"Minato-kun?" Fuuka's voice can be heard from behind the door as she knocked on Minato's door in the early morning right before the alarm rang. "I complied the movie you asked for."
Minato opened the door slightly, just enough to show his face, and Fuuka handed him a CD. "Thanks, Fuuka." He told her.
"Your welcome." Fuuka said and scurried down to the lounge.
The alarm rang and a hand swatted the alarm, silencing it immediately. "Be careful with that, Aigis. Minako bought it for me." Minato told the unwanted guest as he closed the door.
"I apologize, Minato-san." Aigis said.
Minato waved it away. "It's okay, but I thought we've been through this last year, Aigis?"
"The situations is now different." Aigis told him, "I need to observe you in order to fully understand the situation and if you would not be harmed in any way this year."
"How about Minako?" Minato asked.
"I was in Minako's room for one minute and twenty-eight seconds ago." Aigis said.
"What did she say?"
"She said that she was okay and to go to your room to observe you instead."
"I knew it."
"We're both okay, Aigis." Minato assured her. "But you'd better go before Yukari finds you in my room."
"Yes, Minato-san." Aigis ran up to the command room on the fourth floor swiftly and without a sound.
Minato sighed and got ready for school as always, and he went to school with Minako.
'So, Minato.'
"Yes?"
'Since we found out that Igor said that our friends' memories were only hidden, do you think we should trigger all of our friends' memories?'
"Only S.E.E.S, we could explain it to them easily. But to other people…"
'Well, this is easier, at least.'
"Just to find the trigger to the memories, eh?"
'Did you bring the item that would be likely to trigger Yukari's memories?'
Minato took out Yukari's cell phone strap from his bag. "Of course, how about yours?"
Minako opened a little of her bag to show Minato the rabbit doll that Akihiko had given him. After a few seconds, Minako closed her bag.
"…"
'What?'
"You…you're serious, aren't you?"
Minako turned her head, and she blushed a little, 'Of course! I want him to remember, of course!'
"Not that! You're serious on bugging me the whole time, aren't you? Sending me Aigis after she bugged you."
'Oooh, you're talking about that. Of course!'
Minato shook his head and walked out off the train and walked to the school with Minako silently. They 'studied', with the usual sleeping Minato and Minako, and the usual asking-for-help Junpei, even though he's been through this a year ago. Although, even though they 'studied', the twins still got the highest scores in the grade, in someway that Junpei cannot comprehend.
When school was finished, Minato asked Yukari to come to the rooftop, even though she had archery practice. Yukari relunctantly agreed, after some convincing by Minako, and followed Minato up to the rooftop. Yukari closed the door behind her.
"Minato?" Yukari asked when she saw Minato looking at the view. "What is it?"
"Yukari, come over here." Minato said, without turning his head to look at her. Yukari came over to Minato and looked over the view as well. "The view is amazing, isn't it?" he smiled a little, but not so much so that it can't be seen by Yukari.
"Yes," Yukari said, "But did you ask me to come here just to look at the view?"
Minato shook his head. "Of course not, I know how devoted you are with the archery club." He took out the cell phone strap. "Do you remember this?"
"That…!" Yukari gasped, "How do you have it?"
"…" Minato shook his head, now reluctant to have Yukari know since she showed no signs of remembering. He gave Yukari the cell phone strap. Then he walked past her, "Say hello to your mother for me." He whispered and left the roof.
Yukari slid down and sat on the floor in shock. "How did you kno-…!" she clutched her head in pain, but no memories came to her. She looked around, confused, and went to the archery club to apologize for being late and continued with practice.
'I don't think she remembers yet. You may have pulled the trigger a little, but you have not completely triggered the gun.' Minako walked away from her hiding place on the roof and returned to the class to meet with Minato.
"…Thanks Minako, I'll repay you with Akihiko."
'Yeah. But next time, I want to go to the Velvet Room today. We still need to ask about the Universe Arcana.'
Minato and Minako walked to Paulownia Mall and went to the back alley of the mall. They fitted the Velvet Key on the door and went inside to see Elizabeth and Theo already waiting for them.
"Welcome, Master Minato and Master Minako." Theo and Elizabeth greeted, giving a slight bow to the two guests. "How can we help you?"
"We need to ask some questions." Minako told them. "I was wondering if Igor is here?"
"Unfortunately, Master Igor is out for the moment, making preparations for another guest." Theo apologized. "Master Igor will come back on the first day of August."
"Oh well, then we'll come back in one week then. We'll meet again in four days!" Minako said. "Bye!" the twins said to them and went to Hagakure to meet up with Ryoji.
"Four more days, huh?" Ryoji asked while eating his ramen, already waiting for the twins.
"Yep, and in four months, if we don't defeat the other five Shadows…" Minako's voice trailed off.
"…" Minato turned on his Mp3 and put it on.
"What is it Minato?" Minako asked, a little hint of curiosity and worry in her voice.
"…Strega…"
"…!" Minako and Ryoji looked at him with shock and realization. They had completely forgotten about the group. If they were intent on bringing Nyx to Earth, they would kill the other five Shadows.
"Don't worry for now." Minato told them. "Remember what happened? They were trying to stop us from defeating the twelve Shadows, so I think they could have been misinformed."
"…I understand." Minako nodded. "But why did Ikutsuki tell them the wrong info?"
"I don't know. But there must be a reason." Minato said. "I have a feeling that Ikutsuki might tell them the correct information this time. We should be careful, let's patrol the place where the next Shadow is in the next full moon and stop them if they try to kill the full moon Shadows."
"…Then we'll see." Minako said, crossing her left leg over her right leg, putting herself in her Tartarus Leader mode. "When's the date of the next full moon?"
"August 6 2009." Ryoji answered. "A little before two weeks."
"…We have time." Minato said. "We'll have to be prepared by then for anything. We'll need to ask Igor if he knows anything more later."
"Then we should get prepared for the meeting in four days. I'll tell Mitsuru-senpai to call her father to come to the dorm." Minako told them and the three left Hagakure and walked to the dorm.
The next day, Minato was asked by the sports teacher to join the regional competition and Minako was asked to join on the sports fellowship next month. They were both doing intensive training and they remembered some techniques from their own dimensions, so they do not need to join the intensive training, but they would both have to join the event.
July 28 2010…
"My father will be here in ten minutes." Mitsuru said as she closed her cell phone.
"We'll wait for him to come." Fuseus, with his helmet on, said.
"…Why do you use the helmet when we already know your face?" Yukari asked.
"…I don't like people to stare at me." Fuseus replied shortly and looked away from S.E.E.S.
"…He's here…" Mitsuru said when she heard the car in front of the dorm.
"Good." Fuseus said. A second later, Mitsuru's father, Takeharu, stepped in the command room and Fuseus turned to face him. "Takeharu."
"…" Takeharu looked at him, "Why did you need to call me?"
"I need to show all of you something." Fuseus said. He took out the CD that Fuuka had given to Minato and put it in the CD player. "One that isn't a lie."
The screen started playing the similar video that was played a week ago. Yukari stood up in surprise at the introduction, as if she was a victim to a bad prank, and nearly cried at the end. S.E.E.S just watched with mouths open in shock, Takeharu was watching with his mouth open in shock, but it was not as open as his daughter's.
"What do you think?" Fuseus asked. "Fuuka dug up the true version of the recording from Ikutsuki's hard drive."
"So Ikutsuki played around with the CD." Takeharu said. "…If you knew, then why didn't you tell us?"
"…I-" Fuseus started.
Fuseus' sentence was cut off when Yukari fell to the ground, clutching her head, the same way that Junpei had acted. "…Father…" Yukari managed to choke out, "…Mother…"
"…" The others couldn't see it, but Fuseus was forming a smile under his helmet, but quickly shook it off when he saw Yukari standing up, tears flowing down her face.
"…Minako…Minato…" Yukari said, each word coming out from her mouth like a curse.
"Junpei, Aigis." Fuseus said quietly. The two nodded and tried to calm Yukari down as they took her out to the lounge on the first floor.
"What was that?" Mitsuru shouted and stood up from her seat, she pounded on the table in the rage of her low knowledge of the situation. "I demand an explanation!"
"Mitsuru!" Takeharu said with a short and strict reply.
"I-I'm sorry." Mitsuru said slowly, and sat down on the seat.
"…" Fuseus observed his surroundings. Mitsuru was looking down with a look of apology on her face, Fuuka and Akihiko were both still very shocked of what happened. Takeharu was recovering from his shock, but a small hint of shock still lingered on his face. Elizabeth, Theo (disguised as the twins) and Ryoji was looking at Fuseus with a casual face, as if nothing had happened. "…That is not what I was going to talk about, but about the video that I have showed you. This is the true version of the video. What do you think?"
"…So Ikutsuki was lying to us from the first." Mitsuru half-analyzed, half-told S.E.E.S.
"I know that already, dammit!" Akihiko said. He punched the wall, shaking the walls a little. "What I really want to know is why?"
"One word." Minako said, putting out her pointer finger, "Nyx."
"…So this 'Nyx' comes back to the topic." Takeharu muttered.
"Nyx is not something to take calmly." Minato said, glaring one of his icy glares at S.E.E.S. "It can, and it will, destroy every human being on Earth."
"Please elaborate on 'destroy'." Mitsuru said immediately.
"Every human being will be one of the Lost." Fuseus said. "Persona or not, it doesn't matter, there is nothing stronger than Nyx."
Fuuka, Mitsuru, Akihiko and Takeharu looked at Fuseus in surprise and shock. The mad-man called Ikutsuki who they have trusted for two years was actually trying to bring an eternal being that can, and will, 'destroy' the whole human population. Mitsuru and Takeharu looked away from Fuseus in shame of their trust towards Ikutsuki for two years, and yet they could not see through his act.
Fuseus shook his head. "…This was what your grandfather was trying to achieve, Mitsuru."
Mitsuru and Takeharu looked at Fuseus as if he was crazy, but after a few minutes of logical thinking, they were able to relate the experiments to Nyx, and hung their heads in shame.
"It's not your fault, Mitsuru, Takeharu." Fuseus assured them. "But we have to prevent Nyx from coming. This is what I'm trying to do. Will you help me?" he held out his hand to Takeharu.
Takeharu showed no emotions on his face and shook Fuseus' hand. "Yes. I will do anything to stop Nyx."
"I'll give you a hint then. There will be a new recruit tomorrow." Fuseus nodded. "Now if you'll excuse me. Until we meet again."
S.E.E.S waited for him to disappear but to their surprise, and for the first time, Fuseus walked out of the room and went down to the first floor lounge. S.E.E.S watched Fuseus in surprise and sat there to discuss with Takeharu about Nyx and the future of S.E.E.S. Ryoji went to his room while the Arisato twins (Elizabeth and Theo) went to the restrooms on the fourth floor.
Fuseus walked to where Yukari was sitting. Aigis and Junpei was beside her, trying to comfort her. Fuseus took glance at Yukari, to determine if she was alright, and walked past her to Minato's room. Fuseus split back to Minato and Minako in the restrooms on the fourth floor and Elizabeth and Theo went back to the Velvet Room. Minato bolted down the stairs to the first floor lounge and stood in front of Yukari. Aigis and Junpei walked left the two and went back to their rooms, giving them privacy. Minako hid behind the staircase to watch the two, in case anything happened.
"Minato…" Yukari muttered in a quiet voice.
"…" Minato stared at her with his hands in his pockets and with a faint blush on his cheeks, but Yukari couldn't see it because of the dim lighting.
"Minato…" Yukari said louder with a tremble in her voice. She stood up, trembling, her face still faced downwards.
"…" Minato looked at her with a rare chance of a look of apology written all over his face.
Yukari slapped him across the face with a loud smack.
'Hm…I think I've seen this scene before…'
Then Yukari unexpectedly grabbed Minato's face and kissed him on the lips. Minato was caught off-guard, but he didn't resist. It has been too long for him.
'I knew it! …This is so cliché…'
Yukari broke the kiss; she looked straight at Minato, with a deep red blush on her face. Then began to flow again. Minako decided to go back to her room to give them privacy. "I hate you, Minato…" Yukari said with tears flowing down. "You remembered…but why didn't you tell me?"
Minato gazed at Yukari. "…You wouldn't believe me."
"No…" Yukari said truthfully, "But-"
Minato broke her off with another kiss. "It's doesn't matter now, doesn't it?" he said softly to her. Yukari shook her head slowly. Minato smiled at her. "Get some rest Yukari, I'm sure you can't handle all of your memories in one hour."
Thou art I… And I am thou…
The bond thou hast nurtured hath finally matured.
The innermost power of the Lovers Arcana has been set free.
Minato Arisato and Minato Arisato has forged a bond that cannot be broken…
Minato paid no attention to the voice and Social Link card and accompanied Yukari wordlessly to the second floor and went to his room, since he wasn't allowed at the third floor. He recalled of the events that had just happened and blushed deeply, and didn't know and understand what pushed him to kiss her. With the still lingering thoughts of Yukari, he uncomfortably went to sleep.
The next day, S.E.E.S found Koromaru injured, who had defeated a Shadow on its own in the Dark Hour, just as Fuseus had said and as some of the S.E.E.S members have predicted. Koromaru was then treated at a Kirijo sponsored animal vet since they could not look away from a Persona-using dog.
Two days later… August 1 2009…
"The first day of August!" Minako said as she yawned as she was eating breakfast with Minato and Ryoji.
"Velvet Room today, huh?" Minato said, deep in thought. "I'll drag Ryoji too, then. I don't want him to be misinformed."
"…Why drag?" Ryoji asked with fear in his eyes.
"I doubt you'll want to join us." Minato said. "…As we announce your failure as the Appriser of Nyx."
"…You won't catch me!" he ran out of the dorm as quickly as possible in fear of Minato. But Minato and Minako could hear him scream as he ran out, "Crazy twins!"
Minato and Minako sighed. "I'll catch him later." Minato said with no expression. "I need to ask him if he got into contact with Nyx yet."
"It has been, what? One and a half months now?" Minako recounted. "Yeah, I think he came back as a human to play around. Lazy Shadow…"
"I knew it." Minato said and he sighed again. "I WILL make sure that Ryoji comes later in the Velvet Room."
"Sure." Minako said. "Let's go to the event, we'll miss the last monorail. I found a Velvet Room in the area of the sports competition and my school fellowship. Meet me there, WITH Ryoji."
Minato and Minako left the dorm and joined their events, with Minato dragging Ryoji to the sports competition since it turns out that he does join the sports club. Minato dragged Ryoji to the front of the Velvet Room door in the area. They were waiting for Minako until Minako ran up to them.
"Sorry." Minako panted. "I got caught up with both of your fans that followed both of you here. They were asking why I was with you two. I got away by saying that Minato was my twin and Ryoji was some person that was stalking the two of us."
"…I thought I was your cousin!" Ryoji whined.
"Well, sorry, but the first word that came to my mind when they mentioned you was 'stalker'." Minako said.
"Hey!" Ryoji complained. "Minato! Tell her to apologize."
But Minato was already deep in thought. "You got a point there, Minako."
"What!" Ryoji said. "I am not a stalker! You dragged me here!"
But Minato and Minako wasn't listening to him, they were in a deep conversation about Ryoji.
"…Let's just go to the Velvet Room…" Ryoji attempted to tell them.
"Huh?" Minako asked, unaware of her surroundings. "Oh, let's go. Don't want to keep them waiting!"
Ryoji sighed and the three opened the door to the Velvet Room in the back alley of the Paulownia Mall. They found Igor already waiting, but Theo and Elizabeth wasn't in the room with him, so the twins looked around, searching for the two residents of the Velvet Room.
"Theo and Elizabeth isn't here." Igor told them. "They are currently setting up a Velvet Room in another time. Similar to what I did a week ago."
"Oh…so the Velvet Room does have another guest than us." Minako said. "Will we ever meet the new guest?"
"Possibly." Igor said. "But he hasn't awakened to his Persona powers yet. Anyway…what is it that you wanted to ask?"
"It's about a Social Link." Minato stated.
Minako nodded in agreement. "We didn't encounter this Social Link the last time. And we only encountered this Social Link in our dreams."
Igor took out the deck of tarot cards. "Well, then, what is the Arcana for the Social Link?"
"The Universe Arcana." Minato replied.
"Ah, the Universe Arcana." Igor said while shuffling the cards. "Commonly known as the World Arcana. Who did you bond with for this Social Link?"
The twins shrugged. "We don't know. The Social Link comes in dreams. And the card comes out of darkness. And the Social Link jumped from level 1 to 9." Minako explained.
Igor didn't flinch. "You don't know? …A rare case, but it has happened in the long history of the Velvet Room, when I was still a resident and not a host…" He gave the deck to Minato and Minato laid down the cards on the table and Igor turned over some cards. "The Wheel of Fortune, or Fortune, in the upright position, it means destiny, or fate, and a problem is nearing to an end. Then, there is the Sun in the downright position, it means that something of value will be lost. And finally, the Universe, or World, in the upright position, the end result will be success."
The twins stared in silence, waiting for an explanation.
"It means that with a destiny, the problem, Nyx, will be eliminated forever. But in doing so, something very valuable to both of you will be lost." Igor said and reached out to hold up a shaking card, "It seems that this card agrees. And I'm sure you're very familiar with this card."
Minako gasped and Minato's eyes went wide (which was probably Minato's only surprised act.) when the card was turned around to reveal its Arcana-
- The Fool Arcana.
"The Fool…!" Minako said, now standing up in surprise. "But isn't that…? Is something going to happen to S.E.E.S?"
Igor stared at the twins with no expression. "Not this time, no. Do you two not realize? Both of your Arcana are the Fool. You were only able to use the Universe Arcana through my help, that doesn't make your Arcana the Universe." The twins stared at him with a blank face, but waited for Igor to continue explaining. "When both of you came here, you two do not realize the potential danger in front of you, and yet you two charge at the beginning of your journeys head-on without thinking about the danger. That trait is what gives both of you the limitless opportunities. Like the number zero."
"The Wild Card." Minato stated in conclusion.
"Exactly. But returning to the topic at hand." Igor said, giving the card to Minato for him to examine it. "Since both of your Arcana are the Fool, this shaking tarot card indicates that both of you will be forced to do something, to fulfill the prophecy of the reading earlier."
Minato and Minako, who was now sitting back on her seat, looked at each other in fear. But turned to stare at Igor, making a sign for him to continue.
"That is the answer to your question." Igor stated, receiving the Fool card back from Minato and placed the cards back on the deck. "The person both of you have bonded with has been bonded a long time ago, but you forgot the person, and now, that person comes back. It can be anyone from the range of ten to five years ago, your friends, your family, or a stranger. But that person will definitely appear before you two in the coming of Nyx."
"…" the twins were lost in deep thought. The coming of Nyx… If Igor had said it, then it would surely come again. We will have to be more careful…
"Why is it that you brought me then?" Ryoji asked, annoyed.
"Why is it that Ryoji is so weak?" Minako asked immediately without even giving thought to the question or looking at Ryoji or Igor.
"Because he is incomplete." Igor answered. "I thought that Ryoji has told you this."
"Yes he had. But being incomplete is no excuse to not be accurate in throwing knives, which is your only skill in offense and defense." Minako said, with her Tartarus Leader mode.
"If you think that Ryoji would be a hindrance, then we could always make him back into Pharos…" Igor told the twins.
"Nah, I don't think we can do that." Minato said. "Since we have S.E.E.S and the whole school that have seen Ryoji going everywhere, especially the girls that he hit on in school."
Ryoji glared at him, but Minato glared at him back and won.
"We could always manipulate the memories, remember?" Igor reminded Minato.
"Not a bad idea." Minato contemplated. "Not a bad idea at all. But I think that Ryoji could be of use to us in the near future…"
Ryoji sighed a sigh of relief. "Thank you Minato…"
"But if he does become a hindrance, me and my sister would be more than happy to accept your offer." Minato said quickly.
Ryoji glared at him. "Never mind, I take that back."
Minako sighed at their childish acts, "Let's go. Sorry and thank you Igor!" She said as she dragged the two boys out of the Velvet Room.
"Until we meet again."
August 6 2009, five days later, night of a full moon…
"Minato, Minako! I think I will need to stay today during the Dark Hour." Ryoji informed them.
"Why?"
"So that I can contact Nyx. Nyx is always stronger on a full moon, so there wouldn't be as much static if I contact her on a normal day."
'Then stay today and find out as much as you can about what Nyx is planning.'
"Understood."
"…"
'What is it Minato?'
"No, Ryoji will need to go. He'll stay after the operation today. I can't supervise all of them together, I need someone else. Ryoji, you'll contact Nyx later."
"Fine."
Five minutes later, in the first floor lounge…
"Will we be having an operation today, Mitsuru-senpai?" Fuuka asked politely.
"It depends if Fuseus tells us to or not." Mitsuru answered simply, "Although, I would like to observe these Shadows a little longer to find out if they will wreak havoc to the city."
"Then we'll be going." Minato told them, checking his cell phone. "Fuseus told me to prepare ourselves for a battle."
"That answers our question." Mitsuru announced. "Everyone that is available tonight will be meeting in the command room thirty minutes before the Dark Hour. Tell Fuseus that, we need him to be on time."
"Yes Mitsuru-senpai." And Minato sent a message to Elizabeth and Theo to be present that night.
30 minutes before the Dark Hour…
"Hello Fuseus." Mitsuru greeted when he opened the door to the command room.
"Mitsuru." Fuseus greeted back.
"Why did you call us here?" Mitsuru asked. "We do not need to defeat any more full moon Shadows, correct?"
"That is not my concern." Fuseus replied. "Have you ever heard about the revenge-request website?"
"Oh! Some students in my class were talking about it." Fuuka jumped in suddenly. "They said if you type in someone's name, then the person would be seriously injured, or…killed!"
Fuseus nodded. "Correct. And after examining the victims, I can see marks of a Persona on them."
"A Persona?" Akihiko asked, now paying full attention to the conversation. "So there are other Persona users than us?"
"And these Persona-users are the culprits of these incidents and behind the revenge-request website." Fuseus told them. "I will need to be careful that nobody will kill the full moon Shadow. Fuuka, can you search for the Shadow?"
11:59:58
11:59:59
00:00:00
Dark Hour
Fuuka took out her Evoker and evoked her Persona, Lucia, and searched for the Shadow. "I found it!" she said from inside Lucia, "But I don't understand…The Shadows are underground somehow…"
"You mean like a basement?" Akihiko asked curiously.
"Yes, something like that…" Fuuka said.
"In my database, there is a military quarter underneath the city." Aigis told them.
"Then let's go!" Akihiko said, eager to pound the Persona-users.
"Wait!" Mitsuru shouted at him.
"What?" Akihiko asked, now restless to go.
"My father told me that Aigis' database is old since she has not been updated for ten years." Mitsuru pondered. "So I do not know if this military quarter is still there or if it has been destroyed."
"I don't think it is." Fuseus said. "Either way, we should have a look, or we will miss the Shadow, and the possible Persona-users."
"…If you say so then." Mitsuru said and the S.E.E.S members went out of the room. Mitsuru was about to follow them when she saw Fuseus sitting on the command room seat.
"I'll be monitoring your actions from here. If I need to, I'll go to where all of you are." Fuseus told her while he was watching the screen. He didn't look at her and turned on the screen that was overlooking all of S.E.E.S. "And here, take this earpiece so that I can contact you." He said as he shoved an earpiece to Mitsuru.
Mitsuru was about to disagree, but she reluctantly nodded and took the earpiece from him when she remembered that Fuseus was the supervisor of S.E.E.S, "But if I find out that you will be like Ikutsuki…"
Fuseus turned to look at her with a glare that emanated from within the helmet. "If I am, then all of you would have been dead since ten years ago."
Mitsuru flinched, but walked out from the command room with S.E.E.S, leaving Fuseus alone to monitor the group.
'Even though Takeharu trusts us, S.E.E.S, especially Mitsuru, haven't come to trust us, have they?'
"I don't expect them to. Fuseus is just a person that came out of thin air for them. I never planned Fuseus to become the supervisor of S.E.E.S. And I couldn't imagine Fuseus to be the supervisor."
'If we can't imagine Fuseus as a supervisor of S.E.E.S, then S.E.E.S would have a harder time to swallow it, especially adding the fact that found out that Ikutsuki had just backstabbed them. It's sad to think that S.E.E.S was loyal to Ikutsuki, and that they have to suffer because of it.'
"…They've arrived already."
With Ryoji, August 6 2009, Dark Hour…
"Is this the place, Aigis?" Ryoji asked as they stepped into the entrance of the basement.
"Yes, this is the place last year. The Shadow will be in here." Aigis quietly told him. "And Strega will be in here as well."
"And how will they appear?" Ryoji asked.
Two men stepped in the basement from behind them, one looking as pale as a human can be, and the other looking like a self-proclaimed genius.
"Like that." Aigis told Ryoji.
"Who are they?" Mitsuru asked Fuuka.
"I don't know, Mitsuru-senpai!" Fuuka said. "I'm sorry, but I just sensed them now!"
"Are you one of the other Persona-users?" Akihiko asked. "Are you behind the revenge-request website?"
"Yes, but we are not like you!" The pale person shouted at the group. "Disgusting! All of you! All of you have the power and yet you don't use it. Why is it that we, who are working towards a great goal, have to suffer, when all of you, who have no goals, have the power and do not suffer!"
"Takaya." The self-proclaimed genius looking person warned.
"!…Jin…" Takaya said. "Yes…they do not have to know our perfect goal. They are not worthy enough to know about 'it'."
"Yes…" Jin said. "Hahahaha! He's right! One look at all of you make me sick!"
"Why did all of you come here?" Takaya asked S.E.E.S.
"We came to look for people like you." Ryoji said simply with disgust, filling in for Elizabeth and Theo, who are being Minato and Minako for the moment.
"What is your goal at coming here?" Mitsuru asked.
"All of you are not worthy at coming here and hearing about 'it'! So I suggest that all of you should go!" Takaya ordered them.
"'It'?" Mitsuru asked. "Tell me what that is!"
"You can't make us stop to bring 'it'!" Takaya shouted at her, ignoring her question. Jin pressed a button and the entrance to the basement closed. "Goodbye!"
Jin threw a smokebomb towards S.E.E.S, and when the smoke cleared, the two members of Strega was gone, and a blockade, was in front of them, blocking them off from going further into the basement. Both of the blockade and the entrance wall were made out of very thick and strong steel
"Shit!" Akihiko said, punching the walls in fury. "They're going to defeat that full moon Shadow! We have to stop them!"
Ryoji called out Alice and made her use punch the wall, not wanting to let his SP go to waste. The blockade cracked a little, but it didn't destroy the blockade entirely.
"Yamagishi!" Mitsuru shouted at her.
"I'm trying to track them!" Fuuka said, immediately calling out Lucia. "But I can't sense them! Something is blocking their trails!"
"But…how can that be…?" Mitsuru asked. "Are they like Fuseus?"
"No. That's impossible." Ryoji told her.
"How do you know?" Mitsuru said.
"Ah, shit. I didn't think this through…"
'Stupid Ryoji.'
"Wha-"
"I knew that something like this was going to happen, and I thought that Ryoji would be strong enough to at least destroy that blockade."
"Wha- Hey!" Ryoji shouted at the person behind the wall blocking the entrance to the basement. "Then you try to break it!"
"Fine. Stand back."
After the whole group stood back, far to the back, but Ryoji took only a few steps, since he thought that nobody would be able to break the wall. A gunshot was heard behind the wall. And the next thing Ryoji remembered was seeing the steel wall…and a huge punch to his stomach, and then he was thrown to the other steel wall, with everybody stepping aside for him to hit the wall.
"Evil…people…" Ryoji muttered as he groaned in pain.
"I'm surprise you are still able to breathe. Handling a God's Hand from Lucifer, I guess you're more defense-oriented rather than offense." Fuseus said as he stepped in the basement through the huge hole in the steel wall.
"Fuck…you…" Ryoji muttered again at Fuseus.
"Ryoji, are you able to stand up?" Fuseus asked without a hint of concern in his voice.
"Yeah…" Ryoji said as he shakily stood up while putting his hand on the steel wall to balance himself.
"Good, because I want you to destroy that steel wall." Fuseus said. "I'm going to go back to the command room now, it seems Ikutsuki has messed up more than a few things on the controls, and I can only fix it in the Dark Hour. Good luck, and until we meet again." And he vanished as usual, back to the command room.
"Evil…person…" Ryoji panted as he steadied his Evoker on his head and pulled the trigger. Alice was called out and she used Armaggedon on the steel wall, which finally fell down, giving way for the group to the depths of the basement.
When they reached the depths of the basement, they see Takaya and Jin already finished off the Chariot Shadow and is now finishing off the Justice Shadow.
"Wait!" Mitsuru shouted at them when she arrived at the room. But she was already too late, the Justice Shadow was defeated a second after she shouted at the two members of Strega.
"Amazing." Takaya said, showing a small hint of surprise at the group. "Your group is very powerful to be able to break that steel wall."
"But I'm sure you're still not powerful enough to beat us!" Jin shouted at them.
"Alice. Armaggedon." Ryoji said as he pulled the trigger on the Evoker. Takaya and Jin weren't able to avoid the sudden attack from the powerful Persona and were seriously injured by the attack. "Am I powerful enough now?"
"Guh…" Jin groaned. "We should head back…"
"Yes, she is waiting for us after all." Takaya said back.
"Chidori? Tell me where she is!" Junpei shouted and demanded.
"How did you know about her?" Jin asked. "Tch! All of you are annoying. We should just bury all of you here, shouldn't we?" he then threw another smokebomb at the group.
"So long!" Takaya told them and the two were gone from the basement.
When the smoke cleared, S.E.E.S looked to where the two were standing before, and knew something was wrong. Very wrong. When they saw the timer ticking down.
00:10
00:09
00:08
"Shit! Ryoji! Ryoji! Can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear, Minato! Why is there a TNT here?"
"I don't know! This didn't happen before! Ryoji, I was unable to see the TNT, so I can't get there in time! You will have to do something to avoid the whole S.E.E.S dead!"
'Ryoji! Use your special skill!'
"Sure, if I know what it does!"
"What the fuck does that mean Ryoji? It's YOUR skill! You should know! This isn't a joke Ryoji!"
"It's not a joke! It's like Fuuka's Oracle skill! I can't control the skill! I can control it further when all of the full moon Shadows are defeated!"
'Strega already defeated two full moon Shadows! That should add to your control for now!'
"I'll try Minako! But I don't know what will happen to S.E.E.S and I, just be ready for anything! So if you have an alternative, you better do it now!"
00:05
00:04
"Shit! Ryoji! Just use it! Fuseus won't be able to get there in time!"
"Then I'll do what I can! Just stand back from the place!"
Fuseus stopped flying towards the basement and started flying back to the dorm. In the midst of the confusion of the S.E.E.S members, Ryoji started to aim his Evoker again at his head and pulled the trigger. But of course, most of S.E.E.S was too overcomed with panic to realize that one of their members had turned into Thanatos.
"Ryoji-kun?…!" Aigis gasped as she saw Ryoji's transformation in front of her.
"You remember everything, right?" Thanatos said quietly with a different voice than Ryoji's. "I am the personification of the Arcana Death and the Appriser of Nyx. This is my real form, although it is incomplete. I don't want to fight now, or S.E.E.S will die. Trust me, Aigis, just this once."
Aigis was reluctant but hurriedly nodded when she saw the timer ticking. Now, S.E.E.S had turned their attention to Thanatos when a burst of light was emitted from him. The light engulfed the whole basement and went through the ceiling and the light connected with the eerie yellow moon, receiving some power from the moon. The light blinded S.E.E.S and a second later, they were outside of the basement with a panting Ryoji in front of them.
"Ryoji!" Fuseus called the yellow-scarf-wearing-boy as Fuseus ran over to the unharmed group.
"Fuseus…" Ryoji panted wearily. "I told you…I'm not weak…right?" he muttered and he collapsed on the ground, unconscious.
"RYOJI!" Fuseus shouted, he shook the unconscious. "DAMN IT! Why does it have to be the moon? If that was Desperate Measures, then I wouldn't have asked him to use it!"
"The moon…?" Aigis asked and gasped when she recalled the events of the final battle.
Fuseus stood up. "That's right…DAMN IT! Why didn't he tell us?" Fuseus shook his head. "Now it's gone all wrong."
"What do you mean?" Mitsuru asked. "Fuseus, you have kept too many secrets from us. Tell us what you mean!"
Fuseus shook his head and took off his helmet. Then he looked at her straight in her eyes. "No. I still have to find the answers myself. I'll tell all of you when I get it."
Mitsuru flinched at Fuseus, but he was confused. Fuseus didn't glare at Mitsuru the way that he did at the command room, so why did she flinch now?
"Fuseus…your eyes…" Yukari muttered, breaking the silence.
Fuseus hid his expression of confusion well and didn't ask. He decided to look at his appearance later. "Mitsuru, I'll handle Ryoji." He said as he carried Ryoji. "Until we meet again." And he vanished to Ryoji's room. Fuseus layed Ryoji down on Ryoji's bed and sighed. He noticed the mirror in Ryoji's room and looked at his eyes. That moment was the first time Fuseus had flinched.
Fuseus' eyes were no longer scarlet red like Minako's.
It was now a pale and eerie yellow.
DLWolf: Hey there! Sorry that I haven't been updating since I had to study for a test! GAH, I think I'll get a bad score, the teachers are so strict…
Minato: It's your fault you didn't study.
DLWolf: …You don't study and yet you get perfect scores. How do you and Minako do that?
Minato: We have our ways.
DLWolf: Such as?
Minato: Having done these questions the year before is good for tests, don't you think?
DLWolf: …Cheater.
Minato: Technically, it's just good memory.
DLWolf: *Sighs* Do the disclaimers Minato.
Minato: Hey! Why me?
DLWolf: Because the others are studying now. Unlike you.
Minato: Fine, there's no getting around you. Disclaimers: DarknessLightWolf does not own P3P/P3 and its characters.
DLWolf: Thank you, and I asked the school to prepare a test for you with different questions, so I suggest you study too. And get Minako to study with you. Two brains are better than one, after all!
Minato: Ryoji, you can kill DarknessLightWolf now.
DLWolf: …Wait, what? Since when was Ryoji here? I thought he was still unconscious?
Ryoji: Well, I woke up just for the sake of killing you.
DLWolf: That isn't fair for the story, isn't it! Now go back and do the story!
Ryoji: …Yes, DarknessLightWolf.
Minato: Well then, I'll get back to the story too then…
DLWolf: OH NO YOU DON'T! You don't get to be part of the story until you finish the test with the highest marks! And that means you don't get to beat up Ryoji anymore…
Minato: FINE! I'll get Minako to study with me! What are you, my mother?
DLWolf: No, and I don't I can be. And I should be asking that question to you! Lazy, good-for-nothing boy who only snores in his sleep…
Minato: WHAT! How did you know that? …Hey, is this camera on?
DLWolf: It always is when I talk to readers. Oh, so that means that the readers can your bad habits when I talk to them…now you don't want that do you?
Minato: NO! FINE! I'LL STUDY! I HATE YOU!
DLWolf: Doesn't matter. You already signed a contract to be part of this anyway.
Minato: *Goes in room and locks door*
DLWolf: Good, well at least now he's studying. Okay, thank you readers for everything again! Thank you for the favorites, reviews and alerts! I am very sorry, Fan of Fanfics21, I can't fit the scene here since it doesn't match with the plot and I have tried to write it, but I don't think it's good enough, so sorry! But please keep on R&R so that I can actually be good enough to write it and can fit that scene somewhere in the story! And to everyone else, please keep on R&R! Thanks again readers! Until we meet again!