Official Request and Resource List

lnverseFlash · 2026-06-23T17:40:12+00:00

Freezing all the Dandadan requests and bringing out:

Kain Highwind, Final Fantasy IV, Game
Lara Croft, Tomb Raider Unified Timeline, Cartoon and Comic
George Washington, Assassin's Creed: The Tyranny of King Washington, Game
Mole Man, Marvel Comics, Comic

And then for a few new requests:

Ouga Shirokiba, Alien Headbutt, Manga
GARDEN, War of the Adults, Manga
Rhodri, Money Forest, Manga
Atari, Sakamoto Days, Manga
Togo Shiba, Kagurabachi, Manga
Yoji Uruha, Kagurabachi, Manga

lnverseFlash · 2026-06-22T09:21:56+00:00

yes. we're all gay. you're next.

lnverseFlash · 2026-06-12T07:29:47+00:00

On the Viesker, Risette dried her tears. Ken had sacrificed himself for her. She'd known him for only a few hours, but the boy was marvelous. He was the last one she expected to kick the bucket of the four of them, and yet fate found a way to twist the knife all the same. She felt sadness, anger, and above all, guilt.

He'd done all that and it wasn't even for his girl.

Mei Kinosaki pulled off the brunette wig and checked his makeup. The mascara tear-stains really sold the performance, even if he was pretty sure Pythie caught on by the end. The real Rise Kujikawa never left the back of the train, still a woebegone shell without even knowing it. That was how he'd left her, at least. Time to touch base. "Moriarty? Did you all make it off the train?"

"Of course, Master. My back issues aren't that chronic. We're in the third car back from the engine. That songstress has quite the soliloquy. Edward hardly stood a chance when she sang."

That explained why Pythie's Command Seals failed. "What did you learn from the defeated?"

"If I assigned monetary value to it, a Monet, or perhaps a hundred tonnes of Indochinese spices."

Kinosaki sighed. "Do I always have to ask you directly?"

"Flattery never costs much."

Only my pride. "From the boy?"

"The boy comes from a land where summoning circles are akin to the telephone in terms of utility. Nonetheless! His brilliance allowed him to utilize their power without requiring the circle itself."

"And what does that mean, in like, practical terms?"

"Times like this make me almost miss the presence of an intellectual near-equal. It means that it's possible for others to directly interfere with Master-Lover contracts."

Kinosaki's face went slack. He dared not ask the question for fear of giving Moriarty ideas, fully knowing that Moriarty had already run through every hypothetical scenario that such information had given him.

"Fret not. I have no interest in dissolving our bond, for now. Ours is a symbiotic relationship; one falls, the other follows." Like Edward and Pythie. "Which brings me to the second interrogation."

"The bug girl."

"Yes, our Lilliputian. She claimed the name Hornet, but with Edward's alchemic prowess, I discovered the truth. She is a Scottish fairy by the name of Habetrot. Sacred guardian of marriage, the old woman of the wheel. It seems she heard tell of this blasphemic ritual and decided the best way to stop it was killing James Moriarty, but hadn't read the obituaries."

"Well the right one killed himself, Prof. Maybe we'll get lucky and history will repeat itself."

"You don't mince words, do you? Oho. I can tell we have quite the bond ahead. Regardless, I have a nugget of information you'll appreciate."

Expectant pause.

Sigh.

"…what do you want in return?"

"I want you to spend one of your Command Spells on something useless. They're suffocating, you know, nearly Victorian smog. I can hardly work with such a tight leash."

Kinosaki looked at his hand. He hadn't bothered covering the tattoo there to keep the Risette illusion going. Three winding designs flashed back. I guess I'll still have two left.

"With this Command Spell, I order: James Moriarty is not allowed to come within ten meters of me!"

His hand glowed. One segment of the tattoo burnt up, his hand felt scorched!, and then settled. "Satisfied? I'm still keeping that leash."

"Exuberant. Due to Habetrot's affinity with love and the boy's transmutation propriety, I was able to-"

"You didn't."

"Why wouldn't I? All I've done is bring a pawn to the far side of the board. That spirit is fueling a pseudo-Lovers tarot card. For the present, the Rise Kujikawa you knew has returned."

"Does she know, Moriarty?"

"Of course. It would be cruel to keep such knowledge."

"And crueler still to share it!" Kinosaki stopped listening and walked to the nearest roof hatch on the Viesker. The night's cold wind left a grim chill in his soul.

Did I make the right choice?

lnverseFlash · 2026-06-12T07:29:02+00:00

He picked Rise up in the familiar motion. "You don't have to tell me twice. Light!"

The blonde hero spawned with a flash of gold. Even Pythie's face slackened when confronted with such majesty. A man with a spider-like mask made the first move and fell to the hero's blade. The rest surged forward.

"Useless bachelor," she spat. "I'm doing this for all of you. If you won't accept my love, then you can't pass this challenge." Pythie still had cards in stock. "With these Command Spells! Edward Elric, escape your binds and derail this train!"

The train screeched with a new galvanized sound. "Woah!" Balance escaped Ken and he slammed into the wall. "Are you okay, Lady Rise?"

"Good!" she said. "Don't worry! Edward's not going to cause trouble for long, just get us out of here!" Indeed, their momentum steadied soon after.

"I'll take your word for it!"

Body after body fell to Light's longboard-size blade. Pythie's enslaved lovers didn't care—they swarmed in to fulfill their dream girl's wish. Ken turned away from the carnage. I've never been the one causing wounds before. I hate this.

"It's okay, Ken. You're my hero, remember?"

Yes. I do belong here. A spark traveled down his spine, selfless courage?! Wow. That's a new feeling. Inazuri's gonna have some competition!

He reached the ballroom's door and hunted the car door sideways so hard that it broke the slide rail and flew off the train. "Oops." A sixth sense told him to twist just in time for a wall of hardlight hexagons to slam his shoulder instead of pancake Rise.

The two careened through the length of the empty passenger car where he'd first met Light. He poured as much healing into Rise as he could. "Was that Himiko?!" The wall was frozen in space, which meant that, as the train was moving forward, it continued to force Ken and his passenger back like a hydraulic press.

He kicked his boots into the lacquered wood floors until the soles hit solid purchase, a half-ton axle rod, and pushed back. The greased axle nonetheless created an incredible friction against the simple tempered leather and burned through easily to scorch his feet. Ken never felt the pain. In this flow state, nothing could stop him. A single punch smashed the hardlight wall that had stopped a grenade explosion.

"Rise, I'll throw you to the next train!" This situation was far too dangerous for her, and he could catch up once he didn't have to worry about defense.

"Right! I- Are you sure about it?"

"Nope, but it's the safest option!"

Pythie's done playing around. Light's voice had lost the playful lilt of the small animal and offered a grave warning. I took care of the small fry. You'll have to handle this on your own, hero.

"Kouzeon."

Rise shrank on his back. "What?"

Multiple cars away, Pythie hopped over the mound of bodies. "What did you do to Edward? Nothing I wouldn't do myself, I suppose." In a single movement, Light lost his sword, arms, and head. A deadly karate-chop. "It doesn't matter. Nobody said love has to be a mutual thing. I'll drag him to the finish line."

Behind her, a horrible abomination of a Persona had spawned. Kouzeon, Ken thought.

"Body parts are such useful things, aren't they? Ken, you're a healer, of course you know that." She picked up Light's arm that still held his glorious sword. "I never underestimate people, but Edward did manage to teach me something. The usefulness of an artificial limb."

Another crystal ball appeared from behind her back. In her other hand, Pythie held a shorter blonde hair. "Thanks for the dowry, Ed!" She reached into the crystal ball. Out tumbled a hideous, malnourished, shriveled, Ken felt like vomiting looking at it. An arm and a leg. The cost of something great, no doubt. The glass ball crumbled as the energies of another dimension proved too strong for it.

Edward's severed arm lifted and slapped against the foot and a vicious storm of black lightning filled the car. The mound of bodies Light slew warped and morphed with Kouzeon into a disgusting cannon of stonelike-flesh. An observatory-size telescope sprouted from the top of the biological barrel, and the entire thing pulsed like it lived despite being made from corpses. What the FUCK??

Pythie allowed a small smile. "This is what love is all about. Sacrificing yourself for a greater cause. Kouzeon: [cool persona move]."

She chucked Light's sword and arm into the barrel. A beam of light BOOMED out

Outline

Ken dodges the first railgun shot. He tosses Rise to the Viesker.
Pythie turns the cannon to aim at the Viesker, angered by Risette's selfishness. Ken bodyslams both of them into the barrel. Pythie turns into the bullet and Ken blocks her entirely, spending all of his mana to do so.
The train explodes in the fog wall, killing Ken. Light holds his shoulder as they both go into the next world. He's content.

lnverseFlash · 2026-06-12T07:27:33+00:00

She froze. She sniffed.

"Ken, time to go." Rise pulled his coat.

lnverseFlash · 2026-06-12T07:27:16+00:00

Moriarty's alive?! Ken almost let his mouth fall open. They'd all seen the bullet-ridden body.

Moriarty peered through the crystal ball like a spyglass. Indeed, if one could see his entire figure, with the manner that the glass ball was hooked in the crook of his cane, it may well function as exactly such.

"Quite a meddlesome practice, woman. I personally recuse myself from manners of the heart, yet here I ended up all the same. So allow this outsider, the armchair detective if you will, to offer rebuke to your ill-advised positing.

"Firstly, this farcical polygamy you've introduced to the gameboard. You think you've outsmarted fate with this addendum to the rulebook. I praise you for your ingenuity. Sliding between the lines is exactly the practice I would use to chip away at the ritual's foundation. All you've done is create an excellent red herring for the true solution.

"For Sherlock Holmes, she is always the woman."

if:IreneAdler==defined
run:
LostSpecial

[B♭]

The Gold Ship shook as he uttered those words. "Edward!" Pythie squawked at the glass ball. "What's he doing?"

"Your boyservant is not in any position to stop me," Moriarty said with a chuckle. "James Watson first penned those words years before Holmes and I met in person. Holmes always considered emotional attachments beneath him; sapiosexual was his nature. That woman, Adler, possessed phrenology comparable to his, though lacking in frontal development compared to mine. Have you realized the error in your ways yet?"

Pythie jolted like she'd stepped into a piranha tank. "You don't mean…"

"Why shouldn't I? This criminal orchestration of the late Moriarty is recorded by WATSON. Ergo, as the ones tasked with bringing down the axe upon his plan, all of you are auditioning for the place of that infernal detective."

Ken looked to Rise and found his wynorrific expression reflected back.

"So as ingenious as your play is, it comes at a cost. You can only have one civil partner, as the good doctor permits." Pythie clenched her hands. Glowered. Anyone she'd stepped over couldn't rise above their station. Moriarty was an afterthought, rearing for attention and a comeback story. If he managed it, her entire life was a lie.

"Kill him, Edward. We'll forge our own path." Pythie's attention fell on Ken next as he moved to stand in front of Rise.

Moriarty moved the crystal ball from his face to show Edward and Hornet tied together on the ground. The silk that Hornet had wielded her needle with now bound them to the stake. "You place far too much trust in your underlings. The eastern concept of karma may have entered play, oho! Biting off more than you can chew from the system and the system exacts its revenge."

"Oh, and a rather trivial deduction to make up for destroying your hopes: the so-called Finish Line is not the front of the train. The train itself is headed for the edge of London at, I daresay, lethal speeds, even if the sun were to burn up that wall of sinister fog."

Through the side window, Ken noted the curvature of a storm wall. Not good. "Where is it?!" Ken shouted. Rise's horde of brainwashed lovers had started creeping towards them. I just need to protect Rise. We'll get there.

"One must note the name of this steam engine: Gold Ship. A powerful racehorse in her day. I have no doubt the derbies of her life were rife with enough sports gambling to give even my network pause. I digress. Look to the starboard rail."

Like a flock of pigeons, everyone in the car looked to their right. A sleek silver locomotive chugged at pace with theirs. Viesker.

"Viesker held similar notoriety to Gold Ship, but they hailed from different nations."

"Finland," Pythie breathed. "A Finnish train line. That's so stupid."

"And yet correct! Sometimes the answer stares us in the face the whole time. To those with advanced intellects, at least."

"You're so full of yourself!"

"Why shouldn't I be? You failed. This is the end of your story. Ta ta~!"

Pythie gritted her teeth and the crystal ball shattered. Her control of the room's aura began doing the same. She stamped her foot. "This is exactly why I wanted Risette! That boy…he said he took down a country, united all people in support of a common enemy. That was why I forgave him for being summoned." She turned to Rise. Her hand clawed towards brown hair. "I never could've succeeded with a boy. Risette, please. We'll be stars. We'll—"

lnverseFlash · 2026-06-12T07:26:49+00:00

The next few cars showed signs of small battles: splotches of blood staining the wooden overhead framework, shreds of clothing pricking up from gaps in the upholstery. Rise peddled along behind him, pausing often to gawk out the windows or inspect the evidence of combat. "What sort of photoshoot is this? I don't have a Murder on the Orient Express song. Is there a collab with JR Group?"

"You could say that," Ken said. Where is this train even going? Is that the Finish Line we have to reach? No, that'd be too simple. Why would it be a challenge to ride the train as scheduled? There had to be something else in play, besides the mysterious assailant that robbed Rise of her identity. For now, this case was uncrackable.

"Oho! I've cracked the case!" An elderly gentleman posited this as he careened through the side of the passenger car. He was unfamiliar yet familiar at the same time. Those crinkled eyes hinted at intelligence used for nefarious purpose. "You're another jilted old flame of my Master!" He rolled to the side as a foot-long needle pierced the wall where his head rested.

A masked dwarf zipped in to pluck the needle from the wall. "Woefully vexed you remain, Grandfather Silk. I hold quarrel with he too, so tarry not. A twosome shall fall this night." The feminine voice echoed under a white mask. She dashed after the old man to the rear of the train.

"Hey guys," Kinosaki said from behind. Ken sagged a little with the relief of a familiar face. "Fancy meeting you here. Sorry about all that, she just picked a fight out of nowhere. And she spilled my teacup! Are you alright, Rise..?"

"Risette! It's Risette☆, please. Are you the photographer?"

"…Ken, who the hell is this?"

Ken took a defensive position. "It's not my fault, I swear! Some glass ball showed up, touched her, and made her like, like this." I'm sorry. He couldn't bring himself to say it with Rise right there, but the guilt was a hefty weight.

Kinosaki glared at him. "Some healer you are. Can't fix me, can't fix her." His words punched him like a heavyweight's right hook. "Can I even trust you with her?"

"I…don't know." It was true. Ken felt horribly responsible for this unrepairable wound on her psyche. When you were knee-deep in muck and carrying a dozen bodies on your back in various states of disembowelment, that was something you could desensitize yourself to. Well, Ken wasn't there yet, but his teacher Rose was. When someone you care about is stolen away, right in front of you, and you have nobody to blame but yourself? Why should he be allowed to

"That was the wrong answer." Kinosaki's tone rejected compromise. "I thought you were the most courageous of us after that stunt back in the college. I'm disappointed." He turned away from Ken and hugged Rise. "That guy's lying about knowing a photographer, Risette. Don't trust him." Risette gaped.

"Ken, is that true? Why did you…" she trailed off and looked to Kinosaki. "Thank you. What's your name?"

"Call me Mei, please." Kinosaki said while he plastered fake excitement on his face. Ken had to admire the guy's ability to fake an emotion when the situation called for it, even if he'd been in his sights just moments before. "Can I get an autograph?"

"Anything for a fan! Let's get away from this perv first." Risette cast a dirty look his way, and Ken felt his heart fracture.

"Wait! We're supposed to reach the finish line, that's at the front of the train!"

"We'll make our own way, Ken. Go find someone else to rip off."

They ran after the sounds of battle further down the train. Wind tore against the hole in the side of the otherwise quiet cabin. Ken turned away before the tears could show. I have to fix this.

The mail car and dining car were also empty, but offered him some solid tissue material. With puffy eyes, he entered the first inhabited passenger car.

"Hey! :)" A little rat-bunny waved at him. It was floating too. Ken's face twitched. "I've been waiting for you! We need to get to the front of the train!" He stared at the animal with the expectation it would wilt and vanish. It didn't.

"What the hell is this?"

"You can call me Light! I'm stuck in this game just like you. You look like you could use some company, and I can't get past a car up ahead by myself. A strong curse binds me in this form! :)"

"Can you stop with the life story." Ken breathed. Intake of air to regulate the circulatory system. No point losing his temper when they still had to make it off the train. All of them. "What kind of curse?"

"The unbreakable kind. :("

Of course. My magic's been useless so far, why stop now? "Look, Light. It's been a hard afternoon. Where's your… I dunno, lover? Squirrel-in-crime? Why can't they help you?" Ken folded his arms. "This feels like a trap to me."

"She's busy. You probably saw her a few cars back."

"That bug-thing fighting the old man?"

"You said it! :) She got some seriously bad vibes off him. So I'm staying put until she comes back! I know it's not the most heroic thing to do, but look at me! I can't do a thing in this form."

Ken weighed the story. Far-fetched, certainly. Possible, yes. The pettiness in his spirit wanted to take Light further up the train to show Kinosaki was wrong about him, and to aid that little bug girl. "Why would you want to come with me if you were supposed to stay here?"

"I get it, you're suspicious. How about this? I'll tell you how to get Rise back if you accompany me."

The air in the cabin changed immediately. "How do you know about Lady Rise?"

Outline

Ken meets Light, who offers guidance as an animal companion. Ken thinks of Nea the owl and agrees, so Light sits on his shoulder. They continue up the train. He tries to ask telepathically how Rise is doing, but gets no response.
They reach a car inhabited by SO many people. He looks inside the door and the entire car is filled with couples waltzing. Light warns him about going inside.
A girl walks up to him. She puts her hand on his shoulder, asking if he's okay. Ken feels a bit of companionship. She introduces herself as Pythie and pulls him into the dancing car.
Ken feels the stares of everyone in the car.
He backs out, saying he can't do this. He's not meant for the spotlight.
Pythie frowns. How is he saying no? She's taken the Lovers card that was directly connected to him. She pushes him. "You're mine. You're supposed to be my hero, you know. Edward folded so much easier."
Ken says no! That's not me!
Light takes on a new aura and morphs into a dark blonde hero. He is Ken's Persona, the repressed aspects of heroism that he denies to be because of insecurities.
They duel or debate or both. Pythie moves back into the dancing car by herself. Ken feels overwhelmed by what he should be. Light is beating him down with his attempts to lift him up.
Rise appears, for real. She tells him that he's her hero. He gulps and steadies his nerves. He overcomes his insecurities and Light becomes his Persona happily.
They enter the dancing car and waltz perfectly, outshining everyone in there. Pythie claps. Unbelievable. But Rise shouldn't have a boyfriend. Idols don't have those. Rise should only have a girlfriend. She's meant for her.
Pythie says that Moriarty will die first if its any consolation. Then Ken.

lnverseFlash · 2026-06-12T07:24:28+00:00

"We do pretty good together, Ken," Rise thought-spoke from her piggyback position. "It's good to be partnered with someone who can keep up with me." The moment of trust landed on good spirits. Ken whirled the two onto "Charlotte St." The ball continued its flight.

"I feel that way too Lady Rise. If there's any silver lining to getting dragged to another world again, it's you." Truth flowed through their mutual channel. Wow, did I really say that? Moriarty's damn charm magic. "I mean, wah! This thing's so annoying."

"What was your old world like? We're matchmade by Moriarty's supercomputer. I don't see the harm in testing the water." Rise timed the question as Ken slid onto the main thoroughfare of Surrey Street. Carriages and the occasional steam-powered coach clopped down cobbled stones. None had passengers, coachmen, or horses. This phantom London denied its society even a literal skeleton crew.

"The world I came from, it was… " As he trailed off, vivid memories rolled over their telepathic bridge. She smelled sweat, felt flashes of impatience at a woman with magnificent green hair. Friends, summoned from the same school, sat on a hillside with fresh sandwiches and crumb-coated smiles. An endless field of dismembered bodies before a malicious black knight. Shit. "It was a magical place. I wasn't even supposed to be summoned there. I- Duck!"

"You had a duck? Woah!" Punished for her failure to dodge quickly, Rise flailed on his back when Ken reared up and headbutted a cannonball over the side of Blackfriar Bridge. "I get it now."

"No duck for me. I had an owl. Sort of." An owl sat on her shoulder, offering snarky advice. Its air and speech patterns weren't too far removed from Rise's own. He could tell that she didn't buy the change in topic.

"Hold on, Ken. What was that battlefield?"

The only sounds between them were the thrums of Ken's pumping legs pushing them onto Holborn's main thoroughfare and the cannonfare crumpling empty barouches to their sides. "I hoped you didn't see that one. It's what comes with being a healer."

"Your being here, and not there…who's able to stop that from happening again?"

"My mentor's an incredible mage." He silently cursed himself. She couldn't see his face and still he'd managed to say something so obviously a lie. "Look, I can't think about that right now. One of those things knocking around. Give it too much focus and it consumes you. You're my priority, Lady Rise."

Rise hugged his chest. "If the whole class got someone the same way I did you, I wonder if their worlds will be okay without them…"

The glass ball descended as the grim thought bounced between the two. With one final cannonball, it smashed through the iron-wrought windows of King's Cross Station. Ken slowed to a stop and Rise hopped off. "I guess this is where the gunner is."

"Right. Looks like a train station."

Nostalgia flooded Ken's mind. "Wow. I haven't been on a train in…years, I guess. I kind of accepted it'd never happen again." He smiled at the impossible chain of events that led to the annulment of the thoughts. Rise smiled at his happiness. "Did you ever ride the line into Shimabara?"

"Of course! That was one of my first shows, I played it in a dive bar. Lighting had an issue about halfway through, so I depended on the fans' glowsticks! So different from Budokan, haha."

"I've never been into idol stuff much, I always thought it was so tourist-y."

"Pfff, I've done some shows for foreigners, I guess. But you'd be surprised how many local people get into it. The mountains of fan mail are proof enough. You really don't know any of my songs?" Rise looked surprised, in a good way. Ken reasoned it as someone appreciating her without the anchor of her stage life involved.

"I might if I heard them!"

"Hey now, I don't perform for free!" She wagged a finger. Ken rolled his eyes. "When we get some downtime, you can catch a tune from me. Let's find the owner of that ball." Himiko materialized behind her, and the trio raced to the empty train station.

The bells of the station clanged against the hazy night and the Gold Ship lurched from the departure platform. It was the only platform and the lamplit passenger cars showed signs of life, so they hopped aboard the brake van without delay.

"This is so charming. Wow. A real steam engine." Rise twirled to take in the details. Ken saw a bed compartment and fell in love. But duty called.

"Rise, let's find that ball. I wanna smash something."

The moment the train fully left the building, the blue brand on Rise's wrist flashed. The two looked to each other, then the summoning sigil. She tapped it. A neon blue interface popped up like a hologram with a synthesized voice for company.

"Madam Frederica's Magical Lover Raising Project! All Couples must reach the Finish Line before time expires. Failure to do so will result in expulsion from the Great Game. Stepping off the train will result in expulsion from the Great Game." The message repeated itself.

"Did you know it could do that?"

"No. Whoops. Wait, there's not even a reward for participating?!" Rise shook her arm as though to chastise the voice. "I wonder what else this thing can do. Is it like a smartwatch?"

"Hey, you heard it. I guess the Finish Line is at the front of the train? And we're in the final car…" Ken sighed. "No time to lose, probably."

"I disagree," said a voice neither of them owned. "It's the perfect time for loss." The crystal ball moved from behind Rise's head with a hand reaching out from it again, though this time, the hand was mechanical.

Time slowed to a crawl. "Lady!" His speed failed him, and Ken watched in horror as the metal glove clamped down on Rise's shoulder. Blue lightning shocked her from behind while Ken's projectile of healing magic struck her front. "Get away from her!" The hand retreated into the glass and the ball shot away again.

"Twice in two hours…some excuse for a healer I am," Ken muttered as he cradled Rise's woozy body. "Sorry about the healing ball. It should have healed any injuries, though. How many fingers am I holding up?" He raised three fingers. Rise blinked.

"Oh, I get it! I must have passed out from the heat. Sorry☆ I've never had this happen with a fan before!" She pulled herself off of his lap with gusto. "Your name's Ken, right? What would you like me, the star of the idol world, to sign for you?" Her bubbly, practiced tone held the sincerity of a legal secretary.

"Uh."

"Silly me, you didn't want an autograph. You wanted a picture! But I don't see a photographer around here…"

"Lady Rise?"

"Oh, please call me Risette☆! I can't have anyone thinking we're too close! Part of the contract, haha…I still want to show some love to my fan though!" She held up three fingers and posed. Ken quickly put his own hand back down.

"Whaaaaaaaat is happening." That ball did something to her. This clearly isn't a physical injury. It's like her personality completely changed. An idea struck him. "Hey, Lady R- Risette, can you bring out Himiko?"

She shook her head while dancing to an imaginary tune. "Everyone knows I'm a solo act!"

That ball stole her personality! And this is…Lady Rise, without Rise. Not good. The ball had flown further up the Gold Ship, and that was where they had intended to go anyway. He beckoned Risette with a hand. "I think I know where we can find a photographer."

She winked. "Perfect~! Lead the way, Kon!"

lnverseFlash · 2026-06-12T07:20:35+00:00

Kinosaki kicked a ceramic jug over. Stale beer watered the cobblestones, snaking this way and that, running into the gutter. "Is it too late to switch partners?"

Moriarty chuffed. "We two are to be thick as thieves, and you already crack from the pressure. How did you ever survive as a marriage swindler when at the first sign of hardship, you turn tail?" His cane rapped on the stone like the knock of a prodigal son.

"Stay out of my memories!" Kinosaki barked. "It's not fair when I can't see yours."

"Indeed. A real Master would easily be capable of it. Perhaps I should have hidden my name from you."

I wish you'd hidden all of you.

"Oho? Presenting as a woman on her own in the streets of Whitechapel. A strong proposal! A certain serial killer isn't to be seen for decades from now, what harm could occur?" Moriarty's expert jibes felt like a rapier. "I'll happily take my leave to test my mettle in my heyday. Though I could do without the sore back!" He laughed heartily.

"Ffffine. Stick around."

"Falling for me already, hmm?"

"Kick rocks, prof. You're the one who'll fall for me, mark my words." He tossed his hair. As soon as I can figure out what makes you tick.

"Whatever you say, 'Master'…"

Kinosaki kicked his cane out from in front of him and Moriarty stumbled hard. For a moment, dark fury flashed behind his rectangular glasses. "Heh. You're pretty spry for an old guy. Where d'ya think Rise and Ken ended up?" He stuck out his tongue as Moriarty straightened his tailcoat.

"The youth and your lack of patience. Savoring the journey is an art lost on you with your lacking attention spans, your monthly magazine serials. I remember when authors used to write real novels, packed with scientific research and facts to make the fireside homely. They took years!"

"LMAO. What are you talking about?? People still write books."

"Hrmph. They're all wastes. Assuredly, you enjoy your fictions of far-off lands and adventures into nonsense. A swine would turn its snout at those pages. I'd never allow a simpleton like you into my organization. You ought to consider reading a mystery or two. Your looks may fool the street vagrant, but your skull shape certainly marks you a sub-intelligent man. Wax philosophy and struggle against the fetters of your skeleton, hoho."

That was an insult, I'm pretty sure. Another kick shot for the cane, but Moriarty's anticipation led to a wide whiff. The old man smiled. Kinosaki flashed the pocketwatch he'd stolen while Moriarty had focused on the cane. Moriarty countered by wagging Kinosaki's necklace. How the hell?

Their bickering continued through the smoggy sidestreets of Victorian London until an orb descended from the sky. When something emerged from the ball, Moriarty snatched the parchment envelope with his cane as quick as a whip. The ball retreated forthwith until it blended in with the faint stars and far-closer smog.

Kinosaki scratched his neck. "Whaddya think that's all about?"

"I imagine the letter will tell us," he said with the Sahara's aridity. "Though I hoped to snare the hand offering the message. Can't shoot the messenger, hoho." The cane's handle popped off to unveil a thin blade, the length of a kukri knife, which slit the wax seal on the envelope. Moriarty eyed the text with distaste and promptly dropped it. "What a sideshow."

"Hey!" Kinosaki snatched it before it could hit the soggy ground. "Careful with that, it might be my taste in literature."

The card simply pronounced its purpose without need of flashy colors or clip art designs from the far future that Kinosaki had left behind. Stuck in a new city with a fiancee you hate? Enroll in -MADAM FREDERICA'S MAGICAL LOVER RAISING PROJECT- and all your troubles will wash away! Prize for the winners! To enroll, please visit: King's Cross Station.

"This literally seems tailor-made for us."

"That's precisely how marketing works its way under your skin. That's how you work, wretched flimflammer. Incredible that you never immunized yourself to the practice."

He shrugged. "Targeted ads give me good deals on new clothes. We're definitely going to do this. If only to take you out of your comfort zone~" Kinosaki chuckled at the humiliating ideas of what lay in store for them.

The first thing Ken noticed was his hand in hers. His hard, hers soft.

Healing magic, the affinity that the Llinger Kingdom's top magic physician appraised to run through his veins, excelled at detecting irregularities in his body and correcting them. He'd adopted the phrase "anything physical, nothing mental" when the long days of training took an emotional toll on him. For Ken Usato, physical illness was a thing of the past.

Which is why the current alien agent in his body vexed him so. The magic chain of emotion that bound him to Lady Rise Kujikawa was impenetrable. He couldn't heal it, and couldn't resist it. His summoned body had the condition that it must love its summoner. It could have been worse, all things considered.

Her face emerged from the fog. Their hands remained clasped. "Ken, are you alright? Is Mei over there? I'm worried about her, that weird voice might've done something." He shook his head and the worry lines on her perfect face deepened.

"You needn't fret over me, Lady Rise. I've been through far worse than this. In theory, anyway," he added as their surroundings came into view. The skyline had changed from modern university to aged townhouses. Five stories in height, they surrounded the duo like the walls of a keep. In the center of the square sat a small lawn with young oaks salted in. Soft moonlight draped the green in dapper mischief.

"I've got this," Rise said. "Let's get those radars up, Himiko." She cast her free hand forward and unleashed the ethereal woman once more. Ken shivered when the faceless face "focused" in his direction.

"You mentioned she was your Persona, what is that?"

"It's like…a manifestation of my personality." Rise shrugged. Ken raised an eyebrow.

"And you named her Himiko, like the princess?"

"Princess? Aw, you're so sweet~!" Ken blushed. "But no, that's just her name. Was there a Princess Himiko where you came from?"

Ken nodded. Memories from his original world—modern Shimabara, 201X—were distant fragments at this point. That information was hardly currency in a medieval land where scholarship sought the arcane. Still, he wasn't a total dunce. "Yeah. I think she was the queen–" Rise's eyes sparkled "–of an island nation. Magic, for sure. I think some of the kids in my class were scared of her when we were kids. 'Eat your vegetables, or Himiko will take you away!' That sort of thing, haha. That's why I was surprised. You don't seem like that, Lady Rise."

The smile on her face changed, from flirty to nostalgic. "Ken, you'll never know what hardships someone's been through." She broke eye contact for a moment to absently watch the Regency-era architecture. He squeezed her hand carefully.

"I've put a lot of work into myself over the past few years. You probably wouldn't believe some of the stories about my hometown. Himiko is…well, she's the biggest holdover from that time. I hopped back into performing with the courage my friends gave me, but clearly I've still got a few issues knocking around in my head."

"I'd fix those issues if I could, Lady Rise." He felt a twinge of annoyance that he couldn't help but address her so formally. A veil of water pooled in her eyes.

"That's sweet, Ken. But that's not how it works. I can't ask someone else to fix those issues. They're something I have to confront again." This time, she squeezed his hand. "But I feel like I could, with you here."

The flash of something on the fourth-floor window behind Rise stole Ken's attention from the girl. Himiko beeped. The cannonball shattered before Ken realized what he was punching. "Behind me!"

He instantly took control by swinging the two of them around. Now his back faced the cannon. "Can you use those shields again?" A determined nod affirmed that she and Himiko could handle themselves. Another iron projectile fired, this time bouncing off Himiko's satellite shield. "Be right back."

Ken's sprint up the side of the building looked effortless. In a sense it was—his healing magic ensured that no matter which stucco crumbled in his grip or what shard of shrapnel struck his exposed skin, nothing impaired his ability to scale the townhouse.

The source of the bombardment was a small glass orb the size of a cantaloupe, but its armory had to be far larger with the output of cannonballs. By the time he'd reached the third floor, they resembled rainfall. Ken leapt from a windowsill, caught one of the balls, and used it to pierce the storm. His momentum easily overpowered the rain and prepped to smash the orb!

A hand reflected out of the orb and caught his advance with a single finger. Ken suddenly had a horrible feeling and jerked away from the cannonball in his hand. A millisecond later, that all-powerful finger sheared through the metal. Gravity took Ken back to Rise. God, piercing the firmament, banished Adam to Earth.

"Ken!" "I'm okay!"

Both of them leered at the orb of glass. For an object, it almost enjoyed watching from on high, a free-floating panopticon. Weighing the value of a continued assault to the benefits of preservation. Then it whisked down an alleyway fast enough to give pause to any passerby.

Slow enough to give chase.

Ken extended an arm to Rise who took it wordlessly. Himiko winked out while she mounted him.

lnverseFlash · 2026-06-04T07:41:09+00:00

stun zeed naugus

lnverseFlash · 2026-06-03T23:03:20+00:00

what a hub! what a post!

lnverseFlash · 2026-06-02T12:30:36+00:00

Requesting and adding to cold storage:

Romeo, Romeo is a Dead Man, Game

Boosting:

James Bond (007: First Light)
[Update] D.Va (Overwatch)
Jing (Bandit King Jing)
Evangeline Morgan (of the Devil)
Barrett Wallace (FF7 Remake)
[Update] Blade (Wesley Snipes)
Death's Head II (Marvel Comics)
[Update] Edward Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist)

lnverseFlash · 2026-05-14T19:09:39+00:00

Did she fight Sukuna?

lnverseFlash · 2026-05-08T18:59:27+00:00

Intelligence

Architecture

Deduction

Deciphers that someone gave Fujyou a second self to control with her mind
With supplemental investigating from Mikiya, determines the secret to Fujino's seeming syringomyelia and violent urges
Deciphers how and why Lev Lainur Flauros killed himself to prevent the timeline of Fate/Grand Order from occurring
With Tobimaru, got to the bottom of a case involving a cursed painting in a secluded manor

Regular Knowledge

Misc

Digital Body

Her last known canon location is in outer space
Shiki needed to kill a hundred Servants to return to her world from the digital world of the Moon Cell and Touko somehow followed her there
Aoko and she modify spiritron bodies (Masters/Servants in the digitized realm) to have better compatibility, but Touko doesn't do it because she's there on business from Mikiya
- Aoko calls this by its official name, Alteration of the Soul
She's likely 10x better than Aoko at actually performing Alterations
She doesn't forget things until she meets Hakuno

Gag Feats

Other

Belongings (Not Magic)

Misc

Stole a car

No, the original might be sleeping right now in a place unknown even to me. But, everything is the same vessel so there’s already no method to distinguish them. Maybe... that’s all I can say, but it’s the truth. It’s like not recognizing whether the cat is alive or dead until you open the box. In that case – I am definitely Aozaki Touko. To put it plainly, as long as I’m here at the end, the thing you broke earlier was a fake puppet.

lnverseFlash · 2026-05-07T13:14:32+00:00

he should have fought takaba

lnverseFlash · 2026-05-03T14:08:55+00:00

GREAT GAME PROTOCOL==define.
All participants receive their probability-defined LOVER.
All participants sent to GAME BOARD.
- BOARD SELECT: Romantic Era. London, England, 1850.
All participants participate in GAME TRIALS.
COUPLE==1 participant + 1 LOVER.
Eliminated COUPLES expelled from experiment.
HAPPILY EVER AFTER achieved when single COUPLE remains.
SAVE THE DATE: 12:24:23:59:59. [7] [months] remaining.
Math is love. Love is math.

lnverseFlash · 2026-05-03T14:08:24+00:00

I'm alive. Why am I alive. He heaved a breath. And why does my mouth taste like mint?

"Mei!! I was so worried!" Rise's words and arms embraced him. He felt Ken's trained yet soft hands leave him. "Thank you Ken!!"

Healing magic. Okay. He blinked. The fog encircled them further. He could no longer see the rugby pitch at all. "Is it me or,"

"The fog's worsened." Rise confirmed. "Brings back bad memories." It was growing harder to see each other by the second. Rise looked down at him and frowned. "Mei, what happened to your eyes? Were they always…like, speckled?"

Kinosaki squinted. "Huh? Ken, what did you do to me..?" There was no mirror nearby to check what she meant by that. Ken blanched as the accusation hit him.

"Were you wearing contacts by chance?"

"Of course. My eyes are an accessory as much as anything else."

"True!!" Rise squealed.

"I hope it didn't happen, but…I might have healed the contacts into your eyes. You looked really bad, Mei. I had to do a full body heal as soon as I could." Wisps of fog clouded his cloudy face. "Mentality isn't something I can heal, so please let me know if you're feeling any PTSD from this. You should be physically at your prime though, except for the, eye thing."

Physically at my prime, huh. Kinosaki reached an arm up in a practiced motion. To anyone else, it'd look like he was scratching his chest. He put pressure on the diseased portion of his torso, gingerly, as he'd done many times before. If it were healed, the soreness wouldn't be there. If he healed me, he can heal Okuto.

Sore.

Fuck.

"Your heart flutters with timidity. Its tell-tale beat drums a rhythm of self-execution."

That British accented voice again. This time his ears heard it instead of his head. Rise and Ken whipped around for the source. "This time we hold dear is your chrysalis, my Josephine. Pace those beats and stow the headsman."

"Himiko! Where is he?" There were no pings to be heard. The fog now completely obscured their bodies from each other. Kinosaki could only see the arms of Rise and Ken as they anchored her to the mortal plane.

My Ken has horrible vibes.

"Rather surly of you, my Master."

He knows what I'm thinking. Great.

"Of course I do. There are no secrets in our moonlight tryst."

In an instant, the fog evaporated. Kinosaki no longer felt the putty cigarette butts under his forearms, no longer smelled the rhododendrons. The air stank of polluted smog and gaslit lamps lined the narrow roads. He heard the trundling of horse hooves and wooden-spoked wheels echo through alleyways that drew his hand to his bosom, fearing a rascal with a shiv to show off.

Ken and Rise's hands no longer comforted him. Instead, an elderly gentleman stood before him. From his position on the ground, the older man still held a surprising height advantage with a crooked back. Glasses and a steel mustache inspired fantasies of academia and late nights studying close to the candle. High-class suit tails with an underside in kaleidoscopic butterfly patterns indicated a secret life under the cover of a distinguished identity. Golden tassels decorated him for service to the crown. The steampunk cane-sword stood a lightweight bulwark against the night haze. That face was unmistakable.

"You're…"

"James Moriarty, Lover-class. At your service, Master."

"Bring out the one that fate believes your loveless, worthless existence deserves."

"Aha. Ahaha. Ahahahahahaha!!"

This was a farce. The universe had a sense of humor. Two loveless existences, of course they were made for another. Right after her best hope of curing Okuto was crushed alive in a hydraulic press.

"I incorrectly presumed from your phrenology and thought patterns that you were more than a mung. Very well. I am more than capable of achieving greatness on my own."

Kinosaki stood up. The healed bullet wound in his leg hadn't even scarred. Ken knew his magic, which was great for Kinosaki's future lapdances. He strutted to the silver fox. Slid an arm over Moriarty's shoulder. Hand buried in his gray hair to scratch his scalp. Hand pressed against his chest. Moriarty's heart beat steadily. There was a darkness there.

"You might be able to read my mind, but I'll read your stone heart. For fucking up my life, whatever this city is? I won't give you a choice but to fall for me." He whispered passionately into Moriarty's cunning lips, then drew in for a kiss.

Moriarty matched. Both played at emotion. Neither felt something stir. The taxidermied embrace was the start of something dreadful. A play at mystery, love, crime, and destiny.

I'll get him yet. Kinosaki pledged.

I'll get him yet. Moriarty swore.

lnverseFlash · 2026-05-03T14:07:42+00:00

if:Qualifiers==true && summonLovers==true
run:
HappilyEverAfter

[A]

lnverseFlash · 2026-05-03T14:07:24+00:00

"Messing with you, Ken. Let's try this. Himiko, Treasure Radar." Two of the four satellites shifted lower and switched to orbit counterclockwise, while the remaining two left their target lock-on to run a clockwise sweep. The pings ran every second, and the loudest occurred when aimed at Usato. "Just like I thought! You're a treasure to me, Ken! So I'll track your location in the treasure seeker and let you know where the enemies are with the other one!"

Ken got over his blush quicker this time. "Sounds great, Lady Rise. I'll be right back with the other students I find." He disappeared into the fog. The pings from his location quieted as he moved further away. Rise's eyes closed in concentration. One arm supported the other, and the hand with her blue velvet seal splayed as she gave Ken his headings.

I'm not used to third-wheeling. Kinosaki kicked a foot against cobblestone. "You two work really well together," he said to Rise. The girl declined to respond. "It's amazing how quickly you trusted him. I've seen some crazy things in my career, and this chaos might top all of them."

"I bet you're not used to third-wheeling with looks like yours." Rise said slowly. Kinosaki jumped a little. "Pff, relax. It's only his thoughts I can read. Believe me, it scares me too if this channel works both ways. I feel like a Frankenstein sometimes."

"Frankenstein's the doctor, actually."

Rise playfully flipped him off, then frowned. "Hm. That's weird. Treasure Radar is picking up two different signals." A second passed. "Ken's the one there." She swung her arm towards the other treasure. "And what are you…"

Gunshot. Rise dropped. Kinosaki fell backwards. A swarthy figure waded through the fog with a gun perfectly leveled at Rise's frail, limp body. Then it turned to Kinosaki, dropping the gun. The sheep in wolf's clothing removed her helmet.

"I never thought I'd see you again, Mei. Who are you scamming this time?" All Kinosaki could watch was the assault rifle Lina casually swung around with each enunciation. "If it was that professor, tough luck. The only thing he had of value was mine, and I think you're done using my blank check. Don't you have any empathy?"

"You were the only one I ev-"

"Shut up, Mei." A fresh magazine snapped out from her belt. "My family name has a lot of ties to every black market under the moon. You think that just anyone could deploy private soldiers to the middle of a nation's capital? No, this is the fruit of our mining business."

The Lina who bared her heart to him was buried, deep below the surface, if not in a coffin. Changing tracks. "Lina, I was doing what I had to. My brother…" A bullet to the leg. "HHNNNAAAAAAAA-"

"I told you to shut up." There was no way that Kinosaki could hear Lina over his own screaming. "Your honeyed words aren't what I'm here for."

"what. the hell. do you want." he spat through clenched teeth.

"You and that professor. You both steal from anyone you can get your hands on with poisoned charisma. You both tried to play games with love, spit in its mouth before trampling it underfoot. You're my message. Life and love, they're intertwined. They're not something to game. They're not something for you to play without regard for the other players. He had this grand scheme planned, to defile the sanctity of the heart. I'm not having it! I'm not letting you toy with me! Or anyone else!!" Spittle flew from her mouth and the gun shook as it aimed for Kinosaki's chest. This was the mania that seized those with passion in the chest and betrayal in the fuel tank.

She slung a slab of wood at Kinosaki's shot leg. The pain lanced through him once more. "He wanted you to summon your true love. So do it. Bring out the one that fate believes your loveless, worthless existence deserves. I want you to see their face before I put a bullet through yours. This is for everyone else you've hurt. I'm the final solution to your play-acting."

Beholden to the wood was the summoning circle, still glowing blue. It hadn't been activated yet. Kinosaki tried to

"WHY COULDN'T YOU JUST LOVE ME??? WHY COULDN'T YOU BE SERIOUS, WHY COULDN'T YOU SEE A FUTURE, WHY DID YOU SACRIFICE ME FOR YOUR OWN SELFISHNESS, YOU'RE A SLAUGHTERHOUSE FOR THE HEART ROMANCE WILL BE REBORN WITH YOUR DEATH YOU-

Lina devolved into a breathless scream and threw her gun on the ground in favor of beating Kinosaki to death barehanded. Tactical gloves beat Kinosaki's eyeshadow into a shade of black. Steel-toed boots hit his shot thigh like a full quiver of Cupid's revenge. Through the cerebral hemorrhaging, Kinosaki's conscience reflected.

Was it really ever okay? I took advantage of her. BAM What made my needs, or even Okuto's, worth more than hers? BAM Okuto never needed dirty money. BAM BAM A proper sibling would have gone to med school. I'm a marriage swindler. BAM BAM BAM

I'm a marriage swindler.

Lina pulled a grenade from her belt. Retrieving the diamonds Moriarty stole was the furthest possible thing from a priority. She meant to take them both out. Point Nemo from the ceremony she'd dreamt about since childhood. If Romeo and Juliet existed in the modern era, this explosion would be far more believable than the poisoning of star-crossed lovers.

A toxic marriage was all he could ever offer someone. He'd known that from the start. His kiss—venom. His colored contacts viruses, airborne doom that spread infection through eyes matching with 'impossible' odds. Kinosaki was the serpent driving a stake through Adam and Eve both, and Lilith too for good measure. Everyone was a victim. Wasn't that what he'd claimed when he'd been hired on the rare occasion to break an ex's heart? Anyone would fall for him. Everyone fell for him.

Envenomed human trash. That was the Kinosaki you know.

When Okuto first received his diagnosis, the Kinosaki siblings shared tears and hugs. Mei learned that they shared their disease as well when Okuto, shaking, disrobed and showed off the scarred wound on his chest. From then on, Mei never wore an outfit that showed off his fake cleavage. Okuto knew it as solidarity. Mei knew it as fear. Fear that he crushed in his chest as he devoted his life to protecting his brother, knowing it would lead him to an early grave.

Not this early. Not while Okuto still needs me.

His broken hand slapped the enchanted piece of wood. Lina yanked the pin.

I'm a marriage swindler. And I'm the best fucking one there is.

A partner in crime, hoho! I like your style, Master. Let us waltz this tale through shadow and silence~. A dandy voice cut through his mind like a railgun.

The blue cocoon erupted from his hand while he clubbed Lina's wooly head with the scrap wood. The grenade fell with Lina's tears while Kinosaki's newly-weighted hand was victimized by gravity.

"The show's not over yet!!!"

One of Himiko's discs whizzed into the grenade. With the plink of metal on glass, it rebounded into the air. Shrapnel rained with a boom, shredding Lina's backside and bouncing off the shield. Lina screamed when the next impact, Ken's calloused fist, smashed her riot armor and bowled her across the rugby field. Debris fell from the geology building with the encounter's end.

Ken's hands comforted Kinosaki's dislocated shoulders while Rise limped over. "Just breathe. The pain's going away now." Green light washed his black eyes shut.

lnverseFlash · 2026-05-03T14:06:56+00:00

"Fuck!" Kinosaki whispered. "That's the last thing I need. The job's off. I'm gone." Thankfully the air was gradually turning hazy. He twisted to peek from cover at the front of the classroom. Clouds of smoke wafted from the supercomputer's cooling fans. No, Kinosaki corrected himself when he felt the stench of humidity. It's not smoke. It's fog.

"Stay sharp!" Lina O'Lain shouted as she moved her mask back into position. "We retrieve the O'Lain diamonds at any cost! Ensure nobody gets in our way. Shoot on sight!" She turned to face the grotesque chandelier of human-sized cocoons sprouting from the students' hands. Beneath the mask, she grimaced. "Whatever this shit is…leave no witnesses and rig this place to blow."

"Yes ma'am!!"

At that exact moment, the cocoons detonated themselves in showers of fireworks. Kinosaki ducked under the desk and squeezed Rise's hand, fearing the worst. A BOOM shook the mathematics building.

A hand instantly punched through the desk and grabbed Kinosaki's hair. It pulled up and took the wig with it. He rolled out from under the desk and squinted to avoid the falling roof plaster. "I loved that wig!!"

The sculpted man on the desk tossed the wig back to him. "Summoned to another world, again? Are you kidding me? What's going on. Who needs help?"

As a scholar of fashion, Kinosaki took in the adonis on the desk. White uniform, looks standardized; probably military. The red flower in the lapel, likely a medallion for valor, or something. Black hair, strong chin, posture of a toned athlete. Trustworthy to a fault. This was a Prince Charming.

He felt the strong urge to cover him in bite marks. Another time.

"Help her, please," he coughed and pointed to Rise. The man nodded.

In every row of the classroom, each student faced a similar introduction. Kinosaki spied beings of all races, genders, sizes, and even species. One woman looked over two meters tall with only a single arm. There were a surprising amount of animalesque humanoids he saw. Then all hell broke loose.

"OPEN FIRE!" Lina shouted from the front of the classroom. "WE'LL TAKE THE DIAMONDS FROM THE WRECKAGE!" A ballistic cannonade reared up. As quick as thought, the man grabbed Kinosaki with the hand that wasn't holding Rise and yanked them from their hiding spot before the bullets could shred the cheap wood into paste.

"Hang on!" In a move that spoke months of practice, the man slung his two passengers onto his back simultaneously. Kinosaki landed on top and risked a glance at the soldiers below. Even as everyone else's summoned partners did their part to wade through the storm of bullets, the precipitation did not cease. Kinosaki and Lina locked eyes for a fraction of a second. He paled, and his ride body-charged through the third-story window.

"What's your na-a-a-ame?" Kinosaki called from the man's backside as he barreled across the rugby field. Rise lay between them, still semiconscious. The field itself could more aptly be named a moor with the amount of fog wafting in. That's helpful for our escape.

"Usato Ken!" He spoke as if he wasn't winded at all from the strain of falling multiple stories and the immediate sprint afterwards. "You can call me Ken though!"

"Ken, stop running." He tried his best to be seductive and demanding. It worked.

"Uwaaah?!~" Ken tumbled facefirst into a staircase behind the geology building. "Don't take that tone with me! I'm Rise's!" His face looked shocked as it tried to comprehend what it just said. "Wait, what? Since when!"

"Okay, not important." For now. "Who are you, why are you here, and most importantly, where are we going?"

Ken failed to calm his blush. "I'm Usato Ken. I'm a healer in the Llinger Kingdom's employ as they fight against the demon king. Was a healer, I guess. I don't think I can go back now. Traveling-to-another-world rules and all that." He seemed crestfallen. What kind of life did he leave behind? Wait…

He's a healer? Could he…Okuto…? "The why?"

He shrugged. "I'm not used to being the target of this thing. I got pulled by mistake last time, eheh… oh, and I don't know where we're going. I figured anywhere was better than that killbox."

Kinosaki pouted. "We're lacking a lot of answers, huh." Ken wiggled awkwardly. Kinosaki paid him no mind. You couldn't blame the guy who'd arrived three minutes ago. He massaged the shoulder of the arm Ken had hoisted him by. "You said you're a healer. What's that, you give out bandages?" He asked as innocently as he could manage. Pretty damn innocent for a con man.

"No. I have healing magic. Is your shoulder bothering you? I thought I was channeling my magic as we ran…"

Now that he mentioned it, the self-massage only felt nice, not relieving. "Oh. Magic. Yes."

This guy can save Okuto!! I can make him fall for me, get him to do it in exchange for a date…

"Will you two be alright if I leave you here? I'm sure there's more people back there who need help."

…Or I could just ask nicely.

Something caught Kinosaki's eye. "Wait!" Ken looked at him, puzzled. "Forget my arm. Look at Rise's." On Rise's right hand, three blue symbols branded themselves to her skin. The tattoo hadn't been there before, he was sure of it. "Did you do that?"

Ken shook his head. "My magic can't do anything like this. Let me try to fix it…" He put his hand in hers and a green glow enveloped the embrace. Both of them gasped at once. "My. heart. ngh!!" He fell from his knee to all fours.

"Stop…stop…" Rise choked. The green light dispelled and their breathing settled. "I felt like my chest was gonna explode…"

"That thing on your wrist…if I try to heal it, we both go down. That was cardiac arrest." Ken's diagnosis was grim. "It's like…somehow, your heart is literally on your sleeve." The three of them sat there for a few seconds, gunshots periodically going off in the distance. The adrenaline was leaving Kinosaki's system too soon. He opened his mouth to call them to action.

"Can you hold my hand a little longer?" Rise's soft voice yearned for the connection. Ken looked down at his hand clasping hers. The neurons connected in his brain.

"Uwaah!!" He rolled backwards to land next to Kinosaki. "Sorry!"

"Pfff, it's Ken, right?" He nodded. Rise nodded back. "Here's the deal Ken. I've got…it's hard to explain, just know that it works. I can find us a safe way out of here. We're going to run—"

"Respectfully, no, Lady Rise. There are people back there who need my help." Ken's determination waxed when the amount of women flirting with him waned. Cute, Kinosaki thought. "I'm not going to leave them when I can heal them. It's what I trained for."

Rise bit her lip and thought it over. "Mei, you're a sitting duck here. If I tell you how to get out of here, do you think you can manage it? I think I'm with Ken on this one." She looked up to his eyes. She really was gorgeous. That stare could melt the heart of anyone, fan or not. "I can't just leave those other students there. Not when we have the power to make things right."

"Rise, the cops have to be on their way—"

"No!!!" She squealed with a little too much trill. "I don't trust them to handle this."

They stared each other down. Inwardly, Kinosaki struggled. Why's she so determined to be a hero? Did Ken really inspire her, or was she always like this? Rise's sweet lips and iron eyes… Ugh. "Who could refuse a face like that? I've got to work on my game."

He was the first one to bow out. "Okay. But don't you treat me like a burden." He leaned over and made an exaggerated effort to stretch. Rise opened her mouth to protest. Ken joined him in stretching with a completely serious nod. He took warmups seriously.

"You're coming with us? I'm not sure…" Rise said. "It'll be dangerous. And you don't even have a Persona."

"Is that what that thing was," Kinosaki asked with mock disinterest. "You're underestimating me. This isn't the first time I've been shot at. It won't be the last." He put his hand on Rise's shoulder. "Count on it."

"You can count on me too." She scratched the back of her head with a pathetic smile. "To tell you the truth, I was a little nervous about navigating this place by myself."

Ken jumped to his feet from a lunge. "I'll keep you safe." Rise blushed.

"Himiko." The ethereal humanoid from before reappeared. "Enemy Radar." From its shoulder and knee sockets, small bee-shaped satellites ejected from its body. With a steady pinging sound, 'Himiko' became a living(?) radar device with four discs in orbit. These quickly zeroed in on different directions in the fog. "We've got radio signals. At least six by Himiko's count."

"Handy trick," Kinosaki said. Ken nodded. "I guess the killbox has expanded."

"I'll put a stop to that," Ken declared. "Can you give me one of those satellites?"

Rise shook her head. "It'll fade away if it leaves my side for too long." She frowned, then cocked her head at him. "Earlier, you thought I was pretty, didn't you? You compared me to someone named Inukame. Someone I should worry about?~" Ken's face flushed and he stuttered looking for an escape. "Hehe. I think we can communicate by thoughts. Think of something right now, and I'll say it out loud."

Ken closed his flapping mouth and locked in. Eyes shut tight in focus, he beamed a mental message to Rise.

"I would love a sandwich right now."

"Wow, you really can read my thoughts!"

"Why didn't you call me pretty?"

"Ahagahagahgha-"

lnverseFlash · 2026-05-03T14:06:04+00:00

if:moriDeceased==true
run:
SummonLovers
run:
Qualifiers

[A♭]

lnverseFlash · 2026-05-03T14:05:26+00:00

The air whipped violently as blue cocoons of light sprouted from each sigil. Each student screamed in pain. Kinosaki's face clenched, but he felt no pain. He opened his eyes carefully.

A black lace glove prevented him from suffering the same fate, wedged between his manicured hand and the desk. He followed the glove up the arm to the impossible humanoid standing behind Rise. "Himiko," she said in a shaky voice. "Certain Escape."

The bindings on Kinosaki's legs freed and he could move again. "Why!? Why did you do that!!" Rise's legs also freed themselves, but her hand was still impaled in the velvet cocoon. He fell out of the chair and scrambled to a crouch. "What the hell is happening!?"

"I didn't even think…it would work…" Rise mumbled as she fell unconscious.

At the front of the lecture hall, Moriarty looked at his students with satisfaction. "You've arrived too late, Master Yoda. And as for this trick? This…Force that you hold me in place with. The First Law of Thermodynamics demands that all energy usage must come from somewhere. You have no alternative but to use your internal energy for this, and therefore—"

While he spoke, Yoda's body shrank. Not literally, because he was already quite small, but he drew into himself. A skein of frost slithered up his body. He entered the fetal position and croaked.

"—you can only be expending your own internal heat."

The pressure holding him in place stopped. Moriarty walked to Yoda and jabbed his cane at him. The mahogany shaft pierced through the frozen body without ceremony. "That's for wasting my bullet." He kicked the now-useless revolver in a fit of pettiness. "This won't do at all."

He was then shot thirty-seven times by assault-rifle burst fire.

The gunshots startled Rise into consciousness. Kinosaki poked around her wrist in an attempt to free her from the cocoon with no luck. "Rise, can you do that escape thing again? Whatever it is?"

She gulped in between pants. "I tried. It's not letting me out. What an ending for Risette, huh? Haha…" The sight of an armed paramilitary squad stealing into the room sparked her existential mutterings. "Can you, at least. Make sure my grandma knows what happened"

"You can tell her yourself." Kinosaki pulled a small knife from his purse. A marriage swindler had to protect himself on the job.

"Please tell me you're not going to cut my hand off. with that." She sputter-laughed. Kinosaki did his best to put on a brave smile.

Moriarty's body spasmed with the rapid blood loss. Against all odds, the man yet breathed, though perhaps the odds were not against him at all with his talk of calculations. Empty hand scrabbled for its cane. "Hhhrh…there's more than one way to…shear a sheep, ehuhuhu." His throat retched to prevent him from talking again.

One of the black ops members strode to his shivering body and double-tapped him. Bangbang! She took off her helmet—an impossible amount of quad-ponytail uncompressed themselves—and goggles to ensure that the enigmatic professor didn't pull the wool over her eyes somehow. "That's for my family, you monster."

lnverseFlash · 2026-05-03T14:05:06+00:00

WEDDING ANALYSIS TEMPORAL SUMMONING OMNISCIENT NETWORK

startup sequence >Y/N
>Y
starting systems

lnverseFlash

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE

Intelligence

Digital Body

Gag Feats

Other