone drinking alone, or was that just a cover-up?​

 

[BriiAngelic]

• Sachie Miyamoto || Hierophant Arcana

• 
  
  
  Persona: Unawakened
  Status: N/A
  Current Buffs: N/A
  
  Interacting With:
  Rhyme ( Aegis ), Etsu - Text ( Haz. )
  Around:
  Keona ( Jet ) Seigen ( Blemmigan )
  

  ~ Elixir-777 ~
  Anthology || Sachie's CS File
  
  City lights. Pinging of the game Kaio had on at full blast downstairs. Arguments coming from Naruhito and The Woman. She kicked her closet door open and went in. Racks on racks of pretty clothes. She kicked the pile of more modest clothing, it's only use was to keep Kaio off her back but luckily he was distracted for now. She grabbed a shimmery mesh rainbow top and looked for a cute skirt to pair with it. A plain white a-line would work. Her butterfly set underwear would be best. Set it up with her some wide net fishnet stockings and ankle pump boots with rainbow laces and she had a whole outfit.
  
  She kicked off her clothes and went to go bathe. Luckily she’d gotten the junior master room once her father moved out. She let out a little tch as she put another scrape in the wall. The bathroom was well, it was covered in marks. Lines in the paint that spoke to her father’s state when he moved out. Each day she failed to get another call from him meant another line in the paint. Annoying. She pulled her hair up after bathing into a nice high ponytail fluffing up to complete the look. She was ready.
  
  The game lowered. Kaio, come on, have something to do for once. She waited to put on her heels til she got down the stairs. From her spot in the stairwell she popped her head out. Cool he was still playing though. She tiptoed her way out. Luckily he had his headphones on full blast. She was stopped only by that woman.
  
  “Just where do you think you’re going sweetie?”
  
  Oh lovely, the fake concern act. She didn’t even bother playing along this time it would just be a regular annoyance. Instead she held her hand out waiting for Midori to drop the car keys in her hand. And while it took a minute she was gifted the keys.
  
  “There we go, now stop the fake Mom act. Go dote on Kaio if you’re feeling maternal for once. Let Naru and Kai know I’ll be back before morning, you know how they worry.”
  
  She didn’t bother to wait around. She was off. She couldn’t drive for shit but that didn’t mean that she wasn’t able to fetch a ride. She took her phone out of her purse and started up a text to her little pimp and floozy pals. It wasn’t long before she had a ride coming down. A guy came running, he was someone who worked down in the host club Haru loved. Luckily that meant he was an easy pushover, Haru dragged him out clubbing with them at least three times before. He was uh… was he Makko? Oh well not like they remembered her name half the time. She tossed the keys in his direction.
  
  “You remember Elixir-777? Take me. I wanna party tonight.”
  
  She heard some babble coming out of his mouth but didn’t really pay much attention to it as she slid into the passenger seat on the left. Tiny little small talk filled the mustang as they drove down only cut through by the music and the soft little pings of texts as Sachie started calling up anyone willing to meet up to come down to Elixir. In a side chat she pulled up with Etsu she made sure to give him his own private invitation. She attached a selfie she took on the way over and then went full on texting.
  
  Hey, we're down at the party place! You comin' should I getchu something nice? Betchu it's alot better than what you can findddddd.
  
  As the car came to a park she got out and blew a kiss to the driver who she still didn’t remember but he was Haru’s mark so even if she did make a pass once or twice like anything else it was just for good fun. She got the keys tossed back to her. She went in and immediately dragged them over to the bar. As usual she slid her keys down to Rhyme who was already bartending.
  
  “Heyyy hot stuff. Can you get me an alexander for me and a manhattan for… Mako? Moko?”
  
  She looked back to the guy on her side and saw a frown come over his face. Oh she musta been hella off then. Oh well she turned back to Rhyme not even caring that he was with another group at the time.
  
  “Anyways get me a Manhattan for Haru’s boy”
  

 

[Haz.]

The warzone rang alive with ricochet percussion. Gold dust hitched the sickly-shade light, splintered photons carried aloft like incisions in the atmosphere. The barrage was indiscriminate, all-encompassing, unceasingly vengeful. That holy radiation, which was rife in the air? It was the gunsmoke of divine artillery. Persistently manifesting. Forever multiplying. A song of Heaven and Earth, where the interval silences stood a rare glimpse back into the material plane, few and far between.
The Archangel's presence now conquered the room, those spread wings so vast they were less like the ink sketched atop a canvas and more the black paper which wrought forth the walls. Those beady eyes--vengeance incarnate--knifed through the dark, red lashed through green, the cruel claymore hoist not far behind its gaze; now its wrath seemed inescapable, and as its footsteps like whales crashing limp drew closer it seemed as though the room was closing all around them.

Then an act of defiance. Contours made themselves manifest around Toro. His whole body sunk darker than the darkness surrounding. Then the lights came alive, neon in the night, a twilight skyline in phantasmal steel. For a moment, the seraph limped back in hesitation--
After all, now it was fair.
Charge - Toro swept through the heavenly hail-fire, Ross hot on his flank. Unweighted, Aki's sprint lacked lumber, missiles sounding at the boys' sides but never connecting, never coming close, the assault increasingly futile, javelins striking, falling deaf.
Clash - the Archangel raised its greatsword and swung. Steel met steel and to its appall the blade was jammed, lodged firmly in the Ethereal Armor. Though the psychic metal caved beneath the edge and Toro shuddered at the impact, his body wouldn't yield, granted fortitude metahuman and shielding beyond any blacksmith. Then a silhouette blinked past its defense and its knee buckled below some unseen impact, and a voice brought down a swift coup de grâce;

"Come on, Franz!"

The red wool spooled serpentine then fell apart to a kick of bladed force - Franz launched in an accelerating waltz, Coppelia inanimate in his arms, then the dancers pirouetted airborne and touched down with entrancing grace. Their strength was concealed by a weightless routine, but their foe would have none of the illusions and fell upon its side, the straps of its armor uncoiled, leaving the Archangel downed and vulnerable to an all-out attack.

Enemy Type: Archangel
Party: Jun'ichi Amano, Toro Aki, Ross Aisatsu
Interacting: BriiAngelic Jet Thepotatogod
Battle Theme:

 

[Blemmigan]

Seigen Hayashi (CS)
Location: Elixir-777
-

Seigen watched with some interest as the boy served the drinks: it was obvious that he rarely if ever went to places like this. Anyone else might have the decency to feel embarrassed to be so obviously out of place, but to Seigen it was like peering into a shop window as you walked past, one that you didn't know existed before. You could look, but nobody expected you to go inside.

Half a second later and the moment was gone.

"... and a soda on the house."

"Thank you," he answered, clearly surprised by that more than anything else. Maybe the boy knew him after all, or had heard something. People seemed to be nicer to those who had money.

He'd barely paid when one of his classmates sidled up, reaching for a drink without looking at him. Instead he was trying to make eyes at the foreign redhead who was approaching.

"Here," Seigen told him, pushing both mugs over. Now that he'd fulfilled his reason for showing up, the other two were happy to wander off, talking about how drunk they were getting and looking for a girl with sufficiently low standards. He wondered how strong those drinks would actually turn out to be.

The girl sat, placing her order, and at the sound of her voice Seigen realised that he did know her, even if he couldn't quite fumble for her name. There had been a small event for those students aiming for medical school, and she had attended, even if she had the vague air of someone who was there for the sake of it.

Here she seemed more comfortable, or at least more animated. As for him... well, the bar looked like it was cleaned more regularly than the booths, and (for now at least) the company was less obnoxious. The music was a little too loud, but strangely mellow, attempting to soothe the patrons by force. It muffled the greetings and shouts around him: another girl, who clearly knew the place better than whoever she'd dragged in with her.

He sipped his drink, once again peering through that shop window.

-
With: Aegis (Rhyme) • Jet (Keona) • BriiAngelic (Sachie)

 

[L3n]

WATANABE NOZOMI- STAR ARCANA - SONG

"Your grandpa died? Um... oops.”

Nozomi didn’t know much about where her group and her were going tonight. “It ain’t no house party. It’s classy so look the part bitches,” the text in her group chat had said. With only that to go on the blonde was having major trouble picking out what to wear. Was she supposed to go all out formal? It was still a party though, right? After a few minutes of staring into her abyss of a closet the girl decided to dress in a basic Westernized outfit. Nozomi put on an ivory tube top, that safely covered her chest, before laying a loose, white mesh turtleneck over it. After wiggling into a light blue pair of high-waisted ripped jeans she slipped on an average pair of shoes to match her tucked in shirt. Finishing touches were added, an expensive silver watch and hoop earrings, along with a sky-blue hair bow that matched with her jeans.

Subsequently checking herself out in the mirror for a hot minute the girl started to apply her makeup, looking at her phone for updates periodically. Nozomi’s main friend group was so large they needed three cars to pick them all up. She never knew who was going to take her, and when they would arrive, until they were outside her house. Her friends weren’t exactly great at communicating, but in person all of her pals were incredibly fun. The blonde had just got done applying her lipgloss when she heard a honk from the street. Jumping out of her seat, she hurried out the front door. Without bothering to say goodbye to the empty house she locked up before scurrying to her friend's boyfriend's car.

They stopped at three more houses before finally arriving at Elixir-777. Nozomi thought nothing of the alleyway her friends and she had to walk through, but hearing the club name made the teen cringe. If you have to add numbers to a name you really need to be more creative. After entering the bar, which surprised her that her group even could, she was quick to look around. The decorations made it clear this wasn’t some silly get together with other teens and cheap light drinks. This was an actual bar with real drugs and hook-ups-to-be hidden in plain sight.

Nozomi’s eyes widened at the two pole-dancing stages, but she didn’t pull her eyes away from the action for a little too long. As she was shamelessly gawking at the hot dancers her huge circle of friends dragged her along to the bar. She had a feeling she had seen some of the people's faces sitting at the counter before, even the male serving drinks seemed vaguely familiar. The blonde quickly snagged one of the barstools before her loudly obnoxious friends could.

“The bar looks like its getting busy, why don’t we go snag a booth before even more people get here?” a girl with dyed pink hair stated, giving a bad look to the people who were already sitting at the counter. “You coming Nozomi?” the girl asked when she noticed the blonde not budging from the stool.

“I’ll find you guys soon! Shoo,” Nozomi cheerfully waved off her friends before they could change their minds. This area looked like it carried fewer diseases, and as much as she loved her friends they seemed to be... gaining negative attention from how loud they were being. That says something in a bar with music that seems uncomfortably too high.

After sitting there quietly for a hot second she smiled at the bartender. “Hello, could I have a cup of water please?”Nozomi asked as she slid her phone out of her back pocket. The blonde wasn’t against drinking when she was with a few people, but doing so in a sketchy bar full of strangers? That was a whole new story. She turned to smile at the random people sitting at the counter with her.

|♡| nearby: Hayashi ( Blemmigan ), Keona ( Jet ), Sachie ( BriiAngelic ) |♡|
|♡| interactions: Rhyme ( Aegis ), people at the bar |♡|
|♡| location: Elixir-777 |♡|

 

[Jet]

Keona


​

Foul shivers traced the girl's back after tasting Rhyme's mixture, but she wasn't complaining. Poured strong the doubled drink tasted like alcoholic acid without any sugar and that suited tonight's drab atmosphere to a tee. Keona wanted a liquored kick in the chest, embracing the dark warmth radiating from her stomach because good medicine never went down smooth. As most strong remedies this one burned like inhaled ash mixed with sinful wood notes of bottom-shelf swill brewed from recycled barrels. It was a vicious but disgustingly perfect experience; one wielding an alcoholic hammer to smash brain-cells and make poor life decisions. Rhyme had delivered well on the bar's reputation and Keona was well satisfied, taking an ample second sip from the drink.

Horrid taste welled again but well accustomed our girl smiled thanks, wincing out— "Damn that's strong, it really kicked my ass for a second there!" with thoughts of dodging Rhyme's question. Keona wanted to avoid dramatics and disclosure was out the window immediately; spilling guts entertained elsewhere but not here with jaded bartenders. Elixer Seven was the kind of place where caveman grunts passed for conversation. Servers here weren't therapists and Rhyme wouldn't give a shit with his grey apathetic atmosphere.

So instead Keona smiled, "First time for everything" to slip his question and pivoting after she added a curious, "So any specials today? More lethal the better, I drink stronger than I look so don't hold back on me" but a newcomer interrupted their potential flow.

Electricity given form the girl dressed like a rainbow and was well recognized too. Horrible gossip made her famous around town but she deserved leeway with how many liars plagued the school. Sachie could be another innocent victim of the rumor-mill and Keona cringed empathetic over a misfit's plight in snake-city. Here reputation weighed more than usual; making friends as an outcast pariah had to be exceedingly difficult. For so much to rest on the mill's poor accuracy was absurd, despite wide influence it functioned like a telephone game without any regulation. Kissing some guy during lunch could become "fucking in the bathroom" and as Churchill once said — "A lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on"

In other words, once on the blacklist good luck unfucking the situation. Fantastic souls were socially damned by accident or design all the time. Ruined by ignorance and sabotage they became targets for ruthless bullying like bait among socialite piranha. Keona understood the system and had to question Sachie's near satanic rumor-trail. Was she an innocent victim of underhanded fiction or guilty prisoner of inconvenient facts? Probing her neighbor Keona looked to find out, asking; "Sachie? Hey I'm Keona! Weird I know but I saw something about you on Twitter from some troll about a party last month? Just wanted to say, there are so many dumb talkers at our school you know?" — chasing her words with another sip from the glass.

Leaning sideways on the bar, Keona moved to hear Sachie's answer among the loud group's arrival. Obnoxious festivity was annoying but maybe their presence was a good thing to help shake emotional clouds? Lord knew both Keona and the recognizable boy across the bar could use a boost in that sense. Obsidian emotions and boredom were pouring off Seigan's skin; disengaged he visibly despised clubs and recalling brief interactions it made sense to Keona.

However!!!

No excuses and mandatory fun was mandatory. Maybe Keona was coping her mood by raising others, but questioning positive mechanics is kind of stupid. Rather she ignored lingering questions like "why" while raising an arm straight above to wave obnoxiously; yelling out "HEY SEIGAN!" like a long lost best-friend.

BriiAngelic Aegis Blemmigan

 

[Thepotatogod]

--Ross Aisatsu--
Interaction: Haz. BriiAngelic Jet

"Hey look! A chance!" Ross said aloud as Franz Copelia disappeared once more, flinging his arm towards the downed angel and pointed at it quite dramatically. "Let's get him!" He proclaimed, soon rushing in and stomping on the downed archangel repeatedly

 

[Midrick]

​

Jordan awoke to a rank, overpowering smell that assaulted his nose, two of the people from the previous van ride, he also saw they had their own figures standing by them, Jordan would be willing to bet that they got theirs in a similar fashion to him. He remembered who they were now, Alex and Shirou. After getting his bearings he looked over at Shirou after his inquiry into if he ot Alex knew what the fuck was happening. "No idea." Jordan answered as he surveyed their surroundings "But I think we got bigger problems to worry about." as he motioned to the figure bound in red twine that was fast approaching, after a strangled plea for help it demilitarizated and reformed into some type of nightmare fuel. Jordan was caught off guard by the gout of ice that was directed at Alex, fortunately for him Shirou took the hit with his persona, perhaps realizing too late that the damage it took was passed on to the user as well.

Jordan looked back at Larsen, the persona seemed ready, lowering itself and prepared to draw the sword strapped to it's back. He thought about what the plan would be to take whatever this thing was out of the picture. His thoughts were interrupted by Lancaster trying to play tough and solo this thing. Jordan let out a single laugh after hearing his proclamation; "What're you gonna do Shirou, Fuck it to death?" he said laughing a second time. "Take a seat and let the pro handle this, wouldn't want you to chip a nail." he said as he walked out in front of Shirou.

Jordan looked over at Larsen and motioned towards the turtle-dragon thing with a flick of his head. Larsen launched off of the stone floor and drew the sword, descending towards the monster while setting up for a downward slash.

Spoiler: Fight Theme

Veradana CapRock Jeef_jones

 

[Aegis]

Rhyme Ryujin
Location: Elixir-777 (behind the bar)
[Interacting with Sachie ( BriiAngelic ), Keona ( Jet ), Seigen ( Blemmigan ), and Nozomi ( L3n )]
​

"Thank you," he answered, clearly surprised by that more than anything else. Maybe the boy knew him after all, or had heard something. People seemed to be nicer to those who had money.

Those weren't words you heard often in Rhyme's line of work: Thank you. Rhyme felt a feeling of discomfort rising from inside and it made him uneasy enough to want to go home for the night, but it would wear off soon-- hopefully. "Yeah, kid, no problem." Rhyme seemed to scurry away to tend to another customer.

​

Horrid taste welled but well accustomed our girl smiled thanks, wincing— "Damn that's strong, it really kicked my ass for a second there!" with thoughts of dodging Rhyme's question. Keona wanted to avoid dramatics and disclosure was out the window immediately; spilling guts entertained elsewhere but not here with jaded bartenders. Elixer Seven was the kind of place where caveman grunts passed for conversation. Servers here weren't therapists and Rhyme wouldn't give a shit with his grey apathetic atmosphere.

So instead Keona smiled out "First time for everything" to slip his question and pivoting after she added a curious, "So any specials today? More lethal the better, I drink stronger than I look so don't hold back on me" but a newcomer interrupted their potential flow.

"No specials today, but we can do whatever--" He was promptly cut off on his response to the girl who had skillfully dodged the question he had fired at her out of requirement rather than concern by Sachie, a regular here.

​

As usual she slid her keys down to Rhyme who was already bartending.

“Heyyy hot stuff. Can you get me an alexander for me and a manhattan for… Mako? Moko?”

She looked back to the guy on her side and saw a frown come over his face. Oh she musta been hella off then. Oh well she turned back to Rhyme not even caring that he was with another group at the time.

“Anyways get me a Manhattan for Haru’s boy”

Rhyme swiftly intercepted the keys and sunk them into his pocket for safe-keeping as per their usual routine. "Sure thing, Sa-chan. First, though, pay up. You 'wandered off' the other night without coming back to pay. Plus, I hate talking to Haru, but I had to get your keys back to you somehow." Rhyme air quoted the wandered off as he didn't want to scare off tonight's date yet maintained a cool, collected air; otherwise this was the most talkative Rhyme had been all night as he shot her a cocky smirk that seemed to wrap up their "friendship" and put a bow on it rather nicely. As for the "Sa-chan", Rhyme didn't have a particular taste for honorifics coming from a family with an American mother, but he did it with more with Sachie just to fuck with her. It was condescending to say the least.

Rhyme felt a little bad for... Moko.. Moka.. Maku? He didn't know him, but he knew Sachie's game all too well. However, he kept that to himself as he began mixing their drinks in front of them adding in a bit of his normal finesse and theatrics only to be called upon once again while Sachie was distracted with the lonely girl from before.

​

After sitting there quietly for a hot second she smiled at the bartender. “Hello, could I have a cup of water please?”Nozomi asked as she slid her phone out of her back pocket. The blonde wasn’t against drinking when she was with a few people, but doing so in a sketchy bar full of strangers? That was a whole new story. She turned to smile at the random people sitting at the counter with her.

What was with today and water? You don't have to come to a bar to get hydrated. Rhyme put on a scowl at the request of the new arrival at the bar. As a matter of fact, all of these new-comers were starting to spread his patience a bit thin, but he hadn't shown it yet. "Water." Rhyme whipped a plastic bottle of it out from under the counter and placed it in front of the girl who looked sorely out of place. Judging by how she gawked at the poles earlier, she was a virgin when it came to this kind of establishment. "Your first time here?" His words provided a more sincere tone than they had to the other guests so far.

Luckily, it seemed the other guests were occupying themselves. He had hoped to slip away, but his boss had sent out another bartender in the hopes Rhyme could keep a leash on Sachie. She had a tendency to go a bit wild and the owner knew it. However, what Rhyme's boss hadn't anticipated, was the fact she might like it if he put a leash on her. That scared him a bit.​

 

[Haz.]

EN: cute pic. omw (σ⌐ ˘◡˘ )σ⌐

BriiAngelic
(Etsu mini-post to stave off the boredom while I write Rei's mega-post.)

 

[Blemmigan]

Seigen Hayashi (CS)
Location: Elixir-777
With: Aegis (Rhyme) • BriiAngelic (Sachie) • L3n (Nozomi)
Responding to: Jet (Keona)
-

"HEY SEIGAN!"

He nearly jumped out of his skin.

Okay, so he hadn't been expecting the girl to remember him, let alone more than a vague recognition. But having her shout out his given name like that out of nowhere, he would have been less surprised if she'd grabbed him by the collar.

Seigen managed, somehow, to not choke on his drink. Instead he answered, "...Hello," with considerably less enthusiasm.

Brief as it may be, the contract was now sealed, and he was officially part of the borderline manic conversation that was sweeping through the bar.

"It's busier than I was expecting," he said, probably to nobody: the redhead had been working her way through addressing all of the other patrons at once, as though determined to energise everyone here. He sighed, and another girl sat down and ordered. Well, at least he wasn't the only one not drinking alcohol: he wondered what her excuse was.

-
With: Aegis (Rhyme) • Jet (Keona) • BriiAngelic (Sachie)

 

[Jeef_jones]

Alex Feron
Mentions: Veradana (GM)
Interacting: CapRock (Shirou) Midrick (Jordan)
As he slowly gained awareness of the new place he was in, he barely processed what shirou was saying, suddenly seeing the ice blast coming at him and before he could react, shirou's...persona...he felt that was the right word for some reason, blocked the blow, as well he stumbled and almost fell backward before his own persona would catch him, propping him up, as he finally understood what shirou said as Jordan would make his charge at the beast going for a downwards attack. He quickly answered with a "IDon'tKnowButWeShouldFirstHandleThisThing" and with that quickly said in a bunch of gibberish he would look to Jekyll/hyde and nod to it, pointing towards the beats in a flashy manor and his persona would charge ahead with Larsen, going to do a vertical slash.​

 

[BriiAngelic]

• Ichirou Amano || Elder Brother, Temperance

• 
  
  
  Persona: Unawakened
  Status: N/A
  Current Buffs: N/A
  
  Interacting With:
  Aoi ( Colorless Spectrum ) Soliel ( loveweaver )
  Mentions:
  Alex ( Jeef_jones ), Shirou (for a second ( CapRock ))
  

  ~ Inside the School (?) ~
  As You Like It || Ichirou’s CS File
  
  A yank. He was pulled forwards, okay then number 25 was forward! At least that’s what he started thinking up until it was clear that Number 25 was simply going away not trying to lead him away. He followed anyways still wanting his kiss. Yet as he followed the other boy into the room it was clear that he was disconnected. He turned to the boy to see some strange expression on his face. As he turned to see what the boy was looking at he found himself staring at the chairs littering the room and nothing else. When he turned back the boy was nowhere to be found.
  
  “Number 25? Geez I couldn’t even get your name?”
  
  He would have continued to whine out things that weren’t truly complaints if not for the streak across his vision. With a twirl back to the corner he found the scurrying he saw a mirror image of himself in what could be called sitting on an open chair, with his butt on the back of the chair and his feet on the seat part. This mirror image wasn’t what he was used to, it wasn’t Jun. For one Jun had darker hair than he did. Not to mention he’d gotten blue eyes from their grandparents, while Jun had the same honey brown eyes as their mom, this stranger clearly had gold irises that had red rings around them. He came up close to look at this new triplet but stopped short as the mirror image smirked while bearing his teeth.
  
  “What? Surprised? Who’d you expect? Who would want to be anywhere around you?”
  
  The mirror kicked itself off the chair, sending it flying into the floor as the image’s feet landed with a thud before Ichirou. Without him being able to even express an emotion the mirror grabbed him pulling him forwards by his collar. He had the mirror’s head resting on his neck as it whispered in his ear.
  
  “It’s only natural. You can’t hold on to people, you’re a dirty lowlife from the red light district. That’s all you’re ever going to be.”
  
  He was shoved to the floor suddenly. What. The calm was just as strong. Words the mirror spoke were lost in the sounds of footsteps outside. He didn’t understand this thing before him. He wanted to run from it, after all he was enjoying his time here why bother with the unintelligible noise. He’d never been so satisfied being at school before. And… Wait he was still at school what was he doing.
  
  Aoi was waiting for him. Shirou’s game would have to wait. He still needed Aoi to see how good he’d been. He’d even come to school just to see her. He stood back up and went to the door. He flung it open with a grin on his face. The static background noises of his Mirror screaming for him to stop running went unheard. Stumbling around he went up and down the halls searching out Aoi’s voice. With a step too far he heard her from behind him. A simple twirl and he was outside the room pushing the door open.
  
  “Aoiiiii are you in here?”
  

 

[BriiAngelic]

• Jun’ichi Amano || Younger Brother, Temperance

• 
  
  
  Persona: Ronald, The Storm
  Status: Healthy
  Current Buffs: N/A
  
  Interacting With:
  Toro ( Jet ), Ross ( Thepotatogod ), Archangel ( Haz. )
  

  ~ ??? ~
  Sacred Trek || Jun’ichi’s CS File
  
  He was lucky that the shots of holy bullshit only grazed him. He was bleeding but he’d had much worse. On the bright side the suddenness of the pain had him find his blade as he instinctively moved further under Ronald. His persona was taking the brunt of the hits and wasn’t looking all that hot but luckily before the worst could happen Ross was already coming in hot. He didn’t know why the guy wanted to keep kicking the obviously dangerous who knows what but hey if he was willing to be bait then Jun was willing to take it.
  
  He dove down grabbing his switch. He opened up the blade ready to get a few in for the graze the thing had landed on him. Luckily whatever Ross had his persona doing was doing great to keep the thing occupied. When the reign of attacks stopped he had Ronald straighten up and closed the distance between them and the enemy.
  
  Ross seemed to be going in as well so Jun came up around the thing not wanting to be too close if it decided to take a swipe in. Luckily he didn’t think he had to worry about that as Ross seemed to want to stomp the thing down. While effective it probably wasn’t gonna hold him. He and Ronald went to pinning the thing down good. Ronald with his comically big blades that it shoved into its extremities, while he himself went to punching the fucker in the head before he started stabbing it with his switch.
  
  

 

[loveweaver]

Soleil Ashikaga.​

Each note she played made her heart race. Faster and faster and faster.

This was right. No, this wasn't right. This was wrong. This was ▒▒▒▒▒. It was...no, what was it again? Each thought escaped her grasp, contrasting and conflicting. And as the notes soared, and as Aoi's hands perfectly slid across the piano, her heart pounded even harder. A creeping, dreadful feeling from deep within had clutched onto her. That daze of happiness that once made her numbingly oblivious, that warmth inside of her, now felt ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒. ▒e▒▒ls▒v▒. ▒ep▒ls▒ve. Repulsive. The word barely came to her. Soleil wanted to frown, but instead she smiled. She wanted cover her ears, but instead she listened. To the music and to whispers. To the illusion she desired and to the reality she despised. Her desire for euphoria and the truth of reality clashed together,

And Soleil wondered how it came to this in the first place.


When Kaida had first left her, she felt a familiar loneliness inside of her. Kaida left, just like ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ ▒▒▒▒. But it was fine! She had been sure her friend was going to be back soon. They always came back, no matter how long it took—days, weeks, months. And it was fine! No matter if it was her friend or her parents, it was all fine. So when the odd, unplaceable feeling of ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒ came, it was covered up and buried and hidden deep within her. By that point, whatever Kaida had even left for slipped her mind; lost once again in her daze of happiness, Soleil had dwelled on only the few words she had caught. In Kaida's passing comment for extra care. In the teases Aoi had made in response for how they looked good together. Their words made a warmth bloom inside her chest, feeling a giddiness she had long forgotten. And she was happy, in that moment. Happier than she had felt in...forever! And as her newest friend had began to drag her off, prattling about playing for her, a genuine smile lit up on her face. She never had a friend play the piano for her before. But she had never had a friend to begin with. With a giggle, Soleil piped up with a positively cheerful reply. "If you inssiistt! After all, I've always wanted to hear you play...!" Her words were sugary and sweet, spoken with a genuine joy. A ▒▒▒.

It was nice, having friends. And everybody was her friend! Those in the van were her friends. Those who had left her and manipulated her were her friends. No matter what they used her for, no matter what they saw her as, they were all her friends. Even the students surrounding her and Aoi in the hall were her friends. The students in the hall...
...The students in the hall, every one of their's eyes fixed onto her.

Why were they staring? Why were they staring? At first, she smiled in response without a second thought, but something their gazes had made something in her stomach churn. Aoi surely noticed, didn't she? How couldn't she? Every student had shuffled to the sides of the hallways, making a path for them. Each one unmoving and expressionless, their eyes glued onto her as if she were an actor in the spotlight. Their stares felt far too real to be illusion—but the girl in front of her didn't seem to even be aware. Aoi was still lost in the daze of happiness they had shared—the same daze Soleil felt herself being torn from. Whispers began to fill the air. Insults and degradation she had all heard before. Expectations and standards that had been forced onto her. Rumors and compliments earned only by her mask. The whispers suffocated her, her previously unfocused mind forced to pay attention to their overwhelming presence. And as the whispers began to mesh, turning into a white noise of all the memories she had buried away, a single voice cut through it. A voice crystal clear in the sea of whispers, a voice Soleil recognized well. "They only love you for your act." "You're not even a person to them." "Your only value is your mask." But that wasn't true, was it? "Take off the mask and they'll leave you." "Nobody would care about you if you didn't meet their expectations." It couldn't have been true. She didn't want it to be true. "Accept reality. You're not happy." It was a lie. It was a good day. It was a good day. She was happy. Why wouldn't they leave her alone?

The white noise of whispers began to chant her name, drowning her in the attention they forced onto her.
"Soleil." "Soleil." "Soleil." Her knees buckled under every step she took. Their gazes burnt holes into her.
"Soleil." "Soleil." "Soleil." "Soleil." "Soleil." Her smile was the weakest of all facades, but yet the tears wouldn't come.
"Soleil." "Soleil." "Soleil." "Soleil." "Soleil." "Soleil. "Soleil." Because, despite all of that, she wasn't ready to let go.

She wasn't ready to leave the happiness she had finally found.

When she and Aoi had finally reached the Music Room, she closed the door shut with a slam. Blocking out the ▒▒▒▒▒▒▒▒, the lies, the truth. Then, an overwhelmingly sweet taste in her mouth flooded her mouth...and it all dimmed back out. Letting herself return to that daze of happiness, drowning herself in mind-numbing joy. Mind-numbing enough that she suddenly found herself forgetting where she was, what she had been doing. And it took a second for her to try and remember just that. She...was with her friend, Aoi. Aoi who wanted to show her a song before they went to class. Right, she wanted to show her a song! What a silly thing for her to forget. With a skip and a smile, she took a seat right next to her. A piano would be nice. It would help calm her down—calm her down from what, though? It couldn't have been important. At least, that's what Soleil told herself, smiling all the while. Aoi's melody began, and thoughts and memories no matter how recent began to fade. To disappear. Finally, Soleil felt like she could smile again—like some heavy weight was just taken off her shoulders. The day was back to being fine. She was back to being happy. And with a comment of their friendship, Soleil gave Aoi a nod that carried that exact same weightlessness. "Mhm! I always thought you considered me..."

"A bitch." "A faker." "An asshole." "The girl I really am."
It wasn't Soleil who finished her comment. In fact, not a single one of those words had left her mouth.

The whispers. The stares. The expectations. They crept in through the door, through the recesses of her mind. Tearing her away from the daze she had just began to sink back into, as if telling her that she couldn't escape the truth. The truth. From the very beginning, Soleil knew the truth. Knew that nobody in Kayatomi, nobody in Japan, nobody in the world was her really her "friend". Knew that despite all of her hugs, that she was still just as starved for physical comfort as she always was. Knew that the joy she felt was a facade. But it was happiness, no matter how fake. Even if it was a fake happiness, she'd take it. She'd gladly take it over the bitter reality that came with the acknowledging the truth. And so she clutched onto the euphoria's illusion, and so she refused to let go. But the whispers, the stares, they were just as unrelenting in forcing Soleil to accept reality.

"Soleil." "Soleil." "Soleil." They refused to let her fall to the mindless happiness, no matter how much she wanted it. "Soleil." "Soleil." "Soleil." Even through the door, through the walls of the Music Room, she could feel them. Their lingering stares, the expectations each one carried. "Soleil." "Soleil." "Soleil." That was how it always was. On a screen or off, her performance was always being judged by others. Her life was all just a single act. "Soleil. Soleil. Soleil." She couldn't go back to that. She couldn't give the illusion up. Please, why wouldn't they let her be happy?

"Soleil." She couldn't breathe. "Soleil." She was suffocating in the attention."Soleil." It felt like she was going to die. "Soleil."

"I-I'm sorry. I suddenly don't feel well. Next time, I'll show you a better performance."
And just like that, the words ripped her from her personal hell. Soleil blinked once. Then twice. there were no whispers, no stares. Just Aoi and Soleil in a now-quiet Music Room. A cold sweat trailed down her forehead. Swallowing down the urge to scream, it took her a few seconds to remember what was happening—but once she did, Soleil stood up far too quickly, her whole body tense. "I!" She began, half-yelling and half-stuttering as she spoke. "I...don't feel well, either! I'll—I'll see you tomorrow!" It was a flimsy excuse. As someone opened up the door, Soleil practically shoved them aside, and ran. Through the halls, through the school's main doors, through the gates. As if the whispers would return the second she slowed down.

Really, Soleil just couldn't stand it anymore. She couldn't stand being in school. She couldn't stand being in the spotlight any longer. There was only one refuge for her now, only one place to go if she wanted to escape it. Her home. Her empty home, devoid of life. Devoid of the stares, the whispers, the expectations, the judgment. Her home was her respite, and though she hated its hollow interior, it was a relief. It was her escape. Somewhere where she could fall back into the daze, safe from the stares and whispers of others, and feel happy once more.

What a fool Soleil was, to think she could escape the truth for a lie. Standing in front of the gates to her apartment, there stood the amalgamation of her worst sins. The shadow she had been running from.
"Soleil."
They whispered, and she screamed.​

Interactions: Colorless Spectrum
Mentions: Arcanist BriiAngelic (Kind of an interaction?)

 

[Veradana]

Team: CapRock Shirou, Midrick Jordan, Jeef_jones Alex

The monster payed no heed to the boys' quarrelling jeers. The hiding turtle quivered within its shell, as the dragon took new stock of its opponents. Clearly these three would not be so easy of pickings as one would first assume.

Immobile as Genbu was while the turtle was in its shell, Larsen's blow struck cleanly, the great-sword ringing off the hardy carapace, leaving a shallow, wedge-shaped wound. The dragon had to contort itself to avoid the sword-swing, snapping at the edges of the warrior's armour. Hissing, it turned its glare to Shirou and Jordan, preparing to fire off more ice towards them when Jekyll swept in, slicing Genbu's neck. Ichor flowed freely from the wound, but the dragon's neck held firm. The dragon twisted, crying out. It wrapped itself around the air, glowering at its targets. Again, it reared back, screeching rage, and fired, ice flying towards Jordan.

 

[Refaulted]

本田 謙三
Honda Kenzo
The Justice Arcana

Drip, drip, drip.

With a groan, Kenzo began to come back to his senses. His head hurt incredibly bad, but it began to fade almost as soon as he noticed it. His eyes felt like they were plastered shut, unable to pull apart his lids so he could get a look around at where he was. He got both of his hands under him, brushing aside shattered glass and feeling cold concrete beneath a strange, somewhat thick liquid. His nose crumpled in disgust as he felt the liquid stock to his fingers, wiping them on his drenched shirt to get them as dry as possible. Once that was done, he raised a hand to his eyes, rubbing them furiously until he could finally open them.

He stared at the ground in front of him, covered in glass and the pink liquid, and then looked down at his wrinkled clothes, peeling it off from his skin to try and allow himself a bit of comfort. He pushed himself off the ground to his feet, beginning to undo his jacket as he turned to try and get a grasp of where he was. He turned to look behind him, and saw the large glass tube, now shattered from some apparently violent occurrence. Trails of the liquid were pouring down the side, though it was almost empty at this point. The odor it let out hit him like a truck in that moment, and he reared back, almost tripping on the glass underfoot as he tried to find his balance again. He was sure that if he had had anything in his stomach in the first place, he would have hurled it onto the floor without a second thought.

He tried to ignore the stench as he pulled off his jersey, feeling an almost immediate sense of relief from having the weight off of him. He held it out in front of him, inspecting it to make sure it wasn’t stained, and he shook it violently for a moment to get all the liquid off of it. He tossed it to the side as he stripped out of the rest of his upper garments, wringing out his vest, tie, and shirt until he couldn’t get any more of the liquid out of them. When he was done, he placed all of them down on a dry patch of the ground, and shivered a bit as the cold of the sewer bit into him. He rubbed his arms to try and heat them up, succeeding slightly, but he knew he wouldn’t last too long as he was.

He looked back to the tube, and then to the ground, where a respirator was laying with no recipient anymore. Kenzo assumed it had been on him and fell off when he had fallen out of the tube. He pushed his hair out of his face as his mouth twisted in confusion. Obviously, everything he had seen was some sort of dream. The other him, the convenience store, the golden hue to everything, his...father. None of it was real. But even then, how he had ended up there was a mystery to him. Last he knew, he and the other students in detention had followed the detective into the mineshaft, but his memory of what was real was foggy after that. He probably had fallen unconscious between then and now, and someone had stuck him in the tube.

He jolted for a second, and looked around, realizing he hadn’t seen anyone else when he had awoken. He didn’t even see any other tubes with people in them. From one end of the long sewer corridor to the other, it was just barren brick walls, Did that mean that they were being held elsewhere? Or was he the only one that had been taken? If he was the only one that had been taken or left on his own, then why was that? Seemed rather irresponsible to leave a kidnapped person so far away from anyone else, unless they were sure he couldn’t be found or…

...couldn’t escape.

He couldn’t think like that. He had to focus on getting out of here for now. He had to get dressed and be on his way. He reached over to grab his shirt, and was surprised to find it had dried surprisingly well. Out of the corner of his eye, he swore he almost saw a spark of fire, but it disappeared before he could see what it was. It was probably just the after-effects of the strange liquid or whatever the tube was doing to him. He hastily put his shirt and jersey back on, opting not to put the vest and tie back on because they were too uncomfortable to move in. He shoved the tie in his pocket and tucked the vest into the waist of his pants. It wasn’t a foolproof plan, but it would have to work. As long as he took his time, he wouldn’t have to worry about it falling out. He took one last look at the tube behind him, wanting to stay and find out more, but if his kidnappers came back, he would be in big trouble. So he just turned away from it and began to follow the wall of the sewer, leaving the mystery behind him.

What was that old saying? In a maze, always turn left to escape? Would that matter in these sewers, which felt like a labyrinth in itself? Kenzo bit his lip as he turned the first corner, looking both ways to just more eerie green light that eventually was snuffed out by the darkness beyond it. There were no signs or anything, so he would just have to follow his gut, and so he turned left, wading through the water that pooled around his feet. He zipped up his jersey to attempt to hold in any warmth he could.

The silence that surrounded him, aside from whatever noise he made himself, had him constantly looking over his shoulder. It was almost like the feeling of being stalked, with something following you while you didn’t know, but you just had that sneaking suspicion. Kenzo kept looking over his shoulder, only able to see a little bit before the darkness began to creep up farther. He grunted, then turned forwards and stopped. Panicking would do nothing for him right now. What he had to do at the moment was take a deep breath and focus on getting out of the sewer, back to Kayatomi above. It wouldn’t be too hard.

CLANK… CLANK.... CLANK…

Kenzo paused, turning behind him as the sound echoed through the tunnels. He couldn’t quite place what the sound was, but it was shuffling, moving, and it was getting closer. He squinted, peering into the darkness, but he couldn’t make out any sort of shape. It was entirely possible it was another one of his classmates, but the same could be said about his captors. He turned back in the opposite direction of the noise, considering bolting. He was confident he could outrun almost anyone if they tried to chase him. He could feel his heart beginning to race as he cupped his hand around his mouth. “Hello? Anyone there? Soleil? ...Ugh, Shirou? Anyone?”

The shuffling stopped.

Alright, that was probably a bad sign. He waited, holding a hand to his ear to try and pick up any sort of voice that could come his way, but there was nothing. He couldn’t even hear any breathing. All there was was the water splashing against the stone, and the ever-growing pounding of his heart as it felt like it was shaking his entire body. It felt just like the nightmare he had just awoke from, but now everything felt so much more real. Now there was no fog to tell him everything would turn out okay. But that also meant he was sharper, clearer now. And there was still the chance it was someone he knew.

He took another few steps towards where the sound was coming from, cautiously, his body tense as he prepared to turn and make a dash for it. “It’s Kenzo! If you’re wounded, I’ll come and help.” God, this was irrational of him.

The shuffling started again, slower this time, paced arrhythmically like a lopsided hobble.

Kenzo could feel beads of sweat forming on his forehead, slowly dripping down over his nose and down the side of his face, but it wasn’t due to any sort of heat. He felt cold as ice, something at the back of his mind telling him it wasn’t worth it, that he would be safe if he just turned around and ignored what was behind him. If he kept going, there would be no turning back. He opened his mouth to speak again, but the words got caught, his body telling him he shouldn’t speak another word.

He looked around, trying to find some sort of object he could use to defend himself in case things went sour, but in the piles of trash, nothing stuck out to him. His eyes fell on an old pipe, a little shorter than he was, rusty at both ends and covered in some sort of slime. Better than nothing, he maneuvered as quietly as he could over to it, not making any sudden movements, the water splashing gently as he took each step. As he bent down to grab it, he tried to still his breathing again, and once more called out. “Last chance to say something, or else I’m turning around and getting out of here.” As he spoke, he stood back up, holding the pipe in shivering hands, his knuckles white from how hard he gripped it.

CLANK. CLANK. CLANK. CLANK.

Shuffling, shifting, moving, the screech of metal to cobblestone a cacophonic backdrop. Footfall swept through the tunnels, the knee-deep waters parting, splashing about, as though a Mustang had been set loose in the sewers. Whatever it was, its movements were far from aimless - the noise swung from ear to ear, searching, seeking, hunting, charging. With every step it grew closer, the stalker’s presence a looming, palpable thing that lodged and welted in Kenzo’s throat, debris caught point-to-skin in his lungs, the ambient rattle of chainlinks like some malignant calling card heralding its pursuit.

He couldn’t handle it anymore. Whatever it was, there was no way it was human. It was almost as if he could feel the waves of malice it was exuding, running over his body and causing it to shudder with each pulse. He took a step back, then another. He tried to be careful with each step, but they were panicked, kicking water up and splashing against the backs of his legs. He held the pipe defensively in front of him as he continued to watch, afraid to turn his back to what hid out of his vision.

He began to pick up his pace, turning his body slightly so he was half-turned away from the entity, his whole body breaking out into that cold sweat. He wanted to drop the pipe, but he couldn’t relax his fingers, almost his entire body rigid. He had felt fear before, but the fear he had always experienced had been numbing, enveloping him in it. This fear, it was sharp, cutting into him, prying deep into his soul. It was so much worse than anything he had ever imagined. It was the feeling a soldier felt as they stared down the barrel of an enemy’s gun, before they even knew they were truly dead. Did that mean that he was going to die here?

No more. Kenzo finally released the pipe and, without a second thought, turned and began to run, with no destination in mind. Like prey being hunted.

Then he heard it. A click like the cocking of a hammer, and a low sizzle like a hearth. The walls shimmered gold, green light cast aside, and that sizzle became a deafening buzz like a thousand wasps had swarmed the corridors. When he came to a fork in the road, the roof came undone in the blink of an eye, brought down upon the leftmost passage by the sheer force of a gigantic torpedo soaring overhead and drilling through the concrete in a chaotic, centrifugal warpath. He barely registered the debris bouncing off his arms and head as he turned away from the closed-off path and hurried down the only option he had.

His vision began to get foggy, but he couldn’t stop, no matter what. There was no way he could let what was chasing him catch up to him. The water was not making his escape any easier, pushing against every movement he made. He turned back to try and see if he was still being chased, but as he did, he felt his foot strike the calf of his other leg, and he stumbled into the filth below. He pushed himself up without hesitation, shaking the water out of his face. His hair began to fall into his vision, but he couldn’t worry about that. He winced at a sharp pain in his knee before breaking back out into his sprint, looking around for any sort of escape. A manhole, sewer grate, anything.

Too little, too late. Another click and now the buzzing was an omnipresent thing, death to his ears - when he registered the feeling of weightlessness, it was after a great, big flame surged underfoot and sent him crashing into the ceiling, then falling limp back into the waters, his only reprieve from the smoke which now suddenly choked the musty air.
He should’ve been dead. Yet, he wasn’t.

It wasn’t fair. Sure, he wasn’t the greatest person, and he had his fair share of problems. But here, with no one around, and not even a chance to say goodbye to the people he cared about, was the place he was going to die? He pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, coughing up the water that had surged into his mouth from his fall. His entire body hurt, a mix of the attack from his pursuer and the fatigue of running so much in such awful conditions. There was no way he could keep going, and he had to accept that his fate would be sealed.

He opened his eyes, staring into the water below, at his reflection. He was covered in mud and other products of the sewer, his hair streaming out around his face like a halo as it cascaded down into the water. There was a small cut in the middle of his forehead, probably from when he had been struck by a falling rock. His arms were shaking, and he could feel tears forming in his eyes. This was how he would look when he was found, and he could only imagine the same look in his mother’s face that she had five years ago. Kenzo shut his eyes and let out a yell, one mixed of frustration and hopelessness, that echoed through the tunnels of the sewers.

When he was finally out of breath, he opened his eyes to look back at his reflection. But he didn’t see his face. The water, shaking before from the movement, had now begun to still, and where Kenzo had been before, there was a new face. Or, well, a head. Covered in what looked like an old burlap sack, with an eye and a wicked smile drawn crudely onto it. The brim of a wide, western ten-gallon hat sat atop his head, the edges of it glowing red like coal. A rope hung around his neck, tied in a knot that had it fixed tightly, almost dangerously. A single hole was in the makeshift mask, where underneath, Kenzo saw a single, bloodshot eye that held two irises, staring back at him. And to Kenzo, it was the most familiar thing he had ever seen, as if he was staring back at himself.

He had to fight. If he was going to die here, then he couldn’t allow himself to go without at least throwing a couple of his own haymakers. He could feel the fire he had felt before begin to rekindle, burning up inside of him as he pushed himself up. Where his arms had been shaking before, he felt them begin to relax, becoming still. The fear was still there, but next to it now was a feeling of fury. And if he had to, he was going to use that fury to lash back at his assailant. With a hefty grunt, he pushed up off of his knees onto his feet, taking a deep breath as he used the sleeve of his jersey to wipe the blood and mud away from his face.

As he pulled his arm away, he noticed something in front of him. A thin red string, almost like thread, was floating in the air. He looked to either side quickly, wondering where it was coming from, but he couldn’t see a definitive start or finish to it. He turned back to it, and something spurred inside of him. The heat he felt coursing through his body was growing, amassing around him. He lifted his hand and grabbed the string, holding it in his grip as he stared at it. He held it for a moment, then scoffed. “Fuck it.”

Small flames started to flicker from between his fingers, firing out in different directions as they began to spread over the string, until it was completely engulfed. The fibers burned away into nothingness, but the flames continued to burn, growing into a great dull-red mass of fire. As they began to subside, he saw his reflection again, though this time, it wasn’t just his reflection. It was him, and he was it. They were one in the same. The embers that burned off of his clothes lit the tunnel faintly, and Kenzo couldn’t help but let out a small grin. With a deep breath, he turned around, steeling himself for whatever he was bound to face.

The puddles shoveled, parting, sending ripples to his knees. Now the rattling was close, so close, yet slowed, as if ‘it’ had taken an interest in his newfound resolve.

But no matter. The ripples grew more numerous, the darkness took form before him, and now the once-overpowering aura of despair had been stacked in wager against Kenzo’s fortitude.

First, he saw its chains, which hung from its body in barnacled strips, as though intestines which had been set to adjoin its parts from the outside. Those hanging locks like metal innards fastened its grim rags, and that burlap sack of its own, which carved out the figure of a towering executioner - its body was mottled with pus running from its wounds, soaking through the blood-drenched clothes that clung to its formless physique and spewed gore where and when it shifted. The only color, apart from the crimson that swam among a sea of greymatter cloth, was in those golden buttons around its waist and in those twin, silver revolvers, whose lengths he almost mistook for artillery - they hung low, coughing flickers and puffs of gas flame like barreled street lights at its sides.

Then that bulbous, bloodshot eye - that single, piercing gaze, cut from burlap just like Sudden’s - lanced forward and through its foe, as though roused from its slumber at the seabed. It gave a low huff and cocked back the hammers of its pieces.

Kenzo had no idea if he could even match this thing’s power. It had caused a cave-in and had even sent him flying hard enough to nearly kill him. But he had to try, because there was still the chance he could get out of this alive if not in one piece. The monster before him was revolting, and now that it was this close, Kenzo felt its aura pushing down on him like a heavy blanket, wanting to smother him. He gritted his teeth and tried to stand his ground.

“Here goes nothing…” As he muttered under his breath, he pointed a finger at the behemoth.

“Fire at will, Sudden Green.”

Weightlessly, the creature brought forth both barrels like pistons and Sudden returned the gesture - monoeyes faced down, hammers at full-cock and triggers at the ready.


Collab with: Haz.

 

[Jet]

​

Toro wanted to clown Archangel's blade; something-something about compensation perhaps? Birds weren't known for swingin' dick so maybe he swung super swords for lingering... subconscious reasons? Looking absurd the weapon's joke purpose seemed valid for a moment but yeah no-dice, unfortunately she wasn't made for the epic anime visuals alone. Bird's stupid blade could actually move and landed well through defense because of mass weight, slamming the boy's left with a loud powerful shockwave.

Maxed at bruising the damage went mild but Toro yelled a spiteful "Motherfucker" anyway. He felt robbed after closing the enemy's guard and wanted to slay beastman himself! But instead he stood statuesque, unable to advance with the weighty sword wrenched deep inside his armor. Building frustration this absurd problem was just so annoying—annoying—annoying and the blade's tether effect prevented possible adjustments... but soon a comedic silver lining presented itself.

That no matter how hard the beast pulled, his dumb sword would not budge.

Toro immediately grinned like a jackass, finding humor in Archangel's animated solution. Looking the spastic he tugged and pushed, twisting to shake his blade from the student's armor without success. Refusing to cut-bait his battlefield awareness broke over the metal vanity project, leaving huge strategic openings for attack!

First came Ross' hammer kick from high above, slamming Angel with a loud metal crash. Next went Ronald who staked limbs Helsing style with jumbo blades, spraying blood. Last but not least came Jun's alleyway assault, punching and spam slicing with a switchblade. Devolving to hooligan barfights the battle was becoming a World Star jumping for thirty thousand retweets and twice the likes. Breaking policy the gang would catch bans but good lord the clout; our orange scumbag half considered recording but contributing seemed even more fun!

If only there wasn't an inconvenient catch to overcome first. Wrenched deep the sword wasn't out of Toro's armor yet and making things worse his arm dragged down without Archangel counterbalancing from the pommel. Mobbing the pinned enemy would be impossible unless something changed and "what to do what to do?" Toro thought while concentrating on his samurai cloak. If he could retract shielding the sword would fall without anything to hold, but was partial deactivation even possible? Glaring the boy sensed maliability but the stubborn armor wouldn't budge. Stuck as old bandaids the cloak refused to peel until after serious convincing, dissolving to neon embers fluttering out like sparks from a crackling flame.

Lacking purchase the blade rattled from masonry with a loud clash, marking Toro's freedom like the snapping of chains. Relieved of excess weight he rotated his bruised shoulder three times as new armor flowed, muttering out "thats better" while lunging onto the beast, officially joining the party. Without serious weapons his choice strained to mindless stabbing or stomping and that was just fine! Toro was happy laying out well armored kicks like warhammer blows, wailing away on Bird's chest and head with steel shinguards.

Rather fun the no consequence ass beating entertained, but tiring out from attack volume Toro wanted to close the fight decisively. Spotting a major weakness he flipped his elongated cloak-covered knife once, stabbing down with a roar for an eyeball. No matter how tough the creature was, a knife through the brain wouldn't agree with his constitution and Toro prayed for landing because god damnit he was hungry. Finishing things here meant finishing a plate elsewhere.

This fight was now personal.

BriiAngelic Haz. Thepotatogod