Training

[vessel_ken_amada]

[Backdated to an indeterminate number of days ago. Context here.]

After the apparition of the training room and the elaboration of the schedules, all those part of the team to take down the evil Ken Amada are surely spending a lot of time in it. If you are one of those members, the question is... what are you doing in there?

A. Solo training

There are plenty of reasons to train solo. Maybe you are building up stamina so that you can have your Persona summoned at all times. Maybe you are working on your defenses. Maybe you are trying to get one of your Personas to make you fly. One thing is for certain: there is a lot to do!

[Toplevels using this prompt are ideal to invite anyone to join your character, maybe even with their own subprompts so people can walk in on different kinds of training!]

B. Sparring

Combat readiness involves, well, actual combat. It is not surprising to see team members spar with each other to ensure they are in top form.

[You can have open toplevels to invite anyone to spar, or you can lock them to specific characters.]

C. Training with Ken

Everyone on the team has scheduled training sessions with Ken, to be able to see and learn how to face the deadly abilities he shares with his evil counterpart.

[These ones are necessarily closed threads. You can come solo or in small groups of characters, indicate this in the toplevel.]

Comments

[NETWORK] Training recap

[vessel_ken_amada]

[Locked to team members.]

=== SUMMARY OF WHAT YOU NEED TO PRACTICE BEFORE OUR FIRST TRAINING SESSIONS ==

1. Build up stamina, especially summoning stamina. You will need to have your Persona out at all times during both our training sessions and the actual battle.

2. Figure out a method of flight. You do not need to have found it for your first session, but have it early.

3. Build up your defenses as much as you can. We'll do some tests together to figure out if they meet the minimum level needed for you to be deployed in the fight, but don't stop at that minimum.

4. Prepare a list of your strengths and weaknesses as well as your intended combat role. If you are on offense duty, come with your strongest magical attacks. If you are on support, come with your intended support skills.

sometime after training with Drake

[vessel_ken_amada]

ABOUT HIS BARRIER

I mentioned it earlier, but he and I have an ability to erect a protective barrier that shields us from harm. We have done some testing on my own barrier (which can be a little different from his, do not assume it will be 100% identical for him).

Here are some initial results:
- At full power, it seems to stop all harm whatsoever. We still don't know how to deal with that and are working on it.
- If we manage to weaken it, it's still extremely dangerous:
-- First, we need enormous power to do an initial piercing. We'll probably need our strongest damage dealer to do the honors.
-- Then, it will adapt to elements that brought the user most harm. It cannot adapt to an unlimited number of elements however, so we should be good with an element rotation. But that means we cannot rely on almighty only.
--- For my own barrier, it will completely stop the element that most recently brought me harm, and severely weaken the precedent one, so a three element rotation is necessary.

What this means for team members on an offensive role: we need a variety of elements! We'd like coverage for every magical element except Light and Dark (for which no method to suppress elemental resistances exist, although if you have a special Light or Dark skill that pierces resistances then that'd be great).

This also means that Break skills or other means to suppress elemental resistances will be critical.

[vessel_ken_amada]

[DO NOT ANSWER. Reserved for future updates.]

[willowandoak]

1. The Amenities

Early in the lifespan of the training room, Ren attaches a corkboard to a wall near the door. In the center of it, he pins two pieces of paper with handwritten messages on them. The first one reads as follows:

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS

if i hear from our ally Amada that anyone's been missing too many training sessions, you're off the team unless you have a real good excuse. "I had a cold" won't cut it. "I had pneumonia" maybe or "i got turned into a fish"

on the other hand, don't spend too much time in here. take breaks. do not roll your eyes and ignore this, you fucking know who you are. i'm not concerned with your mental health or whatever, I'm concerned with team members not collapsing on their ass from exhaustion or stress the moment the other Amada presses us. this is too serious for any of us to fuck around and leave weak links in the chain because of the velvet Room mental breakdown of the month. if I think you're becoming a liability instead of an asset, i will kick you off the team just the same as if you're not training enough

Once we've all trained with our amada, the next stage is group training so i can see how people work together and we can make sure we don't get in each other's way. there are almost 20 of us, much more than most of us are used to fighting with

The second sheet reads:

SUPPORT TEAM
Frog (leader)
Briar
Crow
joker
Spades
wild

frog is your leader, he understands what I want from you and how to get you to mesh with offensive combatants. all of you should be able to do all of the following: healing injury, healing ailments, strengthening us (ESPECIALLY defense if you have to choose), weakening Amada

that said, I want the following specialists:
- someone with a group heal that removes ailments with the same skill
- someone with group ailment cure
- TWO people who focus on strengthening us
- one with a focus on weakening amada
- a generalist dedicated to keeping the support team standing, who can split attention to focus on the rest of you wherever you're stationed and heal/strengthen/cure ailments as needed

Decide between yourselves who's best suited for which role

There's a good amount of space left on the board, in case anyone wants to leave notes of their own instead of using the network.

Near the board is a box full of nonperishable snacks that restore health and energy, as well as a cooler of drinks that do the same. The organization of both leaves something to be desired, but they get refilled frequently. Someone has thoughtfully left a few camping chairs and a folding table next to them.

---

2. Leadership Sucks Actually

2a. Work, Work, Work

Ren is in here a decent amount, watching people train or doing training of his own with his new Personas. He also, of course, has to stop by a couple times a day to refill the snack station. You could easily run into him emptying a bag full of snacks into the box, or filling the cooler with fresh ice. Or maybe he's collapsed in one of the chairs, chewing on a pen and glaring down at a small notebook.

2b. Fight, Fight, Fight

It's also not unlikely that you could find him training by himself in his unnerving Black Mask outfit, obliterating the dummy Shadows with Caradoc's devastating attacks or figuring out how one of his new Personas works. He's always interested in a sparring partner, or maybe you just want to talk?

2c. Okay, but Actually, What the Fuck (closed to Ken)

He has training sessions with Amada, just like everyone else. One day, he shows up with his bag, wearing a small frown. "Hi," he says absentmindedly. "Gimme a sec, I need to refill the box."

He dumps some new snacks in the snack box and sweeps the accumulated trash into his bag.

2c

[vessel_ken_amada]

Ken looks... well, first, it probably takes a little time to get used to his new wings, each of them longer than his entire body. But besides that, Ken looks mentally tired. Less tired than he might have looked before the training was setup, as now Raven and Wagtail and Jay and all his friends make sure he takes breaks. But still.

He watches Drake arrive and greets him with a nod. While he's refilling the snack box, Ken says with a soft, quiet voice: "Thank you for everything you're doing."

[willowandoak]

He blinks. He hasn't heard that very often. "Someone has to," he says, but only after a fairly conspicuous moment of stillness. "Better me than Suou. ...Imagine that. Fuck."

He drops his newly trash-laden bag on the floor and turns to face Amada, giving him a critical once-over. The wings are whatever, he's used to them by now, but the fatigue...

"Long day?"

In other words, Are you taking a break soon?

SECRET DOOR NUMBER 3

[pancakeboy]

We have a situation. Meet me ASAP.

[Fuck you too, Drake. He assumes he doesn't need to (and shouldn't) specify "in the training room".]

[willowandoak]

k

ASAP is very soon indeed. He shows up after just a couple of minutes, his overshirt somewhat rumpled and his expression harried. He meets Magpie's eyes expectantly. He took the message seriously; this had better be good.

[vampirethief]

A. Arrival
Ren arrived with a list as requested before getting into training. The main thing that sets him apart from other Jokers is that he wears what looks more like a cloak than a coat (which certainly gives vampire vibes), and he has a white cravet around his neck.

The list is as follows:
Strengths: - Have Satanael, my strongest persona. No weaknesses, absorbs curse (dark), resists everything else except almighty. Has Maeigaon, Megidolaon, Black Viper, and Riot Gun.
- As a vampire, I can withstand a lot more hits than normal humans, and I can heal much quicker than humans (not instantaneous).
Weaknesses: - Garlic? Unless he has some kind of attack that uses sunlight that does more than give bad sunburns, I'm not sure that applies here. May need to break habit of sometimes shifting to bat form to dodge attacks.
Intended Combat Role: Offense

Hopefully that's exactly what Ken needs to know. He can answer questions if need be.

B. Solo Training
After that, he gets started. First by practicing having Satanael around for look periods of time as well as having his persona carry him by hand (he's not in full skyscraper building size, but Satanael is still quite big as a person).

He also tries to practice trying to get himself to fly under his own power and not just float or rely on bat form to do that. Unfortunately, that's proving to be a huge problem.

He tries to make himself fly but he doesn't move fast enough for it, and then ends up falling and crashing against the ground.

"Ow."

Yeah, this might take a while. Unless anyone has any pointers on it.

C. Sparring
Anyone wants to spar with him? He's cool with that, and maybe practice using his other personas, even if he plans to stick with Satanael for the fight.

D. Wildcard
Want something else? Just post a prompt here.

A

[vessel_ken_amada]

Ken visibly relaxes a little when reading the list.

"I'm seeing a lot of good things here. I don't think he'll exploit your weaknesses, and your vampire abilities are a big deal: one my headaches here is to deal with how fragile humans are... Plus you seem to have extra mobility which is great. My only question is: do you have things to boost your attack power like Concentrate?"

[vampirethief]

Well that's a good sign. Seems Ren understood the assignment. That said, it's true that his vampire nature actually helps here. Especially since unlike in a lot of media, he can't get killed by sunlight, just get a really bad sunburn, and he's immune to crosses and most likely holy water.

"Satanael does have Heat Riser."

He does have other personas, but again, he's mainly focusing on only using Satanael due to both how strong it is, and also because there's nothing except almighty that can do any real damage.

B

[wicked_plan]

Ren- Wild, that is, enters the training room just in time to watch the vampire fall on his ass, wincing at the impact. Funny thing, he came here to practice the exact same thing... clearly it won't be as easy as he expected.

"Yowch, that looked rough," he comments, leaning against the wall. "You good?"

His vampire self looks fine, but it doesn't hurt to check.

[vampirethief]

Thankfully this Ren is pretty tough, and he's had his share of falls before. He gives a thumbs up, then he gets back up. Dusting off his cloak a bit.

"I'm fine. I figured it would be good to see if I can fly without my personas or be in bat form."

Yes he has a bat form if he hadn't mentioned it before.

[wicked_plan]

As instructed, Ren arrives with a list of his Personas at the ready, all written down on a piece of paper. He likes to think he's pretty versatile, so he can fill almost any duty as needed, and yeah, usually he's the one calling the shots, but he'll defer to Drake and Frog, this time around. Doesn't mean he won't give his input, though, or that he isn't willing to hear what his fellow support duty teammates have to say.

[undyingcrow]

Arrival:

Karasu arrives, a tad disgruntled, with a serrated saber on hand as well as a gun. More to the point, however, he prepares a list of his current abilities, via his single Persona:

At the moment, I've only one Persona to work with: Hereward. He has a wide range of offensive capabilities and minor support, but lacks proper healing or charging abilities. His skill set includes:

- Riot Gun - Severe gun damage to all foes.
- Laevateinn - Colossal physical damage to a single foe.
- Megidolaon - I feel as though this one speaks for itself.
- Eigaon - As does this one.
- Rebellion Blade - Colossal almighty damage to a foe, dealing even greater damage if the foe is downed.
- Debilitate - I'm not certain how long it'll hold, but weakening him even temporarily should prove quite useful.

Additionally, Hereward grants me a resistance to status conditions and an automatic attack boost at the start of every fight. His trait may lower the cost of using support and almighty skills.

With the St. Hermelin ring, I needn't worry about his Bless weakness, either.

After pinning the message on the board, he makes his way out to train, unsure of where to begin.

Sparring:

Anyone interested in challenging Karasu will find an eager combatant. He's still rather sore over the duel, after all, and he needs to stay sharp.

Training with Ken:

When no one else is looking, he approaches Ken, his gaze sharp. "So. Show me exactly what I need to do."

He could be more polite about it, but his desire to excel burns like a whirling inferno. He needs to make progress.

[dweebtective]

When Katsuya arrives, he comes in rolling a portable table topped with... cakes. Very pretty cakes, adorned with various colored icings and toppings. Some bear lovely arrangements of fresh fruit. Others are topped in elaborate chocolate. There's even some small cookies and cupcakes thrown in, along with dishes to serve and eat with.

You may be asking why he'd bring these things to a training mission.

The answer is simple: It's good energy... and a peace offering.

A very sweet peace offering.

Surely this won't backfire.

hi hi this won't backfire at all mwehehe

[unit_8910_wolf]

Zenkichi had spent a good amount of time already training with Falcon, long before the others but it was now surreal to see the...preparations being made here. The arrangements and the food and the snacks...

And then the cakes.

"Well well well," Zenkichi approaches in all his galore. A dramatic hat that barely managed to not touch any of the cakes on display and one hand now casually flicking the revolver in a spin before letting it fall back into place in one of the side holsters. His mask conceals away just how his eyes take careful note of all the options up on display. "You have got a whole cake business here, Katsuya-san. And here I thought the one during new years was enough to make me fall over."

[dweebtective]

If Katsuya hadn't encountered Zenkichi during the New Years party, he would have been much more alarmed. As it stands, he remains calm, just the faintest sliver of a smile lining his lips.

"Before I joined the police, I wanted to be a patissier. Now that I'm here, and there's no reason to act as law enforcement, I've had more opportunities to pursue my passions."

He pauses, his smile wavering. "Not to mention, I'd like to extend an olive branch to the others here..."

[fogbornphantom]

Arrival:

Crow arrives with a note of his own, though rather than listing his own abilities, it contains other useful insights:

If we're going to make the most of our Personas, I highly advise gathering Skill Cards. These can be obtained within the TV world or Tartarus through Shuffle Time if you're a Wild Card, though I'm most familiar with the TV world.

The highest level skills can be obtained in the dungeons Magatsu Inaba, Yomotsu Hirasaka, and the Hollow Forest, though I cannot advise using the latter due to its built-in handicaps. In short, you cannot use any equipment beyond what the dungeon provides for you, and your SP will drain with every Shadow you fight.

Magatsu Inaba can be found by entering a hole in the wall through the twisted hotel room of Mayumi Yamano. Do be forewarned that the room has haunting imagery, including a noose.

As for Yomotsu Hirasaka, ask Sagiri-san, and he can probably lead you there, or ask for me, and I'll do what I can.

Form parties with a Wild Card if you are not a Wild Card yourself, and perhaps they can share the spoils.

Additionally, you can duplicate Skill Cards at the Inari Shrine in Iwatodai.

With his note pinned on the board, he looks aimlessly out at his surrounding. Hiro materializes at his side, planting a supportive hand on his shoulder.

"It's all right, Goro. We're all doing our best."

Training:

Anyone who wishes to spar can find Crow going about, alternating between sparring and taking breaks to refresh himself and snack on some of the offered sweets. Hiro is also happy to volunteer, since he's going to be spending most of the time in his more human-shaped form.

Sparring (TW: injections)

[unit_8910_wolf]

Zenkichi's fingers feel itchy.

Between shopping for Akane's clothes to making up for the glitches and error codes that threatened to make him disassemble into little blocks- one thing that never seemed to disturb the whirrings of his servers, the kitter-katter of microbots roaming within him or the creak of his own limbs was when he moved them with purpose. When he picked off his revolvers and gave them a twirl on his fingers, his body felt lighter then ever. When his hand pulled back and swung a Greatsword with the grace of a fighter half his age.

He looked ahead at the dummy shadows. Weird. They all seem to be too easy for him.

"Hmph," he releases a tired grunt as he rests his sword across his shoulder before releasing it as it hovers behind him- held up by the ether itself. "Might as well try controlling my rage."

He dives into his pocket, pulling out a syringe with its pointly needle being securely opened, dripping a greenish coloured liquid to avoid any possibility of air bubbles.

With a sigh, he lets one of the sleeves of his coat fall as half of the ends brush against the ground. His mind is clear since he had particularly asked Akane to show only for emergency reasons and beneath that lies a cybernetic arm disappearing away into the black vest. A port, grey with a wolf sigil at the top shows just below his elbow.

He starts preparing the dose.

[ooc: any other scenarios in mind? let me know]

[wipingallout]

Hamuko was meaning to go visit the other Ken... the one with the cracked face, the distorted eye.

...She got here when he was already in the midst of training with someone else. More than anything, though, she was just hesitant to talk to him at all, heart breaking for him even before she exchanged a single word.

That left her standing there for a while, naginata in hand and equipment belt on, staring and watching people train. Once she recognized someone she'd spoken quite a bit more to, she decided to go train with him - might as well.

"Hey!"

[unit_8910_wolf]

The syringe barely nicks the open port as Zenkichi brings it close, a low humming sound echoing in his brain as he heaves a deep breath before plunging the medicine in.

His gaze doesn't flicker. He barely even budges as the foreign port connected further into his altered and augmented anatomy thrums inside his arm. It feels warm almost, as he ends up curling his hands together and releases a sigh.

92haCai-8910 detected. Recalibrating systems and rewriting any future cognitive imbalances.

Countdown: 00:29:59

Someone calls to him. He turns, pocketing the syringe as the needle firmly breaks off and clatters to the ground. In a matter of few moments, it melts into the ground; his now restless body thrumming with the drug now permeating through his system as he rests a hand on one of his guns again. His sword follows his movement as he brings his other hand up and grips the greatsword in his hand- appearing at ease with a flicker of recognition on his face.

Ah.

“Arisato-san.”

His voice comes out in that familiar gruff tone, tinged with dry amusement. He tilts his head slightly, regarding her with a careful look.

“Didn’t take you for the type to jump into this so early.” He gestures vaguely at the training grounds. “All this business with the other Ken Amada must’ve really caught your attention, huh?”

Training(ish)

[wipingallout]

She's sure that being such a last-minute addition to the team is going to put strain on things. She has some work to do in some areas - actually learning how to keep her Persona out longer without relying on the evoker, especially... Messiah had good resistances overall, so hopefully that would lend well to keeping her in the fight for as long as possible.

More than anything, though... she needed to talk to Nox. To get to know him, to learn more about Fatalis, and to get the resolve to actually fight someone with a familiar face.

Once it seems like Nox is clear, Hamuko waves him over - and walks to meet him partway.

[vessel_ken_amada]

Said Nox notices her and approaches her. He has never had the occasion to meet her before, so now's the time.

After getting close, however, he suddenly stops, mouth slightly ajar.

"Oh," he says quietly.

[wipingallout]

Ah... it hits her about the same moment, and her smile grows a bit more tired than it already was. ...At least having met 'Fatalis', she already figured it would be coming.

"Hi. I'm Hamuko," she greeted softly, walking to meet him where he stood, "I'm a little late to everything going on, but I want to help too."