DISCLAIMER: I do not own IS nor do I own Persona 3. All rights go to their respective owners and creators.
It's different.
Ichika stared at the screen, eyes glued to the only other male IS pilot in history. While he was no complete expert on warfare and combat, his observation upon Minato's fight had him convinced that the boy's combat style was marginally different compared to the battle with the Magician and with the spars that they've had in the Academy's dojo.
With the Magician, Minato had fought a speedy battle of pure offense, compensating for defense through continuous barrages of attacks that left the opponent focusing on its own defense. During their spars, the boy would hold an unorthodox form that made itself effective and efficient in countering an opponent with an unpredictable and near impenetrable line of defense.
Totally different.
Right now, the bluenette was contending with Tatenashi Sarashiki in a battle of wits, each of them anticipating and reading into one another's moves and reacting to attacks with counters that obviously were part of each other's plans. It was not a battle where one merely attacked aggressively, nor was it one where the other would focus solely on a nigh impenetrable wall of defense—
The fight Ichika Orimura was watching was a real time chess game between two minds battling to gain the upper hand over another.
"Ichika, you keep frowning like that and you'll start looking older."
"Yet it is a refreshing sight to see him so enamored with the complexities of warfare. Do you not agree?"
The lad turned to face Rin and Laura both approaching his seat, joining him in watching the ongoing match between their upperclassmen. He gave a short greeting to the two before quickly giving his attention back to the screen, eager all the more to continue observing the IS match.
"You know, for an anomaly, he's not half bad in battle." Laura and Ichika found themselves completely agreeing with Rin's statement.
"His combat prowess is much more comparable to a war veteran than to a student or a military trainee. However, we cannot ignore the fact that we have yet to see his true capabilities in the field, and I believe it would be much too premature to judge him at this point."
Ichika nodded, concurring with Laura's point. "You got that right. I mean, I've sparred with Minato before, but the way he fights now has changed."
"Maybe that's just how he is—he alters his way of combat depending on his opponent. I mean, who wouldn't, right? Sticking to the same stuff isn't always guaranteed to nail you a win."
Rin's words rang true. However, even Ichika knew the degree of complexity it would take for an individual to keep changing their manner of fighting against different foes. Aside from having to be resourceful with the weapons in hand, there should be great focus given to the assessment made of the opponent. Adjusting to the opponent's advantage needed all the effort one could give, especially if it meant life or death in the field of combat.
Comparing his upperclassman to other IS pilots he'd already clashed with, he was certain that there was no procedure or method to how he fought. The bluenette was no sniper like Cecilia; not a formula-based swordsman like Houki; nor was he a mid-range guerrilla like Charl. With his savagery in combat also came a subtle elegance in execution. Movements were made with nigh perfect precision and efficiency. Use of tactics could claim brutality, yet was coupled by creativity and effectivity.
It was almost as if Minato had a bottomless top hat, and would continue to pull out different surprises for the different kinds of audiences he faced.
". . . Tabula rasa, huh. Fitting for him, I suppose."
He scrunched a brow to the German girl's words. "What did you say?" Instead of Laura, Rin had chosen to give him an answer.
"Tabula rasa—a Latin phrase that means 'clean slate'. Kinda used synonymously to mean fresh starts, or just to mean nothing's there. But I do get what Laura means by this . . . it really does fit him, now that you mention it."
The lad frowned at the two. "I'm kinda lost here. Why say it fits him?"
"It's simple, really, dear bride of mine." The girl pointed to the screen, gesturing towards the blue-haired male swerving to dodge the onslaught of lance thrusts directed at him in mid-range. Ichika watched on as sword met lance, where sparks flew in the rainy airspace of the expanse of combat.
"You already said so earlier—he changes his way of battle depending on the opponent. If he does so, is it not better to just label his way of fighting as a 'blank slate' right from the beginning of a fight?"
The downpour within the arena was far stronger than it was during his arrival.
Dark and foreboding cumulonimbus tufts were far above them, where lightning would flash periodically, accompanied by resounding thunder that roared through the heavens. Bad enough that he had to practice combat within the weather, the current state of the field was putting him in every possible disadvantage as well—
"Don't lose focus, now!"
Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted the Mysterious Lady rushing towards him in breakneck speed, Heavy Rain in hand and ready to skewer his unit into oblivion.
Swing left!
"Sforzando!"
He veered hard into the corner and then brought his blade forward to intercept the oncoming spear that headed his way. Sparks flew as the lance tip of the Mysterious Lady's Heavy Rain collided with Sforzando, to which the lad sighed briefly in relief that his reaction was quick enough to answer back his opponent's assault. He pushed his thrusters to full power, jettisoning him and his unit upwards a distance away from his spar partner, and was every bit unsurprised that Tatenashi Sarashiki did not give pursuit.
Even from the distance, he could see her lips curving into that smile that practically told him all was according to plan, and he was still dancing at the palm of her hands during this fight. Heavy Rain was spun thrice, and the lance then released its four-barrel Gatling gun, peppering him with high-speed bullets and chipping off his shield energy.
Distance is no problem to her. She can still make use of both Heavy Rain's gun and the water vapor around, and that puts me in a tough bind.
He was well aware of Tatenashi and her IS's special ability—manipulation of water or most fluids for that matter with the use of nanomachinery. Mysterious Lady's pilot, in his belief, was capable of manipulating her resources into well-coordinated and ingenious attacks. Even if Tatenashi's IS was, in theory, much more of a threat in an indoor battle, the state of their combat environment was a place where the Mysterious Lady had become an even more formidable opponent. Water was, after all, flexible enough to be used in any of its three elementary states as a fluid.
And the fact that she hasn't used any of her special tricks with the water is really putting me on edge.
He veered his IS, turning sharply as he continued to dodge the shots from Heavy Rain. Sforzando then dematerialized; and when he felt the weight shift in both his units arms, he headed into Tatenashi's direction and put out Vibrato and Tremolo in front of him, countering with his own pair of long-range weapons.
Though small an amount of time he had for getting to know a few of the personalized units present within the walls of the Academy, he was lucky that he began reading up on the IS units belonging to those who had been involved the day he had come into contact with them.
Ichika Orimura and Byakushiki; Houki Shinonono and Akatsubaki; Cecilia Alcott and Blue Tears; Charlotte Dunois and Raphael Revive; Lingyin Huang and Shenlong; Laura Bodewig and Schwarzer Regen.
Then there was the pair of Tatenashi Sarashiki and Mysterious Lady.
He had learned of the capabilities of these units from Ms. Yamada. Of course, it had been an after-class discussion, but the instructor did not hesitate to indulge in his interest of the ones who had given him help back during the run-in with the Magician. She had given him a rundown of their abilities and performance, their arsenals, and even a brief background about the pilots of each IS unit. She had gone as far as to lend him some documents containing data and statistics, mentioning that she had not seen anyone as studious as he was when it came to the topic of IS.
Of course, he thanked his teacher with zeal and promised to make it up to her to the best of his abilities. Ms. Yamada was quite stubborn at first, but his insistence on a token of gratitude was accepted in the end.
"Then, would you be free next weekend? Ichika had suggested a good cake shop, and I've been wanting to go there. So, how about it Ms. Yamada?"
"E-eh?! Me and Minato . . . next weekend . . . Isn't this a d-date? Oooh, what should I wear?! I haven't felt this giddy in a long time!"
His teacher's response was something he did not quite expect.
"Ara ara, Minato. It might be raining, but I can see clearly that you're blushing up a storm. Are you perhaps thinking of something lewd? Fufufu. You can't do that when there's a woman in front of you. That's quite the ungentlemanly thing."
He had been caught off-guard by a full frontal attack from Tatenashi. He braced himself for impact, and then felt powerful shockwaves travel through his barrier, knocking him backwards from his opponent. He counteracted his motion by activating his thrusters and blasting forward, gaining enough power to stop the momentum that powered his knock-back.
"Shit—!"
The lad had no time at all to react to the projectiles that were sent in his direction—highly pressurized water-coated bullets blasted his way by the Mysterious Lady. Calculating that there was no time to dodge by moving away from his position, he switched out his revolvers for his cinquedea pair, and rapidly spun himself around as he pushed forward towards the incoming wave of attack.
The blades on his unit's hands crackled blue with intense energy as he spun. And when Crescendo's blades finally made contact with the liquid bullets, the contact between the energy from the blades turned water into steam and sliced the fullmetal bullets, and with the number of water bullets shot at him, it had been enough to cover him in a shroud of mist.
The mist around him swirled and moved around like a phantom, with each layer hiding another behind it and obstructing his view of the battlefield. He cursed in an undertone, as the downpour around him all the more thickened the surrounding fog. Shadows began dancing all around him, and he could feel the deadly waltz weaving around him close in inch by inch. And with each silhouette that shot out from the corner of his eyes, he could almost hear that faint, cat-like chuckle Tatenashi made as she made her presence known to his ears, but hidden from his sight.
This is bad.
His lips curled into a grim smile, his mind already running multiple simulations of the attack Tatenashi was about to launch on him. He was sure she had already made use of her water clones. Then his expectations were thrown out the window, far out into a place he could not ever imagine once the mist began whirling away from him, into four different directions. The mass of vapor coalesced, forming four swirling vortexes towards four Tatenashi's surrounding him, which then simultaneously blasted the water shot towards him.
He was about to get hit by pressurized water from four sides.
I'm not getting out of this without a few scratches, am I?
"I still have no idea how you roped me into this."
"Well, Mina-chan did agree to my request where he'd get all the answers he wants if he beats 'the strongest in the Academy' in a mock battle. Also, you owe me from that time, remember? Does Budapest ring any bells?"
"What do you mean—ah, shit. Budapest."
Chifuyu knitted her brows in irritation as a bad memory came to mind. The hiss that came as the name of the place escaped her lips was audible enough to express her annoyance. Embarrassing was an understatement to say the least if she were to describe what had transcribed at that place and time, and it was definitely no boon that even Tabane personally knew of what had transpired during said event—a mishap that had taken place during the midst of the Mondo Grosso.
Seeing Chifuyu's downed expression, the rabbit-eared female posed a victory stance and threw a gloating laugh at her companion's way, relishing the once-in-a-blue-moon win away from Chifuyu.
"Aw, c'mon Chi-chan, it's not so bad! At least no one else knows about Budapest! It's that sort of 'what happens in Budapest, stays in Budapest'!"
Mondo Grosso's Brynhildr did not even possess the motivation to throw back a glare. "That's what makes it twice as bad—you have knowledge of it. Tch. Setting Budapest aside . . ." Her eyes then darted to the individuals within the center of the training field—one female, the Academy's Student Council President, and a male, the anomalous teen the Academy had opted to adopt as a new student.
"Tell me again why you're jumping from simple scans of his IS to an all-out demonstration of the capabilities of his machine?" A cat-like grin met Chifuyu's question, to which she was sure her acquaintance was in a zealous mood about the topic of interest.
"I can always gather data about his IS from scans. And from there, I can always create simulations about the things he can do. But you forget something quite basic, Chi-chan."
A brief epiphany resulted in Chifuyu answering back. "The human factor, huh."
The rabbit-eared engineer nodded. "Because as long as we have no foresight as to the capabilities and the conditions of the IS pilots we have, we can never truly predict the maximum performance my kids can do. I mean, I can keep improving them, just like Akatsubaki, but the thing is they won't do any good if they're operated by substandard individuals! Don't you think so?"
"'Kids'? Really?"
"Well, it is kinda sad they don't have a daddy. I mean, I'm practically watching over so many of them! I've got tons of single mom problems!"
Chifuyu palmed herself. How the hell did she get into this line of conversation? "So, is that your 'kid' too?" The instructor raised her question while inclining her head to the monitor in front of them, displaying a live feed of the occurring mock battle in the in the training area. There, in front of them, were the clashing figures of Tatenashi and Minato, piloting their respective IS units. Chifuyu's gesture was meant to indicate the blue-haired boy, which Tabane had no problem understanding.
"Fufu, that's the thing Chi-chan—that 'child' is not mine. The unit's designs far outclass the new gens I've been working on, and the current display of its abilities, features, and specs are a clear cut above the rest. As far as I am concerned, that 'child' and its pilot are orphans in my eyes."
The IS instructor knew that reconfirming that fact was something already unneeded, as far as the current information they had on Minato Arisato and his IS was concerned. Then, Chifuyu's eyes narrowed as she saw a hint of mischief and possessiveness riddle the eyes of Tabane, and when the eccentric girl turned to her with an all too familiar grin, there was no doubt as to the certainty and edge of seriousness the rabbit-eared girl had as she declared her thoughts.
"However, I have every intention of taking them in."
It was often said that impending doom was the one event where one's life would flash before their eyes. If that was the case, why was he still frozen in place doing nothing against the painful fate about to befall him?
He wanted to think of a way, but couldn't—time was very much against him here, and with how swiftly Tatenashi could manipulate the jets of pressurized water being sent his way, he was certain that his chances of finding a hole to escape through in her attack were remote. Also, Tatenashi or her water clones could just very well speed off towards him and close in for a coordinated attack instantly in the event that he does get out of the attack, which leaves him a very small chance to predicate and retaliate to.
Well, isn't this a pinch you've gotten yourself into.
A familiar female voice resounded within the confines of his head, leaving a tinge of deja vu with him. It was as if it had made time slow down all around him, making his senses focus on multiple sensations and stimuli all at once.
I'll give you a little push for now—I think Number Seven will suffice. You've been getting along quite well with him, too.
The voice then disappeared, and his sense of time had gone back together with his regular amount of focus. Suddenly, as the jets were finally upon him, the weight of the cinquedeas in his IS's hands disappeared, followed by the appearance of Sforzando in his right. A window appeared in front of his eyes, displaying some sort of 3D object shaped like a hammer and the option to 'switch'.
What the—
All in the spur of a fraction of a second, he confirmed the option, thinking that this might just be the divine intervention he needed for one singular moment, and grinned madly at what could be a turnaround of the battle.
And then his vision exploded to white, with the sound of forceful waters crashing all around him together with a strike of lightning tracing down onto his unit.
". . . This could be bad."
Tatenashi sped off closer into the impact area of the jets of water she had unleashed together with her clones. The pressurized fluid blast had enough strength to completely wipe out the shield energy of Sine Faciem, and by doing so it would end the practice match between her and the new student. However, the lightning strike had been an unforeseen circumstance. What more was that it had struck right after the water jets had hit, which clearly meant that right after the bluenette's unit had powered down with its shields, the electrical bolt had struck the IS.
Getting hit by an attack without shield energy to protect the pilot meant fatalities. Getting hit by electricity of very high voltages while water was all around meant fatalities.
She grit her teeth and pushed the Mysterious Lady faster into the misty area, but was suddenly interrupted when an immense power signature reading appeared on her screen. The mist in the area coalesced and began swirling into a central point, almost as if a great hurricane was forming right in the arena. A flash white appeared once more from the sky, whipping in the blink of an eye a bolt of lightning into the center of the swirling vortex.
Electricity crackled, and she had felt the air get filled with energy. The weather was beginning to get calmer as the rain began to slow. The mist then was blown out in all directions, leaving a surprised Tatenashi to spot her opponent with an unfamiliar weapon in hand.
Held with Minato's IS's arms was a large mallet; pristine white accented by silver and gold. The grooved parts on its head glowed in feint turquoise, reminiscent of runic inscriptions. Chinks in the mallet head shifted, almost as if they were constantly moving. Upon the top of the mallet were two short cylinders, side by side and colored in the same silver that complement the entire scheme. One hand guard was by the long handle, located a little below the bottom of the head.
The way electricity crackled all around the bluenette coupled by the confident smile plastered on his face meant round two was in order.
"I suppose you are still fit to continue, Minato?"
The boy's response was to raise his weapon, spin it around, and swing at the Mysterious Lady's direction.
. . . Huh? What's this sensation . . .
Ichika's hand found its way to his chest, clutching at his uniform as he felt his heartbeat accelerate and his pulse quicken. His eyes were fixated upon the white mallet in Minato's hands, seeing the electricity crackle and the aura of blue energy around it flicker.
What is this . . . ?
There was something about the weapon tugging at him, as if it was pulling him in. The way it gleamed albescent to him reminded him of something, a very familiar thing at that. The feeling was not discomforting, however. If he had to aptly put it, it was as if he had felt a sort of resonance and energy as he looked on at the weapon now wielded by the bluenette.
Even Byakushiki is reacting. Just what in the world . . .
The battle was, ineluctably, in its final stage.
His unit had depleted a large amount of shield energy just to guard him from the most of Tatenashi's attack. Few areas of his unit's armors sported dents and exposed underlinings of wires and machinery, signs of just how much pressure there was in the streams of water sent his way.
He eyed his opponent, glancing at the additional clones produced by the Mysterious Lady's ability. Aside from Tatenashi herself, the clones were still a thorn at his side—three were enough to blindside him even if he did find a way to locate and reach the real Tatenashi and Mysterious Lady. Also, coordinated attacks may as well spell the end of him, as he knew just how much thinking his opponent could put into a fight. It was quite straining for him to keep up with the wits of the girl, and she was as manipulative and ingenious as she got.
Tatenashi was clearly waiting for him to make the first move, what with the reveal of the new weapon in his arsenal. Mjolnir, the mallet's name on display, was somehow Sforzando in a different form. His weaponry showed that nothing changed within his set of battle tools, and Sforzando was still marked as the weapon in active state—meaning it was currently being used in combat. For some reason, there was something tugging at him, some sort of energy pulling yet was indistinguishable.
I'm gonna have to take a gamble with this thing.
He did not need to check his database what Mjolnir was capable of—information was already flowing into his brain faster than possible, and it was all he needed to know in order to somehow grab an edge in the battle at hand.
Of the four foes surrounding him, the one from his left finally charged in, Heavy Rain ready to once more pierce through his shields, and this time annihilate whatever was left of his remaining energy reserves. The remaining three repositioned all around him, with one changing Heavy Rain into its gun form and the other two poised to thrust their lances into him.
They're deliberately making me create my own blind spot.
He handled Mjolnir with his right and swiftly materialized one of Crescendo's blades into his free hand. Supercharging the blade's energy and plasma levels, he pointed it outward towards the oncoming attacker, and then spun the other weapon in his right and then brought it down for contact with the glowing blade.
Let's go do something about that.
"Sforzando, Arcana Ciete: Mjolnir."
The sound of steel against steel echoed throughout the arena, and as it did, a large wave of energy pulsated outward from him, vaporizing all the droplets it had come into contact with into steam. Electricity and plasma raced further and further as a ring from its origin, almost like both were shredding the very air they traveled through in speeds faster than the eye could catch up with, and far brighter than the lightning that snaked in the dark clouds up above. The water clone that had pursued him had been eradicated into hissing steam from the plasma heat, with the electrical wave frying the nanomachines that had kept its form.
He wasted no time and dematerialized the cinquedea in his left before taking hold of the weapon with both hands and pointing the top of the head towards two more of the remaining three that were speeding off towards him. The Fold-Out Armor comprising the mallet head opened up, discharging huge amounts of electrical current all around. Energy gathered upon the top of the head, by the two cylinders that had expanded and elongated, and was then released as the bluenette pushed the singular hand guard forward.
"Maziodyne."
Scattered bolts of lightning jettisoned forward, thick and thin strands of electricity spreading all around and flashing at synapses of connection. The Mysterious Lady copies, exposed as the clones they were, collided briefly and were wiped out by the current of electricity that continued blasting forward, white hot and glaringly brilliant.
He pulled the hand guard back with a resounding clack, similar to the sound when one had prepared shotgun-like weapons. A shell was spewed out of the side of the mallet, and he readied his aim at the one remaining opponent in the field, beginning to charge what could be the final attack to finish the fight.
Tatenashi had been able to maneuver herself out of the light-speed attacks he had unleashed with his weapon, but had barely done so at the cost of losing large amounts of her unit's shield energy. She sent a cool look at her opponent, and could gauge that even he was on his last legs in this fight.
The next blow would decide the winner of the bout.
Mysteltainn Lance would not be enough to get through his attack. . .
She had contemplated going head on with her signature attack; however, the readings on the power output of Minato's previous strike had left her in awe, and coupling that with actual visuals on the destructive capabilities it wrought in-battle left goosebumps on her skin.
She could not remember any other experience that did so for her.
Right from the beginning of the fight, she had been tantalized by just how her foe had been able to keep up with her tactics in-fight. Truth be told, she was not expecting his wits to have been as sharp as hers. He had never exploited an advantage too far, and only kept a level head as he worked his way through the tangled webs she wove. It had irked her a little, that she could not get under his skin as easily as she could with others. But then again, that in itself was a wonder to her. Someone who looked completely blank and unrefined, yet laced with prodigious abilities and battle resolve tougher than diamonds—such a fascinating individual was clearly not going anywhere out of her sight.
Well, I'd like to see him captivate me some more. Fufu.
Water gathered all around her, carried by the nanomachines Mysterious Lady so specialized in. Heavy Rain's lance head had opened, splitting into three sections and having the lance then resemble a trident. The water around then took form in an arc near the lance, and then taking a more rigid shape through the molecules being held by the nanomachines. A thin line of water connected the edges of the arc, now forming a shape similar to a letter 'D', with Heavy Rain placed across the middle.
She had turned her lance and the manipulated water into an arrow and a bow.
Tatenashi quickly gathered more of the fluids on the lance's head and tips, and then having the nanomachines apply a decrease in temperature and a pull in the water vapors with the use of a vacuum-like effect. Vacuum-sealed ice then began swirling like a miniature blizzard on her "arrow's" tip, gradually rotating faster and faster, expanding down to cover even the "arrow's" body.
Bullets were made to spin as they exited guns in order to increase their penetrative power. Applying a principle similar to her attack, Tatenashi could still recall the endless hours of practice she had toiled for this new technique that far surpassed her Mysteltainn Lance. The vacuum-sealed ice would allow the disruption of any attack it would collide with, and would be made to continue spinning faster the more resistance it had faced. It would continually gather water vapors as it traveled through the air, increasing the impact area of the attack in proportion to her distance from the enemy.
The only drawback so far was that it needed great focus and distance to accomplish. The shield energy consumption was also nothing to laugh at, but since she was already at the point were the match was nearing its finish, it was time to pull all the stops.
She pulled back the "string", and with it Heavy Rain was also pulled back. Tatenashi looked on straight at her opponent, who was also charging up what could be his final attack. Ruby met steel, and even his stare sent chills running down her spine. Exhaling as she focused her aim, she flourished on a smile on her face before letting loose her arrow upon him.
"Brahmastra."
Tatenashi let go, and watched the frost arrow blast towards Minato.
A/N:
Hey. I'm alive again.
I've been really busy with RL stuff, and well, putting up with a lot of BS didn't help. Life was getting routinal, and I was honestly getting really tired of a lot of things. I've been in a slump, and I guess it practically shows in my writing.
I'm not quite satisfied with this chapter, because basically fighting scenes are not my strongest areas in writing after all. However, I really wanted to start getting back into my activity, and I believe finishing a new chapter for one of my stories will once more motivate me after months of not doing anything productive. If I'm gonna be fixing this fight scene, I guess it would be in the near future, once I'm in the hang of things again.
I'd like to apologize to the people who'd been waiting for this. I'm happy a lot of people have been liking the stuff I've put out in my stories, and it's an uplifting feeling to know there are people who can appreciate the same things I can.
Note that Minato here has already made use of one of his new abilities given by the Social Links. Although it's obvious as to who was the Link and what the Link was, I'd like to say as early as now that it isn't just gonna be ALL weapons being bestowed upon Minato. Interested people can mail me for some queries, but I won't be spoiling anything story-wise.
As for love interests, let's just say I'm still tweaking it. Irregardless, Minato will be helping Ichika become a less denser version of his denser than the densest material on the planet status. I'll do it, if I'll be damned.
Also, I'll be putting up two one-shot stories (long-ass stories) sooner or later. One is an AU Persona 3 fic, and the other is a DxD / Tokyo Ghoul crossover. Note that these are one-shots. Yes. I'm being redundant for the sake of getting the point through that they would stay as such, no matter how much I like how they're turning out. One-shots, but REALLY long ones with lots of events. Watch out for 'em.
Hope you enjoyed this (I won't blame ya if ya don't, even I wasn't entirely convinced). Read and review.
~ Arsony
