Send In The Fool

Chapter One

[Wake Up In A Casket And Have No Memories]

_Name_Title_Persona_

The room was a dark blue.

An old man with wide-bloodshot eyes and a long-pointy nose sat comfortably on his couch with crossed legs and intertwined fingers, beside him was his lovely female assistant. Sitting across from these two was a young man with short blue hair, grey eyes, and the model expression of stoicism; he was wearing armor and looked out of place compared to his sharply-dressed hosts and the snappy decor of the room.

The old man greeted his guest. "Welcome to the Velvet Room. This place exists between dream and reality, mind and matter... And only those who have signed the contract can enter this place..." He gave a rather crooked his smile as he pushed a document toward his guest. "Though there is a bit of problem. You must sign the contract with your name... But you don't remember what that is, do you?"

The young man shook his head. He could remember absolutely nothing about who he was or much of anything else. He felt as if he had been asleep for a long time and only now he had just awakened.

"Then I will do you one favor and tell you your name. Are you ready?" The young man nodded. "Remember it well. Your name is... Minato Arisato."

Mi-Na-To. A-Ri-Sa-To.

The words smoothly roll off the young man's tongue.

He repeated it another time, then a third, followed by a fourth.

His name. So that was his name? It felt so right. Yes, this must be his name!

"Thank you."

"It is good to see you so pleased. My name is Igor and I am delighted to make your acquaintance." The old man's smile was little less crooked. "And this," he gestured without looking away, "is my assistant: Elizabeth."

"It's a pleasure to meet you!" the lovely woman waved.

Minato nodded his head in response, "Hello."

From his coat-pocket, Igor pulled out a pen and placed it on the desk next to the document.

There was not much written on the document but a single line stood out to Minato: 'I chooseth this fate of mine own free will'. He picked up the pen. Was there any reason to refuse? If there was then Minato couldn't remember why. With little hesitation, he signed the contract.

Igor rolled up the document and handed it to his assistant. "From now on, you shall be welcome here in the Velvet Room. I only ask of one thing in return... that you abide by the contract and assume responsibility for the choices you make."

The young man nodded in understanding.

"Hold on to this," Igor handed him a velvet-key, "This will unlock the door to the Velvet Room for you." The old man grinned, "Until we meet again, Master Minato."

The room faded to black.

[...]

Blurrily the world came into view as a nasally high-pitched voice barked out orders.

"Rub some acids in his eyes! That'll freshen him up!"

Small clawed-appendages did as the voice said and rubbed lemony-acid upon Minato's face. He groaned and winced, eyes tearing up, as he resisted. He pushed his way out of his casket, a small scowl on his face while he stumbled about. He rubbed his eyes and blinked away until his vision finally cleared up.

The first thing that Minato noticed were the brown goblin-like creatures staring at him with awe and wonder. Next was the rather large and disgusting clump of flesh that pulsed every so often at the corner it was tucked away in. After that was the dark and cramp cave they were all in. Lastly was that he had not a shred of garment to cover up his modesty.

With an expression as cold as carved stone and a face as red as a bad burn, Minato refused to speak or look at them. The ground was so interesting... Was it possible to die from utter shame? Minato was very certain that he was close to finding out.

The oldest of the goblin-like creatures was swift to command.

"Cover him up! We wouldn't want our new Master to die from embarrassment, now would we?"

Minato was quickly draped by a raggedy cloak. It wasn't much but a beggar couldn't be a chooser; it was far better than being completely nude. He tugged the cloak tighter around himself and felt that something was wrong. No, perhaps 'wrong' was too strong a word; it was more like 'odd'. His body felt odd but he was not sure why. He figured it out soon enough. By the looks of his arms, he was slender, effeminately so. But it was the slenderness of someone who had lived most of their life on a sick-bed as opposed to a slim beauty. Though he had no memories, Minato had the impression that his body should have been more masculine and lean.

The old goblin-like creature seemed to share the sentiment of his fragility.

It was gray and wrinkly with a beard that told much about its age; compared to the bronze coloring of the others, it appeared fairly similar to a corpse. It shared the same golden eyes as its brethren, though age seemed to have instilled a greater cunning in them. It was dressed in tattered robes, which was far more extravagant than the loin-cloths that the others wore. And strapped to its back was a stick with a glowing crystal dangling from it.

"We have a lot of work to do," the old goblin-like creature said with an annoyed tone and a raised brow, "But, ah, some explanations are in order! We are Minions, your most loyal servants. I am Gnarl, the Minion Master, and these eager fellows are the Browns." It paused and bowed, the rest of the minions parroted the action, "And you, My Sire, are the Overlord!"

The what now?

The Oval Lure?

Despite Minato's blank expression, the Minion Master was aware of his confusion.

"The Overlord," it repeated in a jovial voice, "The supreme master of all the Minions; the supreme evil of all the lands; the supreme lord of all Middle-Domain!" That was quite a bit of supreme but the point came across either way. "Yes... or at least, that is how it should be..." Disgust took over Gnarl's tone. "However, ten years ago, your predecessor was defeated by those pesky Seven Heroes. Normally, this would not be a problem; it's just how the struggle of good and evil goes, Milord; but those accursed Seven Heroes went and messed with the formula and unleashed a greater evil upon the land! Now, the once great title of Overlord no longer commands the respect and fear of the masses," it shook its fist, "Instead, they all cower in their beds, shaking with fright, at the merest Shadow!"

'So, you were overshadowed?' Minato left jokingly unsaid.

If he understood the Minion Master's points then it would be summarized something like this:

1) The Previous Overlord was defeated by the Seven Heroes.

2) Minato was now the New Overlord.

3) The legacy of the Overlord has fallen and now people are more afraid of Shadows.

"Indeed, that about sums it up," Gnarl nodded. Minato was not certain how the old minion knew what he was thinking about, was it a mind-reader? "I have had my fair share of experience with serving under the silent-type, Milord." Oh, that explained it.

So, if he understood what Gnarl wanted from him, as the newly appointed Overlord, Minato was now suppose to kill the Seven Heroes and then cement his rule over the lands.

"Correct."

Minato opened his mouth and spoke, his voice was weak and a pitch higher than he liked but it was firm, "...Where do we begin?"

Gnarl grinned quite wickedly, "I thought you would never ask!" He looked to the Browns, "Bring it here!" then turned back to Minato, "When your predecessor was defeated, we did not have much time to salvage for our valuables. Still, you are the Overlord and no decent Overlord would find themselves without The Gauntlet!"

Just as the name implied, The Gauntlet was a gauntlet, though it was a special gauntlet with some sort of orb resting within its steel form. Putting it on his left-hand, Minato found that it was both a tad heavy and not entirely fitting.

"Your body is not in the best of conditions, Milord. You had suffered a near-fatal accident and have been asleep for ten-years now. Your gauntlet, I'm afraid, won't fit like a glove until you gain some meat on you, Sire. But we have a more pressing matter at hand."

Minato did not get a chance to speak as the world around was suddenly tinted by an ominous green. The very air seemed to still while being replaced by the fresh scent of blood. The atmosphere contained a strange pressing weight.

"Hmm," Gnarl hummed, "People call it the Dark Hour, Milord. The hidden hour of the day which comes after midnight... it is also the time when those blasted Shadows roam free. If you're feeling sick, tell me now so I may avoid the hurl."

Minato felt unpleasant. As if a pressure was squeezing him from both the outside and in, yet somehow was not entirely uncomfortable. He felt nauseous to say the least.

The Minion Master took the silence as a cue to step back. "Minions! It's time we moved out. Take the Hive... and, oh, the Master as well!"

"YEZ, SER!"

The minions quickly scrambled as they lifted up their clump-of-flesh Hive and their new Overlord.

Minato only expressed mild surprise at the small creatures having the strength to so casually lift him up; they didn't have any trouble carrying him around either. "Where are we going...?" he mumbled.

Gnarl, despite his age, was also quite brisk in pace. "Anywhere but here, Milord. Shadows are fond of attacking beings that don't transmogrify during the Dark Hour." Minato need not ask before he received an explanation. "The Dark Hour is an irregular time, Milord. Normal beings can't survive long with the taint in the air, so they play dead in their coffins to protect themselves from the Shadows."

That did not really explain what 'transmogrify' meant but Minato at least understood that anybody active during the Dark Hour was apparently prey for the Shadows. Which meant he and the minions were possible target. Obviously, that meant it was better to keep moving here and there, rather than sticking around in one place.

[...]

Soon enough, black blobs were chasing after them — oozing out of the ground like bubbling sludge. Under Gnarl's directions, they were able to avoid most of the Shadows, though a few thick encounters had required them to run away. Were it not for the Browns' amazing speed, they would have been caught a long time ago.

As they skedaddle here and there across the hills, it seemed as if the Dark Hour would pass without any major incidents.

That was quickly proven wrong.

From the hill they were running up to, a frowning-mask peeked over the edge and it locked eyes with the New Overlord. There was something familiar about it... something that made him want to kill it. From behind the mask, several black limbs came forward and reached toward them. "Retreat!" Gnarl commanded and the minions back-pedaled. More black limbs rose from behind the frowning-mask but these were armed with knives.

Minato broke out of his trance and realized that they were now surrounded.

Gnarl was looking at him. "We're in a bit of a pickle, Milord. This may too much to ask for in your current state... but if you don't summon your Persona then we're sure to die."

"Persona?"

There was no more time to chat.

The slime-like Shadows attacked!

"PROTEK TEH HIVE!"

"FOUR TE MASTUR!"

"BAASSSHHHH IN ZEH PHACE!"

The Browns cried out as they dispersed to defend their Hive and Master. Against the weaker Shadows, they proved capable of stalling or killing them. But against the large Frowning Shadow, they were little more than pests and were easily skewered in the blink of an eye.

Unceremoniously dumped onto the ground, Minato wondered if there was anything he could do. Gnarl said to summon his Persona but what did that mean?

A smaller Shadow broke through their line of defense and lunged toward him. He did not think, he merely struck, an armored-fist sent toward the small Shadow's mask. With a crunch upon impact, the Shadow was sent flying.

"Hoh, what strength!" the Minion Master clapped in approval.

Minato blinked in surprise. Was he strong or were these Shadows weak? His pondering was cut short as more and more Shadows broke into the inner-circle and he was forced to join the battle. Even though he had been asleep for ten years, it seemed that his body still remembered how to fight. The smaller Shadows were easily dealt with as a single punch or slap was enough to destroy them; it helped that the Minions were useful distractions that allowed him to deliver critical-blows against the Shadows.

But, before he could get further into the groove of things, there were no more Minions to hold back the Frowning Shadow.

They came from the front, from the top, from the left, from every angle available to strike. It was only by luck that Minato was able to avoid the multiple knife-wielding appendages, while his gauntlet-hand had managed to block a cut which would have sliced open his neck. He rolled down the hill, "...Ugh, urgh..." and groaned when he stopped. Because of that, the most recent barrage of knives missed their mark.

The Frowning Shadow made it a point to ignore Gnarl and the other Minions. Without slowing down, it scrambled down the hill after him. Idly, he noted that, while the movements were fairly clumsy, the numerous limbs did not get tangled with one another.

It was pretty clear that Minato was the target.

And whatever Minions were left had prioritized the safety of the Hive over him, so he had to deal with the large Shadow on his own.

'Great...' he sarcastically told himself. Minato grunted as he pushed himself off the ground, a hand on his head. 'What now?' Trying to close in and punch the thing would be a very bad idea for his health. For now, he ran away and kept his distance from the Shadow. 'Gotta think of something fast.' The Dark Hour was sapping away his stamina with every step.

Other than summoning his Persona, he wasn't sure what else he could do.

Minato made a quick glare at the Minions up the hill and bemoaned his fate.

"A helping-hand would be nice..."

[...]

Observing the life-and-and-death situation was Akihiko Sanada.

"That's a pretty big Shadow." He didn't know if he should have felt excited or afraid that there was such a huge Shadow next to the village. One thing was for certain though, he did not like what he was seeing. "Damn," he punched a fist into his palm and squeezed it.

"What do we do?" a shaky voice asked him.

Akihiko turned to face his scouting-partner with gritted teeth. Mitsuru had made it quite clear to him that his only role was to find out and report what the commotion near the village was all about. 'But...' Standing around and doing nothing did not sit well with him. 'Mitsuru is going to execute me for this...' He closed eyes and recomposed himself. "Alright! Yukari, you head back to town and ready our defenses!"

Yukari, Junpei, Kotone, Mitsuru, and himself should be more than enough to handle the large Shadow.

Yukari grew flustered at him for shouting when she was right next to him but nodded her head anyways, "Al-Alright!" and quickly retreated.

Akihiko pounded his fists together and dashed out of cover.

"HERE I GO!"

[...]

From out of nowhere, a man with silver hair and red vest appeared between Minato and the Shadow. He pulled out a metallic object and pointed it to his head. "Polydueces!" he shouted, followed by a bang. A figure of sky-blue and flowing gold appeared and struck the Frowning Shadow before disappearing. It was not a direct hit but the attack was enough to shove the Shadow aside. The man looked to Minato and gestured to himself, "Follow me!"

It seemed as if his prayers had been answered and help had arrived. Anything was better than here, so Minato quickly took the man's advice and followed after him. The newcomer grabbed his hand and lead the way, they sprinted as fast as they could.

"...What was that?"

"Persona; I'll explain the rest later!"

The Shadow was hot on their trail.

"Watch out for the trees!" the man shouted. His plan, for the forest to impede the Shadow's movement, worked and they were able to escape without much trouble as the squishy-stomps of the Shadow faded into the distance. Noticing that the girl with long blue hair was panting for breath, he stopped pulling and let go of her hand. "We'll rest here for the moment," he turned around, "Name's Akihi..." but quickly snapped his head elsewhere, "..Er... A-A-Akihiko S-Sanada..." He almost got an eyeful of the stranger's almost-nude body since she only had a raggedy cape to cover herself up with.

In-between breaths, Minato introduced himself, "My name is... Minato Arisato... thanks."

"Um, no problem!" Akihiko nervously thought how awkward the current situation was; his blazer would have been a nice thing to cover her up with but he never wore the thing during Dark Hour duties.

Using this moment of peace, Minato was able to get a better look at his savior.

Akihiko Sanada had short silver hair and stone-grey eyes, a strong face with an equally strong body, and a cut on his left brow. There was nothing that really stood out from his attire other than the red vest over the white shirt, the plated-gauntlets protecting his hands with a pointy-emphasize on the knuckles, the red band on his left arm, and the odd L-shaped device on his belt.

Silently, they stood around; not a sound around them except for their own breathing.

Quiet as quiet could be...

"So what's a Persona?"

Akihiko latched onto the subject like a life-line; the silent tension was fraying his nerves. He turned around and was about to speak but then realized he was looking at Minato again. Instead of rudely averting his gaze, he tried to keep his focus on the girl's face. For someone who had been chased by such a large Shadow, she was the picture-perfect portrait of calm or maybe even bored. Akihiko, on the other hand, was trying his damn hardest not to look any lower than her eyes.

"A Persona is..." He wasn't very knowledgeable about the whys and hows, so it was best if he just kept things simple. "It's basically a special-power that let's us fight against the Shadows." He paused, "...You might be a Persona-User too."

"How so?" Minato tilted his head.

"It's because you're awake right now. Normal people are asleep during the Dark Hour but people with the potential to summon a Persona don't transform."

Oh, Minato had heard about something similar from Gnarl. So he was a Persona-User because he was awake during the Dark Hour? Then did Gnarl and the rest of the Minions have the potential to summon a Persona as well? He would have to get a clarification on that later. For now, he asked another question. "How does someone summon their Persona?"

Akihiko removed the gun-like object from his holster and rested it on his palm so that the girl could have a clear view of it. "We use this; it's called an Evoker."

Well, Minato had most or less already figured that part out by himself, but it was nice to have a name for the device. Since Gnarl had asked Minato to summon his Persona, he had inkling that his Gauntlet might have been some type of evoker-type device as well. The important question was figuring out the method to trigger his Gauntlet and therefore his Persona...

Deciding that they had rested long enough, Akihiko urged them on, "Come on, let's get out of here. There's a village nearby and we can find shelter there."

Minato nodded his head but he idly wondered what he should do about Gnarl and the Browns. He wasn't really worried about them but he was still their Overlord — even if he didn't exactly choose that occupation. Well, whatever, he'd crossed that bridge when it comes.

They started to walk away.

Is was then the knives struck from above.

Minato had managed to avoid a hit from sheer luck once more but Akihiko was not as lucky as he suffered a wound on his right arm and two on his left leg.

Akihiko clicked his tongue as his back hit a tree. Gazing down upon them was the Frowning Shadow, elongated arms interlinked together which lifted it up high above the canopy like some twisted spider. 'How the hell did this thing sneak up on us?!' He didn't waste any time and fired his Evoker. "Don't mess with me!" Bang.

His Persona appeared and cast a healing-spell on his bleeding arm and leg. Immediately afterwards, it zapped the Shadow with a lightning-spell and the multi-limbed entity writhed in pain before it turned slump. Wasting no time, Akihiko put distance between him and the Shadow and ordered his Persona to attack with another bolt of electricity. "Zio!" Another good hit; though, the attack shocked the Shadow out of its daze.

He attempted to pummel the Shadow up-close-and-personal but his injured leg suddenly gave out on him.

Akihiko clicked his tongue, sweating with a ragged breath, as he fell to a knee. Dia was enough to stop the bleeding but not completely seal up the wounds. If he ran, the wounds on his legs would open right back up. Retreat was no longer an option for him. 'But what about her?!' The blue-hair girl could still escape, it was better than the both of them getting killed here. "Minato! The village is that way; run away now!"

Minato thought on the contrary. He would rather stay and fight than leave and let someone sacrifice themselves for him. Something else was also bubbling inside him, threatening to overflow; some sort of primal instinct which urged him to have a fight-to-the-death against the Shadow...

At that moment, the Shadow snapped back to action. Its frowning mask tilted downward to glare at Akihiko. Several arms lashed out at the immobile Persona-User but Minato was quick on his feet as he tackled the boy aside. The knives hit dirt but a strong tugged was enough to get them out.

Akihiko grunted, "What the heck do you think you're doing?!" but Minato did not bother to answer.

"CHAARRRGGEEEEE!"

From out of the woods, the Browns appeared and started taunting the Shadow as they ran amok.

"STUPIT SPIDUR, WE CRUSH YU!"

"NEH NEH NEH NEH NEH! I'MZ OVAR HEAR!"

"YOUZ NOT SO TUFF!"

Seeing them come back for him almost brought a smile to Minato's face. Almost. He was still a bit miff that they had chosen the hive over him. But a diversion was always welcomed.

Meanwhile, Akihiko was just plain confused. "Where the heck did these goblins come from?!"

"NUT GOBBLE-LIN!" one of the Browns corrected him with a mad face, "WE MINIONS! HEHEHEHEH!"

He frowned at the retort since he would rather not argue back at the not-goblins. Now wasn't exactly a good time.

The Shadow did not register the Minions' presence as anything more than minor nuisances. It kept focus on Akihiko. The large Shadow attempted to splice him apart once more but Minato tackled him to safety again. The silver-hair man did not appreciate being treated like a rag-doll.

With the knives momentarily stuck in the ground, Minato assumed this was the best opportunity for the Minions to strike. "Attack!" he ordered.

They were very eager to please.

"WOO-HHHOOOOO!"

"FOR THE OVERLORD!"

"YEEAAAHHHH!"

With an agility and coordination that seemed out-of-place for these mob-like creatures, they rushed and climbed up the Shadow's many limbs. A good number of the Minions were able to latch themselves on before the Shadow pulled back its arms.

"DIE! DIE! DIIIEEEEE!"

"TAKE TIZ ANH DAT!"

The Shadow was instantly annoyed by the Minions' antics and furiously swung its arm to throw them off. A few where sent flying off into the distance with shrill screams of terror.

Minato turned to Akihiko, "Can you shoot another one of those lightning?"

"...Sure," he replied. In his current injured state, there really wasn't much else for him to do besides shoot himself in the head and call down the thunder. "Zio!" The bolt struck dead-on. Because some of the Shadow's supporting limbs were in-use, the electrical-spell caught the thing off-guard and caused it to crumple to the ground. Falling, careening, dropping... right on top of them! "Oh sh-" Minato was quick to tackle him out of the way. Irritatingly, Akihiko wondered if that was going to be a thing; he hoped not. Once the almost-naked girl got off him, he cast Dia on his aggravated wounds.

The Minions had the good instinct of jumping off the Shadow before it crashed onto the earth with a boom.

The Shadow was listless but it was not dead. Minato stared at its frowning-mask. Once more, he felt some unknown familiarity about it and the urge to kill it as well. But another instinct was mixed with the two, this new instinct told him to devour the Shadow. These feelings... where or what exactly were they coming from?

The Shadow shuddered. Though the expression of its mask did not change, it was easy to sense that the Shadow was now aware and alert.

Minato believed that the battle had gone on for long enough. Figuring out how to trigger his Gauntlet would take time, time he did not yet have. He turned to Akihiko and pointed at the Evoker, "Can I borrow that?"

"What? Why?"

"Didn't you say that I might have a Persona?"

"Yeah, I did, but..." Akihiko was apprehensive at lending his only means of attack and defense. Sure, he was starting to run low on mana and couldn't keep on going for long, but giving the fight to a might-be-able-to-summon-their-Persona amateur wasn't a good idea to him. The Shadow began to tremble as it started to lift itself off the ground, Akihiko wasted no time in summoning Polydueces which delivered a Sonic Punch to the Shadow's mask. A crack formed. "Yes!" he pumped his fist; it was a critical-hit.

Everything seemed to be going alright.

But then the Shadow got angry.

Its expression morphed; the frowning mouth opened up in screaming terror, the dark eyes sunk into the depths, exaggerated wrinkles and creases appeared; the mask which could once be called 'mild disappointment' was now 'frozen fear'. Subtly, the arms tightened and slightly bulked up as they gained more definition to their texture.

Akihiko gasped, "What the?!" He had never seen a Shadow do this before.

The Shadow reverted back to its other form of chaos, limbs placed and angled whichever way. Faster than it was before, the arms seemed to stretch on forever as they struck with near pin-point accuracy. The Minions were easily cut-in-two and their numbers dwindled to zero with every short scream. Akihiko barely avoided the same fate with his Persona protecting him, meanwhile Minato had suffered a nasty cut along with a rough haircut but was no worst for wear.

However, the two of them were now separated.

They had no time to worry about that.

The assault was wild and relentless. Jabs, stabs, and thrusts were rained down upon them. Akihiko blocked and Minato dodged, but the pressure was on them; they were losing ground every second and getting further away from each other.

Eventually, Akihiko let loose a scream and spasmed when Polydueces' rock hard defense finally fell — three knives pierced through it. Feeling the phantom-pain through his Persona, he dropped unconscious. With Akihiko unmoving, the Shadow was content to move on and focused its attack on Minato. It was only a small fortune that the silver-hair man still lived but now the New Overlord had to deal with all the arms aimed at him!

No Minions to use as a distraction, Akihiko was down and out, and the angry Shadow was single-mindedly pursuing him.

...This situation undoubtedly sucked.

Could this get any worst?

Maybe not.

The Shadow burst into flames as two somethings leapt out from the woods. One was a young female with bright auburn hair tied into a high-ponytail, evoker in one hand and a halberd in the other, she had the same armband as Akihiko. Floating in front of her was most likely her Persona; it had a golden body adorned with white limbs, a red cowl covering up its bright auburn hair, and a heart-shaped harp was holstered on its back.

"Tarunda!" the girl shouted and her Persona acted with a smooth strum of its harp; the spell or music caused the Shadow's knives to suddenly become chipped and dull.

The Frowning Shadow took one look at its weapons and then switched targets immediately. The knives glowed red-hot as fire enveloped their blade. The newcomer grinned and shot Minato a quick glance and this-is-your-chance-to-get-away nod, she reholstered her evoker and moved the battle elsewhere.

Minato was thankful for the girl's timely intervention but he did not run away. He ran towards Akihiko and plucked the man's evoker off the ground. Time seemed to slow as he raised the gun to his head. Something from within him began to rise to the surface. From the Sea Of Souls, a name revealed itself.

A smile threatened to rip his face in half...

Tha-

-Na-

-Tos

...the trigger was pulled with a glass-shattering bang.

Author Notes

This is probably one of the kookier ideas that I've written.