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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Jun 9, 2010 22:27:18 GMT -5
At the moment, a rather large group was gathered outside of the electronics store in El Grande Mall. At the moment it consisted of Souji, Minato, Kanji, Naoto, Yuugi, Atem, Anzu, and Jounouchi. There was another person who was supposed to arrive, but wasn't there yet. Supposedly, Abel was sending the help Atem had requested.
On the way to the mall, Naoto had informed Yuugi of what had happened the previous night regarding Kaiba. Kanji had stayed out of that conversation, too embarrassed from the details of what had happened. He had been the one who had knocked Kaiba out. As for Kaiba, when Naoto and Kanji had left, he'd still been out on the couch. Naoto had left a note for him explaining what had happened, and that he was not to linger around their apartment. Naoto doubted that he actually would linger anyways.
"Abel said he was going to send someone, right?" Souji asked Atem. "If that demon doesn't show up soon, I might have to call Teddie and ask him to..." He facepalmed. Right, still no new phone. "...Well, someone will have to call him and tell him to come help after all."
"Excuse me, you were talking about me?"
Souji turned at the sound of a voice. Standing behind him was a tall woman, wearing very traditional and yet not well covering at all clothing, carrying a couple fans and even having one over her face. Parts of her body had purple ring shaped tattoos on it.
"My name is Ame-no-Uzume, though you may call me Uzume for short. His Majesty Abel has sent me to aid you in your travels between the world behind the TV and this world in absence of the Shadow known as Teddie," Uzume stated.
"...Guess he pulled through after all," Minato said.
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Post by mugenginga on Jun 10, 2010 3:58:30 GMT -5
Yuugi's group had actually met up with Souji's group about halfway to the mall. Anzu of all people had woken up first. Atem could tell she hadn't slept will with worry over Bakura. Half the remaining night had been taken up with the recount of the events over the past two or so months. The retelling had been fairly detailed, but silent conversation between Yuugi and Atem had caused key points to be glossed over. As a result, neither Anzu nor Jounouchi knew about Yuugi and Atem's relationship.
Jounouchi had slept like a rock, but he'd never been a light sleeper. Yuugi had slept well only from exhaustion, and Atem had been woken up when Anzu moved around. Anzu had gotten the bed, Jounouchi and Yuugi had been on opposite ends of the couch, and Atem had slept in the folding chair.
When Naoto mentioned Kaiba, there was a moment where Yuugi wanted to go back. Atem had looked like he was about to say something, but Anzu had mentioned how much danger Bakura was in first. It was unlikely all members of the group missed Atem's irritation. Jounouchi had interpreted it all wrong and had given Atem a noogie. The former Pharaoh had seemed irritated, but he had relaxed a bit as a result.
When Souji asked about Abel, Atem had nodded. Anzu looked worried when Souji suggest they call Teddie. It could be misinterpreted as her disliking working with a Shadow, but she was actually concerned for his health. Before any further reactions could be had, Ame-no-Uzume had shown up. Yuugi had looked both extremely relieved and happy. Jounouchi had narrowed his eyes at the mention of the name Abel. Anzu had bowed towards her, and Yuugi stumbled and bowed as well. Atem turned towards the main group.
"I think we should split up into groups," he stated. He glanced at the large crowd, "At least two. It would be best if the groups were split apart in terms of people who know each other best. It should aid in teamwork. My suggestion is that Partner, Jounouchi-kun, Anzu, and I go together. Souji-kun, you should take Minato-kun, Kanji, and Naoto."
"Atem, that won't work," Yuugi stated.
The former Pharaoh turned to Yuugi with a confused expression. Yuugi looked nervous, but swallowed and spoke again, "We're dealing with Bakura-kun. If we're going to split up, I think someone from our world should be in both groups. Besides, we'd be put at a disadvantage with your layout. Minato-kun and Souji-kun have the strongest Persona, so they should be split up."
"Hey, don't diss our Ka!" Jounouchi stated.
"Jounouchi-kun, I'm not. You haven't seen Messiah or Izanagi-no-Okami in action. I think Minato-kun should go with whatever group is weaker, too. Messiah has the best healing skills."
Anzu's eyes widened, "Jounouchi-kun, Yuugi is right! Yesterday, Messiah was able to fully heal everyone, and about half the group was really hurt!"
(OOC: Pausing to avoid a one man show here. XD)
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Jun 10, 2010 11:00:38 GMT -5
Souji nodded as Atem said they should split up. He was more used to working with Naoto and Kanji, and Minato should probably go with other experienced Persona users. However, as Yuugi spoke up, he had to admit the shorter teen had a point. He and Minato did have the strongest Personas there, what with Izanagi no Okami and Messiah.
"I'll go with you guys, then," Minato said. "Yuugi, you should probably go with Souji-tachi, then. I don't think any of them have any healing spells, but you've got Diarama, right?"
"I've probably got a Persona I could switch to if it came to it, but Minato's right," Souji said. "Izanagi's only good for offense, and Naoto and Kanji both use mainly physical skills."
Uzume was standing off to the side, waiting for the humans to finish talking. Honestly, these humans bored her, but Abel had said that she was to help them.
"Oh, nearly forgot," Souji reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of glasses. He handed them to Jounouchi. "You'll need these to see in the TV World. The whole place is covered with really thick fog that only these can see through."
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Post by mugenginga on Jun 10, 2010 11:23:59 GMT -5
Jounouchi was pointing at each of the people as the group spoke. The conversation last night had seemed to do some good, as he picked out all the right people. He was nodding to himself when Souji held out the glasses. They were black, although the part just touching the shade like lenses were polished silver. He put them on and blinked. Those looking at him would notice they fit his face very well. He pulled them off.
"Thanks! Hey, I think Kanji and me should be split up too. He looks like a fighter, after all, and I can hold my own too."
"We should also consider our Persona's attack skills. Souji-kun and Minato-kun are the most adaptable due to Wild Card, and both Anzu and Jounouchi-kun have multiple cards. Me and Partner have a deck."
"Atem, you should take it. I can take the sword and I'll probably be handling healing. I think Nefertum learned a new ability recently."
Atem nodded, "Alright, how about this? Minato-kun will lead Naoto, Kanji, and myself. Souji-kun can take the lead of Partner, Anzu, and Jounouchi-kun."
There was an unspoken meaning to what Atem was saying, one he hoped Souji would get. The way he'd split them up meant Souji would be in charge of the most volatile of the group. The split up of Kanji and Jounouchi had been a bit problematic, but he'd decided on them because Naoto could handle Kanji and Anzu had often shown an ability to calm Jounouchi down. Actually, she did pretty well with all of their group.
Beyond that, the people with Minato tended to be calmer and less likely to bring up the issue of Ryoji. .....another area they'd glossed over on. Atem had taken the lead there, and as far as Anzu and Jounouchi were concerned, Ryoji was just a very close friend of Minato's.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Jun 10, 2010 11:41:00 GMT -5
Uzume had crossed her arms, and though no one could see it due to the fan she had hanging over her face, she was actually rather annoyed. Couldn't they have figured this out before she got there? They were wasting time they could have been using to rescue their friend.
"That sounds good," Souji said. Naoto gave a nod of agreement. "Alright, let's go ahead and head in."
"Finally," Uzume groaned. Kanji gave her a funny look. This demon was definitely ruder than Kikuri-Hime had been, and Kanji didn't even think he'd seen Kikuri-Hime more than once.
With that, the group headed into the electronics store. After checking that no one was watching, Souji headed through the TV.
"...I really wish he'd wait for us sometimes," Naoto groaned. She looked toward Yuugi, Anzu, and Jounouchi. "I suppose you should head in first."
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Post by mugenginga on Jun 10, 2010 12:09:36 GMT -5
Atem was aware of the demon's annoyance. Anzu had looked towards Uzume a few times during the conversation, but hadn't said anything. It was over Jounouchi's head, either way. The blond was flipping through his deck during the conversation, and had gotten five cards pulled out by the time the decision was made.
"I still don't get this... you just... walk in?"
Yuugi gave a nervous grin, "Yeah. Here, watch me."
Yuugi walked forward and carefully put his hand through the ripples. Jounouchi's eyes widened, but he wasn't looking away. Yuugi carefully lifted his leg and climbed through. The ripples increased in speed as he passed through. Jounouchi blinked.
"Wow, he wasn't kidding."
"Did you doubt him?" Anzu said, conveniently forgetting how much it had bothered her.
Jounouchi glared at Anzu for that. One could tell she felt bad for it and she waved her hands to tell him to forget it. He walked past her and carefully put his hand through it. He visibly shuddered at it, giving a sour but not all that threatening look to anyone who chuckled over it. He stepped through.
"Uzume-san, are you going to be okay? When are you going in?" Anzu asked.
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Yuugi was putting on his glasses when Jounouchi came in. He winced as he heard the thud, and ran over to the taller teenager and helped him up. Jounouchi was brushing off his pants when his surroundings sunk in. His eyes widened and he looked around. Funn...... wait, kanji? And there were broken game pieces pretty much everywhere. He looked towards Yuugi.
"Whoa, Yuugi. This is your reality?"
"...yeah. Its better in some places. You should move. Anzu might land on top of you if you don't."
"Hey, Yuugi?"
"Huh?"
"What's up with Atem? He seems all funny, less confident than usual."
"Ah... well, stress?"
Jounouchi crossed his arms and shook his head, "Since when has he let the chance of losing get him down? Its not just him, either. You're acting all funny."
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Jun 10, 2010 12:24:13 GMT -5
"As soon as the rest of you are inside," Uzume said. "At the moment I'm keeping the portal open even though there's no one with the ability to summon a Persona keeping it open. Once the rest of you have gone through, I can join you on the other side."
Minato was waiting for Anzu to head in before he went in himself. They needed to keep the groups together, after all.
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Souji had been putting on his glasses as Jounouchi made his observation about Yuugi's reality and Atem.
"Maybe you're the one acting funny, and he's just feeding it back to you," Souji teased.
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Post by mugenginga on Jun 10, 2010 12:47:26 GMT -5
Anzu nodded, but she didn't seem convinced. She remembered what Yuugi had said about K1. She hadn't missed Atem's expressions during the conversations. There almost seemed to be some personal grudge that Atem had and Yuugi didn't. Yuugi was sometimes a bit too trusting, but that was part of why she liked him. Even Kaiba had shown to be a good person, after all. She walked over to the television and awkwardly stepped in. It was pretty clear she was trying to prevent a panty shot with her tight miniskirt.
"Are you going first, Minato-kun?" Atem asked.
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"Hey! How would you know! You don't even know me! And how long have you known him, two months?"
"J-Jounouchi-kun, he was just teasing!" Yuugi said. He was stuttering, but he seemed almost comforted by the interactions.
"It wasn't funny," Jounouchi was almost pouting. His expression changed to a smile and sfiting to a lighthearted teasing tone, "Well, whatever. Try not to get depressed Yuugi, you'll drag Anzu down."
Yuugi looked embarassed and opened his mouth to say something, but there was suddenly another thump. Anzu pushed herself to her feet and was rubbing her butt when she noticed everyone staring at her. Yuugi's word got caught in his mouth and Anzu looked embarassed.
"Hey, its not like its the first time you've seen me fall down! I'm fine! Uzume-san said she'd be here when everyone got in. We need her to find Bakura-kun's world again, right?"
"Is his as messed up as Yuugi's? I mean," Jounouchi turned to Yuugi, "You described it, but..."
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Jun 10, 2010 13:20:01 GMT -5
Minato nodded. Once Anzu was through, he headed through the TV as well, tightening his scarf before he went in to keep it from falling loose as he fell in. It failed, and he pretty much landed without it... and then it landed on his head. He grumbled and stood up before starting to wrap the scarf around his neck.
"I've seen worse, but Bakura's is definitely on the messed up side of things," Souji said. Considering the one he saw that was worse was a hotel room covered in blood and posters of a certain enka singer. With her head torn out of each image. And then there was that chair with a noose above it. So yes, he'd seen worse, but Bakura's was damn close to how bad Yamano's had been.
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Naoto was watching Uzume carefully. "Minato-kun was attacked by Nyarlathotep yesterday while in the TV World. How do we know the same thing won't happen again?"
"If it happens again, it won't be because his majesty ordered it," Uzume said.
"What do you mean by that?" Naoto asked. Uzume put a finger up to her own lips.
"I'm not allowed to say. Court secret," Uzume said. She motioned to the TV. "Your friends are waiting for you."
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Post by mugenginga on Jun 10, 2010 13:47:02 GMT -5
"I feel bad I never knew about his sister..."
"You can't feel bad about that Yuugi, he never talked much. Not that you can blame him..."
Minato crashed in afterwards. Anzu jumped. Both Jounouchi and Yuugi walked over to help him up, but he got up just fine on his own. Jounouchi grimaced as Souji spoke. It wasn't that you could blame him, but the guy stuffed way too much. And now that bastard from Atem's memories was talking to him.
"Hey, you okay?"
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"He didn't order it the first time," Atem stated. He looked at Naoto, "We have no guarantees, but we know what he can do this time. Bakura is more important."
Atem didn't wait for a response. He walked over to the television and climbed in. He didn't hesitate and did it as smoothly as Souji was known to. This left Kanji, Naoto, and Uzume.
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"Atem!"
"Uzume said she would show up when the others came through," Atem frowned as he looked at the world, "We'll probably need her help finding Bakura's TV World."
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Jun 10, 2010 14:27:01 GMT -5
Naoto nodded at Atem's statement, and waited for him to head in before walking over to the TV herself. Kanji and Uzume both followed behind, and Naoto looked back at them for a moment before moving through the TV as well. Kanji followed behind, and Uzume lingered for a minute before moving through the portal as well, finally allowing it to close up.
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"I'm fine. I think I slipped or something..." Minato groaned. He put his glasses on his face as Atem came through.
"Most likely," Souji said. At that moment, Naoto and Kanji both landed, landing on their feet.
"Now all we need is Uzume," Souji said.
"I'm right here."
Souji jumped and turned around. The goddess had been right behind him after all. "...Right. We need you to lead the way to Bakura's reality. You can do that, right?"
Uzume nodded, and started walking forward, leading the way.
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Post by mugenginga on Jun 10, 2010 16:29:26 GMT -5
The first hiccup was getting out of the main part of Yuugi's world. At least for Jounouchi, as he'd never seen the exit before. Anzu looked depressed at the inverted pyramid. Jounouchi had jokingly punched Atem's shoulder. The former Pharaoh had tolerated it, but even the blond hadn't missed it. He looked irritated and wiped a bit of already gathering sweat from his forehead. Despite currently being in one group, the party split could be seen by how the group was travelling. Jounouchi let out a smile as he saw how focused Yuugi was. It was a bit pained, but it was clearly one of friendship.
Jounouchi almost freaked when they passed through the shimmer. Anzu was able to get him under control. Even Atem had taken a slighly more aggressive posture, but had calmed down when they passed through. The former Pharaoh looked around. He'd never... well, he hadn't really shared full awareness with Yuugi before. His Partner had said the Apartment was like Bakura's, and with the description of the RPG board, he had a feeling he'd recognize as soon as they reached his "bedroom".
"This is just like Bakura's apartment building..." Jounouchi said.
Yuugi frowned, "Y-yeah. I think its to represent how trapped he feels. Jounouchi-kun, don't freak out when you see his Shadow!"
"I can handle myself just fine!"
"Jounouchi-kun, you don't handle scary things well..."
"Hey! I didn't pass out over Shaadi!"
"G-guys..." Yuugi stuttered.
Atem was grinning a bit. The presence of his friends was doing him some good as well.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Jun 10, 2010 19:01:15 GMT -5
Souji groaned at Yuugi, Jounouchi, and Anzu. He supposed he should be glad that they were managing to lighten things up again, but those three together were worse than Yosuke and Chie. As it was, they had Bakura to deal with, so he walked toward the door. "Doesn't look like it's been sealed with anything new, so I think we can head on in."
He opened the door, and headed on in. Minato shrugged and followed him, with Naoto and Kanji following after. Naoto was already looking around the room at the entrance. She made note of the shoes before moving forward and catching up with the others.
"Geez... this place is really screwed up," Kanji said. Naoto just gave a small nod.
"I don't see Shadow Bakura around here... do you think he's in the Monster World board?" Minato asked.
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Post by mugenginga on Jun 10, 2010 19:26:32 GMT -5
Jounouchi and Anzu had stopped as Yuugi stuttered and held up his hands. Jounouchi grumbled and looked towards the door. It looked exactly like the door to Bakura's apartment. Except for the blood on the name plate. He grimaced about that. The group layout was pretty much shot by this point, so Atem went ahead after making sure Yuugi was following. Anzu and Jounouchi came behind.
The tall blond stopped short just inside the door. His face paled at the shoes, or more specifically, the blood soaked fabric and puddles of two of the pairs. He swallowed forcefully and took a wide step around the bloody shoes. Atem had stopped as well, but for a different reason. The two shoes with blood were female. People Bakura blamed himself for hurting? And one pair was seperate from the others...
"That's where he was before," Yuugi said.
"I'm worried he's retreated further," Atem said. Yuugi had covered the events of Bakura's world during the recount of events they'd given Anzu and Jounouchi, "If this world loops in that way, its possible he's going to be hard to reach."
Yuugi had already headed towards the bedroom. The door was pulled off its hinges still. Atem looked up and tensed up as Yuugi looked in the bedroom. He pulled his head out.
"Guys, I think this might be a puzzle... I think everyone can fit."
"If it's a puzzle, my money's on you figuring it out, Yuugi," Jounouchi said.
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Post by Firebreath Fishslap on Jun 10, 2010 20:14:52 GMT -5
Naoto had been looking around the room, and she had been piecing things together. Somehow, Bakura had gotten the Millennium Ring, most likely from his father, and because of it, his mother and sister had been killed. The obstructions that had been over the door the last time the others came here signified that Bakura wanted to keep people out of these matters, meaning that this was something he thought was his problem alone.
Souji blinked as Yuugi spoke. "A puzzle?"
"If it's a puzzle, then you guys can do it," Kanji said. "I ain't good with puzzles."
Naoto shrugged, and followed the others into the room. Uzume, however, was waiting just outside it.
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