The Search for the Newcomers, December 2012 Edition.

[stringmods]

Who: Open to Everyone, but only Newly Accepted Characters can start threads.
Where: All around the city! They appear where you want them to appear.
Summary: Newcomers arrive and by now the Government is more ready and sends everyone out to go people hunting.
Warnings: ARRIVALS. Also assume the first thread is the ones who tell you about the city, and the other tags for the character can be talking with others in the city and learning more about it.

[FOR THOSE IN THE CITY:]
They were getting much better at this, it was for certain.

Last month's initial testing of the HORUS system had worked really well. The device which allowed everyone to spot abnormalities; and now even more refined, they could hone in on newcomers at a much faster pace. The leftover energy from the travel (commonly called Magatama Residue) gave them a few minutes to find them before it would flicker out.

Combined with the fact they could appear in most parts of the city, it made finding the newcomers was both easy yet frustratingly difficult.

As the blips appear on your own radar function, it was also nice enough to calculate for you the best transport and destination routes to take to get there. Speed was of the essence, after all.

[FOR THOSE WHO JUST ARRIVED:]
You're not in your homeworld anymore. That much is evident. So how do you feel? Happy? Sad? Troubled? A little of all three? No matter what, the memories of a butterfly man named Philemon are fading like a dream; you'll remember the details, but perhaps not everything he has said.

There is one word that stays with you, however.

Persona.

So...here to save the city, huh? First you'll need to find out more information. And who knows, maybe a familiar face or two...

[OOC: As stated above, only new characters can start a thread, but feel free to jump in any of them. characters arrive with their clothing and whatever items they had on them the moment they were taken; the remaining items will be later found in their apartments.]

Comments

[bakegarasu]

A red light district. Seriously? Otoha stared at the buildings around him, and then looked up.

No bubble. So this wasn't Vatheon, but it wasn't Shinjuku either. He reached into his pocket and clutched his amulet, and checked to make sure his sword was within reach.

He could tell there were demons around - a few of them were staring at him, too. He could ask them where he was... or he could figure it out himself. He headed towards a tall building and started climbing the fire escape, heading up to the roof.

[not_heavens_adam]

Johnny had been trying to gain his bearings as he explored this new city. It reminded him of L.A. in it's feel and the fact he'd landed in a red light district didn't help matters much. At least there was something fun to do.

The vampire spied a building that looked like it would offer him a decent view of the place and flew to the roof, setting Minea down as he landed. He looked out at the city and frowned, a bit of sadness coming over him...this wasn't his bubble. But..there was nothing much he could do about it, he'd have to move on.

Just as he was going to turn and leave, the wind shifted and a painfully familiar smell blew toward him, causing the vampire to whip around, eyes searching the roof. It was so close. There, on the other side of the roof, was a man. The sight of his silhouette was just as painful as the smell and it caused Johnny to walk closer.

"...Otoha?" His heart rate had picked up and the keys to his friend's bar suddenly felt heavy in his pocket...he didn't want to hope, but it seemed it was too late for that.

[bakegarasu]

Otoha turned around, looking at Johnny. He tilted his head slightly in confusion.

"Yeah. Where the hell are we?"

If this was another lame curse from the stupid coral, he was going to be really pissed off.

[not_heavens_adam]

Johnny grinned and dashed forward, wrapping his arms around Otoha and burying his face in the man's shoulder.

"You dumbass. I hate you." Except his words had zero honesty behind them...but he was still a little miffed.

"We had a promise and you left me." He glared up at the human, but there was no real force behind that either. "I ought to punch you."

[bakegarasu]

Otoha jerked backwards a little, but rolled his eyes. He'd gotten used to the affection a little more, but still.

"What do you mean I left you? I was right there. I went to bed, and I woke up here. ... And you know punching wouldn't do anything."

No pain and all.

[not_heavens_adam]

Johnny peered at him and pulled away, though he kept one hand on Otoha's arm.

The vampire reached into one of his pockets, pulled out the keys to Otoha's bar, and held them up. "You left. Vatheon. Just a few hours ago, actually...I had to announce it."

And now he was here, and so was Otoha. Why? Not that he wasn't happy to know he hadn't lost the other man, but it didn't really make sense.

[bakegarasu]

Otoha reached out to grab the keys. What are you doing with them, jerk.

"I don't remember leaving at all. Trust me, if I did it wasn't willingly."

Considering his life in Vatheon was way better than his life at home, even with the random curses...

"We should figure out where we are."

[not_heavens_adam]

He didn't bother trying to stop Otoha from taking them, they were his anyway. Johnny nodded and took Otoha's arm; a part of him didn't want to let go.

"Good. We're supposed to watch out for each other. You're not allowed to just leave like that, got it?

Anyway...ah...lead on~"

[bakegarasu]

He tucked them into his pocket, nudging Johnny a little, though not really meaning anything by it.

"... The layout reminds me kind of of Shinjuku, but it's not the same..."

A bar would be a good place to start... Otoha started heading towards the fire escape to climb down.

[dancingonapin]

Ohhh, he hated having to go through this district at this time of night, but it was so bloody hot outside that he couldn't afford to go around it to get home to his wonderfully air conditioned apartment. How it could be so warm in the middle of December baffled him, and uncharacteristically the angel wasn't wearing any jackets or sweaters, or even a tie. The sleeves of his tartan button-up shirt were rolled up past his elbows and he was clutching a small stack of books to his chest, fanning himself with a manila file folder. He was glad that he wasn't human- sweating wasn't a thing for him, so he didn't have to worry about how disgusting he felt in the heat.

Of course, that's when he spotted Otoha dangerously scaling a building up the side. Concern immediately entering his face, the angel pauses in his fanning and waves up to him, shouting.

"Excuse me, sir, I don't think that's such a good idea! Where are you going??"

[bakegarasu]

He looks down at the figure below, eyes widening.

"Aziraphale?" He trips over the name slightly, but manages it. He hops down, impacting on the concrete with a loud 'thump'. "What's going on? Where are we?" Hopefully he'd at least have a clue.

[dancingonapin]

Oh, whoa, whoa, someone who knew his name, how did he...

If Aziraphale had a more normal sounding name, such as John or Francis or something equally mundane, then he probably would have chalked it up to coincidence or mistake. But to see his face and immediately put it with the admittedly odd sounding name "Aziraphale", as though he actually recognized him...

The angel takes a few cautious steps backwards, waving the hand with the manila file folder and shaking his head in confusion. "I'm sorry, have we met?"

[bakegarasu]

Otoha looks confused for a few moments, before just sighing. Whatever. This version of Aziraphale obviously hadn't met him.

"I've met you. Or a version of you. I've met Crowley, too. Not here, though... in a different city. I'm Otoha."

Stupid cross-dimensional cities. They mess up all the things.

[dancingonapin]

Annnd the name drop of Crowley made it so that he's absolutely sure that knowing his name wasn't some kind of fluke. The angel blinks in surprise. "You know Crowley?"

With some flustered movement, he tucks the manila folder under his arm and holds out a hand to shake Otoha's. "Otoha, was it? I'm really sorry I don't remember you, how did you say we met?"

[bakegarasu]

"... Not too well, but yeah, I know him." Getting into a fight with someone counted as meeting them, right?

After a moment of hesitation, he reaches out to shake Aziraphale's hand. "Through a mutual... friend, I guess you could say." Though 'friend' didn't really cover it with Johnny, but whatever.

[dancingonapin]

"He isn't exactly social so I'm not surprised that you don't know him well, but it really is astounding that I don't remember you." Aziraphale can't even comprehend the idea that there exists alternate versions of himself in other worlds.

"A mutual friend?" He adjusts his glasses a little with a grin. "Who is that, exactly?"

[bakegarasu]

"It was less social and more that we ended up in a fight, but." He just shrugs a bit.

"Johnny Rayflo. But if you don't remember me, you probably won't remember him. We were all in Vatheon together."

[recycleddestiny]

Now that was interesting.

Masamune really had no idea why he was even in the red-light district in the first place - boredom, perhaps, and passing through on a whim (technically he wasn't old enough to drink just yet, not that it stopped him and the others sometimes during school... at least when Kojuro wasn't around, anyway) Though for once, he had Kagehide jerry-rigged to his hip - he knew that things got crazy at night, so might as well be ready in case. Besides - that lady in the Velvet Room mentioned that Personae came out during times of great stress, so might as well be somewhat prepared for the worst. Kojuro would be proud of him taking the initiative and thinking ahead, at least.

Anyway, he did what any dumb, adventurous teenager would do in this situation: climb after him. BECAUSE WHY NOT.

[bakegarasu]

Otoha knows that look - he had it enough as a teenager himself. He turned, watching the teen climb up. He lifted his head slightly, not saying anything until he got up to the top.

"Hey, kid. You've got some guts. Mind if I ask you some questions?"

[recycleddestiny]

Once he got all the way up to the top of the roof (which was surprisingly somewhat easier than Masamune had expected but whatever), he raises an eyebrow at the question, only to laugh a little.

"What can I say, I never liked backing down from a challenge. Though I dunno how good I'm gonna be at a Q&A session."

[bakegarasu]

"It's just a few questions. I just got here, so."

He's not that big of a talker anyway so it's not like he'll be babbling at him a lot. "Just the basic 'what is this place?', 'why are we here?', 'what's with the freaky guy in the mask?'."

[recycleddestiny]

"Alright. Let's take this one at a time, shall we?" Masamune liked that - no need to over-complicate things or add flowery language. Made things a lot easier in the long run.

"What this place is? Apparently some city from another world or dimension or something along those lines that needs help. We're here to defend it from demons destroying the place. Or something like that. Still a bit fuzzy on the details, I haven't been here too long myself." He shrugged.

"As for the dude with the mask? Dunno. Mission control, maybe. Never saw him again after I first got here."

[bakegarasu]

"That's fine." He wasn't big on over-complicating things either. It made things way harder to follow.

"Huh. I wonder why they'd be trying to destroy it. Not enough belief in them or something, so they're deciding to take it into their own hands?" He'd have to ask around. Something didn't seem right about that.

"Mm. I don't trust him. He didn't seem right." He'd learned about judging by first appearance... but that guy still gave him the creeps.

[recycleddestiny]

"Who knows. That sorta thing ain't my area of expertise." Masamune glanced back out to the city for a moment, smirking. "Can't really say if the guy was all that bad, but if anyone's gonna give me a challenge, well -"

He unsheathes the katana, swinging down with a dangerous grin. "I'm sure as hell going to take it. Life's not fun otherwise, you see?"

[bakegarasu]

He chuckles and puts a hand on the hilt of his own sword. "Agreed. Though I'm wondering if you can back up your talk."

It's no fun if he just lets the kid go, right?