Nearly there, promise! This would have been up last night only there was a power cut and I went to bed :p Anyway, here it is now. Thanks again for all your lovely words, it really makes writing so much more enjoyable to know you're looking forward to the updates so much!
"Hang in there!" Yukiko shouted out. The card smashed and salvation wiped the pink gleam from Shinjiro's eyes. Yukari gasped out her thanks as the silver light healed the gash across her arm. She raised her evoker and fired. "I'll show you my true power!" she shouted and Isis flashed above her head. Wind blasted at the floating heart before her, buffeting it back as Shinjiro hefted his massive hammer above his head and brought it crashing down. The thing wailed, but it wasn't done yet.
Three pink arrows flew forth and found their targets. Yukiko reached desperately for the power to summon her persona, but it was gone. Her spirit was drained and she was exhausted.
"Use a restorative, quickly!" Fuuka gasped.
"I don't have any," Yukiko realised with dawning horror as Yukari and Shinjiro turned towards her. "We were going to share them out after we entered, Naoto has them!"
"Yukari and Shinjiro-senpai will have some then. Can you get through to them? You'll have to try!"
Shinjiro was closer and reached her first, but the size of his hammer meant he was slow to swing and she ducked the blow and dived past him just in time to see Yukari raise her evoker. Isis healed the shadow before them and Yukiko felt her heart sink even as she scrabbled to her feet.
"Snap out of it!" she shouted, slapping Yukari with as much force as she could muster. The older girl's head snapped backwards at the blow. "I'm sorry!" Yukiko gasped, her breath coming in fits and bursts. Yukari shook herself and the colour returned to her eyes.
"Yukari, use one of the eggs now!"
"Got it!" Yukari reached into her pocket and drew out a small blue egg. She dropped it on the ground and stomped hard. A gas the same colour as the egg puffed into the air and as Yukiko breathed it in she felt her spirit return just in time for Shinjiro's hammer to connect with her ribs. There was a definite crack and she sprawled across the room.
"Yukari!"
"Isis! Charmdi and Mediarahan!" She fired twice and the persona cast both spells in quick succession.
"This is no use!" Fuuka shouted. "Give Shinjiro the flower and retreat, it's relying on charm to keep you occupied!"
"Right," Yukiko fumbled with the Narcissus flower and Shinjiro took it from her, pinning it to his hat. It looked ridiculous, but nobody laughed.
"Take them downstairs Fuuka," he instructed, hefting Mjolnir onto his shoulder, "I can't do anything to help them if they get charmed.
"On it!"
"No! We'll go help the others!" Yukari shouted.
"You don't know how to get there!"
"We'll take the stairs again then, come on!" she grabbed Yukiko's hand and began to drag her towards away from the fight and towards the stairs. Soon they were running, pink arrows littering the ground behind them as they sped up, diving for the stairs.
"Hold on tight!" Yukari shouted.
"Time to shake things up a bit!" Junpei yelled as he raised his evoker. Trismegistus flew forth and slashed down at the arcana Hermit, but still the thing charged up. The strange lights continued to pulse forward and Mitsuru yelled.
"Shield us, quickly!" she yelled at Kanji, who nodded. He stood his ground as both Mitsuru and Junpei ducked behind him. The giga spark washed over the floor, but they were left unharmed.
"Artemisia!" Bufudyne shattered around the shadow and Kanji leapt forward and swung the aegis shield at the thing. It fell back under the combined assault and the three of them took the chance. Swords and shield flashed as they attacked the shadow with everything they had and, finally, it fell. The shadow dissolved before them and they were left in the silence, gasping for breath.
"Yamagishi, where are the others?"
"Still fighting," she replied after a lengthy pause. "Shinjiro-senpai defeated the hierophant, but all the other arcana shadows are still standing."
"All of them?"
"I can't sense the Hanged Man anymore, but I've also lost Aigis. I'm worried they may be with Narukami and Kujikawa, it's possible her persona is blocking my senses the way Chidori's could."
"Bring us down to you," Mitsuru instructed after a moment. "We've no way to guarantee where the stairs would take us, and clearly we need to regroup."
Kala Nemi assaulted the tank even as Haraedo-no-Okami charged Justice. The shadows were flagging, but so were they. Ken was low on healing items, and the others hadn't brought any with them, meaning they were reliant upon Yosuke's one healing ability to keep them up.
"Blow through!" Yosuke shouted and the wind restored them some, but not enough. The Chariot and Justice combined once again, and Ken dived to the side as a missile launched towards him, losing his pole arm as he went. He rolled over just in time to see another rocket land a few feet away and though he had time to shield his face, there wasn't an opportunity for more.
He was blasted backwards, and from the pain in his leg he knew he'd broken something. Cursing he tried to stand, but even as Yosuke cast Youthful Wind another time Ken knew it wasn't going to be enough.
"Agneyastra!" Chie yelled. Once again meteors rained down upon the shadows. Ken pushed himself back, dragging his leg behind him.
"Ken, I'm going to bring you down here," Fuuka said. "You can't fight in that condition!"
"A few more spells and I'll be fine," he panted.
"Isis! Mediarahan!" The silver light, far stronger than anything Yosuke had, washed over him and he felt the bone knit back together.
"See," he laughed, standing and limping forwards to his pole arm. "I'll be fine."
"Turn to scarlet!" Yukiko was there as well, and the fire lashed out at the newly separated Justice and Chariot. The shadows cried out one last time, falling to the ground and fading away.
"Ziodyne!" Akihiko shouted. Again the arcana Strength was stunned and before he could say a word Naoto emptied her gun into it. The thing cried out, her hand reaching upwards as the roses that covered her began to decay, the cage upon which she stood turning to rust.
The arcana Fortune reared, it's form becoming solid even as the wheel fell before them once more. Naoto leapt forwards to slam her hand down upon the button, but the blue sections were far too small and it landed on red.
"Hang in there!" Fuuka's voice echoed in Akihiko's head even as he felt something huge slam into him. He felt suddenly exhausted, and it took all he had to drag himself upright. "Shiragane!" Fuuka exclaimed. Even as he glanced over, Naoto collapsed into unconsciousness and he cursed, pulling out a revival bead and dashing over to her. Knowing the shadow would not attack, he dropped his evoker and forced the bead between her lips.
Almost instantly she coughed into wakefulness, shaking her head slightly as she stood. She glanced at Fortune and her eyes were ice. The card flared before her eyes and she smashed it with the butt of her gun. "Yamato Sumeragi!"
Almighty light filled the hall and the shadow dissolved. A moment later, Mitsuru appeared beside him. She glanced from him to the dissolving shadow. "Yamagishi, what happened?"
"This place is interfering with Juno's abilities," the reply came after a moment. "You scattered again when I tried to bring you back."
"Where are the others?"
"I'm here," Junpei said, coming around the corner. "Man that was not pleasant." He shook his head.
"Sorry, Junpei. Tatsumi is with Yukari, Ken and a few members of the investigation team."
"And Shinjiro?"
"Shinjiro-senpai is still fighting the arcana lovers." There was a brief pause. "No, he just defeated it."
"Is there any way to bring the groups together?" Mitsuru asked.
"Umm… Yukari and Amagi took the stairs earlier," Fuuka said eventually. "Perhaps if the groups on lower levels went up holding hands to prevent separation?"
"Good idea. Who is lowest?"
"Shinjiro-senpai."
"Very well, tell him to progress up the stairs, and we'll move the groups upwards as they reunite."
"Senpai, it's preparing to attack again!" Heeding Rise's words, Yu raised his sword before himself for the Akhasha Arts that were bound to come. He'd been fighting for nearly fifteen minutes straight and he was spent. How much did this thing have left?
"There's someone coming!" Rise exclaimed. "A persona user… four floors away… three… two… they're here!" He span and was knocked off his feet before he could see who had come to join them. The pair of them sprawled across the room but his assailant recovered first. "You mustn't fight the Hanged Man," Aigis said calmly, pinning him down with one arm across his neck.
"Senpai, the statues are back!" Rise shouted, ducking behind a wall as the three statues in the centre of the chamber began to open. Fire flared around both Yu and Agis, but still she did not move. Grimacing, he summoned a blue card and held it tight in one hand.
"Don't make me do this," he said quietly.
"I will not allow you to defeat this shadow."
"Then I'm sorry. Ishtar!" he shouted the last word and the goddess of love appeared above them, a bolt of sparkling electricity shooting down to strike Aigis, who rolled to the side just in time to dodge. Yu took the hit, Ishtar's own power blocking any damage.
"Persona: Ishtar," Aigis said, turning to face him. "Strength: electricity. Weakness: wind." She reached into her pocket and sent something spinning to land at Yu's feet. He glanced down and cursed. Knowing he couldn't change his persona in time he dived to one side instead as the gale magatama went off. It caught his feet and he tripped, landing face first on the ground as ice from one of the three shadows lanced against his side. He hissed in pain and blinked. Crack. Ishtar faded from his mind to be replaced by Loki.
"Niflheim!" he cried out, aiming at the statue that cast fire.
"Persona: Loki, weakness: fire." Aigis intoned from behind him and he span even as she called out, "I need your help!" Athena rose into the air behind her and Yu realised what was coming a second too late. Fire lanced through him and he cried out in pain.
"Fight with me!" he shouted, shifting persona once more – Izanagi-no-Okami this time. "It'll only kill you too if we don't defeat it."
"My own survival is not necessary," Aigis intoned, her voice cold. "You must not defeat the Hanged Man. Athena!" Again her persona attacked, but Yu absorbed the fire, changing his persona back to Ishtar at the very last moment. "Ziodyne!" he cried out, even as the final shadow statue attacked. Lightning flashed down upon Aigis from two sources and she had no time to avoid either attack. Her entire body began to spasm and sparks flew from her shoulder.
Her eyes widened, pupils dilating as she sank to the ground. "How dare you!" a voice spat at him and Yu's heart sank. He looked past the now incapacitated Aigis to see Mitsuru Kurijo, far angrier than he'd ever seen anyone ever before. Members of the Investigation Team stepped forwards, glancing between Yu and Aigis with confusion, their eyes asking the question they didn't voice.
"Fan out!" Mitsuru ordered. "Restrain them."
SEES leapt into action at her words. Under Mitsuru's instruction they had learned the skills of their counterparts in the Investigation Team as Aigis had, and this proved useful now. Mitsuru turned her attention to Yukiko, who had already been targeted by the ice of a statue and had become distracted. Mitsuru pulled the trigger of her evoker and Yukiko jumped and turned even as Artemisia set a block of ice around her. She cried out and various members of the Investigation Team ran to her defence without hesitation.
Junpei sent Trismegistus at Chie, launching a fiery charge as Yukari targeted Kanji with Isis and wind. Akihiko sought out Yosuke, dodging fire thrown out by one of the statues and summoning Caesar to produce Ziodyne.
That left Naoto and Yu for Shinjiro and Ken. A shot was fired and Kala-Nemi spun into existence, lightning crackling down upon Naoto. She grimaced, but summoned Yamato Sumeragi. The Mudo caught Ken, but a combination of the ring of darkness and the homunculus he threw out to intercept it kept him standing long enough to duck down at swipe at Naoto's feet. She dodged the attack, but it set her stumbling into the golden fist Shinjiro and Castor had called against her.
And amidst all of this, Aigis struggled to her feet and aimed straight for Yu Narukami.
It wasn't a fair fight, or even close. SEES had far too much knowledge of the Investigation Team's powers, and for the most part had taken the precaution to cover their own elemental weaknesses before they entered the TV that morning. Yu had his hands full keeping the shadow at bay, but he was aware of his friends falling one by one behind him. Rise, still some distance back, was shouting. Kouzeon was gone, and she was desperately (foolishly) trying to pull Mitsuru Kirijo back and away from Yukiko. The woman simply shook her away as though she was nothing more than an irritation.
When he saw Aigis gunning straight for him, rage in her eyes, he summoned his strongest persona. "Izanagi no Okami!" he shouted as the card shattered. Izanagi roared and spun his might sword and golden almightly light flooded the hall. The statues cracked and broke, the shadow suspended from the ceiling falling. The members of SEES fell back, blinded by the light.
Except for one, of course. Aigis locked herself into position and shouted her last hope. "Orgia Mode Engaged! Athena!" The persona lunged at him and struck him twice, huge blows that sent him reeling far more than he had expected. Yu was blasted off his feet.
"Senpai!"
He turned just in time to see Rise stumbled back as the massive shadow turned it's attention towards her, pushing itself away from the ground and raising a massive black hand towards her even as it returned to the ceiling. He didn't understand why SEES were protecting this shadow, but he understood that they were hurting his friends and he understood that Rise was in danger.
"Megadolaon!" he yelled, and again blinding light filled the room. The shadow roared in agony, knocked from it's perch and now writhing and twisting on the ground. Aigis seemed to be saying something, and the entirety of SEES had turned towards him with horrified expressions.
"Again!" he shouted, and this did it. SEES dived for cover, but the shadow shrieked in agony one last time, exploding into black mist.
"No!" Mitsuru screamed, stumbling to her knees, her sword falling from her grip. "What did you do?" she turned to look at Yu, and he was surprised to see that she was on the verge of tears. Before he could react, Aigis barrelled into him.
Before that day he'd never before considered how much a robot ramming him into a solid stone wall would hurt. A lot, it transpired. Aigis held him in place by the collar, her eyes dark and roiling with anger. She was crying too, he realised. Could robots cry?
"We… came here… straight from the other side," he gasped. "The shadow attacked."
"That was the last of the arcana shadows!" Yukari shouted at him. "The last herald of the fall. You've doomed everyone!"