It took three entire elevator trips to get everybody from both teams down to the Kirijo towers armory. Now the majority of the group was awestruck as they looked over the sterile white walls of the area, and the various weapons around. Hell most of those things looked like they were taken from a sci-fi movie. Those who were still looking around were snapped out of their trance when the mysterious dark-haired woman spoke up "Kasumi Sakagi". Yukiko raised an eyebrow "Uh, excuse me?".
"That's my name, I assumed some of you were curious. I effectively run the armory". Minato crossed his arms, and looked the ageing woman over. She looked about 40, though perhaps the scarring on her face made her look older, stood around 5' 10" and was athletically built from what Minato could see under that business suit. "You sure this is a Kirijo group employee we can trust, Mitsuru?". This earned a small chuckle from Kasumi "I assume you worry because of what Ikutski did. The man was a pompous ass, even before we found out what a complete lunatic he was. Me and him were always at each others throats...Don't worry, I'm nothing like him".
From what Mitsuru had told the Investigation Team, all they knew about Ikutski was that he was somebody who had posed as their ally only to betray and attempt to kill them. Adachi had done a similar thing. That wasn't what Chie was thinking about as she leaned over and whispered to Nanako "You know what's weird?". Nanako looked over, curiosity written across her face "Uh...What?". "Their leader and Yosuke...Don't their voices sound kind of alike?". Nanako merely shrugged in response "Yeah, I guess so...".
Kasumi led the group deep into the armory, and beckoned Yukari over "Takeba-san, your weapons were the easiest to gather, we had the prototypes laying about for years...". Yukari expertly caught the compound bow Kasumi tossed her, and spent a few moments carefully looking it over. It was a damn fine piece of equipment, though Yukari had her concerns "You know, it's been years since I've even handled a bow. I didn't make a career out of archery...". Kasumi gave a sly smile, and tossed Yukari a quiver full of various arrows, some of which Yukari had never seen before in her life "Even if your aim's gone to shit, these arrows should remedy the situation. You got standard sharp and blunt tip arrows for boring normal targets, but you've also got special arrows to deal with more 'problematic' targets...".
Kasumi pulled one arrow from the quiver, which was not topped with a typical sharp arrowhead. Rather the tip was a strange black capsule, marked by a faintly glowing red light "These, are napalm a target that's weak to fire, and bam! They won't be getting back up. Likewise blue coloured arrows release liquid nitrogen, for enemies weak to ice and tazer arrows for those weak to electricity. As wind is your specialty, the lab boys felt no reason to design any arrows for wind-weak enemies". Yukari gave a low whistle as she looked her arsenal over "Wow...If I had something like this back in our SEES days, life would've been so much easier".
Kasumi nodded and gave off a satisfied smile, continuing the tour. "Lead the way, Q" Souji said with a smile, earning some confused looks from his companions. Souji Seta, famous author, childhood prodigy, badass godslayer and colossal nerd. Kasumi lead them toward a small room, the only thing to be seen was a thick metal plate that looked like it had been taken right off a tank. She beckoned Kanji over "Tatsumi-san, your weapons were pretty easy to design too..." Kanji stepped forward, easily lifting the massive plate up and placing his arms into the straps. Any lesser man would have struggled with the weight, but Kanji was inhuman. Kasumi started describing Kanji's new shield as he was busy looking it over "It's a custom-built shield made from titanium and a special polymer, able to absorb and deflect a great deal of damage. In laymans terms, it's a big fucking metal plate that'll stop any attack dead in its tracks...".
In the next room Kasumi lead the group into, there were a pair of two-handed katana's perched up on the wall "Seta-san, Iori-san, as you two both use the same type of weapons we designed two of the same blade for you. For the most part it's just a normal, if abnormally durable, blade. However, they have this neat little trick going for them" she waltzed overto a nearby practice dummy, a flicked a switch on the blade abnormally bulky handle. The edge of the blade suddenly flared a glowing bright red, and in one swift motion she sliced clean through the mannequin. "Holy shit dude!" Junpei exclaimed, watching the sliced up dummy slowly slide apart. Kasumi merely smirked, flicking the switch again "With a touch of a button, the edge of the blade can be superheated to slice through damn near anything. Don't overdo it though. Heat it too long and the entire blade'll start to melt, followed by the circuitry being fried. Don't forget that". She let Souji and Junpei snatch up their weapons as she once again continued the tour.
In the next room in the armory, Kasumi called over Mitsuru and Minato, as they both held the same preference for one handed blades. "Here you go Kirijo-san, Arisato-san. I think you'll fine these rapiers are top notch...". She tossed them each one of the ornate rapiers, their handles were bizarrely bulky for a rapier and made of rubber for some reason but Minato figured they were there because of some bizarre technological upgrade. And he was right, as the next thing he saw was Mitsuru flicking the switch which caused a jolt of electricity to surge down the blade. That explained the rubber "You've outdone yourself Kasumi" Mitsuru remarked with a small smile growing across her full lips.
Teddie was the next one called up for his weapons "From what we were told, your request was perhaps the strangest, Teddie-san. A bear claw is definitely something new for us. Luckily, it wasn't too hard to figure out" he lifted a metal claw-like appendage up in her hand, and with a push of a button it shot out on a massive chain, impaling a target on the other end of the room. "Enjoy" Kasumi said with a smirk, tossing the claw to Teddie once she had retracted it. Teddie grinned from ear to ear "Neat!".
Kasumi did not head into another room for her next weapon. Instead she just reached into a weapons locker, and pulled out an impressive looking trident "Amada-san, I think you'll like this..." Kasumi remarked as Ken stepped forward. Young Ken was practically oblivious to Nanako checking him out, but Chie wasn't and gave off a small laugh at the young girls expense. Kasumi ignored the two and continued on with her weapons demonstration. With another button push, the trident's head shot out on a chain, impaling the same poor practive dummy again. Needless to say, Ken was impressed with the upgrade, he took the trident happily.
In the next room, Kasumi called Yukiko and Chie over to recieve their weapons. Whate they recieved was simple enough, but it suited the two just well. Yukiko recieved a steel fan, razor sharp to the touch. Chie recieved a pair of knee-high metal boots, with sharpened spikes on the toe caps. For Koromaru, he recieved a simple knife, and an enhanced version of his dog-evoker. Akihiko recieved a pair of large metal gauntlets from the Kirijo armory, which could fire out an explosive shell on impact, for that little extra 'kick'. Yosuke recieved a pair of daggers that could release an electric shock at the touch of a button. Naoto, who was unwilling to part with her trusty hand cannon, recieved a few boxes of special ammunition. Like Yukari's new arrows, the various bullets carried a series of different elemental effects. Very handy. Rise and Fuuka, holding the support roles, did not require any weapons as you can imagine.
As the tour of the armory was coming down to it's last two rooms, Kasumi paused a placed a finger resting on her chin "Nanako Dojima...You're new to all this, aren't you? Have you even been taught how to use your Persona?". Nanako nodded sheepishly in response "Y-yeah. Big b- Er, I mean Souji and the others took me into the TV world and taught me the basics". Kasumi nodded in response "Uh huh...Just out of curiosity, what skills does your Persona use?". Nanako scratched her head, trying to recall what Ame-no-Uzume could do "Uh...Light, electricity and healing. Why?". Kasumi nodded and moved over to a large steel trunk full of various different weapons of different shapes and sizes "Just trying to get a good idea of what weapon would suit you. Your obviously not a bruiser like Kanji, but I was just making sure...". She rooted around in the trunk, and then a smile stretched across her face as she pulled out a gleaming kusarigama "Light, has decent range, good at slicing things to bits. Should suit you nicely if you're forced into close quarters combat". Nanako took the chain-sickle, but she had a nervous smile on her face "Oh, well um. Thank you, but I don't know how to use this". Kasumi smiled "Then you better learn quickly".
Aigis was the last one to recieve her new weapons, but as Kasumi put it, they were saving the best for last. "Here you are Aigis-san. Your new Albiero's. We've upped their calibre, increased their ammo capacity and amplified their rate of fire. I think you'll find them to your liking". As Aigis was busy switching her synthetic human hands for her old mechanical gun-hands, much to the shock of the Investigation Team members, she couldn't help but look down at the ground in a forlorn manner "With all due respect Sakagi-san, this is a part of me I am not thrilled about bringing back. After all, I had spent so long trying to keep my humanity in tact...". Kasumi sighed as she pulled out a large, strange looking gun and a weird eye-piece "Now now Aigis-san...You can't honestly turn your back on all this, can you?". Aigis sighed in defeat "No. I can't".
With a sad smile, Kasumi attached the strange eye piece onto one of the discs on the side of Aigis' head "This here is a targeting aid. Not to be used with your Albiero's of course. The targeting aid is to be used with this..." Aigis shyly removed her coat, revealing that she still didn't look entirely human on the outside. Teddie was very dissapointed by this revelation,to say the least. Kasumi started describing Aigis' new weapon as she was fitting it onto her shoulder "For more heavy-duty targets you'll be using this special shoulder cannon. It's codenamed the Longinus, and it can fire out it's tungsten shells with such force that it'll turn a Shadow into a fine mist from over a dozen miles away". Aigis merely frowned as she looked at the new weapon attached to her shoulder, seeing a side of herself she thought long gone.
With everyone finally stocked up on new, more advanced, equipment Kasumi lead the team back to the elevator "Thank you Kasumi, you've been a great help to us" Mitsuru said. Kasumi smiled and glanced over her shoulder when she replied "Of course Kirijo-san, any time. This, of course, won't be the only time you visit I imagine". A small frown creased across Mitsuru's face "I don't imagine so. Hopefully though, things won't take as long as they did the last time...". Teddie cleared his throat, gathering the attention of those present "Uh, this stuff is great and all but how're we supposed to carry this stuff around in public?". Kasumi gestured to a series of briefcases of varying sizes and shapes, all stamped with the Kirijo Group logo. With the exception of Kanji, who got a trunk to carry his shield around in. As the team started to leave, the Inanba gang needing to deal with their accomadations, Kasumi smiled and bid them farewell "I wish you all the best of luck. Show those Shadows just how much damage the Kirijo Group can dish out...".
With their new weapons recieved, the former SEES members had decided to meet up at Club Escapade, for a little bit of reminiscing. "Aw man, this place doesn't sell alchohol anymore?" Minato moaned, looking over Escapade's drink menu "God damnit, as soon as I'm legal and alive, the stuff is yanked just out of my reach". His remarks managed to earn some laughter from the group who were busy looking for their own drinks. Minato broke the silence again by asking "So, what do you guys think of them?". Junpei grinned slightly "Well, their leader is taller then you for one thing" Minato glared in response, he was always touchy about his height. "And he killed a god. And he's got the same taste in weapons as me. Plus he's dating a celebrity. Buuuut, on the other hand you're the freakin' messiah, man...I'd say you're about even".
Yukari rolled her eyes, seeing that Junpei would probably never change. Probably for the best, in her opinion,as he always managed to earn a small laugh from the group with his antics. "I trust them. It's like...I dunno, it just feels like they all want to do the right thing. Plus having a few extra hands is always a good thing". Akihiko crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat "We seem to have the same intrests at heart with the other group, so I trust them for now. Of course, if they try to stab us in the back, I'll follow up with a punch to the face". Mitsuru started laughing at that "Ah, Akihiko I've missed your brash attitude". The red-head stopped and sighed slightly "They may take some getting used too, but I'm convinced we can trust them. I'm sure they're just as uncertain about all this as we are, just give it time and we'll be working like a well-oiled machine". The group nodded, seeing that they had very little choice.
The Investigation Team members had regrouped in a rather fancy Iwatodai hotel that Rise had organised. Chie let out a low whistle as she looked around the lobby "Wow, Rise...You sure know some good places". Yosuke nodded, equally impressed "Yeah...Better then the hotel we had last time we came to Iwatodai, and that's all that matters". A small shudder spread through most of the group as they recalled the seedy hotel they stayed in at Shirakawa Boulevard. Anything was a step up from that. "I've stayed here before, whenever I had a gig in Port Island. I had all our stuff brought here from the station, so that we wouldn't get held up on our way to the Kirijo Tower. All we gotta' do now is get our room keys an-" Rise was cut short when the young man behind the reception desk took notice of her "Ah, Rise-san! I was told you were going to be staying with us for a while, welcome back! I see you brought your boyfriend with you again".
A toothy smirk broke across Yosuke's face at the mention of this "Ha, so you've stayed here before, eh? I guess you two would be able to tell us how sturdy the beds a-OOF!" Yosuke was cut short by Chie elbowing him in the ribs, while Rise and Souji both flushed with embarassment. Naoto, hoping to save her friends some embarassment, decided to change the subject "Rise-san, I'm curious about something...I haven't seen a single journalist since we arrived here". Rise gave a quiet sigh in relief and replied "Yeah, I made sure to keep as low a profile as possible. News of me being here will break after awhile, but hopefully we can get some peace...".
Souji looked Naoto over, rubbing his chin in thought. There was definitely something about her and the SEES leader, something he couldn't put his finger on. They were both orphans, both lost their parents in a traffic accident when they were kids, both had freakin' blue hair...Well, it was a problem to be tackled at a later date "Well, the more time we can have outside the media the better. In the meanwhile though, we should get set up in our rooms and then head out to Port Island station before the Dark Hour kicks in. We got work to do...".
A/N: Holy hell, that was a pain to crank out. Terribly sorry that I can't establish a proper update scedule for this. Also, I'm sorry if the whole Kirijo Tower bit when on too long, but I wanted to make it look like the Kirijo Group would actually do something this time around.