4599/Persona:WTWM FA4 - A Lesson on Bravery

Persona:WTWM FA4 - A Lesson on Bravery
Date of Scene:	19 September 2016
Location:	Alberichstadt <P:WTWM>
Synopsis:	The fourth and final day of the School Festival Arc. A fateful encounter.
Cast of Characters:	August Kohler, Janine Liberi, 915, 1040, 1039, 513, William Pauwel, 1051
Tinyplot:	Persona: Were the World Mine-1

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August Kohler has posed:
EVENING, ALBERICHSTADT, GERMANY. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19TH, 2016.

Tonight is the final day of the Drachenblatt school festival, with its centerpiece, a showing of the opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen. The final opera, Gotterdamerung, is near its conclusion; tickets weren't hard to get if you know somebody who knows somebody. The final part of the tragedy, Gotterdamerung centers around the relationship between Siegfried and Brunnhilde, betrayal, and their deaths. Currently, Siegfried's funeral pyre scene, which is around the end of the opera, is taking place.

August Kohler sits up in the lighting booth, making sure everything's working smoothly. It's a boring job, but one he can't really take his eyes off, unless he wants to get yelled at. However, as a 16 year old, his eyes wander through the crowd anyways, spotting familiar faces, as his view moves further into the backrow. He's about to look back at the lightboard, until standing in the back, he spots someone.

Over seven feet tall, made of pure muscle, is a man dressed in red, with a thick beard, a bald head, and a powerful stance. To those who have played the Persona Game, this man is distinctly familiar, and could only be possibly one person. He's intensely watching the showing.

August Kohler's eyes widen as he spots this man, and he grabs his radio, before bursting out the door, to the bewilderment of his coworker in the booth. He begins running frantically to the crowd. Something's going on.

Janine Liberi has posed:
    Janine is in the audience too! Trying not to fall asleep after Kaz put her through the wringer yesterday backstage. Opera isn't really her thing, but it's kind of nice to pretend that the guy playing Seigfried is the one burning and not the character. That guy's a real dirtbag.

    She visibly flinches in her chair when August's call comes over the radio, but everyone is thankfully distracted by the performance. It takes a moment for the words to penetrate the veil of sleepiness, and a moment more to properly comprehend them. The Woodsman. Is here.

    She starts to tremble, her good hand clutching into a fist. She reasons that that son of a bitch is the reason her life is such a goddamn mess. If it weren't for him, she could keep her head down and live a quiet and less painful existance until what ravaged her arm claims the rest of her. Now she has to /try/ and do really dangerous shit, and...

    If this is thier chance, it has to be perfect. She won't let him slip away.

    She stands and moves through the row to get out, muttering into the radio that she'll leave through another exit so they can all pincer him in the hallways. Her hand dips into her pocket and procudes her phone. Figures she wouldn't have her sword, so it'll have to do as a reflective surface.

    Soon, she stands ready, in the hallway behind the back exit. "I'm ready."

Ira MacNally (915) has posed:
Ira /loves this opera/, which is actually a deeply-held, personal secret that she's never revealed to anyone-not even Gudako. Who would expect the ogre to have some kind of /culture/ to her anyway? Nobody!

    She's semiblended into the crowd-though more likely the people around her are politely ignoring the social outcast's presence in favor of watching the opera, which is just how Ira wants it. She loses herself, absobred in the story, dead to the world around her until she hears August start yapping about the Woodsman being here in the crowd. She doesn't believe him of course-since when has anything actually come into their world that significantly? Shadow changelings aside that is.

    But she loathes to leave at this point to give chase. In fact, she doesn't want to right now and remains where she is, subtly glancing backwards, squinting into the darkness to find this mountain of a main. The moment she sees him, she knows, intensely, that it is him. After those two encounters, there is no question. But even though she has spotted him, she doesn't move, stubbornly waiting until the opera is over because she's definitely /not/ leaving during the funeral pyre. That's one of the best part!

Ran Itoh (1040) has posed:
    Ran Itoh made excuses. She volunteered for other things. She volunteered /Hikaru/ for other things. She hid around corners and underneath furniture (after a night of drinking cheap liquor and swearing her allegiance to anybody that would save her).

    Eventually, she could no longer escape her destiny.

    Ran Itoh had no choice but to show her support to the school's drama club members... by attending the opera!

    (But... it's Ran, so she's been fast asleep by the second act of every single installment.) She's been asleep for at least an hour already, head resting on Hikaru's shoulder, lulled by her mother's native language and her absolute disinterest in dramatic stories. She's the worst half-German ever, probably!

    And then August happens, and she comes up from sleep with a super undignified snort and a confused bleat that /might/ be the word 'what'. "Guh --Hikky!" she stage-whispers, getting immediately shushed by the woman seated behind them. "It's him!! The kids are going to do something dumb, come on!!"

    Ran does not yet appreciate the amount of ire that the students have for the Woodsman.

Hikaru Kurosawa (1039) has posed:
    Hikaru startles from where he'd been leaning on Ran when the radio sounds, because, even though he'd been more enthusiatic about the opera than his best friend, well...
    It's /really/ long, and he doesn't get many of the cultural references, and...

    But the sounds of distress wake him, and after a moment's orientation he sits up straight, shaking his head vigorously. "I heard them, Ran," he whispers back, as he stands, offering a hand to Ran. "Sorry," he apologises to the people they disturb as they leave, "we just remembered we have to... go do our taxes?"

    With a winning apologetic smile, he sidles out of the pew and scans the area for the Woodsman. Should he spy him, he'll give chase, too!

Finna (513) has posed:
There's a BIRD in the auditorium! Perched way up in the ceiling. A common crow, perhaps quite fitting for the mythos of Earth. But it's not an ordinary crow, oh no.

    The tail feathers are a bit unusually fuzzy and it has fox ears peeking through its black plumage, though... as she's wearing a false shape, only the greatest of beings could easily notice them. Chances are high that only one such being exists in this room...

    And it's the Woodsman.

    Upon noticing that he's even in the crowd and seeing the rest of the group try to surround him... Finna gets ideas of her own.

    She swoops down silently across the audience, narrowly positioned to slip past people's notice. They only might take notice during the utter last part of her journey...

    Where she attempts to gently land on the Woodsman's shoulder. The crow then does something rather odd, executing a sort of... bending-forward wing-bow in greeting!

    And it speaks. Quietly. Just a whisper loud enough for the being to hear.

    "Hail, spirit. Free for a--" She quickly thinks better of that manner of phrasing. "My allies and I desire an audience with you after the play's finished."

    A little formality never hurt, really.

William Pauwel has posed:
    William Pauwel is not actually in the opera, but he IS in town. But... Maybe not for the reason that he- or anyone of any decent reputation- aught to be. "Honestly, sheriff," Will whines with his back to the wall. "How was I s'posed to know that y'all don't let people carry guns around in these parts? I ain't a local! You guys can give a guy a pass, right?"

    German Cop Man gives him a look. It's a look that only an authority figure can manage. A sort of blood-chillingly disciplined stare that somehow transmits guilt in its truest form. A penance stare, one might say. "Honest! Come on, I ain't gonna hurt anybod--"

Beep.

Beep beep.

    The radio chatters in his ear. Will blinks behind his visor. An emergency!? He glances up at the officer and produces a big, sheepish grin. "S-sorry sherriff! I ain't got time to go to the pokey today. Gotta run!" Will levers his arm vaguely upwards! An apparatus mounted to his wrist launches a wirebound grappling hook right into a gutter! AND THEN HE GOES FLYING!

Well, not flying. But he does go rocketing up onto the rooftops, where he can immediately start running towards the not-so-distant campus.

Meanwhile the cop just sort of... stares, and shakes his head. KIDS THESE DAYS. No respect for authority! Also that boy had a gun. He... should probably call this one in.

But that, my friends, is a problem for FUTURE WILL.

    "Hey y'all," Will calls as he leaps from a rooftop down into the campus proper, looking every bit like some kind of SCI FI COWBOY. Because he kind of is. "Heard y'all needed a runner. I'm on my way. Just tell me where to go!"

Millium Argent (1051) has posed:
     ALBERICHSTADT

     A relatively normal place beset by confounding supernatura phenomenon. Naturally, this meant that people who were not supposed to be here...were going to be here. Namely one MILLIUM ARGENT sitting in the audience, hands pressed together with an expression of wonderment plastered on her face as the rousing opera continues on. WOW! This is just like something out of her childhood stories!

     How did she get here anyway?

     Who the hell knows, it's probably long story fraught with peril, passion, and the sacrifices of many a brave soul. Or not. Actually 'not' was more likely. Oh well.

     Everything is nice and interesting, until.... "Eh?" Why were those people bounding out of the auditorium like the final boss' general just came out of nowhere to heckle them? ...What the heck is a final boss? Should she go look?

     .......

     She's curious, but.....but.... THIS SCENE IS SO GOOD.

     Hnnnnnngh.

     Fiiiiiine.

     Millium stands up at a much more relaxed pace and makes her way out to exit, following after the harried teens curiously...

August Kohler has posed:
The first to make it to the Woodsman is the little crow, who may or may not be Finna. As she lands on his shoulder, he doesn't even glance to her. As soon as her sentence finishes, a hand rises, and moves to smack her off his shoulder, with /incredible/ power. If this hand hits, Finna's probably going to go flying into the wall. The Woodsman then glances only briefly towards August, before turning towards the exit, and moving at a brisk pace, attempting to avoid the throng of teenagers and friends.

The Woodsman's path will take it right past Janine's trap. However, right as he passes her, his head suddenly turns, eyes meeting directly with Janine's. He knew. His eyes exude pressure, as he keeps moving, picking up his pace. If Janine gets in his way...he looks like he'd probably barrel her down.

Janine Liberi has posed:
    Janine stares back at the Woodsman as he comes towards her, eyes narrowed. They're alive with all the frustration that has bene mounting in her since she first awakened her Persona, since she first become crippled. Since her life went to utter shit. She hits a button, causing the screen to go blank. She's already turned off all the cameras in this part of the school.

    No need to hold back.

    "BIANCABELLA!" she cries out, gazing intently into the empty screen. The maimed Persona rises up from her back and gestures. Immediately, the hallway comes alive with wind, knocking over paintings, tipping over cabinets, and hopefully pushing the Woodsman back.

    Because Janine is not budging an inch.

Ira MacNally (915) has posed:
Patiently, Ira waits until the scene of the opera ends, then she quietly gets up, moving low as she bypasses the other seated watchers, though not without some annoyance. Trying to stay low doesn't help when you're nearly six feet tall. Still, she moves, silently, deliberately, and with no real quickness to her pace. She can hear her other classmates working to slow the Woodsman down. She had no reason to attact additional attention to herself.

    Even so, she was certain that the Woodsman was going to recognize her when he saw her. She had the sinking suspicion that he recognized all of his surviving victims. She moves silently, stalking behind him like the very wolf that moves throughout the mirror forest.

    She brings up the rear, far behind all of those that have moved to corral the Woodsman into Janine's trap. She remains there as an immovable, hungry presence, waiting like the Beast of her persona, coiled and ready to strike.

August Kohler has posed:
Wind roars through the hallway, as things collapse. For a minute, it looks like the Woodsman will be stopped, as he slides back an inch. But then, he just stares at Janine, and then her Persona, and then the exit.

And then, with a throw of a fist, he's going to /part/ the wind, incredible pressure flowing off the strike and forward, a blast of pure Force. And then, he charges forward. If Janine or Biancabella are in his way, he's not going to stop for them, and will go /straight through them/.

And if he gets to that door, he smashes it open, leading to the open skies of the school courtyard. The Woodsman glances towards the direction of the city...And he jumps, soaring high into the air as the ground cracks beneath his feet, his launch aimed for the buildings in the city. August Kohler only gets out one response. "Does anyone have a vehicle?!"

Janine Liberi has posed:
    Janine smirks at the wall of meat before her starts sliding back. "Got you now you son of a bi-" And then he throws a punch, and the strongest gust she can muster is cancelled out. She staggers back, Biancabella vanishes as her focus is shattered. And then he continues to rush her, and it's all she can do to try and throw herself to the side.

    Not fast enough.

    She's caught on the side, which sends her spinning into a wall. She slams into it hard and slumps, head ringing from the impact. She just needs a minute, but she's not going to be saying much right now.

William Pauwel has posed:
    While a certain policeman grumbles about 'stupid gunhappy Americans,' Will sprints headfirst into danger! Or rather, he would, but danger runs into him first, because he's *right there* when the Woodsman explodes through the courtyard door, sends Janine flying, and then goes leaping like some kind of burly ultragorilla into the city.

He might cave in an unfortunate cop car.

Will doesn't know.

    What he does know is that Janine is hurt, and that August needs a ride. "Uh," Will blinks, glancing between August and the girl slumped against that wall. "My ride's parked out in the lot, but are y'all sure that we should be chasing that guy while she just got her chest caved in?"

Hikaru Kurosawa (1039) has posed:
    Hikaru follows the Woodsman, bears witness as she makes her stand. He winces as it fails, not close enough to intercede. He hurries forward as the Woodsman barrels out of the building, though he doesn't crowd Janine; he'll let Ran take care of her.

    "Oh, geez... yeah," Hikaru nods to August. "We can take my car. At least - well, five of us can. Maybe six if we squeeze." Responsible adults: useful for some things!! But first, he asks his friend, of Janine's plight: "Ran, is she gonna be okay?"

Millium Argent (1051) has posed:
     ".........Uhhhhh...."

     Millium stands there, kind of off to the side, a bit of a background object to the proceedings. She stands there and watches as The Trap goes off, and the giant of a man is caught by a raging wind, sliding back... And then he PUNCHES with enough force to part the red sea. Janine is barreled right on by, and then that man...thing...MAN...THING, is leaping off into the city...

     ".....UMMMMMM....."

     The blonde girl looks back in the direction of the auditorium. Then she looks back towards the group of teens gathering up to give chase to the Woodsman. Ira was the closest, so she glances in her direction and asks.

     "This isn't a part of the performance, is it? Because it's REALLY convincing."

     Oh dear.

Finna (513) has posed:
WHOOOOOOOOOSH!! One brief movement on the Woodsman's part and Finna is a pile of mush on the wall! Right?!

    ... Nope. The Crow is no ordinary crow, and it doesn't move as an ordinary crow would. its ENTIRE body contorts impossibly and vaults up with speed so fast a high-speed camera would have trouble capturing it... and yet.

    And yet the WAKE of the Woodsman's blow painfully rips feathers from the crow's body through sheer vacuum force and the animal goes tumbling through the air, flapping wildly to reassert aerial control! One wing's been clearly yanked in a bad direction... but there's some gross squelchy noises from the bird's body... and new feathers ERUPT from its flesh, fully grown, the mangled wing straightens. The barest hint of a silvery aura drifts from its plumage... and off it goes, quite chastised!

    The Crow ZOOMS off for its fellows, tail effectively between its legs... so to speak.

    But Finna's not done just yet. She swoops down elsewhere after reaching Janine's location and shapeshifts upon landing, taking human form... though there's something decisively unreal and divine about the way her skin glows, how much power twitches in her lean-looking muscles...

    "And here I thought -I- was rude. Did the Queen stick a tree up your rear or something, spirit?!"

    She casts a look over at Janine, figuring out just what kind of shape she's in...

Ran Itoh (1040) has posed:
    Hey, taxes are better than what Ran had come up with, which was 'nothing'.

    Following right on Hikaru's heels, she rounds the corner just in time to see the Woodsman's back disappear out the doors. She leaves him be for now, because Janine's slumped against the wall and Ran knows what her strengths are. She skids to a stop next to the fencer, going to one knee to look for injuries. "Janine, are you all right?"

    Ran is aware enough to know that Janine is not likely to take well to being fussed over, but... what else is she supposed to do?!

    "I think she's just stunned," the blonde replies to Hikaru. "She should be okay in a moment. Come on, wake up Janine...!"

    With a glance over her shoulder for any non-Awakened persons, she touches Liberi's shoulder. Tsuki-no-Usagi doesn't need to manifest entirely for the small amount of healing that Ran doles out.

Ira MacNally (915) has posed:
Ira pauses and turns to look at Millium critically. "...no, this isn't part of the performance at all. That really is a man that ran off and can leap buildings in a single bound." She speaks in an utter deadpan so it's impossible to tell if she's being absolutely serious to Millium, who is a stranger to her. "But if you are here to see the opera-" she nods towards the stage, "It's almost over, so I'd go join them right away and maybe ignore this silly business."

    She leaves the hallway and pushes past, running for the parking lot.

    She passes by the cars, ignoring them, despite the fact that she may or may not know how to hotwire one for her purposes.

    No, she goes right to a motorcyle. /HER/ motorcyle, it turns out. This is where her Murasame Zaibatsu salary has gone. Reaching out, she snaps up the helmet resting, hanging on one of the handles and swings a leg over the seat after jamming the helmet onto her head. A wicked grin spreads across her face as she revs the motorcyle and takes off into the city.

Janine Liberi has posed:
    As the small amount of healing passes into her, Janine snaps out of it, the large bruise that was already forming starting to go away. "Ergh... thanks I guess," she mutters before using the wall to get back to her feet. Thankfully, her phone emerged unscathed from the impact. "I had him stuck for a moment, but he threw one punch and..."

    She scowls and clutches her phone tighter. "Thanks for the backup jerks. Let's go."

    And so she's marching out the door after the Woodsman, jumping into the first vehicle offered. She's not letting him get away!

August Kohler has posed:
The Woodsman is, luckily, trackable, because as he lands on a building, it shakes and leaves a crack in the roof. He also can't fly, so he has to keep jumping from building to building. August turns to Will, resolute, "Yes, we're following him! We've been waiting a year to talk to him! He kidnaps people like us, throws them to their death, and doesn't care if they survive or not! I'll go with you, you guys go with Mr. Kurosawa." He doesn't even notice that Ira is gone, as he heads out towards the lot, waiting only for Will.

The Woodsman seems to be heading for an area focusing on apartment complexes, based on his trajectory. As long as you pay attention to the thundercracks and shaking buildings (which are freaking people out, who think its an earthquake), you should be able to tail him!

William Pauwel has posed:
    A lot of things happen. People rush out. Someone goes to help Janine. Will idly wonders how nobody else inside has noticed the giant lumberjack punching a door off its hinges. But something else he notices is...

...Someone famous.

    "Y-you're--" Will babbles, eyes widening in surprised recognition. He's apparently looking RIGHT AT MILLIUM. "You're the Guild's Idol, Millium Argent, aren't y--" WAIT NO. No stop. August is right. There is SERIOUS BUSINESS afoot. Will shakes starstruck thoughts right out of his head! "W-well, we'll talk after this! I uh. Yeah! I'LL GET MY BIKE."

    Will sprints off just a little more quickly than is usually normal, and returns shortly thereafter astride an ENORMOUS IRON HORSE. The Mistral's engine roars as it rolls in, custom-made muffler stack rumbling with the noise of a finely tuned, wild-running machine. "Alright! Whoever needs a ride--" He scoots forward a little, swinging the bike around to face the city in the distance, "Hop on! Gramps and I customized this old girl ourselves, so I can guarantee her quality!"

    REGARDLESS OF WHO GETS ON (maximum number of passengers: 3), Will revvs the engine and BLASTS OUT INTO TOWN. The pedal is on the metal! Curiously, he DOESN'T TAKE THE ROAD. Instead, he pivots and rushes right up a slope, whereupon Will ACTIVATES THE THRUSTERS. The Mistral's bottom end erupts with a blast of blue-hot flame and SO MUCH SMOKE, sending it sailing up onto the rooftops. TIME TO SKIP TRAFFIC ENTIRELY.

Hikaru Kurosawa (1039) has posed:
    Hikaru leads them out to the car park, where his car is resting.
    This car is named the Junker, because it is /constantly breaking down/. There's a bit of rust on the car door, one of the side mirrors is duct-taped on, and the upholstery could have used replacement about five years ago. Hikaru opens up the doors, slipping into the driver's seat. "Pile in, guys!"

    Hikaru starts the engine - it splutters once, and then revs into action, reluctantly. Once everyone's in and strapped up (SEATBELT SAFETY IS IMPORTANT), Hikaru reverses out of the car park and follows the trail of disturbed buildings.

Ira MacNally (915) has posed:
Ira keeps following. She's likely speeding but fortunately, the shaking buildings make this Woodsman pretty easy to track. Her grin widens with every passing second.

    This was /fun/, she realizes. Being the pursuer for once was very fun!

Finna (513) has posed:
After realizing that the Woodsman's NOT STOPPING... Finna dives sideways as if she's trying to belly flop on the pavement... but she lands on all fours, now a speedy fox.

    VERY speedy.

    The white fox takes off at bullet-like speeds, bursting into an aura of burning silvery-white light that obscures its form into a bright, murky-shaped silhouette! OFF she goes, reaching speeds beyond even highway cars. Speed is one of the few areas where she REALLY excels.

    CHASES, on either end, another. Very befitting someone with a fox for their totem...

    "He's not even TRYING to be subtle... what's going on?! Why the change in methods?!"

Millium Argent (1051) has posed:
     "Oh."

     So this is real.

     "Ohhhhhh...."

     Millium intones mildly as Ira walks off and then goes to give chase. "....." WELL. It looked like there was no going back in for the rest of the opera now! And here she thought this was a nice, quiet world where nothing wrong happened and people did mundane things from day to day.

     "Hmph, you can't tell me to just turn around and walk away after I see all of th-" Ira is gone. And in her place is A RATHER SCRUFFY LOOKING YOUNG MAN who actually calls her by name. What? Someone KNOWS HER OUT HERE? That's impossible, she came to the middle of nowhere! ...Ah, but then he DOES kind of look familiar too-

     Wait no, giant man leaping tall buildings in a single bound! Worry about that later!

     Or well, she would if it weren't for the fact that pretty much everyone hopped into a car, or onto a bike, and then zipped off to give chase. Crap. Did she just get left behind? SHE JUST GOT LEFT BEHIND.

     "Rude!" Millium huffs before stomping a foot lightly and wringing a wrist. Fragments of blue orbit around both wrists and ankles, glowing bright azure as they flare to life. Fragmented wings of blue extend from them as the white clad girl LEAPS up into the sky, with a blue streak, soaring through the air after the conga line of vehicles giving chase.

     "They seem to want that man for something..." She mumbles to herself, ascending higher and higher into the sky, till she was at rooftop level, then burst forward, speeding up to join the chase from the sky.

     This wasn't going to go horribly at all. It's not like she didn't see how ridiculously powerful that man was. Does she think she can TALK to him?

     ...Welp.

Ran Itoh (1040) has posed:
    Janine barely thanks Ran, but as long as the younger girl is all right Ran isn't going to complain. For now. In public.

    Hikaru will probably have to put up with Ran griping later though. Sorry, Hikky.

    Dashing outside, Ran hops into the passenger seat of The Junker(tm), because she is An Adult and therefore can call shotgun with impugnity. "Where's he even going?!"

Janine Liberi has posed:
    Janine jumps on to Will's bike, because she needs to track him FAST and that car looks like a piece of crap that would fall apart if it goes above 80. "You better go fast buddy!" she barks into Will's ear as she clings on for dear life. Apparently that first load of head trauma wasn't enough for her, now she needs to ride helmetless on a motorbike.

    As they pursue, she squints her eyes to try and look at her phone. "He's going in a straight line! I'll open up a map and figure out where he migh stop!" she yells into the radio to be heard over the wind.

August Kohler has posed:
August leaps onto the back of Will's bike, holding on tight, even though this is a crazy piece of machinery. He's incredibly determined to track the Woodsman down. "Follow the earthquakes!" He doesn't answer Will's question, probably because he doesn't really know.

Janine's map search gives an immediate clue to where he's heading: there's an old apartment building directly in his path, in the middle of the poorer side of town. It has a balcony apartment at the top, which intersects directly with his path.

Even though he hears the jetbike, the Woodsman doesn't turn around, and continues his charge, straight for that balcony. The landside of the apartment, meanwhile, seems to be kind of dingy, in disrepair, and still lived in, though if you ran in and up the stairs, no one would probably stop you.

Meanwhile, a police car notices all the speeding and /insanity/, and despite the intense confusion, the cop turns on his sirens and picks up chase, tailing Ira. He's trying to signal her to pull over as he pursues.

August Kohler has posed:
Eventually, the Woodsman lands on the balcony, grabbing the handle of the sliding door and ripping it open. The apartment is dimly lit, and badly furnished, mainly because everything is either broken or half broken from /use/. The chairs have been taped over way too many times, the fridge seems to be dislodged from the wall, the couch is crushed, and the bed doesn't seem to be used, ever. Additionally, on the center of the wall, is a massive mirror, which the Woodsman is heading straight for.

On the bottom side, there's certainly people in this building. Music can be heard through some of the doors, as can chatting. The Woodsman must be a /terrible/ neighbor.

Ira MacNally (915) has posed:
Ira's eyes perk up as she hears the hint of sirens that grow closer and stay close. A glance over her shoulder confirms exactly what she fears-the police are following her. "Great, not again." she grouses in a manner suggesting that she has been pulled over for speeding before. Ira probably has lost a few points from her license.

    She's about to break off and lead the cops away from the group in an odd moment of sacrifice for the others when August suggests otherwise. Instead, Ira grins manically and suddenly turns down an alleyway-one that a cop car is going to have a hard time squeezing into. She does a half-circle around another block before swerving around to the packed apartment building. Ira stashes her motorcyle in the alley next to the building and dashes inside, "Ugh-! This is slowing me down soooo much..."

    Sadly super speed was /not/ part of the Beast Power Package.

Hikaru Kurosawa (1039) has posed:
    Somehow, the Junker manages to roughly keep up with the chase, though it coughs and swears and grumbles in that way old cars do. When the Woodsman comes to that balcony, Hikaru swerves in and pulls up at the entrance. It's kind of a rough braking experience, but everyone is wearing their seatbelts so it's fine, riight? Hikaru steps out of the drivers seat, taking the keys with him but not bothering to lock the doors in his rush, and hurries for the stairwell. What else can he do? It's not like he can leap up like the Woodsman can.

Janine Liberi has posed:
    Once Will has pulled over outside the building, Janine is off the bike and rushing inside. She manages to catch a worn elevator as someone was getting off and mashes frantically for the floor the Woodsman seemed to land on. As it ascends, she can hear the signs of life from inside. People talking, singing, listening to music, living...

    And they're all stuck here with a bunch of homicidal teens gunning for someone with no concept for restraint.

    Taking the elevator means Janine is forced to stop and think. There's really no good outcome to this. The Woodsman is too strong, they can't take him out neatly. And everyone else in here is no-doubt going to be caught in the crossfire. And they already have police attention thanks to Ira. Their secrecy is going to be compromised if they don't just let him go.

    Once the doors chime open, her face is ashen as she rushes towards the apartment. She has no idea what to do.

Millium Argent (1051) has posed:
     Millium soars through the sky, spotting the Woodsman entering an apartment through a balcony. "...Hmmm..." That was strange. Of course, she had no radio access, so whatever those people down there were talking about? All over her head, so to speak. ...And also those police sirens sounded like trouble! Good thing she wasn't on the ground. She was on her own for the moment. And of course, she goes RIGHT IN.

     "Hey! Excuse me! Hey you! The big guy...! I just want to ask you somethi- ...He's ignoring me!"

     Millium lands on the balcony and peers down at street level, seeing the others catching up. "...." Crap. No time to hesitate! She steps into the apartment after the giant of a man and the fragmented orbitals around her wrists and ankles fly forward and merge together into a solid sheet that /covers/ the surface of the mirror entirely, making it non-reflective.

     And then she steps forward and grabs at the back of his shirt pulling at him in a way that's not at all going to stop him, but maybe get his attention. "Excuse me! You seem to have a lot of people down there who want to talk to you!" She smiles sweetly. "Maybe you should stick around and talk it out with them? I'm sure they mean well and everyone will be happy at the end!"

     ...Oh lord.

Finna (513) has posed:
Finna is an Exalt, and Exalted don't give a damn about the impossible!

    This is why, when she reaches the building that the Woodsman is after... and spots where he's headed, she leaps for the apartment complex's wall and just starts RUNNING STRAIGHT UP IT ON ALL FOURS faster than gravity could hope to pull her back down. She's a bolt of glowing silvery-white-purple'ish-cerulean and other shifting colors that shimmers and wavers like the moon at night, REALLY hard to miss.

    "Come on! We're only trying to speak with you! Have I ever disrespected you?! What do you WANT anyways?! We have so many questions!"

    Okay now the blurry mess of fox-shaped energy is TALKING. That's probably not going to be much better on the people in the apartment either...

Ran Itoh (1040) has posed:
    The car's barely stopped before Ran is scrambling out of the passenger door. She, too, runs for the stairwell - her long legs and years of dance games serve her well. True, she's panting by the time she reaches the correct floor, but she made it in excellent time!

    Of course, she's been beaten there by a fox and a bird, and the Woodsman is just as likely to punch a hole through her as talk it out, and...!

    Ran's fingers stiffen on the doorknob. "Uh... e-excuse me, but I- we wanted to speak with you...!" NOW she's starting to sweat.

William Pauwel has posed:
    The devastation the Woodsman leaves in his wake is... Frankly disturbing. How in the blazes does this guy NOT get noticed by literally everyone in this city? Will's jet-powered bike screams overtop the shaken buildings, billowing clouds of smoke and plumes of flame. Finally, though, the Woodsman leaps into an... apartment building. Will's lips draw into a narrow line. He squeezes his eyes tight and--

Stops in front of the apartment like a sane person?

    NO! He's in a goddamn rush here! Janine might be able to get off early, but Will's taking his remaining passenger right up a nearby building, off yet another ramp, and then right into the Woodsman's apartment, hot on Millium's heels! "Kohler, get off!" Will yells, his hand snapping to his side, for his gun.

His bright, glowy, very obvious gun.

    "Now, mister Woodsman, we just... Want to talk, actually. 'Cause I'm pretty sure y'all can punch any one of us into a puddle of person-stuff, and I sure don't want anyone here to be that guy. So, could you just... Answer a few questions?"

    "Like, what were you even doin' at that Operee? Why were y'all there, and then ran the second y'all were spotted? None of it makes sense, Mister Woodsman! I just want to hear y'all explain what's going on."

He's not actually pointing the Solano at anyone, notably.

It's just... Kind of hanging there, in his hands. Ready, but not a threat just yet.

August Kohler has posed:
The cop pursues Ira, but eventually loses her as she squeezes down the alley, stopping to call for backup. Ira's easily able to stash her bike and flee into the apartment, though the /aftermath/ might be more interesting.

Millium Argent is the first one with him. Her orbitals turn out to be very useful, as the Woodsman charges into the mirror, and gets bounced back (though it's possible that the sheer impact would put intense strain on them). So far, so good, but then she grabs his shirt. Without turning around, he reaches his hand over his shoulder, moves to grab her arm...and /throw/ her through the wall, without holding back. He inspects the mirror, before turning around.

At this point, the rest of the group has reached him, and starts asking questions. For once, he does not move straight through them. Instead, his eyes inspect everyone as he towers over them, and reaches his hand out. A massive axe, taller than he, appears in it, with a shining, but brown of hue axehead, that depicts a dragon on the side. The Woodsman holds it to his side, as he speaks, his voice loud and clear.

"Why?"

The axe is pointed among the group as the Woodsman asks the question, before he rests it against himself. "Why do you pursue me? I am not her. I am not who you are supposed to fight. You have no business with me, nor I, you. Is this a game to you? Or are you blinded by petty rage? Answer me. Why?" His voice does not waver, and the man shows no fear. He stands tall, and his entire existence just gives off pressure, as if his entire being is just too much to be standing here. What hair he has is a copper red, and his eyes are a shining green (not yellow, like the traditional Shadow).

Ira MacNally (915) has posed:
It actually takes some time for Ira to get here. She stumbles in through the door, breathing hard, gasping for air. She has a severe case of helmet hair and that which isn't matted to her head by sweat is sticking all over the place, askew and messy. "I'M HERE!" she announces, leaning against the door, "I lost the cops. I think. If sirens stop outside the building we will be in-oh, right."

    She draws herself up to look at the Woodsman, "Well obviously we wanna know why you do this. You know-taking people through the mirror, possibly sending them to horrible deaths, that sort of thing."

    Ira draws herself up completely, grinning, "You've got nice eyes."

William Pauwel has posed:
    This guys is... Kind of terrifying. Will's got absolutely zero supernatural ability, but even he can tell that this guy means business. Or rather, he COULD mean business. Right now he's just... talking. So Will talks back. "Uh, well to be quite honest sir," Will says, scratching sheepishly at the nape of his neck. "Y'all don't exactly give the best first impression. I mean--" he thumbs out the shattered window behind him, and all the damaged buildings back there. "First thing y'all do when you get noticed is punch a door off its hinges, punch a girl into a wall, and then wreck a bunch of buildings jumping over them. I ain't got anything against y'all personally, but... It's suspicious, you know?"

"Mostly, I'm here on account've my friend here sayin' y'all're responsible for some kidnapping and life endangerment. So uh, were y'all just... out to watch a show, or...?"

Hikaru Kurosawa (1039) has posed:
    Hikaru runs up the stairwell after Ran - not as quick on the stairs, but he tries his hardest and arrives behind her soon enough. He's breathing hard, and puts a hand on the doorjam to steady himself. He gets to see the tail-end of Millium slamming through the wall, and he winces, sympathetically. That's /got/ to hurt.

    He stiffens when the Woodsman brings out his axe, though he doesn't act threateningly in return. "Well, I'd like to know why you're doing what you do, I guess," he points out, putting one hand on Ran's shoulder to bolster her. "But honestly, me? I'm here to look out for these kids. I'm worried about them, you know? All of this... Mirror mumbo-jumbo is an awful lot to put on their shoulders. So if they're gonna get into trouble, I'm gonna help out."

Millium Argent (1051) has posed:
     Millium got him to stop! Success! Her lips form into a proud little smile at that, and she opens her mouth to speak. "See? That's not so har- eh?"

     Why was she being lifted?

     Why was everything suddenly sideways?

     WHY WAS SHE SUDDENLY MOVING AT ALARMING SPEEDS!?

     *CRASH CRUMBLE THUNK*

     That is the sound of someone being thrown /clear/ through a wall.

     The barrier over the mirrow fades away and the four blue orbitals reform and follow after Millium's thrown body, wherever it is under all that wall wreckage.

     Oops.

William Pauwel has posed:
Oh jeez there goes Millium Argent, right through a wall.

Will winces. He glances at the Woodsman, then back to the hole in the wall, then back at the Woodsman. He breathes a long, heavy sigh and then skitters off to make sure HIS FELLOW CHASER isn't dead. Because that would be AWFUL IN SO MANY WAYS.

Finna (513) has posed:
"A game?!" Finna shifts back to human, but all that looks like is the four-legged amorphous creature gaining size and shifting to bipedal. Its features waver and flicker wildly along with its voice tone - try as anyone here might, if they didn't know this was Finna ahead of time they'd have a hard time knowing otherwise. And they'd definitely not be able to distinguish her from another Changing Moon Caste...

    Nevertheless, the amorphous figure seems to be planting both its hands on its hips and leaning in towards the woodsman, staring with shimmering eyes that can't seem to decide what species they belong to in this light.

    "Would I chase you across hell's half-acre as a GAME?! ... After being nearly slapped into a wall, that is." Because okay yeah, she totally WOULD chase him ordinarily.

    "I think you owe these fine folk an explanation for all of the life-threatening hijinx, even if they're fighting the good fight!" ... Assuming that this IS the good fight.

    "Or are you the love 'em and leave 'em type, great spirit?"

Janine Liberi has posed:
    Janine hovers among the crowd at the door, gnawing on the inside of her cheek. At least they got him talking, but he's not giving answers. And then he says the party has no business with him, and fury rushes through her so fast it makes her bite harder, causing the inside of her mouth to bleed.

    "No business?" she akss horsely, trying to muscle through everyone to go toe-to-toe with the target of her ire. "No business?! You ruined our lives with this Forest shit you asshole! Now we're risking our lives every day fighting some force we know nothing about! If you're so in the know about it all, you do it! Don't make us do your dirty work, fucker!"

Ran Itoh (1040) has posed:
    The hand on Ran's shoulder is familiar. It's enough to make the Woodsman's glowing green eyes just a little less terrifying. Janine's elbow presses into her side as she tries to break past the others gathered at the door.

    "B-because, we don't understand why you've been doing this," Ran tries to explain. "There are tons of people who would have taken you up on an offer of a Persona, even though it meant having to survive the Mirror Forest. Instead you took people indiscriminately, and some of them died."

    Ran shakes her head, looking back up at him. "So please, tell us why you do it the way you're doing it. Tell us what we're supposed to /do/. How to keep anybody else from dying needlessly!"

August Kohler has posed:
Even with the shield on the mirror breaking behind him, the Woodsman listens. But from his speed in respond shows that he already knows what he believes. His first response is to Will, actually! "That opera is special."

And then he looks amongst the group, his gaze showing that he sees them as nothing but children. His first real response, however, is to Ran Itoh. "Indiscriminately? Are you not the ones who asked to see inside yourselves? Did you not ask the mirror for the truth? I gave you what you wanted. You saw the truth, and you survived. Those who did not could not handle it." The next part of this has him looking at Janine. "Our business ended then. I gave you your answer, and our relationship ended."

To Finna, "Why do I owe you? You all got what you wanted. If you did not want the truth, you should not have played that game."

He steps forward, but not to fight. His steps are loud, almost thunderous. "I am opposing /her/. This is the only method that will work. I am not afraid to fight her, but I will not fight a losing battle. This method has proven to be efficient." He points the axe at each person here with a Persona. "If it did not work, you would not be alive despite your trials. She would not be getting desperate. My method is /right/."

"But you believe you could do this another way, don't you? That you know what you need to do. But you do not. Because you know fear. You faced the wolf and saw /fear/. Those who know fear would fall on their own."

"So why? What do you expect to get from this encounter? Do you plan to fight me? Or are you just here to rattle that you know the answers, when you're nothing but insects in a place of impossible scope? I do not think either would end well."

August Kohler has posed:
SHOWDOWN MUSIC (THE WOODSMAN): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7gjTHypJZ0 (screw off, word count, i hate your guts)

Millium Argent (1051) has posed:
     From under all of that rubble, something shifts.

     A hand pokes through and shakily.... wiggles her fingers vaguely.

     SHE'S OKAY.

     She has EXACTLY 1 HP, BUT SHE'S OKAY.

     Slowly, but surely, rays of blue shine through the wall rubble, shifting bits of it away. Enough for her voice to linger out.

     "My only question is.../w h y/?"

Ira MacNally (915) has posed:
"Special? Are you a fan of Norse mythology? Valkyries?" Ira raises an eyebrow, unrattled by the thundering steps of the Woodsman or his harsh words for those here. In fact, she acts like she doesn't think any of those words are directed at /her/ in particular. "The Ring really is a wonderful opera though." She mentions, mostly in passing, but mostly believing that the people here aren't going to really care about her preferences in a time like this. They'll all forget that little detail later.

    "But if I understand correctly, you aren't strong enough to overthrow the queen, are you? That's why you need people like /us/ with our kind of power, isn't it? How /interesting/."

    Ira folds her arms over her chest. "Are you saying that we, with our personas, are the /key/ to stopping the queen?"

    Ira seems /especially/ interested at that: "Is this why you haven't beaten her yourself?"

Janine Liberi has posed:
    Janine's face is starting to get hot as her throat starts to close. She's so angry that it's making her bad arm twitch, which makes it ache and adds to the anger, a continuous cycle that builds and builds until... "A REASON! A clue, fucking something so we can know what the hell we're accomplishing with all this! Something to let us know that this is... I don't know, all worth it, that there's some payoff at the end! The Queens a bitch, but we need to know our enemy to have a chance, we can't all just barrel through like you do you great stupid motherfucker!"

    She sinks to her knees to catch her breath. That whole tirade might have collapsed her lungs. Her hair is hanging over her face. She might be crying, but it's hard to tell.

Finna (513) has posed:
Finna can't help but grin a little at the Woodsman's answer. It's a DISCONCERTING-looking grin with teeth that are FAR too sharp, but there's no hostility behind it. Although she rubs her arm as he mentions them being here to fight him...

    Then she folds both her arms. "So that's your nature, spirit. Think I see now." And of course Millium asks that one poignant question... which gets the foxgirl pursing her lips, and clarifying a bit.

    "One of the three hundred Champions of Luna reborn's nothing to call an insect. Give me a few centuries and that opinion'll change! ... Though we don't have a few centuries. Ehehe..." The grin turns a little sheepish.

    And the very next moment she turns sideways to the Woodsman, looking over a shoulder. "I believe the only thing that's really crucial to have answered right now is... what is the Queen, that this forest is supposedly formed of all human hopes, dreams, and nightmares, but she is NOW a threat?"

William Pauwel has posed:
    Damnit Millium, do not die here. THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO NEED YOU. Your fans need you! Thanks to Millium pushing away some of the rubble, Will is able to get to her and at the very least, help her up onto a shoulder or /something./ Which is good, because he can't actually heal her. Will does not carry healing items-- he can't just shove recovery potions down her throat! THAT'S JUST SILLY FROO FROO MAGIC.

    "Well, I ain't exactly a fan of opree myself," Will prefers songs with more drums, guitars and fiddles. "But I can't fault a man for wanting to enjoy the arts! But uhhhhh," he steps back across the threshhold of SHITTY CARDBORD WALL and into the Woodsman's apartment. "I don't see how knowing fear's got anything to do with it. I mean, people're scared out of their minds all the time! Don't mean it stops them from doing what they've gotta do."

    He inclines his head at the Woodsman, then. "You know, maybe y'all'd not be living alone in a place like this iff'n y'all didn't call people insects. 'Cause, if you want these guys to help you with your fight, uh... Maybe... ask nicely??"

WILL IS TRYING TO USE COMMON SENSE.

SOMEONE STOP HIM.

Ran Itoh (1040) has posed:
    Ran just shakes her head. "Is that all you need? For someone to be curious? No understanding of what they're doing, or what they're risking? Those kids... they had families. Lives ahead of them. And then they were nothing but nightmares." There had been nothing left to save, August had said. There was nothing they could even do.

    Because they know fear. Ran knows fear. Knows the way it catches your scent, and the way she ran, and the despair of wondering if she would die in that place.

    She kneels next to Janine but doesn't touch the other girl. If nothing else, she can give the fencer a bit of cover while she gets herself back together.

    "Does that mean," she murmurs too quietly to be a real question, "that only people with no fear can fight the queen alone? Or that fear itself is the killer?" Wasn't that from a book or something?

Hikaru Kurosawa (1039) has posed:
    The image of Theodor Vermann flashes through Hikaru's mind, a broken shadow of a boy who had disappeared. A boy so twisted he screamed laws into being - but still, a boy who seemed to understand his plight in some fashion at the end. His eyes narrow. "I respect your need to destroy the queen," he says, his voice even and quiet, "but I can't forgive you for taking the lives of so many children."

    They were children. They were /curious/. The more he thinks about it, the more it makes him angry, but he moderates his anger for the sake of not provoking such a fearsome foe.

August Kohler has posed:
"You were in my way." Is all the Woodsman responds to Millium, before he turns back to the group. He ends the first conversation with Ira with "German.", before he takes a minute to turn to those talking about the Queen. "The Queen? Do you always just accept what is in front of you? I expected more from you."

"What I am doing works. Those who ask to pierce into the heart of the abyss should expect that the abyss will pierce back. If they did not, they were foolish. If they failed to survive it, they were weak. All men have fear in their hearts, but it is those who are /weak/ who have no chance of doing anything. You are not among them. But because you know fear, you are incapable of accepting what needs to happen. You bring your morality into this, what's 'right or wrong'. This is not about what's right or wrong. This is about what works."

"Are you not all insects? Billions of you exist. In the grand scheme of things, you are individually small." The Woodsman responds to Will. And then, he brushes him aside to move up to Ira, and stand over her, staring down at her.

"You are right. But you think you are irreplaceable. You are not. You are not the only ones who have beaten this challenge, and eventually, there will be others. I am not /weak/." The Woodsman seems a bit frustrated now, as he stomps his foot...

And the entire building shakes, a show of his power. It's quite clear that he could topple this building if he wanted to. The 7'4 mountain of a man steps back, and then shouts. "But if you think you know what's right, that you know no fear, that you can do this /your way/, then show me! But when you are shown wrong, I will not hesitate to kill you." The Woodsman glances towards the mirror. "Or will you stop this foolishness and leave me be?"

Ira MacNally (915) has posed:
"There will only be one Beast." Ira scoffs, even if that might not be true. "So what if there will be others? We are what we have now and now you've made it obvious that we are what we need now."

    The Irishwoman gives him a toothy, insincere smile. "But you can't beat her, can you? Not without the power of what yer callin' /insects/. Aww, don't worry, I forgive you for asking for help. There. There." The insincere smiling continues as she stares up at the Woodsman that towers over her.

    Arrogantly, she turns away, making a dismissive hand-waving gesture. "I say go back to your forest. Clearly we insects have nothing to gain from fighting your miserable self."

William Pauwel has posed:
    The sane move would be to let this massive hulk of raw physical prowess just... go. There's nothing to gain from keeping him here, and even less to gain from actually fighting him. Heck, fighting him means that ALL THESE PEOPLE, the ones in the building, the ones in this city, would all be put at risk.

Yes, the wise thing to do would be to just... Let him go about his business.

"Well hold on there, pardner."

OH NO

    "I take exception t' the notion that we're all insects," Will drawls. He ACTUALLY drawls. Like, he somehow slipped into Genuine Actual Cowboy Mode, to the point that his hat and poncho somehow even look like they're catching the light of the setting sun. He doesn't raise his gun because there's an injured girl on his shoulder. But if he was intimidated before...

Something else seems to have pushed it aside.

    "Everyone's irreplacable to someone, pardner. Just 'cause there are more people in the world don't change that. More people means that there're more people to be important for. The more of us there are, the more irreplacable we become! Yer thinkin's all backwards!" He lifts his gun-- but not to the lumberjack. TO THE HEAVENS. "Or do y'all think that all those lights in that sky don't mean jack, just 'cause there are billions and billions of them, too?"

    "I ain't gonna claim that yer wrong about yer methods or whatever else, but that there is something I can't let y'all just get away with saying." He lets the Solano fall then, the weapon's heat burning up into his clenched fingers. "I ain't gonna stop you if you just want to run off into yer woods. Ain't my place. But what had to be said had to be said. We ain't bugs, and we don't need to prove jack all to you about it."

August Kohler has posed:
The Woodsman would have a response for Will, if he wasn't walking over to Ira as she antagonizes him. "You think you're worth something? I've seen you in those Woods, I've seen your heart freeze as unmistakeable horror poured into every sense, as you almost perished! I am the courage hiding inside of every man! I am the bravery that you have all abandoned, hiding in your houses, behind your teevees and your cellphones! Your kind caused this! Your fear has caused /all of this/!"

And then, with a swift action, that axe head thrusts forward, moving to /slam/ bluntside first into Ira's gut and attempt to send her flying. He's not going to do anything else after that, but will the others?

Millium Argent (1051) has posed:
     Helped up by Will, Millium thanks him quietly, using him as support because dear lord in heaven everything hurts! Everything!

     But... But she'd survive. She basically did everything she was possibly going to contibute here, having gotten the big guy to actually, you know, stick around and talk. Even if she got tossed through a wall for it. The only saving grace was that it was flimsy wood and not CONCRETE. That would have prooooobably have broken a bunch of somethings.

     She shakes her head and offers her own, pained piece. "...Y-You know... if you just ask for help, if everyone works together to reach a common goal...if we can all understand each other...then wouldn't that work out better? --ow." Ugh seriously, PAIN. WALL. PAIN. "It's fine if you have secrets you want to keep, but... if you need help, then being open about it is best, isn't it?"

     She was basically spouting her own flowery ideals now, injecting them into the situation with the only context being what's in front of her.

     .....And then the Woodsman does a thing with his axe. Millium frowns hard, but really? She's kind of out of her league here. A LITTLE BIT. SORT OF.

August Kohler has posed:
If that axehead impacts, it's also going to reverb through the entire building. The building shakes once more.

Finna (513) has posed:
"How DARE you!" Spits the foxgirl. By now her aura's died down some and her features are starting to reappear again.

    "Chastise the city boys and girls all you like about their overly cozy lifestyle, but lumping a girl of the barbarian tribes into that is FIGHTING WORDS, WOODSMAN!"

    She shivers and trembles in place, but that has her SNARLING. How many times, how many times, long before she earned her Exaltation, did she brave the harsh winters? How many times did she sabotage rival tribes raiding their borders? How many times did she take risk ater risk, life frequently on the line.... admittedly for many bad reasons, but for one good one: a love of her homeland.

    Her scowl turns deadly serious. THAT, apparently, is an insult that strikes deep to her core and brings a violent reaction that even overcomes her aversion for duels of passion!

    Because she REALLY looks like one more twitch, even with the whole building shaking just from the Woodsman's fury, would get her to draw a weapon or ready her Claws of the Silver Moon.

    "Maim or kill any of these pampered pipsqueaks at your peril! They're under MY protection!"

    Well.

    That sure got weird.

Ira MacNally (915) has posed:
"Yeah I do think I'm worth something even if I am afraid of that damn death wolf!" Ira barks back, standing her ground as the Woodsman approaches her. "Because you know what, here I fucking am!" One of her hands starts to dig through her pocket, reaching for what the others would recognize as her shiny zippo lighter. "Standing here, alive! Now what, old man, you gonna tell me to get off your lawn nex-"

    A loud 'whooooooof' escapes her as the blunt side of the axe buries into her gut deeply, shoving in her diaphram, ejecting all the air from her lungs. She flies backwards but perhaps not /as/ much as might be expected given the size difference between the two of them. Clearly she had been bracing, waiting, for any moment that this guy might become hostile and attack. Ira bounces against the floor, cracking the tiles, and lies silent for a moment, air filling her lungs once more.

    Slowly, she starts to get up, a wild look in her eyes, a spot of blood at the corner of her mouth, suggesting some kind of internal injury. "Wanna take this outside, old man? Because I'll gladly keep going."

William Pauwel has posed:
Courage?

This guy is... Courage? Incarnate?

And he's complaining about FEAR?

    Will's expression turns even more unreadable, being all but swallowed up by the Mysterious Stranger buried just under his quiet, unassuming surface. He strikes Ira. The building shakes. Will feels something shoot up his spine, into the hollow of his skull, out the back end of his eyes. Maybe what he's about to do is going to get him punched through a couple walls, too. But he can't not. It's begun, like a landslide or a tidal wave, and all he can do is ride it.

"You say you're courage, pardner?"

    "What kind of man can be courageous if he ain't scared?" Will asks, staring at the Lumberjack beneath the broad brim of his hat. "If this lady's seen half the crock you say she has, and she STILL gets up and does what she's gotta do, how is that anything BUT courage!?" The Solano's barrel shines like a tiny, menacing star as Will's finger hovers over its trigger. "Courage. You say you're courage. I ain't going to say that she should've said those things that way. Ain't right to insult anyone what don't deserve it. But."

    "You call that girl a coward for standing up to you? You say we ain't worth shit, ragging on all these people who YOU put in harm's way, just for wanting to find their own answers? There's a word for people like you, and it ain't 'courageous.'" Will shifts his weight slightly, letting Millium rest on a slightly different part of his shoulder. "Back home, we call folks like that 'bullies.' Just because you're strong, you think you can force yer beliefs on everyone else- that 'cause yer strong, yer somehow 'right?'"

"The hell kind of courage is that?" Will spits, "Knowing no fear? Who does that? Whoever ain't ever been scared, ain't ever been WEAK, can't ever claim to be properly courageous!"

Janine Liberi has posed:
    Janine starts to straighten out, to get back up and give the Woodsman whatfor. But then that axe sinks into Ira's gut and knocks her back, and a chill rushes through her. Standing here is someone who will use lethal force over harsh words. In her mind, the fire at her apartment plays again, the horror of watching her nanny die, knowing nothing as to why, Lezard smirking at her...

    "EVERYONE! Shut the fuck up!" she screams, scrambling to get back to her feet, to stand up to the monster before her... "Okay, we get it. Just go! Please!" God it stings. It stings so much to swallow her pride and let him walk away, but he's clearly too strong, and has them at a disadvantage. So she'll sallow it gratefully... and pay him back tenfold when the time comes.

Hikaru Kurosawa (1039) has posed:
    "You say that," Hikaru murmurs, sadly, "as if I have always had a house to hide within." He shakes his head, not saying anything more as Janine pleads for silence and reason. They can't possibly fight him, but Hikaru isn't willing to run and leave them alone against him, either... so he just waits by the door, not taking action against the Woodsman, and not making any sudden moves.

Ran Itoh (1040) has posed:
    There's yelling, and threats, and can nobody else see what she can see? Are they going to march right toward death, and damn an entire new generation of Alberichstadt residents to playing the Woodsman's game? She stands from Janine's side just in time to keep from being bonked in the nose by the girl's scramble for her feet.

    They're really going to... they can't...! Ran stands up, wild-eyed, and pushes past Ira, and Janine, and everyone else to stand between them and the Woodsman.

    Her legs are shaking. She can't. She can't.

    Ran goes to her knees, back to the Woodman. Bows, until her forehead touches the floor. Her long blonde hair spills like a wave over her back and the dirty floor. She hasn't got any other choice. They can't do this.

    "PLEASE stop! I'm begging you all..."

August Kohler has posed:
The Woodsman glares at Will. "Fear has given /her/ power. Fear is weak, fear is wrong, and fear causes this! You know NOTHING!" Probably because he hasn't told them anything. "As a work of art says, only he who knows no fear can reforge the sword and slay the beast."

The Woodsman is about to strike forward, and probably tackle Ira out the wall, but then Janine and Ran both beg in different ways for this to stop. He glares at them, wondering what they truly want...before August steps forward after a radio discussion, approaching the Woodsman. "You said to prove ourselves, right? One month from now, in the Forest. We'll fight you. And we'll prove our courage. That's what you want...right?"

The Woodsman stares down at August, before stepping over to the mirror. "One month. If you do not show, I will kill you, for you have proven yourselves cowards. This has been your choice."

The Woodsman then disappears through the mirror. If anyone attempts to look in there, he's already gone.

Hikaru Kurosawa (1039) has posed:
    Hikaru shakes his head, stepping forward to help Ran up. "All right," he says, quietly, turning his face back to them. He looks so /sad/. "Since you've chosen to fight, I'll fight with you." They shouldn't have to do this - they shouldn't have to struggle against someone as terrifying as -

    But they are, and they will. Hikaru shakes his head. "... does anyone need a ride back to school?"

Ira MacNally (915) has posed:
Ira lowers her voice, sounding quite angry now, "Fear gave me my power? Are you calling my power-" her eyes glint dangerously, "A /mistake/? You've said /nothing/."

    But she doesn't get that answer and she fortunately doesn't get tackled out of a building like she was expecting. Tenderly, she rubs her stomach and moves for the door. "Nah." Ira sounds slightly strained, "I've got a motorcycle. I'll see you all later."

    She, weirdly enough, ruffles Ran's hair as she passes.

Millium Argent (1051) has posed:
     ".......HAAAAA. Finally..." Millium lets out a huge sigh, and then winces from the act of having expanded her chest to a point of pain. "Ow-ow-ow...!"

     "....Sooo..." She glances at everyone else, smiling a clueless smile. "...Who was that, why did he throw me through a wall, why did he disappear through a mirror, why did he threaten to kill you all, and is everything going to be okay?"

     And then she glances at Will. "Oh, and hi Will! I finally remembered who you were! You're that one crazy guy who runs ruins like a maniac!"

Ran Itoh (1040) has posed:
    Her hands and knees are dirty. Her pride is tarnished. She did this... she did this in front of all of them and they still... Ran takes Hikaru's hand and slowly stands up. Ira's hand ruffles her hair, but she still can't look at any of the others after that, not even Ira herself. Her cheeks are wet with tears.

    "<<Do they even...>> she murmurs hopelessly to her oldest friend. Do they even know what she just did? What she threw away? And still, they're going to do this.

    They're going to do this and they're going to die.

    And then more people will be taken through the mirror, into the Forest...

William Pauwel has posed:
Welp.

    Now Will HAS to show up to fight a horrible manifestation of the PRIMORDIAL COURAGE WITHIN ALL THINGS. Or else he'll get killed in his sleep, or something. Will's not quite sure how that works. Regardless, as soon as the Woodsman disappears, Will seems to return right back to his usual, kind of awkward self. He sighs, rubbing furiously at his face.

Ughhhh.

"Well. Could've gone worse! We could all be standin' on a pile of busted up rubble!" He grunts, "Yeah. Could've gone--"

Recordscratch.

Will stares at Millium.

    "I- I'm the what!? I do not run ruins like a maniac! My plans always work out fine!" Only because he brings some really awesome people along for the ride whenever he goes off on an adventure. But that still totally counts, right!?

    And then he sees Ran and... frowns. And fishes a handy handkerchief out of his pocket, pushing it firmly at her grubby hands, "Here, ma'am. Sorry things got a bit... heated there. Kind of lost my head a bit, but... Y'all look like you could need this."

YEP, COMPLETELY MISSED IT.

Hikaru Kurosawa (1039) has posed:
    "<<No,>>" Hikaru replies quietly in Japanese, squuezing Ran's hand before he lets it go. "<<They probably don't. Come on, let's get you home.>>" The sooner she gets out of public, the sooner she can begin to rebuild herself after something like that. He knows it hurts, from experience. When William hands his handkerchief to her, Hikaru nods to him; he appreciates what he's trying to do for his friend.

Janine Liberi has posed:
    Janine really has nothing more to say. They actually signed a possible death warrent for all of them. God damn it. She doesn't offer a single word to anyone on her way out. Just sends a text to Emily to come pick her up, and have a wam bath and something full of sugar for her when she gets back.

    If her death is finally coming, may as well live to the fullest.