1x1 The Answer

[Jeremi]

The arrow hit true lodging itself in the side of the creature who let out a shriek that was somewhere between mechanical and beast. While hurt the creature still seemed ready to attack before Sice came leaping over Yukari and slamming her scythe into the creature pinning it to the floor.

It struggled trying to break free but finally it stopped twitching as a blue viscous liquid started seeping out on the floor. "More bugs," She removed her weapon from the creature and gave it a poke. "What a weird fucking thing, who would be tricked by a barrel like that?" Though if there was one of these... "When you find one bug you usually find another hundred."

@Ver

 

[Ver]

"... Gross. These are what you're used to fighting? God, are they like, actual bugs or robots? I can't tell, but they give me the creeps either way," Yukari shuddered, still clutching her bow as Sice warned that there would be more around.

"More, huh? Just my luck. Never just the one," she continued, before clearing her throat, "Anyway, what now then? Should we just hightail it out of here or do you figure we can find something else here? Any particular reason these things would be in a place like this? Something that attracts them, maybe?"

@Jeremi​

 

[Jeremi]

"Never seen these things in my life," Sice replied before giving its corpse a kick. "But I know how bugs, geez didn't you say you were in a school? Don't they teach you anything there?"

To her second question Sice gave another look around. "Yeah might as well get a fuck out of here. Grab some bars to eat and let's get the hell out of he-" Suddenly the lights started to flicker before fully shutting off. When the lights returned nothing seemed to be amiss other than.

Where's the entrance?" Looking back to where they entered there were no longer any windows or sliding doors, just a bare wall. "Son of a b-!" Sice ran over to the wall to inspect it but she came up short. "Guess we got tricked. What bullshit is this?"

@Ver

 

[Ver]

"Not about bugs. Only weirdos are interested in them anyway," Yukari pouted. She let out a sharp "Eek!" when the lights suddenly went out for just the briefest of moments, as though greatly started by the sudden outage. Embarrassed as she was by her brief outburst, she didn't even have enough time to be bashful about it before they noticed the entrance suddenly being gone.

Letting out a distressed breath, she stayed close to Sice, keeping her back to the girl as she looked around, scanning the area for anything; any more enemies hoping to get the drop on them, any clue as to how to get out of here, anything. "Beats me... but who... or what could be doing this? The Shadows -- the things I'm familiar with at least -- shouldn't be smart enough to set up a trap like this. Or the bugs if they're as simple as you say they are..."

@Jeremi​

 

[Jeremi]

"I'm starting to think this whole fucking place is a trap. City included," Sice replied as she still looked for a way through the wall with out any luck.

"Well, guess there's not much else to do." Her eyes moved to further into the store that now looked far less welcoming than before. "Also this time if you see a weird looking barrel, don't touch it." Walking further in the store seemed to go on forever. They could spot those same barrels from before but it seemed if you left them alone they wouldn't stir.

Soon enough they found another door with the sign employees only on it. "That's not going to stop us now," Sice pushed the door open revealing a disheveled corridor, a far cry from the prime and pristine front. "A honey trap if I ever saw one."

There was a lot of water damage and the lone light bulb on the ceiling flickered on and off. It seemed like you could go either left or right but neither path seemed to be more special than the other.​

@Ver

 

[Ver]

Yukari could only mildly purse her lips as Sice spouted out some more profanity; she still had a bit of trouble adapting to a strong personality like that, it seemed, but right now, they had more important stuff to worry about from the sound of it.

As they tried walking through the store, never-ending like a maze, the girl furrowed her brow. "Hey... Did this place really look this big from the outside? Feels like we've been walking forever..." She moaned, before reaching a door practically right on cue.

Feeling unsafe in this new corridor, the girl bucked her knees slightly and put a tight grip on her bow just in case, eyes narrowing cautiously, and considering the open-ended paths, it was just like being back in Tartarus again, which could only mean...

"Jeez, now I wish Fuuka were here if it's gonna be like this," Yukari sighed, before raising her other hand and tapping at the air back and forth with her index finger. "Eenie, meenie, miney, moe..." She mumbled, her finger landing on the right path. "Wanna try going down here?"

@Jeremi​

 

[Jeremi]

Wasn't like Sice had a better plan. With a sigh and a shrug she went down to the right. Their steps echoed as they walked down the empty hallway. "What a shit show this is..." Sice mumbled under her breath when suddenly.

Up ahead they could hear shrieking similar to when that bug barrel attacked them. There seemed to be a turn in the corridor where the light seemed to get brighter where the shrieking was coming from. "Seems like those bugs are having a good time up ahead."

@Ver

 

[Ver]

"?!"

The girl could only let out a surprised gasp as shrieking was heard in the distance, vaguely familiar, all the while a light began to glow. Yukari definitely felt uneasy here, wishing more and more by the second that Fuuka was around to give her a lay of the land here, but it couldn't be helped. That's probably what Akihiko or Mitsuru would say, at least.

With her hand still on her bow, she began to slowly ease forward, gulping nervously as she steadily made her approach.

@Jeremi​

 

[Jeremi]

Sice followed close after with her weapon ready. The shrieks started to become louder and more of them the closer they got. Suddenly one of those bugs were flung into a nearby wall with fire surrounding it. Seemed like the impact had killed it instantly.

As they turned the corner they could now see that the light was fire erupting down the hall to what seemed to be a storage area. The door had been singed and blasted off its hinges and the main thing the two girls could see was the bugs feverishly trying to attack someone or something that paid back with a blast of fire.

"Oh fuck it," Sice twirled her scythe around and made a dash to the door. Once there they could see what was causing all of the commotion.

It seemed to be a large man donned in a mantle of some sort. He clearly towered over both girls probably leaving him around the 7 feet range. If Yukari didn't know better she could've pegged the entity as something similar to the Personas her and her friends could summon. Who or whatever it was it was still fighting against the bugs who seemed to be losing badly against it.​

@Ver

 

[Ver]

"What the...?"

Yukari could only gawk at the sight of the strange, hulking man fighting off an army of bugs. Indeed, she felt a strange sensation from the "man" before the two of them. He almost resembled a Persona to her, and yet... How could that be? A Persona with its own independent will? That wasn't possible, was it? Even so, he had a strange aura to him that suggested to the girl that he might not have been an enemy.

Or maybe she just took pity on him since he was fighting a losing battle.

Taking the initiative without getting any input from Sice, Yukari had summoned Isis before she knew it, her Persona floating beside her. Thrusting her arm forward, the girl gave a resolute look. "Magaru!" She cried out, casting a wide-spreading Wind spell to blow the bugs away.

@Jeremi​

 

[Jeremi]

The man's cape fluttered in the wind as the spell swept the bugs away in its wake. The man had been fighting so intently he hadn't even noticed Yukari and Sice's arrival before the spell had made their presence known.

He eyed them curiously mainly giving Sice a look who had weapon poised and seem eager for a scuffle, if it was with the bugs or the man Yukari couldn't say.

The last stragglers of the bugs were making a hasty retreat before being engulfed by a tornado of flames leaving nothing behind as it subsided. Now the only living thing in the warehouse was the man and the two girls.

Now up close it was quite obvious that the being standing before them wasn't human. "Thank you for the assistance," He finally spoke to the two with a rather booming voice. As he stepped closer Sice readied her weapon. "Hold, child. I do not seek a fight with you."

"For some reason I don't quite trust you," Sice replied back.

"Yes," He chuckled. "You humans are usually not ones that trust things that are different. I am Rubicante, Autarch of Flame and I imagine I am in a similar predicament as you two?"

@Ver

 

[Ver]

"... Well, I guess so," Yukari said to the man in a noncommital manner, averting her gaze initially as though feeling a small degree of discomfort from him, even if she was the one who decided to help him, practically upon instinct, this man who practically looked like a sentient Persona, not that she'd ever seen anything like that before.

She stepped between the man and Sice, not wanting any undue discourse, even if she didn't completely trust the figure himself, but that was completely on her anyway.

"I'm... Yukari. Yukari Takeba," she introduced herself reluctantly, before going on, "I don't know about humans being unable to trust who or what. I just... saw that you were in trouble, and I wanted to help. I... guess I didn't even really think about it, but I just hope I won't regret doing what I thought was right."

To that end, perhaps he had rubbed off on her after all. The way he had saved her like it was nothing back then...

"In any case, I take it you're lost and don't know how you got here then? That's... the situation the two of us are in, at least."

@Jeremi​

 

[Jeremi]

"I assume you dared the mist much as I did, otherwise you would probably not be here," Rubicante replied eyeing the two girls. "There is something holding us to this place, why I do not know."

"Let me repeat myself. I don't trust you," Sice reaffirmed with as little tact as she could muster. "What's your angle in all of this? You think we're going to hang with you just because we're in the same situation?"

"No," He replied bluntly in turn. "I prefer to travel this place alone. But...that doesn't mean we can not exchange information."

"Oh yeah? Like what?" Sice folded her arms waiting to hear what he had to say.

"These, mimics, work like a hive mind. I believe there is something controlling them."

"Yeah? And why do you think that?"

"Because, I know my beasts." He then pointed to another part of the area where a door was badly burnt. "I surmise that's where we'll find it. I do not know what you two will do but I am going to slay this beast. Perhaps it might reveal something about this place."

@Ver

 

[Ver]

"Mimics... So that's what they're called, huh? How do you know that anyway?" Yukari mused curiously. While she wasn't as outspoken as Sice was about that, she still tried to keep her guard up around the man, but if he was half as trustworthy as the girl would like him to be, then maybe he was right in that there'd be some use in exchanging information. Even so, the thought of leaving this man to fend for himself in this place -- in the scenario that he was someone they could completely trust -- troubled Yukari admittedly, but if it was something he preferred, who was she to rebut? After all, it did seem like he knew more about this place than he let on.

"But... wait, you're saying there's a bigger monster controlling all those little things? A-And you think it'll help us get out of this place? If that's the case, then... maybe we can work together. If our goals are the same, then that'd be the best move, wouldn't it?"

@Jeremi​

 

[Jeremi]

"What would you call a creature that hides its form with another?" Rubicante asked the two girls. "As mentioned," He continued. "They seem to exhibit a hive mind of sorts. Dumb animals stronger together with a master at the helm." He said nothing more as he headed to the door he had indicated earlier.

"Wait, hold on! We didn't promise shit!" Sice shouted after him but they fell on deaf ears. "Tch...fine." She turned towards Yukari. "If this is a trap I'll kill you personally." With that she headed after Rubicante through the door.

On the other side they'd find a pair of stairs heading down. This part of the shop looked even more run down with the only faint glow leading the way was from the flame Rubicante had conjured into his hand. "This place looks like crap." Going down the shaky stairs they soon reached the bottom leading to an large open area. Rubicante had stopped in the center of the area trying to peer out past the darkness.

Sice wasn't taking any chances and had already drawn her scythe. The few places the light from the Archfiend they could see more of the Mimics in their barrel form, but none had stirred just yet. Despite that though you could feel a presence in the room, one that was ready to do you harm.

@Ver

 

[Ver]

"No pressure, right?" Yukari could only sigh in a droll manner as Sice casually threatened her life, not really feeling inclined to find out if that was her "joking" or not.

With that, she followed Sice and the figure known as Rubicante through the door. The larger this place was revealed to be, the more suspicious Yukari found herself growing. Were all supermarkets really this big? Well, whatever. Time was a wasting, as they said. She figured she should probably be more curious about Rubicante's abilities, like how he was able to conjure fire, but if both he and Sice were able to do all these sorts of amazing things without a Persona, maybe she was the odd one out.

As they reached the end, Yukari could feel every hair on her body stand up as she caught sight of the Mimics; even if they hadn't noticed them yet, and even though they didn't seem overly strong judging from the previous times they fought them, the hostile presence was not lost on the archer girl, who felt uneasy. A pair of invisible eyes looming over her... like a ghost.

Now that would be terrifying.

To that end, she tightened her grip on her bow like a child and a safety blanket, looking around cautiously for anything else in the room... hopefully not anyone else.

@Jeremi​

 

[Jeremi]

"This place..." Rubicante replied raising his burning hand into the air. "With all these Mimics is no doubt." He was cut off by a terrible screeching coming from above them as the lights started to flicker to life. "An incubating room."

With a loud crash a massive Mimic dropped down from the ceiling right in front of them. It seemed like the trio had found the Queen and she didn't seem all to happy that her domain had been breached this far. Sice got a wicked grin on her face as she readied her weapon while Rubicante flicked his robe behind him ready for a fight. The smaller Mimics around the Queen had started to stir as well. It seemed that they had their work cut out for them.​

@Ver

 

[Ver]

"?!"

Yukari let out a startled gasp as the massive creature suddenly appeared before them, the girl almost startled out of her wits. A part of her bemoaned how she was a little more used to this sort of stuff than any young woman her age should be, but then, this was hardly the sum of her life's misfortunes, wasn't it?

"I didn't think I'd be breaking and entering into a hive like this, but... it's either us or them!" She exclaimed, Isis suddenly materializing next to her with that.

"Magarudyne!"

Casting a powerful Wind spell, moreso than the one she'd cast before in the past, in order to sweep up the minions and hopefully take care of them, the girl simultaneously readied her bow, drawing an arrow and firing it right at the queen!

@Jeremi​

 

[Jeremi]

The smaller Mimics didn't seem to be much of a threat as a combined force of wind magic followed by a powerful fire spell from Rubicante engulfed them leaving nothing behind.

Yukari's arrow hit the queen and lodged itself in its body. Sice meanwhile focused all her attention to the queen and slashed at it with her weapon. To counter the queen's what Sice assumed was the mouth area cracked with energy as it fired a lightning bolt towards her which she barely managed to avoid. "Forget the small fry!" Sice shouted. "We get queen bitch down and we've got this in the bag!"

@Ver

 

[Ver]

"Hear you loud and clear!" Yukari exclaimed affirmatively to Sice, drawing two more arrows this time around as she circled around the queen, depending on Sice and Rubicante to keep its attention.

With that, she lodged both arrows onto her bowstring at the same time, her fingers expertly keeping them straight and firm as she centralized her aim, and then...

FWOOSH!

She fired both of them simultaneously right at the queen, hoping to inflict double the damage as last time with her flank.

@Jeremi​