IC || THE LAST CASE || VIDEO

[incriminating]

[From the moment the video feed rolls, the audio is distorted with static and a tinny, dual-toned laughter that lacks any real warmth or cheer. No, the sound is instead cold and cruel, cutting through the tranquil silence of night like a knife, as sharp as the smile that now twists its owner’s lips. Crowing, Tohru Adachi stares straight-on at the

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ACTION THREAD FOR WELL

[incriminating]

[ooc || please feel free to have your characters confront Adachi in the center of the village, by the well, in this thread]

[Wind screams throughout the village, creating a vortex above the well. The bucket to draw water clangs loudly as it is hit by flying debris, but the rope it is attached to is sturdy, persistent. It does not snap.

At the center of the vortex is Adachi, wet with Karkat's blood. He has stopped to catch his breath, and leans against the well as the wind storm shakes the nearby crofts.]

[tapferkeit]

[Well, this is eeriely familiar...

Link approaches the well at a run, a hand held up to shield his face from the buffeting wind. It was pure lucky chance that he caught sight of Adachi here, with the demon rising behind him. But pure, lucky chance wasn't something to be ignored.

The wind would make it extremely difficult to fight, even at the center of the storm. Too much damage to the surrounding area. Too much chance of being thrown out into it.

Luckily, Link was sure he knew how to fix that.

He pulled the Ocarina from its place and raised it to his lips. It was hard to keep his stance, but he'd played in storms and before. He'd caused those storms with this song.

As the notes of the Song of Storms begin to ring out, the ferocity of the storm begins to lessen.]

[incriminating]

What the hell...?

[Magatsu Izanagi shifts restlessly nearby as the winds begin to die down, seemingly in response to Link's ocarina. Scowling, Adachi wordlessly commands Magarudyne to be cast again and falters when his persona does not react.]

What are you waiting for!?

[The god is watching Link warily, as if sensing something. Murmuring something in a thick, rumbling tongue, it hefts the glaive and tenses.]

Yours is not a power to be trifled with. We can feel it in that instrument.

[Adachi fixes his gun on Link, eyes wide and furious.]

Then destroy it, dumbass!

[He fires.]

[heavyheels]

[since she'd hung up on adachi and headed out to hunt him down, chie had been running blindly through the unfamiliar terrain, searching for any sort of clue as to adachi's whereabouts. the wind had pushed her this way and that, and she'd ended up heading toward the well.

the song was an oddity, and oddities meant something was going on. chie followed the sound, hoping her gut instincts wouldn't fail her.

as she draws closer, the wind starts to subside, and chie squints to make out the view around her. she instantly recognizes the figure ahead, even from behind - adachi.

target acquired.

she doesn't stop, doesn't think - don't think, feel - only races ahead to close the gap between them. once within firing range, she leaps from the running pace into a spinning kick as a flash of blue flame encircles her, and she feels the familiar jolt of power summon her Persona with a commanding shout:]

Now! Suzuka Gongen!

[she tumbles to a crouch on the ground and watches as her black-clad persona casts god's hand at adachi from behind,

[incriminating]

[That wasn't a voice he was expecting, and dread washing over him like cold water, Adachi spins around just as he fires. The bullet misses its target by a long shot, but Chie's attack does not. With a grunt, Adachi is slammed into the well hard enough that a few stones are dislodged and the wooden pulley structure rattles. Magatsu Izanagi flicks its eyes to Suzuka Gongen but does nothing yet.]

Wow, Satonaka-chan.

[Slowly, Adachi looks up. He's smiling. The force of God's Hand could have easily broken his back, the way he hit the well. Instead, the detective stands up and brushes himself off nonchalantly.]

Rude.

[heavyheels]

[not enough. chie curses under her breath and quickly draws herself back up to her full height. she muses briefly that it was probably too much to hope for that she would've taken adachi out with one shot. she knows from their previous battle in magatsu inaba that he isn't a weak opponent, not by a long shot, but she'd hoped maybe the element of surprise would have worked in her favor.

well. it was a start, anyway.

now that he's facing her, chie can see adachi is covered in something red - blood, no doubt, which means she's already too late.

too late ... no. she pushes the wandering thoughts to the back of her mind; she can think about it later. right now, there's only time to act.]

Ha! I'm just getting started.

[she moves; the field of energy builds around her once again -]

Persona!

[- and suzuka gongen comes forward to deliver another god's hand blow.]

[incriminating]

[This time, Magatsu Izanagi steps in to accept the attack, brandishing the glaive like a propeller. The attack connects, pushing it back, its boots leaving deep trenches in the earth where it braced itself. Behind it, Adachi laughs, high pitched and giddy. He had no idea the Queen's power would make them so strong! He's practically invincible! And with an uncoordinated attack like that...]

I can see you looking, Satonaka-chan...

[Cafefully, Adachi moves away from the well, trying to keep both Chie and Link in his line of sight. His persona silently follows.]

Have you noticed then...? I thought you said you wouldn't...let me hurt anyone, hmm? Well, good fucking job at that! Aha ahahahahaha!

1/2

[heavyheels]

[ok ... that's. that's different. she's never seen adachi withstand an attack like that before.]

[heavyheels]

[no matter! this is no time to dwell on details. if he was stronger than the last time they'd met, that just meant she'd have to hit harder.

but she won't get anywhere by using the same tactics over and over; she knows that much, at least. god's hand is an immense physical attack, and if she continues ahead without varying - and without anyone else around to heal and back her up - chie knows she'll tire out long before she's able to give adachi the stunning defeat he so richly deserves.

a murderous glare is all the response she offers his taunts, at first. then, bouncing from one foot to the other, she takes another step toward adachi's relocation, then another, and sends her persona hurtling forward with an easy battle cry:]

Taaake this!

[suzuka gongen launches a modest-sized column of ice at adachi and his menacing persona. bufula isn't her strongest spell by far, but it's elemental, and it will give chie a small measure of time to catch her breath for the next physical attack.]

[digtastic]

[ Rock reacted before he even had the chance to think, his left arm coming up and his buster gun aimed squarely at the scene before him as he stood by the sidelines. But he didn't fire. Not yet. If only because for that split second it took him to line up the shot, it'd been enough time for him to actually look at what was happening...

And Rock couldn't help but feel sick to his stomach at the sight.

He'd dealt with people (and machines) who wanted to kill before. Dealt with the loss of life before. But... never like this. Never with the enemy literally doused in someone's blood. He wasn't even sure which one he noticed first-- the sight or the smell. But nonetheless, it didn't change the fact that he felt like he needed to throw up.

And then it hit him. Really hit him. The fact that this Adachi person was doused in someone's blood. The fact that he... he actually killed someone, didn't he. He actually did it. Killed them, and didn't even bother to wash off the blood. Like it was some kind of trophy. Like he didn't care that he did

[incriminating]

[Eyes widening, Adachi grabs a fistful of his persona's coat to brace himself, and throws up an arm before his face. Magatsu Izanagi, for its part, squarely faces both the attacks of Rock and Chie. Despite the power that the Queen bestowed upon them, the god does not escape unscathed. Beneath him, Adachi lets out a furious snarl as pain blooms in his chest, thanks to the synchronization that connects him to his persona.]

Urgh...! Izanagi!

[Slowly, stiff from the cold of Chie's attack, his persona moves to act and casts Evil Smile, a fear attack, on their opponents.]

Show me...show me what you're afraid of!

[endofdaydream]

[ Ange hadn't even bothered gracing the video message with a reply, instead heading out immediately after she noticed it. It wasn't really any remark towards her that bothered her (there had only been one tiny remark, after all, and she's had much worse), but talking like that about her friends, about Maria (shut up, how dare you talk about her relationship with her mother like that when it's already bad enough), about Souji-- 'you're not me', she doesn't even know what it means or who exactly this guy is, aside from the clumsy man she's spoken to once or twice

[tapferkeit]

[The Triforce of Courage blazes on Link's hand. The spell washes over him and he feels the faint tendrils of fear slip into his awareness, but he slams them out.

As the stakes whizz over head, he inches closer, holding his sword ready. He feels the charge of magic jolt down and hover across his blade, turn to blue energy, then to red. His eyes stay on the stakes and he holds the spell. When he think they're about to hit the monster, he unleashes the magical outburst in a wide arc, trying to catch Magatsu Izanagi in it.]

[incriminating]

[With the others occupied by his fear, Adachi turns his attention to...ah. His lips tremble with effort to hold in a laugh, but after a moment, it bursts from his mouth and he doubles over.]

I-Izanagi! [He manages through gasps of laughter

[endofdaydream]

[ There's a strange sense of.. relief, almost satisfaction as one of the stakes manages to hit the god, if not just because it's enough to stop Adachi for a moment as well, especially when combined with Link's attack.

But then she hears his words. And she had already been pretty pissed to start with over the broadcast, but this makes the rage bubble up in her stomach even more, almost similar to that time she had been standing in the classroom, surrounded by her classmates with those cold stares ('kill them all!'). ]

Shut up! You don't know anything, you--- you talk too much!

[ With a swift motion and without wasting time with further words, she grabs her gun from where it's hanging at her belt, the knuckles on her fist white from grabbing it so tightly because of the anger. Sure, her shooting capabilities aren't that great, but she has been learning here and after the stakes it's her best method of attack left. For a moment she hesitates on where to shoot - the man or the god - but ends up aiming for Adachi and letting a shot ring

[incriminating]

[His eyes widen and he moves instinctively to shield himself from the shot, hunching down to protect his vitals, and then cold heat skims his collarbone and shoulder, leaving blood to well in its wake. He winces against the sting, but is amazed at his luck. The shot only just glanced off him.]

You bitch.

[Magatsu Izanagi pulls away from Link, eyes flashing dangerously. Without a sound it vanishes from sight, shadows twisting on the ground, and then reappears like a wraith behind the girl.

Wordlessly, it grabs her hair and yanks her head back, arching her spine as it slips the glaive through her flesh and out through her ribcage. Then, obeying the command of Adachi's jerky hand movement, it slices the glaive down and to the side, cutting her from breast to hip. The glaive slips out with a wet noise.]

Have a nice dream, tramp.