[Day: Thursday, March 25th. Time: 8:30 p.m.] [Weather: It's night time, skies are mostly clear. It's a little chilly, but not bad.] [Satoshi has arrived outside of his apartment building. Everything is up to him to save the others! Well, him and Saki, too, who's also there.] [Session Start!] * Satoshi heads up to his apartment, assuming that Saki is following. The trip over was likely quiet. * Saki follows. If she said anything, it was probably a complaint. * Satoshi is too concerned about the others to really care about Saki's complaints. He reaches the door, unlocks it, and heads in. [Satoshi is greeted with a "BWAK!" from a chicken! Jin is also there, eating a chicken sandwich.] [There's a chicken on the counter nearby him.] * Satoshi looks utterly unsurpised at the chickens. "Jin. We need you to take us to your grandfather. The Hermit." * Jin looks up at Satoshi while eating. "Hmrph?" * Saki rolls her eyes. The other world, Jin. Where the Hermit is. We've been there before. I know you know. Take us there. Mrph hrf? Swallow, Jin. Then talk. * Jin swallows, then says. "Okay. I am now talking." Now. Please tell me you can take us there. I can take you there. Now, please do it. * Jin blinks at Satoshi. He takes a bite of his sandwich, swallows, and says, "Okay. I am now talking. I can take you there." Great... * Satoshi shakes his head. "No, Jin. This is really important. Really, *really* important. Everyone else is in huge trouble, and we *have* to help them. Please understand what I'm saying!" * Jin blinks. He holds out his meal. "Want a chicken sandwich? It has cheese." No Jin. I don't want any chicken. I want to go to the World Reversed. And I know you can take us there. You do? Sure. You've been there, you were sent here by the Hermit, so you can go back somehow. I think. You're really the only person I can think of who can. Oh. [A tumble weed would flow by if this was the desert.] * Satoshi exhales and tries calling Matthias again. [No answer!] Dammit! How are we supposed to do this? Who were you calling? Matthias. He's an ally of Kyon's. Goes to Serizawa. According to a reading Kyon did, he's supposed to help us somehow. But I can't reach him. * Saki folds her arms. "Know anyone who can?" Aside from Kyon, who's rather unavailable at the moment, no. Matthias hangs out with a couple of other guys, Kaoru and Goro, but I don't know anything about them. Then it sounds like we'll have to find him. That's why I was trying to call him, because I have no idea where he'd be, and we don't have time to waste. If I knew how to get to the other world, I'd take us there myself. * Saki shrugs. "You said he was from Serizawa? Let's go there." At night? Ahh, what the hell. It's not like we have any other leads. C'mon, Jin. Bring the chicken. * Jin blinks a few times, then picks up the chicken, which clucks. [At any rate, they head towards Serizawa! The subway lets them off in a rather dark district that Satoshi only vaguely recognizes from having been there a little while ago. The area looks rubdown, the windows on the buildings are all barred, occasionally broken... yeah.] Nice place. Isn't it just? * Satoshi keeps heading for Serizawa, though he keeps alert for... things. [Satoshi sees a lamppost!] * Saki and Jin follow. * Satoshi resists the urge to punch Tenjirou into it. Wait. Tenjirou's not here. That makes things easier. [And they walk and they walk... And they turn a corner and see it! Serizawa high is a sad little school with almost no campus: The building is only a few feet from the gate, and the ground inbetween is barren, like the diamond of a baseball field. The wall itself is cracked, and there's grafiti on the side. One window of the school is cracked also, and another two borded up.] [Serizawa itself is two floors high, and has a clocktower, although the clock is apparently stuck at 10:48.] ...yeah. Really nice place. Do you think he's really here? * Saki shrugs. "Dunno. I don't have a better idea. Do you?" No. I don't. I wish I did. But... I don't know any other way into the other world. Although last time we came, we did end up coming out near here... Well, then we may as well start here. * Jin stands there dumbly. The chicken clucks. Right. * Satoshi heads for the school grounds. * Saki does as well. * Jin follows! Assume he's following. * Satoshi isn't entirely sure what he's looking for. Huge glowing portals would be helpful, but unlikely. Matthias himself or one of his goons would also be helpful but unlikely. A huge sign that says, "Hey, Satoshi, the answers to everything are here!" would be very helpful, but very unlikely. Hinako Arai would be helpful, and maybe even possible. You know. That sort of thing. ( Gimme an awareness check ) [Satoshi notices a light flick on on the second floor of the school.] There's something up on the second floor. I'm going to go check it out. Alone? No, I was figuring you'd like to come along. It's something to do, isn't it? * Saki shrugs. "I just didn't want to get stuck with that guy." She thumbs at Jin. You mentioned meeting him before. When was it? Ah, maybe a month ago. Where? Some old building by the docks. I don't even know what I was doing there. Buncha people from your group were there, too. [The front doors are unlocked. Inside, the school looks like it could use a makeover.] Yeah, that's how he operates. He can warp Arcana around without even realizing he's done it. That's why I was hoping we could get him to take us to the other world somehow. * Satoshi glances around briefly and looks for stairs. * Saki glances back at Jin. "Wouldn't count on it." [Stairs are right in front, opposite the main doors.] I know. But like I said, he's the only one I know of who might be able to get us there. * Satoshi starts climbing the stairs. [The second floor is just like the first! Except higher off the ground. Light spills from an open door down the hall.] ( Awareness check ) (Yep.) * Satoshi stops as he reaches the second floor and takes a careful look around. [Satoshi hears people talking in that room, too.] * Satoshi moves a bit closer and attempts to figure out who the voices are. [If Satoshi was Katie, he might be able to tell!] (Figures.) * Satoshi walks back to where Saki is and says quietly, "Someone's in there. Want to go find out who?" * Saki shrugs. "Sure." She goes right inside. * Satoshi follows her in. [Inside are four people. The first is a girl with dyed blue-black hair in ripped jean shorts and a small white tank top, who has eight or nine piercings in her ears, as well as belly-button and left eyebrow.] [The second is a man with extremely short blond hair, combed forwards. He's about average height and build, with black eyes. He's got two earrings in his right ear, and is wearing black baggy cargo pants (with lots of pockets) and a sleeveless blue shirt. He wears spiked bracelets and tight grey gloves.] [They look up sharply when you enter.] * Satoshi blinks. "Uh. Hi. I'm looking for Matthias. You seen him?" They look at each other, then the man says, "Who's askin'?" Me, of course. "Oh. You. Who the hell are you?" Name's Satoshi. [Outside, a chicken clucks.] "Yeah? And the chick?" He chuckles. "Pretty good lookin'." * Saki rolls her eyes. * Satoshi glances at Saki out of the corner of his eye. "Her business. Anyhow, would you know where Matthias is?" The guy shrugs. "Maybe." The girl asks, "What's in it for us?" Is there something in particular you want? The girl smiles and thinks about that. "Hmm.... What do I want?" The man laughs. "I know what I want." He nods at Saki. "Her." * Saki scowls. "Like hell." * Satoshi snorts. "Oh, yeah. Bad idea." Man: "Well, you wanna know where Matthias is or not?" * Satoshi looks at the girl. "What about you?" Girl: "I'm still thinking.... Oh, I know!" She nods to Saki. "Since Toshiki wants her so badly, I want to see what he's getting." She grins. "So take off your clothes." * Saki cracks her knuckles. "How about I take off your face instead?" The girl scowls, but the guy grins. "Oh, you lookin' for a fight? Is that it?" We don't want a fight. We just want to know where to find Matthias. And I want a method that doesn't involve people getting naked. Maybe you don't. I sure as hell feel like having one. Okay, let me amend that. I don't want a fight. I want to know where to find Matthias, and I want to know now. The man laughs, "Well, we gave the conditions. All you gotta do is fulfill them." * Saki growls. Bluish energy forms around her fists, and the man smiles wider. "Oh, you're one of us, eh?" ( Hearing check, +2! ) ( And also smelling check, +3 ) (We need a dicey.) 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Satoshi (2d6) and gets 4. 2d6+1 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Satoshi (2d6+1) and gets 8. [Satoshi hears Jin say outside: "Hey, want an egg?" followed a bored sounding: "... what the hell?"] I'll be right back. * Satoshi heads outside to look. [Right outside is Jin, holding the chicken in one hand and an egg in the other. He's offering the egg to a fairly tall guy with spikey blond hair and green eyes. The guy is smoking a cigarrette and looking at Jin with confused apathy.] (Confused apathy? That takes effort.) (Also, does said guy look familiar?) ( It's like he's puzzled, but doesn't really wanna be bothered to figure it out. And mind roll -1 ) ("That's strange... ehh, whatever.") 2d6-1 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Satoshi (2d6-1) and gets 7. [Satoshi thinks he's familiar, but doesn't recognize him.] Huh. Have we met somewhere before? The guy looks your way. Meanwhile the people in the room wave. "Hey Akito." * Satoshi snaps his fingers. "Oh! You're Akito Garcia! Okay, I thought you looked familiar." Look, I'm looking for Matthias. Just tell me where he is, and I'll be out of your way. "Hmm?" Akito runs a hand through his hair. "Why you looking for that guy?" Need his help finding something. Akito sighs. "Eh... Whatever." He looks into the room. "Hey, Toshiki, Nori... you guys know where Matthias is?" [The girl shakes her head. "Nah." The guy shrugs. "Well, I do, but that hot babe there was about to give us a show..."] * Saki slams a fist into her hand and steps towards the man. "Hell, I'll give you a show alright." Akito sighs. "Look, if you know where he is, just tell them, alright?" The man pouts. "Aw, you never let me have any fun." * Satoshi just sighs and wonders if we can get on with this. [He gives an address. "He'll probably be there with his goons. Usually is at this time of night. Tried to get me to join, y'know?"] Okay. Thanks a lot. Seriously. * Satoshi looks at Saki. "Let's go, unless you really want to kick their butts." * Saki looks back at Satoshi. "Don't tempt me." But she heads out well enough. * Satoshi looks at Akito. "Thanks again. C'mon, Jin." Jin comes! Akito sighs. "Whatever man." * Satoshi heads for the address given! [And so they go! The place is.... uh... *thinks*] [It's a bar! But not a pub. It's a classy bar with a piano and everything.] * Saki looks at the place warily. "Hmmm..." * Satoshi looks around for Matthias and his crew. ( Two sight rolls! -2, then 0 ) 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Satoshi (2d6-2) and gets 3. 2d6 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Satoshi (2d6) and gets 8. [Satoshi looks inside and does not see Matthias or his crew. But he does see a sign in the window: No pets allowed.] Hey, Jin? You'll have to leave the chicken outside. Jin: "Huh?" The chicken. Drop the chicken. "Oh." Jin drops the chicken. Okay. Let's go. * Satoshi heads inside. * Saki does too. Jin does not. * Satoshi looks back. "Jin, come on! Without the chicken." Jin responds with a puzzled look. * Saki shakes her head. Just come on. Jin blinks, then picks up the chicken and comes forward. Jin. You come with us. The chicken stays here. Jin blinks. "Okay." * Satoshi waits for Jin to do so. [Jin stands there holding the chicken.] * Satoshi walks over to Jin. "Give me the chicken, please." [Jin gives Satoshi the chicken.] * Satoshi sets the chicken down, then takes Jin's arm and gently leads him towards the bar. [Jin comes along, bending down to scoop up the chicken as they go.] * Satoshi sighs, because they really don't have enough time to argue over this, and hopes no one notices the thing as they go in. * Saki rubs her head and follows. "Should just leave him outside." But then he might wander off, and then we'd never be able to find him when we need him. * Saki looks like she'd be glad to get rid of him, but doesn't say anything. [Inside is a fairly populated bar, but not too crowded. Some guy is playing the piano, and he's not too bad at it. He's wearing a tux. Also there (wearing a tux) is a bartender. The bar has a second floor, as well. And a sign does proclaim no drinks to minors.] [Satoshi does not see Matthias.] * Satoshi is not looking for a drink. He is looking for Matthias. He walks inside and proceeds to have a better look around. "Ritzy place..." * Saki looks around in disgust. "Yeah." [A big guy in a black suit walks up to Satoshi. "Excuse me, sir."] Yeah? [He almost laughs, but manages to keep a serious expression. "I'm afraid the... um, the chicken will have to wait outside."] Right. Jin, the chicken? Jin: "... Me? I'm not a chicken." Give me the chicken again. "But I'm not a chicken." Give me the chicken, please. "But I'm not a chicken." Jin, I don't care. Right now, you are holding a chicken. I want that chicken. "Oh. THAT chicken." [Jin hands Satoshi the chicken.] * Saki sighs heavily. Saki, please keep Jin here. I'll be right back. * Satoshi heads outside, deposits the chicken, and heads right in. "Now. Let's proceed, okay?" [Jin nods and heads outside.] * Saki sighs again. "Just leave him." * Satoshi groans. "I give up. I really do." Let's go. * Saki nods. ( Go where? :P ) (Into the bar, so as to have a better look around. If we don't see Matthias and company on the first floor, we proceed to the second.) [Awareness check!] 2d6-2 * Dicesuke throws the bones for Satoshi (2d6-2) and gets 6. [Satoshi looks around and doesn't see Matthias or anyone he recognizes on the first floor.] Not here. Upstairs, then. * Satoshi goes upstairs! [Upstairs there are only a few tables. Matthias is there, as are Goro and Kaoru. And also there, in a sparkling low-cut red dress with a slit up the side is Akemi.] * Satoshi heads for Matthias' table, although he blushes a bit when he catches sight of Akemi. [Akemi looks over and waves. "Hiiii Satoshi! Hi Saki! What are you two doing here?"] * Satoshi waves back. "Looking for Matthias. The others are in trouble." * Saki shakes her head and mutters. "Great. What's next? This night couldn't get much worse." [Meanwhile, Matthias looks your way. "Hm?"] * Satoshi reaches the table and lowers his voice. "The others are somehow stuck in this field-type thing that's not quite a field. It's like they've temporarily become ghosts of a sort. Their bodies are lying unconscious on the floor of Kyon's apartment, but their souls aren't in them." Kyoko did this somehow, and the only way to get them back is to cure her. * Satoshi looks at Matthias. "I could communicate with them via Kaede's power, and Kyon did a reading and said you're supposed to help somehow." [Matthias takes a sip of whatever it is he's got to drink there, Satoshi can't quite tell.] Matthias: "Well, I don't see what I can do." There's another world. Kind of a World Reversed. That's where the thing that's supposed to be able to cure Kyoko is said to be. Akemi: "Oooh... That thing!" Matthias looks thoughtful for a second. "Hmm." * Satoshi blinks at Akemi. "That thing?" Akemi grins. "That thing!" Okay, I'm confused. Which "that thing" are you referring to? [Kaoru and Goro look goonish. It's what they do.] (Kaoru's the handsomest goon ever, though!) Akemi chuckles. "The World Reversed, silly! Heee!" Wait, you've been there? "Just once!" When? How'd you get there? Can you go back? Akemi gets up and walks over to Satoshi, one hand on her hip, grinning. "Want me to show you?" * Satoshi blushes a little, but doesn't back down. "Sure." Akemi moves right up to Satoshi and looks into his eyes. "Well... First we have to go to the Tower Reversed. And then..." And then? ^^; * Akemi spreads her arms wide. "And then I take off my clothes and perform a magic ritual involving me hopping up and down a lot, and poof! You're there!" Matthias: "What she's trying to say is you get someone to create a field there." * Satoshi blushes furiously and looks away. "Akemi... this is serious. Kaede and the others- oh?" Akemi looks over her shoulder at Matthias. "Aw, you ruined it!" * Satoshi looks at Matthias and tries to regain some of his composure. "Really?" Matthias: "Yes... But it's not that easy. The strain it puts on the mind of the person who creates the field is intense." Well, right now Kyoko's apparently having some serious mindstrain of her own. That's what started this whole problem. Who can we use to make the field? Akemi bounces: "I can!" Matthias: "So could I, if I wanted to suffer that kind of strain." * Satoshi blinks and looks at her. "You can?" Akemi: "Yeah! I did it when we first met, remember? Only I didn't realize it at the time." ...you're right! There was a field there, and I wasn't sure where it was coming from. Would you be willing to do this? Either of you? Akemi: "I'll do it!" * Satoshi smiles at her. "Thank you. Thank you so much. I hate to ask you to put yourself at risk like this, but this really is our only chance..." Matthias: "It must be, if you're willing to go through that. We don't really know what effects it has on us. I'd hate to find out it could cause brain damage." Well, I don't know what's happening to everyone else, but it sounds like we don't have much time. Akemi: "Ooooohhhh. We better go to it then!" * Satoshi looks at Matthias. "We could use all the help we can get, but I won't force you if you dont' want to come along. You've helped already." "Besides, I don't need my brain! I've got my chest to get me through life." * Satoshi nearly facepalms. Matthias sighs and rises. "Well, someone will have to get you back, as well." Thank you. Let's get this over with already. [Well, that's a good place to end it, so... End!]