Beta by Crossovernaru
The polished tiled floor exploded under the weight of a severed monsters' tentacle.
Shirou's red cape fluttered while in mid-flight after he jumped back to create some distance between him and the rampaging mass of monsters. Another one lunged at him, its limbs twitching uncontrollably in agitation towards its evasive prey.
Shirou landed in a crouch, his gaze never leaving the fast approaching beast. When it was close enough, he ripped off his mask with his occupied hand, fingers lancing the black helm as it turned into blue fire and manifested Mordred. Thanks to the Persona's quick reaction time, the creature's charge was diverted, allowing Shirou to retaliate and quickly deliver a critical blow with both blades, slashing it into four pieces. As the monster's remains crashed onto the floor, Shirou jumped back once again as more creatures continued to close in on him.
This was the sight that Ann witnessed as Shirou diverted their attention to him and away from her hiding place. A repetition of the same tactic being implemented ever since the battle had started, repeated over and over again for the last twenty-three minutes. A parry from the large Persona, quick slashes from Shirou and a quick retreat away from her position, while he slowly began to push himself into a corner the longer the battle continued.
Ann bit her lip as she focused on Shirou, noticing how he was slowly tiring himself out, just like the events that had occurred with Shiho. Every time he summoned his Persona to attack, the more haggard and exhausted he became. His exposed biceps were sporting bruises, his muscles tensing and burning from using his full strength to cut down the monsters threatening to overwhelm him.
The redhead's Persona went in to parry, but applied a little bit too much force and cut the monster in half. The monster's dying screeches filled the room. Shirou silently cursed and jumped back, missing his chance to deliver the final blow to Gille's creature. Renewing his focus, he resumed his objective of moving the battle further away from Ann.
Ann's eyes focused on the monster cut down by Shirou's Persona. She watched as its wounds quickly healed, and then began multiplying itself from the two halves, before rejoining the battle.
Mordred, for whatever reason, lacked the power to put down the monsters down for good. Its slashes were powerful and could easily destroy the creatures, but it wasn't a permanent solution. The only thing that had the power to put them out of commission were the blades in Shirou's hands. A single slash was enough to leave them writhing on the floor fruitlessly.
Unfortunately, it wasn't enough.
Shirou could not keep this up forever, and it was only a matter of time before he tired himself out completely. As things now stood, these monsters were spawning faster than he could put them down. She looked to their origin, at the monster in human skin, Gilles de Rais. The evil caster was surrounded by more and more of those tentacled monstrosities, with no apparent sign of stopping.
Ann placed her head on her knees, arms folded atop of her blonde hair and closed her eyes in frustration and despair. Tears streaming down her cheeks.
"Damn it… damn it… How could I have been so stupid!? Shirou's going to die… and it's all my fault…!" Her hands clenched as her heart tightened. "I'm so useless… I can't do anything... I couldn't be there for Shiho and I almost let myself get raped by that bastard. Now I can't do anything to help Shirou…! Why, damn it… why—!?"
"Why do you keep blaming yourself?"
She gasped, flinching slightly as she stared at her hands in surprise. Ann trembled as she wondered where the feminine voice had come from—and why it made her heart burn with so much anger that she wanted to lash out at the mere question.
Before she could think of anything else, Ann felt herself being pulled back.
"GYAAA!"
Her surprised cry stopped the fight between Shirou and Gilles, as she was picked up by her neck, courtesy of the metallic gauntlet of one of the castle's knight. She grimaced at the sight of the expressionless helm looking back at her, before being carried out from her hiding spot. Two other sentries blocked the path before they stepped aside and allowed the one carrying her to walk forward.
She struggled fruitlessly, her hands grasping and hitting the knight's armor in vain. She was brought forward and her eyes landed on the one man she despised the most.
"Well, well, it seems that you couldn't get enough of me. Isn't that right, you dirty little slut?" Kamoshida's shadow taunted as he grinned mockingly at Ann. Gilles looked back at the sound of his king's voice and noticed Ann, where he cried out with pure joy.
"Takamaki-san!" Shirou's concerned cry made her wince and look towards him. Shirou leveled a glare at all the enemies that had appeared. He charged forward, weapons in hand and Persona trailing behind him ready to attack.
One of the creatures screeched with delight, jumping up to intercept him and wrap its tentacles around him. Fortunately, the redhead sidestepped in time, with Mordred delivering a powerful blow that sent it flying off to the side, through the broken wall that Gilles had come through. More monsters attempted to stop him, but Shirou kept on dodging and getting closer towards rescuing the blonde. Shadow Kamoshida noticed this, clicking his tongue as he gave an unimpressed look towards Gilles who was far too focused on Ann to care.
"Seriously? Why the hell did I make you the Court Wizard when you can't take care of a lowly peasant like that? Captain, kill the trash already!"
At his command, a puddle of black and red substance began bubbling through the floor before exploding, revealing a knight in gold armor with a red feather sticking out of its helmet. The Captain's red eyes flashed with power and swung its golden blade at the incoming redhead.
Shirou's eyes widened at his latest foes sudden appearance, and forced himself to come to a stop. He knew full well that dodging in any direction aside from the one he just came from, would lead to his undoing. With little options, Shirou swung both of his blades to parry the incoming sword.
Clang!
Shirou's watched with shock as Bakuya and Kanshou were sent flying through the air, and his grip over their hilts broken under the weight of the blow.
"Humph!" The golden captain scoffed, coldly preparing for a second blow. "How dare a pathetic lowlife like you get in Lord Kamoshida's way! Die!"
"Damn—!" Shirou barely had time to curse as the golden knight swung its sword at him once again. In one fluid and quick movement, Mordred intercepted the blow, locking both knights in a clash of sparks between their blades.
The captain growled and pushed forward, almost managing to bring the hulking Persona down to one of its knees. Shirou's gaped at what was happening to his Persona. It was then that he finally became aware of just how exhausted he truly was. As the adrenaline began to fade from is system, it slowly gave way to feelings of dread.
"This is the limit of your strength as a knight!? Out of my sight you faker!"
The captain roared as it broke the clash of blades and delivered a powerful haymaker to the Persona's scarred helm, sending it flying back.
Shirou's eyes widened at the sight. "Gua—!" His grunt barely escaped his lips as his Persona crashed into him and sent him flying as well. Mordred vanished into wisps of blue fire and the mask was back on his face, leaving the young man's body flying through the air over the aquatic creatures attempting to grab him as he passed over them.
He collided with a wall, the force knocking the air out of his lungs. He slid down and fell onto his knees, using his arms to keep himself from falling face first onto the floor. He panted with exhaustion, desperately taking in air as he felt power his waning until—
"What the-!?" Shirou's form was engulfed by fire and his rebellious attire transformed back into his school uniform, undamaged and untainted by the horrors of the abyss that he and Ann had been captive to.
Ann's eyes widened at the sight. "S-Shirou…!"
"Gihihihihi!" the sound of Kamoshida's mocking laughter filled the room as he pointed a finger at Shirou. "Trash will always be trash! You really thought you could mess with me!? The king!?"
Gilles approached the once more captive Ann and cooed, much to her discomfort.
"OOOOHHHH! My saint, you have returned to me…" Just as he was about to reach for her, the knight pulled her away from the bug eyed monsters' hands, an act which startled Gilles. The mad man turned toward Kamoshida in surprise, to which the king returned with a sneer.
"Ah, ah!" Kamoshida waggled his finger left and right as he looked at the mad man. "You ain't playing with your toy just yet. We've got other things to do first."
Gilles looked aghast at that. "But… my lord, she's right here! She's within my grasp to break and to sully! Why would you deny me this? The pleasure of spitting upon one of God's greatest saints and leading her to a path of depravity and ruin?"
Ann bared her teeth, her eyes wide with panic at the heartfelt speech from this crazy lunatic. Desperation settled in as she tried to struggle against her captor. "Let me go damn you!"
"Hmm…well, when you put it like that…" The perverted king grinned and looked at Ann. "How can I possibly say no to such an honest expression, right?"
A cold sweat went down Ann's pale face as she stared at Kamoshida's condescending glare. Behind him, Gilles appeared ecstatic at receiving his king's consent at the chance to have his way with Ann. He almost looked like a deranged child being told that they would get a present.
"You…" Ann ground out, her body shaking in dread. The king gestured for the knight to let her go, which he promptly obeyed and dropped her. Ann cried out as her body hit the floor, looking up with a grimace as Kamoshida looked down at her.
Kamoshida sighed and shook his head in disappointment. "Seriously, look at you now little 'saint'. You know how much potential I saw in you? So much that it made you seem like you were actually worth a damn in that stupid school… but turns out that you're just another slut beneath my feet. You could've been MY slut beneath my feet. Worshiping and pleasuring me, but instead you end up like this. A useless slut with nothing to show except for her smoking, hot body—but really, that shit doesn't matter. I could find a hundred other women like you on the streets! So, in the end you are just a useless hole!"
Ann flinched at the words of her being useless brought forth all her previous thoughts to light. Her guilt over her weakness to do anything fueled her shame and guilt. "S-Shiho… I'm…"
The king sneered at her and turned towards Shirou, who was just getting to his feet. His stance remained defiant even though his powers ran out just moments prior.
"And you! You stupid fuck! How dare you get in the way of my well-conceived plan of getting this stupid bimbo! Do you have any idea how long it took me to keep this bimbo and the other slut separated? They were inseparable and it took so much effort to finally keep them apart when I started filling that other girl with the idea that she's only good at volleyball! Then you come along and ruin all of my hard work! You took two of my favorite toys away from me!"
Shirou's eyes narrowed at the admission and he growled. "They are not your toys! Stop treating people as if they are just tools for you to use and discard at your leisure!"
"Who the fuck gives a shit!?" Kamoshida asked as he tilted his head to the side with an ugly sneer. "They are mine to use as I please! I would've gotten the blonde bimbo if you hadn't gotten in the way that day! Not to mention that I would've gotten my back up fuck toy if you hadn't started befriending her and undoing all the work I put into breaking her!"
Something in those words resonated within Ann and she looked at the king with an unreadable expression. "Back up… fuck toy…?"
Kamoshida grinned down at her condescendingly. "Of course, you actually thought I was gonna be satisfied with just you? I mean you would totally be my alpha bitch when I got started building my harem, but you wouldn't be the only one for me. Hell no! I was planning on going after Suzui too and punish her thoroughly for even thinking she could be better than me. Hell, would you like to see her?"
Ann blinked in bewilderment at him from the statement, as he snapped his fingers with a cruel grin on his face.
"Ooh~! Kamoshida-sensei~!"
Ann froze, as her heart came to stop. Her entire body felt as if it was just drenched with a cold bucket of ice as her skin prickled painfully. That voice—
'That voice… it couldn't be…'
"You…!" Ann's voice was filled with anger. The same anger that burned just as hot as the feeling that was swelling in her chest. Ann turned towards the direction of the voice, towards the door of the destroyed room and saw her—
Shiho Suzui, clad in a white frilly bikini that barely covered anything, walking towards her with ditzy steps and a distracted look on her face. The distorted version of Shiho stumbled onto Kamoshida who grabbed her and fondled her body with perverse glee.
"Kamoshida-sensei~! What'cha going to teach me today~? Are you going to teach me what we did the other day~? I kinda forgot~!"
SMACK!
Shirou and Ann flinched at the harsh slap Kamoshida gave the distorted Shiho. The man grinned savagely as the girl cradle her reddened cheek with a blush.
"Stupid bitch! How dare you forget everything I have so graciously taught you."
"I'm sorry Kamoshida-sensei~!" Shiho's apology came in an innocent and shrilly voice, something that made Ann wince as she closed her eyes and looked down.
"Stop it…"
Kamoshida turned towards the blonde and grinned. He grabbed the bikini-clad Shiho's hair and pulled her head towards Ann roughly. "How about you make it up to me dumb bitch, by teaching this stupid bimbo everything I've taught you… If you can remember anything you stupid whore!"
"Okay~!" The distorted Shiho answered chirpily, not showing an ounce of discomfort from the rough treatment—in fact she showed happiness and pleasure from Kamoshida's abuse. The dark haired girl was released, and she went towards Ann, stopping just a feet away with a smile on her face.
"It's like totally your fault that I'm here ya know~!"
Ann's heart screeched to a halt at those words. She looked up at the face of her friend, while her body began to shake uncontrollably. In that moment, her mind was incapable of distinguishing between the real Shiho and the fake.
The distortions words stabbed her like knives, causing her enormous pain.
"…s-stop…"
"Useless dummy~! I mean look at you~! All you ever do is mope around and be a bother to everyone~! Like you should totally do something with your life and stuff~! It's like, because you are like that, that I had to go through so much shit~!
"…stop…"
"I mean, being with you made me useless at everything~!"
"…stop…"
"But being with Kamoshida-sensei~! Makes me not be useless~! I can do stuff and I am actually worth something~!"
"…stop…!" Ann's eyes burned as tears began to cascade from the Shadow Shiho's onslaught.
"You should've totally seen him when we were alone~! He always told me how worthless I was~! It kinda made me realize just how bad you were for me~! Hehe~! It's all your fault I was always sad~!"
"…please… stop…!" The blonde girl desperately covered her ears with her hands, but this did not stop the words from causing her indescribable pain.
Shiho winked at her and gave her two peace signs. "I didn't want to be with a useless slut like you~! So, I kinda traded you for Kamoshida-sensei's big hard dong~! Hehehe~! And guess what~!? I'm not useless anymore~! So I guess you were good for something, huh~! Ann-chan~!"
It was all her fault.
Everything had been her fault.
It was her fault that Shiho had suffered…because she couldn't go through with Kamoshida's whims…
It was her fault that Shiho had to face all of Kamoshida's abuse… because she couldn't be there for her…
It was her fault that Shiho had to see her almost get raped… because she wasn't strong enough …
She was guilty…
Guilty of being incapable of stopping bad things from happening to the one friend she truly cared about…
Guilty of her pain—!
"STOP IT!"
Ann flinched and looked up, the bikini clad Shiho was staring dumbly to the side and she followed her gaze. She caught sight of Gilles focusing entirely on her. Normally, the macabre delight in his big and round eyes from seeing her suffer would make her skin crawl, but after the outburst, he was the furthest thing from her mind.
She saw Kamoshida frowning, unimpressed and sneering at the words of defiance being screamed through the air.
Her bright blue eyes caught sight of him—of Shirou standing tall, his eyes fired up and snarling with rage at the show that he had just been forced to watch.
"Oh? And why should I?" Kamoshida mocked as he sneered at the redhead, only for Shirou to increase the intensity of his glare.
"Stop treating people as if they are toys for you to use and discard so easily! They aren't yours to hurt!"
Ann could only stare at Shirou with wide eyes.
Kamoshida grew angry at the continued defiance. "Not mine to hurt!? You insolent brat! I'm the fucking king! I can do whatever the hell I—!"
"Shut up!" Shirou's fierce words cut the deranged king off, leaving him stunned. The redhead narrowed his eyes and a look like cold steel shined through his golden-brown eyes. "I am tired of hearing you talk so much… it's grating and annoying having a bully like you talk big and act as if he was a king. If you have an inferiority complex or are just that sad about being yesterday's news about how great of an athlete you used to be, talk to somebody who cares… that is if anyone can actually bother to care."
Shirou had delivered his words stoic and cold, but even he could not help that tiny smile from forming on his lips, which Ann noticed, made Shadow Kamoshida twitch.
As the blonde looked at the redhead, she understood what he was trying to do. He was still trying to save her. He was risking his life by diverting their attention away from her. Even though he was now powerless and unable to defend himself.
As these thoughts crossed her mind, something inside of her snapped. In that instance, her feelings of guilt began to burn into something fierce.
With the king, the redhead's words had another effect.
They created a very angry and snarling Kamoshida.
The man was biting on his lower lip so hard, that his teeth came close to ripping the flesh out. His eyes glowed with pure rage, his whole body sweating from embarrassment, while he glared at Shirou.
His entire body was shaking making made his cape flutter from side to side until—
"RRRRRAAAAAHHHH! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE! FUCKING KILL HIM! I WANT HIS FUCKING HEAD AT MY FEET! NOOOOOOOW!"
Kamoshida's roar of fury caused the ground to explode in the red and black substance, sending seven shadows flying forth with ominous red auras surrounding them. The knights began to walk forward, following the lead of the golden knight captain that had pushed Shirou back earlier.
Shirou readied himself, a look of determination on his face— even though beads of sweat began to roll down his face at the impossible odds stacked against him.
"Stop…"
Kamoshida's angry scowl turned towards Ann, seeing the girl bow her head and mutter made him grin, her words slightly alleviating his anger. Gilles who was just paying attention to the blonde for the entirety of situation just cooed, his claw-like hands reaching out affectionately.
"Isn't it beautiful? Aaa, the sight of the saint being broken down makes for such a beautiful image, doesn't it my liege?"
"Humph, of course it does." Kamoshida grinned. "After I am done with that piece of shit over there, how about I help you break the girl even further?"
"Of course! You truly are the kindest of all kings, Kamoshida-kun!" Gilles gave him a childish smile.
"Stop…" Ann muttered once more, this made the bikini clad Shiho saunter towards her, kneel down and start pulling on her hair and poke her face. The distorted girl smiled dumbly as she spoke.
"You should totally join up with me~! Then you won't be so useless~!"
"Stop…"
"I mean you, like, totally wouldn't abandon your best friend right~? It'll be your fault if I start crying~!"
"Stop."
"Like, saying no to Kamoshida-sensei~! Is like totally the worst thing you can do~! It's your fault he had to hurt me ya know~!"
"I said…"
"It's all your fault! Every time he hit me was because of you~! Every time he touched me was because you just couldn't be true to yourself~!"
"…"
"And you're the most useless to me~! Ann-chan~! Like totally admit it~! It's all your fault~!"
Ann raised her head and with an unreadable expression she stared at the distorted and twisted image of her best friend. For the first time, her mind was clear enough to see her for what she really was. She understood what that cruel parody of Shiho truly meant. The mocking and sadistic eyes of Kamoshida and Gilles staring at her with anticipation.
"Are you going to let this keep going? Are you that incapable, that useless that you can't even protect the image of your best friend? Or are all these lies about your guilt more important than that?"
"No…" Ann growled out, her eyes blazing as the voice inside her questioned her resolve.
"Huh~!" The distorted Shiho puffed her cheeks and began to pull on Ann's pigtails roughly. "Admit it~! Admit it~! That it's all your fault~! Just admit it and—!"
"I... told you... TO STOP IT ALREADY!" Ann roared with blazing fury as she grabbed the distorted girl's forearm and pulled her free hand back. Clenching the hand into a fist, she unleashed it with all her might, with the intent to completely destroy the false image of her friend.
"Guuagh!" The distorted girl was flung back and hit the tiled floor with a harsh thud.
Everything stopped.
Kamoshida's eyes widened at the sudden act of violence.
Gilles looked excited at the raw anger on Ann's face.
The knights approaching Shirou stopped mid-step and turned towards the blonde.
Shirou also looked at her in shock, noticing a familiar fire burning in Ann's eyes… almost as though something had awakened within her.
Ann stood up, her legs wobbly but her eyes fierce with renewed determination as she turned towards Kamoshida.
"I've had it with you…!" She grounded out as she took a step forward, fist clenched. "I've had it with dealing with you in that damn school! I'm done taking peoples shit! Especially yours! And above all else… I'm sick and tired of being scared of you! So leave me and Shiho alone you fucking piece of shit!"
Something deep within Ann snapped and a sharp pain stabbed her mind, like a blazing tempest begging to be released. She grabbed her head, her body squirming from the pain.
"My, my… it's taken far too long."
Kamoshida's eyes widened with recognition at what was about to occur and quickly retreated in fright, stumbling into Gilles. "Kill that one! Kill her!"
"Standing by and doing nothing is no longer a choice which you can do anymore. The time for you to take control is now."
A single knight obeyed the order and ran towards Ann with the intent to strike her down. Shirou's eyes widened, as the knight charged at her. His eyes caught sight of the white sword that had been knocked out of his grasp earlier by the golden captain, stabbed into the ground near one of the now stationary creatures.
He bared his teeth as he took off running towards it.
"I am thou, thou art I… We can finally forge a contract. Yes, just like that, free yourself and unleash it all."
Unbeknownst to her, the knight was upon her with its sword raised. Kamoshida grinned and Gilles, realizing what was about to happen let out a gasp of terror. Every other knight stood by, silently watching the execution with disinterest.
At the same time, Shirou threw himself towards the blade. However, one of Gilles monsters near the weapon noticed his approach and lashed out with its tentacle. Shirou notices this and bared his teeth as blue fire engulfed him.
As he changed into his rebellious attire, he swiftly avoided the tentacle. He jumped up into the air, his red open shirt fluttering as he grabbed the blade, rolled on the floor away from the monster, and stopped on his knees. His black iron mask glaring in the direction of the knight as it began to swing down.
"The time to break the bondage holding you back has come. Let your hands be the one to break them… let them be the ones to dominate all those who oppose you. There is no shame in playing the villain…"
Ann continued to squirm unaware of the knight before her.
"Die!" The knight swung its sword down, ready to split her in two. Kamoshida smiled with glee, but—
CLANG!
The sentry's sword was knocked out of its hands as a white sword came spinning from the side into its hand. The knight flinched and looked back at Shirou, who had his arm forward, indicating that he had thrown the blade.
Kamoshida's vision turned red as he glared at the young man. "You—!"
Shirou's rebellious attire disappeared just in time for one of Gilles creatures to grab him by the ankles. He tried to fight it off as his eyes went to Ann, who was now burning up in a shroud of blue fire.
"Let's go…" Ann's body stopped moving in pain as she glared at Kamoshida, who turned towards her with a fearful expression. A red feline mask appeared on her face. "Carmen!"
"Ah, do you understand? Then if that's the case I'll gladly lend you my strength."
As the voice said this, Ann ripped the mask off her face and a torrent of fire exploded from her, making everyone flinch and evaporating the knight that tried to kill her.
Shirou grinned slightly as he fought against the hold over him. He looked up and saw the monster ready to eat him. Its mouth drooling and wide open with teeth ready to tear him apart.
"Damn it… let go!"
He tried to fight it, but his efforts were in vain.
"Sforza!"
Suddenly, a white light flew towards the monster holding him as several white orbs crashed into it. The creature screeched as its body was torn apart by bursts of light, released its hold over him.
"Shirou!" Shiho's voice filled his ears and he turned towards her. The girl ran towards him as Akira, Ryuji and Morgana all landed in front of him, protecting him form harm. "Are you okay? Shirou what are you doing here!?"
"I…" Shirou started, but had to look away from her chocolate colored eyes, unable to meet them due to the concerned look in her gaze. His gold-brown eyes met with Morgana's form as he crossed his arms and summoned his Persona, which proceeded to heal him. The redhead let out a relieved sigh as he felt his body mending itself back together.
"What the hell is going on!?" Ryuji screamed as everyone turned towards the torrent of blue flames.
"Is that... Takamaki?" Akira questioned as he turned towards Shirou. The redhead blinked as he stared at the owl-shaped mask on the dark haired teen, his gaze trailing off to the torrent of fire.
"Yeah." Shirou responded as he got to his feet with Shiho's help. She gasped and turned sharply towards him then back to the torrent of blue flames.
"Ann…!? What's going on!?"
Inside the giant blue inferno, a figure stood up.
The distorted version of Shiho as viewed by Kamoshida got back onto her wobbly legs. She looked up, her face sporting a red and swelling bruise.
"Ow! You big meanie, that like, hur—!"
She never got to finish, as a fiery red whip burst out from within the depths of the flames. It went for the distorted girl, wrapped itself around her and—!
"AAAAAAAAGH!"
The distorted Shiho howled in pure agony as she was burnt to ashes in a matter of seconds.
Everyone saw this and looked at the scene in shock. Ryuji pulled on his collar as he gave the real Shiho a look.
"Holy shit…What the hell did Kamoshida do?" He directed the question towards Shirou who stared at the scene with the same shocked expression.
"I…!" He stopped talking as the torrent of rebellion disappeared, revealing the new Ann.
The blonde pulled her whip back towards herself, wrapping it around her right arm. She turned her body towards Kamoshida, now dressed in an alluring red latex catsuit. It was both attractive and sexy as the king began to ogle her. However, it was also intimidating as the fury in her eyes made Kamoshida take a step back, sweating nervously under her gaze.
The sounds of crackling chains made Ann appear even more threatening. Standing behind her, her Persona glared down at the man who caused Ann so much pain.
The Persona, Carmen, had high heels which were stepping on the visage of a man with a heart shape cage for a head, grinding her heels into him. Around the man's neck was thorny vines that went all around the Persona's rose colored and decorated dressed which showed off her bosom brazenly. The thorny vine was held by her left hand, as she dismissively dragged a second man that had the vines wrapped around his neck and floating around uselessly. Carmen's feline yellow eyes glared menacingly behind her black panther mask as she released a plume of smoke from the cigar on her lips.
It was the very image of an attractive, yet dangerous image. A true femme fatal which spells doom to any man that crosses her.
And it just so happens that her sights were now set on the frightened Kamoshida.
Ann took a step forward, pointing straight at him, "You think that women are just some sexual outlet that you can use and throw away whenever you want…but I'm going to show you… just how bad it is to earn a woman's scorn you son of a bitch! I'm going to make you pay for even thinking that you were going to get away for trying to rape me!"
With every word out of her mouth, the temperature in the room began to rise as a heatwave that was nearly suffocating flared up in intensity.
Kamoshida tugged at his cape in a vain attempt to cool himself. Despite his current predicament, he maintained a glare at the now furious Ann. He tried to speak, but the heat made his insults and words fail him as he stepped further back, leaving Gilles alone to look at Ann with a joyous expression.
"Oooo! What a marvelous sight! These flames! The flames that burned you! The flames that killed you on that day! My saint how does—!"
Ann rounded on the mad man, her mouth twisting into an angry sneer. "Shut up!"
Carmen bit into her cigar as a ball of fire formed in her free hand. After winding her arm back, the Persona threw it forward, unleashing it upon the mad wizard with all her might.
Gilles bulging eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. Realizing the danger behind the attack, he brought his horrific book forward. The human skin covered book glowed a sickly red and immediately the mad man was covered from head to toe in large mass of monsters swarming from the book to protect him in a cocoon of writhing tentacles.
The moment the attack struck, it dug into the tentacles until the ball of fire expanded, unleashing a sea of fire was unleashed burning with even more intensity.
"Gyaaaaah!" Kamoshida squealed, falling to the ground and curling up into a ball barely avoiding the flames. Thanks to the fact that he was standing behind Gilles, he was protected from being burned alive—though that didn't stop his cape from catching fire, forcing the king to remove it to avoid being burnt along with it.
Once the sea of fire receded, almost half of the room was scorched black from the intensity of Carmen's flames. The already damaged floors were now melted beyond recognition, and the destroyed wall that lead to the outside of the castle was burnt black, along with the melted remains of glass from the windows.
Although, none of that compared to the tentacle cocoon, which was charred black and no longer moving.
Kamoshida now only wearing is pink speedo's, shoes and crown, was crawling as fast as he could away from the smoking tentacles and Ann. He was whimpering and his body was pouring out an entire rivers worth of sweat, both from the heat, as well as from fear.
The charred cocoon of burning flesh collapsed, as the tentacles disintegrated into ash, leaving Gilles to stumble back disoriented from the blow he had just received. The bug-eyed man looked up, his sanguine color clothing charred and the skin on his arms sizzling from the heat. For once, the look on his eyes wasn't that of childlike wonder or sadistic glee, but one of weariness as he looked at Ann with a cautious gaze.
The blonde took a step forward and pointed at the downed Servant.
"I've had enough of your stupid and creepy act! I'm not a saint! I'm not your holy woman! I'm not yours to break! You want to keep coming at me, you crazy, obsessive piece of shit!? Then come on!" Ann beckoned at him with a small cruel smirk as her Persona created another fireball. "Carmen and I will gladly chase you off until you're burnt to a crisp!"
"Whoa… that's just…!" Akira gasped as he watched the scene with awe.
"Lady Ann's Persona is this powerful!?" Morgana questioned loudly as he focused his big blue eyes on the fiery display. "Her Persona's power is off the charts! It's being amplified way beyond normal levels! With all the anger she's releasing, she could end up burning the entire place down!"
Ryuji turned towards Shiho.
"Has she ever gotten this pissed!?"
Shiho shook her head as she stared at Ann with awe. "Never… but… were you really holding on to this much anger inside of you…? Ann, how could I have not noticed…?" the tiger masked girl whispered sadly. Her mouth frowning as she watched the scene. She jumped a little when she felt a hand on her shoulder and she turned towards Shirou who gave her a concerned look.
"Hey don't start blaming yourself now, okay?"
The girl gave him a small smile and nodded. "You're right! This is all Kamoshida's fault."
"Right!" Ryuji crowed in as he punched the palm of his hand with a grin. "Let's go and help Takamaki out!"
"Guys!" Everyone turned towards Akira as he took a step back. "We've got a problem."
The six remaining knights that were watching the events unfold finally acted. Their bodies exploded into shadowy red substance, spinning around maniacally until a powerful Shadow burst out.
"What the hell is that!?" Ryuji ground out as he looked the new opponent with an incredulous, but also underwhelming look.
It was a giant, bearded demon. It's long horns, menacing and pointy, sprouting from its head as its giant eyes looked fiercely at Ann who turned her attention towards the new adversary. The girl, much like Ryuji, raised an eyebrow at the demon, because—
... It was sitting on top of a toilet.
"I guess this speaks a lot about what happens when Kamoshida gets scared or comes by anyone who is willing to stand up to him." Akira said with grin as he looked mockingly at the demon and then back at Kamoshida who took noticed of them and glared hatefully in their direction. He fixed up his red gloves, ready to take a step forward.
Morgana walked forward and held out an arm to stop him. "Don't underestimate him Joker, extreme emotions like this are incredibly dangerous here. That Shadow must be incredibly powerful because of how fearful the Palace Ruler is feeling. So be careful."
Akira looked down at him, his arrogant expression weaving away for a calm and serious one. He nodded and turned towards the rest of the teenagers around him.
"Skull, Tiger, come on, let's give Takamaki-san a hand." He turned towards Shirou. "Can you stay here and be careful? I promise we'll be back for you as soon as possible."
Shirou just smiled in response. "Ha, don't worry about me. I think I have enough strength left in me to help out."
"Huh?" Morgana turned towards him with squinted eyes. "Hey, a Shadow can't be harmed by normal people like you. Only Persona users can harm and destroy them. You'll just be a liabi—!"
Morgan's words were cut short as Shirou's form was set ablaze and replaced by his rebellious attire.
"You too…?" Akira questioned.
"Shirou…?" Shiho took a step back as she watched his form.
"Whoa!" Ryuji grinned with ferocity and turned towards the demon on the toilet. "I don't really know how the hell you got that form, but if you can fight then this is gonna be a piece of cake."
Morgana looked at him with wide shocked eyes. "Holy… did… did I seriously stumble upon five Persona users in less than a week…?"
Akira gave him an appraising look and nodded. "You have enough energy to keep fighting? I know from experience, how tiresome the first time can be."
Shirou only responded by taking off his mask, turning it into blue fire in his hand. He let his other hand take some of that blue fire and calmly he held his ignited hands to his sides.
"Mordred."
The large charred knight appeared, bearing down on Shirou and with a swift movement it ripped the spear out of its chest. The blue fire in his hands turned red and the redhead swatted the fire away to reveal his Yin and Yang blades, Kanshou and Bakuya.
The mask returned to his face as he looked up at Akira, he nodded. "I have enough."
The leader of the group nodded as he turned away and began to walk towards the demon who was focusing on Ann. The redhead took a step forward, but was stopped by Shiho when she grabbed his arm with her head low.
"Shirou…" He looked at her with concern, pushing his mask up so that she could see his eyes. He waited for her response as she turned and looked up at him with a smile. "Let's go and help Ann together, so that when we get out of here. I still need to keep that promise I made of introducing the two of you. Okay?"
Shirou just smiled and nodded. "Yeah."
The demon advanced towards Ann, its face set into an ugly glare as it snared at the girl defiantly standing before him.
"You wretched girl! How dare you assault king Kamoshida like that! You will pay!"
"Humph, I say it's about time someone stood up to that lame loser." Ann said as she flipped her hair and got into a battle pose. "Let's burn them up, Carmen!"
With those words released, the femme fatal Persona dug her heel into the figure beneath her feet and raised both hands, fire circulating around them—before she threw them down ready to burn her enemy to cinders.
Author's Notes
Hello there!
Well there's not much to say here as this is a continuation of the last chapter. The most I can address is about the Kanshou and Bakuya breaking bit. and what I can say is...fuck the double Berith and Pixie combo in the game. They are totally one of the most annoying enemies in the early game. But aside from my experience with this enemies leaking into the story, just think of it as Shirou's first time projecting those weapons and not understanding just how sturdy they really are.
Aside from this there's not much to say. If you have any questions, don't be afraid to PM me.
Well, until next time. I hope you enjoy and please do leave your Reviews so I can know your thoughts on the story so far.
Adios.