IC || THE LAST CASE || VIDEO
[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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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 it. Like he wouldn't have minded doing it again. And what if one of his friends was next? What if this was the blood of one of his friends? What if he went after the little girls? What if he went after the new arrivals who didn't know what was happening? What if... he couldn't stop any of this from happening?
No. ]
Shining Laser, maximum output!
[ His words were loud and determined, his teeth grit in anger as he lowered his left arm and instead raised his right one. And without even allowing himself the slightest moment of hesitation, he fired. A green pulsating laser shooting out of the weapon encompassing his right arm and aimed squarely at the blood red figure that Rock could only assume was under Adachi's control. He may have been out of his league, and he may not have been able to save every single person in the village... but like hell if he wasn't going to try his best to stop this right here and now. ]
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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!
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But that's okay. She doesn't need to know to do this much.
It isn't difficult to spot the scene with all the commotion there, and she already notices some people attacking him and-- that thing floating there (Persona..?), that spirit-god soaked in red. And Adachi himself soaked in red too, but.. Ange is no stranger to murder or blood. It doesn't really strike her as much as everything else does. Soundlessly she summons the six stakes (the seventh, Leviathan, being left behind with Battler and Maria - they needed it more than she did, she figured), and immediatelty feels the mental strain from keeping them all around like this. But it's worth it, it's needed if she even wants to stand a chance along with everyone else. She'll just deal with a major headache later.
And when she manages to move closer to where everyone else and Adachi is.. ]
Come on, attack! [ The six stakes fly forward past her, towards Adachi and Magatsu Izanagi. She doesn't know if it would do much - he seemed to withstand those earlier attacks by those others - but.. ah, it's a measure of her luck once again, right? ]
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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.]
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I-Izanagi! [He manages through gasps of laughter.
The god knocks three stakes out of the air with the glaive, accepts a hit from one into its neck, and then catches the remaining two with its coat. A gurgled noise erupts from Adachi as he suddenly stops laughing, and he reaches up to his own neck, quivering. Of course, no stake is there, but he can feel it as surely as it is buried in Magatsu Izanagi's neck. The god rips it out without fanfare, not aware of Link's attack. The magic outburst catches it from behind, knocking it to its knees with a shriek. The noise tears through the night like a siren, wailing and horrible. The Master Sword is a dangerous thing against a Shadow. Screaming alongside it, Adachi stumbles away from Link, trying to compose himself. The god, enraged, leaps forward for Link, swinging its glaive. With the hero distracted, the detective is able to return to Ange.]
You...you're his...! I've seen you two...repulsive. Why don't you hike your skirt up a little higher for him, huh? You fucking slut. Oh. Ohhh, I am going to enjoy this. When I'm finished with you, I'm dragging your corpse to him myself. [He snrks and then begins to laugh once more.] I-Izanagi!
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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 out. ]
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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.
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... no. adachi had murdered ange. it was his doing, and she'd failed, once again, to stop him. she'd failed.]
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You ... you bastard!
[chie's sobs come freely now; her body curls forward on hands and knees. she'd barely just met that girl, but familiarity didn't matter. she was afraid, so stricken with terror, and she can't hold it in any more. Words tumble out of her mouth amidst sobs and labored breaths:]
I'm so scared ... that ... that I can't do anything on my own, much less as a girl!
[true words, an echo of what her shadow-self had once said. she'd denied it then, but now, under the thrall of the fear spell, she couldn't pretend otherwise, and she couldn't refute them.]
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she was vulnerable right now, and she knew it - no familiar team, no persona to aid her ... she couldn't even stand on her own two feet for all of her terrified quivering. every last shred of gut instinct told chie to run, run now, run away ...
... but one tiny little whisper at the back of her mind poked through the murky waves of fear like an arrow of light: FIGHT HIM.
it was the voice of suzuka gongen, her persona - sealed from use but no longer entirely silent. and that one firm command was all chie needed to keep going. sure, she was still scared, and she still couldn't summon her persona, but the fear spell wouldn't last forever. and now? chie was angry, more than anything else. the fear-frozen blood in her veins began to surge with the warmth of righteous fury. her sobs came to a halt, and slower than she would've liked, chie pulled herself back up to her feet.]
... I'm also afraid of bugs, dumbass.
[she grit her teeth and stared adachi down, stance shifting into a steady pose of kung-fu readiness.]
And you? Are going to pay for that, and for everything else you've done!
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Satonaka's confession doesn't surprise him in the least - until, that is, she seems to overcome the effects of the fear. Still chuckling, he eyes her dismissively, half-smiling.]
Are you that dumb? You're going to try and fight me? After I just took four of you on at the same time? Geez, normally I'd say, "It sure is a good thing you've got those looks to balance out your stupidity," but I can't even say that to you in good conscience! You're like a prepubescent boy in a skirt!
[Magatsu Izanagi takes its place by Adachi's side once more.]
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I know what you are, but what am I?! Do you even know how stupid you sound?
[chie shifted into a defensive stance.]
Shut up and fight me, dumbass.
[chie knew this was probably a stupid idea, but it was all she had to go on at the moment. she guessed she was in better physical shape than he was, and had a chance at ducking or outrunning whatever he threw at her next. and maybe, the distraction would provide a window of opportunity for someone else to launch an attack from another angle.]
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His eyes turn to Magatsu Izanagi, determined and firm. He sees Adachi, hears the exchange with Chie, but it's Magatsu Izanagi that draws his attention. He doesn't understand how personae work; Ryoji had tried to explain after his shadow, but he hadn't understood. As far as he knew, Magatsu Izanagi was a demon - like Majora's Mask.
For all he knew, it was possessing Adachi. He'd never seen the man act like this before, after all.
Spinning his sword once, he makes use of Chie's distraction to launch himself at the blood-soaked god. He slams into it with his shield first, then leaps up to prefrom the Helm-Splitter, followed by the Back Slice. Whether or not the combination of attacks hit doesn't matter; he just needs to get that thing reeling before he even tries the Song of Healing.]
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[He stumbles forward as Link slams into Magatsu Izanagi, vulnerable as pain splits through him. This time, a managed scream erupts from his throat, echoed by the shrieking from the dark god. Magatsu Izanagi, weakened by the holy sword - how is this possible, we resist light! - falls to a knee and loses hold of its glaive, which clatters to the ground by Adachi's feet.]
You. [It's a snarl. Struggling against the pain in his body, Adachi fumbles for his gun.]
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[chie sees adachi go for his gun, and there's no time to test if her persona's usable yet, she has to stop him, she can't let him hurt anyone else right in front of her eyes -
it only takes a fraction of a second for her to shift from her defensive stance into a full-tilt run toward adachi. she quickly closes the gap between them and launches herself into a spinning leap-kick with a guttural battlecry:]
Haaiiiiiyah!
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He places the instrument to his lips and walks towards Magatsu Izanagi as he begins to play the Song of Healing.]
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