EVENT ★ SEASON FINALE

[futurologists]

ZYMANDIS CASTLE The castle -- no, the entire world, small as it is -- is too peaceful. It isn't the atmosphere one would associate with a villain's lair, even with it looking as sinister as it does. Crumbling chunks of earth float in the air, threatening to hit anyone who isn't paying attention to where they're going. It is quiet around them, like the castle is entirely without life. Cassie, Cherenkov, Crowley, Dagny, and Uruz stand beside Audentes, proud that their sister team has come so far. Each of them have offered words of encouragement, even the cats... in their own special way. Cassie is short and sweet: “Give 'em hell.” Cherenkov and Crowley have combined their efforts to create regeneration nanobots that whisper positive messages to one's psyche and gifted them to the entire team. Dagny says, “I couldn't be prouder of you!! You have done much good, and come so far, and your future is so very bright, and -- oh, may I please hug you?? I'm going to hug you now!” and sticks gold star stickers on the foreheads of various team members. Uruz says, “Pull through, Audentes! You've always been brave, headstrong, and united! This will be nothing for you lot, nothing at all. But be careful, if only for me. I want to see you all again after we're through.” The group pushes forward. The moment they do, a loud, brassy sound blares throughout the castle grounds. The world comes alive again. Enemies begin to scale down the castle walls, pop out of windows, and burst through the doors, which slam shut behind them. A dragon circles above, raining fire down upon its enemies. A small squad of goblins brandish swords. Some enemies look human but pale, frenzied, hungry; they're out of control. Others resemble Qorral bandits. The enemies call back to their past missions in some way. A way of letting them know Zymandis had been one step ahead every time. ALASTAIR was simply the cleaning crew, picking up the mess they left in their wake. Halfway through the battle, a small, pale creature with inhumanly large eyes manages to make his way through the crowd (mostly) unscathed, waving a white flag he seems to have fashioned himself out of his own clothes, judging by the large hole in his shirt. He looks too thin and too tired. He falls to his knees. “Please, o Holy Liberators!” he exclaims, kissing the ground near their feet slavishly. “It does not want to be here anymore. It wants to go home. It has information the Liberators must want. It will give it to them.” ALASTAIR strikes a deal with the creature, who reveals his true name to be Edgar, although Arbatel -- the Leader -- refers to all of his servants as nothing but 'it'. Edgar draws a childlike map to a mine entrance not far, and explains that the mine itself connects directly to Arbatel's laboratory. “It has-- I... have cleaned it many times. Master was captivated by the mines. Master had men in the mines day and night.” His voice drops to a whisper. “The Liberators need be careful. The mines claim many lives. Master does not care if they are dangerous.” With that, the group has a new plan. Some of the other teams stay back to distract the rest of the fighters, but Audentes and Kittypaw continue on. After all, Audentes is their little sibling team. Even though Audentes has been a full-fledged team for two years now -- time certainly flies! -- they've still got to look out for them. It's time to head to the mines. THE MINES The trek to the mines is a hard one. The group has to be careful to avoid lava geysers and giant, seemingly bottomless chasms, as well as panicked, violent animals. By the time they finally make it to the mines, there's a good chance their legs are aching, but there's no time to rest. Dagny has brought along a few potions she brewed herself that will help dull the ache, however. Inside the mines, no one has to worry about lava geysers. However, vision is obscured, and there's a feeling of gloom hanging over the area. After all, the mine did claim many lives. Some might even pass some bones, if they're unlucky. Arbatel isn't interested in sending corpse clean-up crews. The danger of the mines becomes apparent when Audentes and Kittypaw meet their first challenge. The twists and turns of the labyrinthine mines begin to break up the group. With the teams separated, Audentes will find themselves feeling... angry. Perhaps vengeful. As if there were spirits influencing them. They will begin to turn on whoever they're with, deciding now is the time to air their grievances. (This can affect all characters in a thread or just one.) Only once characters are aware they're being controlled will they be able to resist, and only once they are able to strongly resist will they be able to break the spirits' hold on them. But be careful: if you stick around too long afterwards, the spirit might try to take vengeance on you. Audentes and Kittypaw finally manage to meet back up when the paths converge once again, but their luck does not last for long. Cassie leads the group fearlessly ahead, but is forced to stop when a shadowy figure crawls in the darkness. And another one... and another one. The large beetles and spiders who live in the mine have come out of hiding, surrounding the team from all angles. Their bites are venomous, and they spit acid that burns to the touch. Their skin is hard, like metal, and nearly impossible to pierce. It's no wonder so many miners lost their lives down here with these monsters preying on them. The numbers are too overwhelming and the creatures too strong. The group has no choice. They have to run if they want any chance to get to Arbatel and the TIMELINE.exe. The creatures follow in fast pursuit, hungry for their next meal now that Arbatel is no longer sending miners to their dooms. The more they run, the more apparent it becomes that escape is futile. It seems there is only one option left: become these monsters' food. At least, that's how it seems; the group stops, barely fighting off their attackers, and Cassie says, “Go, now!” She reaches into her pocket and shouts, “Hey! Over here!” as she runs in the opposite direction, diverting the creatures' attention long enough for the team to get a head start. She takes her hand out of her pocket and raises it, holding an explosive. “Eat rainbows and die!” Flamboyant as ever, her explosion causes a beautiful, swirling rainbow effect, knocking Audentes over. When they regain their bearings, the area where Cassie and the monsters stood is caved in. Cherenkov, Crowley, Dagny, and Uruz are quiet for the rest of the walk. The group finally comes across an area of the mine that is significantly more sculpted than the rest, hollowed out around a large, glowing crystal. Around the crystal is a catwalk, with a ladder leading up to it. On the catwalk are tables containing various arcane items, blueprints for inventions, computer parts, and other strange materials. This is certainly Arbatel's lab. Now it's time to find the man himself. FINDING ARBATEL The castle is falling apart on the inside, too, despite the servants he has put to work. Some of them resemble Edgar, but others seem to belong to other species; some are even human. All of them are pale, malnourished, and cower in Audentes's presence. None of them appear to have any sinister motive or put up any sort of fight, although they're all too afraid to speak as well. The castle is full of oddities: a bookshelf full of books in languages no one has ever heard of, paintings with colors no one has seen before. It's worth it to inspect everything. In fact, one inspection in particular is particularly lucky -- one removal of a book from a bookshelf causes a wall to slide back, revealing a set of stairs that ascend upwards. Hey, all secret lairs need a secret door. Start up the stairs, and a woman in gold and white armor appears at the top. She waves her hand and the wall quickly slides back into place, blocking the staircase again. Except, unfortunately, for the two who happened to be in front: Jon and Loki are now trapped on the other side of the wall with the mysterious woman. No matter how many books are removed, shuffled, or shoved back into the shelves, the wall won't open again. The team will have to find another way to get through. Meanwhile, Jon and Loki are left alone to confront the woman, who introduces herself as Hagith. She is Theodor Arbatel's younger daughter and, unlike her long-dead sister Ophiel, completely loyal to Zymandis. Enhanced with cybernetic bones and organs, she is gifted in magic and is a dangerous foe even for Jon. While they're engaged in battle, an older man appears from a door just beyond the landing. Loki, sure this is the man they've been looking for all this time, wields his sword of truth at the ready... As for the rest of the team, poking through the rest of the castle will eventually find a small passage behind a painting -- it's six feet up and roughly the size of a ventilation shaft, so the only way to get up there is teamwork, and the only way to get through is by crawling, one by one, through the pitch black labyrinth. The passageway conveniently ends right on the other side of the wall, where -- luckily for the claustrophobic on the team -- there is a lever that will make the wall slide back again, revealing the hidden stairs. It's just in time, too: a wounded Jon stands over the dead knight, her windpipe crushed, watching as Loki needles a distinguished-looking man with Gram, the sword of truth. It's a disquieting scene, but it's necessary: the man is Arbatel, the Leader of Zymandis, and he owes ALASTAIR some answers. “This blade is doused in Dragon’s Blood,” Loki says as he turns the sword in Arbatel’s wound; “it forces someone to tell the truth. It always hurts.” Arbatel gazes at his daughter’s body as he answers all questions posed to him, both from Loki and from those shouted from the expedition: His true name is Theodor Arbatel, and that has always been the truth. He comes from a world that he has long since forgotten, his lifetime lengthened to thousands of years by personal experimentation with a sort of proto-magitek. The longer he lived, the more chaos he saw in Zymandis’s attempts at solving the Cataclysm; it would be better, in his eyes, if the entire multiverse were purged and purified, allowed to start anew, instead of simply bandaging an already sick and chaotic thing. And when he updated the TIMELINE.exe machine, its new calculations only proved what he thought: the universe would start again if ushered to a total collapse. As the rest of Zymandis followed his machine’s update, he rose through its ranks to become the Leader; those who didn’t believe in the truth were executed or run out of Zymandis until a faction that would become ALASTAIR stole an earlier version of his creation and fled. Including, he notes with distaste, his daughter Ophiel. His quest to end this tainted universe and usher in a new, better universe had millions -- possibly even billions -- of casualties, he estimates. He recalls all the miners he remorselessly sent to their deaths in the pursuit of the temporal crystal in his laboratory. Arbatel has studied such crystals for centuries; there are many types, he explains, but only one of this particular kind. It is the only one capable of undoing all of Zymandis's work. His life's work. He would send ten times as many miners to die if it meant protecting that crystal. He would have killed his own daughters. As Arbatel’s confession continues, he becomes more and more affected by the blade of Gram, as to suffer this blade is to suffer the truths one has denied. The way he has twisted his own nihilism into being the only truth, refusing to look for other alternatives, ignoring the pleas of his elder daughter. As Loki told him, the truth hurts. And in this case, the truth has killed Theodor Arbatel. He falls to the ground, lifeless. With this bloody business done, there's a few minutes to rest and patch any lingering wounds. The rest of the expedition begins to filter in at this point, missing a few of their number and looking a little rough around the edges. From the ex-Zymandis agents' wristwatches, the Ophiel AI speaks: the TIMELINE.exe is in the next room. TEMPORAL STORM Behind the door, now unguarded, is the Mechanical Room -- a gigantic warehouse stuffed with cables and gigantic computers and hundreds of CRT monitors. The room is warm and there's a constant whirring of machinery, ever present but quiet enough that it can fade into the background like white noise. Upon entering the room, recruits will be greeted by the monitors all flashing threatening messages in unison: GET OUT and INTRUDERS and ALERT, among others. Outside the door, Arbatel and Hagith's jewelcomms beep frantically: the TIMELINE.exe is asking for assistance that will never come. Thankfully, the corrupted TIMELINE.exe machine has no actually effective means of defense, so ALASTAIR is free to do what must be done: upload TIM's new update, the ver. 1.0.03 file. Installing the update is a simple task, but will require every ALASTAIR recruit's participation: extend one's jewelcomm toward the TIMELINE.exe, and the magitek will do the rest. The interfacing is ephemeral and beautiful, strands of visible code streaming through the air like beams of sunlight. It only takes a moment, and once it's done, the TIMELINE.exe's screen go dark. And then, a second later: Hello World ( ´ ▽ ` )ﾉ It's a success: Zymandis's machine has been overwritten by TIM. Without a leader or their destruction-focused TIMELINE.exe, Zymandis is dead. But before there can be much excitement, TIM uses his new monitors to explain that there is still the matter of the impending destruction of this world and its universe, owing to the temporal crystal deep in the mine under the castle. The temporal crystal must be destroyed. The energy it saps simply to sustain its own existence keeps the universe fractured; when all of the research conducted by both ALASTAIR and Zymandis scientists is combined, TIM is able to hypothesize that shattering the crystal and releasing the energy into the universe will cause a surge large enough to charge a merging. After the Cataclysm, each universe continued to split into thousands of fractured universes, all nearly identical save for small differences. The energy meant to sustain one universe was now split across thousands, ebbing and flowing and never quite enough. The merging, however, would combine each of those identical universes into one... allowing them to run on full energy. In short: destroying the crystal should merge the fractured universes, allowing them to sustain themselves without ALASTAIR intervention. The solution is simple, but will require a lot of elbow grease: using materials found throughout Arbatel’s lab, create a positronic bomb and detonate the temporal crystal. The resulting explosion, as Arbatel said, will be the opposite of destruction. Once the bomb is all set, it’s probably a smart thing to head topside before its detonation. Don’t worry about leaving TIM behind -- his consciousness in this machine is linked with the machine in Oska, so he won’t be harmed. The same is not exactly true for the rest of the expedition. When the bomb goes off, there’s a blinding blue flash and a deafening silence. The world -- the universe -- no, the fabric of reality shakes and trembles; the sky swirls; the ground churns. It only lasts a handful of seconds, but the turmoil seems like an endless epoch. And then everything clears; the ravaged, once-crumbling world is still and silent. Though the platforms of earth still sail peacefully through the air, there is no more lava and no more shaking. The destruction of this universe has been halted. More than that, though, the instability of the multiverse has been halted. Instead of a sprawling, infinite multiverse filled with infinite timelines, the minutely different universes have been merged. This may result in some nausea or confusion as the expedition’s own minutely alternate realities meld with their own, though there won’t be any identity crises or conflicting memories. You’re still you. But more importantly, this means the multiversal energy crisis is over. ALASTAIR can use its rift machines without needing to conserve precious energy. You can go home, if you’d like... but you might want to head to Oska first. LATER... After what might have been the longest day of their lives, the group returns to Oska for a well-deserved celebration... after any injuries are tended to. They are, of course, commended by the rest of ALASTAIR for their bravery and dedication. There's a feast, but considering how tired everyone is, there's no wild party. Just quiet contentment. An older ALASTAIR member, a man with dark hair and a prim demeanor, stands up to give a speech. “For thousands of years, we have endeavored to right the wrong caused by the Cataclysm. Tonight, we have finally achieved that goal. ALASTAIR's purpose was solely to maintain order as best we could, even in the face of impossible odds. Now, that is no longer necessary. This is a beginning of a new and better multiverse... but it is an ending, too. I suppose it is time to disband ALASTAIR, once and for all.” The crowd murmurs. It's all a blur of words, but the general gist can be picked up. Should they really disband ALASTAIR? Could they? There isn't anything left for them to do, after all. We could all go home to our families. “This is not a loss. This is a win. I vote that today be ALASTAIR's last official day of operation. Those who agree with me, raise your hands.” A large majority of the crowd raises their hands. “The matter is settled, then. Tonight, we celebrate. Tomorrow... tomorrow, we go home.” He sits and resumes speaking to those sitting beside him, and it seems the discussion is over... until a red-headed girl barges in through the double doors, eyes wild. To say she looks frazzled is to put it kindly. “You guys have to hear this. The merging? It worked. No more energy being drained. But the universes, they're... having trouble adjusting, I guess. Look.” She projects her magitek onto the wall, showing clips of protests, fires, war. In one world, two queens vie for the same crown. In another, dinosaurs seem to roam the earth again. “We've gotta do something, right?” The room quiets. For a moment, it seems no one is going to answer her. Finally, a woman answers. “We've done all we can. It's time to stop interfering with other worlds. I'm returning home.” Others grumble in agreement. A select few disagree. The girl scowls. “Oh, please.” She gestures to Audentes. “You just saved the freakin' multiverse. And it's all gonna turn to crap if we don't fix it. So...” She smiles sheepishly. “What do you say? Partners?” OOC NOTES And that wraps it up for Season 1 of Futurology! The action portion of the log will last roughly five IC hours. If you have any questions about this log, please direct them to the dossier. We know it's a long one, so don't be shy! For those of you who will be staying with us on to Season 2, will be releasing a calendar on what to expect for the next two months sometime in late November. For those of you who are heading off at the conclusion of Season 1 or those who have dropped already, thank you for participating in our game! Futurology is what it is because of every single one of you. NOTE: HMD and AC will be posted on schedule (18 November and 1 December, respectively), so don't forget! Participation is mandatory if you would like to remain in the game.

Comments

[foolishjustice]

[If he were to be honest, he'd say that he feels more comfortable behind the mask, finds it easier to be himself. But when is he ever honest? At the very least, in this moment, it makes him feel as if he has the upper hand over Akira.

If he's paying attention, the look of seething resentment in Akechi's eyes should be very familiar to the younger Persona user.]

Why are you acting so surprised? Don't bother pretending you actually thought we could go back to working together peacefully, like you pretended we were while we were in Sae-san's Palace. You're an impressive liar, but did you really think I'd believe you wanted to give me a second chance after you've already tricked me into thinking you cared in the least once?

[purrtagonist]

[there's a long stretch of silence in which Akira does nothing but stare at his fellow Persona user. his gaze is steady, but he purposefully keeps his expression even. the tension he had allowed to seep away while in Akechi's presence is back. but while this is awfully reminiscent of what had happened in the hull of Shido's ship, and thus a bit uncomfortably familiar]

[it doesn't make sense. it's too sudden. too out of place]

[he doesn't answer those allegations directly, preferring to focus on the why of things instead. it's easier. far easier than falling into this argument that reminds him exactly of how much he failed]

. . . did something happen? [he asks carefully, slowly] This is coming out of nowhere.

[foolishjustice]

It only seems out of nowhere because I've been keeping it to myself until now. I didn't feel like addressing this particular grievance in that man's Palace, but I guess I just don't have much patience for playing your games anymore.

[He shrugs, with a smirk that's more of a grimace.]

What's the old saying? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. I won't let you toy with me again. I bet you thought it was funny too, didn't you? How easily I believed that you would warm up to me once we were supposedly on the same side. Offering me a farce of a friendship, when we both knew it was too late for that.

[He gives a dark, humorless chuckle, one that's not at all stable.]

I must have looked so stupid to you, huh? After all the time I spent talking to you, trying to figure you out, how to approach you...only for you to brush off my every effort with that sarcastic wit of yours...feeling the bond we shared deepen while you still stayed as indifferent as ever...you finally act like there's a chance of us being friends, and I fall for it. I think you might actually give a shit about me, I even give you hints about why I was using the Metaverse to kill people, in the hopes that you could help me find...a fucking way out. But it was just a goddamn lie the entire time, wasn't it?!

[purrtagonist]

[holy--

[if anything Akechi says stuns Akira into silence? it's those last few sentences. the lack of trust Akechi had for the olive branch Akira had offered made sense, considering how new this truce, how new the idea of them working together without any secrets to hold them back, was. it likely wasn't easy for either of them to just pretend like the attempted murder hadn't happened. . . and Akira himself knew it was difficult to forgive and forget what had happened to Futaba's mother and Haru's father]

[but the rest? the talk of hints, the way Akechi makes it sound like he had wanted the thieves to catch onto him so they could pull him to freedom before the unthinkable happened? that's. . . that's new]

[. . .]

[he feels the telltale familiar sensation of guilt turning over his stomach, and his hands clench into fists at his sides. when he speaks? it's calmly, a purposeful juxtaposition to Akechi's anger]

. . . what hints?

[there's so much more he can address, but. he's starting there first]

[foolishjustice]

Don't give me that bullshit!

[He points accusingly at Akira, lips pulled back in a snarl that shows his sharp canines...the one physical trait of his that resembles his father.]

I was the one who brought up the idea that the culprit was being controlled by someone else, wasn't I? You must have already known at that point, right? Think about it, why would I tell you there was another person involved, if all I needed was for you to think I was serious about finding out the truth? You're too smart to not wonder why I'd say that, when I could have led you to believe the culprit and the mastermind were the same person and drawn suspicion away from Shido. Why the hell would I go out of my way to bring that up, if I wasn't trying to tell you I was fucking trapped!

[purrtagonist]

-- how the hell were we supposed to know that was a hint?!

[oops. that calmness snaps as Akira lifts his head, a sudden spark igniting in his eyes]

Think about the position we were in, Akechi! Knowing for months that you could understand Morgana, but not knowing why, despite trying my best to weasel it out of you! And then realizing you were lying to us from the moment you revealed you knew we were the Phantom Thieves. And then soon after finding out that you were going to kill me-- that you were responsible for Wakaba Isshiki and Kunikazu Okumura's deaths.

[he rakes a hand through his hair, a frustrated noise rumbling in the back of his throat]

We were on the defensive from day one! And we didn't-- at the time were were just so focused on keeping me alive, keeping the rest of the team safe, that we weren't. . .

[god. fuck. that was his fault, wasn't it? for being so blind. he doesn't finish that thought, instead lapsing into silence as he rubs his fingers against his temple. what a fucking mess]

1/2

[foolishjustice]

[His entire body tenses at those names, stomach lurching as the guilt washes over him as if it were fresh. Ordinarily, he'd probably be doubled over from the accompanying nausea from being reminded of two of his victims at once...but angry and hurt as he is, he only looks momentarily ill.]

That you weren't thinking about why I might have been doing any of that. That's just it. You didn't give a shit. To you, I was just another obstacle to deal with! Just another goddamn piece of criminal filth to clean up, except...hah. I can't have a Palace, can I? So all you could do was trick me, play me for a fool and hope I wouldn't catch on. I bet none of you even considered the idea that I hated what I was doing, did you? That I might be anything more than some shitty kid trailing in the footsteps of a shitty adult, killing anyone who was inconvenient and never looking back!

[He covers half of his face with one hand and laughs, though it sounds more as if he's trying not to cry.]

You never had a clue...I should kill you just for being so fucking oblivious.

[foolishjustice]

[As soon as the words leave his mouth, he realizes something is wrong. Kill...? No, he just got finished saying how much he hated killing people! His laughter dies in his throat, almost choking him.]

No...that's...that's not what I meant...

1/2

[purrtagonist]

[. . . . . . . .]

[purrtagonist]

[despite that yelling? despite that not-so-subtle threat? Akira steps forward, one hand outstretched, tentatively reaching for Akechi's shoulder]

Hey. . . take it easy.

[he has no idea what the heck is going on here. why the former detective chose now to air these grievances, and why he had to separate him from the rest of Audentes to do so]

It's like I said earlier. Something's wrong.

[maybe. . . maybe what Akechi was saying was true. but none of this is natural]

[foolishjustice]

[Almost reflexively, he swats the outstretched hand away. But now that he's paying attention to his own state of mind, he can tell...this feels remarkably similar to when a Shadow uses its magic to enhance his anger until it overwhelms him.]

Get your hands off of me!

[His teeth grit in frustration with himself, and he pushes up his mask to rub at his eyes in an attempt to focus.]

There's something affecting my emotions. I've only ever been this pi-this angry under the influence of a Shadow's magic.

[purrtagonist]

[jerks his hand back, gaze narrowing as he lets his arm fall to his side. he can feel his fingers practically digging into his palm]

Look, I-- [another pause as he chooses his words carefully, as he tries to figure out the best way to approach this. . . this mess. everything with Akechi was complicated as hell, and this was no different. he needed to try and help calm him down so they could focus]

[he was a killer. he made Futaba and Haru miserable, completely devastated them by taking the lives of their parents and shattering their worlds. Akira still struggled to forgive him for that, even though part of him wasn't even sure he was the proper person to do so in the first place. but. . .]

[did he really miss Akechi's cries for help? was he really that oblivious? was Shido's hold over the detective that powerful. . .?]

I'm not sorry for tricking you during Niijima-san's Palace. I did what I had to do to stay alive and protect my team.

[and that he doesn't regret]

[. . .]

[a bit more quietly]

. . . but I am sorry. For failing you otherwise.

[ah]

[foolishjustice]

[Anger wells up again at the apology, his emotions screaming at him not to believe it, to strangle him for even thinking he could get away with acting like he cares after that ruse. But the violent impulse only strengthens his resolve, magnifies his disgust at the idea of letting some outside force control his emotions. Control him. He's a rebel at heart, after all, and that stubborn refusal to be robbed of choice again serves him well in fighting off the spirit's influence.

With that final push back, he feels his rage evaporating, his anger dying down to what it should be with those thoughts at the front of his mind. He's not calm, by any stretch of the imagination...but his temper is back within the boundaries he's used to. The boundaries he can handle. His breathing slows, and he fixes Akira with an unreadable stare, as though he's hidden all of his emotions behind a brick wall.]

...Just leave me alone. Whatever that was, I've managed to fight it off for now, but I'm not planning to stick around and find out if whatever caused it is still lurking around somewhere.

[With that, he turns to head back out of the side tunnel, intent on leaving Akira behind and trying to catch up with the rest of the group.]

[purrtagonist]

[hell]

Akechi!

[whatever that was? it was something that had obviously brought out feelings the detective would have rather kept hidden. but they're feelings that Akira can't just ignore, can't let hang over their heads unaddressed like this. and although he isn't sure now is the proper time. . .]

[he darts forward, trying to slide in front of his fellow Persona user before he gets too far ahead. things might be complicated, but he knows one thing]

[he's failed Akechi before. he doesn't want to fail him again. and that's why he stands there, blocking the detective's escape, brows furrowed]

You know I don't hate you, right?

. . . I never have.

[he has more to say, but that's what's getting out there first]

[foolishjustice]

[He shoots Akira a glare, though it at least doesn't look as unstable as his earlier expressions. Before he can think better of it, he spits out the first retort that comes to mind.]

Is toying with someone's hopes just how you show affection, then?

[He regrets saying it as soon as the words leave his mouth. He's not nearly calm enough for this conversation. Sorry Akira, he's trying to push past you.]

Don't bother answering that. Just get out of my way, unless you want us to be left behind.

[purrtagonist]

[Akira's answer is immediate, delivered quickly, but not snapped. not harsh. just blunt and honest]

It's hard to toy with someone's hopes when you don't even know what they are, Akechi.

[and it's true. if Akechi had thought Akira and the thieves had purposefully strung the detective along just to stomp on his hopes in the end. . . well. that hadn't been their intention at all. they did what they had to do to survive, to smoke out the person responsible for killing Futaba's mother and Haru's father, and the puppet master behind him controlling the strings]

[. . .]

[but not a day goes by that Akira doesn't regret that they didn't realize the depths of Shido's manipulation over Akechi until it was far, far too late]

[he exhales, letting Akechi push past him, but forcing him to bump into his shoulder as he does so. he wants to continue, but the prospect of being left behind by the rest of Audentes is what gets him to stop. with a frustrated sigh, he spins on his heel, and falls into step behind his fellow Persona user]

You do realize you can't just expect me to leave well enough alone after all of that, right?