tvk | 39: Not the actual Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny

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saori nakagawa

39: Not the actual Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny

[Video]

[The feed starts out in some street in the business district, but the tilted camera angle from below looks like phone was dropped and forgotten. Saori, with her back towards the camera is seen with someone only those who saw her memories might remember. He's a tall man with his dark green hair pulled back into a braid. Unaware they are being recorded, they're...talking.]

You sure took your time showing up here, Tenjou. Or show I say fake Tenjou?

Oh? You want to get this over with Saori? Fine I can arrange that--

[There's a loud crack as she decks the guy in the face. The copy staggers back but cracks a grin.]

You sure got a lot of damn nerve to show up here, mocking my husband.

Am I? How can you be sure I'm not the real deal?

Your name you should've been in the network, moron. I don't know how guys managed to pull this off, but you just got yourself a death sentence.

[ He laughs then suddenly goes serious. Suddenly he zips around behind her, pining an arm behind her back.]

Sorry sweetheart, but looks like this will be death number four for you now.

[The feed cuts out just as Saori headbutts him and breaks away before charging at him for another attack.]

[Action]

[Some time after the feed, Saori managed to get a cut lip and a few punches. Damn, who would've thought the benefits of being a god plus his innate soul power would've transferred over to him.]

I'm getting tired of this. You're a cakewalk compared to the mononoke back home. Must be because you're no longer a god here. You knew you wouldn't stand a chance and yet were stupid enough to try and face me alone.

[He drops his tonfa but they don't fall to the ground, instead they seem to fly at her, hitting her at high speed and sending her into a wall. There might have been a loud crack of bone breaking. The rubble falls on top of her just as she tries heal herself so the pain would be bearable. Tenjou goes over and pulls her out by her arm. One of the tonfa returns to his hand and he gets ready to land a blow to her head.]

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God? Hah, don't talk to me about gods. Once upon a time, that word might have been enough to convince me to back down. Maybe even offer a word of reverence, if you could prove you are indeed a divine entity. But I'm not the same fool I was then, standing in awe of a self-professed deity.

*He takes a step forward, Paschar spreading her wings in preparation to attack.*

As ironic as my Persona's specific form is, I can't deny that it's fitting as well. Your threats don't mean a thing unless you prove you're as powerful as you say you are. And even if the original was what you claim to be, you yourself are nothing but a watered down fake, a pale shadow of the man you resemble. Now, Paschar!

*His Persona takes off, launching a Zan-ei attack, even as Margulis himself raises his own blades, eyes on the Shadow and ready to cut it off whichever way it dodges.*

You done yet? I thought my ears were gonna fall off from your talk.

How ironic that you seem to be friends with my wife then. We both share the god title after all.

[Saori opened her mouth to protest but Margulis was already on the attack. Damnit why are all the men in her life stubborn like this?! She won't let herself get slowed down by her wounds. With sufficient healing, she's back in the game. She gets a head start and jumps over Tenjou.]

Don't you even think about using that ability!

[Before he can, she strikes the back of his knees so he stumbles, twisting his arm behind his back. The Zan-ei does connect now that he's pinned, shielding Saori from the attack.]

*His eyes go wide at that information, but he shakes his head.*

Maybe if I'd known of that before we met, it would have colored my perception of her. But seeing as she's given me no reason to doubt her and has shown herself to be capable and genuinely concerned with the fates of the people trapped here, I have more reason to approve of her than to be wary.

*This time, he's attacking even as he's speaking, directing Paschar to attack with another Zan-ei while Saori has the Shadow pinned. He approaches more carefully, eyes on his enemy in case he breaks free of her hold and both swords raised and ready to attack if she can keep him still long enough.*

[Tenjou hisses from the second Zan-ei attack but starts to laugh. Saori doesn't say a word to Margulis directly but there's a small smile on her lips even if he can't see it at the moment.]

Oh yeah, the mother hen side of her. Always so nit-picky and worrying about others than herself. It's always so annoying to deal with AAH!

[Saori forced her grip harder on Tenjou, leaving red marks on his arm. After all there was only so much she could tolerate this fake for using his voice as well. He spot one of his dropped tonfas on the ground, his eyes focusing on it. Before Saori realized it, the weapon, driven by the power of his velocity manipulation, shot out and stabbed into Saori's leg. The overwhelming pain forces her to let go of Tenjou who counters back with a Magaru spell to hit everyone.]

*He has to smirk at that sudden shout. There's something to be said for the ability to make someone regret doing something wrong. The attack does hit his mark, but he stands his ground and pushes through as soon as the wind eases, swinging both of his blades in rapid succession.*

[Saori on the other hand wasn't as lucky to recover from the Magaru spell. Margulis might feel more resistance but it wasn't from another spell, it was his vector manipulation ability at work. Oh but he wouldn't leave Saori ignored. He used his ability to send her slamming into a building and pinning her into the wall.]

Now what was that about me being a fake?

[Oh she's mad. Saori growls, pushing back against the force. She summons Brigid again. The large urn her Persona carried was brimming with fire. Multiple Agi spells are shot too fast before Tenjou could counter. When the smoke clears, he's gone. With his ability's effect nulled, Saori pries away from the wall. Her strength completely sapped, she falls.]

I thought he would never shut up.

Shut up already.

*Luckily for her, Margulis is fast for his size. He quickly sheaths his swords on his way back over to her, just barely managing to get a hand under her stomach before she hits the ground.*

Hmph, he really did push you to your limit, didn't he?

[She weakly reaches for Margulis. When did her vision get so blurry? Her own breathing is shaky. With how extensive her injuries were, she was in no condition to even walk at this point.]

I didn't think the imitation would have all of his abilities. He never had those wind spells ever. Normally we'd be in equal in power but even with a Persona, I barely stood a chance.

...Thank you, by the way.

I thought the copy of Uzuki had made it obvious that these Shadows possess the abilities of the original.

*He shifts his grip so that he can lift her in both arms, careful not to dislodge the tonfa while he doesn't have anything to stop the bleeding with.*

And you don't have to mention my help. I was already in your debt.

Okay, I did know that but I'm the only one who knew what his abilities. Wasn't expecting his vector manipulation soul power since that doesn't translate into a move used here.

[She hisses from the pain all over her body. ]

Not about that. The stuff from earlier...

*He doesn't have any healing spells ~~yet~~, so he can't do anything about that. But he does head off toward Elysium.*

About what?

[Ohh, Saori gets it now. He's that sort of guy.]

That stuff you told that fake regarding me as a god. Honestly, I never really meant to keep it a secret. People just never asked so it never came up. Besides, I'm Saori first. Being Inari is my career back home.

*Yeah, he's that sort of guy.*

Hmph, is that all? I was just telling the truth as I see it. And to be completely honest, I prefer that you don't flaunt your station.

*Depending on how much attention she paid during the World event, she might remember that the last time he knew someone who was blatantly 'holier than thou', it ended poorly for him.*

I'm not one to flaunt that stuff to begin with.

[There's a small laugh from her.]

Besides, I never saw the point to do that since all powers outside our Personae are negated. Here, I'm a human again and it's nice to be back this way.

That's what makes you one of the sensible people around here. I would have to be disappointed in you if you felt the need to rely on titles that have no meaning here.

[She winces as the pain starts up again and casts a Dia spell as they walked back. Geeze, last time she checked she wasn't that far from Elysium.]

While titles do have meanings, they're rendered useless if you don't back them up with effort.

*Pain makes trips feel longer. But luckily, they are getting close now.*

That's true of anything, and it's good to see other people who realize it. I've seen far too many people who think their station entitles them to respect they haven't earned.

[Good because Saori can't keep it up forever.]

Pfft, yeah I've seen too many of those in a life time. I have to say it feels really good to deck them in the face. Not that I would normally condone it but sometimes they were just asking for it.

*And there's the tea house. Margulis carefully sets her on the ground so he can open the door.*

It is tempting, but frequently not a viable option in my situation. I couldn't afford to lose their assistance.

*Either that or they were over a video link. Even in his time, you still can't punch someone over Skype.*

I definitely understand that feeling. That time was a once in a life time opportunity.

[She casts another dia spell on herself one last time. It's not a complete heal but at least she won't be bleeding out too much in the base.]

*He picks her back up once he has the door unlocked and open and starts heading for the back. This time he puts her in one of the chairs while he opens the door to the storeroom and brings the staircase down.*

Well then, I hope that once was all it took to make your point.

Oh yeah, believe me that creeper got canned and his new replacement is ten thousand times better.

[Exhaustion and pain are taking it's toll on her. She tries to shake off the urge to nod off while she waits for Margulis to pick her up again.]

*It doesn't take him long to get the stairs sorted and lift her back out of the chair to head upstairs.*

It's a shame the sources of my frustration were harder to either get rid of or replace.

[She leans against him as she's brought upstairs.]

First-aid kit is in the cabinet across the couch.

Sadly that's true back home too. Gods are stubborn and resistant to change. Tenjou and his father aren't like that thankfully.

*And he'll be laying her down on that couch while he goes to get the first aid kit.*

In my case, one was something of a freelance agent who decided that since I'd rescued him and we had similar goals, he was going to stick around even at some points where direct cooperation was unnecessary. The other had simply made himself invaluable by becoming the closest thing the universe had to an expert on a very important artifact to my organization.

[Saori watches as he gets the kit.]

There should be extra bandages right next to the kit. I think I might need them just in case.

They both sound interesting. Hey, did you ever tell me what was your relation to that Uzuki person the shadow tried to copy?

*He grabs the extra bandages, although there's a flicker of...something on his face when she mentions Uzuki. Something between pain and regret.*

Uzuki is a complicated story. He was my rival and most problematic enemy back in my own universe, but he was also one of the few people I would call a friend. Him, myself and Pelligri shared a teacher in the arts of combat and Ether manipulation in our youths and even after certain...differences in opinion caused our paths to split, we still encountered each other frequently, just on opposite sides of the battlefield.

[Even with slightly blurry vision, she knows a pained face when she sees one.]

A friendly rivalry, huh? Can't say I have one exactly like yours. Most of it my closest friends they're more like my family. It's funny. I thought when I died, the first time anyway, there was nothing left. Both this place and back home have been a blessing in disguise and proved me wrong.

*He comes back over, pulls off his bloody gloves and starts soaking a rag with disinfectant. Despite the clawed tips of the gloves, his nails are completely normal.*

I'm not entirely sure I would term it friendly by this point. There was too much at stake and neither of us was going to concede to the other's way of thinking. Maybe given time we could have settled our differences, if I'd still had the motivation or capability to continue to truly live after learning that the source of those differences was nothing more than a lie.

*He feels that comment should also cover his opinion of whether or not his revival is a blessing. But despite the fact that he's talking about his own death, he stays seemingly completely calm as he grabs the tonfa with one hand.*

Hold still, this is going to hurt.

I wasn't expecting it to be pain free. Just to warn you, I do scream a lot.

[She grabs a nearby couch pillow and clutches it tightly. The main shaft of the tonfa went through her right leg with the tip jutting out near her knee. She was happy that this was going on while it was still dark and not many people around or else some people might get the wrong idea. ]

I'll keep it in mind.

*He braces the back of the hand holding the disinfectant rag against her leg so that it doesn't jerk with the tonfa and then gives the weapon a sharp pull. As soon as it's out of her leg, he lets it fall to the ground to quickly wrap the cloth full of disinfecting liquid around the wound.*

[It took all if her strength not to kick him away as a reflex but the pain spiked up and she hid her face behind the cushion which helped to dampen her screaming. Oh yeah this also confirmed there was a bone broken too. Her eyes stung and we're tearing up. Oh and that disinfectant wasn't helping easing her pain but she knew better than to complain about it.]

*He ignores the scream, but the broken bone causes his frown to deepen. He ties off the disinfectant rag so that it'll stay in place and keep pressure on the wound while he gets another piece of cloth and folds it into a thick strip. Technically, it's designed for cleaning wounds, but it'll do for this.*

Here, bite down on this. I'm going to have to set your leg and we don't need you hurting yourself even more.

...You're going to...

[If she wasn't suffering from blood loss, the color from her face would drained. True she's not stranger to broken bones but it was never a fun experience to deal with. Also there wouldn't be any god benefits that could help accelerate the healing process. She quietly took the cloth and placed it between her teeth. When she was ready she gave him a nod.]

Just do your best to relax. It'll make it easier on both of us.

*She'll have some time to try to relax, since it takes him a little while to figure out how he needs to approach this. He has much more experience setting his own bones than setting other people's, after all. But after a little while, he figures it out. It's over in a matter of seconds, but considering the pain, it might feel like longer.*

[She gives him a look that says "Easier said than done." She wasn't morbidly curious enough to watch and turned her head away. Her body seized from the burst of pain before slumping back onto the couch and blacking out.]

*He's not surprised by that. And it's not necessarily a bad thing, either. It means she won't feel the pain from what he has to do next. He sets the leg carefully on the couch, then snaps a pair of legs off of one of the chairs in the room. That sorted, he removes the disinfectant rag and replaces it with a bandage, first one layer to cover the wound and then another to hold the chair legs as a makeshift splint. It's not perfect, but it should hold.*

[She'll forgive him for the furniture damage when she finds out. She's still out and frankly it's for the best. The pain was starting to be too unbearable in her current condition. If it wasn't for her Persona's healing abilities she might've died from the blood loss. At least now she's safe.]

*With that out of the way, he finally sits down himself in one of the intact chairs and pulls his gloves back on. Saori isn't all that heavy to him, but the exertion of fighting against the wind attack and the immobilization had made his body remember that it was still worn out from his own Shadow. Still, when Dark Hour ends, he picks her up and carries her back to the hotel. Better to do it now, while she can't feel the pain from being moved than after she wakes up.*

[With the Dark Hour gone, Sirius was asleep on one of the lobby couches, waiting for his master. His ears perked up in alarm when he smells blood. A lot of blood from what he can tell. When he saw his master being carried, he let out an alarmed whimper.

He stands up to circle around before leading them to the door to her room.]

*It's not that hard to figure out what the dog is trying to do, and, with a little manoeuvring, he manages to get her inside the room and into her bed. After that, he'll just head off to the kitchen to make some tea for the both of them.*

[While Margulis is away, Sirius makes himself comfy and lies down next to Saori as she sleeps. He whines softly but she doesn't respond just yet. A few minutes later a hand runs through his fur.]

Hey boy, sorry I made you worry like that. Back at the hotel, huh? I owe him big time.

*He comes in at the second half of that comment and hands her one of the cups of tea.*

You can make it up by staying put without issue.

[Saori sits up slightly to take the tea and cracks a smile.]

Right, I'll keep that in mind.

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