(no subject)

[personadean]

a. A day in the life

Welcome to yet another day at Vanderhall University. The sun is up, the trees are green, and it’s a little cold but not all that bad. Go to class, or don’t! It’s your day, to do as you want on this perfectly normal college campus that has nothing wrong with it. Clearly.

b. When the clock strikes twelve...

It’s college. Almost no one is in bed by 10, 11, or even midnight. Currently it’s 11:59, and many students (and non-students) are out and about. Some are at the library, working on late night projects or cramming for a test (or several). Some are probably a little, or more than a little, drunk, wandering around with friends or alone. A few might be in their dorms, watching Netflix or just trolling the internet.

But then the clock strikes midnight...

...and suddenly, everything changes.

That computer you were working on, or that phone midtext? Shuts off. It looks like it’s died, but looking around... no technology around is working. Worse, any people you were talking to, or who were even nearby, are now replaced by coffins according to their height. The moon hangs pale and large in the sky, and the entire world is cast in an eerie green light.

Anyone who’s left awake will have maybe a few minutes to take in their surroundings and panic as a result before something else appears. No matter where they are, they will attract creatures like nothing they will have seen before. Even though they’re completely foreign, anyone with a work sense of self-preservation will have their instincts screaming one thing at them.

Run.

[ooc: The game is open! Please feel free to make a top level for one or both prompts; tag around and have fun!]

Comments

[princelydetective]

a.

Naoto spends most of her time working- what this means varies greatly. If she’s not in class, then she’s working on various projects in the library, or sequestered in a corner as she talks quietly on her cell phone to who knows who. She’ll be happy to chat, and may even strike up a conversation with people she knows, but... good luck getting her to do anything ‘fun.’ She’s too busy for that.

b.

For her part, Naoto’s been working in the library and lost track of the time. She’s quite used to staying up at least until midnight, keeping an eye for a certain Midnight Channel and all. She only barely acknowledges the clock, finishing up her current project and shutting off her computer. She still has work to do, but she would rather do detective reports in the privacy of her room.

She’s barely outside of the library when she feels a chill crawl up her spine, and it’s with a startled motion that she turns to look at the world around her. Naoto’s never seen exactly this before, but she’s seen similar... and she already knows what this is.

“This is impossible,” she murmurs, staring wide eyed at the coffins that used to be her peers.

Unfortunately, she knows quite well it’s not actually impossible, and she doesn’t have time to stand around and just let it happen. Naoto pulls out her gun, holding it at the ready even though she knows it won’t do her much good. She can’t summon Yamato-Takeru outside the Midnight Channel, and she doesn’t have an Evoker. She won’t be able to stop anything... but she might be able to help some people survive the hour.

[ooc: basically Naoto is going to be running around trying to help people if they look like they’re in a dire situation. Feel free to have her pop into your character’s situation, or try and help her out!]

b;

[unjointed]

"Ah." Lucky him, he guesses, watching the lights of the vending machine he's crouched in front of flicker off. One more second and he would have lost a few yen to the sudden blackout. But whatever fortune god he prayed to at the local shrine at New Year's must be on his side tonight; the can of coffee dropped just moments before he could've lost it. Fishing it out and pressing his hands to its warm aluminum surface, he straightens and takes a look around. This is no ordinary blackout, is it? He doesn't think the other blackouts he's ever experienced involved the moonlight turning green...

The couple that was making out a few feet away definitely turned into coffins, too. Was he dreaming? Doubtful. Fortunately, he doubts the powerout situation would prevent him from entering his dorm since they were given actual keys instead of cards, so he's about to turn in the direction of that building when he sees someone... with a gun? Weren't firearms banned on this campus? He pops the can of coffee open, listening to the short hiss of pressurized air escaping its prison as he watches her get closer. She doesn't seem to be heading at him specifically, but if she's armed, should he avoid her? catch her off guard?

"What are you doing?"

Ask her stupid questions it is.

[princelydetective]

...Perhaps Naoto should be used to strange things and strange people. Personally, she feels like this boy is having a rather intense under reaction to the situation. However, the Shadows haven't already destroyed him... would that mean he has the potential? (Admittedly, that is hardly Naoto's expertise in understanding. She may have to call Mitsuru-san as soon as this is over.)

"Being on guard," is her answer; if he hasn't seen Shadows yet, there's no sense in trying to explain something that abstract, "Are you alright?"

[unjointed]

Intense under-reaction is his middle name. He's takes a sip of his coffee, sighing when the drink warms him up on its way down his esophagus. Ah, this is relief. There's a part of him that tells him he should feel bad for not offering it first, or at least not waiting until she's passed to drink, but he can't help the blackout and if he let it cool, it'll ruin the whole point of buying a hot drink. He ignores the voice and raises an eyebrow at her.

Then chuckles. What is this, is it an actual emergency?

"Yeah, I'm fine... is there something going on?"

[princelydetective]

Usually, Naoto is rather hard to shake up. But this behavior is a little disconcerting.

"Yes," she says flatly, not entirely sure what to make of him and... his apparent disinterest in what's going on, "This isn't a blackout; come on, it's not safe to stay here."

[unjointed]

Not a blackout, and not safe, huh? The girl seems to know something about what's going on, and it's that revelation that makes Yoshino decide to follow her. He doesn't quite finish his coffee, but it was cheap enough and it sounds like it'll get in the way so he tosses the can into the recycling, nodding and taking steps forward to her.

"If this isn't a blackout, what is it? You seem to know something."

[princelydetective]

"It's called the Dark Hour," Naoto says- it's relevant for the moment and important for him to know if he has the potential, and if not then according to the reports he's likely to forget as soon as the real world returns. "It takes place between midnight and 12:01; monsters called Shadows can emerge during this time, so we need to be cautious."

[unjointed]

The Dark Hour. It's a tacky name, and he's not quite taking this girl seriously yet. This certainly doesn't seem like an ordinary blackout, and even his watch has stopped (even batteries were screwing up? strange) and the moon is still sneering down at them in a sinister green glow. But a hidden piece of time and monsters.

He scratches at an itch at the back of his head and tucks his hands in his pockets. Well, then.

"Where are we going?"

[princelydetective]

Naoto didn't name it, alright. (It is rather ridiculous, but then again, so the the Midnight Channel.) As long as he's following her, she doesn't care so much if he believes her. Convincing will wait until it's clear whether or not he has the potential.

"Looking for other people who might have been caught up in this. And to keep moving." Unfortunately, if her understanding of the hour is correct, there likely isn't a good place to hide out from Shadows- though they are less abundant than in Tartarus.

b;

[gongshow]

If she wanders further, then somewhere on the route between the library and wherever, it is quite possible that Naoto will hear what sounds like a struggle coming from a nearby alley.

The source of said struggle, if she investigates, is a young man wearing a hockey mask, laying into a Shadow with a baseball bat as if his life depends on it.

(To be fair, it probably does.)

[princelydetective]

Sounds like that are exactly what she's listening for. She hurries down the alley, gun out and ready to fire. (Though, honestly, considering that he doesn't have a modified weapon or a persona? He's doing quite well for himself.)

Naoto aims carefully, firing at the Shadow to drive it back before heading forward. "You won't be able to kill it with that. Come on!"

[gongshow]

He may know nothing about Shadows or the Dark Hour, but Casey knows plenty about hitting the other guy hard enough to be sure he goes down before you do. ("The other guy," in this case, isn't really the best word for it, but he doesn't know much about semantics, either.)

The voice catches his attention, though not enough to get him to turn his head (because you don't take your eye off the ball, that's stupid), and he takes a step back, bat still held in front of him warily. Backing down on a fight isn't really in his nature, but the amount of abuse that thing has already taken does support what he's hearing.

And he's not really sure what he even ought to be targeting, given the lack of distinct anatomy.

"What is this thing?"

She sounds like she knows some shit. Might as well ask.

[princelydetective]

"It's called a Shadow; now come on." Naoto isn't going to leave the alley before making sure he's leaving, gun still aimed to try and drive it back if that's needed. "Explanations will have to wait until we're somewhere safer."

Note that she doesn't say 'safe.' She's fairly certain no such place exists in the dark hour.

[gongshow]

Another step back, and another. He's listening, he's just - he's not turning his back on that thing, because holy shit.

"I'm holdin' you to that."

Because explanations? Yes, please.

[princelydetective]

(That's probably good- no enemy advantage for this Shadow.)

Naoto will wait until they back up enough to reach the end of the alley, eyes on the Shadow before she gestures for Casey to pick a direction and run. She's got the long range weapon, here.

[gongshow]

As much as running has never been his style, this night's been weird enough that he's not sure he can really complain about it too much, and the prospect of getting some kind of an explanation probably means more than his pride. So he takes off - in the opposite direction from campus; he knows the neighborhood a little better than he knows campus proper, being as scholastically uninclined as he is.

He knows the terrain and he knows the hiding places, that is to say.

[princelydetective]

Naoto... admittedly doesn't know as much about the off-campus areas as she does on (a mix of being a freshman and a workaholic), but she'll follow the guy anywhere- she wants to make sure he doesn't run into anything there, either. But once he's slowed a bit she'll ask, "Are you alright?"

B

[windyflower]

Fuuka too had been in the library these past couple of days. With so many exams and papers all due within the same time period, it wasn't any surprise that she spent most of her nights in the library trying to get everything done. Of course, she too had been known to accidentally sleep in said building before someone decided to wake her up.

Sadly, this was not one of those days. Instead, when the clock turned midnight? She found herself staring at a blank computer screen. At first, she was wondering what was going on before she realized that all the lights too were turned off.

"What's going on?" She said before running straight out of the building as she looked around. As she saw people turning into coffins, the only thing she could do was to just be scared.

All she could do right now was to just run and try to figure out what was going on.

[princelydetective]

"Yamagishi-san!"

As soon as Naoto spots the woman, her instinct is to call out. In the back of her mind, she knew that some of the Shadow Ops also attended school here... but it wasn't something she was expecting to have to call upon. (And considering the scenario, it was likely they were as unprepared as she was- most people couldn't carry guns, even fake ones, on campus.)

She runs to catch up with the woman, hoping she'll be heard and that Fuuka will slow down enough for them to talk. "Are you alright?"

[windyflower]

If Naoto was unprepared, so was Fuuka. Right now, she needed to get a hold of Mitsuru and fast. With so many shadows lurking around, it was only a matter of time before people would seriously get themselves hurt. Of course, without her Evoker, she was useless. She could sense Juno telling her where everyone was but it was fruitless if Fuuka couldn’t summon her. However, just then, she heard a voice.

“Shirogane-san?” Her eyes immediately widen before shaking her head. “I’m fine but what about you? Are you okay?”

[princelydetective]

"With the exception of the obvious circumstances, I'm fine." Unharmed, at least- though Naoto imagines Fuuka is just as unnerved by all of this as she is. "Have you seen anyone else out here? Mitsuru-san?" Naoto's seen a few people not in coffins, but they're even more confused by all this than she is.

[windyflower]

"That's what I've been trying to do but I can't seem to find Mitsuru-senpai anywhere!" Not that Fuuka didn't know what to do but it was better to have someone who was more confident as to what was going on. Either way, as she looked around the area, she gave a gulp. "But I think the best thing we can do is to help these people."

Persona or not.

[princelydetective]

"I agree." Making sure no one suffers for this is the best they can possibly do. With any luck, most people who are caught up in this won't be dragged into something bigger... but Naoto's not sure she believes it even as it comes to mind. "Do you have anything with you that might help?" Naoto has her gun, but she knows Yamagishi is more support oriented...

[windyflower]

Without her Evoker, Fuuka was defenseless. There wasn’t a lot she could do when the Dark Hour made all technology useless. However, there was probably at least one thing she could do. “I suppose I could try and gather as much people as I could!” Although, she didn’t have much fighting experience but it was better than nothing at least! “Or perhaps maybe I could try and see if anyone in the police hasn’t turned into a coffin yet!”

[princelydetective]

Neither of them are terribly good options when all forms of defense were taken from them, but Naoto knows she wouldn't want to be sidelined right now. "I'm not sure the police around here know anything about the situation, and convincing them might take time we don't have in the event that any of them are aware of all this. The best bet is probably just to find as many people as we can."