08/17/2012

[inthatwild]

WHO: 2012 Persona Users
WHERE: The Abaton Museum of National History.
WHEN: August 17th, 1934, around noon?
WHY: Reopened museum? That new paint is suspicious white! Monthly event time!

Comments

Cutting to the action~

[azuranthine]

By the time they had finished getting all the visitors out of the building and broken every single mirror in the building, Lillian was almost drained, annoyed with herself for not thinking to doublecheck to make sure everyone had everyone else's phone numbers, and frustrated almost to the point of tears with the situation they were in. No matter how long her fuse was normally, after over forty-five minutes of trying to subtly coax their ragtag group into coordinating their efforts and non-stop phone tag to the point her phone battery had died, it was significantly shorter now. Not that it showed much on the surface, even if her smiles gradually felt more and more forced as time went on.

"There's nowhere else for it to hide now," she said to the group with another hollow smile, tone as normal as ever. "But the police are still here. We need to keep it away from them and ourselves, too. Do you think you're ready for this?"

It was their first trial as a group, their first major confrontation with the enemy. As much as Lillian loathed violence, even her nerves tingled a little with anticipation. If she clung to that, she might make it through the day yet without having to find a place secluded enough to bawl in.

Sounds good to me!

[turnofthewheel]

Lester nodded in response and glanced back at the mirror. Before he looked back at Lilly, he thought he saw something move out of the corner of his eye. Maybe it was one of the others who had gathered on the third floor. It sounded like the mirror ghost critter was supposed to be here, anyway.

"We'll be caref..." He turned back around to stare at the mirror. "Ummmm. Something's moving, I think."

Djinn, still in its summoned state, left Lester's shoulder to hover above his head, surging with static energy. Hey! Listen! You! It's THERE!

[notvelour]

A point of glistening, liquid blackness appeared in the direct center of the mirror's mostly empty frame. A few jagged glass shards remained contrasting sharply with the strange darkness until they were devoured by something. The blackness jiggled as it slowy oozed forward out of the mirror, falling to the floor with a sickening plop. It smelled strongly like raw sewage, curdled milk, and oil combined into one horrible stench that rapidly spread out through the air in its immediate vicinity.

[cemetaryeyes]

"Yeah, let's do this." As far as Ezra was concerned, this all should've been over with yesterday. The hand that had been rubbing away the beginnings of a headache immediately moved to cover his nose and mouth when the black mass revealed itself, and he recoiled a bit when the stench fully hit. "Ugh!"

Xochipilli, who'd been at full attention since they'd reached the third floor, was now puffing up aggressively, like a small bird trying to appear more menacing. His flowery lights appeared and began swirling madly, which Ezra knew meant it was reading the enemy, but this time he seemed to come up empty. With a chirp, Xochi looked to Ezra, who in turn frowned nervously.

"It's like... when I look for you guys, each of you is like a color on the map?" Unable to find the right words to describe it, he pushed on in his haste. "This one doesn't have any. Don't know what that means, but let's not give it any time to attack. Let it have it!" Behind him, Xochi began whirling again, ready to watch and analyze.

[turnofthewheel]

Lester frowned full on as soon as he smelled the thing that came out of what used to be a mirror. He pulled his shirt up over his nose in an attempt to block it out. It wasn't working very well.

"Let's go, Djinn-fairy."

Drop it with the fairy! Hey!

He and Djinn hadn't done much together but this much he had managed to figure out. He felt a little tired after doing this, but what worked worked. Djinn had called it "Zio" at some point in time. It took a while to actually use the power, but when it did...

Djinn spun around Lester's head before freezing in place above him. A bolt of lightning struck the demon.

"Did that do anything?"

[notvelour]

The beast shivered as electrical current shot through it but it recovered almost immediately. For a split second, it did nothing then it began to shake violently, its taffy-like mass rippling and stretching as it suddenly and swiftly began to enlarge until the crown of its head brushed against the ceiling. Its volume expanded in every other dimension as well, sending a number of display cases full of priceless artifacts crashing to the floor, after which its mass simply slithered slug-like over the carnage.

[azuranthine]

This wasn't good. It'd gotten big, really big in the span of a few moments. Surely, the police had arrived by now and they'd be drawn here by the ruckus if went on too long.

They had to finish this and finish this fast. Time was running out. Still, Lillian hesitated. If Nephele attacked, there was a risk of excess water forming puddles and if Lester struck again with Djinn, anyone caught standing in it would be electrocuted.

She glanced quickly around her for a solution, backing away from the demon as she did so. However, it noticed her movement and suddenly lashed out in her direction. Despite the mass's malleable form, the makeshift limb was as solid as it was large and it slammed into her with enough force to make her teeth rattle and completely knock the wind out of her. Lillian lost her balance and fell backwards and off to the right of where she had been standing. She curled into a fetal position on the floor, trying to just control the pain enough to just breathe normally. Lillian had already been tired from exerting herself so much before they'd even arrived at this point. Another blow like that would knock her out completely.

[andsheletsgo]

The monster's first appearance along with its stench left her in a bit of a shock, but by the time it expanded Heather had gained enough of her senses back to at least be able to think properly. Perhaps because the sound of all the artifacts, all the museum's expensive things with lots of historical value as well, being thrown on the floor that shocked her out of the first shock.

That didn't mean she wasn't really, really scared. Because she was. But she knew that she had to try something at the very least, do something, but she couldn't, she was weak, she was too scared--

Just as she was thinking about that and considering the pros and cons of doing something instead of standing there like a pillar Heather noticed Lillian moving and being hit by the thing. She gasped for air herself at the very sight of it. "L-Lillian!" Instinctively she moved over to the other girl, kneeling down next to her while trying to ignore the monster. Lillian always seemed so strong and amazing to her, so why was it like this..?

And even though she didn't particularly want to summon Inugami, she was left with little other choices. She just wanted to help her friend, regardless of the monster being right there. Summoning her Persona was easier now and the demon dog was at her side in just a moment. "I-Inugami, please.."

The Persona only gave out a howl (perhaps in agreement) before touching the hurt girl with one of its paw to at take away part of the pain with a healing spell.

[azuranthine]

Lillian felt a tingling sensation spread outward from where something gently touched her and though it did nothing for her exhaustion, the pain did significantly lessen. She was able to breathe normally at least though she still felt winded and couldn't quite muster up the energy to get up right then. Lillian did manage to open her eyes, giving Heather a small, shaky but sweet smile.

"Thank you," she murmured, shifting toward her a little to let her know she was at least better.

Hopefully, it wouldn't come after her and Heather just then.

[alalma]

If the monster was considering it, it was going to have someone else to contend with first.

Sure, Amalia's experience with the supernatural seemed to be condensed to this year alone, and sure, even though she was a daredevil, she still had moments of doubt. But now wasn't the time for that. Smashing mirrors, avoiding being caught, herding this thing-- it all led to this.

... This... incredibly smelly piece of lodo. Great. Well, first things first. If a teammate was hurt, you distracted the opponent and drew its attention away so it didn't aim for a weak spot. That had always worked in the sports world, and Amalia was going to put her faith in the strategy now.

"Huitzilopochtli!!" In response to her call, the tiny hummingbird shimmered into existence and flapped his wings, calling forth a blast of wind to slam into the monster. Garu, right. "C'mere, you smelly lump! You're not getting 'em that easily!"

[cemetaryeyes]

A volley of fire descended on the monster next, not skipping a beat. Ezra and Xochi drew closer to the battle as Ama pushed it back in an attempt to shield Heather and Lillian a bit. While watching the others, he'd noticed that just as the monster's "color" had flickered as each hit connected, his own was dimming gradually along with everyone else's. They were all getting fatigued and were much more likely to get hurt because of it. Just another reason to end this quickly, before anyone overdid it.

Their attacks seemed to be working, at least, but something was nagging at him. "Everything's been hurting it about the same amount so far. I don't know if it has any weaknesses."

[turnofthewheel]

Lester frowned a little. The thing hurt Lilly. It made Heather panic. It made Ama angry. And even Ezra was upset. This...thing. This thing wasn't nice at all. He didn't like it. Not one bit. Things that hurt and upset his friends had to go. But if Ezra was right, then their attacks weren't doing much. Not much at all.

Hey. You. I can do more than zap things! I told you! Remember?!

...That was right. He could make it more vulnerable, if only by a little. Tarunda.

As soon as the word crossed his mind, Djinn shot forward and spun around the monster a number of times before returning to hover above his head.

"Did that do anything?"

[skinnendesol]

"Dunno, did it make it flammable? Agi!" shouted Rolf, the nonsensical word popping into his mind courtesy of Baldur. Smashing mirrors and running like hell from the authorities was not exactly Rolf's thing (it made him feel thuggish), but the sight of Baldur snapping his fingers and setting the monstrous blobby thing on fire had done much to lift his spirits. It had attacked and hurt his dear friend and could be nothing but evil, so that meant they were the heroes of this impromptu battle.

"C'mon, Lillian. Up you go!" said Rolf as he helped Lillian to her feet; the floor was no place where his friend should be, especially as battered as she was.

[pixelsnlines]

Anthony had been sitting in the background, legs crossed and watching the scene with apparent boredom, as the lack of sparkles and explosions had long ruined the entire battle for him. He lied down and stared up at the ceiling, even as his persona screamed in his head to move forward and do something, a body that wasn't his own full of adrenaline, eager to assert himself. It was frustrating, the conflicting emotions tearing him apart inside, even though he would much rather lie down and nap -- he'd only gotten three good hours of sleep last night.

It became more than he could bear. Anthony leaned on his arms first, observing the distant brawl as spells and elements hit the creature, and pushed himself leisurely to his feet. He brushed the debris from his clothing and yawned, feet dragged as he approached lazily, and hands in his pockets. Lemme knew a spell or two, and he was pretty sure the others hadn't tried them yet.

"Dia," he said flatly, pointing forward and glancing up as his persona brought the spell upon the monster with as much determination as a lion hunting it's prey.

[notvelour]

The beast, who had been on the verge of striking out at the group with multiple fists after being battered by the wind, started when the Djinn floated around it. It gurgled angrily as it tried to complete its lunge but couldn't muster enough force to reach the teenagers. Then fire exploded in its face, the smell of burning flesh increasing the stink.

And then something surprising, but fortunate happened to it - a sudden surge of tingling energy filled it when the boy with glasses pointed at it. It gurgled and shook again, this time in triumph. It still felt like something was blocking its strength but the pain was gone and it felt tremendously revitalized.

A sound like a cross between a flapping tarp and a toilet backing up echoed throughout the area as it began to change form, this time molding itself into something long, thick, and roughly blade shaped with sharp edges. Its color shifted, too, but not to one any one color, just a psychedilic rainbow shimmer that pulsed down from its tip to trunk-like base connected to the floor.

[inthatwild]

Emi had been standing there, looking on in shock with her nose and mouth covered by the dainty handkerchief she had been keeping in her purse. She had been hoping in the back of her mind that she wouldn't have to get any closer to the foul creature than she already was. It smelled terrible and it was generally hideous. Maybe it wouldn've been better off if they had letbit stay in the mirrors.

However, her hopes were quickly dropping when everyone began attacking. And then... Anthony cast a spell and it suddenly seemed better off than it was a second ago. Her nose wrinkled with disgust and she shot him a look. "You just healed it, stupid!" Giving a frustrated sigh, she finally dropped her arm when it changed form again.

"Otso!" Her moss covered bear was summoned. It growled at the blob threateningly and took a heavy swing at its base.