[Open Intro] a pirate's life for me

[captainkurusu]

I. In the Velvet Room

The sight of an Akira in a long black coat and a high-necked gray vest is no rarity around these parts, but the one currently studying the conspiracy board is different. He has gold earrings, for one thing, and his clothes have a different style: hand-sewn wool and linen, not the slick, modern leather of Metaverse garb. His casual, hands-in-pockets slouch as he studies the conspiracy board, however, should look familiar to almost anyone.

Well. Anyone who knows an Akiren, anyway.

At the sound of anyone approaching him, Captain Akira turns sharply, his right hand flying to the hilt of the cutlass hanging from his belt. Depending on who he sees, he’ll say one of the following things:

If the character approaching him is an Akiren, his eyes widen briefly in surprise. Then he puts his hands on his hips, studying his double with interest. “You look oddly familiar, somehow,” he quips. “I’m afraid I can’t place you, though.”

If the character approaching him is an Akechi, the choked syllable “Go–” escapes him before he can stop it. Then he cuts himself off, smiling in apology. “Excuse me. I mistook you for someone else.”

If the character approaching him is anyone else, he nods a polite greeting and points at the conspiracy board. “Did you write this?” he asks cheerfully. “ ‘For mine own part, it is Greek to me.’ ”

Whether the character he addresses recognizes the quote or not, Akira’s puzzled expression translates its meaning clearly: Hey. What the hell is this?

II. In Tokyo

Tokyo is the last place Akira ought to set foot in--so of course, it’s the first place he does. To his disappointment, the city beyond the door is all but unrecognizable, full of bright lights and strange buildings and marvels Akira can’t begin to puzzle out. Even so, a vague familiarity remains, an instinct leading him deeper and deeper into the urban sprawl.

Any character passing through Shibuya can find Akira just off of Center Street, standing outside the door to Untouchable with a bemused expression on his face. He runs a hand through his messy hair and sighs, turning to smile at whoever is watching him.

“This place has changed a great deal since I saw it last,” he jokes. “Then again, I was a bit preoccupied the last time I was here.”

Comments

[captainkurusu]

That does sound like something Katsuya might do. Most of Akira's attention, however, snags on the unfamiliar object in Ren's hand.

"Perhaps I'm here as counterbalance," he suggests. "Someone to keep them occupied elsewhere, so they won't bother everyone else. May I ask what you're holding? I can't recall ever seeing a device quite like it."

[willowandoak]

It's just a phone, Ren almost says, but then his brain catches up with his mouth. Kurusu's clothes, the Okumura-esque speech patterns, and the memory of the weird, horned Takamaki...

"You don't know what a phone is, do you," he says wearily.

[captainkurusu]

Akira shakes his head. "Sorry to disappoint you."

[willowandoak]

"I'm not disappointed, it's just hard to explain a smartphone to someone who doesn't even know about telephones or the internet." But he can do it. Maybe. Hopefully.

"A phone is, like... it's technology where you call someone else who has a phone, and you hold it to your face, like this." He demonstrates briefly. "And the person you called hears you talk out of their phone. And when they talk, you hear them out of your phone. That was kinda all phones did at first, but now they do a lot of other stuff too. Like, you can type messages and send them in an instant." He pauses for a second. "Uh. That means writing messages, kind of? Do you even have typing yet? Fuck. And you can look up answers to questions, play games or music or videos... videos are moving pictures, kind of. And all kinds of shit.

"Anyway, I'm bringing it up because you'll probably want one. We all talk to each other on a network that uses smartphones."

[captainkurusu]

"We have type," Akira says confidently, wondering how a printing press can fit into something that size. Regardless of the mechanics, though, the basic function is clear enough. "It's an advanced telegraph that transmits vocal or written messages instead of visual code. Do I have the gist?"

[willowandoak]

"...You don't have typing.

"And that's what a cell phone is, I guess? You're missing most of the smartphone stuff." He gives Kurusu's clothes another glance. "But maybe that's okay."

He sticks his phone back in his pocket. "Anyway, do you have Personas in your world? Pirate ship Persona fights?" That would be a cool idea, if not for Shido's whole thing. "Or are your powers something weird?"

[captainkurusu]

'A cool idea, if not for Shido's whole thing.' There's Akira's life in a nutshell, right there. Unaware of that point of commonality, he shakes his head.

"I've got a knack for swords, pistols, finding trouble, and surviving things I rightfully shouldn't," he quips wryly. "But if you were hoping for anything more supernatural, I didn't know such things were real until today."

[willowandoak]

Ren squints at him.

"Not anything? Really? Like, not even something where you're like, 'No, that's normal,' and everyone from every other world is like, 'You're insane, bro'? ...I guess you wouldn't know."

[captainkurusu]

Actually, I get that reaction a lot... "I guess I'll find out soon enough. But not to my knowledge, no." He tilts his head at Ren, curious. "Can you give an example?"

[willowandoak]

"Sure, I guess." He has his Evoker, and he's always down to destroy a building or two. He points with his chin at the Tokyo door. "Let's go through there. Those assholes won't like it if I summon my Persona in here."

He casts a baleful glance at Igor and his attendants. Igor looks like he always does, grinning his weird grin, but the attendants are noticeably more on edge with him in the room.

[captainkurusu]

The tension of the attendants should probably give Akira pause, but he's not one to let common sense stand in the way of seeing something cool. Intrigued, he heads to the Tokyo door and holds it open. "Lead the way."

[willowandoak]

With Goro in mind, both his normal self and the tiny toddler he is now, Ren focuses on Shinjuku side streets as they head through the door. They end up in a reasonably clean part of the ward, with a chaotic jumble of signs jutting out from buildings not more than a few stories tall. Looks good. He gestures for Kurusu to stay back.

"Don't freak out," he says. He slips his hand inside his overshirt and pulls out his Evoker from its place tucked into the back of his jeans. It looks for all the world like a shiny modern pistol; he wonders briefly if Kurusu will recognize it. Then he presses it against his temple and pulls the trigger. "Come, Caradoc!"

It's the worst instant of his life, except for all the other times he's used his Evoker, but that's good, in a way. He's learning to endure panic. Caradoc appears behind him in a rush of blue fire. Dark armor and black scales, ram's horns and piercing red eyes surrounded by delicate blue tattoos.

Ren calls on zmaj, the dragon, the skill no one else he's met has ever used. With a dark grin, Caradoc lifts one hand and points at a building nearby. A giant blue-white bear formed of almighty energy manifests, battering the storefront with its claws. Cognitions scream and start to run.

The bear shatters the front wall of the store before it vanishes. As soon as it's gone, a bull charges, head down and horns pointed; then a wolf, opening its jaws wide; then, finally, a dragon, swooping out of the sky and breathing fire. By the time the flashes of almighty power have faded and the rubble has settled, the front half of the building and those to either side are in ruins.

Hm.

Ren follows it up with a couple of riot guns. The back half of the building crumbles. That's better.

[captainkurusu]

Akira flinches slightly as the Evoker goes off, but he makes no effort to intervene. As Caradoc springs to life behind Ren, however, Akira's mask of composure shatters.

Fucking hell, what in God's name is that?

He watches the building demolition with stunned, open-mouthed awe, every nerve in his body screaming at him to run. As the last segment of the building collapses, he awkwardly clears his throat, trying--and miserably failing--to look calm.

"Well," he says, slightly choked. "I certainly can't do that."

[willowandoak]

Feeling a bit smug, Ren tucks his Evoker back into his jeans. As he turns to look at Kurusu, so does Caradoc. For a second, those red eyes consider him, neither friendly nor hostile; then the Persona disappears.

"That's a Persona," says Ren. "You don't always have to use the fucking Evoker, though. Are you okay, dude?"

[captainkurusu]

I'm fine, he wants to say, but the usual lie tastes like ash on his tongue. Ren expected him to have that power. He should have had it, he can tell. Yet for all the times a gun has been held to his head--metaphorical or otherwise--he has nothing to show for it but scars and rage.

Where the fuck was that when Shido first found me, or when I was dying by inches at eighteen? Where was that when they fucking hanged me? My God, what was the fucking point?

Ren's eyes are watching him. By sheer force of will and habit, Joker pastes his smile back into place.

"Perfectly fine," he says cheerfully. "The other versions of us all have that, you say? Truly remarkable."

[willowandoak]

So that's a no, then.

Ren would laugh at the idea that a Persona can protect someone from Shido, if he heard it. But he hasn't, so he just studies Kurusu for a second, head tilted. "No," he says finally. "Most of us, but Lotus has his weird fae shit. And a while ago I met one of us who was a prince? That was weird. I figured he must have something going on, but now I'm not so sure."

He pauses for a moment, choosing his words carefully. "I dunno what you're imagining, but it's not like that. You can't usually summon them wherever you want, for starters. In the real world, you're as vulnerable as anyone else. And being a Persona user tends to land you in way worse trouble than it could ever save you from. In some ways, it's kind of a curse."

[captainkurusu]

Akira bristles at the strange note of--apology? pity? sympathy?--in Ren's voice, but this time, he doesn't let his feelings show. It's not Ren's fault Akira feels bitter, and Akira knows it. If anything, Ren's comments just confirm Akira's sense that the boy has been through horrors of his own.

"A curse I wouldn't mind having, nonetheless. I land myself in enough trouble without one; I doubt I'd notice a bit more." He gives Ren a sidelong look, appraising. "But I'm speaking in ignorance, I know. I'm sorry to hear it's been a burden for you."

[willowandoak]

Yeah, that's for sure spoken like someone from a world without Personas. But Ren doesn't argue with him about it. "It's whatever. I don't wish I never got it, or anything." Maybe that makes him a bad person, since a whole lot of people would be alive and even more would have their lives still intact. But he already kind of knew that.

"If you want one, you can maybe get one from Izaya? He's actually a god or something, I don't know the details. But think about it first, maybe talk to people about it. Seriously."

[captainkurusu]

Now he sounds like Makoto. "If I didn't trust your judgment, I would have intervened when you fired your gun. You're the expert. I won't rush into a decision you were kind enough to warn me against."

It would just end badly, anyway. For me, there's always a catch.

"I would be curious to know more about them, though. Are they all the same? Can anyone in your world acquire one, or just the talented few?"

[willowandoak]

Around them, cognitions are starting to forget anything happened, returning to their pre-programmed routes, stepping over rubble without looking at it. Ren doesn't spare them a glance. He's seen it all before.

"Only a few people can have one. I thought I was the only one in the world for years." Stupid, in retrospect. "Everyone awakens to a unique Persona, but a couple people can collect others besides the one we awaken to. And I guess we can share those? Like, if Goro went out and got one from Mementos, I could get the same one, if I could get it to listen to me... I don't know, I'm kinda new to the wild card thing. Shit's weird."

[captainkurusu]

"Shit's weird" wouldn't be Capkira's phrasing, but he can't argue with the assessment. He studies the nearby cognitions, mulling everything over. "Mementos?"

[willowandoak]

"Oh. Yeah, it's, uh..." He thinks for a second. "It's one of the cognitive worlds. People can summon Personas there without a fucking." He gestures behind him, where he put his Evoker. "Death simulator.

"It's basically, like. A false god made it to control the masses and take over the world at the end of a weird, masturbatory game it was playing with... a couple people." Him and Goro. His expression darkens for a moment. "It looks like—I guess you don't know what a subway is. It's a mostly underground train system. Tunnels and shit. Trains are like long, high-tech carriages, kind of? Mementos looks like if a false god tried to copy the Tokyo subway system but he didn't get how the layout worked, and he also wanted to fill it with giant bones. I could take you to the entrance, if you wanna see it. The rest of it has Shadows, but the entrance is safe. Just kinda creepy if you're not used to it."

NSFW

[captainkurusu]

This description does nothing to help Akira picture Mementos. Rather than ask Ren--yet again--to elaborate, he masks his bemusement with a smirk.

"If I want to see it? Why, Drake, what a question. You can't tell me a tunnel was built for 'masturbatory games' and expect me to decline."

nsfw

[willowandoak]

Ren blinks. He thinks, Masturbatory as in, that puffed-up ratfucker jacks off every day to his power and how he's rigged his stupid fucking game he made up so he always wins. All by himself, and no one else gets anything out of it. That's how he ruined my goddamn life. And for a second, as he teeters on a knife's edge, something of that grim train of thought shows on his face.

Then, with an amused snort, he comes down on the other side. "Yep. That's Mementos. The masturbation tunnel." He heads back toward the Velvet Room door on the side of the road. "Through here."

NSFW

[captainkurusu]

It shows, but Akira pretends not to see it. He trots obligingly after Ren, doubling down on the joke. "You raise an interesting question, though: if multiple people are involved, is it still masturbation? Perhaps you've undersold it. It sounds more like an orgy tunnel to me."