IC || THE LAST CASE || VIDEO

[incriminating]

[From the moment the video feed rolls, the audio is distorted with static and a tinny, dual-toned laughter that lacks any real warmth or cheer. No, the sound is instead cold and cruel, cutting through the tranquil silence of night like a knife, as sharp as the smile that now twists its owner’s lips. Crowing, Tohru Adachi stares straight-on at the

Comments

THREAD FOR VIDEO/AUDIO/TEXT RESPONSES

[incriminating]

[ooc || please have your character respond to Adachi's broadcast here if their first reaction would be to contact him via communicator]

1/3 voice

[digtastic]

[ For a good couple of seconds, Rock can do nothing more than simply gape in silence at the communicator, his eyes wide as saucers as he listens to every single word that spills out of Adachi's mouth. He wants to say something-- anything, really-- but with each attempt Rock makes to actually voice something, no sound seems to come out.

It's not even the insults being directed at him. He'd been insulted enough times by pirates and other such opponents that he can just as easily brush those hateful words aside. No, the part that hits him hard is the intensity of those words. The way he talks about all the different people in the village like they're nothing but trash. And the way he talks to casually about... hurting them. Killing them even... ]

2/3 voice

[digtastic]

[ It makes Rock's chest hurt. It makes Rock's throat feel dry. It makes Rock feel completely foolish. But above all else, it makes him feel...

Angry. ]

3/3 voice

[digtastic]

[ When he finally speaks, his voice is tight. Tighter than it's been in his entire stay here. This isn't that naive fourteen year old kid speaking right now, no sir. ]

You're not hurting anyone.

[ And with that, he's off. Because he doesn't need to be told twice to know what this kind of post alludes to. ]

ACTION THREAD FOR BRIDGE || RESERVED FOR KARKAT

[incriminating]

[ooc || please respond here if you are Karkat and have come to die :)) ]

[sdrawkcabsllort]

[He shows up at the bridge, Clawsickle and Regisickle out, scar livid across his face as his scowl pulls it and twists it further. He walks forwards, eyes burning, every single word blistering over and over again in his head. John, Jade, Feferi, Tavros - even Dave. Even Minako. He's not going to kid himself - he's not coming out here for them. He doesn't believe Adachi can do it - not really. Not when his only experience of him beforehand is that dumb cop act. No, he's not going out there for him. He's going out because he's boiling with fury, smarting at every single word about him this idiot spewed from his stupid mouth...

... But even still, he knows, somehow, that he will try. And he knows that he can't let that happen to them. He's the leader. Maybe not of the kids, maybe not of Minako and maybe not of Yenyoji - but whatever he feels for any of them won't let him just sit by and let it happen.

If he kills the bastard - if he at least kills that red thing behind him - he can stop it. Like a good leader. Like a good friend. Like

[incriminating]

[Magatsu Izanagi greets Karkat from where it has taken vigil at the center of the bridge, its eyes following the movements of the boy. From where he has been peering into the water's edge, Adachi finally straightens and stands, brow knotted. His reflection...well, it's no matter.

When he addresses Karkat, it is with a dark, distracted air.]

You're either the biggest chump this village has seen or suicidal. [Drawing abreast of his persona, Adachi stares down Karkat, a cold smile playing at his mouth.] I should let you know...I'm not going to "cry like a fucking wriggler." You won't be the first brat I've wiped off the face of existence...do you know Saki Konishi? She was my second.

You can be my third.

[sdrawkcabsllort]

[Karkat doesn't waste a moment. Spending some time with Jack Noir (his Jack, not the demon Jack) taught him that walk, stab, walk was more effective than seeing who can piss the furthest in a fight. When it really got down to it, you attacked first. Bitching and pissing could come later.

He threw the Regisickle at Adachi in a backhanded, full bodied swipe. With that sickle lashing through the air, he darted off the ground and leaped over Adachi's head at Magatsu Izanagi, Clawsickle wicked and glinting.]

ACTION THREAD FOR WELL

[incriminating]

[ooc || please feel free to have your characters confront Adachi in the center of the village, by the well, in this thread]

[Wind screams throughout the village, creating a vortex above the well. The bucket to draw water clangs loudly as it is hit by flying debris, but the rope it is attached to is sturdy, persistent. It does not snap.

At the center of the vortex is Adachi, wet with Karkat's blood. He has stopped to catch his breath, and leans against the well as the wind storm shakes the nearby crofts.]

[tapferkeit]

[Well, this is eeriely familiar...

Link approaches the well at a run, a hand held up to shield his face from the buffeting wind. It was pure lucky chance that he caught sight of Adachi here, with the demon rising behind him. But pure, lucky chance wasn't something to be ignored.

The wind would make it extremely difficult to fight, even at the center of the storm. Too much damage to the surrounding area. Too much chance of being thrown out into it.

Luckily, Link was sure he knew how to fix that.

He pulled the Ocarina from its place and raised it to his lips. It was hard to keep his stance, but he'd played in storms and before. He'd caused those storms with this song.

As the notes of the Song of Storms begin to ring out, the ferocity of the storm begins to lessen.]

[incriminating]

What the hell...?

[Magatsu Izanagi shifts restlessly nearby as the winds begin to die down, seemingly in response to Link's ocarina. Scowling, Adachi wordlessly commands Magarudyne to be cast again and falters when his persona does not react.]

What are you waiting for!?

[The god is watching Link warily, as if sensing something. Murmuring something in a thick, rumbling tongue, it hefts the glaive and tenses.]

Yours is not a power to be trifled with. We can feel it in that instrument.

[Adachi fixes his gun on Link, eyes wide and furious.]

Then destroy it, dumbass!

[He fires.]

[heavyheels]

[since she'd hung up on adachi and headed out to hunt him down, chie had been running blindly through the unfamiliar terrain, searching for any sort of clue as to adachi's whereabouts. the wind had pushed her this way and that, and she'd ended up heading toward the well.

the song was an oddity, and oddities meant something was going on. chie followed the sound, hoping her gut instincts wouldn't fail her.

as she draws closer, the wind starts to subside, and chie squints to make out the view around her. she instantly recognizes the figure ahead, even from behind - adachi.

target acquired.

she doesn't stop, doesn't think - don't think, feel - only races ahead to close the gap between them. once within firing range, she leaps from the running pace into a spinning kick as a flash of blue flame encircles her, and she feels the familiar jolt of power summon her Persona with a commanding shout:]

Now! Suzuka Gongen!

[she tumbles to a crouch on the ground and watches as her black-clad persona casts god's hand at adachi from behind,

ACTION THREAD FOR INN

[incriminating]

[ooc || please feel free to have your characters confront Adachi inside the inn, where he is searching for Souji, in this thread]

action;

[notmycreampuffs]

[Saki's in the inn's kitchen, cleaning up after the dinner rush, when she hears Adachi's voice over the communicator - tinny, high pitched, enraged and alien.

Beaten him within an inch of his life - Saki's mouth goes dry, feeling her knees weaken and nearly give out underneath her, forcing her to sit down on the closest food crate. She hears the other words - whore, loose, between your legs - but they glance off her, nothing she's not heard dozens of times before.

Sheik had -

Scooping up her communicator, Saki hurriedly snuffs out the lamps, tucking herself back into her jacket as she makes her way to the inn's entrance.]

[incriminating]

[The entrance door bangs open suddenly, seemingly by force of the winds outside, and then Magatsu Izanagi silently approaches, its cloak whipping about it. Ducking down, it enters the thresh hold and stands there, moonlight throwing its shadow across Saki's features. It stares hard at her.]

- the hell is he!?

[Adachi follows his persona, restless and on edge. He has not been able to locate Souji yet, but knows that the boy frequents the kitchens here often. He halts beside Magatsu Izanagi and spots what has aroused his persona's interest. A wide smirk splits his face.]

Well, well, well. That eager for round two, are we? You can scream this time, if you like.

[Magatsu Izanagi sneers.]

It won't make a damn difference.

[notmycreampuffs]

[Splitting anger is the only thing masking the fear in her expression, and she does a pretty good job of it. That - that thing unsettles her far more than Adachi ever could, and she only belatedly realises it's because of the smell. The same smell that had pervaded that horrible world, thick and cloying and without end - whether or not it's real or just a figment of her imagination, Saki can't ignore it.

Turning her back to them is probably not smart so she takes one step back, then another. Her expression doesn't change, her hand still clutching the collar of her jacket closed.

The back door of the inn is only a quick dash away. Against Adachi, she would run, but against that -

Saki tries a different approach.]

What did he do.

ACTION THREAD FOR IT CROFT || RESERVED FOR NANAKO

[incriminating]

[incriminating]

[Breathing labored, Adachi slips between buildings and leans against the croft he knows Seta calls home. Various aches burn him all over his body - from where Chie landed a kick on him to his gunshot wound to every injury his persona has sustained thus far. On top of all this...Annowre's magic wasn't permanent, she had warned him. His punishment for not coming to her sooner.]

Tch.

[Even now, the dull memory of his broken fingers sets his nerves on fire. But broken fingers were the least of his problems - on top of breaking his nose, Sheik also cracked a few of his ribs. If Adachi doesn't find Seta...if he doesn't kill that imitation and let Magatsu Izanagi absorb its power...]

Dammit...!

[Steeling himself, he stands before the door and decides against unholstering his gun or summoning Magatsu Izanagi. Maybe he's underestimating Seta, but the boy had never been the first to attack in any of their confrontations.

He slams open the door and steps inside.]

[junesoholic]

[ Nanako had been sleeping really, had been trying to sleep, but when she woke up - is it her or does everything seem a little bit more noisy tonight? - and she couldn't find the other people in her croft, not even her big bro, with no sign or any other note of them.. well, of course she got a little worried

[incriminating]

[His eyes are immediately drawn to her, this tiny thing, perched on the edge of her bed. A choked noise escapes his working throat as he registers the shock in her expression and unbidden, he finds himself wondering, Is this how Dojima looked in their timeline? When he found out the truth? Shivering, he grasps blindly for the door behind him, wracked with a sudden need to retch. Dammit, she won't stop looking at the blood!]

H-hey Nanako-chan.

[It's impossible for him to fake a light tone. His voice trembles.]

C'mon...w-what's up with the staring? Didn't your dad ever tell you...it's rude?