Making Headlines [Isabella Awakening]

The city was alive, even at night. Especially at night. And Vista Square was the heart of it all. Where all the action seemed to happen, where sleep was a myth and distant fantasy. There was a lot to talk about this evening with the recent developments and not even the moist evening air would slow down the bustle of the square. But they were all just drones, mindless drones droning their way through their schedules and conversations. Speaking of happenings they had no control over, attending their own affairs, blissfully unaware to what lurked in the dark. Believing themselves "safe" from the terrors of the night. Like ants. And all it took was a spark to get them moving and hustling but ants they still were. They had no knowledge of the truth of the night, not many did, and those scornful few were persona non grata or the gatekeepers of a fragile peace. Until something happened to change their precious lives they would continue to hurry about to and fro, content to live their meaningless existences shielded from the turmoil and the truth. But there were those that would rise beyond their situation and come to grasp it by the collar, to reach out and snag the truth by the lapels. And the power to change it. All it took was an introduction to this danger.

It was funny, how time could fly when you were having fun, or as was the case here, actually enjoying doing your job. Isabella clicked one of the buttons on the handheld audio recorder, and pocketed the device. "I think that's all I've need of for now, at least enough to convince my editor to actually let me run this story. It's quite a depressing thought, what you've been describing about your work." The blonde spoke to the young man she sat a short distance from, capping her words with a sigh. "But I guess that's what happens when your average Joe really just doesn't seem to grasp the weight that work like yours has in such a basic luxury as sanitation." Her tone tried to be more positive, but there was still a tinge of frustration to her work.

Only then, did her gaze lift away from the other, long enough to get a good look at the sky. "Wow, I didn't even realize it had gotten so dark, I guess I got a bit... Caught up with all my questions." She actually seemed a bit bothered in her lack of basic perceptiveness, an awkward chcukle capping her words. "I think I should probably walk you home, Tomomi. With all this talk of terrorists as of late, you can't be too careful."

Walking with Isabella as he had been filling her in on what he does for a job and all, Tomomi laughed awkwardly and rubbed at the back of his neck as she talked about how depressing the thought of his job was. "Well um... J-just please make sure you don't use my name, or something that would say who I was to my boss if he read it, okay?" He declared, shaking his head as they continued to walk.

As Isabella commented on the sky, Tomomi couldn't help himself from just looking upwards at the sky as well. Time really did fly huh? "I um... G-guess that's what happens when having fun?" The boy added, trying to ease any tension in Isabella's voice. At the comment that implied the dangers of the terrorists, Tomomi laughed and nodded, running a hand through his hair. "R-right, yeah, terrorists do act at night... Um, you sure you want to walk me back? A-actually never mind, yeah, that would be nice... Um... S-so you know, I live in Little Tokyo, so, um, maybe we should walk to the nearest bus stop, or train station? Oh but, um, make sure you don't put yourself too far from your own home, o-okay? W-with the dangers of night and stuff..."

As the pair walked and talk the crowd around them would increasingly thin out, and the path they traveled seemed to darken as the buildings loomed overhead. With the cloud cover becoming increasingly overbearing the only lights in the street were from scattered streetlights and open venues, many appearing to be closing up for the night. Businessmen had to sleep some time, and with them left the shop vendors. At a point the hustle and bustle would need to calm down if not die off, yet the city remained alive still. The path ahead was linear and still people were growing sparser before the cause could be determined...







...there was a construction blockade in the road. The street ahead, their path before them, was in fact closed off to the public for safety reasons. An unfortunate pin in their plan to return home it seemed, yet the pair could do as they wished. Taking a side street would circumvent the blockade or they could take the safe route to turn back and walk aaaaaaaall the way back to the way they originally came. But the blockade was empty as well, a brave soul could simply climb the road barriers and walk the short length forward, say to hell with society's limitations and continue as they were. But the streets were nearly empty now and they would have to decide.

...perhaps the people could feel it. The sudden electricity in the air, hanging like bated breath. Waiting for something. Tomomi could feel it, he might remember what it meant to Awaken to his power. And Isabella's head began to throb.

The woman offered a smile to the young man's concern. "No need to worry. I used to serve in the military for several years, I have confidence that even if something does show up, I can handle it." Well, junkies, and other lowlives  she can certainly deal with. But the idea of confronting a terrorist... Did awaken a sense of unease. But well, that's what you get when you loose track of time, and there was no way she was going to let Tomomi wander the night alone.

But even when given a purpose, that unease never quite went away, and as the two walked, that unease couldn't help but grow. As less and less people seemed to occupy the street, and the cloud deprived them of the moon's radiance. And soon enough the sparsity of activity had its cause revealed. The road blockaded off for construction.

She'd scan the street, her eyes finding a side street that they could follow. But when that side street connected back to the road ahead she was unsure. "Give me a sec Tomomi, I'll see if I can find us a way around this" She explained as she fished out her phone from her pocket, tapping one of the buttons on the side to bring the device to life. No response. "... Okay, scratch that. Seems my phone is dead, again." Isabella sighed, slipping the useless device back in her pocket.

And that was when the sudden throb hit. She'd draw in a hissing breath through clenched teeth, but did no more to show her discomfort. "I normally wouldn't suggest this, but maybe we can just pass through the construction site? There doesn't seem to be any actual work going on, and I'd rather not waste any more time trying to find an alternate route." The older woman would take a few steps closer to the road barriers, hand slipping into her pockets.

The throbbing wouldn't stop though. Great, must be something wrong with her meds again. With that, she didn't quite notice the small whir just starting up in her left ear.

"if something does show up, I can handle it."

To Tomomi, these words were far from the truth. He'd seen firsthand what the dangers of the night were. No amount of military training would help without supernatural powers, and judging from her comment on Psyche Terrorists prior, that was either very unlikely, or she was a cadet in disguise.

Still, this thought was stalled as the two came across an obstacle in their route. There, a familiar feeling arose in the boy. Familiar, but not pleasant. That night in the alley... This uneasiness... He'd only felt it once before, yet could it be? His thoughts on the matter were shot away by Isabella's comments about her phone being dead. Then, a sharp breath. Was she okay?! Was she under attack? Tomomi couldn't help but look to Isabella with a hint of concern in his eyes, before letting it fade away. Nope, he shouldn't show so much concern. That would be disheartening for the both of them.

At her suggestion of crossing the construction site, Tomomi rubbed at the back of his neck, before nodding. "I-if you're sure, but, um... Be careful of your step, since, well... You know, it's dark, and if your phone isn't working, then we won't have much of a source of light to help get through without tripping, so, um... S-slow steps okay? And um... Oh jeez... Um, if someone that works here finds us, should we make up an excuse? Like, um, being lost? I-I don't know..."

Still, even as he said that, there was this feeling in the back of his mind... If they ran into someone, would it really be a worker? The idea of having to reveal what he was certainly was... Worrying, but, that mattered not right now. If it came down to it, it was far more important to protect than save himself. That thought in mind, Tomomi followed Isabella.

Cecil and Nadia had already had a pretty swell afternoon, and were enjoying a pleasant stroll before heading home. Vista Square was nice, and Nadia didn't make it out this far very often. At the moment, however, it seemed like the people were thinning out, and it was beginning to seem almost deserted in the area they were heading. As they passed by an alleyway, Nadia suddenly took Cecil's hand, having an idea. She pulled the blond into the darkness of the alleyway, and pressed herself up against one of the walls. "I see couples doing this all the time. This is the part where you kiss me!" She'd seen couples kissing in secluded places like this before, but she'd never been one of them! how exciting!

As she leaned there against the wall, however, a pair of passerby caught her eye. They were walking down the road on the other side of the one Nadia and Cecil had been heading down. If they had continued their path, they'd never had known that Tomomi was walking along with some woman down this other road. Or at least, it looked like Tomomi. The two were across the street, and it looked like they were about to try walking through a construction site. She squinted with her eyes to see better, not drawing direct attention to it, but it would likely to obvious to Cecil that she was looking at something.

He still couldn't believe he was doing this. He couldn't fathom how the world could have engineered things so that he would end up doing this. It was strange, incomprehensible, and utterly insane, but it was the way of things right now.
He didn't have any complaints, but it always felt like the other shoe was about to drop at any moment.

He let out his trademark cry of surprise as he was pulled into an alley, and sighed as Nadia pushed herself against a wall. "Just because you see people doing it doesn't...mean...what are you looking at?" He turns to follow Nadia's gaze, and spots two figures he hadn't expected to see clambering past the barriers into a construction site. Perhaps he might have let it go another time, but..."Nadia...? Do you...feel something?" He meets her eyes with a meaningful look.

The menacing aura did not cease as time ticked by and the night grew ever still and quiet, even with the pair bypassing the construction site and the two lovebirds nearby. The air prickled and seethed and hung oppressively like a dark blanket in the thick of the evening. And the pain in Isabella's head would steadily increase. Through the closed-off road construction equipment lay where it lay, discarded like debris on the ruined street. An empty concrete mixer surrounded by shovels and half-empty bags. Jackhammers leaning up against a dump truck. Eerily lit by the backlight of the storefronts that remained empty with no visitors, automatic lights that were always on no matter the occasion, Hell or high water. And the further they went up the short street the worse the pain would get.

A loud clank could be heard as a bucket dropped to its side, seemingly with no prompt. No one was here. At least, that's what it looked like. The Psyche Terrorists could sense different but the unawakened one could sense nothing but the agony in their skull and the glowing street lights illuminating the empty site. But all could hear scraping. And dragging. And they could begin to see the flash of eyes in the dark.


Movement from the shadows and a horrible, fleshy scraping echoed through the complete silence as a figure approached them from a distance. It could be heard to be taking shallow breaths. Unclear as it was Tomomi would notice it gaunt, a lithe corpse of a being. Isabella would begin to make shape of its pale skin from the corners of her vision, full view at a blink, as if the sinister shadow was beginning to take form. But it was not alone. A sharp hiss came from a side street and the knocking of trash cans.


More and more of these abominations would appear at the scent of the living, moving slowly with lethargy and weakness but with purposeful, limping gaits. From the empty storefronts they would come, from the storm drains, under vehicles, they mobbed and moaned and cried out in hunger. Isabella could see them clearly now. Her brain felt lit up with electricity, indescribable torment shooting through her head like lightning. Something existed in her mind. It wanted to survive.


Slowly, surely, the ravenous creatures of the night would surround the pair, clawing their way from every nook and cranny each way they turned. Desperate times began to call for desperate measures. The bell was striking its toll. Immediately to Isabella's flank a glimmer flashed across the glass of a nearby newspaper dispenser. The dispenser was empty of papers... but in its place was a machine gun angled in the machine. A purple ribbon was tied around the grip in a bow, as if it were a gift.

OOC:

"Just keep your feet close to the ground so you don't step on anything sharp, and move slowly so you don't trip if you catch your foot on something." Isabella instructed the boy, keeping her voice even to hide her discomfort. "And I wouldn't worry if someone was here. I'm sure we could just talk it out. It's like crossing the road on a red light when there are no cars in sight."

It was slow going, and the pain only got worse. Did she mess up on her meds? Even after that whole debacle at the pharmacy? Isabella had not noticed that her breathing had grown heavy, By now she'd grown aware of the whir in her left ear as it had intensified, coolant pumps starting up as her limbs reacted to both the pain and the growing sense of unease. She could only hope it would pass before the signs of the heat build up began to show, she didn't need Tomomi seeing that.

She nearly jumped out of her pants at the bucket falling over. "M-maybe it was just a raccoon." The stutter did not help make the already unconvincing words any more convincing,  quite the opposite, if anything. The briefest moment of silence that followed only made the scraping afterwards all the more startling. There was something out there, something. Her gaze momentarily shot down to her left hand. The covering was already beginning to sag under the heat, so she tucked the limb against her lower abdomen, instead reaching into her coat with her left hand, and pulling out a pen.

Whatever it was, it looked like a blurry shadow. Was something playing tricks on her vision? By now, every exhale sent a pained shiver through her form as she tried to focus. Her right hand would raise up, brandishing the pen like she would a knife. She could probably disable, or maybe even kill a normal human assailant with just a pen. But this wasn't human, it was something worse. The whirring in her ear seemed to grow louder still as the delicate internal systems that formed their own internal network tried to deal with the excess heat being generated.

"It hurts... It hurts..." She shook her head, denying herself the privilege to think about the pain. Her pen-wielding hand straightened out, trying to appear as threatening as she can. "Tomomi..." She slwoly raised her left arm out to the side, as she took a step to place herself between the youth and what she could only assume were shambling corpses. "Whatever happens... Stay behind me!" Her words came out as a shout, not one of anger or frustration, but of concern, fear. He could probably see how the "skin" around her left hand and wrist was visibly sagging now. But that wouldn't be for long, because just about as soon as she'd finished her words, the "skin" seemed to simply slough off, hitting the floor with a slight "splat", revealing the shiny metal underneath.

Her grip on the pen shook, until finally she could hold it no more. The pen fell to the ground, the woman visibly shaking, before she fell to the knees. Her hands came up, grasping her head, even as the air warped around her left hand from the intense heat. Somehow, she managed to twist her body, enough to catch a glimpse of the young man with her right eye. Just as the colors of said eye became washed over with yellow, her pupil turning into a small black pinprick. "Tomomi... Run... Her voice grew weak with the words, as though she was short of breath.

She could no longer block out the pain, it was too great. "I don't wanna die. Idon't wannadie. I don'twannadie. Idon'twannadie. Idon'twannadieIdon'twannadieIdon'twannadie..." He thoughts swam as she sunk further.



The voice... It didn't come from someone, it came from within, resounding through her mind. "W-who?" She asked, aloud, and the voice, deep and masculine, but possessing a warmth and caring to it, chuckled.



The woman merely winced, gasping for breath desperately.



Isabella shuddered, violently, somehow managing to lift her gaze, staring at one of the hungry corpses as they closed in.




"No...." She could merely moan, her left hand coming down to catch herself as she feel forward.




"A pact?" she hissed in a low voice. She must have seemed crazy, talking to the voice in her head. Well, not that it mattered, not anymore.



"W-what do I... Do?" The pain seemed to lessen, giving the woman a moment of clarity



It was then that she noticed the shackels around her wrists, a length of chain, a light transparent blue stretching between them. That hadn't been thee before. Or maybe it had? None of this made sense, yet somehow it did. Somehow she understood what the words inside her head were saying, what they meant. The woman would push off the ground with one hand, so she was on her knees, both hands coming to the opposing hands' manacle. And she began to pull. "Per... So.."

The manacles began to show visible cracks. She didn't stop, even as as the heat of her left hand burned to the touch of her bare skin.

"-NA!"

And with that word, the pain was gone, a blue aura lit up around her as she rose back to her feet. Small plates of golden metal materialized in the air around her limbs as a dark grey coated them, the pieces falling into place like a puzzle, leaving thin cracks from between which the grey showed through. Her coat seemed to catch fire, a blue flame consuming it and revealing what appeared to be spandex underneath.A large green gem manifested in the air above her left forearm, at the same time as more armor pieces came into being around her shoulders. These pieces clicked softly into place, the gem embedding itself into her forearm. A mask, golden, shaped like a human face from the bridge of the nose down manifested in the air, floating, as if waiting.

Her right hand reached out, and took the mask. At that moment, something began manifesting above her, a large head. The mask sat perfectly flush to her face as she set it on, a visor manifesting into view over her eyes.  The dreadlocks of the head seemed to faze into being, each ending in an arrowtip. The neck had clearly been severed, yet the head seemed fresh, the eyes opening. "I am thou. And thou art I. From the sea of thy soul, I come." The voice spoke, aloud this time, yet the mouth on the head above her did not.

"I art he who whispered the secrets of the worlds to the Allfather." It felt... strange. In a good way. Her confidence seemed to have returned, as she stood there, a stern gaze staring at the monster, the demons, from behind her visor.

"I am Mimir. I shall light you path, my other self."

With those words, her attention became drawn to the newspaper dispenser, and the armaments within. It was convenient. Too convenient. But with newfound confidence in her stride, Isabella stepped over, her left hand punching through the glass front, and pulling free the weapon within. "Ingram MAC-10. Not bad. I remember getting to fire one of these once."

Her gaze then turned to Tomomi, and she would offer a nod. In that nod was a promise, it would be okay.

stats:

This was something supernatural. There was no doubt in Tomomi's mind, and he tried so much to keep any fear out of his eyes, glancing up and to the side to look at Isabella's expression. She seemed... Pained. Was she also...?

That thought was crushed by the sound of a collapsing metal item. A bucket? No... Reflexively, Tomomi grew tense as he recalled the evening of his own awakening to his power... His fight for his life in the shadowy alleys of Little Tokyo. Then, creatures arose and began to lurk from the shadows. From her look of concern and confusion, Tomomi assumed that maybe she wasn't awakening. Perhaps she was just... Really unlucky and in pain. And it wasn't just in front of them that the creatures were coming either. Glancing behind him at the sound of movement, Tomomi tried to count out the shadowy creatures that were approaching.

At the muttering of agony from Isabella however, Tomomi turned back to face her, watching as her trembling arm pointed... a pen? Threateningly. He was about to question it when, as the sight of her skin falling off occurred, she demanded Tomomi get behind her. Then she fell. "M-miss Isabella!" Tomomi began to shout, quickly opening the rubbish bag he had been carrying with him, before pulling out a shining revolver and pointing it at the ghoulish creatures, aim quivering as he aimed it while trying to cover for Isabella. Her panicked mutterings concerned the boy.

Then it happened. Something similar to what happened with Tomomi, Isabella muttering to herself. Was she... Becoming a Persona User as well? The uttering of the single word and the flash of transformation confirmed this, Tomomi's expression of worry turned to a relieved smile. The mutterings of pain ceased and her persona and mask were revealed. At this, Tomomi returned his gaze to the enemies in front of them, before watching Isabella retrieve the gun in the dispenser. At her nod, Tomomi returned it, before transforming into his own terrorist garb, a borderline cocky smile across his lips as he spun around to face the enemies behind them, gun pointing at one of them in preparation. "Well... This is awkward. Welcome to the terrorist fold I suppose? Um... T-the name's Ribbon? F-forget it, we can talk more after we've survived!"

Stats:

Cecil was right, there was something in the air. Even as they watched the night seemed to grow darker. It darkened back to the night with Kendra. She had called them "heroes." Up to that point, she had been mostly concerned with survival. But after her talk with Shotaro, and spending time with Cecil, maybe... "come on, let's be the heroes Kendra thinks we are!" she tugged on his sleeve, expecting him to follow as she ran towards the nearby construction site. Monsters started to sprout up even as they ran. Nadia had to sidestep a rising manhole to avoid one at one point. As they got closer, the unthinkable happened. The girl with Tomomi manifested a Persona. And then Tomomi turned around towards them as they approached from behind, and he too was in Terrorist garb. How...interesting.

Nadia made one last leap over a standing blockade, landing near Tomomi and this other woman. With a flourish, her mask materialized in her hand, and putting it on, her body was covered in a swirl of dark feathers that left her in her terrorist garb. "It looks like the two of you are in a spot of trouble? Mind if we lend you a hand?" Nightingale said playfully, with a little wink at the other two over her shoulder.  The girl brandished her claws, and prepared for battle.

It was worse than he could have imagined.
From everywhere they poured, gaunt, moaning figures with a palpable hunger. Everywhere you looked, they would emerge from some blind spot in your vision, hidden away until this perfect moment when they could feast on the flesh of the unwary.
And Tomomi was one of those people.
Nadia's hand would find nothing there as a figure clad in dark rushed onto the scene, carving through the ghoulish figures to make its way to the two they converged on. For every one that fell there seemed to be two more, a veritable hydra that only grew with every attempt to fell it.

"Stay by - me..." His head turned to see not a friend in dire need and an acquaintance that ought not have to deal with this, but two figures in terrorist guise, one only just coming to terms with their new being, and the other...seemingly already acquianted.
"...hello again, Ribbon. I...had not expected you." He looks to Tomomi for a moment longer, before fixing his gaze back on the horde. "...stay close, both of you. This is not a situation where being separated can be afforded."

Stats:

More and more of the demons would pile around the Psyche Terrorists, encircling them like hyenas. Crazed, dead hyenas. But in place of the laughter there were only groans and hisses. Things began to look more grim by the second...

PvS Horde Battle:

Horde of Ghouls - Level 10:

It was a surprise what she saw with Tomomi, where had he pulled a gun from? And more importantly, what was a minor doing with a firearm anyways? The question kinda answered itself when his attire changed. The words that followed, quite understandably, came as a shock. Terrorist? Fold? And then more figures appeared, a young woman, her attire too changing, and what she could only describe as some kind of knight. Did these two.. Know Tomomi? Or what was that name he'd just given? Ribbon?

But it was Tomomi's words that stuck out. Survive. "I have so many questions right now, but I think I'll save them for later." There was confidence in her voice again, and as she spoke, she had her newly gained firearm trained on one of the ravenous beasts. "I don't know what this power is, but it feel incredible. Let's go, Mimir!" Her free hand swung forward in flourish, only for her attention to draw back to the floating head behind her. Then it started pouring in. "No?..." She seemed to question the persona, before all the pieces clicked into places.

"I get it now. Mimir... Mimir can't fight on his own, but he can... Reveal hidden truths of the enemy, their weaknesses, their abilities. Is that right?" While her words were mostly addressed to the group of terrorists around her, the last few were seemingly addressed to the Persona. To that question, she would receive a nod. "Alright... Then let me see-" What appeared to be lengths of fabric slid out from her back, quickly straightening and fanning out. The shackles reappeared on her hands. "Mimir!" And as she called out, the eyes on the floating head would light up, casting forth beams of green light, almost like searchlights that swiped across the enemy horde.

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