[Game Opening, Part 1 - What Souls Here May Bring]

[stringmods]

The drawstrings cut,
my hollow ebony stained wood plomps to the floor—
THUD

Eyes open, souls recollect.
The new me, erect.

I make my own decisions, have my own priorities,
have my own thoughts.

No external force taps into me—
Freedom.
- Jana Bielecki
Who: (Everyone OPEN LOG)
Where: (City Hall)
Summary: (You've just arrived in the city. Welcome.)
Warnings: (Intro logs are pretty warnable.)
Style: (The text is in prose, but feel free to write back in action tags if you feel more comfortable.)

They always say the first day on a new job is always the hardest.

But tell me...did those tasks include being taken from your own homeworld, dumped into a city you didn't recognize, meeting a man dressed in the purest of whites with a butterfly mask, to be bestowed the power of Persona, and then having some Men in Black lead you to the city hall saying you were expected?

...

...at least your things are apparently safe in your new apartments?

...

...looks like you might be here for a while.


What a way to start the first of September...

As they usher the last of you in, you realize that they've been preparing this for quite a while. There is a small table with food on the right, mixed cuisine (although the main theme seems to be Japanese dishes). Some strange computer program appears next to you and seems to be translating what you are saying so those before you understand. Language barriers? Don't be silly!

Most of the men ignore you after that. You are expected to mingle amongst yourselves a bit before the main 'show' starts, it seems....

Comments

[linefacingforever]

"...hunh?"

Yu was pretty sure this wasn't a dream, but...

"Don't dream so loud."

[get_bent]

"L-look I'm sorry!" No, really he did! "I was so glad you were comin' back to the city so I'd been working extra hard on makin' you a present. IT was gonna be so cute you'd--" wait it wouldn't be a surprise if he told him!

...even if it was his dream self!

...something like that?

Oh gods, he was confusing himself...

"W-well anyway, I think I fell asleep and ended up in the TV world. There was this Grand Prix going on, they even had a video! You were the Sister Complex Kingpin of Steel, and I was The Bloodcurdling Beefcake Emperor which uh...didn't quite get. I don't make that many cakes, but beef? Who'd seriously make a cake out of beef?"

...oh Kanji.

[linefacingforever]

...oh Kanji.

"Kanji, I never left," Yu replied, confused by most of what came out of his mouth. Very little of it made sense. Him coming back when he hadn't left yet? Grand Prix?

...the titles were pretty accurate, though he wasn't so sure about the Kingpin part.

[get_bent]

"What?" Uhhh? "Senpai? Of course you did! You were coming back for Golden Week. You know...after we defeated that old weird lady and everything happened?"

...Was he hit by some sort of forgetful ray?

[linefacingforever]

Dude, Kanji, spoilers.

Yu tilted his head, looking the younger teen up and down. Did he hit himself in the head with his chair or something...?

"What weird old lady?"

[get_bent]

"Well yeah? You know...the Gas Station Attendant Guy and how he turned out to be a she and some god of the dead?"

...he kinda felt bad. He had to make sure not to tell Yu that he was imagining him as this dumb guy when he woke up.

[linefacingforever]

...and this is why you're the Beefcake Emperor, Kanji. Seriously, Yu's pretty sure that gas station attendant is just what he looks like and nothing more than that.

Because, really? The attendant? Why would the attendant be some god of the dead? And Yu was pretty sure that person wasn't pulling a Naoto. And c'mon, he doesn't even have a character portrait or anything.

Still, Yu wasn't about to call Kanji out on it... so instead he gave him a thumbs up.

"Right. Of course."

...of course anyone that knew him could tell he was being sarcastic.

[get_bent]

"..Senpai?" He didn't believe him. "Dude, you gotta believe me!" This was a nightmare. "After we captured Adachi, we realized that the fog was still around! That's when you made the connection with the Gas Station Attend...the handshake that all three of you got or somethin'...man if Naoto was here she could explain it better than me..."

Or maybe that's why she wasn't here....he had to do this along?

[linefacingforever]

Yu just... shook his head.

"Kanji... that never happened," he replied, his expression unchanging. "After we captured Adachi... we're still waiting for Nanako to come back from the hospital. The fog hasn't come back."

...he was really stuck on this gas station attendant. Maybe he really was a she... so she was obviously Kanji's type. It would explain a lot.

[get_bent]

"...okay now you're just pullin' my leg. Of course it all happened! D'you think I could honestly make all of this up?"

Come on! YU! It's Kanji!

....KANJI!

[linefacingforever]

...well, okay. True, Kanji couldn't make something like that up.

But, really. The gas station attendant?

"...I need to see it for myself."

He wasn't being sarcastic about that; this was obviously a pivotal part of the whole investigation. Yu couldn't just take Kanji's word for it, he needed to find out on his own why this attendant was so important.

[get_bent]

Now there's the Senpei he knew!

"Hell yeah! Then we can--wait I guess we can't really, right now.....maybe if I wake myself up...." He looked at Yu again.

"Senpei! Can you...I dunno just hit me or somethin'! Maybe that'll work!"

[linefacingforever]

Welp, he might have had issues punching Jun because he hadn't established a Social Link with her. But you, Kanji? You're free game.

So enjoy your knuckle sandwich.

Yu waited until the throbbing in his hand stopped after slugging Kanji in the face, before he pointed out the obvious:

"You're not dreaming, Kanji."

[get_bent]

The pain subsided after a few seconds. Damn, Yu really knew how to throw his punches, didn't he? Kanji was a bit proud about that. Of course Senpei could fight with the best...wait, that's it! FIGHTING!

"...OH RIGHT! I fought Chie and Yukiko in the Grand Prix...maybe we need to do the whole thing? Persona and all?"

Kanji, just...stop....

[linefacingforever]

...Kanji, Kanji...

"We're not in Inaba. We're not in the TV. We're in an entirely different world," Yu explained, completely straight faced...

And then he held up his hand, which was turning an ugly shade of red, his expression never changing.

"...I think I broke my hand."

[get_bent]

"Yeah but if this is my dream, I..." Oh gods, he broke his friend's hand. "Dammit! Lemme get somethin' for it!"

Without waiting for Yu's confirmation, he ran to the table to grab some napkins and ice...

[linefacingforever]

...he wanted to say it probably wasn't really broken, but Kanji was already running for the table. He let out a breath, waiting for him to come back... before letting his arm shoot out at the last possible second in order to clothesline Emperor Beefcake.

[get_bent]

It was like a beautiful poetic series of events. The surprise from Kanji caused him to slip, and the ice fell to the floor, which made him trip. He fell to the floor, hard...



...and stayed there.

not here???

[handshakegreeting]

... Well, she was going to simply watch after her having been mentioned... but that woman in the back - you know, the one in a simple white dress shirt and grey skirt that looks remarkably like the gas station attendant? - decided instead to grab a little bit of popcorn from the table and watch the madness unfold.

At least until Tatsumi-kun fell. Ouch, that most certainly had to hurt...

It's better than pay per view!

8D

[linefacingforever]

Yu didn't notice the gas station attendant, at least, not yet. He was a little too preoccupied with helping Kanji realize that this was not a dream.

He knelt down beside him after a moment, resting a hand on his shoulder.

"Kanji. You. Are not. Dreaming."

Maybe if he said it slow, he'd get the hint.