Confrontation with Smiling-Sama

'Hmph, that was more trouble than it was worth...' The silver haired young man thought this to himself, of course, as he sheathed his blade in its scabbard. Instead of letting his O-katana disappear, he kept it just incase there was still some hostility from the man. His silver hues remained focused on the opposition, even behind his draped bangs, and he simply listened as the mask hit the ground with a thud. The Tsurinai couldn't recognize the man behind it but he was not surprised. Usually cowards hid behind masks anyway, so it wasn't like he was expecting someone of high relevance or importance. However, he did listen to the man and something he said did spark some interest. That he built Ueitawa from scratch? Though Naito hadn't lived in the region his entire life, he was quite educated about its history. There was only one area he knew of that held construction purpose in Ueitawa and it was in Iwaigodai. Was there a possibility this man worked for one of those construction companies? Though if he worked for one, he wouldn't make it sound like he built Ueitawa alone. Infact, how he spoke it made the Tsurinai believe the man was in charge of the operation. There was a chance he was a head of a company... Though the name wasn't coming to him, there was a chance this mysterious man was the leader of the construction company out in that smog filled city. That was the best theory the silver haired teen had at the moment. However, this blabbermouth was getting quite annoying with how much he was talking; especially about the parts of using Limbo to change things. When the incompetent were given power, the people suffered. He was surely incompetent, so things would not have worked out in this world he so wished to create. That went without saying.

Stepping forward, Naito would take the man's attention. "You sure do enjoy the sound of your own voice, don't you? You've already given us a solution. Defeat the Gods, and Ueitawa will be saved. So how about you spare us the sound of your voice. You say it's unbecoming of an adult to get worked up over children, yet you just lost to a bunch of kids. Rather pathetic. There's no spotlight for trash like you here." The teen certainly didn't hold back his berating words towards the man. He even took note of how the man was looking down at the mask, and in a disrespectful manner, the Tsurinai crushed it under his heel in one stomp. "So enough with these games. We'll take you in to pay for your crimes, or are you going to try and plead innocent? Regardless, you will be removed as a threat no matter your choice. If you plan on telling us anything else, let it be information on these Gods currently in Limbo. What are their strengths and weaknesses?" As blunt as always. It was an Emperor's main trait to wish to control some things, even though everything couldn't be controlled. Though he hadn't shared his agenda of using Limbo to change the world with anyone but his own Attendant; he knew it was a task that was impossible to do alone. Although, even Naito believed the will of Humans could rival the powers of Gods. He didn't fear them, but he knew one man alone wasn't enough to change the tides of time. Though with pure strength, he could possibly create ripples.

''That sure took a while...'', Hibiki thought offhandedly as he watched the Masked man finally stumble from their attacks, his signature mask falling off. Not that he could recognize the person either way, but at least it was finally over with, unless the man would go for a surprise attack, which he doubted after hearing his upcoming speech. He seemed to be irritated at his loss, claiming that he worked most of his life for this. Why did he lose to them then? If he was really that serious about it, he should have gotten even stronger than that. If, as he put it a bunch of kids could defeat him, how did he want to conquer Limbo? The logic didn't really add up in this one. Or they were missing something, unless the man just had a big ego, talking like that after getting smacked down.

Naito, being himself, quickly reminded the man about his complaining, adding in a bit of an insult to stress the point. Hibiki sort of expected something of that nature, and would have found it amusing, if they weren't in a serious situation. Well, at least he didn't waste time and went to gather information right off the bat, which would be useful, if the man was going to be willing to tell. Although, he might have been a little bit rude about it, but that was most likely just his way of doing things. Hopefully, the man wouldn't get too offended to give them the info. That would be quite the epic fail. But he wasn't going to butt in for now, and would wait for the man's reaction, simply nodding as Naito asked about the Gods, as that could help them a lot. At least it seemed so, if the silver haired teen was asking it. He didn't know much about that subject, really.

    Was it…really over? Did they…win? Willing her muscles to relax somewhat, Destiny studied the man, for once having a clear view of his face, seeing as how his mask was somewhat broken now. She hadn’t really expected to know who he was, but whatever semblance of hope she’d had of recognizing him was dashed as she took in his features. If she’d seen him before, the blonde couldn’t recall who he was.

    The combination of adrenaline and determination had been keeping her focused throughout the fight, but with the battle over, she felt her knees go weak. Good heavens…they’d really gone up against a mad man. They’d gone up against a mad man and survived. But she shouldn’t celebrate too soon, she supposed; it wasn’t as if all of their work here was done. They’d come here looking for some type of answer to the whole Limbo situation, and she suspected no one was going to leave without it. Even then, she had to wonder how much harder things were going to get. // Please let us get through this…// They’d had a hard enough time getting through this fight with minimal injuries. Heavens, even Ruo had fallen, and—

    ...Ruo! How could she have forgotten? The girl was still on the floor, seemingly out cold. Glancing up every so often so as to keep track of what Smiling Mask was doing, Destiny hurried to Ruo’s side and knelt next to her, checking for any obvious wounds. While she was doing this, their adversary began speaking. Although she stayed quiet, Destiny couldn’t help but find fault in this man’s words. If he’d really wanted to save people, why go about it like this? Kidnapping random people off the streets didn’t seem like a way to save all of Ueitawa; rather, he was placing an awful lot of emphasis on himself, insisting he was the only one to save them from the impending doomsday. It seemed more like he was only interested in his own self-importance as their “savior”. Besides, would someone wanting to protect others really call them “stupid people”?

    Naito had no qualms about confronting Smiling Mask, it seemed. Although the gun had been tossed away, Destiny couldn’t help but tense at his words. Was berating this man really the smartest thing to do at this point? They weren’t looking for another confrontation; they were looking for answers, a direction in which to go to put a stop to all of this. …Well, that’s what she thought they were doing. At least the silverette was getting to the heart of the matter. And who knows? Perhaps Smiling Mask would cave in and say something useful. She could always hope, at least.

Kahn watched the mask fall to the ground, and soon the man's disguise had disappeared. They won? The adrenaline in his veins began to die down, while his mind stopped running the different scenarios and outcomes that could occur during the battle. He did not hear Ruo get up, perhaps she was still out cold, or whatever the equivalent for her is. Seeing the golden gun drop to the floor, the red haired young man decided that it would be wise to remove that from his grip permanently only the Smiling Man would know if it was loaded or not. Kahn did not plan on finding out the hard way. However, one question remained that took up his attention and focus at the time.

Who was this man? The Avenger didn't recognize him, but he had something to do with how Uietawa was built evidently. Did he work for some construction company....not like that mattered. He was a criminal, and he was caught in his web of crime. The man questioned what they would do now that they destroyed their last and only hope. Well...Uietawa still had hope...it was in the group of Persona users who stood before him, and Kahn was not about to let the place he had grown rather fond of be consumed by Shadows.

As Naito stepped forward, the red haired avenger glanced back towards Ruo. Destiny was already by the android's side taking care of her, granted how much of an expert Destiny was in terms of rebooting or repairing the android had yet to be determined. As Naito held the man who once wore a mask's attention Kahn would move over to the gun and place a foot on it before pushing it back behind him, moving it further away from the Smiling Man. He remembered that Marah had mentioned this man had thrown Nola Shepard into Limbo, by now she was probably deeper inside, but it didn't hurt to be sure. "Hibiki glance inside that Limbo door over there, see if you can spot Nola Shepard in there." With that said he would turn his focus back toward the criminal.

Now with the gun taken care of, the red haired young man could feel a rage boiling inside him. It was an old friend that Kahn made when he was younger and protecting his friends. A rage that told him to start beating the crazy man before him into a pulp until he heard what he wanted, or the man slipped off into unconsciousness. Perhaps this anger would find it's use here soon. Naito had already dealt a blow to the man's ego, and asked the important question about the gods. However, Kahn's subtle attention to detail begged two more questions. "Besides the question about the Gods, you got a bit more explaining to do. During the fight you mentioned a "he". Whoever, this person is, he gave you the power that would supposedly rival the Gods. Who is this person that you spoke of." There would not be anytime for the Smiling Man to reply before Kahn moved on to his second question,

"Next, why did you have Scarlet take Marah? He didn't fit your motive at all, it was rare to see him down about anything. So why go through so much work to capture him?" Kahn was grasping at straws for the second question. The criminal did dismiss Marah as the wrong guy, but perhaps now he could get the motive out the man. What was his reason for capturing Marah in a non-subtle way with someone as loud as Scarlet. Then he discarded a possible hostage with a simple gesture....why? This man's lack of reasoning or logic was confusing Kahn. Then again....perhaps that was the whole point, and the man was smart then he would give straight answers. No more of this ambiguous answer bull shit. Spewing random crap like that would give Kahn's anger a target, and it would serve to make the Smiling Man's capture more realistic.

The man who once wore the mask refused to answer their questions about the Gods, and instead explained his entire motive. Apparently, he was upset because of Shibakuzoi got glory, while his talents were wasted in Iwaigodai. Essientally he was upset because he had dreamed big and gotten so very little, which apparently gave him permission to go and reshape the world as he pleased. The Avenger's hand curled into fists as he was ready to punch the man for not answering their questions, but then the man spoke about how he lacked the power to throw people in Limbo or even see doors. The Shadows did not inhabit his body either, so how did he accomplish such feats? That was certainly a good question, and it stalled the red haired young man from hitting him. What gave him that power to accomplish these feats? ......The red haired young man began to develop a faint idea of what it was, when suddenly the mask that Naito had crushed sprang to life and latched on to Kahn's classmate's face.

'DAMN IT!' Kahn thought, and he moved to restrain the now possessed Naito only to realize that the New Smiling Mask was far too fast for him. He took another step, but froze his advance when the Smiling Mask grasped Ruo and pointed the blade at her. This action caused Kahn to pause, and reconsider his course of action. He couldn't risk putting a friend in danger, but he had to act didn't he? His other friends were in danger too, he had to act for their sake, but he couldn't force himself to. Sunva....here he was again...putting his friends in danger that they weren't ready to face, and failing to protect them. AGAIN.

Wendy's kun tuned back in when the mysterious man beside him spoke up, and thanked the Smiling Mask for the trick. However, the mask informed the mysterious man that he was no longer necessary, and told the Persona Users that they were free to do as they pleased with him. Assuming that they survive the debris that was now falling down on them. At this moment Kahn's leadership skills kicked in when his focus didn't. "Hibiki new orders! Destroy all the rubble! All of it! Leave nothing left!" He barked, while trying to shove the mysterious man to the ground to either a crouching position or prone, "Stay down, and out of my way." He would tell the man before looking up toward the rubble. The man had to be kept alive as much as he irritated Kahn, the information he had could be critical in fighting the Gods or the Smiling Mask. Kahn would stand beside the man and use his soulbound weapon to cut any debris that came near them into smaller pieces or divert them away from the mysterious man and himself. Granted, the red haired young man hoped that Hibiki would be able to eliminate all of the debris with a simple lighting attack. Then they could figure out what to do with the Smiling Mask.

Stats::

Actions Taken:

Strengths/Weakness:

Things went fairly fine, as Destiny went over to check on Ruo, and Kahn proceeded to ask the man some additional questions. Sadly, the man still kept avoiding an answer, and gave them his bitter life story instead, and why, Hibiki couldn't understand. It was, as if he was trying to stall them or something of that matter or he just liked talking a lot. The strange part was, when he actually spoke of something that was on point. If he was unable to see the doors by himself, it indeed meant there was something giving him the power to do the feats he had accomplished so far. Hibiki himself didn't waste time pondering on that one though, as Kahn wanted him to check for the Nola girl, however he didn't get to do much more than a few steps in that direction, before the whole situation turned around.

Well, now they found out the reason behind the man's powers, but not in a positive way. ''This is NOT good...'', he thought sourly, as the fallen Mask jumped onto Naito, seemingly taking control of him. Kahn snapped into action fast, but he was unable to stop the other from rushing forward and taking Ruo, who was still unconscious as a hostage. The Mask spoke again, and it seemed very intent on getting at those Gods, not even caring about its previous host, as he was deemed weak now. What an arrogance. However, they were in quite the bad spot, so it had a reason to boast itself. Thankfully, it didn't attack them directly, or it might have been devastating, if it could use Naito's powers, but they still had falling rubble to deal with. Which Kahn quickly assigned to him, as he went to tackle down the man, supposedly protecting him. Well, the guy was practically defenseless without the power. But back on track, the rubble. He was starting to get sort of tired from all of those electrical outputs. There wasn't any onther way though, and he would call upon Byakko, the tiger shooting up strands of electricity upwards creating a barrier in the sky, deflecting the falling pieces. Hibiki would stay standing where he was, his gaze trained onto the possesed Naito, waiting to see what would happen. He didn't really want to resort to fighting as they already had a tiring battle a while ago, and Ruo was in danger too. Well, he hoped that Kahn had a plan if he was acting all leader-like. He figured that they were going to try to compromise with the Mask though, rather than brawl. He doubted they would have much of a chance against him if he used the teen's original powers too. The Mask was pretty smart in choosing the strongest of their team.

Stats:

Actions Taken:

Passives:

    Oh dear. Please, let Kahn control his temper…! Yes, this man had done some awful things, but now wasn’t the time to let anger control the situation. What good would violence do them? They’d already fought, after all; it was best to try their hand at some sort of negotiation rather than hurry into another battle.

    Destiny couldn’t help the soft sigh that passed her lips. Sure, the man was talking now, but he wasn’t really saying anything helpful. It was sad that this person felt pushed into the shadows—heaven knows the blonde herself had felt that way many times before—but that didn’t excuse anything he did. He took people because they were like him? What warped sense of reasoning was that? He didn’t get all that he wanted, so he decided to take it; it was as simple as that. Rather selfish, really. // Hmm? // Wait…this was something she hadn’t expected. This man couldn’t see the Limbo doorways? But…people with personas could. Did that mean he didn’t have a persona? Come to think of it, she hadn’t seen anything remotely persona-like on his side of the field during the entire battle. So…those attacks…came from something else…?

    Before she had time to think of anything else, something hit her. It wasn’t an exceptionally hard push, but Destiny hadn’t exactly been expecting it; she was knocked back a few feet, landing roughly on her side. Her shock wore off after a few seconds, and with a light grimace she sat up, turning her gaze to see just what sort of trick the enemy had pulled.

    // Heaven above…! // This wasn’t good. This wasn’t good at all. That mask wasn’t exactly ordinary, as she could tell now. What in the world was it? In any case, it had taken over Naito’s body, and was now using Ruo’s life as leverage to get them to defeat those Gods that Smiling Mask had talked about earlier. What in the world was so important about these Gods? Why did this…thing want them gone so badly? It was obviously furthering its own agenda, if the way it brushed the other man aside was any indication how much it really cared about the man. For a moment, Destiny couldn’t help but feel a bit sorry for him. He was being used all along, it seemed; such a shame that his dreams had been twisted so horribly.

    When the mask manipulated the roof that had been hovering in pieces above their heads, the blonde instinctively ducked, momentarily convinced that she was about to die. But she heard Kahn’s voice, and when there was no severe pain anywhere on her person, she slowly opened her eyes, relieved to find that Hibiki had taken care of things with his persona. She’d have to remember to thank him and Kahn profusely after this. Pushing herself to her feet, she opted to stay quiet. It wasn’t as if summoning Thalia would do any good, and she didn’t want to risk annoying the mask with any questions or comments. As of right now, it had two of their friends captive; the last thing they needed was to aggravate this thing. For now, Destiny would have to place her trust in Kahn and pray that he had an idea.