Scene #8120: PNL: On the Prowl

Owner	Pose
Charlotte Newman	Southcourt Mall is an arctitectural ediface to capital and decadence. Even from outside, the multi-story building's sprawl across several acres gives it the air of a castle or walled town. Especially at this time of day, perhaps an hour after closing. The parking lot is largely empty, sporadically lit by orange sodium lights. Swirling pale mist chokes off visibility beyond a hundred meters or so, the occasional passing car merely a glowing patch on the road in the distance, while those sodium lights shine ominously in the fog. Charlotte is easy to locate here, behind the mall near the loading dock, a lonely orange-lit space watched over by a security camera whose lens has been covered in old chewing gum for longer than anyone can remember. As people start arriving, she pulls her phone out of her purse and taps at the game a few times, peeling open a glitchy void against the brick wall and leading the way through. Those who enter the gash between realities experience the sensation of S L I D I N G S I D E W A Y S into new surroundings. The Reverse side of Southcourt. A ediface of consumerism, towering faces of grimly reflective obsidian surfaces defined by a polygonal pattern of neon and xenon tube lights. Signs in some unreadable subconscious language still somehow manage to define their purpose, simply intuiting 'the sunglasses store' or 'cinnabon' despite their alien script. Towering overhead with a series of catwalks and balconies, alleyways cutting between and behind buildings, this part of the Reversal manages to be both claustrophobic and exposed all at once. The usual smokey mannequins that comprise the harmless denizens of the Reversal are entirely absent. What lurks around corners and in alleyways are ghostly wisps of creatures vaguely resembling dogs, hiding amidst an ever-present fluorescent fog that swirls about at roughly knee height and restricts visibility to some twenty meters. Adding to the uncomfortable atmosphere, somewhere out there is the echo of footsteps that don't belong to any of those Charlotte has brought in with her. As regular as the ticking of seconds on a clock. It is in front of a sign that defies description and yet can be understood as 'Shoe Source' that Charlotte comes to a stop, looking up the face of the skyscraper-like structure. The fluorescent fog here is littered with patches of darker argon, though none of them are anywhere near as large or dense as what has been found at more recent sites of mysterious deaths.
Remee Halcyon	oh boy here we go sliiiiiiding Remee, in human form, doesn't have hackles to raise - but she totally would! Instead her skin tingles. "Oh this is new..." she says, examining the signs. "Still can sort of... understand it." On into the fog! After a bit, Remee changes - going full wolf, which lets her get closer to the ground and take advantage of it to hide her presence a bit better, as well as take advantage of her other senses a bit better, if visibility is going to be a problem here. "... Here?" says the wolf, coming to a stop when Charlotte does.
John Doe	John shows up, though if you notice that's entirely up to you. Stepping sideways into the Reverse, there is a change to how John is dressed. For one a fluorescent masquerade mask rests over his eyes and nose, leaving his mouth visible. On his head rests not the larger floppy hat, but a fedora. He's also got a black trenchcoat that seems to act somewhere between a coat and a cape depending on if he's walking or running. Boots click against the road as John himself seems to look at the darker argon patches. He's also noticing the lack of shadows. "Creepy," he says as they stop in front of the shoe store. "You think this place has something to do with our murderer?"
Stanley Padgett	"FREE WIFI OFFERED BY THINKR.COM" reads the little sign outside the vestibule that Stanley takes on his way into the mall, sideways vertigo a normal sensation for him these days. And as he enters into the Reversal, he sighs and adjusts his tie at the somehow clammy sensation of the thick fog around them. "Man, Char, I just really hope we can get whatever this is over and done with soon. The fog is awful. And not like..." He looks around at those joining the Persona Crew and waves. "Hey." And then right back to Charlotte. And then his brain sort of skips and he grumbles. "...lost my train of thought." A glance up at 'Shoe Source' in the fake kanji of the Shadow World, and the Fool scritches at that hair of his... the PINK color matching the ambiance of the Reversal these days. Huh. "...What are you hoping to find in here?"
Kukuru	Just like the last time she was here, Kukuru show ups at the Southcourt Mall like there's nothing wrong with her being here, and like there's nothing odd going on whatsoever. She's dressed in her usual white and green/brown getup, and her pockets are undoubtedly filled with all manner of homemade snacks (lasagna samosas?) and a carefully-decorated and opaque container of meat (giraffe) for someone more specific. Unlike last time, she just shows up right on time instead of coming from around a corner or something. She knows she's supposed to be here, after all, and she knows where this place is, so why waste time walking when she can just appear from one of her ominous clouds of darkness? The shift into the Reverse side of the place barely goes noticed at first, although the strange text around the many stores do eventually have her pausing to adjust her glasses as though that'll actually help at all. "... Huh. It's kinda empty around here today, isn't it? Even emptier than last time." She comments with a barely-muffled and badly-hidden yawn from behind her hand. "It sounds like someone else is already here, though... Oh, did you all make more friends?" She beams at Charlotte, Stanley, and John in particular as she asks that. Notably, she even seems like she recognizes the latter instead of doing that greeting and introducing thing she often does. She distributes today's snacks to everyone that shows up, then starts following the sound of the footsteps with her enhanced hearing to see if she can't flush out whoever it is with a friendly "Hello there~" right to the face.
KNK	'...What are you hoping to find in here?' "Hey. Same question." Rose seems to step out of the fog, despite having been well within visual range. She just wasn't noticeable before she chose to be. Now, neon lights along her armor and horned oni mask make it a wonder how she could ever have been missed. "Hey~ What's up? Oh, is 'Char' better? I never asked, huh? Is 'Charlotte' kind of a lot?" Violet joins her in every sense, including 'also masked.' Rose steps aside to look around a corner, snap into firing posture with a bullpup against her shoulder, and casually spray thirty rounds through the position of a wispy fog-dog, before rejoining.
Rita Ma	Rita has almost, mostly, sort of, gotten used to that vaguely nauseating sliding feeling by now. She doesn't even check over herself on landing, this time, though the fresh environment does lead to fresh marveling. "Yeah. That says something about coffee, doesn't it, Ms. Remee?" she says, pointing up at a sign that ought to be gibberish. "I wonder if they actually sell anything there... maybe there'd be a ghost behind the counter to serve it? No, it's probably abandoned too." For now, the patches of dark argon catch her eye. They look a little bit like blood if you squint, right? She bends down close to one and cautiously sniffs. Is the resemblance anything more than superficial? She waves at Stanley, after, and then walks up to him to chat. "There's something I've been wondering about, Mr. Stanley. All these things with Tyrants and Shadows... how much do you think that happened before you and the others got Personas, and found out about the Reversal? The two things have to be linked, right? Otherwise... there'd just have been decades of disasters with nobody to solve them."
Timespace Riders	"Hi, Stanley! Hi, Charlotte! And you must be John." Sougo's smile is as warm as the pastel pinks of his striped button-up. Rolled jeans and low-cut boots finish off his ensemble for the Reversal. Sliding sideways is something he's used to now, and he manages the sensation with the same amount of ease as his retainer Woz--if decidedly less above-it-all. The aforementioned retainer looks like he'd rather be somewhere else, and is dressed as he usually is. He accepts Kukuru's snack with a wide grin, and Woz even looks less RBF when one is offered to him. With a thoughtful frown, the would-be king follows Charlotte's gaze upwards, then, munching on the possibly-lasagna-samosa, gestures with a slight nod of his head to a nearby alley where some of those dog-like figures are. "Those look new," he says quietly. "Are they a part of the people who are normally here?" Another pause, as his thoughts drift to memories of Chet, and his Shadow. "Or something else?" Woz, meanwhile, postulates on the size of the shoe store, as brought up by John. "Salutations, John Doe," he begins, and it's clear that he wouldn't have noticed had Sougo not pointed him out. "The store on this side certainly seems more prolific than the one in the physical world." Rita makes an apt observation, and Sougo chimes in with his own thoughts. "Chet made a wish using the Reversal game," he notes. "And Delilah... she's not... um, well, she can't be as free with information as a regular person can. It's almost like there are certain rules she has to follow. I wonder if the game isn't breaking certain rules about how this world is supposed to work, and people like Stanley are some kind of way to fight back against it?"
Charlotte Newman	> "... Here?" > "You think this place has something to do with our murderer?" "Stanley and I checked out the Reverse near where that woman...threw herself off the balcony," Charlotte explains, "And there's a ... sort of, corpse in the air there. Just this blotch of red. Right about where Remee said she actually died, I think." Turning here she stands, the girl cradles her chin in one hand, the other supporting the first arm's elbow, "And a few days before that, a bunch of people passed out around the Shoe Source. Which is right here." She glances about the smaller stains of argon glowing dimly amidst the fog, "...These don't make me think about corpses. There's so many but they aren't big enough, right?" > "What are you hoping to find here?" Charlotte moves her hand from her lip to make an open-palmed gesture, "Well, in books the killer always returns to the crime, right?" > "Did you all make more friends?" The girl glances at Kukuru, then out into the fog and those echoing footsteps in the distance. THough discerning their actual source of direction is tough given how bad the echo is, "...Are we counting that cop as a friend, Stanley? I guess that could be him wandering around here again." > "Oh, is 'Char' better?" The actual gunfire causes Charlotte to wince in surprise, shooting a look at the ninja in question. She recovers her composure with closed eyes and a sigh, "Charlotte, please. I won't object to nicknames but that's my preference." The wispy 'ghost doggo', as Stanley has called them, lets out a monstery noise rather than a bark or a whine and dissolves as monsters do. The noise of the gunfire has also caused the footsteps to cease, whereever those may be coming from. > "Are they part of the people who are normally here?" "No," Charlotte answers, "Those aren't 'people' in the direct sense. They're more like... more generalized cast-off feelings, not attached to any one person," She shrugs with her eyes closed, "Near as I can tell, it's okay to fight them. I do sometimes as a form of training. Though usually there's a whole lot more and more varieties of them here." She cradles her chin in thought as Rita brings up a valid point; and when Sougo offers his theory on the subject. Examining the argon stains gives more of the artist's impression of blood rather than literal blood; giving off the scent of inert noble gasses rather than anything organic. What's more telling is the arrangement and shapes of stains. The mark of a creature that was wounded, perhaps even collapsed, but was able to crawl and then stand and stagger away at some point. Not the result of a hunter, who would no doubt secure the kill. Something less primal, a simple assault would explain this. In the distance, after some pause, those footsteps resume at a quickened pace.
Stanley Padgett	And as the footsteps quicken, the gunfire fades into the misty mood of the foggy Reversal, the phones of all the Persona Users present give off the Reversal (video game) push notification jingle, though this time there's a few extra tones in the background. Murder on a Misty Night - Find the Ego Killer 0/1 Huh.
Stanley Padgett	Stanley's reaction to John's outfit isn't one of Cringe, it's 'oh that's cool'. "Oh, man, John, is that what you turn into in here, hold on, I can do that." He takes a moment, shakes out his hands, and then with an effort... he shifts, and with a haze of digital noise, his Revolution form drifts into form around his body, the black and neon green tabard fluttering into place. "...I don't get a mask though. That's SO COOL." The phone noise gets Stanley to look down though and oooh. "New message from Delilah. Find the 'ego killer'. I guess we really are looking for a proper murderer then."
Rita Ma	"That might be it, Mr. Tokiwa." Rita taps her chin in thought. "Although, didn't Ms. Delilah say something about how there's usually a 'Fool'? I feel like maybe, when there's a disturbance like this, certain roles get assigned. But how, or by who... it's a lot." She glances over at Charlotte rubbing her chin, and sigh-shrugs. "So you don't know either. It really is a mystery, then." The renewal of the footsteps makes Rita pay more attention to what had previously seemed like a background element. "That's not normal, is it? I mean, there shouldn't be anyone else here, right?" Charlotte mentions 'the cop', and Rita's face scrunches up in visible distaste. "I'll go make sure." Rita takes a standing leap straight up onto a catwalk above, then hops off that one and repeats for a rapid ascent. The fog seems to be thicker nearer the ground; it's difficult to tell where the footsteps are coming from, but maybe having a higher vantage point will let her spot the source?
Stanley Padgett	As Rita jumps, Stanley raises his hand. "It's me, apparently I'm the 'Fool', but there's no 'Wild Card', so it sounds like this is a situation that has happened in the past here? Something that Igor and Delilah have seen before?"
Remee Halcyon	Important matters first: Wolf-Remee goes to bother Kukuru for some of the food she's promised. Scooby snacks are important. Then: Remee goes to start sniffing around for any sort of scent trail, or possibly a metaphorical scent trail, since her nose works both ways. Focusing first on the argon stains, and then moving outwards from there... Briefly her attention is grabbed by Rita's motion, and she considers following - but she's not as good at leaping upwards as she is at dropping back down.
Rita Ma	Rita pauses mid-ascent to lean back down over a railing when Stanley calls out to her. "Oh! I wonder what happened to the last heroes, then? If you could find one of the people who had a Persona when all this happened before... they could tell you a lot, right? Let's look into that!" Then, after waving down at Remee- with a tiny bit of relief that her friend is dissuaded from attempting the same- she resumes her acrobatics.
John Doe	Mystique, who is not at all insecure about himself, turns his head. The footsteps are getting louder. He can't seem to determine where they are and where they are coming from. That or how close they are...but he does take a moment to give a thumbs up at Stanley who compliments his outfit. He gives Sougo a nod and a wave. "Yeah, that's me, but right now just call me Mystique. It'll make things easier," and he tilts his head to Woz. "Sup?" he says, informally to the word of the Demon King. Then he gets a notification. Oh boy, a chance to show off! "You'll want to stand behind me for a moment," he says to the others and steps out into the open, not at all afraid. In fact, he's grinning ear to ear as if challenging the Ego Killer directly. "Come forth! Man in the Iron Mask!" around him a spirit seems to form, obvious to those who can see it that it's from John himself. The Persona is a man in an iron mask in various black light colors, which of course make nearby light colors glow. Around him are chains wrapped around his arms, across his body, and even down to his legs. Darker colors, glow across the chains, as opposed to the brighter colors of the city around them. A field appears around the pair, enough to envelope the general area around them and make things rather tricky for anyone that isn't John or his allies. The movement will become harder, in fact, no matter how fast one is...they'd be slowed dramatically. Also, areas of chains appear across alleyways, trying to limit where the Ego Killer could come in. Simply put, he was willing to make this his battlefield.
Kukuru	"Corpse in the air? That's not how corpses are supposed to work." Kukuru murmurs as she looks up instinctively when Charlotte mentions that, taking note of the red blotch there along with the others around the Shoe Source. "And... Yeah, if someone's bleeding, it's usually way more than that." The mysteries keep piling up with no clear answer, and she furrows her brow as though she's actually trying to think hard on it. She isn't, but it might almost fool someone that doesn't know Kukuru quite that well. "That cop can be a friend if you want him to count. It's better than having fewer friends, right? Unless..." Sougo mentions the rules of the world, and her mind actually starts working! "... We're not supposed to let normal people know about all this stuff? Is that why you haven't tried getting the cops to help you?" She makes a wild guess while slowing to a stop, the footsteps proving too effort-requiring to continue following for the time being with the echo being as awful as it is. Well, until there's the sound of gunfire. While she hands off some food to Wolf-Remee, Kukuru does a few stretches as though she's ready to start sprinting, then... Resumes casually walking. John had recommended letting him take the lead, after all, so she's keeping her pace nice and slow to do just that. "There's probably someone else here if we're hearing stuff like that. Oh, be careful, Rita!" She calls out with some concern in her tone, but not quite so much that she's really picking up the pace yet. It's kind of easy to tell that she's not actually that concerned, as though she's expecting Rita and James to be alright up front. "Were there people that had Persona...s before? I guess that'd make sense, kinda like..." She looks from Charlotte and Stanley to Sougo and Woz. "... Them! Except they're on the outside instead of... Around the outside."
KNK	'Find the "ego killer". I guess we really are looking for a proper murderer then.' Rose's expression is unreadable behind her mask, but her tone betrays that particular unease of 'I've heard this one before.' "Maybe. Maybe not. You can kill someone's ego without breaking their body. There just isn't much left if you... if you're thorough." Several transformations happen, and Violet applauds. "Ohh, cool! Hey, he has a mask, too! And chains all around, like a prisoner? Is he uhh, hmm, I feel like I've seen this one somewhere, but...?" Before she can figure it out, head tilted and resting on her hand, Violet's pulled out of her rumination by Rose's words. "Assumed incoming. Fade back." Both ninjas disappear back into the fog, vanishing from sight well before distance should cause the same effect. It is not, of course, the fog that is actually hiding them, but it doesn't hurt at all. In truth, Rose is leaping up, running up the walls to a Catwalk, and listening, rather than relying on the sensors in her mask to pierce the fog. Violet is staying at street level, but positioned to flank someone on any of several routes of approach to Mystique. She's remaining still with her back to a wall, and her sheathed sword in one hand, thumb about to push up the hilt.
Caelan Stuart	For someone who's been through the process of sliding sideways through reality multiple times, it's probably still a pretty uncomfortable experience all things considered. For someone who has only done it all of exactly one time, and whose only obvious connection to this whole situation is that he happens to be a local law enforcement officer who happens to be able to /see/ certain things-- Well. It sucks. It sucks pretty bad, in all actuality. And it would have sucked less had he been here a few minutes ago, to be eased (as much as such things can be eased) into the backside of reality, but he had somewhere to be. And so it goes that there's a new addition to the group in the Reversal of Southcourt Mall-- someone who... looks a little out of place, maybe. This man, as his description plainly states, is very obviously a cop. He's also very obviously green around the gills, and spends half his hasty approach either stumbling forward or with a hand firm against the nearest wall for balance. "Sorry... Sorry I'm late. Alice-- had to pick her up from school. Gh-- still not used to... all this..." At least he's not throwing up. That'd just be embarassing, for a cop to throw up just because of a little thing like vertigo. "Corpses-- are usually beholden to the pull of gravity, yes," The Cop says with a groan, bracing himself against a display rack that had become a veritable altar to the fel gods of consumerism and the six-inch heel. "But this whole place... is kind of weird like that, isn't it...?" Is this... The heat source? The sound of steps scurrying in the distance? It's entirely possible. It's entirely possible it's /not/ this apparently perfectly ordinary law enforcement official. But also... "...So these things, the ones that are scurrying around sometimes. They're not... /people/ are they? More like... fractions of imaginary figments?" Beat. "I don't suppose they have the wherewithal or initiative to turn serial killer, do they?"
Timespace Riders	Woz scans the fog, to no avail--Rita has a good idea, but there's only a need for so many eyes in the sky. "Take note of your environment, Mystique," counsels Woz from behind the Persona user. "If you wish to stand your ground, I might suggest the alleyways--" With a regal, sweeping flourish of his hand, he motions to them. "However," he cautions, with his head slightly inclined, "You will also be more easily cornered, without vertical means of traversal." After a moment's examination of his Persona, Woz nods and procures his transformation belt. Woz's belt--announcing itself as the BEYONDRIVER--fastens around his waist. The sleek, futuristic pocketwatch in his hand slots into a hatch on the right side. "Henshin," Woz purrs with a smug smile, closing the hatch. Amazing! Time! Future! KAMEN RIDER WOZ? WOZ?! ...is a silver-and-black armored fighter, with a futuristic neon green trim. The faceplate and cuirass of his armor suggest the strap and face of a digital watch, though the usual Rider 'antennae' are here represented as the hands of a clock. He's joined by-- o/` Ka-meeen Rider! o/` ZI-O. . . ...who is armored in in black, white, silver and pink. cuirass and helmet resemble the band and face of an analog wristwatch. The hands of this watch form the classic Rider 'antenna,' with pink katakana flying into place over the helmet's face to spell out "RIDER." "I'll stick with you, Mystique," says Zi-O. "This battlefield you've made will really help!" Woz, meanwhile, switches to the purple-accented, scarf-equipped Shinobi Armor, taking up a position atop the chains John created to bar off the alleyways. Perched nimbly atop them, he readies his spear and prepares to jump down. "Hi!" Zi-O waves merrily to Caelan. "Are you okay? Do you need a minute to catch your breath?" Then, after a pause, he shakes his head. "Based on what Charlotte said, I don't think it was one of those dog things that did this. But if you want to help us find who did..."
Charlotte Newman	Stanley and John compare their ethereal Reversal Wardrobes. Woz and Sougo get in on it with their Rider armors. Charlotte, who hasn't changed her appearance at all by contrast, makes a show of rolling her eyes at them and muttering, "Boys." She takes a moment to glance at her phone when it vibrates and makes noise, thumbing off the lock screen to read the notification. Red eyes squint a little in thought, "We must be on the right track..." Though she does find herself pondering over the actual wording of the quest. > "Is that why you haven't tried getting the cops to help you?"" "I don't trust cops," Charlotte's answer for Kukuru is rather simple, and she doesn't seem willing to get into it. Partially, perhaps, because she thinks it'll just create more confusion than understanding. > "You can kill someone's ego without breaking their body." Charlotte tilts her head down when Rose states something so simply, rolling over what little she knows of Shadows around, "...That ...does seem to be what's happening. When the mind dies, the body isn't too far behind. 'Ego Killer'..." She glances aside as the footsteps get closer. Remee examines the patterns of stains, but they seem more related to the actions of victims recovering from an attack than from the attacker itself. They do all seem to have been made at around the same time, which lines up with the story of people collapsing suddenly. Perhaps the fact that the victims clearly survived is related to the victims' recovery, compared to the corpse Remee clearly found at the site where someone died. Rita jumps, startling Charlotte in turn. She recovers quickly, glancing up after her comrade, then towards Mystique when he plants himself down as a one-man defensive position with the power of his Persona. From her high vantage point, Rita can see the fog swirling around some approaching figure growing closer to the Shoe Source, until they emerge from the fluorescent mist and it's a slide-sick beat cop muttering about his daughter. Charlotte lets out a sigh, "Officer Stuart, you scared me half to death." Mercifully it seems like he might have been the source of those echoing footsteps all along. But movement catches a predator's eye; and it is Rita who glimpses something else in the glowing gloom. A tall, gaunt figure wrapped in a black coat and-- possibly a top hat, slinks around a corner on the side opposite of where Caelan appeared from. As he moves, he makes no sound, like a ghost, gliding up on where Charlotte stands. More like a living shadow than a person, the only definition on his figure shows itself as he closes in on the girl, when an impossibly wide grin of perfectly aligned teeth shows itself. More easy to notice from a high perch is when the approaching figure's body sort of... extrudes an arm, clutching not a knife but an oversized doctor's scalpel.
John Doe	John grins at Woz, "No need. Why hide? If they're hiding then they're reliant on that ability, right? In a fair fight, they'd be at a disadvantage, but I'm also hoping they're overconfident." John, or rather, Mystique is standing there daring the thing out there to stab them. The moment Caelan stumbles out and is revealed to be the source of the steps, he's one part surprised and one part exasperated at this. "Why is the normie here?" This is right as several warnings go out. It would also be at this time that the murderer would be stepping into the field around himself, and whatever the Ego Killer was, would notice his own movements feeling like they were fighting some unseen force. However, the moment he turns chains slam out of 'everywhere' to try and catch the killer. This is followed by John moving towards him. He's not specifically fast...but in this field he doesn't need to be.
Rita Ma	Is he the source of those footsteps? Rita isn't willing to descend from her perch just yet, in favor of continuing to scan the fog-shrouded horizon, but she does drop down to a lower catwalk to be within speaking distance again. "Even if you didn't have anything better to do, I'd hope you wouldn't go after 'the shoplifter'," she calls out. The nonspecific wariness in her voice seems to match Charlotte's mistrust. But then it softens with concern, at least a little: "You probably shouldn't be here anyway. If you have any tips for us, we'd be happy to hear them, but this isn't a place for an ordinary person." Then her breath catches in her throat when she sees that dark shape in her peripheral vision. "Ms. Charlotte!! Look out!!" As it draws the scalpel, Rita sprints along the catwalk towards it and leaps off. Her jacket sleeve unravels into a spiralling strip in midair, which shimmers into invisibility, leaving her right arm bare. The blow that follows can't be seen other than as the slightest movement of her arm, but it is heard as a whip-crack of flexible acceleration. The shadow's scalpel-wielding arm is bitten into by her cloaked, sharp-edged tentacle, aiming to sever it right through the forearm before the blade can descend.
KNK	Though Rose is immediately suspicious of Caelan for the simple fact that he's a law enforcer, she quickly decides that someone who turns green just from slipping into an otherworldly nightmare land isn't very high up the threat list compared to whatever monsters are using it to leave victims as empty vessels. She is, still, distracted. Violet, who looked once in Caelan's direction and then returned to scanning the entrances not blocked off by John Doe, is not. Only half-listening to what's said, the fact that slows her down is instead that she's watching specifically for someone going after Mystique, and not Charlotte. Charlotte's name gets called out the warning, and Violet's eyes snap in the direction of where she'd last seen her. No visible figure moves. It's only the wind, a motion in the fog, a breeze where none had been before, but the wind is what follows after Violet. By the time it blows past, she's already there, visually exploding into being. The flick of her thumb launches her sword from its sheath, it ignites with light and heat, and strikes underhanded, her opposite hand behind the blade to steady it, to parry the incoming blow. Her counterattack is a flickering motion, like a broken recording, the frames in-between blurred or missing, transitioning directly into the motion after she's already drawn the edge of her blade against the figure's stomach.
Remee Halcyon	Sniff. Sniff sniff sniff. The scooby of the group continues her olfactory investigation. AND THEN, a new scent. Her eyes go to follow her nose- - and she moves. And shifts. It takes less than a second for the situation goes from 'wolf rearing up' to 'girl aiming a rifle', and then less than a second again for her to fire, trying to take out the descending shadow before it gets to Charlotte!
Caelan Stuart	"Don't worry, I'm here for... The serial killer," Caelan says, perhaps assuaging the concern that the cop is here just to do brainless cop things. "As far as I care, dealing with it is far more important than a few thefts." There's a flash of light. That... Sure is a person who just transformed into some kind of Kung Fu Clock Man. Caelan doesn't stare only because staring directly into a Kamen Rider's transformation sequence can be a lot like staring into the sun, sometimes. The wrong lens flare effect at the wrong time can be pretty blinding. Still, this Kamen Rider is not an objectionable presence. "Thanks," Caelan answers, "Yeah, just... Still a little dizzy is all." As one should be, when dealing with... post-reality-twisting nausea. This would, perhaps, be a problem if he had reason to, for example, use his gun. You don't want to trust a drunk man with a gun, you shouldn't trust a cop with vertigo with one either. This turns into a problem when... /something/ emerges from the far side of the store. Instantly, the little hairs on the back of Caelan's neck prickle up. Something is dangerous, that /thing/ is dangerous. And it's-- going straight for the rich little lady. "--Shit, Charlotte, get down!" Caelan yells, his hand going for his gun, only to stop at the last when he nearly fumbles forward into a shoe rack. Whispering another curse, he staggers forward in great, lunging, unbalanced strides, trying desperately to close the distance before a life slips through his fingers-- But then, he's not the one with the power to stop it, here. All he can do is maybe get to Charlotte in time to help guide her to safety. The others all but certainly have the situation dealt with-- But things are never as they seem in a place like this, are they...?
Stanley Padgett	"Detective Caelan... nice to see you again..." Stanley is slightly surprised to see the cop again, as the chatter back and forth would indicate, but he grumbles in the here and now. "See, Joh-Mystique, I told you I didn't LET him in, he just came in on his ow-" Stanley's Aggro Alert goes off at the same time as other people's. It's not as keen overall, but it's finely tuned to simply 'someone wants to fight'... But other people are already reacting, and Stanley's response is instead to draw his saber, release Mercutio, and then get ready to defend against Other Threats. "FIGHT, BOLD YEOMEN! DRAW, ARCHERS." The words ring out, in a much more clear and bold tone that Stanley's usually known for, spurring everyone around him to greater battle efficiency, in case more Shadows are coming.
Kukuru	Unlike Charlotte, Kukuru looks upon the Rider transformations and Reversal Wardrobes with awe. "Oh, wow... Now you're all like a fancy team!" She cheers on the boys, then doubles back to clap her hands against Charlotte's shoulders with perhaps a bit too much familiarity. "Chaaarlie. What if we tried getting some fancy armor and stuff, too? You, me, Remee, and Rita! Aaand..." She pauses to peer at Caelan. "Hmm... You should try something, too. It'll help Charlie trust you more." She concludes with a firm nod, furrowing her brow as she focuses on thatmore than anything remotely involving a killer or an investigation. "Something cute, maybe...? Oh, maybe your kid can help!" She suggests in her usual cheerful, yet sleepy tone. Something about the way she says that suggests she's entirely sincere about the suggestion, too. Finally, Kukuru goes quiet when she starts hearing something approaching. She closes her eyes briefly to take a deep breath (and tries to get a smell profile of whoever's there), but it's not until she catches a glimpse of something from the corner of her vision thats he finally moves. Kukuru whips herself around to to face the approaching figure with the scalpel, stepping right towards them with a hand raised as if trying to get them to stop with the sheer power of a raised palm and a firm stare. Thankfully, she is actually trying to grab the giant scalpel and pull it out of their grip with sheer might, but she's also doing so with her bare hands.
Timespace Riders	>Ms. Charlotte! Look out! Zi-O procures a sharp, silver straight sword, wheeling around to face the direction Rita's warning cry came from. "Stop!!" Zi-O charges in opposite Violet, aiming a strike with the pommel at the shadowy figure's center of mass, with strength well above what would be expected of his unarmored form's unassuming appearance. "Attacking people like this is no reason to smile!" Hot on the heels of his pommel strike, Zi-O makes a one-handed slash, the other held out to keep his balance for the snap kick that comes after. >DRAW, ARCHERS. Woz, perched atop one of Mystique's chains, meanwhile, hurls a spread of three exploding hardlight shuriken, impacting the ground behind the figure and sending up pyroclastic sprays of energy and rubble.
Charlotte Newman	A series of actions occur near-simultaneously. Charlotte's name is called out, snapping the girl out of her thinking and drawing her attention up towards Rita. Violet is just There, the clash of steel striking steel echoing through the glowing fog as her sword intercepts an incoming scalpel. It's the sound more than anything else that has Charlotte scrambling forward with a shriek of surprise. Held fast for only a second or two is all it takes for Rita's extended tendril to snap against the Killer's wrist, slicing right through. The disembodied hand drops away, dissolving into black mist. Kukuru snatches the discarded scalpel, though the weapon also dissolves in her hands a short time after. Caelan manages to intercept the fleeing girl while Mystique's chains close in and batter the ghastly, gaunt figure. Within chains, it is held still enough for Remee's shots to find purchase, sending out sprays of ichorous black bile that stains the fluorescent fog behind it into a more sickly color. Perhaps ZI-O's declaration is correct, because in the scant seconds of frenzied activity between the Killer's appearance and the swift responses to the threat it presents, that unnaturally broad smile has disappeared. It doesn't really have any expression at all right now, no intelligible facial features in the least. Though striking the creature with the sword's pommel is enough to knock it back further into the chains it's tangled up in, it isn't the satisfying solidity of a human sternum that's struck. It's more like... slapping a water balloon. As if one were to say 'This thing can hold so much malice'. Slashed and kicked even further back, the Killer is then enveloped in the blasts of Woz's shuriken. Slumped in the chains, a heartbeat later, it dissolves. In the same fashion as the ghost doggo that Rose had slain earlier, as if it were any regular Reversal monstrosity. Except this one leaves loot! A crumpled letter flutters down, settling in the criss-crossed chains that had previously bound the murderous shade.
Charlotte Newman	The letter is is addressed simply to 'The Police' and once opened, is written with immaculate, flowing penmanship. "I will carve out the cancer of the Nouveau Riche whose fortunes are built using bricks crafted with what they have stolen from me. Surgery will undoubtedly kill the patient, but death for such parasites is a mercy. If you think yourself capable of stopping me, than I invite you to do so." Respectfully Yours, Jack the Ripper
John Doe	John, who is in full smirk mode because he's trapped the shadow in the chains walks very deliberately towards it. He cracks his knuckles, ready to get to business when... Poof. "Wait what? How is this thing just a common shadow? That doesn't make any sense..." he says, with a slightly bewildered tone. The chains fade away, instead of whispering into shadow, vanishing into butterflies of light before fading completely. "Good job Iron Mask," he says to his persona, which vanishes a moment later. "You alright, Charlotte?" he asks, his friend, turning to look at her. "Also, nice teamwork their guys. Never seen a shadow get chumped so easily before," and a stare settles on Caelan. "Alright, buddy, you need to leave before you get hurt."
Stanley Padgett	Stanley's BATTLE TENDENCY lingers in the air, as his Party beats the piss out of that Shade, sending it back into the misty fog it came from, with so many ripples in the neon aether simply fading away until all that's left is the Intruders in the Reversal, that letter, and the horrible hanging bloodstains in the air. Mercutio fades, but Stanley isn't putting away his foil. "....We all okay? Charlotte?" But he looks to Mystique as he starts grumping at Caelan. "...He made it in on his own. He's here for a reason, pal."
Caelan Stuart	Caelan didn't really have a plan beyond 'making sure the young lady had a pile of meat to protect her in the worst case scenario.' Fortunately, it doesn't come to that. "Are you alright...? Don't worry, it looks like your friends have it taken care of." But still he can't be certain there aren't /more/ of them. His gun comes out of its holster, barrel pointed into the ground as his eyes swivel across the dark corners of the shoe store. Nothing. Silent. All except for... The letter. Caelan steps tentatively toward the scrap of paper. He picks it up gingerly with a pair of tweezers and slides it into a plastic baggie before taking the time to read it. "...'Nouveau Riche,' a lot of references to surgery and pathogens. 'Jack the Ripper,' but as far as I know none of the victims thus far have been prost--" Beat. John says a thing. Caelan shakes his head. "Sorry, I've got my own reasons I can't look away from all this. I'll be taking this paper with me if you don't mind; I've got a few things back at the office that might help us figure out if anything's hidden on it." Scalpel, that too-perfect smile... A crazed dentist...? "...Everyone targeted so far has been from new, well-to-do families..." Caelan mutters aloud, "Maybe there's something there...?"
Kukuru	Success! Kukuru gets ready to do that steel-bending rubber thing like another costumed hero might be known for doing with rifles or shotguns, but the scalpel dissolves in her hands before she can actually do that thing. Somehow, though, she still looks amazed. "Wow... I didn't know I could even do that." She murmurs with the awestruck tone of someone realizing that they might have just discovered a new talent at something. She doesn't linger on it long, though, as she ducks down in place, ready to fling herself right at the Killer before they're summarily disposed of far too quickly to be the real thing. Landing a short distance away from where they had dissolved, Kukuru goes right into caretaker mode as she starts checking on everyone, invading their personal space to make sure they're not too hurt from all that and directing healing nanites from her body into there's if there's so much as a scratch on them. "It's weird, right? It was too easy to be a.. Um. The real thing." She nods in agreement with John, then finally takes a look at the letter. She even goes as far as nudging her glasses up a bit, but there's also a bit of a vacant stare going on. "Cancer...? Oh, so this person's a surgeon. But... Surgery's supposed to save the patient instead of killing them, right?" She furrows her brow. "They don't sound like a good doctor, unless... Oh. Maybe they've got someone like me with them, then. That'd work~" She suggests without actually elaborating on whatever that might mean.
Rita Ma	Rita swiftly goes for a follow-up attack, but the invisible tentacle-blade passes through thin air- the Shadow is already dissolving. Her jacket sleeve re-forms itself. She glances back at Charlotte to make sure she's okay, then shuts her eyes, touches her own arm, and breathes out a little sigh of relief. She tries to peer over Caelan's shoulder while he reads the letter, which competes with her desire not to gettoo close to him. Then she glances back. "Ms. Charlotte... you're from a wealthy family too, aren't you? If that ties all the victims together, I wonder if 'Jack the Ripper' is the same as the Ego Killer?" Then her shoulders slump a little. "But defeating it couldn't be that easy, right? I can't believe it's over just like that." Rita paces back and forth uneasily, tapping her lips with a finger. The woman who threw herself over the railing. The near-instant decomposition. 'Carving out the cancer'. There has to be a connecting line somewhere. What's the piece she's missing? Then she startles, like she's had an epiphany. With terrifying innocence: "Mr. Stuart? What's a 'prost'?"
Stanley Padgett	Stanley Padgett is a Helpful Person. He is also smart. And knowledgeable and knows things. And is helpful to his friends. He sidles over towards the other side of Charlotte, closer to Rita and the others, his sword still out and pointed towards the alleyways. "Oh. Jack The Ripper is a famous unsolved murder case from like, ancient England where someone killed a bunch of sex workers and they never caught the person."
Timespace Riders	"Thank you, Mystique!" The pink rider bows graciously. "You were a big part of that," he says, patting him on the shoulder. Of a similar mind to Stanley, Zi-O keeps his sword out, and remains armored up. Woz makes a nimble vertical leap off of Mystique's chains, likely the moment they disappear, if they're going to. He lands dramatically before Zi-O, scarf billowing outwards, before kneeling. "Well fought, my Demon King," he says, from his obeisant position. "Woz..." Zi-O is glad he's still armored up--the better to hide his face. His tone of voice and the bashful turn of his head away don't do much to conceal what's behind that faceplate, however. He clears his throat. "Nouveau Riche... I don't know that phrase. The Understanding didn't..." "'New money,' my Demon King," says the still-armored retainer, rising with a nod towards Caelan. "A usually derogatory term to refer to those who have earned wealth within their own lifetime, as opposed to those who inherited their fortunes." Zi-O, the amateur historian, lifts a hand, index pointed triumphantly. "That's German for 'cheers!' But I don't remember reading about Jack the Ripper going after drinkers..." Stanley clears it up, and Zi-O's body shoots upright in attentive appreciation. "Oh! That makes more sense. Thanks, Stanley!"
Rita Ma	"German for 'cheers'... Well, I'll make sure not to have any before I come here," Rita says to Sougo with perfect earnestness. Then Stanley 'explains'. "Oh! Okay. Thanks, Mr. Stanley," she says, with a total glassy lack of comprehension. "A sex worker. That makes sense." Rita pulls out her phone and opens a note-taking app. If anyone is looking over her shoulder, they can see her type in 'Ask Ms. Grier what a sex worker is'.
KNK	Though Rose is still nowhere in sight (keeping to her bird's eye view of the surroundings in case of a second attack), Violet first watches the shadow dissolve, then asks, "Charlotte? You okay?" Since it seems she is, Violet goes back to watching the surroundings, too. "Hmm~, should we go and look at the frozen body? That sounds like a weird thing we'd want to see, right? Maybe it has clues!" Or maybe not. 'Oh. Jack The Ripper is...' Violet gives a knowing nod, an, 'I see' sort of tone as she concludes from Stanley's description and some unexplained experience, "A pervert."
Caelan Stuart	Oh no, it's every dad's worst nightmare! Trying to explain SEX THINGS to young women-- Oh but thankfully Stanley has it covered. Which just has Caelan arching his brow at the young man before considering what /he/ was getting up to at that age. At which point he just shakes his head slowly. Ah, youth. "Your friend raises an interesting point," Caelan says of Woz's observation. "'Nouveau Riche' is not the kind of phrase just anyone would use. The handwriting suggests someone who has had extensive time and opportunity to practice as well. More than most, at least. I think I might have enough to start narrowing down suspects, but I'll need some time." His eyes dart towards That Reliable Teenager. "Stanley. I'll need a way to stay in touch."
Charlotte Newman	Charlotte is clearly uninjured, though quite spooked that something just snuck up on her like that. Caelan shuttles her out of harm's way while everyone contends with the stab-happy shadow. Even he faces it down, though when nothing happens and he looks back, he finds the girl is back on her feet and--accompanied by the metallic living statue that is the persona Galatea. She's readied, her bat in her hands, while Galatea has lifted her cannon arm. But there's nothing to shoot by the time Charlotte is ready to do so. She lets out a shakey sigh, lowering her bat while Galatea re-merges with her silhouette, "...Too close." Glancing towards Violet and John and then Stanley, she nods once to each, then towards Caelan, "...Th-thank you. You didn't have to, but thank you." Kukuru's examination gets a protesting, "I'm fine!" despite the personal space invading, though she does relent with a "...I'll take some of those snacks, though, please." Something to settle her nerves would be nice. She did just nearly get shanked by Smiley Ghost, after all. "Y-yeah," she admits to Rita, "My parents are never home but we're...pretty well-off." She bites her lip, looking back to where the shadow had dissolved, "...Could a Tyrant have servants? That was probably one of them." Clearly shaking a bit, she fumbles with the buckles on her handbag until she can produce her phone, tapping a few commands in and pulling open a glitch-bordered tear back to the Real. "I want to not be here right now," but at least in her haste to leave the Reversal, she's given everyone else a route for S L I D I N G S I D E W A Y S back into the Real themselves.
John Doe	"Old money," Mystique says, with a calm tone. "Remember there used to be steel mill owners before the tech bros came in. I think we're dealing with someone who is old money based on how fancy the note is, and how the phrase is used. Middle-class or lower-class people wouldn't say that shit unless it was on the internet or TV." "Least that's my observation." He gives Zi-O a thumbs up. "Thanks. Feels good to get to exercise the muscle a bit, if you get what I mean." He also looks at Caelan. "I'd suggest you stay out of here without one of us to protect you if you're going to get involved here. This place isn't for those without power and.." he looks over at the cop again. "I didn't see a persona."
Kukuru	"Easy, eaaasy. I know you're okay, but I wanna make sure." Charlotte's protests are met with more fussing from Kukuru, and her request for a snack is met with what might as well be a family-sized box of those lasagna samosas. They'll probably need reheating to get back to crispy state, but the inside is still nice and melty. Woz explaining what the fancy term means and the alias used by the Killer, meanwhile, even gets Kukuru's mind going (for real). "Someone thatk nows thatmuch stuff must be real smart, yeah... Oh. Maybe it's a... Um..." It still takes a while longer for her brain to catch up. "... Older doctor, maybe with a family that's done that sort of stuff for a long time? Then the kids would be in a good spot to keep doing more doctor-y stuff and keeping all that money coming in." She suggests, nodding at Mystique's own suggestion. "Yeah, like that. I've never even heard of fancy words like... Noofle... Reese before." Once it's time to go, meanwhile, Kukuru will do her best to try and see if there's any costume stores nearby. It might not be a good one, though, it might just be a notoriously seasonal store, and it might not even be open, but at least she'll know where it is for later.