[Open][Post Evil Baby] Regeneration

[gorobo]

[CW: death, robotic gore]

Despair, the last thing he feels before death claims him. Falcon thought he could do it- seal away the evil he'd seen in this tape, it's what he was made for, after all.

But in the end, he was too weak. He was overwhelmed- destroyed in one single attack. 

All that is left is some pieces of burnt scrap metal near the top level of Mementos, unrecognizable for what they once were.

------

Not long after the chaos of the memory tapes, a glow appears in the Velvet Room. At first, it doesn't look like much- it's hard to even tell what it is. Slowly but surely, however, wires, circuits, and other mechanical parts become discernible, though it still takes a long time before anything truly recognizable becomes apparent. Falcon's naked circuitry renders him barely identifiable, almost Terminator-like, a rather gruesome image without his mesh to hide all the machinery underneath. 

At his desk, Igor's grinning, as always, although next to him is a frowning Margaret. She looks concerned as she watches the slowly regenerating body, her arms crossed, her spine straight.

"... This cannot continue," she says, "we still don't know how he got in. We gave him a chance, but..."

Igor hums, closing his buldging eyes.

"It seems we will need to take other measures." His eyes open again. "Margaret, if you please."

"Of course," she says, and turns around to leave.

Igor stays in his seat, watching as Falcon slowly regenerates from nothing.

Comments

[fogboundcrow]

"It's not fair." He knows it could be worse, but Falcon doesn't deserve this. Either way, he clings to Magpie. It's all he can do.

[willowandoak]

Aaand that's when Ren walks in.

He stops just inside the doorway, taking in the entire scene at a glance before turning his gaze back to Falcon. His mouth opens. His mouth closes.

"Shit," he says at last, quietly. His skin has broken out in goosebumps.

[pancakeboy]

Magpie glances up, lips pursing, but no more than that. Despite himself, there's a haunted quality to his fury.

"Indeed," is all he says, turning back to his vigil and tightening his grip on Raven. Drake can either join them, or not.

[fogboundcrow]

Raven remains quiet, save for the slight sound of his sniffling. Very briefly, he glances to see if Falcon has regenerated before looking away again.

[willowandoak]

Ren does join them, slowly, eyes fixed on Falcon's body—because it can't be anyone else, not with the two of them reacting like they are. Falcon, who took an entire team of powerful Persona users to subdue. He feels a deep sense of foreboding.

He stops next to them and puts a hand on Raven's shoulder for a moment, but he doesn't know what to say. Magpie looks like he has it covered, anyway. Instead, he directs his words to Magpie himself, in a hushed voice, although Raven will be able to hear anything Magpie can.

"What... happened?"

[pancakeboy]

He glances up, barely. "Have you not seen the network yet? We have a would-be tyrant among us."

A child, certainly. But with a puerile philosophy and a grasp for power that makes Shido seem unambitious.

[willowandoak]

...So Ren pulls out his phone and checks the network. As he reads the post in question, a disbelieving noise escapes from behind his teeth. He stares at his screen for a second when he's done.

"What kind of baby Shido bullshit..." he mumbles at last, shoving his phone back in his pocket. Then he takes a breath. "...Falcon is strong. Crow and I needed several people to help take him down. I don't like that this kid can..."

He glances at Raven and doesn't finish his sentence. ...can reduce him to scrap metal.

[pancakeboy]

Magpie doesn't like it either, putting it mildly; he shakes his head. His grip on Raven tightens as he glances down to check him.

"Falcon and I were of a strength, after the Palace. I'd say most of us were." He inclines his head a little in Drake's direction, in acknowledgement if nothing else. "But, truthfully, I suspect his abilities would still give him the edge. He can be provoked, though. He can—lose control."

Some O-rings roll up into Falcon's core, on their edge. Magpie watches them morosely. What does an android even need O-rings for? "Of course, we have people here who've taken down would-be gods. Beings of great power. Crow has done it more than once."

Crow, who has got to be having an aneurysm, what with Raven's distress. But there's nothing to be done about that.

[willowandoak]

"Why does it always have to be Crow?" he asks in exhaustion, not with Magpie so much as with the entire situation. "We have to be able to come up with something that doesn't put it all on his shoulders, again."

His own phrasing reminds him of something, and he shifts. "You know, I talked to a newer Akira earlier. He mentioned he'd died too. I'm starting to see a trend."

[fogboundcrow]

There's... a post?

Though Raven remains close to Magpie, he digs out his phone. He checks the network, and—

"Motherfucker." His phone snaps shut with a vise grip, and it takes significant will power to not throw it to the ground. But, oh, he's shaking. His face is burning, contorted to a snarl.

This doesn't bode well.

[pancakeboy]

While Magpie doesn't exactly shush him, or baby him too obviously in such company, he rocks Raven just a little, tightening his grip. Just enough to ground him, hopefully. Even if Raven were to bring Loki out right now, there's no way he can match whatever did this to Falcon.

"You think Amada was responsible?" he asks Drake, eerily calm. "He doesn't seem the type to keep his mouth shut."

[willowandoak]

"We didn't get an essay about it ghostwritten by Lord Todvorflucht, so I'd guess no." He shoots a grim glance at his phone in his pocket. "I'm more—concerned about the way things are going, generally. If Amada didn't kill that Akira, what did? Was it another murderer, was it something in the Metaverse? Why didn't we hear anything about it?"

It's possible that it's nothing. It's also possible that things are deteriorating, and the situation is worse than just one evil kid. The point is, they don't know.

[pancakeboy]

Quietly, he looks down at Raven. This conversation's getting dark, but it's nothing Raven can't put together on his own. He looks back at the fragments of Falcon, slowly chipping themselves back together.

[fogboundcrow]

"Shouldn't we focus on the matter at hand instead of speculating on some potentially unrelated death? Look at Falcon." He says, despite refusing to look back himself. "Regardless of how many targets he's claimed, we need to stop him, damn it!"

[pancakeboy]

Without taking his eyes off the body, Magpie pulls Raven surreptitiously closer. "You're right. How do you want to go about it?"

In other words, let the kid talk. Besides, Raven's as good as any of them. At least in Magpie's view.

[fogboundcrow]

"Ken might know. If their powers truly are similar, he may have ideas..." But that's all he has, unless...

"...Or we could talk to Sagiri-san, perhaps. He might be our next best chance."

[pancakeboy]

"You trust Sagiri?" He knows Crow and Joker think nothing by now of throwing the kids at the weird gas station attendant, and he also thinks they've entirely lost the plot. Even Wagtail has picked up on that one.

[fogboundcrow]

"We have a Social Link. It's only about rank six, but hypothetically, I could work on that. He at least seems interested in me enough that I could work with it."

And he's powerful, obviously. That should help. It's a start.

[pancakeboy]

"How much does that really mean? Ren had a Social Link with me." It's more than he would usually say; he buttons his lip quickly. But he hasn't forgotten that feeling of something inside him, across the Hallowe'en party, off-key and off-kilter.

"Amada-kun—as far as I know, you're right. He could be the only one here able to match such power. Do you think he will?" Magpie thinks he will, if Raven's safety is on the line, not to mention the new young Akechi, Jay. But they need a whole team, ideally, and Sagiri may not be enough backup.

[fogboundcrow]

"And Ren cares deeply about you." You aren't exactly disproving his point there, Magpie. "I believe that Ken could, but I don't want him to have to face this alone. It's already terrified him as it is."

[pancakeboy]

He purses his lips. Ren could care as much as he claimed to at Hallowe'en, when he was out of his mind. Magpie would still have put a bullet in his head, given the chance.

As for being alone.... "I can't imagine you letting him face a hangnail alone. But sometimes we have to do things that terrify us, and we have to do them alone. Or we don't survive."

Despite his words, his arm is still holding Raven close, and still rocking him the tiniest bit.

[willowandoak]

He's been quiet since Raven's outburst, typing on his phone while he listens to the conversation. A frown has been growing slowly on his face.

"I posted to the network," he says, putting his phone away. "Amada can't see it. The rest of us can talk about what the fuck we're going to do. And if we want people with Izaya's level of power, there was that... anniversary party. With the awards." He makes a face. He's still pissed off about that. "Izaya shared the award for the most powerful guy with Lotus. And Lotus is less of a clown, as far as I can tell. We could get him instead, or maybe both of them."

[pancakeboy]

He glances up. "Lotus needs Amada to tell him his name, is that right? In order to have any control over him."

Shame about that note on the board, really.

[willowandoak]

"To have control over him or whatever, yeah. But one of us might be able to give it to him. I tried to do that one time. It didn't count since I don't know the right Shido, but this Amada is here, we know him. Or there may be other stuff he can do. Worth asking, anyway."

[pancakeboy]

It's an annoyingly good idea. "Phoenix has some off-the-wall abilities, too. We may well be able to put together a team more skilled than the typical Persona user."

He stares down at Falcon. The trickle of little pieces has almost slowed to a halt; the blue glow around him now touches only a few locations. Even his clothes are almost back in place. "Annoying," he adds, disturbingly softly, and regardless of Raven's presence, "since I'd really like to take Amada's head off myself."