ic inbox [ota]

[pancakeboy]

[Text him! Or do whatever, I'm not the police, and neither is he, thank God. Just specify if you want the more-fun-but-less-stable pre-11/20 guy or the grumpy third semester/postcanon guy. Pancake only for VRDR guys please, he's not third semester yet]

Comments

[pancakeboy]

[...and yeah, the laughter doesn't last long. Crow has too much going on in his head for that. Magpie considers him, head a bit tilted, birdlike as ever.]

It does seem a little odd. I wouldn't have thought you had more complaints than the last time we were in here.

[0dd thing to say.]

[fogbornphantom]

Perhaps it truly is a culmination of recent events.

[Sighing heavily, Crow shakes his head and readies his beam saber. At least that's unchanged.]

I suppose there's nothing to do but to press on.

[pancakeboy]

[He is eyeing that laser sword. His own sword, very different, is still tucked away.]

Where do you want to begin?

[That sharp edge of smile begins to creep back. Higher, deeper, faster, slower? Harder, even.]

[fogbornphantom]

I'll let you choose.

[Less brainpower that way. Perhaps Magpie would even prefer it that way with how stressed Crow's been.]

[pancakeboy]

[That smirk of his acquires about three new edges, all at once.]

Really, Crow. Next you'll be asking me to push you under the trains.

[... toward which he is heading, taking the first elevator down to the platform. Crow will remember the time he rode the trains with Raven.]

[fogbornphantom]

I'm not that masochistic.

[But a tired attempt at a smirk takes form as Crow follows along. Hoo boy. Time for some ridiculous stunts to navigate.]

It just occurred to me that we could have brought the motorcycles.

[pancakeboy]

[At the bottom of the escalator, he turns, staring up. Really?]

We can go back for them now if you want?

[Could be fun?]

[fogbornphantom]

We could, but that would require us to go back to Inaba in order to fetch mine. And since we're already here...

[Well, it'd be a shame to simply turn back, wouldn't it?]

[pancakeboy]

[True enough. He doesn't want to go back either.]

I am quite fond of my bike. It might tax my cognition to protect it from all of these rails.

[Second elevator get. He even moves like a crow, in a near-direct line to his target and fast as hell.]

[fogbornphantom]

[Crow follows along, keeping pace despite his frustration. He'd really prefer his more comfortable princely attire, but whatever. It's fine.]

Heh. I remember one time, my teammates and I had to ride our Personas through a dungeon.

[pancakeboy]

[Yeah, he comes to a halt, right in his tracks, picturing that.]

Which one?

[fogbornphantom]

Teddie's.

[Because, yes, even the bear had one.]

It spawned as a literal pit in the main area of the TV world, so we didn't want to take our chances and dive in carelessly, but further in the path also fractured, and so I summoned Phoenix and Yu summoned Gdon. We carried the others across the splintered path for as far as we could.

[It was quite the ordeal. An unstable, haunting place.]

[pancakeboy]

[It is haunting. And fascinating, the way the Metaverse still is, even with all the banality you'd expect from the human mind.]

Right. You and your unstoppable army of Personas. For a moment, you had me picture Robin Hood giving you a piggyback.

I'll add that to your tab.

[0f things owed and paid between them. But he's joking. He heads into the deserted uppermost tunnel at some speed.]

[fogbornphantom]

To be fair, he did carry a few of us down in the initial drop.

[Crow continues hustling alongside Magpie, determined not to fall behind.]

He also shot me on an arrow directly into Teddie's Shadow. That was fun.

[pancakeboy]

I ought to try that.

[Though in order to do so, he'd have to voluntarily use Robin Hood.]

I think I told you about the time I murdered your principal. I still think about his palace. It was like Wakaba Isshiki's, very different for you, as I recall.

[These tunnels really are dead as shit, aren't they? Not even a Pixie. Not even a cognitive mouse.]

[fogbornphantom]

Yes, it's interesting how our iterations of his Palace seemed to differ. Though, admittedly, the Palace we infiltrated was small. A fledgling, if anything.

[It at least made a good opportunity for Makoto to adjust to the Metaverse, but still...

Hmm.

Crow squints and scours the area. It truly is quiet.]

[pancakeboy]

[Magpie sees him looking around.]

They're hiding.

[Conveniently, the next corner they turn reveals the escalator down, the end goal of all this tedium.]

[fogbornphantom]

Perhaps our power is too intimidating. I do have Ryuji's perk, after all...

[Being able to simply run over weaklings is delightful, after all. It served them well the last time they brought in the motorbikes.]

[pancakeboy]

Really, Crow. Don't remind me of that idiot during our special time.

[Ryuji is, of course, on the long, long longlist of Magpie's least favourite people. He takes the escalator.]

Nosebleeds are so inconvenient in this suit.

[fogbornphantom]

Ha. I can think of a few things that would be inconvenient in this suit.

[Well, whatever the case, it's escalator time. Crow steps down and looks at all his excess belts. Honestly...]

[pancakeboy]

Oh, I'm sure you can think of more than a few, after your recent exertions.

[But here they are, the railway tracks, where the trains run down and down... to where?]

I hope you can still jump. Should be easier, now you aren't tied up in the other thing. [The prince suit.]

[fogbornphantom]

Oh, I've done many feats of athleticism in that outfit.

[Nonetheless, he gets into position. It is time to do some incredible, flashy stunts and hopefully get back into his preferred costume.]

[pancakeboy]

[Heh. You can't fool him, Crow. He knows that voice; he's been that voice.]

So have I, trust me. And I felt like I was about to rip something every time.

[Waiting for the trains to time themselves so that there's a gap, between the ones screaming through at top speed and the one that stops, he launches himself into danger and over the dividing wall as if he's done it hundreds of times. Which, well... he has.]

[fogbornphantom]

[Crow leaps gracefully after Magpie, more or less mirroring his maneuvers. Despite being considerably newer to Mementos, he's done enough gallivanting around Palaces to get the feel for it all, plus his sheer belief that he can certainly doesn't hurt.]

[pancakeboy]

[He vaults up onto the platform with the agility of a cat, perhaps illustrating why he finds the onesie more comfortable. It's remarkable to see Crow land behind him, in that same suit.]

See? It's all considerably more bendy. Symbolic of something, I'm sure. [And let's not talk about the belts.]