Persona: Shadows of the Mind

[Aarah]

Keira: Dorm Room

Keira was starting to wonder if the late hour meant no one would reply to her message, but the arrival of the buzz from her phone disproved the thought.

The teen texted back keenly:

Hi Victoria, Just wondering if everything is ok. What's everyone doing? No monsters tonight, yeah?

[Unionhack]

Hidden:

Sorry for the hiatus! I'll have more word on a possible DM post schedule after the holidays are up.

Keira's Dorm Room

A moment passed. Victoria's reply came back promptly and quite unceremoniously.

Keira,

Quite contrary, actually. The being with which they seem to be engaged in combat with does not appear to be a shadow as you have previously encountered, but a Persona user with powers not at all unlike all your own.

The Ivory Halls

The black orb launched by Persona-Abel was met with the full force of Vesta's retaliatory fireball, the resulting explosion culminating in a resplendent explosion that forced those nearby a few inches back via the great force released. Max was unscathed.

The lance-wielding 'Abel' stepped back a few paces and twirled their weapon about into a defense stance, using their free hand to deliver a taunting gesture to Maria. "Finding out what you can do is precisely why I am here. You all may prove to not be a complete waste of time after all."

[Cassandra]

Maria - Ivory Halls

Maria spoke, keeping her bow up. "You're outnumbered. If you want to try to make some sort of deal, talking it out will probably be more beneficial than whatever you've got going on right now."

[Unionhack]

The Ivory Halls

"You're inexperienced." Maria's opponent retorted. "I guarantee you, that accounts for far more than your numbers. Besides, if I had wanted to negotiate..."

Before any further taunts could be exchanged, a sudden flash emitted from just to the left of Maria; a shout of "Persona!" confirmed that James had summoned his Persona, Phaeton, and launched a blast of flame to take advantage of the lull in combat.

'Abel' kept up their defensive stance and stood fast in the face of the blast, eventually becoming obscured from view by the roaring flames. James recklessly poured his energy into amplifying the blast, trying to press the full advantage he had.

For a moments the flames roared to a peak, followed by harsh snapping sound. From within the flames shot an orange-tinged bolt of lightning that rushed forward at a blinding speed, too fast for Phaeton to intercept. The bolt passed right through James, emitting a quick snapping noise that betrayed the damage that it had done.

James blinked vacantly, fell to his knees, and then collapsed. Phaeton thrashed about for a moment before it faded away into blue fog, just as the flames did.

'Abel' stood up once visible again, both their armor and the ground around them singed even darker. With a slightly pained huff, 'Abel' nodded and spoke once more. "What a shame... but perhaps a good lesson on interrupting someone as they speak."

[Baloth-Kul]

Max - Ivory Halls

As Abel stood, Max dashed forward, and jumped into the air to deliver a kick to their backside.

[Aarah]

Keira - Dorm room

Keira's brow furrowed as she sat up in bed, reading Victoria's text.

She replied hastily.

Combat? Are they in danger or is it just some kind of training exercise you've set up?

[Unionhack]

Keira's Dorm Room

Victoria's reply came after an unusually long pause of a couple minutes.

Keira,

Their opponent is not some conjuration of our own, no. From whence this being comes, we are unsure, though we suspect it is another Persona-user like yourselves. Despite being one in number, your companions seem to be having trouble against the foe.

If you wish, we can send you to their side immediately.

The Ivory Halls

Max's speed made his approach swift, but 'Abel' was able to barely dodge the kick by lurching forward and then turning to face Max. A raising of their palm caused a burst of force, akin in feel to the repulsive energy of a magnet, followed and pushed Max back a few feet in order to widen the distance. 'Abel' seemed to have a solid grasp of their surroundings and aimed to keep all their opponents in sight.

[Aarah]

Keira - Dorm Room

Keira became concerned upon reading that the others were having difficulty in the dreamworld.
She thought for a minute, then replied to Victoria.

Yes, I want to help, but what should I do, I mean,
can you give me some tips on how to defeat this other persona person?

[Dirty Spaceman]

Brendan - The Ivory Halls

Brendan's face contorted in a silent snarl at the attack that felled James, and followed up Max's attack by himself advancing towards 'Abel'. He diverted his approach as Max was deflected aside, reducing speed and stalking in a circle a few metres wide of his opponent. If 'Abel' wanted to keep them at a distance, then Brendan just had to play along and wait until he had the right opening to close the distance - or could give an opening to Max. "Why is knowing what we can do so important?" he called. "What do you want to do that we could mess up?"

[Unionhack]

Keira's Dorm Room

Keira,

I cannot give concrete answers, but I believe that your presence will help your allies. Both the element of surprise and the advantage of numbers will assist.

Prepare yourself to be invited.

Keira blinked like normal, but upon doing so felt like she had just fallen off of a cliff into total blackness.

The Ivory Halls

Both 'Abel' and their Persona kept backing up. "I suppose it would sound utterly Byronic to all of you, but my mission is one of undue misery and justice. There is someone's life whom I must save, even if it costs the lives of others. Your presence was unexpected, but can be accounted for."

A sudden flash of light (such events that were becoming increasingly common to the summoners) hailed the arrival of a beam of light pouring from the ceiling. The beam faded, and in its place stood Keira in her standard school outfit. It took her a moment to come back into consciousness, but when she did she could see the entire battle scene; included the still form of James on the floor.

'Abel' turned their facing to Keira, while their Persona floated above them to anticipate an approach from a different direction. Still, they were giving up significant ground.

[Pilovv]

Makoto huffed as she lay on her bad, looking up at her phone screen. This must have been some really elaborate joke that she wasn't in on. It was going on too long for her liking, so she rolled her eyes, beginning to type.

I want to see.

Scoffing to herself, she feels a bit dumb for writing something so cheesy, but maybe this would all be over with quicker if she just played along.

[Unionhack]

Makoto's Room

The sensation of falling grasped Makoto almost immediately.

The Ivory Halls

Much like Keira before her, Makoto appeared in her school outfit following a beam of. Orientation returned to her shortly, and she was able to lay eyes on the scene before her.

[Pilovv]

Makoto gasped, one minute she was falling and the next she was in a completely unfamiliar place. Gasping, she fell down to her knees, stopping herself by pushing her hands against the ground. This was a feeling that was getting all too familiar. Just like the other night. Looking up up to see Abel and his Persona, she-... Couldn't place him. She didn't know any of these people well, but she had definitely never met this one. "Another one?..." He wasn't from the group chat, if anything.

With a dumbfounded look on her face, she slowly got back on her feet and tried to evaluate the situation. Noticing James on the floor, things were clearly not quite right. "What happened to him?" She timidly made her way over to James, not very sure what to make of this man. She was going to give him the benefit of the doubt, but she got more and more of a bad feeling about this mystery guy the closer she got.

[Aarah]

Keira

Once she regained focus after beaming in, Keira's eyes darted around to see what was going on. James, still on the ground, wasn't a good sign.

Worried that their new foe, and his Persona, would target the new arrival, Keira began to shout a command into the air. It was the same idea as when they had fought in the dreamworld before; she didn't have time to think of something new.
"Iris, flash!"
Her plan was to momentarily blind her opponents once again, then throw her tessen at 'Abel', that is, if her fan appeared.

[Dirty Spaceman]

Brendan

Now that 'Abel' had given up enough ground, and had their attention split to deal with the new arrivals, Brendan figured the time was now or never to strike. Stifling a yell to preserve what of the element of surprise was available, he sprinted and took a running leap forward to close the distance, and called on Guan Yu to slash downwards with his guandao at his opponent's Persona.

Hidden:

I'm assuming Persona-on-real person combat is a no-go? If not, I could change that to slashing at Abel if it would be more effective to do so.

[Unionhack]

Hidden:

Nah, you can totally use your persona to attack a person. Summoning a persona confers some superhuman endurance and [&@%!] so they can take a hit from something like a giant guandao, but it will still hurt a bunch!

The Ivory Halls

Keira was surrounded by blue flames and felt a rush of energy come forth as her Persona was called into being. Iris rose into the air and held aloft her golden horn, producing a blinding flash of light. Keira heard Abel grunt as the flash stole their attention.

Guan Yu, already en-route with the attack, was able to land a vicious strike on Abel just as the flash began to subside. Black smoke erupted into the air as Abel was flung back from the force of the strike, and Persona-Abel began to flicker in the air as its master's control began to falter.

Abel stood up after being knocked away and used their spear to prop themselves up. A clear slice in their chest was visible, where blood poured freely. With a pained grunt, Abel tightened his grip on their spear and was overtaken by a rising cloud of black smoke, causing them to disappear with their Persona.

The other summoners could no longer feel the presence of their enemy. However, they could also no longer sense James, who laid still on the Ivory floor. Makoto's search detected no life signs.