Fandom The City That Never Weeps

[Aegis]

Elixir-777 (In the Boss' Office)
[ @ people feeling nosy ]
{ nearby Seigen ( Blemmigan ), Keona ( Jet ), Nozomi ( L3n ), Sachie ( BriiAngelic ), Kanna ( lost city ), Claire ( Colorless Spectrum ), Mizushiro-san ( CapRock ), Rhyme }

Jeremy Rodriguez, owner of Elixir and more casually referred to as "J" by his subordinates, was positioned snugly behind his mahogany desk in the back room letting the night drone by as he carefully studied the security cameras displaying Elixir on the desktop of his computer. Behind him were various filing cabinets and shelves with papers pertaining to the financials and other pertinent details on Elixir and its clients; it seemed that the only items meant for aesthetic were a cheap recreation of the Mona Lisa that seemed to perfectly mirror the artificial atmosphere of the bar and a bust in his own image on a table in the corner of the room. There were some nights where he wasn't feeling social and this was one of them. On nights like these, he liked to just admire what he had built-- regardless of the dirty operations in the background. He was his own man, and that's all he EVER wanted.

However, tonight, he was trying to turn his attention away from the fact he needed to use the bathroom. The one downside to this location was that they only had room for one unisex bathroom in the main area which came with its own set of problems. He could have all the hardwood flooring he wanted in his office but a bathroom-- that's where the line is firmly drawn. It was busy out there and if he walked out now he'd have to spend at least ten minutes waving and talking and greeting and all that crap. A sigh of resignation escaped from J's mouth as he went to brave it, but just as he rose from his seat a flurry of motion caught his eye on the monitor, more specifically the camera above the bar. It looked like some girl just hit another one hard enough to send her to the ground and it had caught the crowd's attention. "Perfect. Nice fuckin' save." J chattered off to himself as if congratulating the girl at the bar who turned out to be... Sachie upon closer inspection. He gulped and suddenly felt a bit less grateful due to her problematic track record but he knew not to look a gift-horse in the mouth; especially not when it worked in his favor so much.

J cautiously slid the red key-card hanging from his neck underneath his suit and pushed the door open just a bit. Good. The distraction was still on. In an almost cartoon fashion, J began slinking across the bar riding the back of the crowd with long strides on his tip-toes as if that'd help. However, as he approached the door to the bathroom his phone began to violently shake in his pocket to signal a call and the accompanying ringtone happened to play during the fade between songs which meant it was the only noise besides the crowd for a moment. A few heads turned but he was in a good enough position to turn his back and deflect some curious gazes. "Who the fu--" his own thoughts were stopped like a crash-dummy slamming into a wall as he saw the caller was unlisted. That was a more than clear signal as to who it actually was. Sweat beaded on his forehead a bit as he froze before the door to his destination once again. They NEVER called. Never. There must have been some kind of problem. Something went wrong on his end and they were coming to collect.

Fear griped J as he couldn't budge-- a pale figure against the dark gray paint on the walls. Suddenly, he spun around and his eyes searched the crowd as if he expected an assassin to spring out and take him down. It took a few seconds to steady his hands and slide right to answer "T-t-his is Jeremy, to w-whom am I speaking?" His words dripped in anxiety as he nervously anticipated the response from the other end.

"What do you mean the shipment is coming today?" His anxiety was replaced by sudden surprise and disbelief as he struggled to hush his words out.
"..."

"It wasn't supposed to be here until Sunday. We're packed how are we gonna--" J's body seemed to seize as he realized he was talking about this in the open.
"..."

"One second, p-please." It almost seemed like he was begging.

The bar owner cupped his hand of the mic on his phone and shot a few dodgy glances back at the crowd before proceeding into the bathroom in the least covert action anyone had ever seen.​

 

[BriiAngelic]

• Sachie Miyamoto || Hierophant Arcana

• 
  
  
  Persona: Unawakened
  Status: N/A
  Current Buffs: N/A
  
  Interacting With:
  Chiyo ( CapRock ) Claire ( Colorless Spectrum ),
  Mentions:
  Etsu, Mako, Haru (All Npcs)
  

  ~ Elixer 777 ~
  Comedown || Sachie's CS File
  
  Bang. Judgment. Annoyance. How fake. Trust and believe she knew fake. She broke into a manic grin. So that’s today’s game huh? She waited as she let the other satisfy their own self-esteem by flocking to the fainting girl. Silly fools couldn’t think with their own heads, or at least not the correct ones anyways. After all, how could a dainty little miss such as herself do any actual damage with a little tap? Yet even Mako went to her side only glancing back at Sachie herself. What annoyance, Haru should just pick up the spineless shit.
  
  She jumped off her stool when they were done. She’d been on the highest high and this silly thing was buzzing around being a nuisance. She even had her sister come flocking to her side, wonder if that was a staged thing as well or something. At least she did until she remembered that she was the one who hit her. With a squat next to the girl she let her hair fall into the girl's face as she leaned down close. She giggled low enough that only Chiyo below her and Claire beside her would hear over the music.
  
  “Hey hey don’t you think that playing dead is a little pathetic to gain sympathy? Come now, if you can manage to do your two-bit makeup that well then you should know that if you try to make a bruise appear we’re gonna have a problem.”
  
  She stood back up not wanting to deal with the girl’s nonsense any longer. She turned to Mako before shooing him off. He’d annoyed her. She’d deal with Haru’s complaints later. With a whip out of her phone, she started to rapidly text Etsu back. A quick note of annoyance and request to bring something strong with him.
  
  “Hmm? Oh the Chunni Cosp? It’s fine, just attention-seeking.”
  
  

 

[Arcanist]

Kaida Fuyoku / Erasmus Kwahndin
Mentions: - | Interactions: The Regal Rper (Erasmus), CapRock (Chimera)
​

Kaida felt a cool wave rush and trickle past her, a crash in her ears, a bang and a shattering still ringing in her head in the aftermath of collateral damage. She groaned as she forced herself onto all fours, her arms and legs willing themselves against her anchoring body. In her muddled mind, she blamed herself going ham in her workouts, and then her mind jumped to a possible fight she got in, cursing herself for letting them do a number on her. Only in coming around did she feel, and see the respirator clinging to her face. That thought alone was enough for her to rush to haphazardly dismantle it and throw it to the ground. The air hit her face, bringing with it a welcome, cool relief.

And a pungent odour that she couldn't seem to shake. Only upon lifting her arms and sniffing at her jacket did she recoil with an audible gag. "Goddamnit..." Kaida coughed. "I only washed this a couple of days ago too..." She cringed as she dropped damp arms by her side once again as she glanced around the chamber, its interior enough to remind her of some sci-fi horror setting. She shook her head, trying to shake off the sudden queasiness she felt at that thought. Her eyes eventually stopped upon the sight of another person, the very same one that had handed her a box of Pockeys, and later apparently tried to make a quick getaway in the van. "Erasmus?" Kaida started, approaching him and squatting on the ground near to him. "Hey, you good?"

He replied with a twitch. Or rather, one finger twitched, his left leg kicked, and then a few seconds after Eras awoke, gasping. The deep phlegm filled inhale of air that came with a hiss from the respirator glued to his face. As if he'd broken the surface of a pond or pool and was taking his first desperate breaths of air in a while, his chest expanded--

Then he hacked and cough on the ground when the putrid fumes of gnarly aroma registered to his senses.

Coughing so hard he collapsed from being halfway up to toppling back into the ground, arms the only real thing that had been supporting him- sweat dripping off his chin and hair covering his eyes like windows blocked by curtains. His whole body trembled as he reached out with one shaky dirty hand and digging nails in painfully to the ground, he rose back to fours and stared at the ground below him in a daze. Each breathe carrying a heavy exhale, like the mask was strapped on too tight or he couldn't breathe through his nose at all.

Head tilting he looked around, the curtain of black that was his hair blocking the look in his mismatched eyes. One shaky hand rose, parting it- and when he saw- he looked around in silence. Pupils dilating, Erasmus was a statue on the floor as he continued to catch his breath and his eyes flicked around to survey the madness- never once noting Kaida's presence.

Kaida was about to grab his attention again to bring him out of such a daze when the sudden drop of a body, dangling mere inches above their heads, halted any intention of doing so. Kaida flinched, yelled, and shifted backwards on her backside from the body. "Oh, fuck, fucking, fuck!" A stream of expletives left her mouth before she had any time to stop it. The queasiness returned, and with it, a sudden ramming in her chest telling her to get the hell out of here. What was worse, the body who attempted to speak to both her and Eras, belonged to that man who owned a some grocery store, Mr. Yamato. What was he doing here? And like this?

What the hell was happening?

The further this scenario went on, what Kaida though to be some crazy hallucination, was turning out to be uncomfortably realistic. Within a few blinks, and more cursing on Kaida's part, was Mr. Yamato swallowed whole by a prison made up of red strings, only to emerge from it as something that was most definitely not fully human. A fierce roar bounced off the walls of the chamber that attacked all of Kaida's senses. Her hands weren’t quick enough to reach her ears and shield them, for the roar managed to rattle the insides of her skull, and when she tried to focus her attention back on the creature, she instead was met with the image of two creatures.

"Damnit, I can't focus...!" Kaida clenched her teeth. By now, the sudden fear was beginning to give way to a surge of adrenaline. Not her usual foe, and certainly not in usual circumstances, but when would she ever shy away from a little fisticuffs? She stumbled to her feet, trying to focus on the images in front of her, only for a piece of red string to appear in front of her, almost calling to her to destroy it. Without questioning her mental stability in that moment, and somehow knowing what this was for, she called out to Erasmus.

"I dunno if it’s the same for you right now, but all I’m seeing is double. Pull yourself together while I try and keep this thing busy, yeah?” She reached out towards the string and grabbed it, yanking it with enough force that the string broke, and towering above her was her Persona, Shelley. Her other self, in perfect synchronization, flexed her fingers, before they balled into a fist. Kaida had to strike, which way she didn’t know, but she had to choose a direction and go with it. She lunged forward, the mirror image of the chimera still bouncing around the other image, and directed a jab, straight to the jaw of the creature.

Only to feel her feet begin lifting from the air. Grabbed, flung over his shoulder, and running- Erasmus ran away from the monster, batting away the red in his vision with one hand while the other gripped Kaida with white knuckles and shaking palm- holding her tightly to him like a child holding a dear beloved plush. He ran with this stranger, this devourer of sweets, and never looked back. Fear had overridden common sense and Erasmus ran in the opposite direction away from the creatures, ignoring protests and merely running. Running somewhere, even if he had no idea where.

"W-wha--?!" Kaida's sudden sweep off the ground threw her off-guard, and she watched as the creature shrink. She growled, knowing her and Erasmus were a pair of opposites in their current approach - fight and flight. "H-hey, put me down!" Kaida yelled, wriggling in his grip, slapping at his back as if somehow, Erasmus would change his mind and put her down. "You better watch where you put those hands or you'll wish you put me down sooner!"

The response, if anything- seemed to only make him grip onto her tighter even if wriggling around did cause...accidents to happen.

"St-sh-STOP MOVING AROUND!" Like dealing with a squirrel her wriggling made him nearly lose grip, and in an attempt to catch her as she slipped off, Erasmus fell backwards- and caught a face full of darkness, softness, and the feeling of two pillow covering his head while his arms wrapped around Kaida's waist in a flailing attempt and pure instinct to secure her and prevent her fall from being painful.

Even if it did turn him into her chest pillow.

Kaida’s landing felt cushy, something she would have been thankful for if Erasmus, physically, had not stuck his nose into things. It was only in her wriggling realisation did she notice his arms clamped around her waist. Already her face was growing a darker shade of red, perhaps out of embarrassment, or a growing rage, or worse yet, both. Her hands fondled for surfaces to push herself up, managing to find ground either side of Erasmus’ head. She heard a gasp, but he at least didn’t have to suffocate in the darkness anymore, though he still wasn’t exactly getting a view of Kaida’s face while she mouthed off.

“Son of a--!"

"--AAAH!"

"When this is all over, you’re gonna get some,” followed by a pause, and an extra stutter of, “shit, no, n-not that kind of some!”

"Meep!" was his reply. Erasmus laid there frozen- his natural tawny skin gaining a florid color at the cheeks, flustered and terrified he tried to not make things worse when he let go of Kaida but instead found himself staring at well…

He panicked. Trying to slip away, but ended up hitting boobs face first, which just made him panic even more and try to lift Kaida up. The proximity of their bodies had made him acutely aware of just how close they were and as he fumbled to try lifting her while on his back and almost glued to barely being able to see her face, the foreigner kept apologizing with "Sorry!" Repeatedly.

Unable to handle the insanity of just literally everything, Erasmus grabbed Kaida, shifted his legs, lifted his hips to get in position and then flipped both himself and Kaida so they rolled over and had now swapped places, him straddling her.

"I- sorry, look-" he quickly got up and without waiting lifted her along with him. Hand gripping her wrist firmly, glancing back to the monstrosities and beckoning Kaida to run with him as he tugged her.

Kaida, in the midst of all of this, had moved past the desire to turn her rage into a punch to Erasmus’s gonads to a sort of bewilderment. In all honesty, she hadn’t expected to be flipped onto her back, and no less lifted with such ease. Now, he was tugging at her, only managing a glance behind at the creature still very much present in the room with them, a bigger threat than the misplaced fondles. “Ah, fuck it, let’s go!” She made little protest to Erasmus’s plan of running, and followed him in running.

 

[Veradana]

The glass tubes shattered, spilling their contents onto the stone floor. Yuzuki stirred and blinked the fluid from her eyes. The stone room slowly came and went into focus. Her drenched, shivering form curled up, fighting to keep what little warmth it had. Eventually, she pushed herself up, arms struggling under even her slight weight. The movement sent her head spinning again, and she barely fought against retching.

Sitting there, she stared blankly ahead, hardly noticing the people around her. Idly, she groped at the mask, yanking it off, but letting it fall where it may. She was soaked to the bone, her clothes plastered to her skin, exposing her scrawniness even more than normal. The putrid air made it hard to breath.

No matter what she tried to do or think, every thought led back to before. Letting out small whimpers, she curled up and retched again at the memories. It had felt far too real to just be a dream. She rose, and gingerly, her hand shaking, touched the spot where the glass had struck. Eyes clenched shut, she prepared herself for the pain, but as her fingertips brushed it: nothing. No pain, no cuts, no blood when she opened her eyes. Yuzuki shook her head weakly. A dream. Nothing else made sense. Nothing at all made sense. Nothing throughout this whole afternoon had made sense.

She didn’t have the energy to think further.

Colorless Spectrum BriiAngelic

 

[Colorless Spectrum]

Aoi Mochizuki | 望月 葵

Aoi was awake, but her eyes kept shut. She could feel the fluid around her skin, the feeling of being afloat. The sound of a crack growing against the glass could be heard, the flow of water out of the tube until it became a shatter. Her body, limp, riding with the water, and spilled to the ground.

Her head ached more than it did before, letting out a groan as her eyes slowly opened to be met with stone and stone and more stone. The smell of the air didn't help, it made her want to puke but there wasn't really anything that she could cough up of. She didn't know where she was, what time it was, or what the fuck happened after the elevator ride. The mask that was attached to her face, she threw in irritation.

Hitting someone she didn't notice earlier. Someone just as soaked. Just as oblivious to what was happening as she is. She urged herself to get up, it was hard but she did. Trudging over weakly. "Kuwahara-san." She called out in a whimper, before falling to her knees in front of the scrawny teen. Aoi looked down at her wrist, triggering that memory of what had happened in a dream that felt so real. She traced her skin like she could see the nerves that she pulled out before pushing it down.

The pianist's breath was ragged, she didn't notice it before but it was hard to calm herself down. "Are we the only ones here?"

location: Uknown|| interactions: Veradana || mentions: BriiAngelic
just note that the Kanji is written by surname-given name

 

[Refaulted]

本田 謙三
Honda Kenzo
The Justice Arcana

The putrid waters of the sewers were strangely still, flowing quietly through long corridors made of old brick, stained from years of collecting the wastes of the town that sat above it. The only sounds that could be heard now were the lapping of water against the walls as it twisted between turns, the end never coming into sight, only shadows and the faint green glow of the small amount of light that bounced off the water and illuminated the tunnels, increasing the creepy aura it exuded.

And floating down this river of sewage was a body.

Surprisingly, not a dead one, though the layers of dirt and slime that covered him could fool whoever didn't look close enough. Beneath all the grime and tattered clothes, one could hear very faint breathing, slow and shallow gasps, trying to keep quiet. Blue hair with strings of mud woven into it floated in the water in different directions, making his head look like a sea urchin, and would usually be something that would bother the young man. But Kenzo could barely move his arms to support himself, nevermind pull himself up out of the water. It took everything in him to cling to consciousness, trying to flex his hand to grab onto anything to try and get a sense of where he was. Sludgy water rose over his face, spreading over it, but he was beyond able to comprehend the disgusting feeling it would usually set inside him.

He knew he had been wounded, but he couldn't tell where with all the pain. All the adrenaline he had felt before was gone now, and it was almost like he was weighed down by two tons of concrete, every muscle in his body aching from strain. He reached his hand out again, and felt a sudden sharp pain, the entirety of his vision disappearing for a second as his body took time to register what was happening to him, before it returned and he gasped. He focused on turning his eyes to look at his arm, scrapes bleeding lightly and bruises starting to form. He could also see a faintly silver object sticking into his forearm, which was probably the cause of the pain. He tried to will his other arm to move so he could pull it out, but it was no use, as the most he could do was twist his shoulder, resulting in more sewage splashing against his face. His body fell limp again, and he felt his eyes begin to close, no matter his willing them to stay open. As they shut, he felt relief begin to wash over him...

Silver guns. Bloody coats. A bloodshot eye that stared right into his very soul. Chains wrapping around him, suffocating him, dragging him further down...

He woke up in a panic, a cry of fear escaping his lips, his hand swiping at the air in front of him before falling back into the water with a loud splash. His breathing was fast now, his mind fully awake even if his body couldn't move. His vision began to turn blurry as tears began to shed, but he didn't allow it for long. He had managed to get away from that monster. What use was it to die now? He tried to feel past the dull ache, trying to move different limbs to make sure nothing was incredibly damaged. Once he was sure nothing was life-threatening, he allowed himself to relax once more, hoping his energy could come back enough to the point he could at least guide himself. Until then, he would have to float, keeping his ears and eyes open for anything that lurked, looking for him.

Minutes felt like hours, but it couldn't have been that long. The pain was beginning to subside, and he could move his arms and legs easier now. He took a deep breath before twisting his shoulders, turning face-first into the water, before quickly pushing himself up onto his hands and knees. It hurt, but it was progress. He allowed himself some deep breathes before he pulled his feet under him, rising slowly by using the wall for balance. He shuffled through the water, making sure he didn't step too far at risk of falling and knocking himself unconscious. He made sure to keep an eye out behind him in case the monster came back, just catching a glimpse of Sudden Green's embers. At least he wasn't completely defenseless in that department if he ran into something else.

Kenzo was going escape these hellish sewers. There were too many mysteries to figure out. And as he saw a light in front of him, he allowed himself a brief moment of joy before steeling his resolve for whatever laid beyond.

 

[Midrick]

E-777 was somewhere Katya would never imagine herself going, especially due to it's more seedy environment, she could only imagine the types of shady dealings and more raunchy actions that took place in the back rooms of the club. Her friends wanted to give because they served alcohol to underage teenagers, a practice she believed to be both unethical and despicable. Katya had changed out of the athletic short shorts and oversized T-shirt she wore at home for some more stylish garments and was now entering the abominable structure. She was immediately assaulted by the scent of cheap perfume, alcohol, and sweat.

Katya was already uncomfortable, sleazy men were accompanied by loose women, and Katya immediately averted her gaze from a certain section where copious amounts of skin were on display. She remembered the few things that her brother, Taro, had told her. Don't accept drinks from anyone besides the bartender, don't talk to strangers, and stay close to the bar. She could feel her mouth getting dry as she approached, leaving her friends to their own devices on the pretense of ordering from the bar. She wanted to shrink into herself and appear small, if only to go unnoticed, she didn't belong here in this club right now she wanted nothing more to go home, she looked meekly up at the bartender before wracking her mind for a cocktail that wouldn't cause her too much trouble. "One Vodka and g-giner ale please." she managed to stutter out quietly. She mentally face palmed at her inability to even speak properly, and looked around her, apparently a commotion had taken place before she had arrived at E-777.

Against her better judgment Katya decided to inquire about the previous minutes events. She tugged the sleeve of a rather eccentrically dressed girl that was texting on her phone. "Excuse me but what just happened?" she asked with a twitch of her head motioning towards the girl on the ground.

BriiAngelic Blemmigan Colorless Spectrum CapRock @Sil-​

 

[Thexcentrichilean]

.

"..."
There he was, a german foreigner, inside a seedy, shady Japanese bar with people he didn't know almost at all, holding a cup of alcohol he was reluctant to drink, looking at a girl making a scene on the floor all of the sudden while he was already there re-evaluating all of his life choices up to this point... looking into space, reaching for his phone to call emergency services just in case was needed... oh just how had he landed onto his troublesome situation, one couldn't help but wonder...

It was quite simple actually. The young man in question was a German university student known as Hershel Albert. He was in this small Japanese town as the guest of a friend of his mom, both who had met through the world of politics. The friend in question was a merry old man and retired local politician. He was a bit like a nice grandpa, but disliked it when people idling around without a thing to do, especially youth! And as such suggested to Hershel to apply for a job as a clerk at the local government office... not a bad idea in all honesty, and the foreigner took to his suggestion with earnest enthusiasm, It was good practice after all!

Well, turns out that dealing with work interviews was very difficult and stressful, and the applicant was barely able to prepare properly for it just mentally, and physically thanks to Mister Hiroshi's generosity, getting the boy a suit worthy of work interviews as a welcome gift/loan, knowing that someone of his good character would pay it back eventually.

The interview itself was something exhausting, to say the least... though, on the bright side, Hershel was able to meet a lot of people also aspiring for the position, with most of them being nice if distant. Well, apart from a specific individual, a charismatic young man could be said to be the de facto leader of the group of local applicants. He had made the effort to greet all other participants and make a nice impression... which honestly was a smart idea. Even without taking into account the niceness of the gesture, it was objectively a good idea to make a good impression with your possible coworkers if a group of them got hired... he was a smart lad, that's for sure.

The german smirked at the realization to himself and simply played it cool... there were some interesting fellows around, that was for sure. BUT, things were not over with him yet! Before everyone's interviews started, the young man (Whose name was Takashi) proposed an interesting idea: To go drink after it all was over at a local place he knew well... it was, an interesting choice to say the least, but not a bad one. Hershel had read up about work culture in Japan, and going out to drink with your co-workers was something to be expected, so starting early with it wasn't a bad idea... The foreigner, despite some nervousness about the matter, decided to accept. If anything did go wrong, he could manage himself well enough at least.

And as such, about half the group signed up for the idea... and that returns us to the situation mentioned before, with a stunned Hershel having not had even a single drink, ready to call some kind of emergency number... when he simply sighed, placed his drink on a table, kept his phone ready to dial to the number, and approached the little group that had formed around the... odd girl. He had just happened to overhear that the newcomer of the group was the sister of the girl that was on the floor... so, Hershel simply walked in their direction and directed his voice at the blonde, sporty-looking blonde teenage girl.

"Hey, is she alright or do I need to like... call an emergency medical hotline? I was going to just do it, but seeing that you mentioned you were family, I decided to ask first... so, what is it?"
He was quite direct, not outright spatting out the words or anything, but direct nonetheless, not even introducing himself... but could one blame him??? The entire situation was as strange as it got after all! So, give the foreigner some slack here.

.

Location: Elixir-777
Colorless Spectrum
Aegis
CapRock

 

[Veradana]

Woe upon woes, and tragedies upon tragedies, that Kenzo’s light at the end of the tunnel did not lead him into heaven, or even so much as out of the hell of the sewers. Instead, he’d found himself in another room, brightly lit, and containing several of those familiar tubes, empty, to be clear, even of liquid. As well, the room held several well-used desks and chairs. If he was hoping to reunite with his detention-mates, those hopes would be dashed quite quickly. However, that is not to say that he was alone.

The Great Don León

At the far end of the room, facing away from Kenzo, examining the tubes for himself, stood a potentially towering man at 6’4”. His brilliant red cape blocked most of his body, but his muscled tone was unmistakable. At the sound of Kenzo’s footsteps, his ears turned ‘round, followed by the rest of him. His cape billowed with the movement. The lion-man, clad in blue-and-gold armour, faced Kenzo with a brilliant sheen in his eyes, and his face lit up with relief and joy.

“What ho, fellow explorator!” he said, voice deep and booming, “What good fortune it is that we should meet. I was beginning to think that this place held truly nothing more than the stench of death. Ah, but forgive me, I implore you,” noting Kenzo’s numerous wounds and general filth, “I should not hasten a gravely injured warrior, such as yourself. I am the great Don León, and though I am woefully lacking in expertise to tend to your wounds, I offer that you may rest here for a time, to recover your strength.”

Refaulted

 

[Veradana]

Kaida and Erasmus’s efforts to escape were admirable. They darted past the Shadow and into the corridors of the sewers. The Shadow, to its credit, gave chase, but the enclosed space slightly hindered its wings and attempts at flight. However, it soon held back the chase, pawing nervously at the ground. For Kaida and Erasmus, the cause for this shift in behaviour would soon become apparent, as sharp clicking of heels against stone echoed around them.

She cut an imposing figure, their Warden. Although seemingly weaponless, she was splattered with what looked like blood. The glow of her lime-green eyes pierced through any attempts at stealth in the dark. These eyes of hers, laser-sharp, bore down onto Fuyuko and Kwahndin, her face blank as marble. With a blink, her eyes shifted their focus between the delinquents and their pursuant Shadow. The readings they gave off came back as expected: Persona Users. The shift in her expression as she looked at them was infinitesimally small, but her words, though said in that same monotone as ever, fell like acid.

“You’re running from that?”

Her calculations couldn’t be off. Even one of these two should have the strength to fight off such a weakling Shadow. She stood, imobile, in their path.

“If you want to survive from now on, you should get used to fighting Shadows. Don’t disappoint me.”

The Shadow, seeing that its prey was not attacking, took approach again. It snarled, casting hasty glances towards the warden. If the escapees were hoping for an easy retreat, they would have to rethink their strategy.

Arcanist The Regal Rper

 

[Aegis]

Rhyme Ryujin
Location: Elixir-777 (the Floor)
[Interacting with Mizushiro-San ( CapRock ), Hershel ( Thexcentrichilean ), Sachie ( BriiAngelic ), Claire ( Colorless Spectrum )]
{Other bar people nearby}

Rhyme aired a sigh of relief as Chiyo played up the situation.

​

Chiyoko would never come to touch that Martini, however. She had her hand outstretched when the hit came: light, unintended, barely making it to 2 on the Wong-Baker scale. Yet, it was enough. The girl let out an exasperated wail and promptly collapsed on the floor, pushing away the counter’s benches as she did. It was an act made to look more painful than it felt in true WWE fashion, sans a few hundred thousand dollars worth of acting school. From a - forcibly - darkening sight, she saw Rhyme approaching to offer her a handful of tissues. Her hand took the offer and clenched the fabric tight as her faltering voice mustered a reply:

“Rhyme… Chio whispered into his ears with her last breaths.” She said, shifting between her deathbed speech and her narration voice completely effortlessly. “You’ve always been… Too kind to me…”

And then she collapsed once more to lay limp on the floor.

"Oh! What woe has befallen me on such an otherwise beautiful night," Rhyme dramatically danced his left hand upward as if to curse the gods themselves before dropping it downward to clutch his face in mock pain while firmly grasping Chiyo with his right and lifting her off the floor as if to embrace his fallen love, stopping just short all the while his tone was dry and seemingly annoyed "my love has so cruelly been taken from me. I know not how I shall live on! Yet, I shall for that would be her heart's greatest desire."

A pensive look of almost tears gripped Rhyme's face while his voice clearly displayed the disconnect between how he was acting and how he really felt: annoyed. In a cold motion he released Chiyo and watched as she hit the ground, not hard, but enough to show he was done playing along "Get up. You're making the floor dirty."

​

She walked around Elixir-777, her view adjusted to a way where she would not be able to see the pole dancers because... She always gets flustered at seeing such things. No sooner than later did Claire found her sister. She ran towards her sister, her scrunched up hair swaying, seeing nothing else as her face was painted with worry. Something that only happens when something has happened to her sister. "Rhyme, what happened? Is Onee-chan okay? Chio-nee??"

"She should be fine. Just being... Mizushiro-san about it." He laid another odd amount of emphasis on her last name knowing that it would likely break her facade and get her to act norm... semi-normal again. Rhyme looked to Claire and paid a small smirk at the situation in general "How did you end up so much more mature than your older sister?"
​

“Hey hey don’t you think that playing dead is a little pathetic to gain sympathy? Come now, if you can manage to do your two-bit makeup that well then you should know that if you try to make a bruise appear we’re gonna have a problem.”

She stood back up not wanting to deal with the girl’s nonsense any longer. She turned to Mako before shooing him off. He’d annoyed her. She’d deal with Haru’s complaints later. With a whip out of her phone, she started to rapidly text Etsu back. A quick note of annoyance and request to bring something strong with him.

“Hmm? Oh the Chunni Cosp? It’s fine, just attention-seeking.”

Rhyme's attention was stolen from Claire momentarily as Sachie leaned in to speak to Chiyo. What exactly she said was drowned out by the music, but still it stroked his curiosity a bit. However, as she stood, he bit hid tongue. Best not to stick his head in where it didn't belong. Not here.
​

"Hey, is she alright or do I need to like... call an emergency medical hotline? I was going to just do it, but seeing that you mentioned you were family, I decided to ask first... so, what is it?"
He was quite direct, not outright spatting out the words or anything, but direct nonetheless, not even introducing himself... but could one blame him??? The entire situation was as strange as it got after all! So, give the foreigner some slack here.

Rhyme's head cocked upward at a foreigner who had approached the scene. Things were getting a bit hectic in the bar and it appeared he was not used to the nightly antics of E-777. "She's fine, just being a drama queen. You're new here I can see."
​

ar griped J as he couldn't budge-- a pale figure against the dark gray paint on the walls. Suddenly, he spun around and his eyes searched the crowd as if he expected an assassin to spring out and take him down. It took a few seconds to steady his hands and slide right to answer "T-t-his is Jeremy, to w-whom am I speaking?" His words dripped in anxiety as he nervously anticipated the response from the other end.

"What do you mean the shipment is coming today?" His anxiety was replaced by sudden surprise and disbelief as he struggled to hush his words out.
"..."

"It wasn't supposed to be here until Sunday. We're packed how are we gonna--" J's body seemed to seize as he realized he was talking about this in the open.
"..."

"One second, p-please." It almost seemed like he was begging.

The bar owner cupped his hand of the mic on his phone and shot a few dodgy glances back at the crowd before proceeding into the bathroom in the least covert action anyone had ever seen.

Rhyme's head hung a bit as he tried to look away from his boss. He didn't know exactly what he was up to, but he was also not a fool. He knew the kind of deals that went on in the back of Elixir. He knew enough of the context to be certain he should ignore that and carry on. It was about time for him to leave anyhow.

He really wanted to go home.​

 

[Refaulted]

本田 謙三
Honda Kenzo
The Justice Arcana

Kenzo had trouble processing what he was looking at, which probably stemmed mainly from his exhaustion, but also from how bizarre the entire situation was. He blinked a couple times, some grime clearing out of his eyes so he could attempt to get a better look, but the scene did not make any more sense than it had before. He used the wall to support himself as he craned his neck, looking around the room for any sign of a trap, but couldn't really see anything that stood out to him. But aside from the worn desks, he saw no other signs of human life.

And so he turned his attention back to the creature at the back of the room who, aside from the feline features, stood out like a sore thumb with it's attire. His first thought that it was another monster, maybe something like the last one, but it didn't feel similar at all. The monster before had let out such an overpowering aura, and Kenzo couldn't feel the same thing from this creature, which set him slightly more at ease. He understood that at the moment he wasn't in any more mortal danger, but he couldn't let his guard down completely. If that thing was still roaming around, he had to make sure he could escape at a moment's notice.

"...I'll take you up on that..." Kenzo croaked, shuffled along the wall into the room, moving along the wall until he was a safe distance from the door in case he was ambushed, while still keeping his distance from the lion-man, keeping his gaze on him as hard as he could as he fought off the lull of sleep. He slowly slid down, landing with a rather harsh thud on the ground below him, wincing as the pain subsided shortly after. He lifted an arm shakily up to grab a strand of muddy hair, running his fingers along it to pull it out and restore the original blue color it had.

"So, Don L...Lion?...Don Lion, right?" Kenzo felt a sharp pain and gasped suddenly as he began to lower his arm, looking down at the nail stuck in it. He grabbed it with his opposite hand and, holding his breath, pulled it out quickly, blood beginning to spill out of it slowly. Tossing the nail to the side, he covered the wound with his hand, applying a small amount of pressure to try and pull his attention away from the pain. "How can I trust you aren't like that monster? The one with the guns..." The hooded face flashed into his vision, and he flinched, but it was gone as soon as it appeared, only his mind playing tricks on him. "...And how do I know you aren't the one who forced me in these tubes? Because I'll be honest, I don't know how trusting I'm feeling right now, and a lion-man hybrid in knight's armor kinda screams shady to me."

He was acting tough, sure. One look at Kenzo would help anyone come to that conclusion. He was battered and bruised all over, and he had no room to be talking as big as he was. He knew he was being antagonistic, but he didn't want to just let himself seem like a dying dog in front of someone who could potentially mean him harm.

Interactions: Don Leon Veradana

 

[Veradana]

Don León swept out of Kenzo’s way, allowing him further space into the room. When Kenzo elected to choose the floor as his resting place, Don León’s ears turned and his whiskers twitched, but he did not speak immediately. First, he walked over to one of the desks, and grabbed one of the nicer-looking chairs, hoisting it up and walking it over to Kenzo.

“I believe this may offer a slight more comfort,” he said, “after all, the chill of stone can sap the strength of even the most sturdy of men.”

“As well, I must correct you slight mispronunciation: I am the great Don León” he placed specific emphasis on the ‘León’ and its specific phonemes.

At Kenzo’s questioning, Don León paused, and his expression turned thoughtful. He hummed to himself briefly, tail swinging idly.

“I can place no blame upon you for your suspicions,” he said “the great Yamato Shibata found his trust difficult to give as well, but though it is unfortunately lacking, all I have to offer you is my word.”

He stood resolute, voice firm and without hesitation. He couldn’t be sure how convincing it would be, but honesty was the only proper course of action. The injured man offered his thoughts freely, and so too must Don León.

“I am not a Shadow, such as the one you fought. And I must emphatically state that I did not imprison you as you described. I only came to this place due to a great commotion that I heard from The Garden up above, and so I felt a need to investigate such an unusual occurrence.”

Hopefully such words would put Kenzo at greater ease.


Refaulted

 

[Refaulted]

本田 謙三
Honda Kenzo
The Justice Arcana

Kenzo stared warily at the 'man' as he approached with the seat and offered it to him, and Kenzo was worried it was some sort of tactic to get close to him. As he listened to the lion correct him on his pronunciation, he was almost physically taken aback at the act. Really, it was almost comical to the boy, this inhuman thing correcting him on the pronunciation of their name, and he could almost imagine the situation being more believable if he couldn't see what was going on around him. It alleviated more of his wariness of the creature, and Kenzo grunted as he pushed himself up into the chair, realizing that what Don León had said was true enough, not feeling quite as cold as he had before.

As the lion-man spoke, more and more questions began to pop up in his head, his eyes narrowing as he tried to process the information. Once he was done, Kenzo took a moment to collect his thoughts, but it didn't help, as he stammered over trying to begin his sentences for a few seconds before he finally got himself under control. "Okay, okay, we should back up maybe ten or a hundred steps real quick. Say for now, I trust your word about not wanting to hurt me, I got that part, but you said Yamato Shibata? Like the student at my school that's gone missing? You know him? If so, how do you know him? Was he trapped in the same place I was, in those giant tubes? And if so, then is he able to...do the same things I can do now?" He paused, then his eyes widened as a thought crossed his mind. "Wait, what about the others, too? Asado Naofumi? Katsuragawa Ryota? Volkov Mei? Yoshida Isamu? Do you know any of them, or at least their names?"

Kenzo scanned the room again, waving a hand meekly around in exasperation. "And Shadows? Garden? Was what attacked me a Shadow? And what even are those, exactly? Last I remember, a person's shadow can't just leap up and attack you, can it? And this Garden, is that where we are? Or at least a part of it? So we aren't in Kayatomi anymore? Then maybe this is the mainland or...another country entirely? No, that can't be possible, unless I was unconscious for days, at the absolute minimum."

The room was beginning to spin, and he felt himself shifting back and forth in the chair. He gripped the sides of it as tightly as he could to steady himself, bringing himself back tto reality and out of his own mind. He took a deep breath, exhaling slowly, before he spoke again. "I'm sorry. This is just...too much. I'm cold, I'm about to pass out, and my head feels like it's about to shatter into a million tiny pieces. And I...haven't even introduced myself yet. I'm Honda Kenzo, and it's nice to meet you, Don León." The introduction sounded incredibly out of place in his current situation, but he paid it no mind. "If you couldn't tell, I've had an incredibly long day, and I just want to have some answers to why a giant, gun-wielding monster nearly sent me to the afterlife."

Interactions: Don León Veradana

 

[Veradana]

Far, far off in the distance, the more astute of the captives might overhear a new, unusual sound. Perhaps it was not dissimilar to what they’d heard before, when their cages shattered. The remote noise didn’t seem to come any closer, at first, until suddenly, from all through the sewers came a great, blaring alarm, overwhelming any and all other sound. In intervals between the alarm, a fuzzy recording in dissonant calm fed through the same speaker-system.

“Warning. Warning. Alert to all personnel: there has been a rupture in the main fluid tank. Immediate evacuation is required. Repeat: Main Tank Rupture. All Personnel Must Evacuate.”

And so it repeated.

If the former captives truly refused to move, even at this point, it would be unlikely that another chance would arise. Even if the warnings might drown-out the sound, the choking stench that approached was a very different thing. After all, they were still in what looked like a sewer. But the putrid odour was truly only the beginning, holding herald to the very real danger that the recording was trying to warn them of. A recording and alarm that could only obscure the noise for so long.

Some might realise it before others, scattered as they were throughout the stone prison. No longer off in the distance, the roar of the torrent of liquid melded with the wailing alarms. There could be no exaggeration in what they were facing down: a flood, one that pulled away anything so unfortunate to be in its path. Even an unfortunate Shadow would not be spared should it fail to wander out the path of feces brimmed death.

One way or another, the victims would find their way through to higher ground, and truly what they’d been hoping for all this time: an escape from the dismal sewers. The sturdy door, helpfully labeled “EXIT” only slightly stood out from the rest, but there it was. And what stood next to the doors was almost comical compared to the harrowing experiences from which they had all so recently emerged.

It was an umbrella stand, not unlike those one would see in a supermarket or other business where they didn’t want you tracking in the rain-water with you. Pinned above it was a sign that read thusly: “REMINDER TO ALL WORKERS: OUTSIDE THIS SPACE, UMBRELLAS ARE CONSIDERED PERSONAL PROTECTIVE EQUIPMENT! GOOD COWORKERS DON’T LEAVE EACH OTHER OUT IN THE RAIN” and helpfully emblazoned in cartoon pictograms explaining the same message.

There were only three umbrellas.

From behind them, the fetid water still flowed, leaving them little time for deliberation. They would have to move quickly. However they decided to divide the supplies, or even if they heeded the warning was irrelevant at this point. Finally, it was time for them to leave and see for themselves what lay beyond this hell.

Light flooded the doorway, and stone gave way to gravel, which gave way to grass and soil. Rain fell gently but steadily. The doorway had a slight overhang, offering final shelter before they were exposed to the open weather. Around the entrance grew several stalks of asphodel, blooming into soft, white flowers. Slightly beyond them, there were numerous buildings and remains of buildings, all surrounded or covered with flowers. The rubble was all connected by that familiar red string that ensnared the captive Shadows of the sewers, all trailing upwards to the sky, and a bizarre spider-lily, hanging inverted above them.

However, even now, they didn’t have much of a reprieve. The whole earth shook beneath them as a new building rose from the ground. Made entirely of glass, the greenhouse stuck out like a sore thumb among the rest of the city. Almost as if responding to the shift in the air, threads fell from the spider-lily, constricting itself around the greenhouse walls.

CapRock (Shirou) Midrick (Jordan) Refaulted (Kenzo) Jeef_jones (Alex) Thepotatogod (Ross) Hououin Kyouma (Ginjiro)
Haz.

 

[CapRock]

Tagging all the bar folks!

Aegis Thexcentrichilean Midrick

As time braved through the first hours of the night inside of E-777, the unusual clientele seemed to manage the unusual environment by working off of each other’s company, shaping a bubble of their own atmosphere inside of which even the most aggressive influences of the room dared not enter. They had found their enjoyment in the most unlikely of places, at the cost of remaining painfully unaware that a storm had built up outside. A mistake that was about to get poignantly corrected.
With a brief flutter as its only warning, the bar’s entrance was suddenly overtaken by a stampede of black suits and shades, suspiciously gun-shaped bulges popping from the sides of their suits and clockwork-like precision in their movements, forming a net that blocked the slightest hope of exiting through the main entrance. Then, a final new arrival, clearly the master of that entourage.

Each step like a conqueror claiming new territory, his gaze pierced the room without restraint before his hand went to his earpiece. When his spoke, his voice like glacial metal rubbed against the earbuds of whoever dared to pay attention, too powerful and clear to get muffled simply by lowering his own voice.

“We have an unexpected crowd, sir. Never seen them. Understood. We’ll take care of the issue.”

With those words being said, it took no longer than a glance from the man for the others to make a move, setting their sights for the bubble with killing intent. They immediately made way towards the underaged gang, hands hovering over the deadly weapons in their pocket, ready to pull them out at the slightest provocation with all the nonchalant naturality of grabbing a smoke.
The bar’s owner was quick to pick up on the impending measures being taken and, though still shaken by the sudden visit, walked on to confront the tall man in the trench coat:

“What are you doing to those kids? I can’t have the police running a check around this place…”

J’s voice died out quickly, however, as the hulking leader of the gang annihilated the distance between them, his scar-ridden face now inches away from the man’s. He simply replied:

“Cease with this nonsense.” He spared the students a glance, clearly unbothered by any attention they were giving to his words. “The town will forget about them by the end of the week, just like the others.”

Disposing of only a few precious seconds to make a decision, the options available to them run thin, but not completely dry. Standing not too many feet behind them, the staff door led into the kitchen and to the backdoor should they reach it in time. But that was not all. As soon as the man had arrived, something downright outworldly had taken hold of that pathway, a red light seeping from beyond the hinges like that of an old timey-revelation room, accompanied by an unsettling rumble. Salvation, it seemed, would come with its own share of strings attached.


Chiyoko Mizushiro

I was knocked out cold in a strip club and woke up in another world, the hottest release of Winter 2021!

Tags: Also the bar gang

Many words reached Chiyoko’s fading unconscious as she laid in darkness.
“Is she alright?”
“Are you okay?”
“My love has been cruelly taken away from me.”
“Is One-chan okay? Chio-nee!”
“Hey hey don’t you think that playing dead is a little pathetic to gain sympathy?”

It was only after her demise had been fully experienced by everyone in the room that she graced them with the revelation that she was, in fact, surviving the terrible attempt on her life. No sooner than when she opened her eyes, though, it quickly became clear that something awful was afoot and she quickly dragged herself into leaning on the counter’s side. Her eyes were suddenly overtaken by a glint that was half-terror, half-stupid idea taking shape in her mind as her gaze darted from the henchmen to the leader.
“Listen, we don’t have much time.” She told the others, her tone dead serious as she took the front again. “You sneak out first, I’ll seduce the guards and convince them to let me go.”
Chiyo then fixed her hair, her clothes and reached out for her collar, popping a few buttons open to expose some cleavage. It was a bit of a hasty decision, as she quickly noticed the obvious pads popping out of her shirt and closed it back up again. No matter. Her charming personality would more than make up any limitations in her make-up.


Shirou Lancaster


Don’t you dare mess my hair!

Tags: Midrick (jordan) Jeef_jones (Alex) Thepotatogod (Ross) Haz. (Rei) Refaulted (Kenzo) Veradana (Yuzuki)

“Now, I’ll find the way out of this shithole, and I’ll even be nice enough to let you follow me- hey!”
Shirou was too busy talking and gesturing to notice Alex had rushed ahead, leaving him alone with mr. personality of the year himself. He was about to head after him and offer him a piece of his mind on this outrageous deceit when something put his train of thought as well as his movements to a screeching halt. Personnel evacuation? From what, more monsters like the one they just fought? If that was the case, then King Arthur and him would make short work of-
Another abrupt shift took place as his nose twitched and his eyes widened.
“Nope. No goddamn way.”
Shirou ran his fingers over his hair and his clothes, hyperventilating visibly. 1,500 yen for the gel. 100,000 for the designer jeans, and 180,000 for the limited edition jacket alone, not to mention his phone and leather wallet. That and the putrid, wretched, horrendous stench he just sniffed a hint of, which would stick to his body until they could find the nearest place with a bathroom. What if the rescue team had a hot nurse among them? He needed but a few moments of contemplation to assess how much he cared about this new threat.

“You better not trip, because I'm not coming back for you!” He yelled at Alex and Jordan before zipping past them at a speed uncharacteristic for such slim tights. He disappeared from view within moments, leaving behind nothing but the shoes he shot right off of his feet on the struggle for acceleration. The halls of the sewers, the shadows lurking in them and the people he might have crossed paths with all turned into an indiscernible blur as he pushed himself to his very limits to outpace the sewage. Whether it was sheer luck or an unexpectedly sharp sense of direction that kept him on the right path, no one would never know.
The fact is that after who knows how long, Shirou saw himself at the finish line, bent over forward, holding his knees and gasping for air while others he recognized from their disastrous school trip arrived with. He’d pay attention to them in a bit. For now, he was far too worried noticing his shoeless feet and pressing the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index in frustration. He stood like this for a few seconds before it came upon him to actually inspect what lied beyond the exit. His thoughts didn’t wait for long before manifesting in the form of exasperated words:
“...Where the hell are we?”

 

[Aegis]

Rhyme Ryujin
Location: Elixir-777 (the floor)
[Interacting with: Mizushiro-san( CapRock ), J ( CapRock ), and the other people in the bar]​

As time braved through the first hours of the night inside of E-777, the unusual clientele seemed to manage the unusual environment by working off of each other’s company, shaping a bubble of their own atmosphere inside of which even the most aggressive influences of the room dared not enter. They had found their enjoyment in the most unlikely of places, at the cost of remaining painfully unaware that a storm had built up outside. A mistake that was about to get poignantly corrected.
With a brief flutter as its only warning, the bar’s entrance was suddenly overtaken by a stampede of black suits and shades, suspiciously gun-shaped bulges popping from the sides of their suits and clockwork-like precision in their movements, forming a net that blocked the slightest hope of exiting through the main entrance. Then, a final new arrival, clearly the master of that entourage.

Each step like a conqueror claiming new territory, his gaze pierced the room without restraint before his hand went to his earpiece. When his spoke, his voice like glacial metal rubbed against the earbuds of whoever dared to pay attention, too powerful and clear to get muffled simply by lowering his own voice.

“We have an unexpected crowd, sir. Never seen them. Understood. We’ll take care of the issue.”

With those words being said, it took no longer than a glance from the man for the others to make a move, setting their sights for the bubble with killing intent. They immediately made way towards the underaged gang, hands hovering over the deadly weapons in their pocket, ready to pull them out at the slightest provocation with all the nonchalant naturality of grabbing a smoke.
The bar’s owner was quick to pick up on the impending measures being taken and, though still shaken by the sudden visit, walked on to confront the tall man in the trench coat:

“What are you doing to those kids? I can’t have the police running a check around this place…”

J’s voice died out quickly, however, as the hulking leader of the gang annihilated the distance between them, his scar-ridden face now inches away from the man’s. He simply replied:

“Cease with this nonsense.” He spared the students a glance, clearly unbothered by any attention they were giving to his words. “The town will forget about them by the end of the week, just like the others.”

Disposing of only a few precious seconds to make a decision, the options available to them run thin, but not completely dry. Standing not too many feet behind them, the staff door led into the kitchen and to the backdoor should they reach it in time. But that was not all. As soon as the man had arrived, something downright outworldly had taken hold of that pathway, a red light seeping from beyond the hinges like that of an old timey-revelation room, accompanied by an unsettling rumble. Salvation, it seemed, would come with its own share of strings attached.

Rhyme was gripped by temporary shock as this man busted through the front toting with him the Kamakura City's baddest. He had seen them before; everybody who worked in Elixir had seen them before. They were without a doubt one of the city's biggest gangs. A lump formed in his throat as the man's gaze carved a line through everyone in the room and pulverized any thought of resistance that he could come up with. "Run". That was the only thing he could think of as he saw his boss try and talk some sense into the man. The leader's look was less than satisfied that this group was here and it appeared it was time to "take out the trash". He was right, at least, when he said nobody would remember us in about a week. That was the power of this gang: undeniable and terrifying.

Rhyme felt cowardice seep into his bones as the group was cast in the shadow of this man. His figure was power, ruthlessness, and tyranny absolute. It almost felt natural to be on his knees even if his original intention was to play around with Mizushiro. Somehow, Chiyoko managed to get to her feet and spout off some nonsense about "seducing the guards".
​

It was only after her demise had been fully experienced by everyone in the room that she graced them with the revelation that she was, in fact, surviving the terrible attempt on her life. No sooner than when she opened her eyes, though, it quickly became clear that something awful was afoot and she quickly dragged herself into leaning on the counter’s side. Her eyes were suddenly overtaken by a glint that was half-terror, half-stupid idea taking shape in her mind as her gaze darted from the henchmen to the leader.
“Listen, we don’t have much time.” She told the others, her tone dead serious as she took the front again. “You sneak out first, I’ll seduce the guards and convince them to let me go.”
Chiyo then fixed her hair, her clothes and reached out for her collar, popping a few buttons open to expose some cleavage. It was a bit of a hasty decision, as she quickly noticed the obvious pads popping out of her shirt and closed it back up again. No matter. Her charming personality would more than make up any limitations in her make-up.

Rhyme reached up toward her from his position on the ground and meekly grabbed the hem of her sleeve with just a few trembling fingers. The arm's movement was robotic and if you spared a look at the young boy you would see sweat promptly gathering on his face as he provided a simple enough response to her suggestion by shaking his head "no". He craned his torso around toward the staff door in the back "I can open it. L-let's go... Chiyoko.." and with that declaration he tried to tug her along as he ran full speed toward the back unlocking the door with his employee ID and holding it open for everyone else.

"RUN!" It was a word dripping in panic and urgency as he knew whatever shallow resistance they offered would simply be drowned in an ocean of domination.

​

 

[Thexcentrichilean]

.

The young man stared blankly yet amused at the bartender and cosplayer interact. He even had to contain his laughter by the end when the black-haired man let go of the dramatic girl.
"...pfffff" It took Hershel a couple of seconds to calm back down, eventually letting a sigh escape from his lips as the man known as Rhyme responded to his previous question.

"Ah. I had my suspicions but didn't want to assume... just in case" And there was finally a slight smile on the foreigner's face... in all honesty, he had been having quite the annoying time in this shady place so far, so someone being just so incredibly silly with a straight man responding to it had cheered him up a bit... hopefully the pair of sisters would go home soon, this was no place for a pair of teens like them... and neither was a place he wanted to be in more than he had to.

Then, sudden and severe catastrophe struck out of nowhere into the bar and its unwitting clientele... it almost felt like a swat siege yet these people didn't strike the university student as just normal police either... what had he just gotten involved with??? He found himself wishing he had stayed home with gramps... Yet the reality was what it was, cruel and happening without waiting for anyone. As Hershel stood there with a difficult to read the expression that had a myriad of fleeting emotions, the obvious leader of the squad spoke up, and... it made things look all the grimmer for everyone there.

Everything fell silent to the young man in question during this instant, all except his own heartbeat hammering into his ears.

Thump, thump.

The young man's eyes were darting around the establishment erratically, looking for anything else to do apart from just waiting for him to be caught and who knows what else...

Thump, thump, thump thump,

His fingers started to restlessly twitch and cold sweat was dripping and seeping into his shirt as his eyes finally spotted a potential exit... the staff door.

THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP

Every single heartbeat was feeding into his fight or flight response, pumping adrenaline into his systems and making his senses sharper as he came more and more into the situation.

Finally, he could listen to his surroundings again, as he had found a way out into safety. Just in time to hear the cosplayer girl think she could seduce the besiegers of the establishment... thankfully Rhyme was in his right mind and tried to get her out of there.

"...not letting this up to chance for even one second" Despite his shaky voice, his actions spoke about his resolve far louder than he ever could vocally, going up to the cosplaying teen and sweeping her off her feet, carrying Chiyoko in a bridal carry and heading towards the back door where hopefully Rhyme would also move towards... this was a life or death situation and he wasn't taking any more chances here.

He directed a few words towards Rhyme before sprinting towards their greatest chance of safety

"Move quick. We don't have much time." It was simple, it was done with a shaky voice, but its what he could muster to let the man know that he was in on escaping and helping along the way.

.

Location: An Elixir-777 under siege

Aegis & CapRock

 

[Veradana]

Don León smiled as Kenzo headed his advice and climbed into the chair, and he waited patiently for Kenzo to put his thoughts and words in order. This also allowed Don León his time to get his own. But more and more as Kenzo spoke, Don León’s brow furrowed, and his ears and tail twitched at a strange angle.

“How curious,” he said at length, “you say they went missing? Strange. They always returned to their world when they finished their duties here. I cannot say if they were imprisoned here before, as I only encountered them in The Garden.” and then, as Kenzo’s confusion grew more and more great, Don León put up his paws,

“I see you are in need of a more in depth explanation, and I will do my utmost to provide. I suspect that it would have been more beneficial to you if I had done so from the onset. My deepest apologies, my great associate, Kenzo Honda

“To begin with, Shadows--”

The alarm cut him off.

His ears fell back against his skull at the noise, and he snarled in irritation. The stench was only another aggravation to contend with, given his advanced hunter’s senses.

“Poor luck,” he turned to Kenzo, “or good fortune, depending on your view. You shall see The Garden quite quickly now. Let us make haste, as the kindly warning says.”

With effortless motion, Don León hefted Kenzo, chair and all, to his shoulders and ran, deftly dodging any alcove, overhangs, and doorframes, so as to not smash Kenzo’s face into the stonemasonry.

Don León knew his way around the sewer at least enough to retrace his paw prints to the exit and away from the rapidly approaching torrent of sludge until they reunited with Kenzo’s detention-mates.

Ignoring the umbrella stand, Don León and his charge stepped out into The Garden, whereupon he set Kenzo’s chair back on the ground and shaded him with his cape. He was about to open his mouth, to make a sweeping gesture to their surroundings, as this was The Garden that he had described, only for a new Greenhouse to emerge from beneath their feet.

“Oh, oh dear, that’s troublesome.” And if, as Kenzo had described, Naofumi and the others were missing somewhere, then what should he do for the poor soul within?



CapRock (Shirou) Midrick (Jordan) Refaulted (Kenzo) Jeef_jones (Alex) Thepotatogod (Ross) Hououin Kyouma (Ginjiro)
Haz. (Rei)

 

[Refaulted]

本田 謙三
Honda Kenzo
The Justice Arcana

And before he could begin to get some well-deserved answers for everything he had just gone through, it seemed that whatever higher powers that had a grip on his fate truly had it out for him, as both Kenzo's and the lion man's attention was quickly taken by the robotic voice speaking above them, the alarm only just barely masking the sound of rushing torrents of water far off, deeper in the sewers but rapidly making it's way towards them. The whole scenario was almost comical, with Kenzo almost having the urge to laugh at his continuous unfortunate turn of events. Just when he thought he was safe, suddenly his relief was stripped from him once more. But now was not the time to be thinking about such things, he had to run. If only his legs would stop trembling, his muscles spasming from the sudden relief of comfort after what he had put them through. Even if he managed to stand on his own two feet, he doubted he would be able to make it more than a dozen meters before he was swept away with any other unfortunate soul in this place.

Thankfully, Don León had other ideas for the two of them, and before Kenzo realized it, he felt his chair get hoisted up, and his hands fumbled around as he tried to get a good grip so he wouldn't fall off. And then they were off, the lion man running with amazing agility and precision that Kenzo wished he could replicate in that moment, the man's eyes only set in front of him, while Kenzo kept looking over his shoulder in fear as the roaring got louder. He shuddered, gripping the seat harder until his knuckles were as white as snow under the brown filth. Unsure how close the flood actually was, Kenzo had no choice but to put faith in Don León, shouting words of encouragement that not even he could hear as his ears began to ring, ducking his head down as they flew past passageways and hanging pipes. He squeezed his eyes shut, as if he was stuck on a scary amusement park ride, just waiting for it to be over.

And soon, it was. The roaring of the flood soon began to fade, replaced then by the sound of his feline companions confident footsteps as he hurried through the murky water, which soon was accompanied by the faint drumming of sprinkling rain, which Kenzo eventually began to feel splash against his head. Still, he didn't open his eyes, his stomach doing full acrobatic routines as it waited for the jostling movements to stop.

He felt himself be lowered onto the ground, as well as something appear over his head, and only then did his eyes open to look around him. No more did dank brick walls and filthy water surround him, but now he could see grass on the ground, the green of it almost burning his eyes. He squinted as he allowed his eyes to adjust from being in the dark, making out buildings of different degree of care, though they looked nothing like any buildings he remembered seeing when he walked around town. Then there were the strange red strings, which looked like the strange strings he had seen before in the sewers when he...he preferred not to remind himself of then. But they arched between buildings, as if they were a giant spider's web.

It was then that he noticed they weren't alone, which in this instance was actually good. Seeing the familiar, antagonizing face that had ended him up in the detention from hell in the first place, Kenzo almost was able to forget how much he wanted to kill the boy as relief washed over him, knowing that the others were most likely okay. He was able to form a meek grin as his emotions got the better of him, and he went to call out to his classmate. "Shi-!"

But they weren't done yet. As if on cue, a large glass building, reminiscent of the buildings his grandmother owned to grow her flowers while being also wildly more menacing, broke out of the ground near them, rising up so it towered above them. As the strings began to slither their way to the building, ensnaring it like a trapped animal, Kenzo frowned as he turned his gaze to Don León, who had muttered his worries under his breath. "That isn't good, is it?"

Spoiler: Mentions/Interactions

Mentions: N/A
Interactions: Don León Veradana , Shirou CapRock

 

[Thepotatogod]

--Ross Aisatsu--
Interaction: Veradana BriiAngelic Jet CapRock

"Sorry man, jeez." Ross raised his hands, although he couldn't exactly take off his metal heels. "They're attached to my shoes, can't do much about the noise. Sorry." He apologized, feeling a bit apologetic about his heels. He couldn't exactly help it--he was practicing before he got roped into this sewer! It's not like he could change his shoes on the spot. Taking it off is out of the question, too.

Suddenly, however, sirens rang out. Followed by the announcement of a main tank being ruptured.

"Oh man, that sounds bad, doesn't it?!" Ross gulped, his ears soon picking up the sounds of sloshing in the distance. Faint, but it was there. Feeling a bit distressed, the tap dancer moved a bit faster, unknowingly leaving behind those he had woken up with as he soon broke out in a sprint.

Ross wandered, running around as the sloshing grow louder and louder--soon, his heel's metal clacking soon turned into splashing as he noticed that the water level has risen high enough.

He arrived at the exit much later than the others, with the door open and the umbrella stand left alone. The sign read about the umbrella being important, and that good coworkers share umbrellas at all times. How romantic. Wish he could've done something like this with Jinnai.

"N-now's not the time to think about that, man!" Ross slapped both his cheeks, making it so that his mind pushed away such thoughts. Grabbing one of the umbrellas and opening it, the tapdancer sheltered himself under his umbrella, carried upright with his hand. He dashed away from the strange compound, glancing back to see if his kohais made it.

No one else was behind him.

Realizing this, Ross froze up, wondering if they had survived...

 

[Veradana]

Finally, Yuzuki made it staggering towards the exit, dragging in as much air as she could. She had to lean against the walls as she took the final steps out of the sewers, wobbling like a newborn foal and looking like a drowned rat, despite her narrow escape from the flood. Everything else around her became secondary, falling past her vision as took those final steps out into the light, stumbling on the change from stone to gravel. And yet, despite all of this, any relief she felt could barely last as she looked behind her for Mochizuki and Amano, only to see neither. She’d been the only one of them to escape.

Yuzuki’s legs gave out from under her, scraping her knees and palms as she hit the ground. Her body wracked itself and what started as whimpers quickly shattered into heavy sobs, headless of the others standing around her, or the rain beyond to overhang, or anything else about her surroundings. Her fingers wrapped into fists, dragging with them bits of gravel. Dammit! She slammed a fist on the ground. How could she have let this happen? She should have done something, anything, to make sure that they’d been with her, anything other than just abandoning them to die in such a horrific way. But what could she have done, came the growling, selfish voice, what could she have done? Make them run faster? Stay behind and die with them? She shook her head weakly; no, that wouldn’t have done them or her or anyone else any good. Sniffling, she tried, and failed, to wipe away the still flowing tears. But still, the fact that out of all of them, she’d been the one to survive was another notch of bizarre fate and luck that she could never feel grateful for.

CapRock (Shirou) Midrick (Jordan) Refaulted (Kenzo) Jeef Jones (Alex) Thepotatogod (Ross) Hououin Kyouma (Ginjiro) Haz. (Rei)

 

[CapRock]

Shirou Lancaster

Dusting off the dirt!



Shirou slowly took in the other details of the environment. The sign. The seemingly ending flower field. The rain and, of course, the umbrellas. He felt like he was at the wrong page of a multilingual manual, being fed information he had absolutely no idea how to process despite how neatly organized it was. A quick assessment of the other arrivals confirmed that he wasn’t alone in his condition: he saw Kenzo getting dropped into the scene by what he could only describe as a creepy-looking sports team mascot given flesh after an intense night of tequilas, dark magic and bad decisions. Not too long after he got up, the young man made a remark himself about the greenhouse.

“Beats me.” He said, shrugging. “All I know is that it looks like monsters are real, and they’re out for our asses.”

Then, Shirou noticed Yuzuki, and his expression stiffened almost instantly as if he had just bitten straight into a lemon’s peel. After a brief moment of lip-biting and hesitation, he closed his eyes and searched the inside of his jacket, coming out with a handkerchief that had his initials knitted in gold fabric into it. He came up to Yuzuki, leaned forward and down and offered the piece of cloth to her, keeping the hand around should she need a lift. Still bearing a disgruntled frown, he stated:

“Come on darling, pick yourself back up. I can't have you ruining your pretty face like that when we could be trying to fix this shit."

Interacting with: Refaulted (Kenzo) Veradana (Yuzuki)

 

[Jeef_jones]

Alex Feron
Location: Outside!...somewhere
Interacting: Veradana (Yuzuki, Leon) CapRock (Shirou) Refaulted (Kenzo)
After defeating the weird creature, the sounds of the alarm would get louder and louder, heeding them well and quickly finding his way to the exit as quickly as he could, seeing Shirou zip by "Hey! wait up!" and so he would speed up as well to try and catch up with him. as they reached the exit, he quickly looked off to the right seeing both an umbrella stand and the warning, not thinking about it much as he quickly skimmed it, he took an umbrella and ran out the door as to escape the flood. Standing outside felt nice...at least it did until the building came up out of the ground and those weird red strands started coming down and wrapping around it. seeing as the others were outside...along with a weird lion man? Shirou would question where they were while the lion man looking at the strands come down would mutter how that wasn't good...which Alex had a feeling was right, Kenzo would speak up basically saying the same thing "Yeah...that doesn't look very good" then it would look like another one of their classmates would come staggering out of the building, seeming a lot more distraught then the others, and as he was about to go help her, it seemed Shirou was there already helping her out. So with him handling that, he looked to the building and considered that it might be good to be ready for another fight as these red strings didn't really mean well seeing as they caused that weird monster to appear from that person from before...​

 

[Midrick]

The crazy train ain't got no brakes!


Jordan's shoulder was still throbbing, but the pain had subsided to a dull ache now and was easily manageable. He was starting to get used to his companions now, they had gone from insufferable to irritating. He was about to open his mouth to put in his two cents about their next move when an absolutely gnarly smell hit him like a brick. Klaxons followed by a siren heralded the arrival of the tidal wave of literal shit coming towards them, Jordan's expression was a combination of "are you serious" and "I'm done". "You gotta be fucking kidding me..." he said as his eyes dropped, he really couldn't catch a break; first being impaled and now he had to outrun a sewage death wave, Absolutely tuff. Jordan noticed Shirou's shoes come off as he ran faster than Jordan would have expected for a pretty boy, and as funny as it would have been to watch him walk around shoeless, wet socks was one thing Jordan wouldn't wish upon his worst enemy. He quickly scooped up Shirou's overpriced, designer brand shoes and began to run. He could feel the a warm trickle on his upper left arm, probably opened the wound up again... damn, he had bigger problems to worry about of the rank at the moment. Jordan found himself at the exit just behind Alex, it was good in a way that he was bringing up the rear, he knew he was fast enough to make it, so if shit was going down (and it was) he could gauge if he and Alex would escape.

The odd message confused Jordan slightly although he had no qualms about filching an umbrella, he didn't like the idea of sharing it with one of the more... Eccentric characters that were among them. He walked out into the rain and held his hand out from under the umbrella, the rain seemed normal enough, it wasn't like it was burning him or melting his flesh. He noticed the building after he looked from his outstretched palm to the horizon, "Damn." he muttered as he saw those same red strings that spawned that dragon-turtle thing that he had taken out. He remembered having Shirou's shoes and looked over to where he was standing over a girl he vaguely remembered entering the mine with. His eyes softened at the sight of her, and he opened and closed his mouth silently, trying to form comforting words. He hated seeing people cry, he wanted to help, but something was stopping him, the internal voice telling him that he would just fuck it up like he always did. And he knew that little presence gnawing at the back of his head was right. Instead he simply dropped Shirou's shoes at his feet, while he was under Shirou's umbrella he removed the black sweatshirt with Pantera in white, bold faced letters, wordlessly folded it and placed it on top of the shoes intending for the other boy to hold on to it for him. A dark red T-shirt with a fist grasping a lighting bolt embroidered on it revealed his muscular arms and trim figure. He set his jaw and began walking towards the building wrapped in the blood colored twine with his jaw set, looked like the only way out was through, and Jordan was all too happy to be the one to gate crash the ominous looking house.

Interaction: CapRock

Veradana Jeef_jones Refaulted Thepotatogod