A Rally to Fight For

So, this was the rally? She knew Rinna had been planning this, but it was a whole other thing to actually see it happening. At least she had finally managed to get it going. It also seemed like she got a few people to come out for it. They looked motivated. She took a place in the crowd and waited for this to start. She wasn’t the only person there though. There was another person on stage with her that seemed to be speaking to her. She didn’t recognize him, so she wondered where he had come from. It seemed all kinds of people were crawling out of the woodwork for this event. She wondered how many people she actually knew would be showing up for this. She didn’t expect all that many, honestly. She was just here for Rinna in the first place. She was here to support her and see what this rally became. She hoped it would go well.

Hmmm... This... could be interesting.... Jack chuckled to himself as he adjusted his his shirt, had to be sure every part of his costume was covered. Jack happened upon this little get together merely by accident during his mid day patrol around the city... lucky he did to. It seemed like a lot of people had shown up for what he could only assume was some sort of political rally. However... the signs that he had seen were what worried him. They said things like... Fight Back. Do Not Cower. Eat At Joe's... it was all very disconcerting.

While Jack did not have any connection to the people on stage... he did have a connection to this city. The one he had sworn to protect with his life if need be. He didn't know what this rally was about or if it was dangerous... But he was sure going to find out.

Rinna seemed excited at the prospect of giving a rally. She noticed that Rinna looked out to her and she waved lightly back. She was here for support and to hear what Rinna had to say. Her happy nature for coming out to support her friend slowly faded as she listened to Rinna’s speech. She pulled her limbs closer to herself as she felt her face growing slightly sad. Was she really blaming all supernatural things for what was happening? Sure, Naomi blamed it on that at first too, so she understood. Still, Rinna also had powers. Did she blame herself too, or just those in the tower?

She watched as Rinna threw the mic onto the ground, shattering it into pieces. She was… afraid. This was what she had tried to warn Rinna about. Getting people so worked up could make them careless and angry. It seemed like some were proving her right. She didn’t know what to say. She hated these supernatural powers not too long ago too. She blamed them, so she understood. Still, this was too much. She gathered an entire rally, and people were being overcome by fear and anger. She mumbled something under her breath, so low even she could barely hear it. She didn’t know if it was a wish or if she was taking time to hate herself or if it was something completely different.

She was planning to stay back and listen until she heard someone else is the crowd speak up. She listened with her complete attention. She made her way through the crowd, toward the stage. She slipped by the girl and stood so she was wedged between the pink haired girl and the stage. This was going to get ugly, but she hoped to keep it civil. She looked up at Rinna seemingly to apologize for standing up for her (she had a feeling that would upset her, but she just jumped before thinking), then down. The girl was shorter than her by quite a bit. A good four inches, in fact. That was without the heels. Good lord, this girl was tiny. Still, she looked down at the girl with eyes that weren’t really mad; more upset.

She took a deep breath before opening her mouth to speak, “Th- this isn’t the time for that. I mean, you have a right to say that, I’m sure, but… what are Angels then?” She just blurted out what she was thinking. She was rather quiet, guessing only those on stage, the girl, and a few surrounding people could hear, “I’m not trying to attack you. I just want to understand. If you want people to believe you, you need to explain.” She looked around the crowd, and up at Rinna, “It’s okay to feel. Feel angry, feel scared, feel inspired, feel whatever you want. Humans need emotions. We need to feel. Still, we can’t let that motivate us to do something we regret nor can we let it stop us from doing something that needs to be done. We feel, yes, but we also think.” She looked back down at the girl, “Explain what’s in the tower and what’s going on instead of confusing people’s hearts with those two contradictory statements.” She was still quiet.

She turned away from the girl at last and got closer to the stage. She was only speaking to Rinna now. She only needed Rinna to hear her, “I understand where you’re coming from and what you’re saying. I felt that way for so long. I hated it. Heck, I probably still hate this supernatural stuff, but only bits of it. I hate that it did and still is endangering those I care about.” She would give Rinna a knowing look. After all, Rinna had been one of them, and she was sure Rinna still had those she felt the same way about, “I want our home back too, but look at these people. Some of them are scared, others are angry, and some are following you. There are so many different feeling in this crowd right now.” She could see each one plastered on people’s faces. It was overwhelming, “Rinna, I’m your friend, so I will support you as best as I can, but… these people need a leader, and right now, they are here listening to you. You’re getting through to some of them. They need some kind of light to follow, and they are looking to you for it right now.” She wasn’t sure if she was trying to reach Rinna through pathos or logos right now. She was just speaking, “I would rather see you giving these people hope and drive. That’s a nice emotion to see. It may be what they all need right now. Something to look forward to and to motivate them to do what they can without jumping into something they can't handle, or hiding from what they can. That’s… that’s what I want... For everyone to do what they can...” She hoped Rinna understood. Naomi believed in her. She trusted her. She didn’t want to see anything bad happen. She knew what would happen if the negative emotion in the crowd ran over. Those negative emotions were understandable, she just didn’t want them getting out of hand in the heat of the moment. If someone took it too far, Rinna (an outed individual with a Persona) could get hurt where she stood. She had to rein it in before that. She didn’t want to add another voice for the crowd to follow though. That would only confuse them more.

W-What?... This couldn't be... THAT'S WHAT THIS RALLY IS ABOUT? Jack felt a his body become heavy as the crowed around him roared into life. Who was this chick, and where did she get off talking about things she clearly had no understanding of? Did she really blame Miss.Divine for all this? Well... Jack couldn't really blame her... Jack felt the exact same way when he first met the angel... But now that they had formed an alliance Jack felt he had truely gotten to know Miss.Divine... Become friends with her on some level... But this chick... Who ever she was she obviously didn't know Miss.Divine or what she was trying to do...

When she both figuratively and literally dropped the mic, that phrase don't really work here but roll with it, the crowds roar amplified to near deafening levels... This is bad... She's whipped them into a wild frenzy, and from the sounds of it she's out for blood. If this get's much worse there will be violence and in all likelihood they would form a mob and storm the radio tower... These people were just scared and if they tried to attack Miss.Divine they would get hurt...

Something had to be done...

Without losing a beat Jack tossed off his tare away shirt and pants to revile his suit underneath. Ducking and using the shirt and pants as a shroud he would slip his helmet on, the crowd was far to busy being entranced by the lady on stage to pay any sort of attention to Jack right now. Jack would begin to weave though the crowd and make his way to the stage. On the way...he managed to pick up the voices of two people standing in front of the stage. Both of them seemed to see what he was seeing... That this girl seriously had things backwards.... wait was that Naomi? Yeah it is! Huh... She talked like she knew this girl personally... Jack hoped she would forgive him if he overstepped his bounds.

Jack broke from the crowd as Naomi finished her piece, and without wasting a second he took a running start and vaulted himself onto the stage stumbling slightly as he regained his footing.


Jack regarded the woman on stage for a moment before continuing."The people of the tower are not your enemies, quite the contrary, they're fighting to protect you right now. I know you must be scared. We're all scared, but that doesn't mean you have to jump to conclusions and attack the first scary monster you see without attempting to understand what's really happening" With a glance over his shoulder Jack gaged the crowds reaction to him.. Regardless of what it was he would continue"Theses people are scared. A lot of them have been hurt by what's happened and they're willing to believe any scapegoat you feed them. They wan't their lives back... and you want them to attack the ones trying to give them just that."

The last thing Jack wanted to do was address the crowed directly... but... he hoped whatever standing he had with the people of the islands helped him here. "These people need hope, not rage. If you make them angry enough they'll riot... and if that happens then a lot of people are bound to get hurt..." Jack took a step forward and towards the girl on stage, making sure he gave the crowd his profile instead of his back. "Please... I've defended this city in both a supernatural sense and domestically... Listen to me when I say that this is not the answer. Fear and anger never solves anything, it only leads to violence. You can turn this crowd around before anyone gets hurt... please..."

Jack would turn his head to the two standing before the stage and nod. He would have liked to stay down on the ground aswell... But he hoped that the mob to be would at least recognize him... These people meant so much to him... he just hoped he meant the same to them.

.......what? Ok, I was looking around as per usual around the city and saw a rally of sorts. I was wondering what it was about because I heard nothing of this rally at all. I waited for a while and something happened. The "leader" of this rally started blaming people inside the San Malarus Radio Tower for these supernatural incidents. Was she talking about that "Reporter"?

It seemed that she was about to whip everyone up into a frenzy when someone approached the stage. The girl that approached said that someone in the stadium of Standasen is responsible for everything that is happening. Also, is she calling that reporter an "Angel"? She also said the "Primordials" want to destroy the world. And now another girl gets up on stage and tries to get the previous girl to explain more.

And out of nowhere ranger red of the personagers, (Jack Rannells) rushes onto the stage and flat out tells the leader of the rally that the "angels" are not the enemy. He also tells her to stop toying with people's emotions, before anyone gets hurt. You know what? Screw standing in the sidelines and waiting for things to play out. I need to redirect the emotions of the onlookers to those of Love and Peace.

I also rush onto stage in my usual attire and yell at the top of my lungs. "Everyone! I know how you must feel knowing that you lost many things. I too have lost what is dearest to me, in a way more horrible than you can imagine. But anger against what little we know about will solve nothing. What we need to do is band together, for the common good, and help those in need."

"Help those suffering from losing a place to live. Help those who lost things precious to them. Help those who have lost loved ones. Because only two things can help sustain the Azores in these times. And those are Love and Peace!" I really god damn hope that this works, I can't deal with a mob, especially against a possibly divine being.

(I'll post still tomorrow, but after that I can be skipped. I can write a reaction post to the end result when I return from vacation. Thank you.)


He stayed near the front of the crowd, his look the usual cover he wore out in the open. He was surrounded by the most riled up group he had encountered thus far. Each charged with fear and anger, perfect tools for the man who drank in the chaos like a fine wine. It seemed that his work might not be as hard as he thought it would be in the end. The girl on stage wanted to assault the tower and spoke of supernatural things, while another suggested she go elsewhere? And what was this? Odd colored eyes hidden under dark contacts would drift towards the girl that had jumped between the pinkette and the girl on the stage. She was speaking to the girl. Moving easily through the chaos he would get close to the chatter, listening to what was being said.

Heh. So this one was trying to support the other by asking her to explain rather than confuse? Hmmm…and what else was she saying? He strained his ears and even tried to lean a bit closer to grab snippets of the whispering, but nope. No good. Sighing inwardly, he would turn to face the crowd watching it for a bit as a few people near him looked at him with questioning stares, he would signal to them the pair were talking, but when asked what they were saying he would simply shrug. This in turn got a few less than pleasant glares going towards the pair talking and a bit more fear running through others as they began to murmur and find their own conclusion to the private chat going on. Not a wise move, but who was he to stop people for assuming the worse, huh?

Oho?

“Take the tower down! Take the tower down!” a small group of people led by a rather feisty fellow began the small chant, but at the same time another group started to fight against that idea almost immediately.

“What the hell do you mean?! That is city property we can’t take that down!” “Who the hell cares if it is city property?! That girl is probably just trying to lead us to down some crazy path with her! Why should we even trust her?!” “Yeah!” “Yeah!!!”

The heated parties began to move towards each other the two groups yelling at it each other while leaders tried hold back their small armies. Hiro would move out of their way and watch the chaos with a hidden smirk on his face. Oh this was delightful! His amusement grew even more as a more bolder lady jumped on some form of platform on her of the crowd and began to yell above the murmur.

“She may be right! We should take down the ones in the tower! Maybe if we get rid of them that star up there won’t crush us and bring the end upon us all! We must appease the gods we angered and take out the demons that are trying to harm us!” the lady was yelling as she pointed at the sky, getting some agreeing with her as others looked at the sky and began murmuring even more. The tension began to run even higher. Oh my, my. What was to happen next?

Eh? A flash of red caught his attention as some nut in a suit and helmet took the stage and was trying to do what? Calm the crowd. A frown would cross Hiro’s face as he looked at the guy in red.

Oh hell no!

While he had planned to just sit back and watch, having this madness go stale was the last thing he needed. What the hell was up with these hero types anyway? Why could they not just shut up and let hell flow? So as he turned back to the stage and took a step forward, the anger and disgust he channeled was real enough.

“And who the hell are you to have such a say in this? You really think we can all sit around and do nothing when strange stars are in the air and clearly things that ain’t suppose to be happenin’ is happenin’? In fact, how do we even know you guys trying to stop said riot ain’t in cahoots with those folk in the tower or starting this shit? You speakin’ in circles man and wastin’ my time. Where the answers and solutions huh?” he directed the heated words towards the one in red, but his eyes immediately rolled as another wanna be hero jumped up there and started spewing more nonsense.

With a disgusted look and sneer, he turned to the nearest group of people and looked at them.

“You see what I am talkin’ about? Circles!” he said throwing his hands up in frustration as he glared back at the stage and the ones gathered around it. From behind him, a large man stepped out of a small group of people…his family from the looks of it with him. He was holding two kids to his side and a frail looking woman was hiding behind him. Hiro looked over his shoulder at this his expression turning into pity as he saw this.

“Would you really put your family in league with these nuts?” he asked the man softly before becoming quiet and watching the other. He could see the man thinking and then. Yes!

The man was quiet for a moment and then gathering some courage shook his head.

“No,” he began softly at first and then got louder. “No I will not put my family in danger!” he shouted before leaving the kids with their mother and pushing past Hiro. He would storm towards the stage as red as a beet clearly eager to give the girl who started it all a piece of his mind.

Meh. Not exactly what he wanted, but chaos was chaos so why complain?

Right as I finish my little speech chaos still continues. I gotta dispel this god damn group mentality. If we can just get them all to think for themselves, then this will all end. As I think that I notice a guy with an evil look in his eyes. What the hell is he doing and why is he here? He definently doesn't look or feel normal, and he's talking to the father of a small family.

I think he whispered something to him and now that father is storming up stage. So he's trying to instigate this riot huh? Right as I think that I dash towards this suspicious character. Just as I get to him I turn him around and grab him with both arms. "What are you trying to do!? That girl on stage was just an activist without the important information. So what are you doing here actively trying to cause a riot?"

Just as I say that I yell over to Personager Red. "HEY, RANGER RED, I THINK I FOUND AN INSTIGATOR! HE'S TRYING TO WHIP EVERYONE UP INTO A FRENZY!" I just hope that Jack can get here in time before I lose my hold on him.

Strengths to Help:

This rally was turning ugly, and fast. With people still coming forward to call out Rinna and making statements that likely were pulling the crowd in different directions. Most of them seemed ready to defend the angels and all the supernatural messes going on. Even more so, since she was still in the crowd, she could see an entire group of them beginning to stir at one other person’s words. This was madness, and it made Naomi’s chest tighten. She was trying to keep the peace, but with everyone just going round and round and fighting each other, she couldn’t do that. They seemed to just be grinding each other’s gears. Naomi was only so good at remaining perfectly calm. This was not the time though. One of her friends was here and that made her more jumpy and volatile. If she sensed any danger, she may just snap.

She looked up at the stage again. It seemed someone else there, quick to be at Rinna’s side. Would he keep the stage from turning violent? It seemed like that’s what he was here for. She had to hope that was what he would do. She had to keep the crowd under control though. She could see every emotion playing across the audience’s faces. It was a horrible mess of negative emotions. There were adults and children here, and she knew that each negative emotion one person felt just fueled another. She took a deep breath. She had to settle this entire thing down, and quickly.

Her first goal of business was to prevent anyone else from getting on the stage. With the pink haired girl now up there she couldn’t let anyone else on. It would become a mess if more people decided to do that. So, she was playing crowd control to keep distance between an angry mob and her friend. This was not what she thought would happen. Her second goal: get them to calm down enough to listen to what was actually being said. Damn it! She couldn’t keep playing the middle ground if this continued. She’d be forced to choose a side. That was not what she wanted to do.

She looked out into the crowd, which was just as volatile as anything here. This could only be fun, “Please, everybody, remain calm. This is a peaceful rally. I’m sure nobody wants this to turn into fighting. We don’t want anyone to get hurt. Plus, there are children in the audience. I’m sure no one wants to scare them or put them in harm's way.” Please let these people listen to an emotional plea to calm down, even just a little. She wasn’t trying to stop them from listening to those on stage; she was just trying to keep this from turning this into a brawl. Still, she didn’t know how many people heard her once they started chanting Rinna’s name. She looked up at the girl with apologetic eyes. She was trying to keep this peaceful, but not everyone would listen. She wanted to give Rinna her time to speak, but this was quickly going further and further down the rabbit hole. She hadn't helped either. She had the best intentions, but she acknowledged that she probably hadn't helped by stepping forward. This was all she could do now to assist Rinna somehow.

She turned back toward the crowd so she could make sure no one was being pushed. Human emotions were unpredictable. Thank goodness she could read them on people's faces. It gave her an advantage when spotting anyone that could be a threat to anyone else right now. Still, Rinna was on stage, speaking to two people. The pink haired girl and the red ranger. Naomi’s eyes would widen when she heard Rita’s name. Damn it. She was a friend of hers? It didn’t change anything, but now she would have to explain to Rita what the hell had happened if something happened to her. That was not a talk she was excited about. She didn’t think it would go well that she was still defending the Angels either.

She didn’t comment. Naomi knew her stance on Angels and Thesis and this entire mess. She didn’t need to make it public and become an icon for one side or the other. Having your beliefs known by the public made them very hard to change. Still, all this arguing made her want to groan. It was just one long circle. It went on and on forever and she knew that meant it would never get anywhere. She could tell some of the arguments were flawed though. Many of them were fallacies, from both sides. Some were based in a rational argument though.

That wasn’t her place though. Her place was working to keep the crowd as non-violent as possible. Gods help her and given her the strength to get even one person to listen. She felt like she was just playing bodyguard right now. She prayed that it wouldn’t get to the point that she had to use force. That would only make this all worse.

Jack felt his body tense... She... was a persona user to?... Then she had to know what was going on! She had to know about the portals to the other worlds and she had to know about the angels! So why was she doing this? Why was she jumping to such a harsh and rash conclusion?... It made no sense... Unless she didn't.... That could make sense... Traeh and Nozomi don't know cus Jack chose not to tell them to try and protect them.... Could that be it. What ever the reason, he had to clear this up now, and the only way to do that was-

"EH!?" Why did that Trigun cosplayer suddenly Bumrush the stage? Talk about an unexpected entrance... What ever! Jack would deal with him later... The crowd was getting restless with that gut shouting out some... Frankly good points... they didn't have much proof... Damn it... Jack hates it when the bad guy has a point, cus then the viewers sympathies with him and it's all tragic when he dies and then HE gets all the cool fan art while the hero just gets the twelve yearolds on deviantArt who just found out their computers had Microsoft Paint... Wait!... Getting off track!"Tremora! That can wait... We need to talk this out here first..."

"Pinky over here is right..." Jack sighed at Lady White Hair's words... She... She just didn't understand... But who could blame her?... with so much going on it would be easy to get the wrong idea..."The travesties that occured were not the fault of the angels! It was due to the primordial's! The angels were just hapless victims of it. To blame them for failing to prevent it would be like blaming a firemen for the fire! And the angel at the tower? Ya know the one that you all want to attack so badly? If anyone is an ally to humanity it's her. She wants to just leave us all alone to our own devices, but her hands were forced by the arrival of the primordials. She gifted so many people, including myself, with the power to fight back and defend ourselves. If she hadn't we all would be blind to the darkness threatening to overtake us! What you want is not freedom. It's blissful ignorance of the truth. And you ask for proof... Well where is yours? All you have is fear, fear of the unknown dose not define the unknown! Proof is a two way street... I can back mine up if you would just speak to the angel of the tower."