Chapter 13: A Chance Meeting

09/30/2031- Afternoon

The entrance of the TV world was well-guarded, but the Shadows were easily dispatched. They hurried to the entrance of the Temple, where the Guardian was waiting for them.

"So this is the one that kicked everyone's asses…"

"If you're not careful of how you say it, we'll kick yours, Setsuna."

"Don't need to get mad, Junpei-san. I meant no offense."

"Amagi… can you see the chains?"

"Huh… Nope. Nothing at all."

"Well… he did say that he might not be able to see right away… Let's give him some time, Mitsuru."

"There are Shadows approaching from the entrance. They're coming from all the other worlds, and there is a large group of it. I only felt this much coming that time when we fought Nyx."

"Alright, everyone! We'll split in two parties. We can't have a team too big against the Bloody-Izanagi or it will become harder for us to coordinate an attack. We will begin with Iori, Aigis and myself, with Kujikawa as our support and Yukari as our healer. The rest should secure our back. Yamagishi, you help the others, since you already have experience with handling this many Shadows at the same time. We should use this time to wear the enemy down until Amagi is able to see the chains."

"Hey, I've spent the last week training for this battle! Just let me fight him! I'm sure it will be faster this way!"

"Forget it, dude! That guy almost killed Chie-san and Akihiko-senpai by himself while fighting me, Yosuke, Mitsuru-senpai and your mother. We can't risk it."

"Remember what I taught you: Don't let your overconfidence get the better of you or else you will regret it. All that training will be for nothing if you die here. Your time to battle him will come."

"You should consider staying behind to conserve your energies for your battle. We can handle the back."

"No way, Mom. I'll use this as a warm up."

The teams split and the fight began. The fallen Persona attacked with many skills and seemed to be able to detect the other's weak points. Junpei tried to use Trismigestus' Gigantic Fist, but the enemy was able to dodge it and counter it. He started to attack Junpei directly when Athena hit it with God's Hand. Junpei was able to back off and Artemisia used Tempest Slash. Izanagi was hit, but it didn't seem to get hurt. He countered it with Herculean Strike.

Meanwhile, the battle against the Shadows that started to gather at the entrance was fierce. There were Shadows coming from all the other worlds and the team was getting tired. Even using skills that had a great area of effect like Heat Wave and Megidoloan, the numbers of enemies didn't seemed to be getting lower.

"You all have become more serious in the past few days, huh?"

"We're tired of this war! This time, we'll end this once and for all. I'll make you pay for what you've done to everyone!" Said a black-haired woman in a red armor.

"As I said before, I only did what humanity wanted. I will make the end swiftly if you all agree to lay down your weapons and surrender to what your soul truly wants. When will all of you stop with this senseless denying of your true desires?"

"Did that a few days ago and here I am! Give me a few more minutes and I'll have your head in my hand, bitch!!" Shouted a man wielding twin knifes.

"You are welcome to try. Just be aware that your suffering will only get worse and worse. You all couldn't finish this 19 years ago and you will fail again, because that's not what you truly desire. But this time, I'll make sure that no ones suffer any longer. Goodbye."

The battle dragged on and the team was already tired. The teams had already swapped members a few times, but they still were having trouble. The Bloody-Izanagi didn't had any sight of fatigue or injury, even begin hit once in a while. Retreating to the team that was fighting Izanagi, Setsuna spoke.

"Okay, that's it. That guy isn't showing any sight of getting tired anytime soon and I still not seeing anything. We'll have to try to kill it the way he is. You guys try to distract him and I'll do my job."

"…Setsuna's right. This clearly isn't working. We'll be the ones to get tired this way. Senpai, let's let him go. We'll cover him. He might need to battle him to be able to see the chains."

Retreating a little from the battle, Akihiko left Ken and Chie fighting and went to talk with Mitsuru.

"There isn't any other way, Mitsuru! Junpei is right. We still have to beat Izanami. We can't get tired now." Knowing that what Akihiko spoke was true, Mitsuru let out an exasperate sigh before finally giving permission.

"Okay. We'll need fast people for this. Satonaka has been able to keep up for a while, but we should let her rest a little. So, Hanamura and Akihiko, you two attack him with your Personas. This should give enough time for Aigis to approach and engage Izanagi directly. Since her reflexes are the fastest of the group, she will be able to help him a lot more. Kujikawa, call her. Also, you're the one who noticed the chains before, right? Can you see them now?"

"Yeah. One in each wrist and ankle and one at the neck. They're long and shine in a strange yellow tone. They also don't seem to be affecting his moves on any way. It'll be hard to guide you, but I'll do my best, Setsuna-chan."

"Now, if you're ready, let's go. I'll stay behind and swap places if someone needs to rest."

"This is it… come one, Tsukuyomi!"

Chie blocked a Fatal End with her staff, which almost broke. Taking advantaged of the enemy distraction, Caesar and Suzano-O used their Brave Blade as Aigis began to approach the enemy. Izanagi reflected Suzano-O version and easily defended Caesar's attack, but it was enough time for Aigis to get close and engaged in close combat using her hammer and for Chie and Ken to retreat. They rested a little before going to help the other team in the entrance.

Tsukuyomi used Tempest Slash, but the attack was countered. Setsuna ignored the pain and continued to move towards the enemy. He helped Aigis fight Izanagi in a 2 against 1 battle, but the fallen one was fast and strong enough to fight the two simultaneously without too much trouble. They were too close to the enemy and any attack could hit one of the two, so the only thing that the others could do was heal their wounds and eventually land a blow if the chance appeared.

With a Blade of Fury, Setsuna was thrown backwards. Aigis blocked the attack completely.

"Alright, Setsuna-chan. The chains are currently pulled like the person who's controlling him is behind him. But the chains tend to move once in a while… It's as if the person who's controlling him is moving. Sometimes, it seems that the person is above him, sometimes it's below."

"It would be easier if I could see the chains myself… Do you really think that that guy said the truth?

"I'm sure. Sometimes, he might be a selfish, childish, annoying, arrogant stupid perv, but he would never lie to us about something like this."

"If you say so… Well, I better go help Aigis-san. And hope this power-up activates soon…"

Izanagi was focused on Aigis, who clearly wasn't going to hold on too much longer. Setsuna advanced and when he was going to slash the enemy's wrist, Izanagi used Deathbound. Aigis was hit critically, but Setsuna was able to defend against the attack in time.

Izanagi turned his attention to the young instead and began attack him. He began with a forward thrust. Setsuna noticed that the weapon was on the right side of Izanami, and so, dodged to his enemy's left. When Izanami noticed that his enemy was going to dodge the attack, he quickly made a 360° spin to his right. Setsuna ducked to avoid the strike and jumped backwards just in time to escape from a slash that would decapitate him.

"I guess all that training was really useful…"

Taking advantage of the situation, Izanagi quickly attacked the young, who were recovering from his backstep. He was hit by Swift Strike and followed by Tempest Slash. He defended the former with the sword, and his guarding stance was broken. The latter, he used his forearm. The armor around it broke and he began to bleed from the injury. He flinched in pain and Izanagi used this opportunity to attack with Ragnarok. He was knocked to the ground and was going to be impaled by Vile Assault when a red giant appeared from behind Setsuna and using a strange sword, did a Brave Blade that made Izanagi flinch when he defended.

Aigis was finally recovered from the attack and quickly took Setsuna out from the battle. He had lost consciousness after Izanagi's spell.

"Who is this? He seems to be a Persona, but… Rise-san, do you have a reading? My sensors aren't that good anymore…"

"It can't be… This reading seems to be that of a Shadow, but this is definitely..."

Suddenly, from the corner of the corridor, came a man with a slightly long black hair with a messy cut. He had a strong build and was wearing a special ops outfit and was using shades. He also had a blue shield on his left forearm. He ran to Izanagi and with a single punch was able to throw the Persona a few meters away.

"I leave the team and you guys can't handle a single enemy?! What's up with that?!"

"Ka-Kanji?! It's really you?!"

"It's been a long time, heh? How you've been doing, Rise?"

"What?! Kanji?! Yo-you…bu-but…that time…How?"

"Yo, Yosuke-senpai! Later. We have this little problem to deal."

"Who is this person?! Why are you wearing a Joker Special Ops outfit?! Identify yourself now!!"

"Whoa, put that rapier away Miss! I'm not your enemy!! I just got these clothes some months ago from a guy who was unconscious, really!!"

"Calm down, Mitsuru-san! He's one of the members from our former team!"

"What he's doing here? And why haven't you informed me that there was another survivor?!"

"We also didn't know that he was alive!"

"Can we leave this for other time?! We have something akin to a god as an enemy!! I think that's a little more urgent matter!! Pay attention to the fight, dammit!!" Akihiko shouted as he blocked a Mighty Swing using an ax.

"I guess Akihiko's right… But you better don't try anything stupid. Yukari, can you take care of the wounds on Amagi?"

"Sure. They aren't too serious, but it might take a few minutes for him to awake."

"Do your best. I can cover the healing of the rest of the group. We will hold Izanagi."

Yukari did as Mitsuru told her and used Samarecarm to bring Setsuna back. She fixed his forearm while he didn't awake. Kanji used Rokuten Maoh to keep Izanagi at bay. He was able to summon his Persona without needing to break a card. A thunder scar-like tattoo in his left eye shone a bluish color every time he summoned his Persona. He was also able to fight alongside his Persona, instead of sending it to attack in his place.

Rokuten Maoh used Brave Blade, but Izanagi dodged to the side. Kanji was already expecting this and was waiting for him. He tried to punch him, but the enemy was faster and also dodged the attack and countered with Swift Strike. Kanji quickly blocked the attack with the shield and countered with a punch that made Izanagi flinch. He followed with an uppercut and jumped to the side, allowing Caesar to hit the enemy with a Brave Blade that threw Izanagi away.

"Whoa, Kanji?! When did you became this strong?!"

"Hehe! I learned a few things while away."

"Like how to proper use a shield?"

"Aw, shut up! It worked quite fine as a weapon!"

"Could you two leave the chit-chat to other time?!"

"Sure, commander. Geez, you don't need to be grumpy…"

"Huh?! I'm not grum-"

"Look out!" Kanji quickly pushed Akihiko aside and was able to block Izanagi's Brave Blade. Rokuten Maoh appeared behind his enemy and hit him with a God's Hand that threw the fallen Persona to the side.

"Weren't you the one that said we should pay attention?!"

"Heh… Sorry. Alright, tough guy! Cover me!" As Akihiko charged towards the enemy, Kanji followed with Rokuten Maoh.

Meanwhile, Samarecarm took effect and Setsuna woke up. He had a serious look as he got up.

"Everyone, back off. I can finally see the chains. He's mine now."

"Huh? What is this strange energy reading emanating from Setsuna? Are you okay, Setsuna-chan?"

"Better than before."

He charged towards Izanagi.

"I really hope your plan works, 'cause I still not seeing anything… Too late to turn back now, I guess… Tsukuyomi!"

A blue light enveloped the young as he advanced…

A/N: It's been a while since I did a chapter focused on a fight, so I hope I didn't screwed up somewhere. The title decided to give me trouble again, so… Compared to the other two chapters, don't have too much to say in this one. We'll continue next week. Until then, farewell.

EDIT: Just a couple of typos. Hopefully, they're the only ones. I also added a few words. It's nothing that alters the story in any way, so don't worry. By the way, in case you're having difficulties with telling who's talking, there are a few tips: Mitsuru is the only one who address to others with their last name (exept for Akihiko and Yukari). Akihiko is the only one who calls Mitsuru by her first name alone ( without the honorifics). Ken was Setsuna's teacher. Fuuka was the only spotter that was in Nyx's battle. I guess that can cover everything. Also, I'm not gonna use Kanji's way of speaking. He'll be talking like everyone else (I don't really know how to use his way of speaking without screwing too much, so I rather not use it). Remember that.