| Dancing at Dawn; [Invitation Only - see associated Plotting thread linked in first post] | |
|---|---|
| Tweet Topic Started: Dec 24 2017, 01:26 AM (990 Views) | |
| Ket | Mar 26 2018, 10:48 AM Post #41 |
|
Alan had just taken a step to follow Sachiko when he saw the van approaching from the side. "Shit, wait!" He hissed out a bit too late. The van had pulled between then and men began to spill out. What, had they been fucking late to the siege on the office building? It was only three of them, but it was a big problem for him and Sachiko to be separated, especially if she was caught between the two groups. The decision was made then, Alan sprinted out of the alley, running at the black hoods once their backs were to him. He jumped up onto the hood of the car and used it to gain some leverage as he jumped off and brought his bat down onto the back of the nearest hood. "We got company!" He called out to Sachiko as he stepped around and jabbed at the next hood. He then let out a point blank zionga if the jab hit, but tried to dial back the power as much as possible. Electricity was dangerous and he wasn't here to kill. At this rate though, it might be necessary to simply knock these three out. The couldn't spend all day here subduing them when there were dozens of others assaulting their friends. |
![]() |
|
| The One True Nobody | Mar 27 2018, 10:24 AM Post #42 |
|
"...does this clockwork hand follow you... or guide you?"
|
Violet froze like a deer in headlights when she heard the sound and the two people she'd been listening in on spoke sharply and moved away. She peeked around, biting her lip and hovering indecisively as they bolted across the street and into an adjacent alleyway. It'd be one thing if she was shadowing a few potential ne'er-do-wells from a safe distance to see if they were up to anything unsavory. She had distance, there were no visible guns, and she could've booked it if she needed to, certainly put in a quick emergency call with her mobile phone if things got dangerous without putting herself in danger. But it looked like she might've stumbled across some kind of... of what? Mafia or yakuza fight? Or did it have to do with Persona-users, after all? Her decision was made for her when a van moved into place in front of the alley. Violet froze, glimpsing the figures that emerged from inside. Black... hooked... ...Oh. Oh no you didn't. Why this was the exact mental shape her sudden burst of anger took, Violet couldn't have said. But she withdrew her head back behind the corner, glanced around to be sure that there were no other potential enemies approaching from behind or to the side of her, and then ducked low, dashing from cover to cover in the alley as the opportunity presented, until she was crouched behind a trash can at the alley's mouth. Once it looked like she could get out onto the road without being seen, she would dash across and hide behind the van. And if she could get that far, then maybe she could take a peek inside the vehicle, see if anyone was still inside it, and maybe hijack a weapon... or at least... drive the van away, deprive the Black Hoods of an escape vehicle, assuming they were stupid enough to leave a key in the ignition. Her hand went instinctively to her pocket; impulse said to call the cops. But she hesitated. Calling in law enforcement now might result in the exposure of Persona-users. And it was also possible that the police wouldn't be equipped to deal with whatever the threat was. There were too many variables she didn't have specific answers for. No. She had to do this without help... at least for the moment. She glanced once more behind her and, the moment she saw a clear field, dashed out across the street, seeking to crouch behind the van. Only belatedly did she consider that there might be lookouts in the building behind her, but it was too late to alter course, so she looked up over her shoulder as she ran. They had guns, so they might have a sniper. She really should have considered that before moving...! --- Kyo gitted her teeth, listening to the sounds outside. It didn't sound like anyone had fallen to their death, which was good, so Maki's attack really hadn't done anything but daze the enemy. Still, that aggression...! She looked back at Maki, this time looking concerned instead of angry. Her instincts were telling her that something had seriously screwed up Officer Yamada's self-control. Had the Black Hoods done something recently that Kyo hadn't heard about? She turned her attention back to the door. This seemed... so unlike the woman who had gone out of her way to help Kyo when a drunken policeman had assaulted her... "...Sorry," Kyo sighed quietly. "We're all stressed, but I guess I can't blame you for defending yourself. But killing anybody here might have consequences for Persona-users other than just us...!" She slowly stood, angling herself to the door and maneuvering her bokken in preparation of a stabbing motion. If she were the enemy, the next thing she'd try was to open the door partway and either throw in some sort of explosive or use some other kind of irritant... tear gas, smoke, chemical spray, something that would make the people barricaded inside try to escape...! "Hold off on your wind magic this time! And I don't mean 'don't use it,'" Kyo said through her teeth, keeping her voice too low to carry through a wall. "There might be something we need to blow back out the door. Smoke, gas... anything like that. Blow it back into their face...! Even if they're protected, it'll mean they wasted some of their resources..." Kyo, meanwhile, as in position to jab her wooden stick through the door the moment it opened, at roughly chest-level. She figured that was likely to be where someone's eye was, because she'd have been crouching outside the door if she were prepared to open it for an attack on entrenched enemies. If she could get in a good jab, she could stagger them, maybe... buy a few more seconds... ...Come to think of it, what was the plan here? Kyo was weirdly certain that there was one, but for some reason it wasn't coming to her... was this what going senile felt like? |
![]() |
|
| FirebreathFishslap | Mar 27 2018, 12:18 PM Post #43 |
![]()
I'm the best! I'm the king of me! I'm gonna eat chips out of the garbage!
![]()
|
Sachiko whirled around at Alan's yell, and in a motion, slapped her fox mask onto her face. Her heart hammered in her chest. A trio headed up the stair, a trio at her back. She was trapped, but if she was going to be trapped, then she was going to at least cut off the reinforcements. "No! Not today!" Sachiko yelled from behind her mask, her hand still on her face. In a rush of energy, Tamamo-no-Mae appeared behind her, all nine tails billowing in the wind. She pointed her hand at the black hood that Alan hadn't attacked, casting a Mudo, and a ring of dark energy appeared around his feet, before exploding upward in a black blast. The ground around where the ring had been was left brittle, cracks radiating out around the point of impact. Any metal that had been in range would be noticeably rusted. Sachiko remained standing where she was, bokken in hand, ready to swing if anyone tried to make it further up the stairs after her. She was vaguely aware of the possibility that they might have guns, or they might even already know her weaknesses and try to kill her in some awful way because of it, but she was simultaneously sure that she didn't really give a shit. |
![]() |
|
| Czernobog | Apr 22 2018, 11:46 AM Post #44 |
|
Best Influence.
|
The three on the lower end of the stairs were sandwiched between two dangerous threats -- while formerly, they had been placing Sachiko into a vice, now the tables had turned on them. The one that Alan had ambushed began to turn before he made contact, raising a collapsible baton to absorb the impact. While the hood managed to make contact with the bat, Alan's momentum was enough to carry him through the parry, and the zionga conducted through the metal of the baton. When the black hood fell, he did not get back up. Smoke rose from the still body. The one that Sachiko hit stumbled back, the stairway aging a decade or more in the moment of the blast. He began to cough, as his body responded to the burst of necrotic energy. He fell outward, toward the rail, and caught himself on it, but the rail snapped and he was unable to get off an attack, struggling to avoid falling. The third member of that trio -- the one with the walkie-talkie -- pulled something square and dense from his belt and lobbed it, hard, at Alan in a flat trajectory. He then moved over to the one who had begun to fall, grabbing on to his wrist, preparing to wrest his comrade from the difficult situation he found himself in. The trio further up looked up when they heard the blast of wind magic, and then down when they heard the commotion. They stopped their upward ascent and gathered around their fire extinguisher, beginning to do something with that. After a moment, they had successfully cut the hose from it and opened the valve as far as it could go before tossing the extinguisher down toward the parking lot. The three at the top seemed to be in a holding position, hiding to either side of the door and struggling to remain out of the line of fire. There was a chirp, as a walkie-talkie turned on. A voice, deep and croaking from some sort of anonymization, could be heard through the broken window. "It appears you are stuck, and we have more assets on our way. I have a proposition for you." --- Shin swallowed as the voice came through the window, but a thought had occurred to him: there was no way that they were getting out of this unscathed, but relying on fear to manipulate the enemy operatives wasn't going to make this any easier. They needed some way to convince them that entering the office was a bad idea, to keep them on the other side, unwilling to enter. So they needed to make it seem like they wanted the Black Hoods to enter. He looked around, looking for a way to make it seem like they were leaving an obvious hole in their defenses. The window was already broken. They would probably try to use that as an entry point. Was there any way to use that? |
![]() |
|
| Nonsequitur | Apr 22 2018, 02:03 PM Post #45 |
|
Yellow Bubblegum
|
As per usual, Maki didn't offer any response or explanation She was far more interested in the broken window than arguing over something as pointless as what might happen. Has there been anything like restraint or leniency from them before? The targets were going to remain the same no matter what was done. But, they had a breach. An ideal place to lob a grenade or make an unexpected entry with minimal risk. She moved back from the door and took position to cover the window. She almost thought she was imagining it at first when she heard it. Their operations procedures had been avoiding communication with them as much as possible and by the sounds of it they still had the upper hand. Why bother then? Stalling for time wasn't going to matter, they weren't going anywhere either way. She glanced over to Shin. "…how do you want to do this, then?" |
![]() |
|
| Ket | Jun 6 2018, 11:35 PM Post #46 |
|
Alan hesitated a single moment as he saw the black hood fall in front of him. There was smoke and they weren't moving. Hopefully he'd dialed it back enough... Still, there was no time for this kind of hesitation. He shook it off, pivoting just as Sachiko's spell went off. Okay two down, that just lef- As it turns out, his moment of hesitation gave the hood enough time to toss...something at him. Alan had no idea what it was, nor did he have time to figure it out. His body acted on instinct as he squared up. "Hey! Get down!" Just in case this thing was going to explode on contact or something, he'd prefer that Sachiko WASN'T caught in the blast with him. This is either really smart or completely idiotic. With that thought going through his head, Alan stepped in and swung at the box as hard as he could. |
![]() |
|
| The One True Nobody | Jun 7 2018, 12:08 AM Post #47 |
|
"...does this clockwork hand follow you... or guide you?"
|
Kyo grimaced at the voice that came through the window, and opened her mouth, no doubt to fire back some snarky, confrontational reply. But Eri Charinko had stepped up next to the door, all equipment set up and with the phone and speaker securely stored in her chest pocket: there was a visible budge there from the perspective of anyone viewing her from the side, but from the front, from the direction of the window, not so much. The woman stood there, quite exposed but in an ideal position to withdraw behind the side-room's doorframe at the first sign of aggression. But she didn't look about to do so. If anything, it looked as if the walky-talky's voice had broken her composure and caused all thought of Kyo's plan to flee from her mind in an instant, putting her on the attack. "You attack my daughter, invade our office, to say nothing of trying to murder us, have murdered others — for misguided and misinformed reasons, granted, but murder is murder... and you want to negotiate? You want to negotiate now?" Eri's voice was tight and angry. Her teeth were pressed together, and she stepped out, just a little further. When she spoke next, her Tokyo-ben facade, so well-practiced and ironclad most days, broke: "What ya did to my Kyo-chan's unforgivable! You have a proposition for us, eh?! D'you have a proposition that involves givin' my daughter back?! Do ya?! IF YOU WANT A FUCKIN' PROPOSITION, THEN GIVE MY DAUGHTER BACK TO ME!" The Persona exploded into existence so completely and suddenly, and wish such fury, that a blast of wind exploded outward into the main office, rattling the contents of the shelves and sweeping over the area, bumping Kyo right off her feet and onto her butt. She stared at her mom, wondering what the hell this freakout was about: Eri was talking like she was dead, but she was right here! The Persona was not the familiar Penelope, either. Blazingly luminous, a feminine figure burst through the window, a glorious goddess draped in thin, pure-white clothing that did little to conceal a body that was the peak of feminine charm and fitness: a pair of blazing wings made of what appeared to be sunlight, crafted into artful, carving-like shapes out of it, spread wide from her back when she was clear of it. A stern, hateful gaze darted from one person to the next, but seemed to dismiss each of them in tern, neither attacking them nor making any move to interfere with their siege. It swept higher up into the air, taking in a view of the alley below. "Where are ya, huh?! Where are ya?! Still hidin' behind your idiot stooges, eh?!" they would hear Eri shrieking from inside the office. "You took 'em didn't ya?! Give 'em back! Give my daughter her memories back! GIVE THEM BACK!" The wings blazed brighter, and it was all Eri could do to stop herself from pushing her Persona higher, higher, further away, to sweep over the alleys and byways in search of Control's hiding place. For one thing, Kyo had told her already (and had obtained the information the hard way) that attempting to control a Persona over such a long distance could have severe blowback on the summoner's mind and mental stamina. For another, this new Persona was too damned bright. She kept it blow the edge of the rooftops, though she did sweep them with her eyes, seeking any sign of a sniper or sneaky reinforcements. Aurora's wings, flickered and flared with agitation, and she turned on the spot, seeking any sign or clue as to Control's whereabouts. Kyo had frozen in place, staring at her mother with a look of dawning horror and comprehension. It had not, perhaps, been the best moment to test out the concept of Band-Aid Theory on this particular kind of issue. --- The shouting could be heard from where Violet managed to hide in the narrow space between the van's exterior body and the wall on the driver's side, with the van between her and the building with its stairway that seemed to be the target of the invasion. Well, at least the shouting could be heard from the point of IF YOU WANT A FUCKIN' PROPOSITION. Something about the words that followed stopped all of Violet's well-meaning mental strategizing in their tracks, though, prevented her from finishing the hurried process to take stock of the situation and figure out how best she could intervene to hinder the bad guys and help the "good" guys. She froze at the words give my daughter her memories back. Memories. Give memories back? Someone who had taken memories? If this were a normal situation her mind would have jumped to a head injury that had inflicted a life-altering case of brain damage and amnesia, but with magic involved... Her hand drifted to her own head. Her mind went back to what had been discovered when Yuki, Seiji, and Shizuka had escorted her through the ruins entryway. The sense that she had been there, that it was familiar... ...the revelation that her memories were incomplete... She shivered, and ducked down further, suddenly filled with dread, fear... and inexplicably, a sense that it had all come to what she had been afraid of in the first place. What had come to what? What had she been afraid of? Violet shook her head. She had to find out who the woman was shouting at to emerge. If she could find this person, then maybe... maybe... |
![]() |
|
| FirebreathFishslap | Jun 7 2018, 11:33 AM Post #48 |
![]()
I'm the best! I'm the king of me! I'm gonna eat chips out of the garbage!
![]()
|
Things were happening all at once. One of the Hoods that Sachiko had attacked threw something at Alan and rescued the other. Alan yelled at Sachiko to get down, but at the position she was at, she couldn't "get down" without getting closer to whatever that had been. She made the split second decision to rush up the stairs, putting her closer to the office, just in time to hear the message drifting through the broken window, and just in time to witness Eri's explosion. As Eri screamed in despair for her daughter, Sachiko's eyes widened behind the mask. She wanted her daughter back? Kyo was gone? Dead? The girl's face swam through Sachiko's head, green-haired cheeriness and all. There was the sound of more breaking glass, and Eri was screaming even more, from somewhere both inside the office and somewhere outside the building. Sachiko got the gist. Kyo's memories were gone. Kyo was gone. Without realizing it, Sachiko let her mask fall away. When she reached the landing, her expression was a mix of horror and quickly bubbling anger. "What did you do?" Sachiko asked, quietly at first, and then louder. "What did you do to her?!" Edited by FirebreathFishslap, Jun 7 2018, 11:35 AM.
|
![]() |
|
| Czernobog | Jun 18 2018, 10:07 AM Post #49 |
|
Best Influence.
|
The small, dense object that had been thrown at Alan turned out to be the battery of the walkie-talkie that the hood had clipped to his chest. There was a crack upon impact, but instead of flying immediately back in the direction of the attacker, a sizzling pop was audible. The battery had burst, and while it hadn't produced the blazing-hot explosion that most magic would have coaxed out of it, it did produce a cloud of acrid white smoke and a spray of battery acid. The black hood hanging off the stairway fell, and hit the ground with a wet thud. He appeared to be dazed, and possible injured by the fall. Unfortunately for him, the fire extinguisher dropped at the same time, leaving a cloud of choking, slate-gray gas around the base of the stairs. The team at the bottom paused, looking between Alan and the cloud of choking gas. They were unable to receive new orders, but had standing directives, first and foremost among them: do not allow one of your number to be captured. One of them moved forward to take a feinting swing at Alan and drive him back while the other went to collect their fallen comrade. The one who feinted then stepped back, and when the others emerged from the cloud, the one with the other in a fireman's carry, served as eyes for the others. Escape was their top priority. So now, there were six hoods present, sandwiched between the people in the office and the persona users lower down the stairs. It was at roughly this point that Eri began to shout, and power began to pour from her in a torrent. She could see a glint from a nearby rooftop, where someone was watching the proceedings -- either through a weapon's scope or binoculars. --- Eri's display of raw power and the subsequent shouting were creating a very chaotic scene. Shin did his best to ignore it: as far as he could tell, while impressive and most likely frightening to the hoods, it wasn't something he needed to worry about. He was presented with an opportunity to cut the Gordian Knot. Shin gestured for Maki to move away from the window as he reached down to his belt and produced a pair of handcuffs. He put one bracelet around his right wrist, before transferring his gun to his off-hand. In the midst of the shouting, he calmly stepped over to the broken window and waited for the right moment. When the enemy operative raised his hand again, pressing the button to enable a response, Shin's hand darted through the window and cuffed the black hood, chaining him and the enemy together. He then yanked, pulling the man's arm all the way into the office. The operative, himself, was pulled off balance, the eponymous hood falling from his head and the only protection of his identity being the bandana worn across his lower face. Shin gripped the man's hand in a white-knuckled grip holding him steady. Shin put the muzzle of the gun directly against the glass, pointing square at the man's eye. Upon reflection, he didn't really have an end game here -- he was moving moment-to-moment and just trying to make things work out as best he could. He worked the handset's buttons by mashing his prisoner's fingers into the buttons. The man grunted in pain,and tried to pull away, but Shin had him in a death grip. "Hi," he began. Then paused. "Yes. Hello. What is your proposal?" There was a beat, as if the person on the other end wasn't expecting that response. "We will allow everyone present to go about their business unmolested and will suspend our activities for one month if Inspector Imoto and Detective Yamada of the Nagashima PD surrender themselves." Shin's face remained impassive, but he felt the bottom of his stomach drop out. He briefly considered it: while he felt it was obvious that they could not trust these people, if surrendering himself was the only way to allow everyone else to escape -- not even allowing for the offered temporary cease-fire -- could he morally refuse to take it? |
![]() |
|
| Nonsequitur | Jun 19 2018, 06:59 PM Post #50 |
|
Yellow Bubblegum
|
She noted Eri's emotional outburst and what she thought she heard was an echoed sentiment from…was that the mother of Nana Samurkami? She wasn't in much position to ponder it though. Her attention was elsewhere. She moved away from the window at Shin's prompting, she moved aside and watched as he managed to catch their messenger unawares. For the first time, a line of communications was opened. This proposal was straightforward enough. Of course a promise from them wasn't worth the paper it was writ on, but their immediate situation had to be considered, too. She had to restrain herself and had to think things though rationally. As dramatic as things were becoming as the night proceeded, this wasn't some desperate siege of a Sengoku castle. Getting that message broadcast out was important, but getting the Charinkos and assorted helpers actually got out of this intact. So far the plan seemed like upon hearing some evidence of Control, most would either lay down their arms or otherwise just leave. Maki had no such confidence it was going to wrap up that neatly. She glanced to Shin to see what he made of it, and then she looked dully at his captive. They needed him inside. The Black Hoods hadn't tried to breach the office because it was going to prove too costly for them hence the offer. But some things probably would stay constant. They'd probably do anything to keep one of their own from being captured, even killing their own if it came to that. Being outside was too exposed to any sharpshooters. There didn't seem to be any other choice on the matter. She responded "This is acceptable." No sooner did she say this than she agreed did she reach though the gap in the window to pull in the Hood with the radio. Whatever was happening next, it was crucial that it happened quickly. "It's time for everyone else to get out." |
![]() |
|
| 1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous) | |
![]() Join the millions that use us for their forum communities. Create your own forum today. Learn More · Register Now |
|
| Go to Next Page | |
| « Previous Topic · Uptown Nagashima · Next Topic » |
| Track Topic · E-mail Topic |
2:45 AM Jul 11
|









2:45 AM Jul 11