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

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.

A frustrated exhale as he pulled on his hood, before rising to his feet. "-- do the citizens of this city always stalk about the streets at night like thieves?" Hypocritical words, really. He was well aware that he himself must have seemed quite suspicious -- but if worst came to worst, he could always silence this man. He doubted this person would count as 'an innocent,' not when he was so sure he'd seen the accompanying shadowy figure.

Throwing knife concealed in his palm, he remained where he was standing, eyes narrowed beneath the peaked hem of his hood. This voice -- was familiar. Someone whose voice he'd heard from that "NV." He kept his words calm and indifferent, though. "I have no desire for conflict. Turn away, and I shall leave."

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, and that was important.

"And if you really wanna get into specifics, I was here first, so-"

I gave you this power so that you could ruin the world, she said.

"Fuck off, will ya?" The voice peaking sharply into a shout, there was a crash, but no explosion, a sound of a gunshot, but no gun, and that large and strange creature that had disappeared a moment ago re-made its entrance in the space above the officer's head, charging forward.

[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.

The throwing knife glinted dully as it whistled through the air, aimed at the man's torso, followed quickly by a second knife that Malik drew from his shoulder strap and threw in a single smooth movement. Bounding off the roof and onto some store's brightly-lit overhang, boots braced against its steel frame, he drew his dagger and immediately moved into a combat position.

"-- lacking in both manners and finesse?" A growl. "Unsurprising that such a crass creature would reside in this city."

[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 that?" he asked, with almost childish curiosity as his eye grew wide. "Was that your power? That circus trick? Was that it? Wait, don't tell me! They don't even have guns where you come from?"

He reached under his jacket, pulling out a strange contraption of metal and steel - a handle curving into a notched cylinder that narrowed into a short barrel. He aimed it at Malik's head, thumb pressing down on some sort of switch at the back of the contraption, and closed his left eye. Even without knowing what a gun was, the stance was familiar. Before firearms, arrowsmen took aim just like that.

[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."

But there wasn't much time to talk. Part of him wanted to run immediately, to re-assess the situation, but it was easier said than done. No choice but to fight for now. Ignoring both the sluggish trail of blood down his side and the hovering apparition, he lunged directly for the other, stance low to the ground. Even with his grip on his dagger, he was able to slide a throwing knife from his shoulder holster and aim it at the other's wrist -- trying to knock away that strange steel weapon. Before he'd even completed the throwing motion, he was rushing in to try and make a quick kill, dagger aimed at Adachi's chest.

[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 up, barely giving any thought to aiming before firing in Malik's general direction - a double attack.

[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 him for just a moment -- . A large flag hanging off a lamp post caught his attention, and he immediately lunged for it. It was a risky move, but he didn't have a choice.

[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 late, and Adachi whipped around, looked up at where he had last seen Malik, looking for the other's form. No. No witnesses.

[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.

Fabric tore and frayed when he ripped the flag away from the flagpole, wrenching it away from its steel fixtures. It was large, cumbersome, heavier than he could easily move with his one arm, but it would have to do. Boots almost slipping against the pavement as he turned to face the other, he cast the flag in the air, allowing it to spread out and shield him. And during that moment it was suspended in the air, he withdrew two throwing knives (-- he was running out rapidly, a bad omen). A quick, controlled toss. The blades punctured clean through the fabric, aimed at where Adachi was standing.

-- two distractions. They were rushed and crude, but they'd have to do. Without checking to see if the knives had hit their mark, and before the flag could fall to the ground, Malik simply turned and darted down an alleyway.

[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.

His persona was of no use right now - whatever had been torturing him had seemingly transferred onto Magatsu Izanagi, and it was clawing at itself as if trying to pull something out of its own stomach. Its phantom fingers found little purchase in its phantom body, two intangible things passing through each other, and Adachi was hardly paying attention to it anyway in light of a more immediate problem - the other man's parting 'gift.'

By some sheer force of luck more than his own skill (although he wasn't a bad shot under normal conditions), a bullet pierced through the flag and knocked one of the knives off-mark. The pull of the cloth dragged the other away from its true target, too, and instead of hitting him square in the chest, to still the frantic beating of his heart, it glanced off his right arm, cutting deep but not deadly across the inside of his forearm. Not entirely unused to pain, he only grimaced, sucking in a breath through his teeth, but the immediate burn was enough to make him drop the pistol, securing the other man's safe retreat.