Holy crap, was that a long hiatus! I am so sorry, everyone, for keeping you all in suspense! Thank you to everyone who still left reviews wanting to see more! And more you shall get! Now that I've gotten the previous chapters in a way I like and am satisfied with, (for real this time) I can focus on actually continuing the story! Enjoy!


While the cave the children trekked through didn't appear to have many dangers, the dark certainly made them extra cautious. As their eyes adjusted to the absence of light, the rocky walls and stalactite laden ceiling appeared, making the cave slightly more foreboding. Nanako and Mamoru looked around as they walked, searching for any sign of a change in direction. Mai, in the meantime…

"And the cities, they're huge! Big buildings made of glass that almost touch the sky with how tall they are!"

"As tall as mountains, piro?" Piro asked, hanging on to every word that came out of Mai's mouth.

"Would you two keep it down?" Mamoru asked, turning his head towards Mai and Piro, who were bringing up the rear. "What if something snuck up on us, and we couldn't hear them because you were too busy yammering?"

"It's fine, Mamoru-kun. Her talking is actually helping," Nanako said. "We know where she is if we can hear in this dark place?"

"Speaking of which, how much further do we need to go?" Mamoru asked Piro. "Feels like we've been walking through here for hours!"

"I'm not too sure, piro," Piro said. "I've never actually been through these caves…"

"WHAT?!" Mamoru cried, stopping in his tracks. "You said we could get to the top from here!"

"It was just a guess, piro. I know there's another cave higher up on the mountain, so I thought the one down here led to the one up there," they explained.

"But you never bothered to look through the caves yourself."

"No way, piro! It was way too dark and scary to go through by myself!" Piro argued.

"So we might not even be going in the right direction! This is just great. We're gonna get lost here because our guide is afraid of the dark," Mamoru sighed.

"Hey, being afraid of the dark is a big deal," Mai said. "I only stopped being scared last year. It's all about letting your eyes adjust to the darkness. That's what Na-chan taught me. Right, Na-chan?"

"Mmhmm!" Nanako nodded. "Mamoru-kun's got a point, though. I can't tell how much further this cave goes on. We couldn't even see how big the mountain was. We could be here for days!"

"I don't want to starve to death before I get out of this place!" Mamoru lamented. He blinked when he realized something. "But hey, have you girls noticed something?"

"What is it, Momo-kun?" Mai asked.

"Have either of you felt hungry or thirsty since we woke up here?" he asked them. When the girls thought about it, they too blinked in surprise.

"Now that you mention it, I haven't," Nanako answered. "But I ate before I started watching TV, so that might be the reason…"

"I didn't! My sister was making lunch when I was watching TV and got kidnapped," Mai added. "But I don't feel hungry at all…"

"Yeah. I haven't even felt like I needed to use the bathroom!" Mamoru said. "If I was wearing pants when those monsters attacked us, I know I would've wet them!"

"Gross. You're right, but still gross," Mai cringed. "Say, Piro, what is there to eat when you get hungry? Are there any fruits in this forest?"

"What do you mean by 'hungry', piro?" they asked, shocking the children. "What's a fruit?"

"You know…like when your stomach growls, and you need food," Mai tried explaining. "Are you saying you don't get hungry? Or thirsty?"

"I don't know what that feels like, so I guess not, piro," they simply said, tilting their head from one side to the other.

"There's a lot you don't know, isn't there?" Mamoru asked. "What kind of a guide are you?"

"Hey! I didn't ask you to come here, piro!" Piro shouted, flying in Mamoru's face. "All I knew was just the forest and this mountain! It's only because Nanako was so nice that I didn't try to toss you all out as soon as you got here, piro!"

"You rude litte…"

"Stop it, both of you!" Nanako shouted at Mamoru and Piro, shutting up the both of them. "I know you're scared, Mamoru-kun, but that's no reason to start yelling at Piro! Apologize to them right now!"

"Why should I?!" Mamoru snapped back. "They're the ones who told us to come through here without even exploring it themselves!"

"It was better than nothing, Momo-kun!" Mai intervened. "At the very least, we can figure out what's on the other side of this cave. And if we run into any trouble, we got our personas, so what's the problem?"

"Mai's right, Mamoru-kun! We have clothes, a way to fight back any monsters, and a direction to go in! We're better off than how we started!" Nanako said. "We can wait until we get hungry to solve that problem, but right now, it's not. What's more important is getting through this cave!"

"Grr…fine. I'm sorry, Piro," Mamoru said begrudgingly.

"Hmph! Serves you right, piro!" Piro huffed. "Why would I lead you wrong? I think of you as my friends, piro!"

"Piro may not know much," Nanako said, "but they haven't done anything that wouldn't make us trust them."

"Yet," Mamoru quipped.

"Like. I. Said. What's important is that we get through here and find a way home!"

"Speaking of which, look!" Mai pointed past the group. In the distance, the children found a stray point of light. "Could that be the exit?"

"I haven't noticed us getting any higher. That probably means that leads out the other side of the mountain," Mamoru commented.

"We'll figure it out when we get there! It's better than standing around! Come on!" Nanako waved the others in her direction, and they quickly towards the light in the distance.

As they expected, the light got bigger the closer they got. When it took up most of their vision, they had to shield their eyes slightly, as the light was so intense, they couldn't tell what was on the other side. It wasn't until they were clear on the other side that they were able to open their eyes. But what they saw, they couldn't believe.

When they opened their eyes, they didn't find more forest or anything resembling what you might find at the end of a mountain cave. Before them was a hallway seemingly made of metal lined with lights. The sleek design of the metallic floor and the mechanical piping in the ceiling above them made them feel like they were in the far-off future.

"What in the…" Mamoru breathed out.

"Where is this place?" Nanako asked, though she knew no one had any idea. She turned around behind her, but only found more of the hallway. "The cave's gone!"

"We're definitely not in that cave anymore," Mai commented. Walking forward, she found a window and quickly ran towards it. When she peeked out of it, she immediately let out a scream of surprise. "AAAHH!"

"What is it, Mai-chan?" Nanako asked as she and Mamoru ran over to the window to see what she was looking at. When they looked out from the window, they gasped in collective awe.

"WE'RE IN SPAAAACE!" Mai screamed. From the window, the children could see nothing but the stars. Shining in varying degrees, it was an incredible display that they never would have imagined they would see in a long time.

"That means this must be a spaceship!" Mamoru said. "How did we get to outer space from a cave? This world is weird."

"It's weird, but it's pretty," Nanako commented. Seeing all the stars made her think of when either Yu or her father would take her to the hills over Inaba late at night to look at the starry sky. The memory of it only made her more homesick.

"What are all those lights, piro?" Piro asked, flying just above the children's heads looking out the window.

"Those are stars, Piro. You've never seen them?" Nanako asked, to which Piro shook their head. "They appear when it's night out. The sun is a star that's closest to us. The rest of them are really really far away."

"This is really all new to you?" Mamoru asked Piro. "Does that mean you've never left that forest?"

"Mmhmm. The forest was always cozy and comfortable, so I never thought about leaving, piro," Piro answered. "Up until Nanako and all of you showed up, all I did was fly around and sleep, piro."

"That sounds like the life for me!" Mamoru joked. "No homework, no bullies, no nagging mothers…but that means no games and no good meals, too."

"Chin up, Momo-kun! We haven't been here that long!" Mai said, patting Mamoru on the shoulder. "I'm sure we're one step closer to getting ourselves home! Right, Na-chan?"

"Right! But how can we get back home from here?" Nanako asked, scratching her cheek.

"Well, if I remember my shows right, we need to find the control room!" Mamoru said. "We find the controls, we can set a course for Earth!"

"There you go, Momo-kun! Think good thoughts!" Mai cheered. "So, how do we find it?"

"There has to be a map somewhere," Nanako said. "We can use that to figure out where it is."

"That's gonna be our best bet," Mamoru said with a shrug. "It's not like there's anybody here to give us directions…"

KLANK!

The sound of something metal hitting the metallic ground rang throughout the hall the children were in, surprising all of them. A plate from the ceiling had fallen down, prompting them to look up at what caused it. From the hole in the ceiling, one of the shadow creatures from before dripped down and landed on the floor with a floor with a sickening splat.

"I don't believe it! Those things are here, too?!" Mai exclaimed.

At the sound of her voice, the mask on the shadow turned to them. This time, it was an orange and white mask, with thick flat teeth lining the bottom and an orange target for a face. Suddenly, the shadow began to change shape, becoming bipedal with long, insect-like legs. Clawed arms lead up to a thin body, with a whip like tail and a long head. As it looked at the children, the mask opened to reveal razor sharp teeth and a horrible screech.

"An alien?! Are these aliens?" Mamoru shouted.

"I don't know, but run!" Mai said, as the monster reared back and lunged at the group. They managed to dodge to the side and get around behind it before any of them could come to harm.

"What do we need to run for? We got protection, remember?" Mamoru said, fists clenched. "Momotaro!"

At the call of his persona's name, Mamoru's jinbei glowed brightly before changing shape and engulfing Mamoru in a giant peach. The peach split into pieces, revealing his persona. Momotaro drew his sword as the monster lunged at him, only to have its jaws blocked by the sword.

"Heh. Not so tough, are ya?" Mamoru mocked from inside his persona. Momotaro pushed the monster off his sword and stood ready for another attack. "Girls! Go and find the map! I can handle this thing!"

"Are you sure?" Nanako asked him, extremely worried.

"Come on! It's just one of them!" he said. Just then, from behind the monster crawled three more of them. As they snarled with their sharp maws, Mamoru felt his courage drain. "Me and my big mouth!"

In response, Momotaro reached back with his sword, and with a great slash, a beam of light appeared from his sword and struck the monster in front. It barreled back and into the other monsters in the group, toppling them all over. Taking this chance, Momotaro turned back into Mamoru's jinbei, who wasted no time in running away.

"Come on! Before they get up!" Mamoru shouted to the girls as he ran towards them.

"I thought you were gonna be cool for once, Momo-kun!" Mai complained as her and Nanako ran alongside Mamoru.

"Shut up! Being cool's useless when you're ripped to pieces!" Mamoru snapped back.

"We need to find a room to hide in!" Nanako directed. "Anybody see a door?"

"They got up, piro!" Piro shouted, looking behind them and seeing the monsters quickly gaining.

The kids picked up their pace as they could hear the clicking of the monster's feet as it ran across the metallic floor. As they ran, Nanako noticed a shape in the wall, a hexagon lined with lights. Next to it was a small panel on the wall with a bright green light. She remembered something like this from a show her big brother watched.

"Over here!" she called out to the others, who quickly took notice of the door. Placing her hand on the panel, the hexagon opened up, revealing another room. Quickly, the children ran inside, Nanako being the last one. The door closed up just they could see the aliens come up to it. The sound of the monsters scratching at the door still chilled them, but at least it told them that the wall was sturdy enough.

"That was close!" Mai panted. "But where are we now?" The children turned towards the other side of the room they were in to find a large console as big as the wall. Screens of all sizes lined the top, while there were many keypads and dials on the bottom.

"I think this is the computer room," Mamoru said. "We might be able to find the map to this place from here!"

"Awesome! We're right where we need to be!" Mai cheered. "So, how do we use it?"

"I dunno," Mamoru said. "I don't see a mouse. How are we supposed to use this without a mouse?"

"Look at all these lights, piro!" Piro said, flying over to the console. Landing on one part of it, their eyes sparkled at the sight of all the colors, particularly a green button near the center. Instinctively, they pawed at it. As soon as they did, however, red lights began flashing, an alarm sounded, and a robotic voice sounded over the speakers.

"INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! UNAUTHORIZED USE OF CONSOLE DETECTED! INITIALIZING DEFENSE PROTOCOLS!"

"What did you do, you stupid thing?!" Mamoru shouted.

"It looked so pretty, piro! I just had to touch it!" Piro cried as it flew back to the group.

From the ceiling in front of the computer, a panel opened up. From it descended what looked like some kind of white robotic egg, with a red light at the top. A bigger panel opened up underneath it, and from the floor rose a large robotic frame with a hollow center. The two pieces combined, and as the red light glowed, the completed robot sprung to life.

"DEFENSE PROTOCOLS INITIATED. ELIMINATE ALL INTRUDERS," the robot said, raising its arms.

"That means us!" Mai exclaimed.

"Aliens on one side, killer robot on the other!" Mamoru groaned. "What do we do?"

"Deal with the one in front of us!" Nanako said, stepping forward. Trying her best to imitate the courage and toughness of Kanji, she stood her ground. "Mamoru-kun! Mai-chan! Get ready to fight!"

"Okay!" the two of them nodded. Facing the robot, the children stood ready. At once, they called out.

"PERSONA!"

The children's clothes glowed brightly, until the light engulfed their bodies. From the light emerged Tamamo-no-Mae, Momotaro and Otohime. The children now safe in their personas stood at an equal height with the robot. The odds were in their favor now.

"I call dibs!" Mamoru shouted. Before anyone could protest, Momotaro drew his sword and lunged at the robot. Slashing it, however, proved useless, as the robot didn't suffer even a scratch. "Nothing?"

"Momo-kun, look out!" Mai shouted, as she saw that the robot prepared a counter attack. Turning its torso, the robot clenched its metal fist and swung it around, striking back at Momotaro and knocking him and Mamoru to the side. "Momo-kun! Take this, you tin can!"

Otohime thrust her mirror forward and fired a white light. Any area the light hit became frozen instantly, trapping the robot in a block of ice. No sooner did Mai celebrate her attack having some success did the robot manage to break free of the ice.

"Let's see if I have any better luck!" Nanako exclaimed, as Tamamo brought her hands together and summoned a circle of flames. Thrusting her arms out, the flames launched at the robot. But it had no effect, the flames simply dissipating without appearing to have done any damage.

"This thing's tough!" Mamoru said as Momotaro got back up. "We'll just have to keep chipping away at it until it goes down!"

"Wait! We can't do that!" Nanako shouted. "We'll wear ourselves before we can make a dent!"

"What can we do, Na-chan?" Mai asked. "Whatever that thing's made of, none of our attacks are damaging it!"

"Just let me think of something!" Nanako said. She swore she had seen a situation like this somewhere before. In one of her shows, perhaps? An enemy with a tough shell that the good guys had to break. How did they do it again? Wait! Now she remembered! "I got it!"

"What is it?" Mamoru said. "Make it quick!"

"Mai-chan, keep attacking that thing with your ice magic!" Nanako instructed.

"But you just said we couldn't do that!" Mai replied.

"I'll be hitting it with fire at the same time! If I'm right, it'll start to get all soft from our attacks!" Nanako elaborated.

"And then I can finish it off!" Mamoru finished. "That's brilliant!"

Mai and Nanako prepared their personas, Tamamo bringing her hands together again and Otohime firmly holding her mirror. Tamamo thrust her arms forward again, releasing a constant stream of fire. Otohime shoved the mirror in front of her, a frigid wind blowing from it.

At the same time, the robot collected energy that focused on the red light at the top. As Mai and Nanako unleashed their attacks, it fired a beam that collided with their elements. Unfortunately for it, its single attack was no match for their combined strength, and it quickly found itself engulfed in fire and ice all at once. When the attacks subsided, the robot struggled to move, its very armor beginning to crack.

"Now, Mamoru-kun!" Nanako called out.

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Mamoru exclaimed, as Momotaro ran up to the robot and gave it another good slash. This time, the attack seemed to work, as the robot's outer casing gave way to Momotaro's sword.

"ERROR. ERROR. ERR…" was all the robot could utter before falling apart, the frame collapsing under the robotic egg's weight.

"It worked, piro!" Piro cheered as the children's personas turned back into their garments. "That was amazing, Nanako!"

"Hey! She shouldn't take all the credit!" Mamoru whined. "I'm the one who did the finishing blow!"

"We all did it," Nanako said with a smile. "I remembered from one of the magical girl shows I watched there was a monster that hid behind its shell. When the good guys heated it up and then froze it over and over again, it got all brittle."

"That was some good thinking," Mai said. "That's our leader!"

Just then, they heard something fall to the ground. The robotic egg that made the center of the robot fell onto its side with a loud thud. The red light blinked slowly before turning off for good. As soon as it did, lines opened up on the egg, jets of air pouring out from them. The lines outlined a hatch, creating an opening as its doors folded.

"What's that?" Mamoru asked, cautiously walking toward the egg. The others followed suit, coming up to the egg's sides. When they saw what was inside it, they collectively gasped. Laying asleep inside the egg was a boy about their age with dark purple hair, naked as the day he was born.

"Ah! It's just like Mamoru, piro! They've got a tail, too!" Piro exclaimed excitedly.

"That's…not a tail," Mamoru winced.


Alright! I'll try to have the next chapter out as soon as I can! In the meantime, you can look back on the other chapters to enjoy the new versions.