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Post by mugenginga on Nov 21, 2009 3:16:40 GMT -5
Keiichi, Naoya, and Kaini stood a good ten feet back from the hotel. Kaini remembered the last time he was hear. It had been when Midori had all but forced him into that cosplay. He looked somewhat cold as he tilted his head back. He was used to skyscrapers, but this definently qualified as one of the tallest, if not the tallest he had ever seen.
He'd actually gotten a Kabuso when he activated the COMP. Keiichi had looked a bit pained when he saw that, but Kaini had chosen not to question it. The fight had almost been a joke, Kaini's training with Himitsu had made him more than a match fort he demon. He'd caused it to concede defeat with one hit, and the thing had looked near death.
As it was, he had his two current demons just behind him. One was an Abaddon, the other was Ameterasu. The Abaddon had come from K1, while Naoya had insisted he took Ameterasu. It would allow him to both fight and heal from a distance, a fact both his brothers had insisten upon. He hadn't argued, he was still a bit sore. On that thought he rubbed his shoulders.
Cain had said he needed to summon the demons before the Dark Hour - He had known that thanks to the other instances of the Hour he'd been through. As it was, less than ten minutes remained before midnight. Kaini turned to his true brother, "Don't worry, we'll save them."
I don't know them, but I don't think... I don't want to think about what would happen if we couldn't...
Kaini doublechecked the time on the grey COMP Naoya had given him before putting into sleep mode and sticking it in his pocket. He'd give a soft and hopefully reassuring smile if K1 looked at him.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Nov 21, 2009 3:41:50 GMT -5
As the day had gone on, K1 had fallen slowly out of the worry from before, and back into the simmering anger from before. They better have been alive... because K1 wanted to give them both a piece of his mind. Atem and Yuugi would probably blame it on the growing darkness within him... or the fact that K1 was still PO'ed at them both over the whole "telling the whole party about the Cain and Abel thing." He just wanted his wallet. To tell the truth, though... he'd probably be angrier if they did have it. It would mean they'd taken it and not even bother returning it to him. There had been plenty of time before they'd left.
Of course he was still concerned for them. They'd been his first friends after arriving. But it didn't stop him from being mad over this.
Five minutes now until the Dark Hour.
The demons K1 had summoned had been Kikuri-Hime (if only because she was familiar to K1, and she made him feel safe), and Cerberus. Cerberus had been a mainstay in K1's party for a while now. The wolf... lion... dog... thing had worked well as a party member.
Three minutes.
K1 turned to Kaini. He opened his mouth to say something before closing it again. It wasn't anything important. It could wait until later.
And then the Dark Hour hit. The COMPs shut off, and the few people still wandering the streets turned into coffins. K1 suddenly heard a very loud rumbling.
"Incoming..." K1 mumbled as Tartarus rose out of the ground.
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Post by mugenginga on Nov 21, 2009 3:51:17 GMT -5
Kaini had turned towards his brother as Keiichi was about to say something. When Keiichi turned away he looked a mix of concerned and slightly hurt, but he let it rest. Naoya was standing a bit to the side. The demons he had out were Nyarlathotep and Ananta. While both were more physical based than not, Naoya had spent quite a bit of time using the Mitama secret of fusion to make his Nyarlathotep a monster when it came to magic. And Ananta had Pierce, so even its Attack All skill wasn't the disadvantage it could be.
Still, this wasn't a smart idea. If the shadows got to them... his train of thought was shifted as the rumbling occurred. He was already far enough back, and seemed mildly amused as Kaini all but hopped backwards. Ameterasu caught the teen's movement and moved with him. Abaddon's speed meant it was the closest to the tower as it formed, but it caused no ill effect.
"It's creepier up close..." muttered Kaini. He glanced at Keiichi, hoping the older twin would take the lead.
-----
"Guys, I think I found it!"
Yuugi had been the scout for the group as they looked for the teleporter. He had made a point of tuning into his friends with the Pendant - Anything that wasn't indicative of them he treated as a Shadow. They hadn't been able to avoid all the fights, but they'd had far less than they otherwise might have... avoiding all the fights would have taken a Support Persona, after all.
Atem looked relieved. He was sticking closer to Souji than he was fond of, but they had to practically be on top of each other in this fog. He made sure Souji was beside him as he sped up. Sure enough, a very dull green glow could be seen among all the fog. Atem closed his eyes and let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank goodness... you go first, partner,"
Yuugi looked up for a moment, but sensed Atem's concern. He nodded, "I"ll see you down there."
He touched the teleporter and rematerialized in the lobby... probably about the time K1, K2, and Naoya were entering.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Nov 21, 2009 4:02:56 GMT -5
K1 had taken the lead of the three (and their demons), as he'd been the one to suggest coming there. And so he led the group into Tartarus, pushing open the doors to the tower lobby. He stopped once he saw Yuugi materialize, though.
"...Hey." K1 said. Souji appeared behind Yuugi. It looked like Souji had gone with them after all.
"Master..." Kikuri-hime said in a low tone. K1 motioned for her to be quiet.
"You've got something of mine. Am I right?" K1 asked. "And where's Minato?"
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Post by mugenginga on Nov 21, 2009 4:13:52 GMT -5
Yuugi seemed elated as he saw K1. He seemed happy to see K2 up and about, and there was a fairly large grin of relief on his face. K2 felt the warmth coming off the short teenager. He'd never really bein into Yu-Gi-Oh! - For one the original was known for being hard to find, and he'd heard only bad things about the dub. He was more active than the type that played card games, so he didn't really know it via that. But he could tell how glad Yuugi was to see K1.
Than he heard the tone in his twin's voice. He looked apologetic towards Yuugi, who had winced a bit at the reaction. K1 was still mad. As K1 asked about "something that belonged to him", Yuugi's eyes got wide. Right, the wallet! He pulled it out from his pocket and walked towards K1. He held it out as Atem materialized by Souji. He glanced over at the arrivals. He had little doubt it was the next night from that. He still had the game face on, but it got a little harsher when he saw the expression on K1's face.
"I'm very sorry I couldn't get it to you sooner... I didn't expect to be stuck here," he winced as K1 asked about Minato, "...I, I mean we don't know," he glanced back at Atem and Souji, "He vanished after we got seperated near the top.... the fog up there is as bad as in the TV World... I'm really glad you came, though!"
He really did seem glad. As for Naoya, he was focused on the television. He had no doubt it was related to the TV World. K2 watched the interaction between Yuugi and K1. He'd thought they were friends, but there seemed to be a one-sided animosity. He glanced over at the heavily tanned teenager. He was looking at K1, and had been since he heard K1 speak... was he protective of Yuugi or something?
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Nov 21, 2009 4:25:08 GMT -5
What K1 did next would probably make Atem mad. Instead of taking the wallet and giving a simple "Thank you" or even, "Thanks!", he snatched it from Yuugi's hand and opened it to make sure everything was in place. Someone had tucked the cell phone strap into one of the pockets inside the wallet. He closed it and put it in his pocket.
There was no need for that, Souji thought to himself. "I'm worried. There wasn't much else for Minato to have gone if he disappeared from the floor upstairs. While we were up there, we ended up just getting teleported back to where we came from a couple of times. I think he went into the TV World."
"So you need our help, right?" K1 said. Souji nodded.
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Post by mugenginga on Nov 21, 2009 4:36:34 GMT -5
Atem glowered at K1. Yuugi got his kicked puppy expression again. K1 seemed to bring it out a lot lately. He stepped back, obviously feeling the entire situation was his fault. Atem voiced what Souji had been thinking in a dangerously flat voice, "There is absolutely no need to treat him like he stole it."
Atem could tell that K1 seemed to be mildly relieved... but it didn't change the fact he was abusing Yuugi. Yuugi was trusting, he put stock in surface emotions. And with the tension of Yuugi and K1's relationship over the past couple of days...
Yuugi looked towards Atem as he came to his defense, "It's okay... he's right, I should have returned it before we left yesterday..."
At that point Atem wasn't sure who to be more annoyed with. But Souji spoke before the situation could de-escalate on either side. K2 had been about ready to try and defuse things a bit when he heard TV World.
"...wait, what?"
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Nov 21, 2009 4:46:08 GMT -5
K1 had been about to respond with another angry remark when Kaini had spoke up. He turned around, and in a less angry tone, said, "It's this world behind the TV. Basically, Persona users like Souji and Yuugi can enter TVs and go to this other world... but it's a one way portal. They need people like us, or rather our demons--" he motioned to Kikuri-hime, who seemed nervous about the whole situation. "--to get them out."
Souji took note of the so much more friendly tone K1 was taking with Kaini. It reminded him of K1 before Belphegor.
"While I hate to interrupt your little bonding chat, we have to hurry if we're going to save Minato," Souji said. "Don't forget, we only have an hour. Any longer than an hour, and we stand a chance of losing entire days of time."
"He went to the TV World to make his seal, right? Then he's doing what he wanted to do," K1 said. He was glaring at Souji. The way Souji had been looking at Naoya, at him too, the whole time had made him mad.
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Post by mugenginga on Nov 21, 2009 4:52:54 GMT -5
Yuugi opened his mouth for a moment, but shut it. K1 had a point... and he wasn't sure how to argue it. Atem had no such problem, however.
"Minato-kun's Persona has been going beserk lately. He can use more than one, like Souji, and one of them seems very closely linked to Death. If he gets killed in the TV World before he can make the seal, his life will have been wasted," there was a heavy edge of annoyance to Atem's voice.
K2 looked towards his twin, "I don't really understand anything that's going on here, but can't we help them...? You were... I mean, you seemed worried about them back at the apartments."
Yuugi looked up at that. He'd been right, K1 was here for more than the wallet! He seemed a bit happier at that. Atem, however, seemed more annoyed. He understood acting tough out of concern for others, but it was no reason for K1 to be a jerk. Kaini was working with his family now, his opinion on the Bel thing had obviously changed... but he still seemed the lightest of the group. Atem kept his gaze on K1, awaiting his response.
Naoya spoke finally, "It would be quicker to just go along with it." There was no illusion about him caring one way or the other, he was just irritated at the pointless chatter.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Nov 21, 2009 5:06:22 GMT -5
K1 sighed. "Alright. I'll help them." He couldn't leave Minato to die... not like this. He turned to Souji. "That TV over there's the way in, right? Go open up the portal for us."
Souji walked over to the TV, but as he did so, he was going over things in his head.
It's a instinctual response. He's unsure of something. His stance keeps shifting. It's a slight shift, but it's noticeable, especially after how he'd been after the Belphegor incident. Something happened that changed him. Maybe he noticed what this demonic energy's doing to him? And he's still mad because of what we pressed Yuugi and Atem into revealing. He looked back at K1 and his demons, who were approaching Souji. Even so, there's no excuse for how he's acting.
Souji pressed his hand onto the TV, and it sunk though. "Go on in," he said. "I'll meet you all on the other side."
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Post by mugenginga on Nov 21, 2009 5:17:40 GMT -5
If one thought Atem wasn't catching the constant, albeit minute, changes K1 was rapidly cycling through, they were underestimating the former Pharaoh's power of observation. But he was developing less and less pity for K1. The blue haired teenager had made a choice - Atem could not accept it had been the only one placed before him. Even the implications that Kaini had been a "replacement"; there had to have been more than the black and the white.
K1 had chosen his fate. Yuugi couldn't see that, he still saw the humanity in his friend. The slipping humanity. He tsked under his breath.
"Thank you!" Yuugi said as genuinely as he possibly could.
K2 smiled. He liked the short teenager. He glanced at K1, not going towards the television until his twin did. Naoya had not such hesitation and walked forward before anyone else, but he allowed Yuugi to pass him. Atem closed his eyes and sighed before walking over as well.
When K2 saw Souji's hand sticking into the television his mind tried to trip. When Yuugi climbed into said television, it did. If it hadn't been for the hell he'd been through lately, he would have thought he was hallucinating. Atem waited until Yuugi was all the way in before turning to K1.
"You need to stop kicking him around," he said flatly. He had the courtesy to wait for a response before climbing in, but he was aware he might not get one. K2 glanced at Atem. Man, he really was overprotective.
"Excuse me... um, Atem?" K2 continued when Atem regarded him, "If you keep that up, people are going to think you 'like' him or something..."
Atem's expression twitched very slightly - Only the most observant of the group would catch it. Naoya had a rather large and amused smirk at the irony of what Kaini had said... and not realized he'd said. He hadn't been with the group when Atem faced his shadow, but he had picked up on the subtle (and ocasionally not so subtle) chemistry between the Japanese and Egyptian teens. The fact was, it was the only time when Atem didn't seem sure of himself.
(OOC: Pausing for the reactions this could (should) cause. Yuugi JUST got in.
Also, Kikuri-hime is gonna have a heck of a time (read as inability beyond vague direction) pinpointing where Minato is.)
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Nov 21, 2009 10:54:20 GMT -5
As Kaini said that, Souji's other hand moved to his face in what was unmistakeably a facepalm. Looked like Kaini had finally figured things out.
"That's because he does," Souji said. "Now, do you have any other questions, Kaini, or are you going to get in the TV?"
"It's complicated," K1 said. He walked over the TV, and Kikuri-hime and Rangda stayed behind a bit. "Good thing I brought you along, Kikuri-Hime."
"I suppose so, Master," Kikuri-Hime stated. She still looked rather nervous about, well, everything. She looked to Atem, and there was something like a pleading expression in her eyes. Rangda for once wasn't dropping any snide remarks. She seemed to have sensed something from K1.
K1 didn't notice either of them though, and climbed into the TV. When he landed, he landed on marble floors. In fact...
"Hey, wait a minute, this is where we just came from!"
Kikuri-Hime floated gracefully down next to K1. "No, it looks the same, but it's not. This is a place formed by someone's emotions." She turned around and looked around at the fog. "This fog, the fog of deceit... it's especially thick here."
"I'd say. But if this is a place formed by people's emotions, then does that mean Tartarus is Minato's reality?" K1 asked. Kikuri-Hime didn't answer him. She didn't really want to think of a possibility such as that. A hellish place like the tower as what someone perceives their life as... too cruel.
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Post by mugenginga on Nov 21, 2009 11:15:04 GMT -5
Atem wasn't one to blush. When you considered his compexion, the rare occurrance was even harder to notice. But as Souji made his remark to confirm Kaini's unintended hitting on the head of the nail, the former Pharaoh felt his cheeks getting a bit on the warm side. He looked extremely annoyed, more than before, but it didn't change the slight discoloration.
The look on Kaini's face was very much that of a broken mind. It felt like years, but it was really only a few seconds. Kaini openend his mouth, but closed it again. It didn't matter. He found that kind of thing squicky to no end, but it really didn't matter. Although the way he shook his head to get his thoughts back onto the topic at hand was a pretty blatent indicator of what he thought of that. It did explain things though.
Atem didn't even notice Kikuri-hime's look. One of the few things that could turn Atem away from his analytical way of thinking was Yuugi - The way he'd almost killed Haga with holograms after losing his partner to the Orichalchos was evidence enough of that. K2 followed K1 in, and Naoya went after that.
Atem looked at Souji, "Please don't spread that around," he shook his head and seemed almost pained, "I don't want to run the risk of Yuugi getting hurt because of it."
Which was just plain adorable, really. To anyone outside the awkward relationship, it was pretty evident they both liked each other. Hell, Yuugi had literally glomped the former Pharaoh back in the latter's TV World. Atem looked annoyed again and climbed into the TV. Rather quickly, as if he was purposely avoiding hearing Souji's response.
-----
K2 (and as a result his demons) came in just in time to hear Kikuri-hime's explanation. Ameterasu looked at the fog closely... for some reason this place had a level of familiarity she didn't like. She got what it was as well as Kikuri-hime, though. K2 was just glad he'd shown up and heard the explanation before making an idiot of himself. He had to agree with K1. He chose not to question the "formed by someone's emotions" thing. He'd had enough mindscrew so far he'd settled into just going with the flow for now.
Naoya landed with his own demons, and smirked at Minato's TV World. There were things to be said for obsession. Ameterasu took a step towards Kaini, "There is more to this place than that blue haired boy's basic emotions... almost as if its tainted." - She wasn't aware she was referring to what ten years can do to a human psyche, though.
Yuugi looked towards his friends, "Um... Hime-san?" As usual he wondered about her name, but he was extremely worried about Minato's TV World right now, "Do you know where Minato-kun is?"
Atem landed with slightly less epic than the teen was known for managing. His gaze narrowed at the area around him. The worlds within the television may have been formed by emotions, but the thematic tendencies they had... Yuugi's and his looked like Egyptian tombs, Minato's like Tartarus. He heard Yuugi ask Kikuri-hime the question, but focused on where Souji would likely appear. They'd need his goggles.
-----
He looked up, a quizzical expression on his face. More visitors? It had been awfully active lately. He'd had trouble pinpointing them before, and he swore he'd recognized three of them. One in particular - It had all but floored him. He had moved away! The bulky figure hadn't even gotten bored yet, which meant not much time could have passed.
He began waddling towards where he sensed the presences. His nose had been on such the fritz, but when he had come back here it had seemed to work again. Maybe cause he had accepted that he belonged here...?
Unlike the visitors, he had no trouble seeing through the fog. He'd never forgive the one who had brought it back...
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Nov 21, 2009 11:35:46 GMT -5
Once Atem climbed through, Souji climbed through the portal as well. As he was more used to the "traveling through the TV World" thing than K1 was, he landed more neatly on the marble floor of Tartarus... no, not Tartarus. Fog was way too thick. This was definitely the other side.
As the others of the group talked, Souji stayed on alert. He could sense something coming. He always got a feeling that someone was watching them in here, but this time it seemed different.
Kikuri-Hime shook her head at Yuugi's question. "The fog's too thick... my abilities are always limited within the Tower, and this Tower analogue seems to be hindering them further."
"We'll probably find him at the top," K1 put in. "We always find you guys at the very back of Tartarus with your shadows anyways."
-------------
The fog in Tartarus was getting thinner as Minato proceeded on. As he walked, he came up for a new excuse to the Death Clock thing. He had stayed in Tartarus for more than an hour, so it had gone to the next day. Perfect sense!
For some reason, he hadn't seen many shadows as he walked, though...
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Post by mugenginga on Nov 21, 2009 11:46:05 GMT -5
"Do you have the goggles with you, Souji?" Atem asked.
Yuugi looked worried as he spoke to Kikuri-hime again, "...can you at least tell he's alive?"
Ameterasu answered first, though. She was a stronger demon, for one, "There is a human presence here other than us..." she paused and looked extremely confused, "One... two? I'm sorry, I can't tell. There's definently at least one, though."
"This place is creepier than the main building..." K2 said, rubbing his arms. He'd heard the comment about goggles, but told himself to continue to just go with it.
Naoya remained quiet. The more time they spent here dawdling the more time they lost. He glanced at Souji. The teen needed to hurry up and respond.
-----
It is Sensei! I'd know that scent from a mile away!
The bulky figure began running forward. First the fog had come back, and now Sensei? His human emotions were a mix of elation, worry, and anger. The fog was back. Sensei was here. It meant both worlds were in danger again!
The group would probably hear the squeaky steps before they could see their owner.
-----
He opened his eyes and looked around. He was standing... had he fallen asleep on his feet? He jerked his head to the side as he heard an extremely irritated high pitched sound fading away. Okay, this was starting to get worrisome... He'd officially reached the point of wanting the hell out of here.
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