The Dance of the Knights [Open]

In the dark of the night, a foot was swung through the air, colliding against the ribs of a boy that lied on the floor on four.

The teenager gasped in pain, the impact had left him breathless, still, he looked up, looking with defiant eyes to his aggressors.

Before him, stood 5 other boys, all from a rival band they had kicked out of their territory some days ago. "Now who's the one laughing now bitch?!" Said the leader as he sent another kick towards Abel, "You foreigner scum!, Who do you think you are to come to our country and act as if you owned the place?!"

The others chuckled. They were obviously enjoying seeing the guy that had put an end to their little gang of juvenile criminals getting beaten, soon enough, they'd also want their piece of meat too...

The fury grew inside the teenager. These dirty cowards had ambushed him and taken advantage of their numeric superiority to humiliate him... Abel's eyes lit up as he felt the adrenaline running wild through his veins... His entire body thirsted for blood and violence... And he would make sure to provide himself with both... These fuckers would remember the night they crossed him...

"Have you had enough already?!, Well, too bad, because we are just getting started!, What do you think about that?!"

The leader sent another kick, unaware that as he talked Abel had grabbed a bottle that was laying on the floor besides him... With a blindingly fast motion, Abel had gotten out of the way and crashed its bottom against the wall behind him. When the foot reached his previous, Abel directed a stab with the sharp rests of the bottle against the thigh of the punk, who fell to the floor among screams of agony.

The rest observed their leader in astonishment, unable to do anything as their jaws dropped to the floor... And before he knew Abel was already on the face of the second of them, which he promptly slashed diagonally with the bloodied crystal shards.

The third thug had time to turn his head to the boy that just a few moments was their prey... Only to see how the blunt metallic edge of the tape of a trash can (which Abel had picked wit his free hand) rapidly coming towards his eyes.

Two of the thugs were screaming in the floor as they profusely bleed from their wounds and another had been knocked out, yet, there were still two left and the initial advantage of surprise was already fading. The fourth of them grabbed him from behind, binding his arms. Abel tried to get rid of his grasp, but it was no use, the fifth charged at him now that he saw an opportunity, but as soon as he was near enough, Abel jumped and used the punk holding him to throw an incredibly high kick that hit him square in the jaw, making fall to the floor, unconscious.

At the same time, the unexpected impulse and shift of weight made the last one loose his balance, causing him to let go of Abel as he fell to the floor, the albino landing on him. With a swift roll, he got back on his feet as his opponent did the same. For a second, the teenager observed him. It was so amusing to see him so panicked now. He was scared shitless of what had just happened... It made the twisted boy feel... Satisfied...

In desperation, his foe threw a punch at his face. With a simple step to the side, Abel dodged it. Decided to end this game, he grabbed the thug's wrist and pulled from it. Then, with a solid hit to the elbow, a cracking sound was heard and the bugger fell to his knees, yelling as he grabbed the damaged joint with his left hand.

Abel looked at his five foes, scattered in the floor like marbles and crying like babies when not so long ago they acted though... To see them like this pleased the albino... A feeling of triumph rushed all throughout him... This sensation of power, of dominance through primal violence... It was pure bliss...

He needed more.

Turning around, he looked to the leader, who was holding his bleeding leg on the floor. Fortunately for him, the cut wasn't too serious... However, the bleeding was still considerable...

With a calm pace, almost a casual stroll, Abel walked up to the injured punk, who trembled like a leave in autumn shaken by the window, too scared to even scream. Once he reached him, Abel took a second to rejoice on his pitifulness before suddenly stomping on his leg's wound, making him let out yet another scream. Still with his foot pressed against his bleeding flesh, Abel slowly leaned over him with a malicious, almost psychotic grin on his face. With a low voice, almost a whisper, he said a single word...




PD : Abel at his worst ish scary <.<

Kogami was passing by he had something to do at the area, surveying the area for multiple openings to limbo. Yes, Kogami was looking for a place that he could reach. He was looking to further his own strength as he continued on the path of a man that did nothing but seek. What Komagi was seeking, was something he can own. He was seeking something that he could use to his advantage, perhaps a chess piece. Yes, life was this huge chess board with Kogami being the black king. He was hoping to be the one that could change things around here, but he had to master the power of persona first. It was all going to start with his rule over the world of the unknown, the world that was called limbo. Limbo was a place that was forever changing and took shape depending on the individual that entered. It also changes every few days, a mysterious place it was. While trying to understand it, Kogami came across a few people getting into an argument. It was practically five against one. “ Hmm, the petty trials of the weak. Maybe they need some purging, clean up this town of the filth…..”

Kogami was going to head over there, but something amazing happened. The young man defeated them all without a simple sweat. It was truly impressive, but the most important factor of this encounter that Kogami observed was the bloodlust. He wanted an encore, Kogami seemed to find a man that that could definitely be his knight. “All the pieces are coming together….” Kogami then approaches the man with the hood down, he came with a simple greeting. “ You done this town a service, cleaning up the streets with rivals that only have the intention of hurting others. It’s a total shame, but I am impressed at your strength. Even after all you did, you want more… you would want an encore…isn’t that right….oh… I recognize you Abel Mistral. Fighting off of school grounds, a potential law suit that could certainly tarnish out schools reputation, even though we are directly not involved. “ Kogami then snaps his fingers.” It doesn’t change the fact that you are apart of our community, but… your interesting enough… so I would overlook it…. Oh. Excuse my rudeness…” Kogami then makes a sharp bow. “My name is Kogami Shibuya, second in command of the student council.. its past curfew… no one is above this rule, and I am sure that the council was not notified of any future concert which would permit your absence…

Distracted by the voice behind him, Abel lifted his eyes from his victim and partially turned back at him without lifting his foot from the other boy's wound.

Under the silver light of the moon, the marble-skinned boy remained in deathly silence as the other spoke, his skin eerily glowing under the moon's pallor, giving him the aspect of a disturbing unreal mirage, as if he was a ghost walking the earth.

For a long while after the newcomer finished talking, Abel still remained quiet... Until suddenly, he begun chuckling.

It started as a small laugh, barely noticeable, but it soon started quickly growing until it was an hysterical laughter that made him bend, breathless once again.

"Oh. my. God!, Have you heard what he just said?!", He loudly said as he recovered some air, "Isn't that fucking funny?!" He added as he suddenly launched his hand against the thug's neck, grabbing onto it. By this point, the poor tortured boy was crying out of sheer fear, but managed to shake his head, nodding as the tears flowed down his face.

"Yes!, Yes it is!", reiterated Abel as he pushed the boy to the floor and turned again towards Kogami, letting him escape. "This idiot is actually threatening me!, He dares to imply he'll attempt to destroy my life!, I bet the next thing he was about to do was trying to blackmail me!". It certainly didn't take a genius to realize that this person had something shady going on and that he wanted to use him for his own ends.

The Albino took a step forward towards the boy, menacingly looming towards him. In the darkness, his dead, yet flaring red eyes glittered with madness, his craving for violence making his mind almost cross into the unknown lands of insanity... Yet Abel felt a strange clarity, as if he had realized an absolute truth long ago forgotten... His mouth twisted into a disturbing vicious grin of joy, similar to the joy that the anticipation of the kill the sighting of a prey caused in a ruthless beast, "You don't seem to realize how meaningless your threats are... If it pleases you, put a law suit on me... Or better yet, put ten!, You can't harm a dead man~!", he said with the same twisted, yet sincere euphoria that his body language gave away as he kept advancing towards him, until he suddenly stopped on the spot, and just like that, the euphoria was gone.

"It is people like you, Kogami Shibuya, the kind of people I want to satiate my blood thirst with...", he said with a contrastingly low voice compared to his previous words, that had almost been screamed at Kogami... And as he talked, a menacing aura of pure hatred seemed to form around him, bathing everything with his fury like the flames of a gigantic bonfire. "You are all the same... It doesn't matter the face or the name... Inside you are all the same person, the scourge of this world...". Slowly, he raised his extended arm towards Kogami's chest, in a gesture that was half an invitation, half an attempt to reach it, even if there were still many meters between them.

"If I only could, I'd rip that blackened heart out of chest and devour it."

“Hmm… let me rephrase this. It seems as if you are a person who is mistaking his existence, to actually think that you are relevant. But the thing about that is the simple fact that stands above all others, only people with power have the right to say that. And please, Mr Mistral..could you lower the profanity and the unintelligent remarks. You have an unnatural talent to make any visit an unpleasant one, but I know that you take that as a trophy of some sorts. What does this music that you go on about? Rock and roll? Something that was usually deprived off of negative emotions and continuing your cries about what is going on with the world. Or even better. What’s wrong with it? “ How sad was this, the man was beginning to bore Kogami as well. But his darkness could be something that Kogami would be able to use.

“So, Abel...i came here to give you an offer. You are apart of the band and most of the members go to our school correct? Your base player, Andy Shinada is his name… well Andy has a peculiar fetish that I have recently caught wind of. I found spy equipment in the women’s locker room that he seemed to have purchased and planted in. A camera of some sorts, it doesn’t look good Abel. You might not care about yourself, but what about your band… what about the music that you love… do you care about that? Do you care about the people who share the same passion that you harbor? Probably not… and if you don’t…this conversation is probably a waste. Maybe I can say that they were all in it, reveal it to the student council… expel them… reveal it to the school… the girls of the academy would want more justice. Expelling would be out of the question… getting arrested… ”

Kogami then walks closer, only a meter apart from Abel. “Or I can make it go away, the choice is ultimately yours.. you should be thanking me… I just gave you something Abel.. I am giving you a choice that has an effect over the lives of so many people. This is what it means to be on top..the same power that you always seemed to hate… does it turn out to be something you always wanted?” Kogami then smiles and awaits the answer, he already had a backup plan if abel refused.

That's what Abel thought as his enemy started to utter insults against him in a futile attempt to fuel his rage even further... Such a lowly way to attack him would never wrong, for Abel didn't hate Kogami for what he could say against him, no, not at all, in fact, he couldn't care less about it... The reason why Abel hated Kogami was who he was. Always trying to control everything, always treating people like objects, always destroying entire lives for their convenience... "I've already said it", he answered, "For me, you are everything that is wrong with this world. And I'm not staining my lips singing a song about you."

However, what was important was that the fact that he was insulting him meant his words had reached and hurt him... And that he was desperate, that playing his little game of manipulation he had found himself cornered by the Albino... That was the reason why he lashed out at him. Internally, Abel rejoiced, and his joy was manifested as a malicious smile... Now that his opponent was panicking, the only thing he had to do was to wait for him to commit yet another foul move in order to completely crush him at his own game. It was time to show this little mastermind wannabe who was the hunter here.

And thus, Kogami's retaliation begun, and as Abel had expected, it was nothing but more threats and clumsy attempts at blackmailing him. It was sickeningly pitiful to the point that Abel wanted to just turn back and walk away in disgust... But if he did he wouldn't get the satisfaction of Kogami's face when he ran out of ideas. Would he cry?, Would he rage and loose his shit?, Abel hoped so... It would be the perfect excuse to have his encore...

"You couldn't have been more predictable", he said, "What I didn't expect was you to get the facts wrong... I don't know any Andy Shinada"

Abel bursted in a short jovial laughter, "Looks like you made a fool like yourself... I honestly don't know what the Council President saw in you to make you his bitch"

Abel raised his arms, opening them wide as he smiled cockily, "My band, my people are people from here, street boys that could never go to Kizuna Academy... They are out of your reach... As I am... All the power in the world is useless to me. To me, your castles are made of sand and your crowns of rust. There's nothing you can offer that I can desire, for there is nothing a dead man can own~"

Abel laughed again at the Council member, "So far the only thing you have is made clear that you don't have what it takes to be a chessmaster. That is, a brain... So, What are you gonna do now, President's bitch?!, Threat my little dog?!... If that's so, I'm sorry to inform you that I don't have any!", he exclaimed, amused at Kogami's shame. Casually, he sticked a hand inside his pocket as he waited for Kogami to answer him... If he even could.

"Throw him in limbo, kill him.. get rid of his group.... use Andy to chain the group" A weird thought that was in the head of Kogami, something that was tugging him as soon as it seemed like the man was not going to agree to Kogami terms. It was odd indeed, Kogami was never known to have any type of condition. But whatever this was, it was getting worse. It was like an inner desire, and it kept picking at his mind. " The presidents bitch huh? Thats pretty funny...." Kogami then started to clap and laugh, he was never bested before. "Thats alright, ill just take care of the Andy situation appropriately and fairly.... . there's no problem with that... and this isn't chess... there is no strategy involved.. its just the best of men trying to get the better of others. " Kogami then waves his hands out in the air as if he didn't care. "So, maybe Andy wasn't directly a friend. But boy was he a fan of your music, i see that he is apart of the music club as well. Trying his best to catch up to you without knowing that his idol doesnt give a shit about anyone. " Kogami then had a long pause, he didn't like to curse. It seemed off, even if he was talking to an individual that was not worthy of his high vocabulary.

"But that is ok, ill handle that fairly. But you know, I heard that you came from a rich family. You have so much in this world and you leave nothing for the rest of us. " The one thing that Kogami did not like was the high class, even the middle class. The people that were born with everything, and they squander it. "And at the end of the day, this is what you amount to? This is it? Well, its not my life...as long as your proud of yourself..." Kogami could feel the anger rising in him, but he had to calm himself down. His parents wasted a fortune on a shit son, that focused his life on shit music, with shit poems. Everything about his life was wrong, it was like a stain that Kogami was itching to clean. " But you know, that is entirely fine, you have defeated the presidents bitch. " Kogami then makes a polite gesture as he says that. But i guess there is nothing left to talk about. "Kogami then shrugs carelessly. This was definitely a game to him, and he had his most important piece that nobody knew about.

Abel scowled when he saw that despite him mercilessly crushing his lousy attempts to bring , despite the overt insults and taunts he had blatantly thrown at his face, he hadn't managed to push the council member into violence... Either this guy had a stronger temper than he had imagined or he was a dirty coward, fearful of the much more aggressive and intimidating boy... Either way, the result was that he felt unsatisfied, just like with his aggressors, he wanted to recreate himself in his victory, he wanted the blood to flow... Literally...

Now, he could attack him. In fact, he could have attacked him the moment he saw him... But where was the fun on that?, If he just used violence against him, it'd mean nothing. He would just give him a beating, that's it. Abel had no interest on that... What he wanted was to see Kogami beaten. He wanted to stare right into his eye and see his superiority complex falling apart as he laid on the floor with his flesh torn, his bones broken and his soul crushed by total defeat... Normally it was about him winning, but not this time... This time it was about the magnitude of his opponent's loss.

"Everyone has to answer for their own actions, even if it's ... And that includes me, Andi... And, of course, yourself...", said Abel as a vague threat that someday Kogami's own wickedness would come hack to bite him... Though Abel didn't really think so. Perhaps a bigger and eviler fish would eat him, but otherwise there was a fair chance he'd never have to face any kind of consequence. "And boy... You really are a thick one...", he said condescendingly. This guy and his total inability to see beyond his own nose were getting on his nerves, especially when he dared to say that he had more than the rest... His eyes glistened with hatred and rage once more. When he looked at Kogami the only thing he saw was the many years of mediocrity and wretchedness he still had left... All of them, until the last day, they should all be his. "Haven't you noticed yet that you know nothing?, That nothing appears to be what it is?... Of course you don't, because you are too short-sighted to notice to see how frail and insignificant is the world you are trying to conquer is... And how futile your attempt at validating an ephemeral life is... Perhaps I could show you...", he added, once again sending a veiled mysterious threat at him. "Or you could disappear from my sight, now that you've been bested... Unless you have the courage and wit to demonstrate that you are worth anything as a manipulator.", he said, with his gaze fixated right on his eyes, defying him to one last assault in which Abel would make sure to send him beyond the blurry limit between man and beast. It was time for Kogami to have a taste of the darkness he tried to harness.

Now, the question was wether or not he would take the bait and be an idiot or not and be a coward. It was his choice and only his.


PD: CHANGE OF MUSIC FOR GREAT EPICNESS

Lyric video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5iA4V4Mlds

Kogami was starting to seriously get bored with this kid, he was considering leaving. "Yes, i learned my lesson Abel... your blood lust isn't human... its almost scary..... I truly apologize for any inconvenience that i have caused you. "Kogami then makes a sharp bow and continues onward, walking past Abel. Kogami has a pretty worried and scared look on his face, but his true feelings were saying otherwise of the situation. Sometimes its better to let the person think that they won, and handling the conflict at a different pace. This fight was not over, Kogami was just going to fight on his terms. Kogami then walks over the alleyway and turned the corner, staying out of site from the fearful wrath of Abel Mistral as he waited for the danger to pass.

Abel listened to Kogami as he vomited yet another lie and took his leave. As he did so, the Albino kept staring the whole time forward, as if he was still right in front of him, readying himself for the third last round... and in a sense he was... After all, this game was far from over. No one went as far as to threat someone and what they supposed to be their friends just to fold like that... It didn't help that Kogami was a horrible lier. No one went from being absolutely cool and withstanding all threats to a scaredy cat that begged for forgiveness... No, this had just begun...

As Kogami left, Abel lowered his head and chuckled, from his pocket he pulled the object he had been holding the whole time since he had stuck his hand inside it.

Raising his arm above his head and into the moonlight filtered inside the narrow street, with the push of a small button, the blade of the automatic pocketknife was extended, it's sharp, delicate edge deflecting the light like a mirror of the whitest silver.

"I... Never claimed not to be a monster...", said Abel as he inspected the weapon, one of the ones he used to carry since a fight almost ended with his throat slit open... The vision of the metal gradually saddened him as the desire for violence settled, being replaced by the ever-burning latent wrath that consumed him. Would he have killed the boy if he had managed to lure him into violence?... The answer was no, the only thing he would have done is giving him a lasting memory of why not to mess with him... Or so he hoped... He denied it, but deep inside he knew he was slowly getting out of even his own control... Through violence he felt alive, but the more he had, the more he needed... And the greater was his horror was upon seeing his humanity fade away.

With another push of the button, the blade retracted back into its sheet, which he stored back in its place, without further speech, he just walked forward into the night, away from this place where he had rejoiced in the suffering of his fellow man... But no matter how much he walked, he couldn't get away from himself and his demons...

[Exit]

Kogami then waited for Abel to be completely out of site before he came back to the area where he stood, where all of the men still remained unconscious or beaten to a pulp. "Wow, you sure did a number on these guys huh Abel?" Kogami then proceeded to go on with his plan, summoning his Persona and throwing the less injured individuals that only had blunt damage from Abel's superior fighting skills. Basically, whoever was not bleeding or had enough blood to be seen at the scene of the rumble was thrown into limbo. "Alright, so now i have to make one quick phone call and itll all be good. ." Kogami then calls 911 from the nearest payphone and then puts on a frantic voice. "Hello?!!! Police, someone seems to be injured. There is a lot of blood!!! Hello!! I think hes still around!!!" Then Kogami gives the address of the area and hangs up the phone, not giving his name. "Alright, so that would be considered a distress call or maybe a tip. Some of the missing members of the the rival gang and the only ones that i kept out of limbo are the ones that Abel did the most damage to. Checking Abel's clothes, they would be able to trace the blood on the cufflinks after that little scuffle with that individuals hand that Abel stabbed. "Now then.. Game Start.... Abel Mistral...." Kogami then continued on his way home, setting up all of the primary factors that could connect Abel to the missing people and the testimony of the remaining thugs that Abel has harmed. Even though Abel could probably say that it was self defense, this was the first connection that the police would have towards the missing persons case so they would definitely jump on him harder than anything. "You wanted to play Abel? Lets Play!"

[Exit]