Confrontation with Smiling-Sama

Kahn watched the pieces of debris get destroyed or adequately deflected by the lighting. Good, that was one threat taken care of, now they just had to deal with a hostage situation with a dangerous and perhaps unreasonable entity. The man he had covered stood, and explained that being "an honorable man", he would explain everything in exchange for killing the Smiling Mask. Great, as if saving his life wasn't good enough. For an honorable man, he sure was manipulative. Heck a few minutes ago he didn't take his loss in stride like an honorable man would have. Instead, he used his knowledge to his advantage, and got Naito possessed. Maybe the silver haired young man could hear them...it was worth a shot. "Come on Naito, you told me never to endanger the team once. Well the same goes for you, protect the team! Don't be a hypocrite!"He would say, granted he had no idea if his words reached Naito, but there was always hope.

Speaking of which...what was going on within Naito's mind. Could he be fighting off the Mask's presence even now, or was his will completely suppressed. As of now there were no visible or concrete signs of the Mask fighting anyone. The red haired young man bit his inner lip, a slight taste of iron filled his mouth. He'd have to assume they were on their own. Unfortunate, but they would have to make do. For now...they would have to comply with the Mask's request, but that would be to buy time see if they could not wait for a moment of weakness. If they could get Ruo out of the Mask's hands...then what? What powers did the mask have access to? Best to assume that the parasite had access to all of Naito's strengths and memories. Very concerning, but could there be a way to end the fight prematurely? Could they just destroy the parasite itself and be done with it? He had to deal with this here and now.

"You want us to kill the Gods? Well that is what we were going to do anyways, but perhaps you can make it a bit easier on us? It is evident that you two, ex-partners." He would say gesturing toward the Mask and the unidentified man before continuing, "Fought the Gods on one or multiple occasions. Therefore, you have knowledge on their strengths and weaknesses. You want us to fight them...fine, but I want to make damn sure that I am prepared for whatever and everything they throw at us." Regardless, now was the time to cooperate, and wait for a better time to strike. And if the moment arises...who would strike? Hibiki maybe, but Destiny was closest. The issue is could she bring herself to harm Naito in order to save someone else, it was clear that she wasn't a fighter. That left it up to him....oh well...they would have to play along....for now.

Hibiki was glad that his move worked well enough, getting rid of the rubble, however they had a much more pressing matter at their hands right now. Even though the mask did not attack them yet, he was still holding Ruo captive, and who knew what was he planning to do with her, or them for that matter if they did not do whatever it is he was apparently waiting for. The mask's previous host cracked pretty easily after Kahn pulled a move to save him, suddenly very willing to talk about the situation, as if he just realized that the mask wasn't a friend now. Well, it wasn't a bad thing, as any and all information were valuable, but they would have to get out of the mess they've been dragged into first. And the man himself had a hand in that, as he stalled long enough for the mask to jump Naito in the first place. A complicated mess indeed.

Kahn had attempted a last effort by calling out to Naito, and that wasn't a bad idea really, but Hibiki sort of doubted it would work. Naito did have a strong will for sure, and if he could, he would most likely have fought even without encouragement, as he wasn't the type to simply let someone boss him, let alone his body around. It was perhaps worth a try though, but as of now, he wasn't joining the shoutout, not really wanting to piss the mask off. Maybe he would later, in case it proved to have some sort of positive affect. Either way, they'd have to hope Naito was going to find a way to shatter the hold on him, as long as it was possible. It had to be though, because it was pretty sure they wouldn't be able to defeat him in a fight like they did previously if he governed Naito's own strenght too.

And it seemed he wasn't the only one that wanted to keep it fightless, as Kahn had chosen to try and wager with the mask on the topic of the Gods. In a way, it was the truth, as it appeared that they would have to face those Gods to get to the root of Limbo. Most likely, the mask had a different motive though, but they didn't really have much of a choice, being trapped in a corner like this. ''You know, Kahn is right. We will end up fighting them either way, so precaution is for the best. If you are trying to defeat them too, then we technically have the same goal, right? If they're really that strong, we need everything we can get to stand against them.'', he'd say after Kahn, proving their point. Maybe, if they got the mask to talk and stall some time, they'd be able to create a strategy, as a direct attack right now would most likely end up in a failure. And get some info too, as long as the mask had at least some sort of common sense. If it wanted them to fight the Gods, then leading them around wasn't the best way to go after all.

    The blonde’s jaw tightened as the man offered them a deal. Information in exchange for getting rid of the Mask? Sure, they had come looking for answers, and they were still interested in getting them, but it irked her that they had to earn them like this. Was he really this selfish? Did he not care that two people could be lost if someone made a wrong move? Probably not. After all, it was just a short while ago that he’d been trying to kill them. So as long as he was safe in the end, what did it matter to him if the Mask killed Ruo or did something to Naito?

    But she couldn’t say that. She couldn’t. She had to choke down the worry and anger and ignore him for now. What good would yelling at that man do? The important thing right now was keeping the Mask’s attention focused away from its current hostage. Kahn seemed to have the same idea, and, after trying to call to Naito (oh, how she hoped that it would make some sort of impact), tried  to get some kind of information about the Gods. He was going about it the right way; if they made it seem like it would be in its best interest to answer their questions, he just might tell them something. After all, the Mask was in it for itself, wasn’t it? As long as it benefitted it, what harm would there be in saying anything? Hibiki added some more persuasive words to their argument, and hopefully they would be received well. Still, Destiny kept quiet, afraid to speak up. What if all of them talking only agitated the Mask? She didn’t want to risk it. If saying something else prompted a bad reaction…Goodness, she wouldn’t forgive herself. No. For now, she was going to watch and wait, ready to react in case something happened.

Kahn was rather surprised when Naito responded to his call about him endangering his comrades. That was a sign that Kahn's ally was still in there fighting. Good...that meant that all they had to do was to buy time until the Smiling Mask was weaker from the conflict over the body, but then the Smiling Mask made it clear that negotiations were over. The red headed young man began to understand as his green eyes observed the Smiling Mask for another moment. Naito was giving him trouble or so it appeared, needless to say the Mask wanted the group to clear out so he could focus on fighting off Naito. Their presence would help Naito if they found some reason to stay as they were very distracting to the Smiling Mask. A trade came to mind, perhaps they could trade the previous host for Ruo. Such a trade would not really give the Mask any advantage over them though, so it would have to be a fool to accept such a deal. Clearly it was not a fool as it did not matter as to whether or not Kahn's group managed to defeat the Gods. It would win if they failed, and chances are it would take advantage of the weakened Persona Users and use Limbo for it's own purposes. It was a win-win situation. However, there was one weak link in the chain, and that link was the man next to Kahn.

Given the killing intent the Mask was giving off toward this man, Kahn had a pretty good guess as to what would happen if the man was left in the area. The Avenger would grab the unidentified man, before glancing toward Hibiki and Destiny. "Alright...come on let's do as he says. We got a lot to do." Granted, by a lot to do he meant try and wait it out until Naito regained consciousness, and then regroup. Dealing with the Gods was a rather reckless move. In the meantime...Mr. Selfish better have loosened his lips. Because this red haired young man was not in the mood for bargaining. After all this man did try to kill his friends and comrades....and he was a rather vengeful individual. One that would not be afraid to hurt the man for such reasons, and punishment for harming his friends was far worse than punishment for not cooperating.

"You're coming with us." He would say not sparing the unidentified man a glance. If the man did not comply then he would tighten his grip on him, using his above average strength, and drag the man out of the shrine. Granted, any movement he would make to exit the Shrine would be giving the Smiling Mask a wide berth to avoid upsetting the already unstable Shadow. At this point he would have to trust Naito to defeat the mask, and contact them once he was free. Until then he would lead his group until they were far out of earshot from the Smiling Mask and Ruo, unless the Mask stopped them.

Hibiki had to admit that he was quite surprised when Kahn's call out brought a result, even though it was only for a short moment. The Mask seemed to have a strong hold on Naito, that was for sure, but at least now they knew that he was still alive and capable of fighting back. However, the issue was, how could they help out? Other than trying to fight, which would probably not end in the desired result. And they couldn't forget that the mask still had Ruo firmly in his hands, which obscured their choices greatly as of now. Before he could make a solid decision on what to do, as the mask was getting pissed off and demanding that they leave and do their work, which was most likely fighting those gods, Kahn was apparently nearing a similar conclusion. It really had to be bad, if even Kahn, who wasn't the type, conceded defeat and gave in, saying that they were going to leave. Although, this being the redheaded teen, Hibiki figured that he had some sort of plan. ''Yeah, sure.'', he'd say, agreeing to whatever Kahn really had in mind.

He watched Kahn go and grab the now powerless man, not giving him much of a choice to decline going along with them and stalk off towards the Shrine's exit. Well, the man could be useful, if he was still wiling to talk to them about the things that happened. Carefully following after Kahn, Hibiki was not happy to leave Naito and Ruo behind, however upsetting the mask too much could prove fatal to either of them. As irksome as it was they'd have to come up with a strategy first. That was of course if the mask let them simply walk away. It did seem sort of easy, even though they were initially asked to leave.

    A glimmer of hope started forming the moment Destiny heard Naito’s voice. Oh thank heavens…he was still there! The Mask hadn’t gotten rid of him! For a moment, the blonde couldn’t help but smile slightly. As long as Naito was somewhere, there was a chance of getting that Mask off of him and turning him back to normal. Of course, the situation was still dire, what with Ruo’s life at stake, but now she had one less little fear nagging at the back of her head.

    That small triumph didn’t last long. Apparently this thing was merely concerned with getting them away, since it refused to say anything. Or did it want them to fail? There was always that possibility. Various people had mentioned that defeating the gods would save Ueitawa. If that was true, why then would the Mask say that it wanted a world filled with Shadows and then tell them to do something that would make that future impossible? Unless defeating the gods wasn’t the answer to the issue…? Destiny’s mental tangent came to a dead halt when she noticed that the blade came closer to Ruo’s neck. One hand flew to her mouth, stifling the horrified gasp threatening to burst out. Good Heavens…did he cut her?

    Kahn’s next words weren’t all that surprising. Really, what other course of action could they take now except to leave? Hibiki seemed to realize it too, as he agreed almost immediately with the redhead. Nodding in acceptance, the girl watched as Kahn grabbed hold of the man and gruffly told him to follow. Perhaps the Mask wouldn’t say anything, but perhaps he would. There was always a chance. Hurrying to walk close to Hibiki, Destiny followed the boys, casting a brief glance over her shoulder back at Ruo. Of course no one wanted to leave her--at least, she believed so--or Naito now that they had been shown he had some type control over his person. But they didn’t have a choice. Right now, their only option was to abide by the Mask’s wishes and pray that those two would be alright in the meantime.

Kahn nearly moved to tackle the man when he simply dismissed everything, and began to walk away. However, he stopped when the man turned around and smiled....that smile was greeted by a serious and angry glare. The man then began to try and charm them into working with him claiming that they needed him in order to rebuild or fix the world, and how he was under the control of the mask. He feared that they would make a fatal mistake, and he agreed to create a world in an acceptable image. He was a devil with a silver tongue. There was no longer a doubt about that, now he could see how he charmed Anya and Scarlet into coming with him, but that tongue would do him no good against someone who had burned his crimes into their mind. Kahn was such an individual. He would approach the man with a very serious demeanor and air about him. An angry aura could also be felt as well. The young leader invaded the man's space using his six foot height and muscular build to try and intimidate the man. "What a load of bull. For an "honorable man" you really do like to manipulate people, don't you? Furthermore, what's wrong with the world as it is? Actually, don't answer that, there are more important matters that we need to know about."

There would be a moment of pause as Kahn tried to reel in the natural impulse to beat the man before him until that man would feel nothing but pain for months. "Now you made the bargain if we destroyed the mask then you would tell us everything. Well spill it because it has already been made clear that the mask cannot defeat Naito. I want to know everything about it. Who gave it you, what powers is granted you, and how it gave you access to Limbo. Also in case the mask is a persistent monster, I would like you to inform us how to permanently destroy it." His tone was calmer, but not by much. It would not take much to push him over the edge, and proceed to getting the information in another more brutal way if necessary. No doubt if the unidentified man decided to evade or be uncooperative it is extremely likely that the red haired young man would put him in his place.

Weakness:

This man surely had some guts to attempt to joke about simply leaving, when he was the one that was completely powerless at the current lapse of time. Hibiki could see that Kahn was getting pretty angry over the whole ordeal, and seemed to want to beat the guy down to the ground. Thankfully, he didn't do so, even after the man went on to sugarcoat things. Still, he almost felt sorry for the man, as he had the feeling that facing Kahn when he was angry would not be pleasant. Even though it was sort of obvious that the man wasn't telling the exact truth, as it honestly did not completely add up to the previous happenings, he didn't really like the idea of resorting to violence. Hadn't they already done enough of that today? It wouldn't do any good to beat up the guy, even if he was indeed trying to lead them on, which Kahn was dead set on, considering his unfriendly way of response.

Well, at least he asked some questions that would do them good if answered. Although, he wasn't sure what would happen if the man tried to go roundabout again. Kahn already seemed pretty much on edge, and the idea of a fight like that didn't sit well with Hibiki, period. He'd walk up to Kahn, standing beside him and give the man a calm look. ''I think it would be better if you'd just answer now.'', he'd say matter of factly. He doubted that the man was oblivious enough, not to notice how pissed Kahn was getting. It really would be in his best interest to comply at this moment. ''You should try to keep calm though. It won't do us any good to jump at him right now.'', he'd say in a quieter tone towards Kahn, really not wanting a brawl to break out. He wouldn't protest against being a little more forward, but Kahn appeared to have a bit too much forwardness in mind. He didn't want to go that route, unless absolutely neccessary. Surely they could solve it without making too much of a scene, right?

    Some tension had been left behind in the shrine, but there was still plenty of it left around her, what with that man just a few feet away. He was responsible for what had happened to Naito and Ruo. Of course there would be some animosity there. Still, the fresh air helped clear the girl’s head, and, for the briefest moment, the tension in her shoulders lessened. Despite keeping her expression as composed as she could manage, Destiny couldn’t help but blink slowly at the man’s first sentence. Did he just call that horrible situation fun? My, he was a little lost upstairs, wasn’t he? 

    …W-Wait, he was walking away! No! No, no, nonono! He still needed to say something useful, give them a way to fix this mess, do something to atone for what he’d done! Destiny began to follow, but she had barely taken more than a single, tentative step before the brunette turned and smiled, trying to brush his sudden actions off as some sort of joke. Drawing her lips into a thin, single line, the girl tried to control the rising anger and terror and anxiety and the whole other slew of negative emotions coursing through her. Yelling, crying, violence…those were childish reactions. Besides, the others had made some rather passionate, heartfelt arguments back there, and they had hardly done any good. It was best, then, to try and deal with this man as calmly and rationally as possible.

    Oh, but that was starting to become very, very difficult. At first, she had thought what he was saying was useful, if not a little terrifying. Why couldn’t they just defeat the Gods and be done with it? True, the world wasn’t perfect, but that didn’t mean Destiny wanted to change it. The part about making a serious mistake in the process made her even more uneasy. But no, he was aiming for that. He wanted to make them unsure, scared, so they’d jump at his offer and hand him what he’d failed to achieve. If that wasn’t low, she wasn’t sure what was.

    “K-Kahn-!” The blonde reached out a hand towards the redhead as he advanced towards the culprit, her eyes widening in worry. She wasn’t sure she’d even seen someone look at another human being with such hate before. While it was entirely understandable, now was not the time to exact any type of payback. She didn’t know if she’d made any sort of impact o Kahn’s decision, but she was glad to see him reign in his anger and tersely demand some answers rather than use his fists or persona. Letting out a soft sigh of relief as Hibiki calmly reinforced Kahn’s demands, Destiny was grateful that she wasn’t alone with this man and Kahn. She wasn’t sure what she would’ve done if the redhead hadn’t controlled himself. He was obviously bigger than she was, and with her luck, she’d end up getting hurt trying to pry apart some type of fight, if she could gather the nerve to do so at all. Fixing her gaze on the brunette, Destiny waited to hear his response. Surely he’d see that it was time to drop the tricks and just cooperate?

The red haired young man's head turned toward Destiny, his look of hate vanished for a moment until the Man began to mock him. One could almost swear that a vein began to bulge from Kahn's forehead due to his irritation. That was all this man was...irritating, and a nuisance. No wonder Naito could not stand him, but they had put him in his place once. Looks like the red haired young man would have to do it again.....or he would have until Hibiki spoke to him. He would ignore the unidentified man's comment as he addressed his comrade, "Hibiki, he endangered everyone in Ueitawa. I think he is entitled a little "interest" for what he has done." The intent behind the word 'interest' was clear as he turned back to the man ready to continue where he started when the Man began to speak.

The man informed them of his view of these Shadows and their purpose, and of his other side...The Killer no doubt. So this man was aware of The Killer...perhaps they were more connected than the group originally thought. Would the killer begin to hunt them down now that they defeated the Killer's other side? That was a concerning thought, but what if the Killer moved to defend the Gods...unless the Killer was not that concerned about that issue then they might dodge that bullet. Granted, what did he mean about "other half" was it literal or just another lie to throw them off. He could not simply trust this man, but he was giving them this information outside of the bargain, what reason did he have to lie now?

Kahn was brought out of these thoughts when Natashi turned himself, and told the police where he would be. Smart move. Now Kahn couldn't lay a finger on him and claim self-defense...granted he did have another way to do sufficient harm. Granted, he did not know how far away the police would be, and his power would deem him a person of interest. Regardless, the man loosened his lips a bit more informing them of what the mask did. Gather the ideals of people, and give them peace of mind? That made no sense whatsoever, but Kahn would just have to take his word for it.
Then he tried to tell them who the creator was, but couldn't remember it? Did he block it out or could he simply not remember? That lapse in memory resonated with what he said about Marah...odd, but any correlation between the two would be nothing more than baseless speculation.

For now he had a situation on his hands, they still had to deal with The Mask or contact someone who could. Someone who could help Naito...like his attendant, they seemed to have a close bond and maybe s/he could do something the group couldn't. He looked toward Destiny, "Destiny, if you have Chance's number contact him/her. Explain the situation, and make sure to mention that a direct confrontation could lead up to an ally dying." There would be a momentary pause, before Kahn continued, "Hibiki, I need you to contact Noctis, and tell him to try and gather the new Persona users so we can update them about the situation. If we're going to take on those Gods then we will need all hands on deck. If neither of you have their numbers then I'll get into contact with them, just let me know." The leader kept his voice low to prevent Natashi from overhearing him. Best to remain as secretive as possible around him, now that he knew he was connected with the Killer. With those new orders given, he would glance back toward Natashi..if he wanted to try and get information out of him...now was the time.

"You know your "other side"? Why not work together since you are working toward the same goal? Two heads are better than one...or say they say." Given the phrase,"their own way bringing in this new world" he would assume that they had a disagreement of some kind. Perhaps Natashi's loose tongue would let something else slip, then again the man had a lot of loyalty toward those that have betrayed him. A perfect pawn blinded by his own desires, but crafty enough to manipulate his own mini-chess game. The idea of contact Naito while he waited for the man to reply crossed his mind, but what if The Mask controlled him still? Would that cause him to kill Ruo or would he simply ignore it...too many unknowns...best to discuss that with his group later.

As Naito came back to his senses, he felt a hard object hit him back into the wall that took him off guard completely. After hitting the wall, he fell down to a knee and palmed his nose with his right hand as he watched the culprit run into the crimson door to Limbo. Last thing he could recall was the Mask clasping onto him, but now everyone was gone, and the being that reminded him of a toaster was running like a scared child. Exactly what was going on here and what did he miss? Raising himself, he'd wipe his mouth from the slight blood that came from a lip. "...I could use an explanation, but I feel perhaps now isn't the time." The Tsurinai spat to the side and made his way out of the shrine to where the others were. He had his usual indifferent expression on his face as he looked at the scene before him. On count, there was Enduex, Azame, and Hibiki. So his eyes didn't fool him, the young female was indeed missing from the group. Did the Mask take her body instead of his own? Was there something special about her?

Well actually, she did have some impressive abilities during the battle. Perhaps that's why Mask latched onto her instead. That was interesting. Naito pinched his chin between his index finger and thumb while giving this situation some thought. "Does anyone mind filling me in one what's going on here? I feel as if I've awoken from a strange dream."