[OPEN] Rooftop Chillin'

[badass_reporter]

Who: Neige and OPEN
Where: Pisces District (Evening of the 20th; later, the 13th Hour)
Summary: Random lady uncharacteristically hanging out on a rooftop watching people? That's bound to be noticed by someone at some point, right? (In other words, Neige is feeling the effects of the Memory Swap event.)
Warnings: Wartime violence and death-related memories.

Evening of the 20th:
During Neige's first week in this city, she'd been tirelessly exploring and hunting for every scrap of information that she could get her hands on, especially about the city's media outlets. She's had a chance to visit every district by now to get an idea of what each one has to offer, and had been planning on talking to more people about this place in the coming days.

That all changed since her second week started, however. It's like her normally social personality has just been magically switched off somehow, and more and more, she's started avoiding people for no real reason. For instance, right now - here she is, just sitting on this rooftop, watching the world go by down below. Any possible danger of falling is of no concern to her at all, nor is the implications of her having her camera up here with her (though she's really spending more time thinking than bothering with it).

How can she get back home? Why does she keep thinking about the four highly respected generals of Neo Arcadia, as if she'd fought them up close? Why does she feel like she personally witnessed the death of her leader X when she's pretty sure she wasn't there? (Or was she?)

Well, at least the sun is starting to set, so she can stargaze in not too long. Maybe that will help clear her mind. (And no, for some reason, the possibility of staying up here all night and through the 13th Hour doesn't bother her at all. Or maybe nothing that's actually happening to her beyond whatever's going on in her head is of any concern anymore...)

13th Hour:
So it seems she's decided to stay out past a reasonable safe hour after all, possibly very unwisely. Not that she's frightened about this turn of events at all; in fact, if one happens to run into her during this time, they'll see she's looking more stoic than she probably ever has in her life, seeming completely unconcerned with the danger at hand. If you're in trouble during this hour, she'll be looking to help you out, whether she can actually do anything about it or not...

On top of it all, she doesn't seem to notice that she's currently being stalked by one of these...

Comments

[otakuro]

Thankfully, the electric prod didn't do much but stun Chouchin-obake momentarily; the reaction was more out of surprise than out of incurred damage. Still, it had been an extended battle against multiple enemies - Atsuro and his Persona were tired at this point, and they were quite ready to sit down and take a break.

So it was that the Persona manifests an ill-tempered response to the advance of the Guardian. The tear in the lantern rips open once more as flames spew again from the mouth of the spirit... They are not directed as an attack against the Guardian, though - this time, they are directed at the ground. Around the two Guardians and Chouchin-obake, a circle of flames arises, growing higher and higher as the lantern adds fuel to the flames. Soon, a great wall of fire prevents anyone from being able to see what lies within.

It appears to be attempting to roast the enemies alive. Given its own ability to absorb Fire, it was in no danger at the moment.

Outside the Flame Wall, Atsuro picks himself up and hobbles a short distance towards Neige and the Power.

"It's probably going to explode or something. ...We'd better stand back."

[badass_reporter]

Thankfully, it seems Neige has no need to go get that wooden plank after all, not when the boy's lantern spirit is able to create a huge wall of fire. ...Yeah, Atsuro doesn't need to tell her to stand back twice. She listens, but of course, keeps her eyes locked on the action in the process. (Even if she can't actually see beyond the flames to know what the lantern spirit is doing.)

It's clear that the vengeful Guardian didn't expect this at all, meanwhile, as the sudden large wall of fire temporarily distracts it from its enemy. The heat from the flames makes its own movements more sluggish, though it helps that it isn't actually sitting in the fire. That, and its armor is able to protect it somewhat from the intense heat...unlike its ally, whose delicate circuits are more exposed to the heat thanks to its partially melted armor. Give it some time, and that Guardian won't be able to function properly anymore.

But as for the one who can still stand, it's once again attempting to move (slowly) toward Chouchin-obake for another attack, however futile it might be at this point. It isn't in its programming to give up, after all.

[otakuro]

Atsuro seems a bit resigned about the whole business as he edges backwards with Neige, though he does strain a bit to try and see what his capricious Persona was attempting to do. Honestly, sometimes, it was more trouble than it was worth. He wonders, perhaps, if Personae from the Velvet Room were just generally more temperamental and more prone to acting out by themselves; this was hardly the action he would have chosen to take had he had his druthers. Enki never decided to explode out of the blue; least of all when --

His thoughts are interrupted by that point by the fulfillment of his prophetic words.

The fiery explosion is enough to be uncomfortably hot on Atsuro's flesh even at the distance they are standing; he throws his arms up instinctively to defend himself, but finds that he is experiencing no real pain or discomfort. Chouchin-obake, it seems, had not been injured in all of this. Perhaps the same couldn't be said for the Guardians...

[badass_reporter]

Well, that explosion certainly makes Neige glad she listened to the boy, even if the threatening wall of fire had been enough reason to be cautious. Like Atsuro, she also uses her arms as a shield against the intense heat out of reflex, even if it might not really protect her. It's probably better than nothing, anyway.

Fortunately, she doesn't have to share the same fate as the two Pantheons trapped directly inside of the explosion. Armor isn't enough to save either of them from the extremely hot blast, which not only rips them apart, but also melts the metal and circuitry inside of their bodies. Needless to say, there's not much left of them when all is said and done; one can see some smouldering pieces of metal strewn about, along with a Power Capsule (similar to what came out of the Hunter's body) and a small Energen Crystal where the Guardians had once been standing, but that's about it.

For now, it seems the threat has been successfully neutralized - something that brings relief to Neige, definitely. This could have gone so much better, but at the end of it all, she's at least glad that the person she'd tried to rescue (who...had ended up rescuing her) is okay.

[otakuro]

"...Well."

The leering face of the lantern appears from the flickering flames until, like magic (it practically was magic), the flames all die away at once, leaving behind the two charred robotic bodies. Chouchin-obake grins brightly at its master before the face fades away, leaving Atsuro holding a normal paper lantern once again. ...He sighs.

"That could have gone better."

"Trust in the LORD always; be thankful for all blessings He sees fit to bestow."

"That's what we call a rhetorical statement, Power."

As Atsuro taps a few buttons on the game device he had used earlier, the angel vanishes in a flash of light. Assumedly, Seiten Taisei, wherever he had disappeared to, had returned to standby duty as well.

"Are you OK, miss?"

[badass_reporter]

That could have gone better - yeah, he could say that again. Neige is less than thrilled with the way things turned out, too, especially since it had ended with her needing to be rescued herself...

But hey, at least they're both still alive, and all of their enemies were defeated. That proves it could have gone much worse.

...But in the future, I'm going to invest in an actual weapon. And not try to help someone without one.

"I'm fine," she replies in the meantime. Normally, she probably would've added a smile or a half-joke to that, but the more-serious-than-usual mood still seems to be affecting her even now. "More importantly, are you okay?"

[otakuro]

"Yeah! ...Definitely not the worst I've ever come across."

Atsuro tries to grin, though his efforts could use a little bit of work. He assumes a more serious expression shortly.

"But... I guess you haven't been in many fights here before, huh? You can't throw yourself in like that without a Persona... Do you know how to unlock yours?"