4422/Persona:WTWM - Feeding Frenzy

Persona:WTWM - Feeding Frenzy
Date of Scene:	12 August 2016
Location:	Alberichstadt <P:WTWM>
Synopsis:	DYNASTY WARRIORS, PERSONA EDITION! People wander into the Mirror Forest at a carnival, requiring Die Reisende to fight a Shadow onslaught, close the open mirrors, and find any clues possible!
Cast of Characters:	August Kohler, 908, Sanary Rondel, 999, Kotone Yamakawa, 513, 151, Staren
Tinyplot:	Persona: Were the World Mine-1

---

August Kohler has posed:
It's some fitting scene time in Germany, probably day time. Once again, this doesn't matter, because we're going to the Mirror Forest! Coordinates have been left to arrive at Die Reisenden's shack, where they can pass through the large mirror into the Forest.

Once inside the Forest, the fact that something's wrong quickly becomes apparent. The Pig is running in circles, scared, and in the distance, thousands of chittering sounds can all be heard in a single region of the forest, working with each other to create a rather unsettling noise. Once the Pig realizes that the gang is all here, it runs up to August, and then to Ainsley, and then starts dashing down the path, hoping you'll follow. Once Die Reisenden actually arrives, though, the Pig runs away back down the path. Apparently something's scaring it, what could that be?

Thousands of small Shadows, swarming around a massive clearing. Shattered glass trees, fallen logs, and the swarms of chittering sounds.

It'd take a minute to get through all the black swarming blobs, but one can notice people, actual people inside the Forest. Six teenagers and an adult are all around the clearing. Two stand on top of a log, trying to escape the Shadows who are attempting to climb it. One is dashing through, as the swarm gets ever closer to him. Two girls stand on the branches of a glass tree, while the Shadows attempt to knock it down into them.

And a small child is hiding behind her father, as he attempts to hold back the Shadows with his own body. They're tearing at him, and if not stopped, will probably kill him.

Along the edges of the clearing, on either side, are six bright lights with weird shape and coloring, three per side, that require closer observation to make out exactly what they are. Either way, this is all a huge clusterfuck. Where to start?

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    Though neither of Gudako's Servants are currently visible, there's half a dozen slips of paper, reading things like 'ARMOR' 'PROTECTION' and 'FIRE' inscribed on them in ancient Japanese. Caster's handiwork is easy to identify, and the mess of papers over Gudako's black and white, typical outfit combines into some sort of fire shield spell with another reactive component not readily obvious.

    Caster is with her, spiritually, at least. Since there's only one Servant reading, Berserker was probably left at home for this one.

    Though miss 8D stands by August, she makes no effort to contribute to the battle, and certainly not to seize the pre-emptive strike advantage. No, she's producing her cellphone and filming instead, looking rather entertained for a change.

    "Like sharks in a blood frenzy! I guess Shadows are more interesting than I gave them credit for, huh? They're so lively."

Sanary Rondel has posed:
It's been a while since Sanary really let loose, hasn't she? She's been holding onto a lot of stress since her last few run-ins with the Union on other matters, but this time? There's no gray areas or difference in ideals. Just a straightforward enemy with straightforward targets to rescue.

     it's a good thing she's geared for battle today. Sort of. The fuzzy Lagombi armor, her massive Charge Blade already in its axe form (which would probably make anyone who knwos how to use it properly weep), and plenty of Shadows to cleave right into.

     << "I've got your backs. You need any healing, just say the word. Emily, you're up!">> As the healer starts charging forward, she slams her oversized axe into the ground for some sort of awkward flip before... Posing? With a hand out?

     Oh. Green light. She's doing that magic-battery linking thing again! A green beam of light shoots forward, almost like it's aimed to intercept someone in a dramatic manner. Someone... Butler-y?

Emily Branford (999) has posed:
    By now, Emily is used to the sounds of angry Shadows, and also used to the Pig flipping its lid. What she's not used to is /this ridiculous amount of Shadows/, nor /this degree of flying pirouette off the porcine handle/. Once she realizes how agitated the Pig is, she goes from a brisk walk to a military jog, and from there into a faster sprint when she starts to realize just what's going on...

    ...and then her eyes fall on the father and his daughter, and her sprint becomes a dead run.

    She'd been reaching for the sidearm she keeps with her, but that idea goes out the window. Instead she pulls off and tosses aside her right glove, then reaches down into her right coat pocket and pulls forth a similar one of pitch black. With practiced movement, she pulls it on- and then in the next instant, disappears into a blur of motion.

    The first time she slows down enough to be seen again, she's in the midst of the Shadows. The second time, much further in. And with her third sudden burst of speed comes a sound like an automatic rifle firing off. *KRAKKRAKKRAKKRAKKRAKKRAK!* Dozens of whipcracks, precisely aimed and unleashed at superhuman speed, each one meant to take out one of the Shadows surrounding the man and his little girl. "Back, you wretched things, you'll have no more bits of this one tonight." She reappears for the third and final time in a defensive posture, standing right beside father and daughter, her shoulders rising and falling lightly with the exertion... only for Sanary's healing light to wash over her, easing the stamina drain. "...that's rather splendid, thank you, Rondel. The gentleman here might need a spot of that himself."

August Kohler has posed:
Oh yeah, Yuna Kagurazaka is here! She's not going to be talking, though.

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
It had been a quiet day, really. That is utterly shattered with the call from Die Reisenden. She was quick to get to the warp gate, after grabbing some gear, given it would be likely a fight. She also paused long enough to suit up in her stealth suit, and to get a overcoat to put on. So she didn't raise question as she made her way, through the city to meet up with everywhere. She'd been concerned about the mirror's changing. Anything new could mean things would get more complicated for everyone.

She's ditched the coat before leaping into the mirror and now moved swiftly through the forest with everyone else. The Pig seemed to be very scared, and for good reason there were so many shadows. She'd not seen this many shadows, all in one sport before and they were after two girls who were hiding in a tree. She didn't know how long the tree would hold out.

She's got a pair of pistols out and opens fire with both of them into the masses of shadow. As Sanary makes herself known and takes the role of healing support, as Miss 8D herself is standing by watching the fight rather than by getting involve then again? Caster tends to do the heavy lifting and Gudako does the planning.

"How many of these things are there?! Emily would find that she's not alone in going into the horde. Kotone is heading along right with her shooting as she goes. She knows she's going to run out of ammo before the night is done however, but what can she do?

"Let's keep them as tied up as we can Emily!"

Finna (513) has posed:
This time Finna comes plowing through the mirror and into view as her human form, and she quickly dashes across the forest paths, following the Pig's lead!

    Which takes her straight to a horror scene. Finna scowls. CIVILIANS! "Keep saying that not learning to fight and WELL's just making people helpless. SEE?"

    Well, at least she's not averse to helping out. There's a ton of CHILDREN here. No way would she let them go un-championed!

    She flicks three knives out from seemingly nowhere and hurls them all AT ONCE for the Shadow terrorizing the father and child!

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley arrived with her sword readied but other things on her mind than battle and rescuing people. She knows she is categorically bad at fighting and rescuing anything, so the moment she arrived and started following the Pig, she prepared herself for using her Sight... And the spectacle of a bunch of Shadows attacking MULTIPLE people got her attention immediately. And so she looked over the masses and quickly activated her Sight, and floated up into the air, going up about twenty feet above where they could just reach out and grab her. She floated around with a frown on her face.

    Reaching into her coat, she pulls out a piece of paper and does something highly inadvisable but probably a good idea for distracting these things ... but as her Sight deactivates, she realizes that there's something over there. She approaches the lights with her sword at the ready, gritting her teeth as she flies between trees at a safe enough distance that she won't get, like, batted out of the air by vicious blood-sucking glass plants or anything.

Staren has posed:
    Staren comes in his armor, as usual. Even if they don't know they're fighting a shadow or something, you don't go into the Mirror Forest unprepared. He's a bit mentally tired and jumpy from the whole ordeal yesterday, though.

    That is a concerning chittering sound. "What's /that/ about?" he asks the pig, but it runs off. "Oh right, you can't talk without the spell..."

    And then there are shadows. Swarming around people, so many people. There are lights too, but that father looks like he's about to die, shortly followed by his daughter. Staren's ready to rush over there... But it looks like Emily's got it. Still...

    Staren activates his wings and flies OVER Emily and the shadows. He takes a couple of shots at the horde trying to get up the tree before landing next to the father, slapping a high-tech bandage on the most egregious of his wounds to let chemicals and nanomachines begin the work of making sure he doesn't bleed out after this. "Hang in there, we've got you now!" He also stands protectively in front of the girl, watching for any shadows that might try flanking, as well.

August Kohler has posed:
As the majority of the group are dealing with the civilians, August moves to support Ainsley, followed by Yuna. August summons the Tin Soldier, creating gouts of flame that burn through the horde as it attempts to slam at them, giving Ainsley time to investigate the lights.

The lights, once Ainsley gets closer, actually seem to be portals, which would mean they're mirrors. Looking through one will show another directly across inside a hallway, tilted slightly. Poking her head in and looking around will reveal that all six are in the same hallway, and that there doesn't currently seem to be anyone inside. Sounds of machinery, laughter, and talking is muffled in the background, and smells of people, food, and human bodily processes (ew) can also be picked up. Where could these mirrors be?

Meanwhile, the others deal with the hordes. Sanary tears through several on her charge, and can easily keep them away from her so that she can focus on healing. Emily charges forward, smashing Shadows into nothingness as the ones around the father-daughter pair are obliterated, leaving behind nothing but piles of black goo, a knife stuck in one of them. As the Shadows fall, the man falls to his knees, turning only to grab his daughter and hold her tight. He's too weak to escape, not that he'd know how to, and will have to be filtered out of an exit once this is done.

Kotone's guns tear through several of the mini-hordes, ripping them into nothingness with each pull of the trigger. With Staren's healing process, the father is kept alive long enough for the others to clear out the hordes.

August turns to Gudako as she follows him, frowning. "Wait. Aren't you going to fight at all? Or are you just going to film this whole time? ...What are you even going to /do/ with that?"

August Kohler has posed:
The man running away from the Shadows is starting to lose his breath. Any minute, the horde chasing him will be able to catch up and drag him into them, and who knows what will happen then.

The couple on top of the log suddenly start losing their balance when the hordes begin /pushing/ the log, rolling it along with them. If the Shadows aren't stopped, they'll eventually be knocked straight into the swarm.

A few potshots from Staren push back the ones trying to knock down the tree, but they quickly regroup, changing strategies. As they push against the tree, they begin to push on top of each other, slowly climbing up. Eventually they'll have enough of a Shadow ladder to reach the girls and pull them or push them off, and that's just bad news!

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    'Not fighting' is probably a misnomer. If a few of the weaker Shadows near Gudako, they'll get obliterated by the fire shield around her, bursting into flames and turning to ash immediatly. Stronger Shadows would get past her defenses though-- and if so, Caster's mirror would appear to intercept blows, the pink-haired foxgirl tanking for her master and suffering the bruises and injuries instead. She might also bat them away angrily afterwards. But that's if she gets any attention!

    For her own part, Gudako turns to August, still smiling her wide 8D. "I'll rewatch it, of course! Isn't it interesting? Seeing how the Shadows behave? They're like hungry animals, you see? Not people at all, despite being created from people. Reduced to their base instincts!" She's not entirely wrong, it's a good source of data and study for the group. Right now they're too busy fighting to really pay attention, right?

    "It's okay! I believe in you guys!" 8D

Sanary Rondel has posed:
More backup! Perfect. More Shadows coming her way! Not so perfect. Sanary pivots forward while gripping the very end of her massive axe, then swings the whole thing forward in a huge horizontal slash with enough force and weight to send a whole bunch of thm flying!

     Alas, despite Sanary's weapon rivaling the size of those wielded by certain warriors of a certain number of kingdoms, her speed is still... Lacking with weapons of this size. It's almost like she brought something meant to hunt monsters instead! Still, that swing should buy her enough time to send soem healing energies around some. Aside from maintaining that link to Emily, she's also throwing some healing light towards the father and his daughter to supplement the healing that Staren's already done. Those two could probably use the boost, anyway!

     "Still a lot of them... Alright, I'll cover the guy that's running. Keep your head down.. Uh. Guy!" Charging forward once more, the healer swings that (uncharged) axe around to clear out more of the Shadows on the way to the running man, trying to clear him a path towards her and (relative) safety.

     She'll probably figure out the charge part of the Charge Blade sooner or later, right?

Emily Branford (999) has posed:
    Settling into a defensive stance, Emily begins to slowly circle the father and daughter, in such a way that makes it clear to the surrounding Shadows that she intends to hold them all off - it's almost a challenge. But at the same time, she speaks, her voice smooth and calm, intended to be soothing for the duo. "Steady, now, I've got the two of you. I'll see you out of here without another wound on either of you. My friend over there should be helping you with those wounds shortly, try to hold on for now."

    After a quick series of barked orders over the radio, Emily whips the Strands of Fate around herself, building up a bit of momentum before launching it out with a snap and a KRAK! Even at normal speeds, it sounds like a gunshot, and it hurts even worse. She keeps it moving, too; slinging it around herself, maintaining momentum, so that any given moment she can crack it at any Shadow that gets too close. She fully intends to cover them until the father is healed enough to move.

Staren has posed:
    Staren nods to Sanary. "Just shout if more shadows come." he tells the father and daughter. Then he's off towards the tree. He draws his beam saber hilt, holding it in his off-hand while he takes a couple more shots at the bottom of the shadow-tower, trying to make them all fall down.

    Then suddenly he's holding two lit plasma swords, and trying to slash and stab through the shadows there as quickly as possible!

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley calls over to August and Yuna, "Thanks!" And gives an animated salute with her off-hand as she approaches the mirrors. She discovers the mirror portals, and gives this skewed look of uncertainty, her head cocking momentarily. She lands just long enough to stick her head through one of the portals. She knits her brow, and the gears in her head click...

    "Oh."

    She digs in her coat, muttering to herself. "You mentioned a carnival, August?" she vocalizes over her radio, "There's a house of mirrors, right?"

    The answer she gets is not comforting. She draws her mouth into a thin line, and confirms that August can close the portals and that Yuna is going to go make sure more people cannot come through them. Her Sight activates once more and she focuses on the Portals... she searches for indications of the Shadow influence or the controlling force of the Black Queen, but she can only really make sense of a limited amount of what she can find. She knows what the Queen's influence looks like, in that it conveys instructions or feelings of some kind, and she knows other Shadow-like forces might look the same.

    She reaches out with both hands while she does this, her nose wrinkling and her body bracing as if prepared to get struck by a flood of Shadows the moment she finds anything, her hands prepared to cast magic in order to reinforce the sight, so she can properly track down where this is coming from. "Alright, where is this coming from...?"

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
More of the group moves out Ainsley arrives and gets into swing of things it was good to have her along. Staren too arrives and joins the fight but there's so many shadows. She knows she'll be going hand to hand with them before this is over, for now she'll try to make every bullet she has count. She has several displays bringing up addition information such as the status of the people she's trying to help.

Shell casings go flying as she keeps shooting, she dances in and out of the shadows but to say they are not scoring hits on her would be a lie. Given the innocents she doesn't use grenades and she keeps the pistol shots very controlled. This is a far cry from the scared woman who entered the multiverse a few years ago. She can't get to everyone and she knows it.

"I could use some help here!"

It doesn't take long Sanary and Finna seem to be on the job as are many of the others. She gets hit and fires at one shadow point blank but it's clear she felt that one, she'll do what she can to giver cover fire to the rescue efforts.

"You want something to chew on?! Come try me on for size you'll find me more spicy than they are!"

Okay that sounded so much better in her head, it really did. She's also quite thankful for Emily's effort on covering some of them, she's not seen whip use like that outside of a movie back home.

Finna (513) has posed:
Once the father and child's situation's stabilized, Finna leap twirls about and delivers a freaky series of kicks to Shadows, somehow propelleing herself FORWARD with every kick that sends Shadows tumbling. She ends the manuever with a weird backflip and lands in a crouch, legs ready to spring her off to her next target. It's a freaky, nonsensible manuever, the sort one might see in a martial arts movie...

    Her eyes snap about left and right, and focus on... the couple's not getting much attention over there!

    Putting tremendous strength in her legs she LEAPS across the distance in a hurry and comes DOWN on the Shadows, delivering knee strikes and kicks and elbows every which way to at first bowl some over and make room...

    But then her whole body takes on an almost SURREAL silvery glow... and she SWIPES at another Shadow. Fingernails now like razor claws, the strike trails silvery-blue light and is sure to RIP THROUGH Shadow-flesh in ways blunt impacts definitely wouldn't...

August Kohler has posed:
"I...guess you're right, but..., ugh, whatever!" August moves to burn more Shadows and cover Ainsley as she investigates, grimacing as he realizes the situation. "Kagurazaka, keep people away from there!" Yuna proceeds to enter through the Mirror, and go off to keep people from investigating the House of Mirrors.

Gudako is able to kill most Shadows easily, and Caster bats the others off. However, one moves forward to try and stab Gudako with a large fragment of glass, which will require Caster to deal with it!

Ainsley reaches out to get information on the Mirror. Sadly, whatever is doing this isn't going to be identified, but there is some info she can discover: they are using the same method that Persona users use to open the Mirrors, but on an indefinite timer. And they are not a Shadow. Additionally, it was done from the mundane side, not the Mirror Forest! However, while August is dealing with a rather large horde, a smaller one dashes forward to try and clobber Ainsley!

Finna slams forward, kicking Shadows away and clawing them to bits. They're easily dissected, chunks of black goo spilling all around her as she strikes, allowing the terrified couple space to jump off the log and try and run free! Specifically, towards Emily, because she's already protecting another pair and everyone else is cutting things to bits violently.

Speaking of which, while hordes keep trying to edge onto Emily, they're knocked back and eviscerated, allowing the father-daughter to take the time to catch their breath. Sanary's healing spell brings the father back to full health, though he's still shaken as he takes cover behind the butler.

Sanary's charge of the axe slams forward, smashing the running horde. Her charge sends a few actually barreling out of the way, and when the Running Man realizes there's a human behind him, he dives down, rolling himself into a ball of cowardice! He's going to need some protection too.

Staren tears into the Shadows at the tree, the power of beam and plasma dissecting them and easily destroying their ladder. Since he already shot at them, they're easy enough to completely remove, giving the two girls a position to leap out of the tree and move to hide behind him!

Kotone's shots meanwhile slam through the straggling hordes, tearing them apart and keeping the others safe from reinforcements. There's still a few mini-hordes left, but at this rate, they should be able to clean up and get everyone out!

That is, if more don't arrive from the forest. From a distance, more chittering sounds can be heard. More Shadows are getting curious of what's going on, and are starting to approach! While they do that, August is running for the mirrors, as he moves to take down the three near him and Ainsley, in as fast a burst as possible. Getting to the other three, though? He'll need help getting through.

Emily Branford (999) has posed:
    Once the father is back on his feet, Emily turns to face him, just long enough to give him a light clap on the shoulder and look him in the eyes. "You're doing quite well, sir. And your daughter too, for that matter," she adds, giving the girl a surprisingly warm smile before turning her gaze back to the man. "Now, I need you to do something for me, alright? I need you to start moving that way." She points, in the direction of the clearing. "You don't have to run, but move quickly. I'll clear a path for you and keep them off your backs. You need to absolutely trust me, though, alright? Even if it looks as if there's one in your way, /don't stop moving/. I will keep you safe, I swear it."

    Should they comply, she'll do exactly as she said. She intends to stay with them; to move around them as she can, dipping into her speed where necessary, so that she can make sure their path is entirely clear. If one moves to step in their way, she'll shred it apart, and if one tries to leap in on their backs, she'll snap it out of the air.

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    A Shadow moves past Caster's defenses, and plunges a shard of black glass into Gudako's side. You would expect a teenager with no outstanding physical powers to buckle over in pain, but the dead eyes of the magus lower themselves to look at her injury, face still displaying a wide 8D. Red stains her white shirt, proving this definitely wasn't in vain, at least.

    Caster frowns, infusing her mirror with a lightning spell and attempting to give the Shadow a solid piece of her mind. Spoiler: it's basically violent thoughts, and that big floating mirror is surprisingly punchy when flung with telekinesis. It's a neat work-around that lets Caster use her magical firepower stat to do melee attacks. It's cheating, yes.

    Gudako extracts the shard from her wound, at any rate, and pockets it. With an idle hand she conjures up a healing spell, but her lack of experience with magic shows, the dull green glow over her hand barely able to seal the injury at all. Points for effort?

    At least the Shadows got her to stop filming for a minute there.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
That's all the hollering Sanary needs to put some extra oomph into her... Everything. Although she's messing with charge blade's axe form to decouple it into the sword-and-shield form, the healer does spot an opportunity to toss a cloud of healing light Kotone's way. Would it even work? Who knows. If she's got a pulse and natural healing, it'll probably do something!

     "I got ya. Remember, head down, keep any part if you lose any!" As callous as that might sound to her current escort target, it's still a practical concern when the axe-turned-sword-and-shield starts getting swung around at the oncoming Shadows. "Sure are a lot of these bastards... How'd you even get in here, anyway?!"

     The weapon's phials charge with each impact and slash, and it's becoming fairly obvious that Sanary's trying to clear a steady path towards safety rather than just moving quickly. When that request comes in through the radio, meanwhile, the path she's trying to clear takes a small adjustment. Although she's still trying to keep the no-longer-running-man safe, Sanary's also working on whittling down some of those numbers between August's position and the closest mirror, too!

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    "-- well that confirms that."

    Ainsley's Sight deactivates once she gathers at least that much, at least able to recognize that the Name fragments she gathered have nothing to do with Shadows. "One second-- hrnngh!" She is nearly hit firmly by the clubbing attack. It's more glancing thanks to her being a little more on her toes than the average person, but she still looks like she'll be feeling that later. Probably some swelling or even a nasty abrasion from the strike. And then she grabs the hilt of her longsword with both hands and SWINGS it at the Shadow, trying to bisect the creature with a vicious chop that runs contrary to her otherwise gentle demeanor when she's been doing these missions! She looks like she practices at least a little.

    "The mirrors were opened from the outside," she says once she has some breathing room, "This looks like someone purposefully caused this. Someone that wasn't a Shadow."

Staren has posed:
    Staren deactivates and puts away his plasma swords, then offers to catch the girls if needed. He leads them over to Emily. "How did you all get in here, anyway?"

    He can hear more chittering in the distance. Great. "Hey! We better get all the people out of here," he shouts, "Can we bring them back to one of the mirrors?"

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa ammo levels are not looking as good as she'd like, hell she's reloading her pistols now and finds she may be on her last clips She's run into shadows before in the forest but nothing that's quite needed her to carry this amount of ammunition before. It's a lesson she's now going to learn well from now, but she can hear that there are more shadows possibly on the way.

"We need to hurry I think the other natives are taking notice of this!"

She calls out as she continues to shoot but one gun runs out of ammo, she's forces to drop is and attempt to /punch/ shadow that has got too close to her.

the Doll Woman certainly is dancing on the stage today as the shadows are thinning out but? As she noted more seem to be coming, also August brings up n the comm some very good but worrying points about how this might have happened.

Finna (513) has posed:
With the unfortunate people no longer suffering alone (instead of panicking on their feet, only a slight improvement guys!) Finna grimaces. Still gotta get them OUT of here!

    She goes leap-dashing (a very weird manuever) to keep up with the sudden shove back towards the warp gates... oh yes, leaping UP INTO THE TREE BRANCHES, somehow not cutting herself on the freaky terrain. And from above.... she's hurling... needles?!

    Painful needles. At Every Shadow She can see that's near the retreat...

August Kohler has posed:
Neither the man nor the child respond to Emily, but the man nods to her slowly. When they point, he cautiously starts moving that way, taking his daughter with him. Emily's able to maintain the defense, and she's pretty lucky that the Forest didn't close in on them! Getting them back to the Pig is easy enough, and it doesn't seem any Shadows are going to come over here.

Caster's lightning mirror easily smashes through the Shadows, and luckily the mirror shards don't have weird Shadow disease, so Gudako should be fine in the long run! If he wasn't busy, August would probably quip at the fact she's going back to filming.

Ainsley can easily get the Shadows attacking her off her back, bisecting them as they attack. The black goo spills to the ground around her, but it doesn't seem anymore are going to come her way.

One of the girls speaks up to Staren, cautiously, terrified out of her wits. "We like, saw something weird and cool in the House of Mirrors. So we touched it, and we could walk through it. So we did...I just want to go home, please take us home!" Human curiosity seems to know no bounds as August shouts back to Staren. "Yeah! Bring them my way, I'll come grab the father and daughter once we leave."

Kotone's fists are enough to counter the Shadows that she's fighting, especially seeing her mechanical nature. They shatter easily, allowing her to move to the next and the next and the next.

Sanary's support keeps her man safe, and additionally allows August easy rein to move in. He slams forward to the first two Mirrors, shutting them with a few touches, before moving to the third, waiting for the others to usher their escorts through. Once they have, he'll close it behind them.

Finna's needle strike clears off the rest of the stragglers, though the chittering is getting closer. They're going to need to get the father-daughter pair out, and fast. August starts heading towards the path, shouting to the others. "We need to go! We'll take them through the Shack, it's the easiest way we can get this done. Come on!"

Staren has posed:
    Staren ahhs and nods. A house of mirrors, no wonder there's so many. Staren nods, bringing them to August. "Just follow us, and don't talk to anyone about this once you're back home... Say, are you all going to Drachenblatt?"

Emily Branford (999) has posed:
    "All right, good, well done both of you." With the coast temporarily clear, Emily gives her hand a little flick, and just like that the whip is seemingly gone - though the glove remains. She sets a hand on father and daughter's shoulder each, and gives them a reassuring squeeze. "We're almost out, though, come on then. Let's have a little run, just to get to the exit." She's not quite shoving them, but she's trying to make sure they get moving. That rising chittering in the distance is getting more than a little worrying.

Sanary Rondel has posed:
Sanary lets out a relieved sigh as her charge is escorted to and through the mirror, moving quickly (or as quickly as she can considering her not-speed) to regroup with the others and focus her efforts on channeling her healing magic outwards. There's bruises and cuts hidden underneath that armor of hers, but she can take it! The others... Well, she'll just have to worry about that, won't she?

     "Stick together! Doesn't look like we have anyone else besides these two to cover, so let's make sure everyone gets out safely!" The healer even switches the Charge Blade's phials into its shield before switching to it's axe mode once again, keeping her eye open for larger threats or whatever that chittering noise is coming from while maintaining that green healing light cloud. "Steady now..."

Gudako Ordria (908) has posed:
    "It's a shame, you know? So many of them here and not a single one gained a Persona. I guess it doesn't work that way huh? It'd be too convenient!" Gudako says, eventually satisfied with the state of her injury and, indeed, resuming filming. There's not much TO film anymore, though, save a heroic retreat from the forest, so it doesn't last very long. Eventually Caster tires of beating on Shadows, too, withdrawing back to her master's side and increasing her vigilance. That was one wound too many, in her opinion.

    A little bit of support won't hurt, though.

    "Aah, Caster~ make them stop complaining, hm?"

    Caster nodnods, and suddenly produces a dozen paper slips. They fly to each civilian and present hero, latching on and immediatly providing a blessing of speed and good luck. Unless people block them due to paranoia, that's totally an option.

Ainsley (151) has posed:
    Ainsley rubs the spot that got struck as the Shadows start getting fought back steadily by her allies. When no more come at her, she decides now is the right time to start finding Shadows to fight on her own. After calling Gudako's actions into question over the radio and finding a lack of satisfying agreement on the oddity of her presence, it seems she does need some good old fashioned violence to distract her from the fact that someone just threatened the White Pig, the Shadow she's trying to form an understanding with. She fights along the way back to the Shack if there's anything there in the way to chop, not so grumpy with Gudako that she would forget what's going on around her.

    "Let's get out of this hellish place," is the last thing she'll say, in agreement with the others. Especially toward August, since he's on the ball with all of this.

    Somehow, Gudako's concession of a buff from Caster doesn't actually improve Ainsley's mood. In fact, it makes her frown more pronounced for a moment there once she realizes who it's from. At least she's largely keeping that to herself now, right?

Kotone Yamakawa has posed:
Kotone Yamakawa doesn't even think too hard about what the shadows are made of, she does not want to think out about it. She just keeps fighting and not holding back given the people whose lives are on the line here. With the call they are done? She's going to break off and make for the shack moving to cover everyone as they go.

"I'll take rear guard!"

She'll fall in and move with the group as they pull out.

August Kohler has posed:
The girl shakes her head as she follows Staren. "No, we're on vacation." Well, that solves that. As they reach the clearing, those still fighting can pretty easily keep any new Shadows from approaching. August moves to open the portal in the lake, pausing when a paper slip gets stuck to his face. He first opens the portal, and then removes it, because he's kind of blind like this. Once they get to the Shack, he takes it upon himself to lead the father and daughter back to the city, while the two profusely thank everyone involved and go off to probably have nightmares forever. Sadly, a lot of people learned about this today. Luckily, even if they said anything, they'd probably not be believed, especially without evidence!

Emily Branford (999) has posed:
    A couple of days down the line, the father and daughter will receive a not-insubstantial gift of cash, accompanied by a note- "This can't erase what you've experienced, but hopefully it can ease the rough days ahead. If you should have trouble of this sort again, or dire need in general, call this number, it will reach me anywhere." It's signed with 'EMILY' in a fancy, elegant lettering style, and does include a number that will reach her.