Of Spirits And Vices [Broseph]

[Vice Ysal]

Tonight was supposed to be an easy affair for the red eyed civilian. Get in unnoticed, go through the exit, move towards the outer circle and get some profits and experience for the following day. Apparently though, Karma had other plans and decided to infest the area with quite a few people. Thankfully enough at least was that they weren't police officers or even the military but he couldn't be too cautious in the case that maybe some other bull headed civilian thought it would be a smart idea to follow him towards the closed terminal.

His hair hidden by a black beanie,his biker jacket hanging over his torso unzipped, and with his black leather pants…one could probably mistake him to be some ghetto back alley street performer or something with how he was currently dressed but once more, to simply reiterate, Vice could give less than two shits about the public opinion of him when it came down to it. Slowly but surely at least, as Vice stalked his way through the several pillars and making himself as inconspicuous as possible, finally managed to get himself through the red tape that was lined at the entrance and quickly shuffled down the stairs.

The moment he entered, the fog seemed to have already set in yet it didn't quite deter him. In fact it was enough to make him want to go forward even more--something that barely ever happens in the inner city nowadays at that. His revolver was safely tucked in it's easy to reach holster and he had the common sense to at least bring a couple more cases in the event that there might be a swarm down the trail.

With a small inhale, the young man then continued on his path at a slightly brisk walk.

[Joseph Spiritus]

It was a rather chilly night but that was something to be expected given that it was that time of the year yet…there seemed to be something else in the air present. It was some kind of unforeseen tension, imagine it be a sixth sense of sorts that the young brown haired youth could feel. He wasn't quite sure if it was because of his newly awakened persona making him more sensitive to the super natural side of this reality or if he was just getting goose bumps cause it was pretty damn cold still. Nonetheless, Joseph tightened the padded jacket he had been wearing closer to his body and continued on with today's agenda.

Tonight's plan was rather simple, investigate the rumors of strange individuals being seen around the SHT and/or to see weather he could find a way out through there. Of course he was still anxious about going anywhere near the Terminal as the scar on his shoulder proved that someone or rather SOMETHING over there was out to get him. With his new found power, makeshift armor, and baseball bat he felt he was ready for anything. Or almost anything, because as he drew close to the terminal he spotted a figure clad in black with red eyes that he hadn't seen in the longest time.

Overwhelmed by seeing a friendly face in this godforsaken place he ran up to the figure and shouted "Laz!? Is that you!?".

[Vice Ysal]

"Fucking…"

Yeah.

Goddamnit.

It was bound to happen sooner or later, Vice knew, but jesus he had seriously preferred that the only guy he'd actually considered to be a friend wouldn't be there. Or even know what the hell was happening in the outside of the city's borders. The red eyed teenager had a pretty good sense for a person's character and, well, Broseph wasn't exactly built for the whole killer instinct gig that was required to actually flourish in this kind of hard environment.

Karma's probably out to get him. He just knew it.

Turning around, a withering glare already set on his face, Vice still clung to that small bit of hope that maybe, just maybe, it was some shadow that had the ability to mimic the voices in his memories and whatever. He would've taken that over seeing Joe actually be here, much less have awakened to a persona of all things. Unfortunately, all that hoping had been put too futility as the face that he knew too well came into view. With a baseball bat of all things, and looking as if he was just about to go to the mall, stood Joseph in all of his average glory.

Jesus.

"You know. I actually had a gut feeling that this would happen sooner or later."

Vice began, the exasperation in his voice practically dripping into the floor. He just gave the guy a sigh and…didn't even bother questioning why the hell he was even there. It was too obvious anyway---besides, aside from insane civilians like him, what kind of people would be visiting the run down terminal that was supposed to be connected to the radiation leak outside of the city.

"I'm going to assume that you at least have a clue on what's happening--you can't honestly be clueless about why I'm here."

Turning around and continuing on his walk, Vice shrugged his shoulders in that little code of his that pretty much told Joseph to move his ass and follow him.

"So? Spill the details, Broseph. The fuck happened to you to go here?"

[Joseph Spiritus]

While Joseph was happy to see a friendly face on his way to a life threatening area, his buddy looked as if he would rip out his hair in annoyance. Joseph expected a less than friendly greeting, but this was even worse than normal.Which was a good thing, as Ledah (or Laz as Joe liked to call him) was not the kind of guy who would go somewhere like this in the dead of night for no reason. Ignoring the exasperated tone in Lazs' voice as he walked with him, Joe replied.

"Well the strangest thing happened to me the last time I was here... You see I was looking for a way out of this damned barricade when I was suddenly jumped by this blob of black goo! It caught me off guard and I would up getting my shoulder beat up pretty bad. But the kicker is that just as the thing was going to finish me off, a figure appeared out of thin air! I called out a name in my head, and the figure obliterated the blob with its spear! I passed out after that but if it wasn't for the fact that when I woke up, I was in the hospital and had a huge ass bandage on my left shoulder, I would have chalked it up to being a bad dream from eating too much!"

"As for why I'm here... Long story short, I'm looking for a way out of the city. So while I went around the city, I heard a couple of interesting things. Rumors have it, that suspicious figures and weird noises were reported in this area. That and the appearance of those blob things, makes the Terminal the best place to start investigating. And this time I'm prepared! More or less... Anyway though..." 

Just as he finished, Joseph stopped walking and faced Laz with a serious expression before saying.

"What exactly are YOU doing here? I mean, it is pretty damn late for an evening stroll... Are you hiding something? If have ANY information, ANYTHING, I would appreciate it if you filled me in bro."

[Vice Ysal]

He was probably jinxing himself by thinking about the possibility, and that by hoping it wouldn't come true then it was just fuelling the possibility to actually be factual rather than bullshit. There was probably a theory somewhere that explained all of this things to the point that a lay man like him could easily understand but there was neither here nor there at the moment. Because right here, the only friend that Vice could really ever consider had apparently decided to strike all of his ideas down with that same amount of dread. Well, there was that. Counting in that too enthusiastic spiel of his, and Vice was pretty sure he had an idea on what Joe had been talking about. Without even bothering to wait up on him to catch up, the red eyed teen just continued walking down the rails.

"Usually, this is the part where the hero's friend says something along the lines of 'This is your last chance to turn back. There's no going back once you cross the line' or something like that. As it were, you're not the hero of this story thus I'm not obligated to tell you that sentence. Besides, you've more or less gotten yourself ass first into this mess so might as well make the most out of it."

Opening the flaps of his biker jacket, Vice pulled out a silver revolver from the holster concealed behind it and unlatched the safety. Having the gun in his hand at least gave him a cold comfort. He could trust Joe to back him up in a street brawl, that much he could at least admit, but he wasn't exactly quite confident in terms of fighting these abominations. Not to mention the amount of news that they'd been making while they were here was sure to attract some of the nearer ones. Aggressive or not, they still posed a threat to his own safety and had to be eliminated if they came too close.

"You sure you're prepared? You don't have a bag with you which means that your baseball bat would most likely be your only source of defense. Which means no bandages, food, water, or anything that'll help tide you over if you did decide to go exploring that place out. You're also a new user probably…though that's some piece of info that should help if anything."

Still walking down and making sure to avoid tripping or kicking anything that may have caused more noise to echo down the rails aside form their voices, Vice wasn't quite about to use this time for a massive information dump. God knew that they might get ambushed if one of them was too in the clouds for anything.

"I'll tell you one thing at least: There's more of your kind."

And then his revolver shot up as the figure of a black blob, a shadow to be precise, jumped down from the ceiling. It wasn't quite moving just yet but Vice's red eyes had already been down the sights and was ready to open fire.

"Try not to think of it too much at least until we're in a safe place."

[Joseph Spiritus]

As Laz walked forward again, although in a stealthier manner than before, Joseph started to tense up. Reminding himself that this place was dangerous, even with someone he could trust, Joseph tried to steel himself for a fight. When Laz finally decided to answer his questions, Joseph remained quiet as to not interrupt his monologue, only answering in his head.

What does he mean by "You're not the hero of this story."? If it isn't me, then who is? But he is right about my situation... I got myself in this mess and like hell I'm just gonna stand around! 

That's when Laz took out something unexpected from his jacket pocket.

Is that a gun!? If it really does get that bad out here, I'm one lucky bastard to have that figure save me when it did...
Ah shit my bag! In my haste to investigate a way out, I completely forgot to take it with me... I have to make sure next time not to be so damn careless... Also what does "user" mean? Are there more like me? If so why haven't they broken out of here yet? With a power like this, I doubt even the military can stop us...

So I was right! I just need to find these other "users" and get them to help me break out of here... I'm sure Laz knows a couple of them...

Right before Joseph was going to ask Laz how many users he knew, something fell from the ceiling, immediately snapping him back to reality.

That better not be what I think it is! So much for just exploring... Been awhile since I've fought anything though, hope I still got my moves!

[Vice Ysal]

Too slow.

Joseph's reaction time to the appearance of the shadow was too slow. Vice had even allowed him the first shot but seeing as there was no ball of fire, gust of wind, bolt of lightning, or even a flying ice cube to signify the use of an attack to help him out with the battle. There was no rustling of his clothes either to show off that was an apparition that had been summoned in order to destroy the abomination in front of him. The lack of an attack had only reinforced the idea of Joe's novelty to the situation at hand. Still, it wasn't like VIce was there to hold his bro's hand through the park. He had been here for his own intentions and if Joseph was going to be a liability to him--a persona user who carried the responsibility to be innately better than those fighters who weren't fortunate enough to carry with them an actual imaginary friend--then just this once he was going to be willing enough to help him out with the problem.

Thankfully enough, the shadow that had emerged from the pools of ichor hadn't been anything life threatening. A basic opponent, and was something he could expect in what was accepted to be the 'starting' levels of the outside world. The fact that it carried the same mask type as the one that had been weak to his bullets was just a bonus. Knowing that Joseph wasn't about to snap out whatever funk he had been in at that moment, Vice pulled back the trigger several times and unloaded an entire clip at the moving gunk.

The flashes of light from the muzzle and the satisfying flop of lead through shadow echoed out deeper into the terminal as the death throes of the beast died away along with its quickly vanishing body. Keeping his stance steady, his hands already going through the customary reloading phase, Vice made sure to check that there wasn’t going to be anything coming out of the wood works any time soon.

“Strike one Joe. Get your head back on your shoulders and ready your imaginary friend.”

The sounds of bullets falling to the floor could be heard as Vice continued on making his way.

“Now keep moving. Since we’re here, I want to see how good your control is over your persona and find out just what you do know about our situation.”

[Joseph Spiritus]

Okay... Let's go!

Joseph thought to himself as he prepared to pummel the blob into nonexistence. Suddenly however, Laz lit the thing up in a flurry of shots, and just like that Josephs' moment of glory was taken from him. While he did appreciate the help, he did not like how Laz didn't say that he would take the thing out. To make things even more frustrating, Laz had the nerve to berate him, even when HE stole the kill!

That aside, Laz said something that caught his attention. 

Control my persona? Persona... Is that the name of my power? Does this also mean that I can use it at will? Only one way to find out... Man, tonight is gonna be a long night...

Running to catch up to Laz, Joseph replied (or more accurately, yelled).

"Oh, I'll show you alright! Now that I know I'm going to be the one dealing with the blobs, I won't let my guard down, not even for a second!' 

[Vice Ysal]

"Wipe that face off, Joe. It only counts as steal killing if the other party actually did something useful. From what I saw, you just stood there like a complete noob. I thought you had experience with these things?"

Vice half informed half taunted his friend as he looked at the still dim path way in front of them. There was supposed to be some sort of area here that was said to be difficult in terms of reaching. For the shadows at least. How it came about, Vice wasn't quite sure and though he still had full intentions of finding out just why it was like that, it would be a good place to take a break and set the record straight with his impromptu companion.

"There should be a safe area to the left in a bit. Before we continue, we should probably settle with an agenda and how to go about it rather than just walking like this. I really only had plans of checking the place out given I didn't bring much with me but seeing you here, with this kind of look at things, I thought it'd be better to fix a few things."

The older of the two sounded off as he slowed his pace down a bit to at least Joseph catch up with him.

"I'd also offer you my spare Magnum but I don't think you'd be able to use it right. Unless you hid from me that you knew how to use a gun all this time we've known each other--then I'd be hurt."

[Joseph Spiritus]

Again with the taunting? As much as I hate to admit it, he does have a point... My reflexes have dulled, and I have no clue how to summon my persona... I'd be pretty boned without him. Exactly how long has he been doing this? He didn't seem fazed at all by the blobs sudden appearance, and he handled his gun as if it was second nature to him.



As they continued down the dark path Laz spoke up again, this time informing that they were nearing a safe zone. As well as suggesting that they make a plan of action.



A safe zone? In the middle of this wasteland? I hope he's not messing with me because the oppressive atmosphere is starting to get to me...I nearly freak out every time I think I see something move for Gods' sake! As for a plan, some training to help me summon my persona would be nice, that way I'm not complete dead weight.



After slowing his pace Laz turned to Joseph and offered his Magum to which he declined.



"Sorry man, but guns aren't my thing. Besides, I doubt me knowing how to shoot, would affect you anyway. Points for trying be funny though, your usually too serious to joke around. You should try doing that more often, that way people aren't going to assume your going to beat them and take their cash!"





"As for a plan, going to see until where the blockade ends is out of the question, so I guess training tin the mean time would be a better plan. Look, I know you hate babysitting, but could you hang with me till I get the hang of this persona summoning business? C'mon, do it for a bro!"

[Vice Ysal]

Thankfully, the closer they went through the steel linings and scattered cords in one of the broken down areas of the terminal, there had been less and less shadows making their appearance as compared to usual. By this, from Vice's experience, he'd have been facing down quite a few down already even if he didn't look for them actively. Well, even if there were less targets to pick off it also meant less energy to be used.

"Hence the part where I said 'you wouldn't be able to use it right' Broseph. Bullets are harder to get nowadays too for whatever reason so I'd prefer not to use up too much. Looking for them in the outside city would just take a bit too much for even me."

Holding up a small pillar that had collapsed randomly, Vice held it up a bit more for Joe to pass trough before letting it down slowly. It was pretty dim in the area but there was at least some readied out places for taking a breather. Taking his place on the smoother side of the wall and leaning against it, Vice fell back to his customer crossed arm position. It would've been complete if there was a cigarette in his hands but those cancer sticks were more detrimental to his health than anything else.

"And it's not my fault that people are shit when it comes to picking up jokes. I actually have to put more effort into trying to be funny than my training regimen."

Shaking his head at the brevity of the situation, Vice took a small breath again and just went with the plan. He didn't like babysitting, that much was true, but he'll give Joe the time of day if only because of his status as a Bro.

"So you've got a Persona… or Super Imaginary Friend as I prefer to call it. Who is she, he, it? And what does it know to do? Pierce attacks? Strike attacks? The story behind him? We both need to know what you can do before I start making up a regimen for you."

[Joseph Spiritus]

Concentrating deeply, Joseph put all of his focus to the presence in the back of his head, but all he could gather were the words Setanta, Skewer, Garu, and Evil Touch. As for any info on it's strengths or weaknesses, nothing clicked. 

"The only things that comes to me are the words Setanta, Skewer, Garu, and Evil Touch..."

"If I remember the research I did on him after my awakening correctly, the name Setanta refers to a figure in Celtic legends, and is the original name of Cu Chulainn. In most tellings of his legend, he is the son of Lugh, the sun god and Deichtine, sister to King Conchobar. Long story short, he was a fierce and talented fighter, with many feats of great strength being done by him. In the end, he died after he was stabbed by his own spear, not before he tied himself to a column in order to die without ever falling in battle... Pretty bad-ass if you ask me."

"Skewer sounds like a piercing kind of attack, cuz well, he DOES have a spear. As for what Garu and Evil Touch does, your guess is as good as mine! Lastly, no luck on the strengths and weakness thing... Guess we'll have to find out what they are the hard way, huh?"

[Vice Ysal]

"Judging from the story and basing it with what other things I know…and applying it to the gaming terminology that all the others have a thing with, I can probably give you a quick review of anything I can think about. Just give me a moment."

And off Vice went into the recesses of his mind. It wasn't really all that fancy, just a bunch of stuff jumbled together and the red eyed graduate just had to pick out a couple of things he made sure to remember from past excursions and to see just what the hell was up with everything else because fuck life. Here was Broseph with a persona and it was a small victory to know that he actually had an idea of what his persona could do. He couldn't very well say anything about the others, but he'd probably have to study whatever language those spells stand for.

"Your Imaginary Friend might either be resistant to pierce…or not. Mythology did say he died by getting impaled. Skewer makes sense, probably does that too. The last skill? I've got squat on that one but 'evil touch' does sound a whole lot different from the Garu thing. Come to think of it there's also…"

Vice trailed off a bit, his eyes down cast as it bore a hole through the ground. Whatever the language was could wait but…Agi was often used before some guy threw a fireball. Some user, if he could remember right, shouted something like Bufu back in the cemetery and a block of ice appeared--then there was Jonathon who…

"Your Garu? It's probably an elemental attack. I've seen it in action before and, well, it rips shit apart with wind."

Uncrossing his arms and walking towards the entrance to the small place that wasn't currently occupied with demonic black gunks of death, Vice wondered just how they were gonna test it out, well, aside from having Broseph stand in front of every possible attack.

"Hard way huh? Well, I can attest that it'll be a lot more painful than getting your shin kicked. Might wanna get yourself some better armour at Laharl's first though. I doubt your jacket's gonna live to see the end of the experimentation."