☆ 001 : DEBUT ☆ "Apparently there is nothing that cannot happen today."

[idol_support]

Characters: Rise (idol_support) and YOU! :D
Setting: Starting in Room 2-01, then WHEREVER SHE HAS TO GO TO FIND HER FRIENDS, K (i.e. feel free to choose if you'd like!); morning of the 12th
Format: Posting with prose because I can't help it, sob; no preference for the comments, I will happily follow your lead!
Summary: Rise wakes up (in her Halloween costume, lol) and goes lookin' for trouble her peeps!
Warnings: Uh...the usual Intro Post Semi-Ramble, and possible spoilers for the True End of Persona 4 (...does that even count any more...), but otherwise nothing so far!



It could have been worse. Waking up in a strange place and then experiencing a short period of sleep paralysis were far from Rise's idea of fun, but while it had been a little scary, she wasn't the type to let something like that get her down or frighten her into inaction; not any more. After all, she'd experienced things tons scarier than that since she'd moved to Inaba and gotten her Persona--it wasn't like it was the end of the world or anything!

...The end of the world...a terrible concept, and one that was vividly real to her now, but also less terrifying at the same time, all things considered. She'd read that your world has been destroyed letter, yeah, sure, but it wasn't the first totally B.S. letter left by some huge creep that Rise had seen this year. Plus she'd received enough iffy fanmail during her career as an idol to know that people could write whatever the heck they wanted, but that didn't make any of it true. She would have to see for herself that the world was destroyed before she'd even begin to believe it! There was really just no way it could be destroyed--she and Senpai and all their friends (but especially Senpai) had just saved it.

More than likely this was the TV World, and some jerk had kidnapped her (ugh, again! That was twice in one year! Twice!) and dumped her here. At least, that's what she'd thought at first...but this place just didn't feel right somehow. Not that the TV World had, but that had been a different sort of Not Right. This was...this was...augh, she didn't even know what this was! It had to be somewhere kinda like the TV World, though, another place that existed outside (or was it more like inside?) of the Real World, because she could summon Kanzeon here with no problem. That had been the first thing she'd done, in fact; the ceiling had looked a little low to try it here, but she had no idea where she was or what to expect when she went through the room's solitary door, and "kinda cramped quarters" was still better than "totally dangerous open area". Anyways, she could always do a more intensive scan later on, when she had a better idea of where she was and what was going on.

What she'd found on doing that initial scan had both reassured and confused her, because ooh, some of her friends were close by! ...But wait, there were a looot of people here, and it looked like there were more--way more--Persona users than just the Investigation Team, whatever that meant... She didn't know anything about them, so Rise couldn't get a solid feel on how many, or exactly where they were, but there were definitely others like them here.

Still, that wasn't the most pressing thing on her mind just now, because in addition to this being a super-weird place...there was also the costume.

Rise hadn't wanted to stay here in this room any longer than it took Kanzeon to run a quick scan of the place and give her a general heads up, but she'd still stopped long enough to change...or she'd tried to, anyway. The outfit she'd found herself wearing on waking up had to go.

It wasn't that she didn't look good in it, and she'd worn a lot less than that on national television, so it could've been way worse, but still! Whoever had kidnapped her this time was a real weirdo (and the idea that someone had changed her clothes while she was unconscious was creepy on a whole new level that Rise decided was best not to think about for now). Fortunately, among other things, she'd found some of her normal clothes in the storage trunk at the end of the bed (which, she'd been interested to note, Kanzeon's scan had designated a Treasure Chest). She'd felt a little unsure about changing when she didn't know whether or not there were any hidden cameras--an idol couldn't be too careful after all, even a former-but-hopefully-returning-to-showbiz-soon one--but she pushed that concern aside as well. Their school uniforms were essentially Full Battle Dress for the Investigation Team, and this place felt strange enough that Rise wanted that extra jolt of confidence from the familiar. That had led to a brief (and utterly hopeless) struggle with the weird collar around her neck (it fit snugly enough that she wasn't sure if she'd still be able to wear her usual white turtleneck), but no amount of tugging, pulling, or twisting could get it off, so she'd conceded defeat for now, and just left off wearing the turtleneck this time.

She'd had to concede defeat again just a few seconds later, when she found that the devil costume wouldn't come off, and then a third and final time when she tried wearing her uniform on top of the costume. It had been a little tricky, what with those wings and all, but she'd managed...only to find that somehow, when she'd briefly turned her attention back to the second (much longer) of those two letters she'd found on waking up, the devil costume had somehow ended up on top of her uniform. Which didn't make ANY sense, and looked a whole lot worse than just wearing the costume on its own had. Ugh! If that was how things were gonna be, then fine! She'd just wear the stupid costume already! She had more important things to worry about anyways--namely, finding her friends and figuring out what was going on here!

Getting the uniform off again was more of a struggle than getting it on had been, but she managed it eventually; by then, she was more than ready to get out of here.

"All right!" she said to herself--hearing the cheery sound of her own voice in her ears was oddly comforting. "Time to find everyone and figure this place out!"

Snatching up the two letters and totally ignoring the plastic pumpkin and the attached note that had been sitting on her trunk, Rise headed out to face the Tower and (hopefully) find her friends.

Comments

[fuhgeddaboudit]

"What the--?"

A robot in a Yasogami uniform with an axe on her back really had no place calling anything strange. But even so, that was pretty darn weird.

Labrys hadn't expected to run into Rise of all people as she wandered about the tower, so her initial response was just to blink bright red eyes in confusion at the sight.

"...Rise?"

[idol_support]

"Huh?"

It wasn't at all unusual for seemingly random people to recognise her wherever she went--she was an idol after all--but most of those people (people who didn't actually know her) called her "Risette", not just "Rise". This address implied a certain amount of familiarity...which, coupled with the uniform the silver-haired girl(?) was wearing... But no, no way, she would definitely have remembered seeing someone who looked like that if she'd really gone to school with them! Plus, Rise was getting a kinda funny feeling looking at her...

Still, when faced with strangers, the "Risette" personality was what shone through most often, even in a place like this. So that's what Labrys will get: bubbly cheerfulness, followed by the slightest trace of sheepishness.

"That's my name, don't wear it out! But, um...sorry, I don't remember yours, even though you're wearing my school uniform. Have we met?"

Dorm levels, in front of the elevator?

[altitonant_emperor]

Encountering a young idol dressed in a revealing devil costume was not what Hidetoshi had been when he rounded the corner into the hallway in front of the elevator. He slows down his pace before coming to a complete stop, vaguely puzzled by the slight ting of familiarity when he saw her. Maybe in an ad at some point? However the two letters clutched in her hand were much more familiar considering he had spent hours just staring at the very same papers.

"Are you a new arrival as well?"

Being half-naked and wearing a long white cape, plus heavy horned helmet, spear, and no shoes is the best way to make a lasting first impression.

Sounds good!

[idol_support]

A lasting impression, definitely. A good one...well...

Rise comes to an abrupt stop also, clearly a bit nonplussed by his appearance. But well, she'd...seen stranger things...both in the TV World and her regular one... "Miss" Yasogami High Beauty Pageant, Rise is totally thinking of you Still, despite the spear and the helmet, he doesn't really seem dangerous, so it's probably okay to talk with him--he might know something about this place, after all.

"So you were kidnapped, too?" Makes sense, he's wearing a weird (and pretty revealing) costume just like she is...though his use of the words new arrival gives her the faint beginnings a Very Bad Feeling. "Any idea where we really are? No way am I believing anything like this!" She waves the now-slightly-crumpled pages in her hand for emphasis.

:D i forget words all the time too s'fine!

[altitonant_emperor]

"Yeah, even if our captors prefer to call it being saved."

His single visible eye blinks but the disdain he feels for their hosts is clear when it leaks into his voice: this little event has done nothing to endear the admins to Hidetoshi. For crying' out loud, they could have at least given him a decent pair of pants and he still couldn't be believe he had to go trick or treatin' in this damn outfit. He keeps his gaze fixed firmly on her face and desperately attempts to quell the surge of vivid embarrassment at his current state of dress. "I've heard this place referred to as the Tower by other residents."

He grimaced at her next words, a lopsided scowl plastering itself onto his face. He gestures at the rumpled-looking letters she was waving around. "There's no reason for you to believe any of it—I have my own doubts regarding the validity of its outrageous claims myself. But whether or not it's true, it doesn't seem like any of us are going to be leaving here very soon."

<3

[idol_support]

"Saved?"

That sure sounds familiar, and a little too close to what Namatame had thought he'd been doing for comfort.

"But...everything was going great back home! I didn't need saving." Not again, anyway, she amends silently.

As she re-focuses her attention on their conversation, Rise reads his discomfort (not that that's hard, he hasn't looked away from her face once as far as she's seen); the faint beginnings of that Very Bad Feeling double and redouble as he says that last sentence, but outwardly, she doesn't let it faze her. He seems fairly forthcoming about this place as it is, but the Famous Entertainer part of her can't help but want to charm him a little, or at least try to put him at ease. Then he'd be even more likely to talk to her about this place, right? Right!

"Yeah, you're totally right! It's pretty unbelievable, and anyone could write a letter like this. It doesn't prove anything at all!" She tilts her head curiously, leaning in just slightly as she drops her voice a bit--it's well above a whisper, but there's just a hint of the conspiratory to it now. "So...what do you think is really going on, then? Any ideas, um...?"

She looks up at him with an expectant little smile, clearly hoping he'll supply his name.

1/? because no words describe his reactions, I apologize to you and your inbox in advance.

[pitiedthefool]

And guess who would just so happen to be returning to the dorms from a candy hunt? Yeah, that would be this guy, who is being forced to dress like this guy who is actually a god that is somehow himself and thus he is technically dressing up as himself? It's confusing as hell and in short, he was not prepared for who he'd see coming out of the dorm room across the hall from his own-

2/? I'll let you know

[pitiedthefool]

...wait what-

"...Rise?"

3/?????????

[pitiedthefool]

She was... here... In the tower...

For some reason, his brain was having a hard time computing that. Considering he'd seen her back home and very much gone (was that even reality, though? What was truth, and what was illusion? Not even the orb of sight could...), she was standing there (dressed similarly to a succubus, no less), the same kohai he had inevitably fallen for and vice versa once despite his usual hard-to-get expressions.

But was this even the Rise from his world- his universe? After all, he already knew that another version of himself (a girl self, no less) existed somewhere out there. She could very well been from Yuko-chan's world. In which case, that would have sucked for both of them, considering she was... gone.

4/?????????

[pitiedthefool]

No. The way Ishtar responded in his mind to their unbreakable bond was enough to tell him that it was indeed the Rise he knew. Even with how they were forced to dress, there was no mistaking it.

It was the same Rise they all knew. Even if a few of them were much farther behind than the rest...

He didn't know when she was from, what she could have experienced that he likely hadn't, but the sudden relief to know that one of his closest bonds was safe and sound and not dead after all this time-

[terreifying]

"Heeee~ey. What'cha doin'?"

A girl call out from behind Rise as she walks in the halls. Should she turn around, she would see a blue-haired, red-eyed girl about her age in a green and white school uniform.

[idol_support]

Since she wasn't at all sure what or where this "Tower" supposedly was, Rise was inclined to be a little more suspicious of people than usual. She didn't have any real clues aside from those totally B.S. letters, so anyone could be the kidnapper as far as she knew.

...Buuut the other girl was probably a pretty unlikely suspect. She seemed friendly enough, and not overtly dangerous though maybe Rise did get a little bit of a strange--but no, maybe not. Anyways, it didn't hurt to be friendly back, right? Still, maybe it would be best not to mention her friends just yet, until she got a better feel for the blue-haired girl.

"I'm trying to figure out what's really going on here! This letter about the world being destroyed is full of it!"

...Okay, maybe that had come out a little more petulant than friendly (sorry, Rei), but at least she was being honest?

[terreifying]

"There was a letter?"

She hadn't read it, but nevertheless, she laughs.

"The world can't be destroyed! We're still right here. And this place seems pretty solid."

After all, if she had lost to ADAM, it would be more like the Dirac--vast stretches of emptiness with nothing for company except perhaps the occasional EVA and Angel. As far as she knew, none of the Angels or even Go-kun looked anything like that.

Don't mind us we're just going to create a sitation for Rise to barge in at the worst time.

[get_bent]

"H-Hey N-naoto?" For about the fifth time that day, Kanji nervously adjusted the his tie and hat as he fumbled close by to the other Investigation Team member. They had managed to get all the candy they needed, and now he had been...wanting to say something to her for the past few days. It was hard to find one such and occasion, although admittedly he also was so unsure he didn't know when he should.

Granted now that he was stuck saying it in a costume, it was probably bizarre, but he had to admit she did look pretty cute in that detective outfit despite the circumstances.

"Think we could go somewhere to sit down and talk? We got enough candy and everythin'..."

[detecting]

And for about the fifth time that day, Naoto ducked her head down to hide the amused little smile on her lips when she noticed Kanji making adjustments to his outfit. She double checks that they both have the appropriate amount of candy before looking up at him and nodding.

"Of course. Is there something wrong...?"

[get_bent]

"N-nah actually everythin's pretty grea...well alright, the whole situation is shit b-but apart from that, it's fine?" Yeah better not overdo it there, cowboy. He gulped again nervously. sixth time that day, he adjusted his tie (but not the hat!).

"Maybe if we go to the cafeteria...that'll be alright?" Please ignore his pinkish cheeks, that's just a trick of the light, and/or stage costume makeup.

...totally.

[deathboss]

Dressed in his own crazy outfit, Eikichi had been off to find the others when the little tell-telling ping of knowing another Persona user was around made itself known. Hades pulled him into the floor and he walked around until he located...HELLOOOOOO NURSE.... Well Devil actually, but who seriously cared.

"Well, well, Michel's happy to see a new face...and Persona user in the tower." He greeted her with a grand old smile, unaware she was from Yu's time. In fact, Rise might have heard of Eikichi's band, Gas Chamber. Of course he was much older then, him coming from 1999.

Let him just confuse her first with the fact he actually was able to know she was a Persona user right away. The older generation did have its perks, after all.

[idol_support]

She almost doesn't recognise him--she doesn't at first, in fact, both because of the costume and because he looked about ten years younger than he should. But then she really took in the spiky blue hair, and the voice, and what she could see of his face beneath the Ecto Goggles, and was that--was that--

"...Whoa."

It really was him...it had to be, he'd called himself "Michel", and even though his outfit wasn't the type of thing she would've expected to see him wearing, the same could (kinda) be said for her at the moment, and it's hard to mistake that ego attitude.

For a second or two, she could only stare, pretty visibly star-struck, because...she was famous, sure, but he...he was more like a legend. What exactly should a (former) idol do when she ran into such a well-known hard-core visual kei icon who probably doesn't even know someone like her exists and oh come on Rise, now is not the time to suddenly revert to old habits like staring at your feet and not knowing what to say! Time to let "Risette" take over, and--

--Aaand cue an excited squeal and eager little bounce which her costume proooobably makes fairly interesting, pfft. "Oh, wow! I can't believe you're here! And you're a Persona user, too?" That was...a little mind-bending, actually, though maybe not quite as much as his casual knowledge that she was a Persona user. "And hey, how did you know I...?"

I apologize for the lateness

[deathboss]

I can't believe you're here?

They say that Eikichi's ego grew three times that day it was now larger than three planets. He had expected a reaction about the fact he knew about Persona, but the fact she seemed to recognize him and seemed even star-struck just made Eikichi do a little pose for maximum effect. She was obviously from the future, but how far, he had no idea. Regardless, it there was one way to make himself feel better, it was knowing that he'd achieved his dream.

"Oh that?" he spoke as if it was no big deal, knowing it was probably a big deal. "Well that's cause my Persona told me, chica." He grins at her, flashing a smile. "Oh but where are Michel's manners? A babe like you must have a worthy name to go along with your lovely face?"

Room 2-01

[culbutiri]

Interesting. This girl wasn't here yesterday, and yet had woken up in one of these costumes that couldn't come off... Nesir had thought they were brought here in the white suits. Apparently she had been wrong and this place got weirder every single day.

She just sat on her bed watching her new roommate. She raised an eyebrow as the clothes disappeared under the costume, this level of magic; was it an illusion perhaps? Was beyond anything Nesir had ever seen.

But an illusion would explain why she could take no part of her costume off, not even the eyepatch which was a pain.

"Why do you be thinking you will be knowing anyone here?"

ROOMIE TIEMZ, HERE WE GO...

[idol_support]

Rise spun around, startled. She'd done her scan, brief and limited as it had been, and hadn't noticed anyone else in here with her. How had she--?

"Who are you?"

That question was reflex more than anything. The girl looked about her age, and judging by the pirate costume, she'd probably been kidnapped, too. Plus, if she'd been really dangerous and over-the-top powerful, there was no way Kanzeon would have missed her, hurried scan or not. Still, there was no reason to advertise the fact she could find her friends just yet, just in case.

[culbutiri]

"My name do be Nesir Aeser, who do you be?" She definitely didn't look dangerous, or potentially powerful despite being dressed as a pirate. She looked at the girl again, a blue collar. She didn't know what they meant yet, but she figured it was information worth remembering.

[sacred_flamer]

[Of course, a certain redheaded idiot trapped in a super hero costume was passing by the room in question just as someone burst out of it (well, no, not really burst out, but that was just what his mind was telling him). He let out a yelp, trying to avoid them, only to end up crashing into them anyway.]

[...this was probably going to get awkward.]

[idol_support]

[Weeeell, maybe Rise hadn't exactly BURST out of the room, but she was moving at a fairly good clip. So the resulting collision is prettymuch equally both their faults, lol. All Rise manages to get out is a startled]

Wha--!

[before IMPACT, which knocks her backwards, though she makes a reflexive grab at Luke's arm and...]

[...and yeah, this could get awkward...]

[sacred_flamer]

[Post impact ended up a tangle of limbs and flailing redheads as the both of them went down, and Luke found his helmet shoved in something soft...]

[...oh.]

[...]

[...oh.]

[...well then.]