snip snip

[implausibility]

Who: Adachi Tohru (implausibility) and, in no particular order: Jan, Godot, Malik, Isamu, Nagi, Ikutsuki
When: Hours after sirens, forward-dated to Friday evening.
Where: Outskirts of downtown Siren's Port.
Summary: You don't snip the strings of a puppet without it crashing to the ground.
Warnings: I guess it's a little late to say spoilers for Persona 4...

Comments

i hope this is okay?!

[exarticulated]

Perhaps it was somewhat foolish, for him to ignore the warnings that he would be safest cowering in the safety of a building -- but Malik was an Assassin, it was not in his nature to shrink away from danger. And after all, he wasn't out looking for a fight, only flitting about in order to gather information (usually the job of the Informants, who he almost missed at the moment

TOTALLY OKAY aaahhh thanks for coming malik :A;

[implausibility]

With a sound not unlike something large sucking in a great, big, breath, the larger silhouette disappeared into thin air, simply phasing out of sight as if it had never been there in the first place, without leaving even the slightest disturbance in its wake. The man straightened, though it seemed to be with substantial effort that he unfurled himself from where he had been standing, doubled over, and let his hand drop.

"Who's there?" he called, unsurprised and almost lazy, like the question was just protocol, and that the answer was of no actual importance. He took a few steps in Malik's direction - slow, calculated steps, and the soft earth swallowed up the sound of his shoes hitting the ground, but not of the strange, squelching noise that resulted when he took a misguided step into something that was decidedly not dirt. "Augh," he muttered, with exasperation, hopping almost comically on one foot as he tried to get away from the mess he may or may not have created. "That is gross."

Wait, what?

kyaaa anything for my darling hideous officer

[exarticulated]

Silently muttering curses to himself -- he hadn't quite gotten used sneaking around with his empty sleeve just yet -- Malik debated his choices for the moment. To try and remain hidden, or face the enemy. While the former was what the Creed would have suggested, it was now hard to tell -- especially after that strange form had mysteriously vanished

kyaaaa i'm so touched my favorite amputee

[implausibility]

"Hey, hey, hey, pal," he said, chuckling low, and if the voice had been familiar, then the tone certainly was not. There came a scratching sound as Adachi scraped the underside of his shoe against a nearby rock, kicking it free of excess filth before coming to stand on it again. "Technically, you're the civvie 'round here, right? I've got clearance for this thing, and plus, it's not like no one's allowed outside at this time of night. We just recommend it. For obvious reasons."

He swept a hand to their surroundings, but if any of those things had ever been a threat to their well-being, they certainly weren't anymore. Even the other monsters had grown quiet, either having fled the scene or having decided that prey that was actually susceptible to attack were a better idea. Adachi continued stepping forward, stopping only when the light broke past the edge of one of the buildings, casting the ground between them into light. The reflection off the stone was barely enough to make out a form - not who, and not what, but only one,

[exarticulated]

As the man spoke on, Malik was sharply reminded of the madmen who wandered the streets of Jerusalem, muttering nonsense to themselves and venting their strange frustrations on any passing people. The rambling tone of voice and erratic movements suggested that this man wasn't quite in the right state of mind -- and while Malik found the madmen in Jerusalem little more than a nuisance, he wasn't foolish enough to assume the people here were as harmless.

-- and immediately, he had to lunge to the side, as the sudden explosion of noise and rush of movement shocked him into action. Launching off the balcony and onto the roof of the adjacent building, he spared only a moment to stare at the strange creature -- where had it come from? -- before turning his attention to the man

[implausibility]

More by the persona's instincts than Adachi's own prowess (because by himself, he certainly didn't have the sort of honed instincts required to dodge a thrown weapon like that), the clang of metal hitting metal echoed quietly before the throwing knife embedded itself into a nearby wall, the decomposing cement and rotting wood making it an easy target. Magatsu Izanagi seemed to move as if unbound by the normal rules of gravity and mass. Where normal men stood, it hovered, where they walked, it flew, and rather than turn and change direction, the persona just seemed to appear in different places after disappearing from its current location.

Adachi did jump, however, because while his persona might not have been easily phased, he certainly was, and for a second, he flinched, shutting his eyes and expecting a sudden piercing pain in his chest, only opening them when it didn't come. When he did, his pupils reflected golden in the light, a bright and unnatural yellow. "Oh," he said, blinking at where the knife had landed. "What was

[exarticulated]

It was reminiscent of the stories that adults would tell children to frighten them into obedience -- a massive creature that hovered in the air, vanishing and reappearing, more like a jinn than any mortal creature. And despite his best attempts to remain calm, Malik couldn't help staring, wide-eyed, for a moment -- this was too strange a situation, too distant from reality, it was difficult to judge exactly how he was supposed to be fighting.

Especially when that strange object was drawn, all cold steel. Though his grip about his dagger tightened, his nerves were coiled like springs with tension -- this wasn't something he could simply block. It was mostly instinct that made him lunge to the side, and just in time. The whipcrack of the gunshot tore through the air, and Malik hissed as he felt something sharp and searing graze past his side. Hitting the ground at a roll, he was immediately back on his feet. The disgust and anger in his voice unmistakable. "-- you're the so-called lawkeeper. How obedient you are to your duties

[implausibility]

He was no trained fighter - that much was obvious. Rather than drop into a defensive stance for a counter, or step back in a dodge or feint, Adachi just made a startled sound, hands gripping his head and fingers threading viciously through his own hair. "Wh-what's your problem?" he shouted, stumbling back not because he was losing ground, but because for a moment, it seemed like his legs could hardly hold up his own weight, and he was either crumbling under some invisible, insurmountable burden or falling because his support had been cut. "I never did anything to you!"

As if protecting him, his persona appeared between the dagger and its master, once again knocking it out of its projected path with a swing of its gigantic sword. Before it had even finished following through, it, too, was cutting across the air, releasing a low, feral growl from what had to be some sort of mouth under that mask of his, eyes glowing like lamplight. Behind it, Adachi was sagging, gun still in hand, and it was with great difficulty that he jerked it

[exarticulated]

Cowardly. Depending on that beast, instead of fighting in person. So very cowardly. Breath escaping in a frustrated hiss past gritted teeth as his throwing knife was deflected, Malik followed through the movement of his lunging stab. But this, too, was easily deflected. Although the momentum of his movements prevented him from drawing back, he did manage to raise his arm in defense when the monstrous form swooped in -- it was probably the only thing that kept his bones from breaking.

Thrown back against the pavement, rolling onto his feet with a breathless gasp, Malik staggered back a step as the searing sensation burned past his jaw, scoring his flesh deep. "Denying the fight you've started?" His voice was quiet with tense rage, his dagger still raised defensively despite the faint tremors in his arm -- his bones were ringing from blocking that apparition's attack. "Spineless." The words was spat out sharply, but Malik's attention was focused on his surroundings. He knew he had to run. If only he could find some distraction to cover

[implausibility]

"I didn't- no, it was her, I didn't start anything!" Adachi bit back, and despite not having suffered a single blow, he seemed to be in pain. He was holding his head in one hand, like the weight of it was too much for his neck and shoulders to bear alone, and his teeth were gritting together in an obvious grimace. Once in a while, he alternated between jerking up straighter before slumping again, like being pulled by an imaginary noose.

"No, it was you. You guys started it, I mean, it's your emotions, heheh, who are you kidding? I didn't even raise a finger. All I did was-" Another hollow 'bang,' and this time, it was the specter that seemed to groan, its body tense and still in the air. Even Adachi was caught off-guard by that, and his eyes grew dark and normal in the moonlight as he watched, half-stunned, half in awe, as Magatsu Izanagi began to drip, little red droplets of whatever it was that was staining his entire form collecting at the ends of its coat, the tips of its feet.

Wait, wasn't there someone-

Late, too

[exarticulated]

He almost felt pity for this man. He was clearly out of his mind, talking to himself and speaking as if the strange apparition were a woman. The agitated body language was reminding him increasingly of Jerusalem's lepers -- people desperate to claw themselves clean -- and it only made Malik more urgent in his movements. Being killed by a pathetic creature like this would be a rather undignified way to go

[implausibility]

Adachi turned around just in time to see the fabric come at him, pointed in a way that fabric shouldn't be, and flying faster than his legs could take him. He sagged again, knees buckling, backing up as far as he could until his back hit a wall. He glared at it, as if it had committed some act of betrayal by just being there, for just existing, and pressed up against it, raising his arm and firing, because for all his cowardice, he wasn't cowardly enough to let it end. It took a kind of courage, too, to keep on living, and though he might have been severely lacking, he was stubborn enough to make up for it