PAGE 38 - With the important bits of formatting still intact (hopefully)

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Dark Cloud Setho:

DTD/Outside

Nace Haruka

Haste meant everything in a situation as urgent as this. She stopped for no one and continued to press onward. Most of her fellow students were most likely all ready there, doing all they could to rescue Leon. Beyond that, there happened to be another problem that got her attention. Enough attention that she had stopped running completely to observe the crimson omen. "This strange occurrence is happening again. It must mean that those monsters have all ready begun crossing over to our side as well." She knew it to be true or at least half correct, judging from the pattern of how things were being played out.


On top of that, she wasn't expecting another unseen phenomenon to occur in the mix. Around the time she reformed her body for sprinting action, she noticed that the people around her were starting to move a lot slower then normally. This continued until the people around her, even those who were driving in vehicles, came to an abrupt motion of complete stillness. "I don't recall something like this happening the last time the dome appeared." She thought, once again she became well enough organized to reach her destination. The matter of settling this new issue would have to wait in the mean time.

"Almost there, I can see a few of them up ahead. Yo, Hideki-san!" Haruka called out to him revealing her presence to everyone there. "I'm here. What's the situation? Any word on Leon?"

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Manamaster544:

Hikari Takahashi, Dreamtime Dorms:Roof

Getting saved fron the shadow and seeing Rick struggle with the shadows He's injured, I need to help somehow , panicking Hikari looked around for something to attack with, thinking to herself So,that creature behind Asuka is a per..sona? Hikari though it looked no diffrent from a shadow but that wasn't important she needed a weapon fast , looking around quickly Hikari spotted the cable antenna It's worth a try.

Hikari ran over an pulled on the antenna with all her strength.Now having a weapon in hand Hikari ran over to help defend Asuka. Hikari hearing Asuka talk about the names of the shadows So, there's five more..? this isn't going too well.

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Zacewing:

Haruki Takehito - Dreamtime Dorms (Outside)

Haruki blasted the Akkishi with another gust of wind. Again, it barely fliched. "Damnit!" Haruki shouted. The Akkishi raised its sword and began firing several wave beams from its sword. Haruki managed to dodge all of them, except the one that was coming straight for him as he landed. It hit him square in the chest, the resulting blast sending him flying backwards ton the ground. He struggled to stand, but fell back to the ground. "I-I'm sorry..." he said as he fell face-first back onto the ground. He was still awake, but bleeding and heavily fatigued. "This'll hurt in the morning..." he said, groaning in pain.

Keisuke & Yuki Yamato - Leon's Mirror World

The group had been following the blood trails for quite some time now, and they appeared to be no closer to Leon. "It's as if we're going around in circles..." Yuki said. "Damnit." Keisuke said in frustration. "Perhaps...the blood trails are meant to mislead us? From what Haruki told me about his time in the mirrors there was always some sort of gimmick to the place..." he trailed off. "But...how can we find the right path to Leon?" Yuki said. "We'll just have to keep trying. We won't give up." Keisuke said. Though in reality, he felt ready to give up, his pessimistic side taking over. We'll never find Leon in time... he thought to himself.

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Stardale:

~* Kotone Ito :: Leon's Mirror World*~

She sighs, as the whole group felt that they were going in circles. "If we can just split up into groups, then its easier to find Leon-chan. However, because of the titan Keisuke just eliminated awhile ago, I do not trust this place." They continued to walk, following the trail. Her legs grew tired just after some minutes walking, due to the fact that she has not rested ever since she got from school. "Are we there yet?" she said, stretching her arms. "I'm starting to worry that...that...that..."

She shivers into fear, and she became silent. "But we shouldn't lose hope!" She tried to lighten up the others and herself, but she starts to lose hope as she sees the blood droplets.

~*Miyosi Rick :: Dreamtime Dorms - Roof*~

"Take this!" he stressed as he stroke with all his might, his wooden weapon on the shadows. "How much more will these take!" He swings his weapons on the shadows, however inflicting a cut on his arm. It began to bleed. He took a piece of cloth out from his polo shirt. With the strip of cloth, he placed it on the part of his arm where it was bleeding, to control the pressure. He used his left arm to strike another one.

"I need assistance here!"

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Azer Kriemhild:

((Just consider Kirsa as tagging along with the group. She's really not going to have much to contribute to the non-fighting side of things, as she's not... shall we say, predisposed to puzzle-solving))

[Shiraume Makoto - Dreamtime Dorm (Outside)]

Makoto stepped up to the fight, firing arrows as quickly as he could manage as he ran up to and past Akkishi, luring it to follow him and turn its back to the others. Sorry, Takehito, but there are other healers, and if I don't distract him, the wounded will just keep piling up.

The arrows, to his surprise, seemed to at least be sticking and not bouncing back at him, but Makoto suspected this wasn't because they were having any real effect on it, but rather simply because there was no physical form to reflect back.

There were other ways of attacking though, and Makoto found himself blown backwards into the wall of a nearby building by an explosion of fire that came from nowhere. "Great...I think this thing can use magic, too," Makoto warned Hideki, in case he'd missed it.

Thinking him defeated, Akkishi turned back to the others, which gave Makoto enough time to charge up a sizeable arrow and let it fly, trying to cause it to stumble like he had with the Gigas. To his surprise, the arrow seemed to punch a hole - a miniscule one, but a hole nonetheless - in its armor.

Makoto grappled with the brick wall behind him, dragging himself to his feet. Leaning against it for support, he called out to Hideki again. "I think I managed to hurt it - I put a small hole in the..." But when Makoto looked again, he saw the hole sealing itself right before his eyes. "Great...and it can regenerate, too."

[Atsuko Kazumi - Dreamtime Dorm (Rooftop)]

Kazumi fired another bullet into the swarm of Shadows, and dropped the clip from her gun to reload. A calm, cynical part of her mind stopped to note how much the battle was costing her, as per the price of bullets, but she pressed on nonetheless. As she reached for her second clip, a black tendril lurched out and stabbed through her leg, and began pulling her towards them.

She scrambled to recover the clip, which she'd dropped, but at the last minute, realizing she wasn't going to make it, changed directions and lunged forward, punching deep into the mysterious substance that composed the Maya. It shrieked and howled in pain, and, while not mortally wounded, released her and shrank back.

Kazumi crawled back a bit to retrieve her clip, slammed it into her pistol, and fired about ten more bullets than necessary to kill it, trying to shoot her way through the pain in her leg.

She looked down. It wasn't a serious amount of blood, but it was bad enough. "Okay everyone, I'm not going anywhere now, so let's get this wrapped up quickly, shall we?"

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KittyKatStar:

~ Toriyama Hideki ~ [Outside DTD]

“Yo, Hideki-san!" Haruka called out. "I'm here. What's the situation? Any word on Leon?"

“No word on Leon,” Hideki explained, skipping over the first question. He hoped Haruka watching a 9-foot tall knight from hell beating the crap out of everyone would explain the situation quite nicely. “I don’t know what’s happening in the mirror world, either.”

"Great...I think this thing can use magic, too," Makoto warned Hideki, which Thoth quickly updated.

A fire user... Hideki realized.

"I think I managed to hurt it - I put a small hole in the... Great...and it can regenerate, too."

“It can regenerate its health faster than we can damage it,” Hideki reported, letting the grim comment sink into the heads of everyone who heard it.

---

~ Erihana Avalon ~ [DTD: 4th floor]

Avalon rushed up to the fourth floor - taking only a small detour to her bedroom to grab a baseball bat. The smaller shadows were already making their way up to the roof. Avalon heard multiple shots fired, and decided not to advance until it died down.

“Um, I’m coming up, so please don’t shoot!” She yelled lest she’d get hit along with the shadows.

“Brynhildr!” She commanded, and her persona appeared in a small gust of wind. Avalon decided to attack the shadow closest to her - the others were already further up the last staircase. Her persona held up her mallet, ready to attack at a moment’s notice.

“Bash!” Avalon shouted, and Brynhildr swung her mallet hard, crushing the shadow into the floor. The shadow squealed in pain, completely flattened and Brynhildr swung a second time. This time the shadow’s ooze burst into a black gas and disappeared.

“One down,” she yelled up to the others.

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Isenet:

~ Armada Shun, Dreamtime Dorms ~
Staggering in through the door, trying his best to move away from the Shadow as quickly as possible, Armada nearly tripped over some invisible object on the floor. He was pale despite his tanned skin, both from shock, which was reflected in his eyes, and the pain of his injuries as they coursed through his nerves. He was in a visible battle between staying conscious and fainting where he stood.

"Hermes..." he breathed, his voice hoarse. His Persona appeared once more, waving his sparkling wand above Armada's head. A little more color appeared in Armada as Hermes disappeared again, but, as if it were a consequence, Armada was forced to grasp his head as it almost exploded in pain.

"Erihana-san, Armada-san," he heard Toriyama's voice echo in his mind through the mental link that the man seemed to be able to make. It was irritating to think that he was able to put his voice in their minds. What else could he do?

"The others need help on the roof, think you two can handle it?" he asked. Armada was not sure it was a question, but was too dazed to wonder about it.

Y-yeah, sure, he replied mentally, even his brain stuttering as he tried to form the response. He managed to make his way to the kitchen and pull a knife from the holder, then did his best to stagger his way upstairs. The operation went fairly well.

As he reached the top of the stairs and opened the door to the roof, he saw a cartoonish armored woman swing her mallet. Almost instantaneously, he heard Erihana's voice cry out, "Bash!"

"One down," she continued after the Shadow that had been attacked disappeared into the usual black ooze. There were still some left, however. Armada groaned.

"Dammit, just...just put 'em to sleep," he managed to choke out, and Hermes appeared again. Two of the remaining Shadows fell unconscious almost immediately, while the other two quivered for a moment, as if shaking something off, before resuming whatever they were doing.

Armada made his way toward one of the sleeping Shadows and began slashing and stabbing at it wildly. The first strike caused it to awaken, and it began to shriek with pain as each strike hit. Eventually, the assault ended as Armada brought his arm back, breathing heavily. The Shadow quivered and melted away. Armada turned his head and noticed Kazumi's leg bleeding from where a Shadow had evidently struck. He almost turned away from it, not thinking to do anything, but hesitated. One could almost see the coin flip around in his mind, and he looked back at her.

"Hermes, help...gah!" he said, and the Persona appeared in its flash of light as Armada fell to his knees, holding his head as it throbbed. Hermes directed his wand at Kazumi, and the healing light rested upon her injured leg so that it stopped bleeding, but not much more.

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Toku:

~Asuka Hiriami: Dreamtime Dorms~

Asuka wasn’t sure which to focus more on, the gigantic shadow just outside the dorms or the tinier ones on the roof threatening to kill her. For now she chose the later.

“Armada-san and Erihana-san are coming as back-up!” Asuka announced as soon as she recieved the news. She looked down at the piece of parchment in her hand, “And I still don’t know what to do with this...”

It appeared that the gigantic shadow was named Akkishi. Much more information, all found solely by Hideki, was on the parchment as well. “I wish I could help him but...” Asuka turned to the doorway as she saw Avalon and Shun enter, “I need to help everyone up here first!” she thought.

Instantly, Avalon and Shun’s picture appeared on Asuka’s screen, showing both of their statuses. Avalon was doing as decently as the others but Shun...Asuka felt anxious as she looked at his status. Both of his bars were near empty, not a good sign even if Asuka still didn’t understand what exactly they meant.

“One enemy left!” Asuka said, counting the number of shadows that still registered on her screen. She hoped this would end fast as they all still had bigger problems to deal with.

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KittyKatStar:

~ Toriyama Hideki ~ [Outside DTD]

Hideki wasn't getting much response from Asuka but couldn't blame her - she just Awakened, and she probably had her hands full on the roof.

“Sorry Asuka-san, I’m closing our network as it drains our strength faster. You're doing just fine.” Hideki complimented, before his parchment disappeared from her possession. Hideki was pretty sure Asuka couldn’t eavesdrop on his conversation, but he didn’t want to take any risks.

Hideki decided to call for back-up before the battle against Akkishi took a turn for the worse - he knew the dorm mates wouldn’t last long without help.

If Akkishi absorbs dark and is immune to fire... I guess the only person I can rely on now is... Hideki thought to himself, and deeply concentrated. He ordered Thoth to trace her.

“Oh... Hideki-kun,” the voice replied, irritated. “What is it?”

“It looks like we could use your assistance,” Hideki explained. “We’re up against a powerful Shadow and none of our attacks seem to be work-”

“Ha,” she scoffed, “Why should I bother? Better yet, why don’t I just finish the job right -”

“Don’t,” he interjected pleadingly, “And they called off the original mission - we’re supposed to monitor them right now.”

“You think I give a **** about them and their orders?”

Hideki sighed, placing his hand on his forehead out of frustration. "We'll talk about that later," he insisted somewhat forcibly, not wanting to lose her on a long, tangental rant. "Just, please, help them. For me, if nothing else?"

The pause lasted so long Hideki thought she broke the connection, however he could feel her emotions stirring, first angry then becoming more soft and thoughtful.

“... Fine, Hideki-kun,” she finally replied, giving in.

“Thanks,” Hideki replied gently, “How long till you get here?”

“I’m closer than you think,” she answered smugly. Hideki realized it was probably her turn to spy on the dorm. “Map? I’ll need it in case they try to track me down.”

“Sent.”

“Thanks.”

“Oh, since I’ve got you,” he quickly asked, “do you know anything about mysterious phone calls? Some of the dorm mates got vague warnings on their cell phones.”

“No, you’ve got me. As if we have a reason to. Oh, not sure if this is important, but we've been getting reports from upstairs that the computer and security systems were hacked into recently or some ****.”

Hideki found that rather worrisome, was there a possible third - or even fourth - party? He decided to dwell on that fact later - right now their priority was taking down Akkishi.

Hideki broke the connection, so she could concentrate on her task. The parchment would be with her until he willed it to disappear.

Thoth vanished, and Hideki feigned exhaustion, now down on one knee - he did keep Thoth summoned for an extended period of time. Throughout the conversation, Hideki managed to appear he was watching the battle and hoped nothing would betray him. All that was left was to wait for her to strike. He was confident in her abilities; she would probably even enjoy it. He hoped she would anyway, or he'd never hear the end of it.

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Isenet:

~ Ikeda Chiyoko (the Judge), Chan's Mirror World ~

Quiet. Still so quiet. Ikeda could almost hear the echoes of her own footsteps as she walked briskly along the path and they bounced off the walls of the building in the city. There had been a fair amount of time since the bird Shadow had attacked, enough so that she knew it would be best to be wary of any possible attack.

She paused and dug into her pockets, pulling out the red diary. Ikeda found a pen in the other pocket and began writing something down on a blank page. She then flipped back through the book, stopping on a page. She read it, her eyes moving swiftly behind the glasses frames. Nodding, she put the diary back into her pockets. She knew what to look for.

"A thought to further the distance. A mind's silence to free the soul," she murmured softly to herself, pondering quietly. The words were still cryptic after all the time had passed, something she was not used to. She felt as if she was missing something.

Ikeda continued to wander forward, knowing it would be easiest to find Chan in this manner as he surely could not move himself if the image in the sky were any hint to his condition. She noted as she walked the blood on the trail seemed to be getting a little larger, perhaps only barely noticeably so. Maybe she was getting closer to him; maybe it was all a trick. She did not know.

Suddenly, Ikeda spun to her right, holding out her halberd. A Shadow, one of the Maya types, was right then jumping out of a tree, and landed on the spear part of the weapon. It began to melt as it slid down the shaft, until the mask that these creatures always wore fell onto the ground with a clatter. Ikeda could hear the chittering noises that indicated the presence of more Shadows in the region. Like the last time she had been surrounded, Ikeda turned and ran. Again, the Shadows followed.

Turning quickly into an alley, Ikeda glanced back and nearly tripped as her foot struck something on the ground. She managed to save herself the fall, however, by thrusting the halberd shaft at the ground. She glanced down at the object over which she had tripped and without any expression, turned back towards the Shadows as they rushed forward.

"Stop!" she commanded, and the Erinyes appeared behind her. Megara, the book-holder, held the hand with the tome out, which began to flip through pages though nobody was turning them. As they stopped, Megara began running her fingers on the page, muttering strange sounds. A hole in the sky appeared, from which a shaft of light shot downward from, and caused an explosion at the center of the group of Shadows. The shrieking as they were all struck rang loudly, and Ikeda flinched. Though some of the Shadows had survived, they crawled away swiftly, likely looking for more of their kind for another assault. Ikeda would not be able to run the next time.

She kneeled by the object which she had almost tripped over. Weapons of all sorts were embedded in it, and red blood pooled around them. The size of the object and its condition left Ikeda with no doubt: Here was the objective. She knew better than to try and pull the weapons out, as that would merely cause the blood to pour out even faster, and she doubted anyways that she had the strength to pull them out. She considered the alternatives. Without any healing supplies, there was not much else she could do for Chan other than to protect him from further assault and hope that those who had supposedly entered the mirror as well would come swiftly.

Reexamining Chan's wounds, Ikeda figured that, if he had been able to survive this long, he should be fine for the time that it took. He was massive enough in height that losing blood would not be too detrimental, though she knew that he had already lost plenty and was still at a great risk.

The chittering again. Ikeda hoped that the Shadows would keep back for long enough. She could feel her head starting to hurt, and every once in a while, she would cough up small speck of blood. If no one else found them, death was sure for the two of them.

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Dark Cloud Setho:

- Nace Haruka - Outside DTD

While Hideki supplied her with an answer for her second question, the first one came from a different source. Evidence that would prove that the shadows were definitely on the other side. Had she not seen it with her own eyes, a 9 foot warrior approaching Makoto on the defensive, and Noboru with another person devising a strategy of his own. She most likely might have taken charge of assaulting it, without coming up with a decent plan to do so.

"I guess that answers my first question. Seems like whatever that thing is, it's giving them are a hard time." Haruka kept her distance from the walking mass of destruction absorbing most of everyones attack. She thought for a moment about summoning her Persona, but then she suddenly backed out when seeing Akkishi's miraculous recovery from an effective strike. "Regeneration? That's so unfair." She complained. "I don't think Chulainn will be able to pierce its armor either. In fact, it seems like everyone fighting it is trying to avoid making physical contact. Hey, are you listening Hideki?"

Her focus transferred to him, now resting on one knee with his Persona vanishing from the field. From what she could see it was probably exhaustion from using his powers for an extended period of time. Sooner then never, she offered to lend him a hand into the dormitory. On the other hand, it wasn't as if the armored beast had payed him any attention, so remaining here beside her was also a suggested option. "You should really take better care of yourself, not that I am trying to sound bossy or anything like that. The enemy this time is a whole lot stronger even though there's only one of them. I suppose me being only an extra won't do them that much good, especially after what we just have saw. Still, I would feel kind of bad for them if I just stood here and did nothing."

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Azer Kriemhild:

[Atsuko Kazumi - Dreamtime Dorm (Rooftop)]

Kazumi watched as Avalon and Shun arrived and quickly turned the tables on the remaining Shadows, though it was obvious that Shun was already battle-weary. She was surprised, and a little jealous, to see Avalon wielding a Persona as well, and wondered why she still hadn't felt any such 'stirrings' inside her that the others had described.

They fought until only one remained, and Shun, despite his condition, managed to summon his Persona to heal Kazumi's wound, if only barely. He fell to his knees in the process, looking like he couldn't take another step.

Kazumi managed to get back up, and approached him. "Idiot," she said flatly as she pushed on his forehead, forcing him back to a sitting position. "I'd rather not be helped at all..." she muttered, than be helped for such a reason, she continued in her mind, her shield still lowered from her attack on the Shadow enough that she had sensed the randomness of his decision to help her.

Having spoken her peace, or most of it anyway, she turned her attention to the remaining Shadow and dismantled it with the remainder of her clip. Wincing through the lingering pain, she walked over towards the mask with only a bit of ooze remaining beneath and stepped down hard (with her good leg), pressing down until a satisfying *crack* signaled its defeat.

"Yeah, that's got you angry! Come on! Think you can take me!?" she could hear Makoto shouting from down below. She quickly ran to the railing and looked over. Things didn't look to be going well for him, despite his **** attitude, and the giant Shadow seemed to have all of its attention focused directly on him, too.

The fight between the two had her frozen in place as she watched, a distant part of her mind wishing she'd been more conservative with her ammo so she could at least provide support. She wanted to move, to run downstairs and help - at the very least, she could try to weaken it by touch as seemed effective on some of the other Shadows, but something kept her there, hands grasping the railing in a white-knuckle grip.

"So...you have a Persona, too..." she noted sadly when another of the strange beings appeared above him, and proceeded to battle against the Shadow alongside him. "And a good one, too..."

Just as things seemed to be taking a turn for the better, though, Makoto collapsed and lay unmoving in the street. This, finally, seemed to release her from her post, and she ran for the stairs, remembering what Kirsa had told her after their battle against the Gigas.

[Shiraume Makoto - Dreamtime Dorm (Outside)]

"All right..." Makoto muttered under his breath. Slowly, with staggering steps, he made his way back into the middle of the road, and fired a couple of arrows at Akkishi to get its attention. It was much closer to the others than it was before, and Makoto was having none of it.

"Yeah, that's got you angry! Come on! Think you can take me!?" he shouted at the top of his lungs. "Give me your best shot!" he ordered as he charged up another arrow, this one larger and brighter than most.

Akkishi slammed both its swords down, sending two blades of energy directly towards him. Makoto released his arrow, which flew between the two and deflected their course ever so slightly, such that they each missed him by only a few feet. The arrow slammed into Akkishi's chest, but the wound, like before, regenerated only a few moments later. And the hulking giant was slowly making its way closer and closer to Makoto.

"Fine!" he shouted in frustration. He drew back the string once more, letting the arrow charge for even longer still, till it well surpassed even the size and brightness of the one he used to take down the Gigas. His arm began to blister and swell, as a slight heat mirage wavered in the air around it, but he persisted until Akkishi was close enough to physically hit him with a sword attack. Close enough that there was no way he could avoid the arrow. "Regenerate this!"

The arrow hit with enough force to stagger Akkishi backwards, and for a moment, it seemed to stay stuck in its chest, until it punched through and shot out the other side, flying a fair distance further before disappearing. Makoto smirked at the gaping hole in Akkishi's chest. "Yeah..." he panted, "you're not so tough..."

But the wound, though more slowly than before, started to regenerate all the same.

Sh*t... if it's like this, I guess I've got no choice... Makoto thought to himself. Closing his eyes, he prepared to summon Cybele with the most powerful attack she had.

"Right then! Come forth-"

Makoto stopped as an entirely different Persona appeared in the sky above him. Looking something like a woman merged with a tree, her lower body an indistinguishable mesh of bark and limb, ultimately emulating the shape of a tree trunk the further down one looked, arms that gradually took on the appearance of branches further out towards the hands, and a fiery red mane decorated with flowers.

Wordlessly, the Persona pointed out at Akkishi. Correspondingly, a gust of wind blasted down the street, nearly knocking Makoto down as it came up behind him, but the bulk of its concentrated force was directed at Akkishi. The wind blast slammed into the still-regenerating wound, and Akkishi seemed stunned by the contrast in power levels between this and the previous attacks it recieved. Its armor began to crack as the wind pressed relentlessly forward.

Akkishi struggled at first, but managed to fire off a blast of light at the mystery Persona, but it effortlessly dodged the attack. This time, it slowly and seductively raised its arm upwards, and a tangled mass of roots drove up through the pavement around Akkishi and entangled its legs, holding it in place. Then it swiftly brought its hand back down, and a blast of wind came from above, knocking Akkishi to its knees and pinning it there. Its armor continued to crack, until finally shattering completely.

Makoto watched in awe, barely aware of the Persona disappearing as he concentrated on the open wound in Akkishi's chest. After a few moments, the wound resumed its slow healing process, but the armor itself did not regenerate.

He managed to raise his bow once more, and fired off a rather pitiful arrow, though it managed a bit more damage than it would have before. "I think... it's weaker now..." Makoto alerted Hideki. He then abruptly fell backwards and passed out.

----------

KittyKatStar:

~ Erihana Avalon ~ [DTD: Rooftop]

After Shun healed Kazumi, she approached him. “Idiot,” she said and pushed on his forehead until he was sitting. "I'd rather not be helped at all..."

Indeed, Shun looked like he was worn out.

Summoning one’s Persona requires energy - so be careful! She could hear Brynhildr advise - which now made sense since she noticed summoning Brynhildr was a little exhausting.

While Kazumi destroyed the last Shadow, Avalon heard a voice from below.

"Yeah, that's got you angry! Come on! Think you can take me!?" Avalon ran to the railings, not far from Kazumi, recognizing Makoto’s voice. The giant knight turned his attention to Makoto on a one-on-one battle.

Makoto continued to shoot arrows although it didn’t seem to damage Akkishi. Then -

A beautiful, and seductive, persona appeared, with the torso of a woman and the lower body of a tree. Her red hair, decorated with pink flowers, fluttered, covering her body. Her branches/arms pointed at Akkishi, causing a huge gust of wind to burst forth. Avalon could hear the audible cracking of his armor.

“Way to go Shiraume-senpai!” She cheered, watching as roots wound around the Shadow’s legs, immobilizing him. Another concentrated wind attack appeared to be the finishing blow - causing its thick armor to completely shatter. Although Akkishi wasn’t defeated, Avalon had a feeling Makoto single-handedly turned the tables.

Avalon gasped as Makoto collapsed, and decided to rush in to help him. However Kazumi beat her to it, and Avalon stopped, deciding Kazumi could take care of Makoto - her being one of his closest friends and all. (At least, from she concluded while living at the dorms with them.)

He’ll be fine, she thought. Kazumi would know what to do, besides he’s not the only one injured...

She crouched down in front of Shun, who was still holding his head slightly.

"Are you perfectly fine and unharmed, Armada-san?" she asked tenderly and affably word-for-word, and unlike last time, she genuinely meant it.

Her light-hearted smile faded into a more concerned look and took a seat next to him but giving him plenty of space. She wanted to check his forehead for any fever, but she remembered how Toshio brushed off her help back at Shizukesa Park, and was uncertain whether Shun would do the same thing. Instead she folded her hands into her lap, and patiently waited beside him. (Well as patiently as she could be, anyway.)

~ Toriyama Hideki ~ [Outside DTD]

Hideki watched the persona in amazement - no matter how many times she summoned it, he was awed by her power.

“Thank you...” he thought, although whether she received it or not, he didn’t know.

Ignoring Haruka’s concerned about his well-being, he summoned Thoth again. This time with more pleasing results. The armor probably made analyzing Akkishi near impossible and slow.

“He’s definitely weaker now, he can’t reflect physical attacks anymore!” he shouted to everyone.

Thoth disappeared again, Hideki felt his head slightly ache - maybe he did push himself more than he originally thought. However he was sure the others would take down Akkishi no problem now. Kazumi rushed out of the dorms to aid Makoto - who had passed out. The poor guy always seemed to push himself to his limit. Haruki as well - who was still injured.

“Nace-san, let’s help Takehito-san into the dorms,” he suggested. He was confident Shinobu and Noboru could handle things now.

Fujiwara Noboru and Ōta Shinobu: Dreamtime Dorms

Neither Noboru nor Shinobu could do anything. Noboru knew that Prometheus couldn’t do anything to hurt Akkishi, and Shinobu didn’t even have a Persona. The two of them just stood and tried desperately to think of something which they could do. Plenty was going on around them, though; Hiriami seemed to have Awakened to her Persona, Takehito was struck by one of Akkishi’s attacks, and Shiraume had joined the fight. His strange arrows punctured the thick armour, but what little damage he’d done was healed in an instant.

Then, something odd happened. Shiraume readied himself to summon a Persona, but was cut off as it came forth. Did someone beat him to it? wondered Noboru. The Persona itself seemed to be some sort of dryad, half-tree, half-human. It pointed at the armoured beast, and a gust- no, a blast of wind struck, knocking Shiraume over and cracking the enemy’s shell. Akkishi fought back, sending its fire attack at the Persona, which dodged the attack and caused roots to sprout from the ground, trapping Akkishi in place. Then, with a final wind attack, Akkishi’s armour split completely, revealing the black interior, like a huge mass of Mayas pressed into a warrior’s mould. As the Persona vanished, Shiraume fired one last arrow and promptly collapsed.

“He’s definitely weaker now, he can’t reflect physical attacks anymore!” shouted Toriyama, who had summoned Thoth again. Atsuko soon came running out of the dorms in order to help Shiraume. “Nace-san, let’s help Takehito-san into the dorms,” said Toriyama.

“Wait, you’re leaving us alone with that thing?!” yelled Shinobu, panicked. It was bad enough having to be out here with it in the first place.

“Don’t worry,” said Noboru, who thrust the sword in his right hand at Shinobu. “If Toriyama’s right, we should be able to hurt it now...”

Uncertainly, Shinobu took it, glancing at the stricken Akkishi. Got to strike while its guard is down, huh... “Well... okay, then. Might as well give it everything we’ve got.” He swung the sword a few times, trying to get into the right mindset to fight. “Ready?”

“Of course,” said Noboru, who was already prepared to attack.

“THEN LET’S GO!” screamed Shinobu, sprinting at their target. Noboru joined him, allowing his adrenaline to build up again; this time, he would destroy that thing. They ran together, and plunged their blades into the soft flesh. Akkishi let out an odd howl, a horrible, piercing shriek, and raised an arm. Noboru managed to pull his sword out in time, but Shinobu was immobilised by fear. The Akkishi batted him away like a moth, leaving the sword stuck in its body.

Shinobu tumbled across the ground, rolling backwards. Wincing, he picked himself up. What the hell am I supposed to do?... he thought, as he watched Noboru jump in and hack at their foe’s body. He dodged another swipe of Akkishi’s arm, and summoned his Persona in a splash of fire, which shot forward and stabbed its staff through the monster’s body. Without one of those Personas, I’m useless...

Thou... I am... The whisper made Shinobu freeze on the spot. It was just audible; the sound only formed recognisable words once or twice. What?

... art th... I am... The whisper simply repeated itself, before Shinobu felt its presence disappear altogether. Was that...

As Shinobu stood staring into space, Noboru was still locked in battle with Akkishi. He’d taken a gash to the right arm, and had dealt out a fair amount of damage in return. However, Akkishi had the ability of regeneration, an area which Noboru was lacking in somewhat. He was beginning to feel the fatigue of summoning his Persona, too, but his battle-fury allowed him to push through it. I must have more options than just hacking at it... Prometheus, what other powers do you have?

I can use your pain to attack your enemies, replied Prometheus, rather bluntly.

Without thinking again, Noboru ducked past another of Akkishi’s slow strikes and jumped back. “Prometheus!” he shouted, summoning his Persona with a wince as it sapped his strength. Prometheus came forth with his torch already alight. Noboru knew what to do instinctively. Here goes... Dropping his sword, Noboru thrust his hand into the flames.

It was all Noboru could do not to scream. He was unsure which was worse, this or his healing technique. Noboru tried not to glance at his hand, for fear of what he might see.

“Shit!” shouted Shinobu, as he looked over at Noboru, his reverie broken. “What the hell are you doing?!”

“Distract it!” responded Noboru, his rather deep voice almost breaking into a scream. “Distract Akkishi!”

“Dammit, Noboru!” said Shinobu, agitated, as he dived for Noboru’s fallen sword. This time, he wouldn’t let his fear take him over; Noboru was backing him up. “All right, let’s give this another shot!” As Shinobu charged in, Noboru risked a glance at the flames. They were growing, taller and brighter, until they were a white inferno. Once it hurt Noboru’s eyes to look at them, he yanked his hand out, clutching it by the wrist. The skin had been burnt off, leaving only scorched muscle and bones behind. As he watched, the skin began to creep along the extremity, the pain slowly ebbing.

Sagging in relief, Noboru turned to watch his Persona. “Watch it, Shinobu!” he yelled, somewhat weakly, and Shinobu just managed to jump out of the way as Prometheus took the staff in both hands and swung it towards Akkishi, hurling the huge white fireball at it. The attack struck it squarely in the chest, exploding on impact. It knocked the nine-foot monstrosity off its feet. That can’t be real fire, then, if it’s hurting that thing... he thought.

- DTD - Outside

Nace Haruka


So many things happened at once in the face of danger. Takehito had gotten himself injured in battle, and Haruka was asked to take him somewhere safe. She agreed to this with no excuses and headed off towards him. Her quick maneuvers allowed her to slip pass the watchful eyes of the enemy and over to Takehito.

"You're ok, come on, stand up!" Her voice might have reached him a little despite his heavy wound. Somehow she found herself thinking that this situation was similar to the one that occurred last time. "Whenever something like this happens, why is it, that you're always involved?" Those were her thoughts or so they were, at least until an unknown persona came out from behind Makoto and engaged the heavily armored knight in an almost evenly matched fight. "Whoa, no way. Since when did he learn how to do that?" Haruka felt jealous. The persona that was summoned to do battle was able to shatter the armor of Akkishi and left it with a weakness.

"If senpai had an ace like that then why the heck didn't use it to begin with?" That was last thing she said before showing Takehito the way to safety.