☆ 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

[terreifying]

"Ah, I've never heard of you before, but my family likes classical music more. Can you do classical stuff? Like violins or pianos?"

However, Rise must have looked cute in one of those fluffy idol dresses.

[idol_support]

"Well, that's not too surprising if we're from different worlds, right? And mostly I just sing and dance. I guess I'm not terrible on the piano, but...I'm still definitely not good enough to play during a concert, sorry! I probably could be if I practised a whole bunch, though! I'm a pretty quick learner."

[terreifying]

"Hee~ey!" Rei's eyes light up again as she gets an idea. "What if someday we got a big stage and all the dance and music people held a big concert on there? It would be so fun! Better yet if I could take Go-kun. I'd teach him how to wear glowsticks and dance."

[idol_support]

"Well, if that ever does happen, count me in! Totally! It's been almost a year since my last concert--I'm really starting to miss it! ...But for now, I should probably focus on taking a good look around this place."

She's already seen some of it, but not everything...though there are some places that she already knows she doesn't want to see.

[terreifying]

"It's only been a couple of weeks since my last television interview. I liked it, but I like being in action more."

Rei had very specific requirements for the sort of attention she liked.

"Would you want me to go with you? In case you run into anything?"

[idol_support]

"Sure, you can come if you want! I'm not gonna be looking for trouble just yet, though, so it might be kinda boring if you already know your way around."

But honestly, after experiencing that handshake? Rise would be MORE than happy to have Rei along as a bodyguard of sorts. Even if she's serious about not looking for trouble yet. Because of course, trouble might come looking for her...

[terreifying]

"I haven't seen very much of this place either. I've just been walking around the dorms."

[idol_support]

...Well, if that was true, then maybe there actually was a way for them to escape. Especially with Rei being a strong as she was.

"I've been to the cafeteria and the lounge and a few other places, but there's still a lot I haven't seen. So let's go! We could take the elevator down, start at the bottom, and work our way up!"

[terreifying]

"Wow, there's a cafeteria? They give us free food?"

Rei is already looking around for the elevator.

[idol_support]

"It's...not something to get all that excited about, really. Apparently sometimes it'll just be 'nutrition bars' for weeks at a time. This month, it's pumpkin everything, and it sounds like that could get old pretty fast."

Luckily enough, they happen to be on Dormitory Floor One, so the elevator is right at the end of the hall.

"So...I guess you probably want to go to the cafeteria, then?"

[terreifying]

"Or maybe we can save the best for last. I need time for my appetite to build."

Once they're at the elevator, Rei mashes the button several times before stopping and waiting for it to come.]

[idol_support]

"Well, it's just...this elevator is really weird! It doesn't stop at every floor. So if you want to explore the whole tower, you just...take the elevator down to the next stop and then use the stairs."

The elevator doors open, and as she steps on, Rise gestures to the panel of (decidedly limited) buttons.

"See?"

[terreifying]

"...Oh well, it'll be fun exercise climbing the stairs."

She reads the numbers off of the elevator.

"Dormitory Floor 1, Floor 1, Floor 21, Floor 41. Is there any reason for those floors?"

[idol_support]

Rise looks at the numbers, shrugs, and randomly presses the button for Floor 21. Working their way for there down to the restaurant should be enough time to work up a decent appetite, right?

She gives an annoyed little huff, not at the question itself, but at the Tower Admins in general. "No reason that I can think of...except maybe to make it easier to keep us on certain floors. Or force us to take the stairs and slow us down for some reason."

[terreifying]

"Why would they want to keep us on certain floors? Maybe because they're the most dangerous ones? Or they're the safest ones? Or maybe they see the stuff that happens on those floors better?"

Rei is swaying on the balls of her feet, busy speculating.

[idol_support]

"I dunno, but I doubt it's for anything good! They kidnapped us, after all! Who knows what they're planning?"

The elevator hums along, and soon arrives on Floor 21. Which turns out to be...a restaurant?

[terreifying]

Rei's eyes light up and she rushes out of the elevator.

"Wow, I wonder what they serve he--"

Her eyes fall upon the sign.

"...Closed?"

[idol_support]

Rise joins Rei, albeit a little more slowly. "...That's weird. Why have a place like this if it's just gonna be closed?" Maybe it was some kind of taunt? She doesn't dwell on it too long, though. If the place is closed for now, then it's closed. She'll just have to come by again later.

"...Hmm, I think the stairway is this way..."

[terreifying]

Rei throws one last, wistful look at the restaurant. She really would like to come here and get food someday.

"Then, let's go see all the lower floors. There's at least twenty of them, right?"

[idol_support]

Rise doesn't know about the "catch" when it comes to ordering food here, so she can't warn Rei about it. Though even if she could, Rei's YOLO Powers would render it irrelevant, lol. All she can do is lead the way to the stairs and the other floors.

"Heh, yeah, unless they number their floors as strangely as they built their elevator. So...I wouldn't put it past them, really."

[terreifying]

"But we know for sure the cafeteria is on floor one. So it limits how oddly they can number the floors."

Unless going down every floor had a random number.

[idol_support]

"...Well...they don't necessarily have to go in order. They could skip numbers, or add extra ones, or use some more than once."

She can't think of any reason anyone would want to do that, other than to be jerks and seriously mess with people, but it's already been proven beyond any possible doubt that these people are jerks. HUGE ones. She really wouldn't put anything past them, regardless of how petty or pointless it seemed.

[terreifying]

She taps a finger against her chin. She's not sure how mean the administrators are, but she can't discount the possibility of them confusing the residents on purpose.

"Hey, maybe we should check. How about we renumber all of the floors if we find the people in charge gave them the wrong number?"

[1/2] Gonna do a time lapse here, if you don't mind. Unless you wanted to play out 20 floors. |D;

[idol_support]

"Sounds like a good idea to me! We'll have to find some paint, or some big pieces of paper and something to write with. But let's see if the numbers are right or not before we start worrying about that."

And down the stairs they go!

[2/2]

[idol_support]

Maybe twenty minutes later, the girls are leaving the stairway and stepping down onto Floor One. Rise looks slightly out of breath, or maybe just a little shaken, though it's not because of the twenty flights of stairs they just came down. They hadn't left the stairs, intent on their task of counting the floors, but some of those floors... Floor Seventeen comes to mind, and Rise can't help but shudder. Still, she pushes that memory away, focusing on the task at hand and forcing herself to show the usual cheery levity, regardless of the fact that she didn't feel it at the moment.

"And heeeeere we are! Floor One: the Cafeteria! Home of all things pumpkin this month!"