Standansen Rally: Shit Going Down

"Excuse me, would you kindly let me pass?".

A certain green-haired man made his way through the crowd gathered in Standansen. He looked much more weary than the last time we saw him in Lunapa. Predicting land routes being completely collapsed, he had risked making his way through the sea instead. Who knew what kind of horrors had made their way to the depths, but it'd have been impossible to make it by foot in time.

But it was not demons' he had to be afraid about. As he approached the coast the roiling waters had dragged him, making his crash against the jagged reefs of the island, causing it to get stuck in the process. Luckily Taiki was an excellent swimmer, having navigated even among the submarine tangle of rocky spires. The rest is, well, history.

And now here he stood now, bruised and bloodied from a multitude of cuts, his soaked clothes slightly tattered and exhaustation plaguing his feverish gaze, but the desire to rescue his loved ones still burning bright in his heart.

Still, he wasn't foolish enough to try break into the Azores Prison all by himself. He needed some kind of help. Hell, he couldn't even be sure his mother was still there, in which case odds were his mother had taken refuge in the apparently safe town, perhaps she even was among the crowd, just a few steps away.

... Nah, life was never that easy.

Regardless, he'd do well to try and get a gist of what was going on, it was his only chance to succeed.

This Zachary though. He only spoke of class struggle, of revolution. Taiki couldn't believe his ears. This man actually wanted to use the demons as pawns to commit genocide and these people were actually cheering.

Taiki felt physically ill. To think something so ugly, so unbecoming could actually be inside of people. In any case he instantly disliked Zachary and wanted nothing to do with him or his followers.

Taiki was ready to leave to go search elsewhere, but then his attention was caught by a small ruckus among the crowd.

He didn't have time to even get a good look at what was happening before all hell broke loose. Convoked by Zachary a strange woman appeared, and at his command, the woman attacked.

We say attack, but what she actually did was too horrifying to merely call it "attack". Some kind of malevolent entity appeared behind her, an reaching towards the rabble its hands deformed, spreading lattice made of its own flesh over their heads before trapping its victims, who knew with what purpose.

The young man got out of the way instentively, and he did good because it wasn't long before others joined the fray. They came forth from the crowd, calling forth champions of their own to fight back. Taiki could only stare in awe, what were these things?!, How they summoned them?!, Whatever the answer he somehow felt like they weren't anything like the demons above.

His eyes drifted from combatant to combatant until they suddenly stopped on Shunnosuke. This boy, he knew him. He had gone to high school with him, they had even personally met in a... Uh... Quite strange occasion.

It felt strange to see him now, the female spirit gracefully battling at his command. When they met the boy had appeared quite vulnerable, weak-willed even. A much different image than the confident hero that he now revealed himself as.

He wanted to help him instantly, but he could not. He wasn't strong like they were. Hell, he had barely managed to survive so far, how was he going to help Shun?, This whole thing was way too big for him to handle...

At that moment the sound of broken glass caught his attention, his head turning just in time to see Adiyna storming the entrance of the building.

Taiki took conscience of his surroundings, he was near the door and no one was paying him any attention...

In a heartbeat, he darted for the door. This child, he had been attacked by those sociopaths and not only hadn't he ran away, he was going after Zachary. He wasn't just anyone.

He knew full well this would be dangerous, but following the boy might be his only shot at learning what was really happening here.

Azami, as someone who hadn't been around for the event, couldn't comprehend what was going on. Analee's staring at Joshua was weird enough on its own right, but then he started talking about some "Primordials" and asked if their attacker was some girl called Ananke. While she had no idea as to what he was talking about, her curiosity had been piqued. Perhaps listening to this conversation would give her some insight into what was going on. If not, well, it couldn't hurt.

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OOC Notes:

There was no answer from her. Was she trying to act dumb? He couldn't tell. But there was absolutely no way that Ananke could come back. He should've been done for after what Naomi did. So why her? There were so many questions to ask to be answered. And just like two years ago, maybe the flow of questions would never stop. When she took a few steps forward, Joshua was ready to get back into the fight again.

But he took heed to what else Zachary had to say. Isla was the new big bad here? Joshua's own personal biases made him feel not surprised by this development. When has the government ever helped? All it did was become mire in its own complacency and incompetence. It was disgusting. He could almost sympathize with Zach and Standasen, disgustingly. But almost.

Yet it didn't stop there. Joshua noticed the look of shock on many of the populace's faces when this new girl arrived near Zackary. None of this was meant to happen? As much as he wanted to believe her, this felt like bullshit. Screwing around with the supernatural just for the sake of showing off? It was enough for Joshua's head to start boiling... but he wasn't a complete fool.


The Tainted Persona nodded and disappeared into a plume of red fog which soon dissipated. Soon, even his amber hued eyes returned to normal. He was complying with her for now. But they owed them a thorough explanation on what's happening. Especially information on Rinna.

"You two have a fuckton to explain. And they better be good." Joshua snarled back at her through the mental connection. He was really in no mood for games. Playing around with the supernatural like this with no warning? He was steaming now.

He looked back at the rest of the temporary allies he had and gave a curt nod of thanks to them. They were merely strangers, but he was grateful for them stepping in to help. Especially, that brunette who he still can't seem to remember... but felt like he met before.

"Thanks for the help. There's no need to keep fighting. I'm going up ahead for an explanation. You don't need to come with me if you want. It's up to you," he spoke to them rather tiredly. It would be nice if some of them would come with him. But, it felt safer to have numbers with him.


"I felt like we met before. I can't seem to remember... Sorry. But thanks for stepping in for the support. I appreciate it," he thanked Shunnosuke with a small smile on his face.

Then he looked back at to the tower.


With that said, he started to head on over to the building now to run up and reach them with Simon in tow. Joshua gave one last glance back at Analee and then continued to head towards his next destination.

Spoiler:

More people coming in by the second... What in the world was going on here...? Things had turned around quite quickly... The name Ananke certainly rang a bell. But wasn't he dead...? Or had something else happened that made Joshua come to that strange conclusion? "Hrm... that would explain the Barrier..." Phalanx said thoughtfully to himself as Zachary explained the situation. Neptune would vanish into the Android's subconscious once again with a light sigh from Phalanx. Really, in his opinion, these islands were better off purged, but he'd play along for now. He wasn't here to make enemies after all... especially now that a supposed enemy of his turned out to be a valuable ally... He'd step up to follow Joshua up towards the tower. This Zachary had better explain his reasonings for this.

What a joke. Was this what prosperity looked like? While this man sat in his tower preaching of ideals and revolution, the masses that adored him so wallowed in the filth and mud. This wasn't what prosperity looked like. A status quo like this... It wasn't worth preserving. His words were hollow. But this was not the only thing he had spoken of. The words that had interested her -- promises of changing the future and pleas to the masses asking them to claim the powers that threatened them for themselves -- those remained fresh in her mind. However, skepticism too remained with her. How could she know that this wasn't just mere rhetoric? How could she know if what he said of Isla's plans was true? The only way to find out, from the looks of it, would be to go meet him herself.

Her eyes scanned the crowd as she silently listened to Lune. For a moment she continued to remain in this state without taking any action. Taking two last looks at the mass of people gathered in the area as she contemplated the request she, with a simple sigh, would toss her shinai to the ground below. With a loud thud it would crash against the floor and vanish in almost an instant as Azami turned her gaze up to the tower in front of her.

"So be it. But if this is a trap, I'm sending that eyesore of a tower crashing to the ground... and you with it."

With the message sent telepathically, Azami would turn to Joshua and nod at him. "I'm coming too. This Zachary wanted to speak to me anyway, so I might as well." She'd respond before heading off to the tower alongside him. As she walked forward however, she'd stop and tilt her head back in Yume's direction. "That panda kid is your target, right? Might as well stick together. Just keep in mind what I said, alright?"

With that, Azami would turn her focus back to her destination and continue onward. She was still irritated at Yume, but there was no point in alienating a potential ally over something that turned out fine in the end.

OOC Notes:

As a note, Shun will be posting next.

"… Safety?, You say safety?", Answered Taiki, "There is no such thing as safety!, Not here not anywhere in this world!", his voice trembled from indignation.

"Those things… They won't stop with Azores, they won't stop at all until they have taken over everything!", he punched the wall in rage, breathing in and out for a few instants before slowly turning towards Adyna "… An you know what's worse…?, In the slim chance the world does not turn into a demon-infested inferno we'll have to live under the boot of some insane, bloodthirsty sociopath like Zachary!…".

He looked down, balling his fists, "Still, you are right. I'm just an ant. Even now I'm alive because it just so happens I got lucky enough not to get killed. Even by having come here I'm pressing that luck… But what else am I to do?… Lie down and die?!", Taiki's head bolted up, fiercely looking Adiyna straight in the eye… And the man's eyes had changed. His left eye's iris pulsated with an eerie yellow flare as a golden XX symbol appeared in the cheekbone next to it. not only that, but the eye itself seemed to release a low thrumming sound from within itself, "No, I refuse!, if I have to die, I'll die trying!".





A sound not unlike the crunching of bones resonated loud throughout the building and Taiki's expression became both blank and shocked as his head was split open. From his left eye, cracks appeared, quickly making their way throughout the left side of his skull. From in-between the fissures, bright light spilled like a cascade, painting an aurora in the hall. Then it appeared, a geist bearing a golden mask, both there and not as it danced in the light, the blues and blacks of its body dissolving in the radiance.

Take fell to his knees, Looking up to the spirit in stupor, he extended his hands towards it, trying to reach the heavenly entity, yet its ethereal form eluded touch.




The Persona's voice was suddenly cut as it seemed to flicker for a brief instant, "T-t-t-t-", it seemed stuck, a whirling sound quickly growing within it as it trembled "T-T-TUUUUURrrbooOOOO", it exclaimed, and its form seemed to unravel, spiraling inward as energy surged around it.

Suddenly, they weren't in the building anymore. Around them, a city. There was no telling where they were or if they were even in the same time. Everything looked so familiar yet so alien, like this was a world where they were outsiders, a place where they did not belong.

And then, they are back. Avicebron floated weightless as if nothing had happened before vanishing. The light died as the cracks in the man's head disappeared, and everything went quiet.

"…", Taiki's mouth remained agape as he stared where his Persona had been just a few instants ago, "… I… I can't understand…", he finally said, half in awe, half in terror. He didn't even notice more people had come.

For a moment it seemed he'd go catatonic from the trauma, but then he got up, legs wobbling from the effort as he held his head in pain, "… Come on, let's go… There's no time to loose…"

He had given up on understanding. For now, it was time to act.

It seems some of them were going to come with him, which was a nice thought. He wasn't going to be alone and Azami coming will likely help him get him some answers about a lot of things. Joshua gave them another grateful nod to them.

"Who is she, Simon? I never heard of her or never seen her before," Joshua asked him for some answers that this time might be granted.

Simon seemed to know this girl, which was unsurprising given he was a citizen of these islands. What connection did he have with her, Joshua would wonder. However, his travel towards Zack would stop upon hearing what YumiAmi☆♡ had to say to Azami. It was a sticky situation. Joshua motioned Simon to stay as well. They can't afford to lose this girl now if Zackary was this interested in her, she could be used as leverage for what he needed from him.

What Zackary said next was something of interest as Joshua's eyes narrowed at the words. Guard? All worlds? Mission? What did they mean? Was there some kind of other party out there involved in this? More unknown things to be concerned about. Either way, he had to deal with this stockings bitch here. Joshua glanced back at Analee who was staying out of this battle. He only gave a silent nod and looked back at Azami and YumiAmi☆♡. Thankfully Azami was finally thrust back to the group which would make things less risky to start fighting. But then again, it looks like combat was unavoidable this time around.

"Mind explaining what you mean by your mission? What exactly are you?" Joshua caught Azami by the shoulder to prevent her by falling back completely to the dirt and helped her on her feet.

Yamato was summoned once more, ready to fight.

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(Warn me if Lewis's tension was reset when the last battle ended. I thought it would be, but if it isn't, I might fix it the next turn.)