KS: Whew... I made it back. Man, college is a pain in the ass. But, I finished what I was doing and now I can get back to my favorite pastime: writing fanfics and waiting for reviews. Enjoy.
Desolate Trainyard
10:29 AM
(OST: Urban Sprawl)
Kai made the first move as he charged towards the Roaster. He swung at him with precision, but he managed to block it with no problem with his flamethrower. The struggle between the two gave enough time for Asuka to attack the Roaster from the left and Kazuya from the right. She hit him in his side with the blunt end of her polearm while Kazuya threw some of his Shurikens at him, where one managed to get itself stuck on his kneepads.
"Argh!" the Roaster growled in pain as he was hit by Asuka's attack. He staggered a bit, allowing Kai to hit him in the head with the sheath of his sword.
"That oughtta put him out of commission for a while," he said.
"I hope so," Kazuya replied. "Hey, why didn't you cut him with your sword?"
Kai scoffed. "I don't feel that it's neccessary to spill any blood." He turned to Kazuya and gave him a hard look. "Is that a problem?"
Kazuya shook his head. "Whatever floats your boat, dude. Truth be told, I'm not one for mindless slaughter either."
"That makes three of us," Asuka added. "Now let's hurry up and beat this puto so we can get our culos out of here."
The Roaster glared at the group through his mask and let out low growl. "You know, I thought a couple of university students were a bunch of easy marks." He reached behind him and pulled out a crowbar. "Maybe I shouldn't judge a book by it's cover."
He charged towards them and swung like a madman, like he intended to kill them. Kai and Asuka were able to dodge his strikes, but Kazuya was not quick enough and was brutally struck in his kneecap.
"Agh! Damn it!" Kazuya cursed as he fell to the ground.
"You alright, man?" Kai asked, concerned for his friend.
Kazuya attempted to stand up, but his injury caused him to drop down once more.
"I... don't think so," he groaned. "Looks like he got me good."
Asuka runs towards him. "Hold on, I'm-"
Before she could even reach her fallen ally, a vicious stream of fire blocked her path. She turned to the Roaster, who finally turned on his flamethrower.
"No way are you getting off that easy," the Roaster said. He waved the flamethrower in a sweep-like motion, spreading fire around. Kai ran to Kazuya and dragged him away from the man, proping him up on a barrel.
"You just hang here man, me and Asuka will take care of this creep," he said.
Kazuya was crestfallen. "Are you out of your mind, dude? There's no way you two can take him on by yourselves!"
"Yeah, but if you try to face him in your condition, you're sure to be the first to be burned.
"And you think you won't?"
Kai gave him a hard look. "Just trust me, bro. If by some miracle, that knee of yours heals up, you can join us."
Kazuya grit his teeth in frustration. He felt useless, being forced to sit on the proverbial bench while his friends fought against a psychopath with a flamethrower. But Kai was right. With his injury, he wouldn't be able to defend himself, let alone the others.
"Go then," he said bitterly. "Don't let me slow you down."
Kai noticed the pained expression on his face. Whether it was from the injury or the fact that he had to sit out for the time being, he didn't know. He left him and went back to Asuka, who was having some trouble with fighting the Roaster.
"Come on! Is that all you've got?" he taunted. "Looks like you rich brats really are all bark and no bite. The Puppet Master is gonna be pleased when I find out I took down a Kurihara."
Asuka was panting heavily, sweat pouring down her face and her grip on her polearm slowly weakening.
"I'm not through just yet, you son of a bitch," she growled.
The Roaster broke in laughter. "Not through yet, she says. You look like you're gonna pass out any second now. If you want my advice, give up and I'll... try to make your death quick."
Kai gripped his sword and glared at the Roaster. "If there was time to use this, now would be the time."
He raised his sword and pointed it towards the ground.
"Let's go... PERSONA!"
He struck the ground and strong gusts of wind appeared behind him. Emerging from the wind was his inner self, the deity of fate itself... Shai.
"I see you have summoned me," he said. "Are you in need of my assistance?"
Kai sighed. "You don't know the half of it." He pointed to the Roaster. "You see that guy over there?"
Shai looked to where he was pointing. "You mean the one with the flamethrower?"
"No, the guy behind him," Kai deadpanned. "Of course the one with the flamethower. Help me put him out of commission."
Shai frowned. "Your sarcasm is unneeded. But I will assist you in this endeavor..."
"Thanks man-"
"So long as you cut back on the sarcasm," Shai finished.
"No promises."
Shai sighed. "I thought as much."
Kai and his Persona raced towards the Roaster, wanting to take him down immediately.
"Holy crap," he gasped. "That's the thing the other guys saw when they were fighting off those Oracle punks." He aimed his flamethrower at the large figure. "If I take it down, the Puppet Master is sure to reward me handsomely."
Fire spouted out and the stream of flames hit Shai directly at his chest. But to the Roaster's shock, he was unaffected.
"Did you really think that would affect me?" he boomed. "You're more foolish than I thought."
The Roaster growled in frustration. "You think your pet demon will scare me, kid? You've got another thing coming!"
He aimed his flamethrower at Kai and shot fire towards him, but for some reason, he just smirked.
"Shai... do it."
"With pleasure," Shai replied. He swung his swords, creating a gust of wind to block the flames.
"W-What the?!" The Roaster reeled back in shock from seeing his attack being nullified.
Kai let out a chuckle. "Looks like my friend's full of surprises, isn't he? Well, he's got a hell of a lot more where that come from."
"That's right," Asuka said, standing up straight. "And don't even think for a second that I'm done."
Kai turned to Asuka with a big grin. "Now that's what I'm talking about."
Asuka grinned back. "I guess you're rubbing off on me, vato."
(OST: Epiphany)
Kazuya looked as Kai and Asuka stood against the Roaster. To say that he was frustrated would be nothing short of an understatement. His friends were out there, willing to fight to their last breath while he was stuck behind them, benched over an injury. His sense of helpless grew like an untreated tumor.
"This sucks," he hissed to himself. "I shouldn't be sitting here. I should be out there, helping them. Instead, I'm stuck here like some helpless wimp. What good am I to anyone if I can't help out those who are less fortunate than I am?"
Despite his injury, Kazuya attempted to stand up, using the barrel he was leaning on for support.
"I'm not going to sit on my ass and watch my friends get burned by this bastard."
He managed to stand up completely, although he gripped his injured knee and staggered towards the battle, his determination growing with every step he took.
"This time, I'm gonna be the hero, and I'll be damned if anyone tries to stop me."
"Hit him again, Shai!" Kai called out.
"With pleasure," he boomed, casting more wind towards the Roaster. The gusts were not as strong before, seeing how he was resisting the attacks.
"Ha! Is that all you got?" he taunted as the wind blew in his face. "I'm barely feeling anything here."
Kai grit his teeth. "Damn. It's like he's shrugging it off." He turned to his Persona. "What's going on, man?"
"It appears that my magic power is depleted," Shai replied. "I am unable to perform Garu with the amount I have now."
"Garu? That's the name of your wind trick?"
"Yes, and in order for me to use it, I need magic power. Do you happen to have any items to replenish your magic power?"
Kai groaned. "No, all we got were painkillers. I doubt that's going help us."
Asuka paled. "So... that's it? We've come all this way just to die at the hands some flamethrower-wielding maniac." She dropped to the floor and her polearm fell from her hands. "I never though I'd say this, but I regret ever meeting you, Kai Kyozo. I'll see you in Hell."
"You might want to take that back, exile," a voice called out.
Kai and Asuka turned around to see who spoke out to them. Imagine their surprise when the speaker turned out to be none other than-
"Kazuya?!"
Yeah. Kazuya. Big surprise there.
"That's my name, don't wear it out," he said, limping over to them. "Did you really think I'd let you have all the fun?"
"But your knee..." Asuka started.
"I took some painkillers, so it doesn't hurt as much now," he explained. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to pay that guy back for trying to take me out of the game."
The Roaster laughed obnoxiously. "You? Beat me? You can't even stand up right. You've literally got no chance!"
Kazuya smiled darkly and raised a shuriken. "You know the old saying..." He drew his arm back, preparing to throw the shuriken. "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take!"
He threw the shuriken with a great amount of effort and flew through the air. At first, it managed to stay in the air for a period of time, but it slowly began to decend. Surprisingly, before it reached the ground, it bounced the shuriken that was lodged into the Roaster's kneepad and fell to the ground.
"Huh," the Roaster said, looking down at the object. "Looks like you missed pal." He turned on the flamethrower. "It's a good thing I won't miss with my weapon!"
Asuka swiftly turned to Kazuya. "That's what you call a comeback?! Estupido idiota! Hijo de las mil putas! Que te folle un pez!"
Kazuya paid no attention to Asuka's foreign insults, as he felt a strange sensation throughout his body... a cold sensation.
"Dude, are you alright?" Kai asked.
Asuka, on the other hand, continued with her curses. "El burro sabe mas que tu! Vete al infierno!"
"Asuka!" Kai shouted. "Cool it for a minute, will you?"
"How can you tell me to cool it, you cabrón?!" she shouted. "This idiot knew he was injured and instead of recovering like he should, he..."
Once again, Kazuya drowned out the insults from Asuka and instead focused on the cold feeling washing over him. He started to breath heavily from the sensation, which now grew stronger.
"Ha... ha..."
Sounds came from his mouth, which were at first quiet, but soon dissolved into screaming.
"HAAAAAAAAA!"
(OST: Hotshot)
A gust of cold air appeared behind Kazuya, which soon started to form a large column of ice.
"Hey," Kai said, staring at the large ice block. "Is that what I think it is?"
"Yes," Shai replied. "Kazuya is awakening to his potential."
Small cracks began to form on the ice block, which gradulally became larger until the whole column was covered in cracks. Soon, it shattered completely, revealing what was inside.
"No way," Asuka gasped.
Inside the now-broken ice was a slender figure with pale skin and black tribal markings on both arms and legs, as well as a brown helmet with long horns sticking out. But what made the figure stick out are the brown wings attached to his legs, but did not appear to move.
"It appears I've made it to the party before it was over," the figure said in a sinister, yet playful voice. "Now, who was the lucky sap who brought me here?"
Kazuya turned around and his eyes nearly fell out upon seeing what he had inadverantly summoned.
"W-Who are you?" he stuttered.
The figure lowered itself to Kazuya's level. "I'm certain proper etiquette requires one to introduce themselves first."
Kazuya blinked. "Oh, right. I'm Kazuya Gavin. And you are..."
"Heyoka. You can call me that," the figure answered.
"Alright, I can live with that," Kazuya replied, then turned to the Roaster. "You see that clown right there?"
Heyoka turned around and saw the aformentioned person. "Yeah, what about him?"
"I need your help in taking him down."
"Oh, so a bit of a revenge hit, eh?" Heyoka clasped his hands together. "I like the sound of that. Let's put him out of his misery, then."
Kazuya swiftly turned to Heyoka. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, cool it, man. We don't need to kill him. We just need to knock him down a bit."
"Hmm..." Heyoka thought about this for minute. While the thought of killing the Roaster resided in his mind, but maybe it wouldn't hurt to keep his hands clean this one time.
"Alright, Boss, we'll do it your way," he said.
Kazuya grinned. "Great."
The Roaster growled. Normally, when one saw a large monster assisting a person, the normal response would to be to flee in terror. But in the Roaster's case, he was more frustrated than ever.
"Alright, enough screwing around. I don't care if you've got some giant monster on your side. You're all going down!"
Once more, he turned on the flamethrower and aimed it at Heyoka, intending to burn the monster to the ground. If anyone could see Heyoka's expression through his helmet, they would see that he was not the slightest bit amused.
"Ooh, looks who's got a flamethrower," he said in mock fear before scoffing. "Give me a break." He raised his hand towards the stream of fire and summoned cold wind that somehow managed to freeze it solid, much to the Roaster's shock and anger.
"What the- you're gonna pay for that you-"
He got cut off when he felt cold around his waist. When he looked down, he saw why.
"What in the... how did I get frozen!? This is impossible!"
Heyoka smirked underneath his helmet and turned to the group.
"I have to say... that was pretty cool, wasn't it?"
Everyone apart from Kazuya groaned at the bad pun.
"Just for the record, in case I get one of those... Persona things, I hope it doesn't end up like... that," Asuka said grimly.
Abandoned Building
11:01 AM
(OST: Feel So Cool)
The group brought the Roaster back to their dimension, along with the data cache Narumi requested. She gave the Roaster, who was still frozen from the waist down, to the cops so he can be taken in for questioning. When they asked her why he was frozen, she responded with this:
"Look, you don't get paid to ask questions, and I sure as hell don't get paid for answering them. So shut up."
Those words alone, along with a cold look that could freeze every circle of hell was enough to make the guards slowly back away before breaking into a mad dash towards the nearest cruiser.
"I gotta say, those guys sure fear you," Kai quipped.
Narumi gave a light shrug. "Well, they have to. How else are they gonna stay in line?"
"Good point."
"Well," Asuka said, stretching her legs. "I don't know about you, but when we get back, I'm going straight to bed." She glared at Kai and Kazuya. "And I don't want to see either one of you pollas for a week."
"What?" Kai, putting on a look of mock hurt. "What did we ever do to you?"
"You dragged me into a mirror."
"You joined us of out of your own volition."
"Only because you guilted me into it."
"When did we guilt you into doing anything?"
Asuka's started twitching in irratation, fighting off the urge to yell at him. She huffed and stormed off, muttering obscenities in Spanish with each step she took.
"She has quite the temper," Shai noted. "Hopefully, she doesn't burn herself with her own fire."
Kai chuckled. "I wouldn't rule it out, man."
He noticed Kazuya standing near a garbage can, scrolling through his phone. He walked over to him and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Yeah?" he said, not lifting his gaze from his phone.
"Listen, man," Kai started. "I never had the chance to say back when we were in the mirror world, but... you helped us out of a potential jam and I wanted to thank you."
Kazuya stopped scrolling, then put his phone in his pocket and turned to Kai with a smirk. "Hey, don't worry about it. I was just doing what I can to look out for the people I care about. All I ask is that you do the same for me."
Kai nods firmly. "You got it, man. We got each other's backs."
Both of them bumped fists, showing appreciation for each other's vow to look out for one another. It was there Kai heard the voice once more.
I am thou... thou art I
Thou hast established a new bond...
Thine fate shall be woven from this bond...
Thou shalt be blessed when fusing Personas of the Magician Arcana...
Kai has established the Kazuya Gavin Social Link of the Magician Arcana.
"Well, I'll see you in class," Kazuya said, walking off.
"Yeah, I'll see you too," Kai called out. He was proud to have another bond with someone he could trust.
"I sense the bond between the two of you," Shai said. "And it has yet to grow stronger."
Kai smiled. "You might be on to something there, partner."
KS: Alright! Social Link Get! (laughs) I just had to do that. It seemed a lot funnier in my head. I'm cool like that. Anyway, Kazuya awakened to his Persona, which is pretty cool in its own right. Now, a lot of you might remember me saying that I'd put the stats on Shai here, so I'll make this brief. I plan to make seperate chapters featuring the stats of the Personas and enemies they heroes will encounter. Until then, I'm out. PEACE!
Social Links:
01: Magician Arcana (Kazuya Gavin): Rank 1
07: Justice Arcana (Erika Narumi): Rank 1