Bearer of Cruelty

by BloodyDestiny666

A year after the Shadow Operatives joined forces with Inaba's intrepid Investigation Team to defeat the red fog covering Inaba, a new threat emerges. The heroes must once again unite, this time against a sinister organisation led by a group of evil Persona users in a struggle that will force them to re-examine the nature of fate, friendship and the world.

25. Chapter 24: The Storm Temple

Chapter 24: The Storm Temple

When Yukari and the others arrived in Tokyo, they found a city that was falling into chaos. The military were doing everything they could to keep order among the terrified citizens of the world's largest urban settlement, but Tokyo was simply too vast, and the soldiers and police spread too thin to prevent the riots and other signs of anarchy than were spreading like wildfire amongst the city's population. They were entering the metropolis via helicopter, as the roads were completely clogged with cars filled with desperate families with no thoughts in their heads except to put more distance between themselves and the ominous structure floating in the sky. Yukari herself was riding in the very same gunship in which she had travelled to Inaba at the very start of this entire ordeal, once again piloted by Kikuno. Its occupants were the same as they were then, but with the addition of Aigis and Saya.

The Storm Temple itself had manifested directly above Tokyo Tower in the Shiba-Koen district of Minato-ku, but it had since expanded to cover the entirety of Minato-ku, casting its shadow over the nearly 300000 residents who lived there. The ride was a bumpy and unpleasant one; the helicopters were battered by savage winds that grew stronger the closer they came to their destination. Tokyo had become the epicentre of the dreadful weather that had been plaguing the world, and the Storm Temple was at the very heart of it all. The winds seemed to spiral around it, making the skies above Tokyo like a huge vortex that threatened to swallow the world.

Eventually, Kikuno turned and told them that she could take them no further. From here, they would have to get out and make their way towards the Storm Temple on foot. The helicopter landed on the roof of the nearest building that had a suitable helipad. The others had to circle around until Kikuno had taken off again, but at last they all stood huddling together on the roof, shielding their faces against the wind and rain. This close, Yukari and the others finally beheld the abomination that was the Storm Temple, and it sent a chill through their hearts.

It was like an enormous black island, floating in the sky in rampant defiance of the laws of physics. The underside of the structure looked more like part of some hideous, eldritch creature than any sort of structure. A twisting network of stone tubes, like the intestines of some huge beast with its belly split open and its guts on display for the world to see made up the bulk of the lower half of the Temple. Some of them appeared to end in toothy maws, no two alike, leering out at the city below. Some aped the appearance of snakes and dragons, others fanged earthworms, others eels, and still others things no human had ever laid eyes on before. The upper half of the Temple was like some grim, bleak cyclopean city, all vicious, spiked buildings and harsh angles, with not a speck of colour to be seen among the slate grey and midnight black of the Temple's walls. Lightning, coloured lurid green and blood crimson would occasionally arc upwards from the bladelike peaks of some of the Temple's tallest towers, to mingle with the swirling ring of storm-clouds that swirled above and around its outer reaches. Smaller buildings and lumps of rock floated around the main expanse of the Temple, borne on some evil wind that swept even reality itself aside. It was a configuration no architect could ever even conceive of; an insane imposition upon the world of humans.

Directly above the Storm Temple was a gaping black void, a circular hole in the sky, surrounded by the raging storm. No sunlight, moonlight or starlight came from that wound in the sky. It was an abyss of absolute darkness, an obscene maw hovering above the world, waiting to devour it.

They made their way down to the bottom of the building, which was deserted, having been evacuated. What awaited them on the streets below was a hellish wasteland of burnt out and broken cars, with litter and possessions strewn about haphazardly wherever the panicked inhabitants had dropped them in their haste to flee. Sho managed to hotwire an old school bus that was still functioning, and they used it to drive further into the shadow of the Storm Temple. After only about half an hour's driving, however, they had to stop and get out, for they had suddenly found themselves in the midst of a battlefield. A large group of civilians stood surrounded by a group of whirling black shapes that quickly coalesced into a variety of monstrous forms.

"Shadows!" Aigis cried out, and immediately rushed to the aid of the trapped refugees, Athena flashing above her head. The initial charge of her Persona wiped out several Shadows, but the rest turned their attention towards Aigis, moving to surround her. Labrys rushed in to defend her, slicing a Shadow that had been about to strike Aigis from behind in two with one sweep of her great axe. Yukari and the rest of them quickly joined the fray, and in moments the area had been cleared of enemies. At first, the rescued civilians could only stare at their saviours uncomprehendingly, as terrified of them as they had been of the Shadows.

"What are you waiting for? Go!" Mitsuru commanded them, and her authoritative voice seemed to bring them back to their senses. They scrambled to obey, scurrying past the heroes without a backwards glance.

"How could there be Shadows in the real world?" Fuuka asked in dismay.

"This is bad" Yu agreed. "Two years ago, Adachi, or rather Izanami, tried to merge the Shadow World with the real one. The fog in the TV world started to spill out into the real world. I think something like that is happening here, only worse- that's why we're seeing Shadows here in reality, and can use our Personas to fight them".

"Then we have even less time that we thought" Mitsuru said grimly. "We have to find a way up and into the Storm Temple, quickly".

As if it had heard Mitsuru, the hideous stone mouths that poked out from the underside of the Storm Temple opened, and a cascade of black ichor began to pour out of them onto the city below. The black substance pooled on the roofs of buildings, on street corners and in the middle of the road, surrounding the young Persona users on all sides. Slowly, the countless masses of black tar began to writhe and reshape themselves, splitting off into hundreds of independent shapes. Shadows.

"Senpai, what are we gonna do?" Rise squeaked. "There's hundreds- no, wait, Himiko's picking up thousands of them!"

"If they are allowed to spill out into the rest of Tokyo, tens of thousands will die!" Mitsuru shouted urgently.

"But if we stay and fight 'em, who's gonna go into the Storm Temple?" Junpei protested. Cloying despair threatened to consume the hearts of Yukari and her friends as the army of Shadows quickly closed in on them. With no obvious way into the Storm Temple high above them, and with seemingly endless waves of enemies to face, the situation looked grave. As the first group of Shadows rose in front of Yukari, she at least resolved to go down fighting.

Before the first blows could be exchanged, however, the Shadows threatening her were torn apart. Yukari blinked in confusion, wondering where her enemies had gone, and then started as a tall man wearing glasses and an immaculate business suit came striding up to her. He wore a distinctive necktie with the moniker #1 boldly emblazoned upon it.

"Thank goodness. It seems we were able to get here just in the nick of time" he said, sounding relieved. He was older than Yukari, perhaps by around a couple of decades, she thought. His voice was dignified and refined, and she could sense the same aura of command about him that she associated with Mitsuru. Furthermore, Mitsuru seemed to know him.

"Kei Nanjo? What are you doing here?" she asked, astonished.

"We've come to assist you" Nanjo replied bluntly, casually adjusting his spectacles with his left hand. His right had a tight grip on a European-style longsword, which he handled with practiced ease. "Ever since Miss Shirogane came to visit me in my offices, I feared that something like this might occur. So I made every effort to reach out to my former comrades-in-arms, the people who saved the world when last it was in danger".

He spoke casually, but Mitsuru looked stunned. "There are others? We're not the only ones?"

"We owe you one, Naoto" Yu spoke quietly, reverently. Yukari wasn't sure anyone else had heard. As she surveyed the battlefield, she saw Nanjo's words were true. Older Persona users that she had never seen before were blasting Shadows apart left and right. An older man with dark sunglasses on despite the gloom surrounding him and a wry, cynical grin on his face was fighting back-to-back with a younger woman with short reddish hair. Yukari saw her deliver a jaw-shattering punch right into the masked face of a humanoid Shadow, smashing the mask and scattering the monster into black motes. She saw Akihiko gazing admiringly at her technique. Elsewhere, a sharply dressed man with red-brown hair, dressed in a crisp uniform and wearing stylish glasses sent wave after wave of flame towards the Shadows that came for him. In still another place, what appeared at first to be a pretty female reporter swept a huge swarm of Shadows aside like she was brushing flecks of dust off a page in a book. There were others, too. Yukari had no time to take in the details of all of them.

"Leave things here on the ground to us" Nanjo said, and it took Yukari a moment to realise he was addressing her, not Mitsuru. "You have a job to do and an obligation to fulfil, do you not? We aren't the heroes this time. I understand that. This is all we can do for you. It's up to you to save this world". With those words, Nanjo turned around and threw himself back into the battle.

"But how are we supposed to get up there?" Yukari wondered aloud.

"Leave that to me" came a strong, rich, masculine voice filled with wisdom, one Yukari could not immediately place. She turned and saw, floating in the air before her a tall man, dressed all in white and wearing a gold-and-lapiz lazuli butterfly mask. She had met this man once before, and with a chill, she realised that she had technically been inside the Storm Temple once before, as well.

"Philemon!" she exclaimed. "That place I was in before, when the phoenix guided me to you…"

Philemon nodded, aware of what she had been about to say. "It is as you suspect, Yukari. That 'dream' you had, where you walked atop the walls of a black maze floating in an endless void took place within Tartarus. You walked atop the embryonic form of the Storm Temple. Though you did not know it, your life hung by a thread. I am glad that the strength of your heart and its bonds allowed you to find me and escape that place".

Aware of the others' confusion, Yukari spoke quickly to forestall them. "So how do we get up there?" she demanded. Before Philemon could answer, an arrogant, hateful voice filled the air around them. The faces of Yu and the other Investigation Team members clouded with fury as they recognised the voice of Nyarlathotep.

"Do you truly think I will allow you pitiful worms to interfere with me now, at the very height of my power? Fools! Nothing shall stand between me and the destiny this world so richly deserves. Now despair, writhe in agony and perish!

As the voice finished thundering through the air, something began to happen. Several of the stone serpent heads emerging from the bottom of the Storm Temple began to move, the grating sound of stone grinding over stone filling the air with a ghastly sound that could be heard even over the raging storm and the cacophony of battle. As the gigantic stone worms intertwined with each other, they slowly began to come alive. Stone sloughed off them in great chunks, revealing pallid, sickly white flesh beneath. Yukari and the others could only watch in horror as a nightmarish abomination came to life right before their eyes. The beast was huge, big enough to slither right over buildings and crush them beneath its massive bulk.

"Holy shit!" Junpei swore. "It's like a kaiju from a friggin Godzilla movie! There's no friggin way we can beat something like that!"

"This can't be! Sensei, do something!" Teddie shouted in a panic.

"What is that thing?" Rise demanded in a voice that was half-terror, half-disgust.

"The Lernaean Hydra, one of the Children of Typhon" Philemon answered calmly.

As the enormous, disgusting beast began to advance upon the tiny Persona users fighting desperately on the ground, fear and despair seized even the staunchest of hearts. Looking up at that huge, fearsome beast, it truly seemed as though the end of the world was already here.

A flash of light lit up the darkness that lay in the shadow of the Storm Temple, forcing Yukari and the others to cover their eyes with their hands or arms. When they could see again, they could scarce believe their eyes. The gigantic monster before them was shrieking in agony as countless destructive spells and techniques rained upon it. A huge god with a gigantic blade severed one of its heads with a single blow, and before it could regrow a gigantic blast of flame cauterised the neck. Spears and bolts of lightning pierced its flesh, and it thrashed in blind panic and rage, unable to defend against the onslaught of deities attacking it. To Yukari's eyes it appeared as if every deity from human mythology and culture had appeared to come to their aid. It was only when the great beast lay dead, crushing several buildings in its death throes that Yukari finally realised what those divine defenders truly were.

Personas. They were Personas, wielded on a level all but undreamt of by mortals. Two Persona users floated gracefully in the air, the true vanquishers of the Hydra. Both wore the familiar blue of the Velvet Room. One was a handsome man Yukari knew well. Theodore bowed to her gracefully while standing on mid-air. His companion was a graceful woman with hair and eyes the exact same shade as his. For one bittersweet moment, Yukari thought she was seeing Elizabeth again, somehow returned from the dead, but this woman looked more mature than Elizabeth in a way Yukari couldn't quite define.

"Margaret!" Yu exclaimed in a mixture of joy and surprise. "What are you doing here?"

It was Philemon who answered, and Yukari knew it was not just meant for their ears. "The rules apply to Nyarlathotep and his minions as much as they do to me and my servants" he declared grimly. "If his servants are interfering in the mortal world to this extent, and even summoning their own minor gods, then at the very least I can give the residents of the Velvet Room permission to retaliate to the fullest".

Yukari thought she heard a distant scream of rage and frustration. Theodore and Margaret alighted before her, smiling.

"It is a pleasure to be of service to you, Yukari-san" Theodore said warmly. "Alas, it is not much, but please leave the protection of the people here on the ground to us".

"We wish we could do more" Maraget added, her voice and face serious in contrast to Theodore's smooth eloquence. "For my sister's sake, and yours as well, Yukari-san. Only you and your friends can stop Typhon's advent. We believe in you with all our hearts. Please, protect this world, the place Elizabeth loved and the place that is so full of the shining potential of humanity."

Their words were simple, but Yukari felt touched. She could sense Theodore and Elizabeth's belief in her, their respect for her and her friends and desperate desire for them to succeed. It was not just the Velvet Siblings, either. Kei Nanjo and all the Persona users fighting around them, people who Yukari had never even met. Despite not knowing them personally, they still believed in Yukari and her friends, and were putting their lives on the line to support them. All those who couldn't fight, but who had done so much to aid them; Kikuno, Hisagi, Kurosawa-san and the countless people who worked for Mitsuru or who had helped them in other ways. All of them were sending Yukari their support, and the swell of feelings was like a tide of strength rising within her.

Thou art I, and I am thou.

The Darkstorm Eradication Force social link has reached Rank 2. Thy power to create Personas of the Judgement Arcana has grown.

Philemon was speaking to them again. "I can send you into the Storm Temple, but that is all" he told them regretfully. "Though I am loathe to admit it, mankind has, in a sense, chosen this fate. Nyarlathotep is right in that regard, placing limits on how much I can interfere".

"I am sorry we cannot follow you and fight alongside you" Margaret said ruefully, her normally regal face suffused with frustration.

"Don't worry about it. Getting us up there is plenty" Akihiko replied firmly. "All I want is a chance to fight those bastards fair and square."

Philemon nodded. "Once inside, you will be on your own. This matter must be settled between humans. To reach the sanctum where Erebus awaits, you must defeat those who summoned the Storm Temple into this world in the first place, with nothing but your own strength".

Everyone nodded their agreement. They all understood. They exchanged hugs and handshakes, but few words as they prepared to be sent into the lair of the enemy. What was between them, and what was at stake were both beyond the confines of language. Each one of them understood exactly how much he or she meant to the others, and what they must do.

They huddled together in a loose circle, and Philemon raised his hands. A sphere of translucent light surrounded them, and they began to rise gracefully into the air. At first, they could see the battlefield spread out below them, the tiny flashes of light and colour indicating where a Persona user fought the Shadows. Then they were amongst the serpents and stone guts of the Storm Temple's underbelly, an obscene maze that made Yukari feel like they'd been swallowed by some titanic monster. They rose in between the cracks in the Storm Temple, and were soon high in the air, amid the spiked, angular black buildings of the upper area. This close, Yukari could see the Storm Temple was not a single solid mass; rather, it was a series of smaller floating islands clustered together and connected by countless bridges.

In the centre of the mass of structures, a single black tower, covered in cruel spikes reared higher than any other. Lightning crackled between those spikes and surged up into the black void above. It was this main tower that they were heading towards, but as they approached, a black wind howled out from the stark mass of their destination and began ravaging the bubble of light they rode in. The sphere began to bubble and crack, and eventually it shattered into a thousand pieces. Philemon's power scrambled to reassert itself around them, and the companions stretched desperate hands toward each other in an attempt to avoid being separated, but it was in vain. Yukari, who was trapped in a tiny bubble with Saya, Mitsuru and Fuuka quickly lost sight of her other friends, who were each carried to different parts of Typhon's Tower. She had time to remember their bubble smashing into the dark stone of the tower's wall, attempting to break through, before the bubble disappeared and they were flung headfirst into the heart of evil.

BREAK

Aigis found herself on a stone ledge, around halfway up the vast central tower of the Storm Temple. The spikes protruding from the tower's walls to the left and right of her crude balcony prevented her from looking out to see where her friends might have landed. She could only pray they were safe.

Sho was lying face-down on the hard, black rock next to her. She knelt down to check on him, but he held out a hand to forestall her, groaning as he heaved himself up. There was no way up or down from the stone outcropping they were on, and so only one option was open to them: inward. Together, the two of them walked inside the ominous structure, glad to at least get out of the buffeting wind that swirled constantly around the Storm Temple's black minarets.

The atmosphere inside the Temple was oppressive to an even greater extent than the Dark Hour. The corridors within were lit by braziers containing unnatural flames, green, red, and violet in hue. They had no obvious fuel source, and were unnaturally still, refusing to flicker even in the chill breeze flowing slowly through the Temple's network of corridors and tunnels. The walls were craved with letters in ancient Greek, and another, twisted language whose angular script Aigis was sure no human had ever laid eyes on. What it said, she could not begin to guess.

"You sense that?" Sho asked in his abrupt, direct manner. Aigis nodded in response. From somewhere further in, she could feel the distinct sensation of another Plume of Dusk, resonating with the one that formed the core of Aigis' own heart. Was it Labrys, or..?

With nothing else to go on, the two of them made their way inwards through the dark labyrinth, homing in on the distant signal given off by the other Plume of Dusk. Eventually, the rock gave way unexpectedly to steel, and Aigis and Sho walked into a large, circular chamber with walls and floor both of a dark grey metal. The walls of the chamber were covered with weapons; swords, rifles, handguns, spears, axes, bows, staves and many more besides. Every few metres, spaced evenly in vertical lines up the walls were manikins, of the same variety one would see in a high-street window, save these had their eyes gouged out, and a bloody heart beat in each of their open chest cavities. In the very centre of the room, standing waiting for them, was the steel Tenebrous, Retsu.

"So, you've come to die" she said coldly, a menacing grin spreading across her pretty features. "I was worried you wouldn't even make it here, and I would be denied the pleasure of slaughtering you myself".

Aigis' heart sank at the realisation that the presence they had felt was not Labrys, but she showed no fear in front of the Tenebrous. "It is you who will perish here, Retsu of Darkstorm. For what you have done to my friends, and the danger you have placed the world in, you cannot be forgiven".

"Something like you shouldn't exist" Sho growled, his swords already in his hands.

Retsu glared at them coldly, taking her own great laser blade from her back. "Human lives are worthless. They have no value except what other humans bestow upon them, as though worms could somehow elevate worms. I was created for a higher purpose. Soon, we Tenebrae will rule over the Earth as gods!"

"Poor, pitiful weapon" Aigis replied sadly. "You were created as a tool to serve Darkstorm's will. You console yourself that no life has purpose in order to protect your own sense of self-worth. We will put an end to your pain".

Retsu's face contorted in fury, and she hefted her huge laser blade and charged towards Aigis. She swung her weapon in a furious horizontal arc. Aigis barely managed to leap back in time, but the weapon still managed to score a hit on her breastplate, leaving a thin trail of scored metal across her chest. Sho launched Tuskiyomi directly at Retsu while her attention was focused on Aigis, but the Tenebrous reacted with seemingly supernatural senses, leaping skilfully out of the way of the attack.

Retsu eyed both Sho and Aigis warily as they spread out in an attempt to flank her, then, without warning, she suddenly dashed at incredible speed directly towards Sho, swinging her deadly weapon. Sho's combat reflexes kicked in, and he skilfully brought up his blades to parry Retsu's strike…only for the searing laser blade to slice cleanly through his steels words. His eyes widened, and only a combination of Sho throwing himself backward with all of his might and a volley of bullets from Aigis knocking Retsu's aim off prevented him from being cut in half. Retsu raised her blade again to finish Sho, and in desperation Aigis sent Athena careening into Retsu, sending the black killing machine hurtling back into the metal wall, knocking down a shower of weapons in the process.

As Retsu climbed to her feet, there was madness and fury in her gaze. Her eyes glowed an intense crimson as she summoned her dread Persona, Ker, and the entire chamber turned violet-black with the cruel runes of her Mamudoon. Crushing tendrils of darkness clawed at Aigis' mind, threatening to swallow her consciousness, and it took all her will to throw them off. Before her vision had even had time to clear, however, Retsu was upon her, striking with psychotic speed and power. Aigis had no time to consider activating Orgia mode; the flurry of unblockable laser slashes were taking every ounce of concentration she had. At last, Aigis was a few seconds too slow, and although she managed to avoid sustaining any critical damage, Retsu's blade sliced into her arm, severing the servos within and sending a shock of agonising pain through her body. She fell to the ground before the Tenebrous, prone and helpless. Sho regained his feet and sent his Persona at Retsu once again, but the Tenebrous had obviously anticipated the attack. Ker already filled the air, her bladelike, skeletal claws racing to meet the slender, sleek form of Sho's Persona. For an instant they grappled in the air, then Ker tore through Tsukyomi, sending Sho hurtling backwards to land roughly against the far wall.

Retsu lifted her blade for the killing strike, a look of savage triumph on her face. Aigis apologised in her heart for failing her friends. She wondered, as the blade began to fall, if she would see Minato again after Retsu had finished her.

Yet the blow never fell. Out of nowhere, a pale steel fist smashed into Retsu's face and sent her reeling backwards. Suddenly, standing protectively over Aigis was her Sister, Labrys. Both Aigis and Retsu had been so intent on the battle that neither had sensed the approach of another Plume of Dusk.

"It doesn't matter how many of you vermin come to face me" Retsu sneered. "I'll butcher you all like squealing pigs!"

Labrys calmly met Retsu's ferocious assault. Knowing that even her deadly axe could not stand up to Retsu's blade, she fought skilfully, using her whole body as a weapon. Instead of parrying, she would dodge aside and drive her knee up into Retsu's chest. She would sidestep the other machine, grabbing the arm that wielded the sword and spinning Retsu about, then smashing her in the back of the head with the butt of her axe. There was no malice or anger in Labrys' eyes, only the unyielding desire to protect. Her calm was a startling counterpoint to Retsu's violent ferocity. The Tenebrous grew increasingly furious and unstable as Labrys frustrated her, putting countless small dents and fractures in Retsu's metal body.

At last, the Tenebrous shrieked, an inhuman cry of rage and hate. "You scrap metal bitch!" she shrieked. "This world belongs to the ruthless, to the killers! There's no room in it for hypocritical vermin who can only cling to others! I'll show you that it's the ruthless who rule in this world, not trash like you! Pandora Mode! Activate!"

A change came over Retsu. Her eyes burned like the pits of hell, and a thick, tangible black aura of malice and bloodlust surrounded her. The flight module on her back opened up, and she lifted off the ground, then dove at Labrys with such velocity and anger that it completely eclipsed anything she had done up to now. She moved and attacked at such speeds it was nearly impossible for the human eye to keep pace with her.

Labrys dodged and defended with everything she had, but with cold certainty, she knew that it wasn't enough. Retsu was too strong, too fast. Labrys couldn't even get in a counterattack, and it was only so long until Retsu managed to get a fatal blow in. Once she was gone, she knew Retsu would kill her beloved Sister Aigis, and Sho too. Yukari would fail, and the world would be ruined by Darkstorm. Though she put everything on the line, and was even prepared to give her life for the people she loved, the people who had given her a place in the world, it wasn't enough. She simply wasn't strong enough, a girl who had only wanted to enjoy love and friendship like a normal human, to beat this metal monster, this machine who so completely embraced her role as a living weapon. A single tear came rolling down Labrys' hard metal cheek.

Oh boo fucking hoo. Cry me a river, a taunting voice came from within the back of Labrys' mind. This is just pathetic. I can't stand to just sit back and watch this crap any longer, so I'm coming out to put an end to this bullshit.

It was like a switch had been flipped inside Labrys' mind. Aigis had been watching in horror as Labrys cringed away from the hovering Retsu, using her axe as a makeshift shield to protect against the rain of bullets the smug Tenebrous was firing at her. Now, Aigis watched her sister calmly put her axe on her back and stride boldly forward, heedless of the bullets pinging off her battered and dented armour.

"Get down here, you pathetic knock-off" Labrys said contemptuously, and she launched her rocket fist up at Retsu. As her fist approached, the fingers suddenly opened, and Aigis watched in amazement as her Sister grabbed the Tenebrous around the ankle, then, using her own axe jets to give her height, soared up into the air and brought her extended arm down, smashing the Tenebrous ruthlessly off the ground. Retsu lay stunned, her red eyes wide, as if unable to comprehend what had just happened. Aigis herself was transfixed by Labrys' own face, and saw her fears confirmed there. Labrys' eyes were glowing gold.

Retsu scrambled to her feet, more furious than ever before, and quickly renewed her vicious attack on Labrys. Yet Labrys smirked confidently, and turned aside her every attack, making it look effortless. Panic began to replace rage on Retsu's face as Labrys advanced upon her, inexorable and merciless.

"You want ruthless?" Labrys said tauntingly, leaping and bringing her axe down with brutal force, gouging a chunk of armour out of Retsu's shoulder. "Try being treated like a worthless tool whose only value was in how efficiently she could kill others like her. Try being trapped in an arena and being forced to fight to the death over and over and over again, then having the memories of those you've slaughtered, their fear, pain, anger and hate forcibly inserted in you. Try being made to develop bonds and feelings, only to then be forced to destroy the person you loved most with your own hands".

Labrys' attacks were as relentless as her words. She did not fight solely with the savage ferocity of Retsu, nor with the calculated, clean determination she had previously displayed, but rather with a seamless mixture of the two. Anger and calm, ruthlessness and precision, brought together in perfect harmony by the memories and personalities within Labrys. The countless lives she'd taken, the memories buried within her all came to the surface, bent on the destruction of the Tenebrous before her. There was not a single attack Retsu could make that Labrys hadn't seen before. She smashed Labrys in the face with her fist, then seized the hilt of her laser blade and wrenched it from her grasp, throwing it carelessly aside. Retsu's eyes widened in fear and disbelief, and she opened the gun barrels on her fingers, but Labrys brought her axe down in a brutal two-handed sweep, jets flaring to give it extra force. The axe connected with Retsu's right arm and sheared right through it in a shower of sparks and the sound of screaming metal.

"That was for Yosuke" Labrys growled as she kicked Retsu hard in the chest, sending her sprawling onto her back. Labrys leapt on her like a wild animal, but there was clarity in her glowing golden eyes. With sheer brute force, she grabbed Retsu's remaining arm in both hands as the Tenebrous tried to launch a final desperate salvo at her and tore it off at the shoulder. "That was for Chie" she said in grim satisfaction. "And this…this is for Naoto, and everyone you've killed. You say the ruthless rule the world? That it belongs to the killers? Well, you're out of luck, bitch, because there's no one more ruthless or better at killing than the person I was before my friends found me inside that TV".

There was time for disbelief to give way to abject terror on Retsu's face before Labrys pinned her head against the steel floor with one hand and began smashing her face with the other. The steel chamber echoed and reverberated with the force of her blows, and Aigis forced herself to watch the gruesome spectacle. Almost, she wanted to reach out and stop Labrys, to coax back the gentle Sister she knew was still in there, but she also knew that this had to be. Eventually, nothing but a ruined mess of twisted metal and burnt out circuits remained of Retsu's face. With a final heave, Labrys reached in and tore the remains of Retsu's face right off, exposing the Plume of Dusk that served as the very core of her personality, the equivalent of Aigis' own Papillon Heart. Labrys removed it gently from the remains of Retsu's body, and for a moment she held everything Retsu was, all her thoughts, memories and emotions in her hand. Then she closed her fist and crushed it, bringing a final and irreversible end to the Tenebrous.

Labrys knelt beside her vanquished foe, staring at her open palm for a while. "Sister?" Aigis asked tentatively. Labrys turned her golden eyed gaze on Aigis, and for a moment fear seized Aigis' heart. But then her Sister smiled gently. "Don't worry. I'll be letting her back out" she said. "I agreed to let her run the show, after all." She stood and gazed down at the remains of Retsu. "I was just like her, once. But my other self saw a value in things I could never comprehend. Neither of us could have beaten her alone, but together, we were more than she could ever be. I guess that's the way this world is. You gotta be strong to survive, but there's room for compassion and friendship, too".

With those words, the gold faded from Labrys' eyes, and they returned to their regular crimson hue. Sho, who had finally regained consciousness was walking slowly towards them, respect and relief both evident on his features.

"Aigis, your arm!" Labrys cried in alarm, and as she ran towards Aigis, she knew her Sister was truly herself once again.

"It's fine, Sister" Aigis said, undisguised joy and relief in her voice. "Mitsuru-san can easily have my arm repaired. None of us are permanently injured. You saved us".

"Looks like you were pretty awesome" Sho commended Labrys. "You sure proved which of you the defective scrap was truly. Damn, I wish I could have seen it".

Aigis and Labrys came together in a wordless hug. All three of them had survived, and though the world had not yet been saved, one less Tenebrous existed to darken it. Now that she was dead, Aigis allowed herself to pity the wretched creature Retsu had been, and reflected that she and Labrys could both have turned out like her under different circumstances. An immense feeling of warmth and gratitude surged out from Aigis, Labrys and Sho, the three people who had been born to be used as weapons, but had found instead freedom and companionship. Though they did not know where Yukari was, they trusted that their feelings and victory would reach her, and bring her a step closer to defeating Darkstorm and saving the world.

BREAK

Yukari, Mitsuru, Saya and Fuuka had found themselves in a fan shaped room with an ornate set of stairs in the centre of the curving far wall, which led higher and deeper into the Storm Temple. After checking themselves over for injuries and applying some minor healing magic, Fuuka had summoned Juno, and was now spreading her net out over the tower, searching for friends and enemies alike. After a moment, she gasped.

"I've found them!" she declared. "Our friends are scattered throughout this tower. And- no, there are strong enemy presences near them. It's the Tenebrae!"

Yukari frowned. What were the chances that after getting separated they would all find themselves near their enemies? Was this the hand of fate once again interfering with their lives?

Suddenly Fuuka gasped. "Some of our friends- they're fighting!" she cried anxiously.

"What? Fuuka, where are they? We have to help them!" Yukari exclaimed anxiously, but Mitsuru laid a hand on her shoulder and spoke calmly.

"No, Yukari. We have to trust them, and believe in their strength. Remember what Philemon said? To reach Erebus, the Tenebrae must be defeated. This…is what must be".

"But…!"

"You are the only one who can summon Zeus and stop Typhon" Saya interrupted her. "You were entrusted with the Blessed Loincloth. You were visited by Mnemosyne, and touched by the Fates."

Fuuka's face went pale, and for a while she trembled inside Juno's radiant embrace, but then a look of wonder came over her face, and she actually smiled. "She's right, Yukari-chan. They did it. Labrys, and Aigis-chan, and Sho-kun too".

"Did what?" Yukari enquired.

"One of the Tenebrae's presences has vanished. I think it was the one who was like Aigis and Labrys, Retsu" Fuuka replied, and as she did so, Yukari could feel the triumph and warmth radiating from the friends Fuuka had mentioned.

Thou art I, and I am thou.

The Darkstorm Eradication Force social link has reached Rank 3. Thy power to create Personas of the Judgement Arcana has grown.

While Yukari was still wondering over this, Fuuka addressed her again. "You, Mitsuru-senpai and Saya-chan should go on. I'll stay here and try to support everyone".

"Fuuka, no! We can't leave you behind here! What if Shadows or other enemies come?"

"I'll be fine" Fuuuka replied. "Besides, this is something only I can do. I can't fight directly alongside you. This is my only power, my only way of fighting Darkstorm and the Tenebrae. So please, believe in me and let me fight my own battle, while I help everyone else fight theirs".

Yukari looked into Fuuka's eyes and saw the strength and sincerity there. Though it pained her to leave her friend behind, she nodded, and after exchanging one last embrace, she, Mitsuru and Saya turned away and sprinted towards the stairs.

She forced herself not to look back.

BREAK

Akihiko had become completely separated from the others when their transport had broken up, and he now had no idea where either he was or they were. Fear, not for himself but for his friends had clouded his heart until he had heard Fuuka's voice in his mind, reassuring him that she and his other friends were all alive and unharmed- for now.

He had found himself near the base of the main tower, according to Fuuka's sensing of the area. Around him, Akihiko could see the lesser spiked towers of the Storm Temple rising high into the air, many clustered on their own individual little floating islands. Akihiko pushed open a heavy double door made of some unidentifiable, dull grey material, and found himself within the lowest level of the main tower.

This part of the Storm Temple looked comfortable, almost human. Luxurious furniture made from expensive materials gave the impression of a richly appointed living room. One could almost believe he was inside some kind of lavish aristocratic mansion were it not for the lack of windows, as well as other minor signs, such as fires that burned in their hearths without any obvious fuel source, or paintings depicting obscene, eldritch things.

"Be careful, Akihiko-senpai", Fuuka warned him mentally. "There's an enemy Persona user not far from your location."

Akihiko could sense Fuuka's anxiety, but he himself only felt an intense anticipation for the coming battle. Finally, he had the chance to step into the ring with one of their hated enemies. A one-on-one fight. That was just perfect for him. Following Fuuka's directions, he walked through a large, opulent dining room containing a long table of dark wood and lit by crystal chandeliers, past what looked like it could be some kind of library, and at last into what had to be the middle of the tower's base.

What he found there astonished him. Carved into the very bedrock of the floating land that composed the lower half of the Storm Temple, within the very foundations of the central tower, was what could only be described as a kind of colosseum, such as the ones read about in studies of Ancient Greece. Carefully, Akihiko made his way down the steps to the colosseum, noting the pictures on the walls above the stands as he went. They were all scenes of famous battles and conquests throughout human history, times when ruthlessness and military might had been prized above all else, and had won the day and shaped history where diplomacy and compassion had failed.

In the centre of the colosseum, Akihiko finally came face to face with his opponent. Tall, lean, dark and well-muscled, Hawke regarded him with grim satisfaction, as though Akihiko had been the one person in the world he had most wanted to see.

"Truly, fate smiles on the Tenebrae" he said in his deep, powerful voice. "I had long desired a fair, one-to-one bout with a worthy opponent. A glorious battle that would make my blood sing, as it is said to happen to warriors in times of old".

"Nothing you say is going to stop me from knocking you out" Akihiko replied simply, "and I don't think I'd ever understand the answer anyway, but I have to ask. Why? Why do you want to destroy the world? What's in it for you?"

"Destroy?" Hawke laughed, drawing his short sword lightly and gazing into the blade. "Our goal is not to destroy the world, but to remake it. Our God, Typhon, will turn this world into a glorious warrior's paradise, where the strong rule over the weak, and the only measure of a person's worth is what he can accomplish by the strength of his arms and the keenness of his wit".

"But that's insane! Who would want a world like that? Do you have any idea how many people would die?" Akihiko shouted angrily.

"I was born in Harlem, New York" Hawke replied suddenly, his tone grave. "My mother had me at a young age, and she quickly abandoned me. My father was a victim of gang violence. On the streets, I quickly learned the most important lesson a man can learn; that power is everything, and each places his own survival above all else. I had to fight tooth and nail to survive, doing whatever I had to. I grew strong. I invested the little money I could spare into learning how to fight. I ensured that I was well educated, realising the importance of knowledge in a warrior's arsenal.

"As I learned, though, I could not keep myself from wondering. Why do some dine in luxury every day while others can barely survive? Why are some famous and renowned though they contribute little of practical worth to the world, while others, who by rights should have their greatness celebrated wallow in obscurity? I began to long for a world without the false accolades and condemnations of modern society. When Fox came and showed me that such a world was possible, and that I had the hidden potential to help achieve it, I went with him willingly.

"People are not equal. That much is obvious. But if one is to be elevated above another, it should be because they are stronger, smarter and swifter. Not because of some arbitrary circumstance surrounding his birth. Power is universal. It transcends gender, race, nation, religion and any other barrier we impose upon ourselves. That is why I wish to create a world where power is the only thing that matters, where the hypocritical artifice of civilisation has been swept from the face of the Earth".

"If that's how you think, then I really can't let you live" Akihiko growled, raising his fists and taking a ready stance.

"Of course" Hawke replied. "We are alike in many ways, you and I. Both of us warriors who have grown strong, and continue to seek greater strength. Both of us revel in the thrill of a contest, especially one of arms. Yet there is one critical difference between us, which guarantees that there can never be an accord between us while we both still breathe. Namely, that what you would sacrifice your life to protect, I dedicate my all to destroying".

"Just tell me one thing" Akihiko replied evenly. "The girl. Selene. I know there's a Tenebrous we haven't seen yet. Saya told us about her, how you and she almost seem like brother and sister. If you have that will to protect someone, then how does that stack up with your plans for the world?"

For a moment, Hawke's countenance softened as an expression of tenderness passed across his features, followed briefly by uncertainty.

"Selene….reminded me of myself when I was young" he answered stiffly. "When I was alone, and vulnerable, and lacked the strength I do now". He straightened and readied his sword and shield. "It is of no consequence. Your time is short, is it not? Warrior Akihiko, let us enjoy the greatest of contests, a battle with everything on the line!"

Hawke summoned his Persona, Ares, and the monstrous cross between a tank, a cyborg and a god manifested above his head, his cry of battle-lust an echo of his master's. Ares aimed his triple-barrelled right arm-cannon directly at Akihiko and let loose a trio of Agidyne's that tore blazing chunks out of the floor of the dark colosseum. Akihiko swiftly rolled out of the way, dodging the incoming blasts, and rushed to meet Hawke head-on, his boxer's instincts taking over.

He unleashed a flurry of jabs aimed at Hawke's head and upper body, but he easily blocked them with his shield, causing nothing but a numbness in Akihiko's own knuckles. Hawke retaliated with a vicious downward cut with his sword. Akihiko tried to dance back, but he had gotten too close to his opponent. Hawke's weapon had the longer reach, and Akihiko took a gash to his right arm.

Gritting his teeth against the pain, Akihiko tried again to get in close and attack, feinting to the right in an attempt to get Hawke to overcommit to his attack. His plan worked, and Hawke briefly left his face completely exposed. Seizing the opportunity, Akihiko dealt a devastating blow directly to Hawke's head that should have knocked even a man of his size and strength out cold. Yet for all the effect it seemed to have on him, Akihiko might as well have punched a wall.

Hawke came in again, forcing Akihiko on the defensive. It was all he could do to keep the other man's blade from drawing blood. Not only did Hawke have greater reach, he was also taller, heavier, and, it grieved Akihiko to admit, probably stronger as well. Though both men were at the peak of physical fitness, Hawke was just a little stronger, a little faster than him. Frustration and anger at himself filled Akihiko's heart. Had he not trained enough? Was he going to let Yukari and the whole world down?

"Akihiko-senpai, his Persona makes him immune to strikes. You can't beat him with your fists!" It was Fuuka's voice, resounding crystal clear in Akihiko's mind. "He's weak to lightning, though. If you use Caesar, you can win!"

So he could turn the tides if he used his Persona instead of his fists. Though he was loathe to concede the other man's physical superiority, he realised that securing victory was far more important than his masculine pride. Backing up and drawing his evoker, Akihiko summoned Caesar and sent a powerful bolt of lightning directly towards Hawke.

No one should have been able to dodge that attack, yet somehow Hawke managed it. He began moving just before Caesar unleashed his power, as if he had predicted the attack. Akihiko cursed. Though her powers would be greatly weakened now that Fox's Neo-Deva system had been dismantled, was Selene still able to help him? Hawke pushed the attack more harshly than ever. Akihiko took a nasty bruise on his uninjured arm from Hawke's shield, and incurred two further gashes on his shoulder and thigh. None of the injuries were life-threatening, but they were beginning to add up and slow him down. At this rate, it was only a matter of time until Hawke killed him.

As the battle wore on, only Caesar's power, which forced Hawke to draw back and evade kept Akihiko alive. Frustration overrode even pain and fatigue in Akihiko's mind, for he knew if there were only some way to hit the Tenebrous with Caesar's attacks, he could win the battle. Was Hawke truly that superior to him? Was strength really the only thing that mattered?

"There are many forms of strength, Senpai", Fuuka's voice echoed in his mind. "I can't fight, so do you think I'm weak? I'm sure if you search your heart, you'll find a way to win."

Fuuka's quiet confidence in him inspired Akihiko more than her words. He was suddenly reminded of a conversation he'd had with Minato shortly after Minato had become field leader of SEES. "In addition to electricity, my Persona can also use status lowering attacks" he had told their leader. "Status lowering attacks are very important. Hah- I can't believe my own Persona is actually teaching me something".

Suddenly, like a light going on inside his mind, the path to victory opened up to Akihiko. If Selene was showing Hawke possible futures in which he evaded Akihiko's attacks, then all he had to do was make sure there were no such futures. Hawke was still relying on his own skill and speed to dodge. If he was slow and weak enough…

Once more he called forth Caesar. Hawke braced for the expected lightning attack, but it did not come. Instead, a wave of energy seemed to emanate from Caesar, spreading to fill the entire colosseum. As he was caught by the Masakunda, Hawke stumbled as though he were wading through jelly. His sharp, graceful movements suddenly looked clumsy and uncoordinated. A look of uncertainty passed across his face, and he staggered towards Akihiko, intent on attacking him.

Calling forth Caesar once again, this time subjecting Hawke to a strength-draining Matarunda, Akihiko found he was easily able to deflect Hawke's suddenly feeble blows. Though he could not harm his opponent directly with his fists, he could still attack indirectly. Shifting his weight, Akihiko carefully tripped Hawke and flung him down to the ground, casting a Marakunda on him while he struggled to rise.

Hawke had time to turn and meet Akihiko's eyes before the first Ziodyne took him full in the chest. The Tenebrous screamed in pain, and the air was filled with the scent of burning flesh. Seeing Hawke struggling to rise, Akihiko hardened his resolve and ruthlessly attacked again. Hawke was slower to rise this time, and after the third lightning blast, he remained where he lay.

Summoning Caesar one last time to heal his injuries, Akihiko slowly made his way over to his fallen foe. Hawke was still breathing, but it was a miracle that he was still alive. His face and body were a mass of burns, and there were places where his clothes and armour had melted and fused with his flesh.

"I must….pay my respects….to the strong" he managed.

"I realised it while I was fighting you" Akihiko told him. "You say you want a world ruled by strength, but what is strength? Is it just physical strength? But there are times when smarts and wisdom are more important than strength, and even in battle, being strong doesn't make you skilled. Is it intelligence? If so, what kind? The kind that makes you good at math and language? Some of the world's greatest geniuses don't have that kind of intelligence, and it wouldn't do you much good in a lot of situations anyway. And what about emotional strength, the strength of the heart? Some people endure hardship every day, but they carry on and survive even when some other people, who might be smarter or physically stronger than they are would cave in."

Akihiko shook his head. "That's what society is, Hawke. It's a place where we all try to nurture each other's unique strengths, and give them a place to grow and be recognised. It's not perfect. Far from it. Like you said, there's a lot of unfairness and corruption. Even so, I still think it's worth fighting to protect. What you were trying to do won't bring happiness to anyone. It would just make people more miserably aware of how unfair the world is".

Hawke gazed up at Akihiko, eyes wide in his burned face. "There….is wisdom…in your words" he conceded. "Perhaps if one I respected had spoken them to me earlier…but no. I will not wallow….in self-pity. Nor will I claim this is fate. This…is the path I chose. If this is where it ends, then so be it. It is a warrior's death".

Hawke's life was already fading away. He closed his eyes, and his voice fell to a mere whisper. "I will….say only this in parting. If Darkstorm's….destiny….is to be defeated….then I hope you achieve it…without further losses". Akihiko's surprise at these words must have shown on his face, for Hawke's final words had almost a wry tone to them. "I cannot speak for the others" he rasped, "but I never took pleasure…in your friend's deaths. All I did….was for the thrill of contest….and my dream….and Selene".

Hawke's chest ceased to rise and fall. Akihiko knew even before walking over and checking his pulse that he was dead. Turning, Akihiko left the fallen warrior on the cold floor of his arena. He had perceived the entire world as a battlefield; there was no more fitting resting place for him.

Akihiko did not look back.

BREAK

Yukari and her companions ran up staircase after staircase. Despite her fitness, her lungs were burning and her legs were aching. Still, they moved ever higher within the dread tower, aiming for the top where the evil one awaited. Even though she was physically separated from most of her friends, she was still connected to them all through Fuuka, and through her own power of the Wild Card. She felt Akihiko's grim triumph, a bittersweet mixture of pride, satisfaction and regret even before Fuuka informed him that another Tenebrous had fallen.

Thou art I, and I am thou.

The Darkstorm Eradication Force social link has reached Rank 4. Thy power to create Personas of the Judgement Arcana has grown.

With determination and faith in her heart, Yukari forged on, her friends watching her back.

BREAK

Teddie trotted through the scary halls of the Storm Temple, following Kanji's determined stride, the lovely Rise-chan at his side. His suggestion that Rise sooth his nerves with a hug, and possibly a smooch, had been rather firmly rebuffed. Now, they walked with single-minded purpose, towards the enemy presence Fuuka had told them about, and which Rise was also homing in on.

It felt like they had been walking for a good half-an-hour when they finally entered what looked like a grotesque parody of a theatre. The audience were creepy caricatures of human beings, with the exaggerated features you would often see on cheap plastic toys. They were dressed in a garish array of colours, their bright clothes as exaggerated and mocking as they were. They alternated between smiling, laughing and clapping, then crying and finally scowling at various things on the stage that only they could see. At last, they stood, and out of the pockets of their voluminous clothes, or out of oversized purses and handbags came a variety of weapons, which they then savagely attacked each other with. Their outer skin cracked and shattered like pottery, but real human organs and guts spilled out of the broken shells to splash sickeningly against the seats. Soon, the entire 'theatre' was thick with the rank, overpowering stench of blood and offal. When the last marionette, or whatever they were had fallen to pieces, there was a sound of thunderous applause from all around them. When it died away, new parodies of human life came in and began to clean up the seats, sweeping organs wholesale into buckets and dousing the seats with water. When they had been crudely cleansed, the newcomers seated themselves in the seats, heedless of the refuse that had decorated those same seats moments before.

Rise paled and turned away from the vulgar scene, covering her mouth with her hand. "That's disgusting!" she exclaimed.

"That's humanity" a cheerful voice said from the stage. The heavy velvet curtains lifted, and there, wearing her trademarked outfit, knives and semi-automatic pistols at her sides was the twin-tailed Tenebrous, Misaki.

"The hell are you talkin' about?" Kanji shouted angrily. "These freaks ain't nothing like real people! Stop makin' shit up and get down here so I can beat the shit out of you".

"Oh? You think so?" Misaki replied airily with a casual flick of one of her long black tails. "Human beings are nothing but foolish puppets. Their lives are ruled by others, and they can be made to turn against each other with almost no provocation. Lovers split apart after only a petty quarrel, families drift apart and never speak to each other again after trivial incidents. Everyone is just tangled together in a great, messy web, at once both the puppeteer and the marionette".

"You're wrong. People and their bonds are stronger than that" Rise protested.

"It is true people can be bound together in a common cause, and even care for each other" Misaki surprised them by agreeing. "But that's all down to the whims of fate. Two people who consider themselves true lovers or best friends in one life could be worst enemies if things outside of their control had happened a little differently. You have already seen proof of this in the mirror worlds. Take Takaya and Jin of Strega, for instance. Didn't your friends find a mirror world where they had never been experimented on by the Kirijo Group, and grew into respectable individuals who befriended them? You see, it's all down to fate. If you can read that flow, and look carefully for the cracks in people's bonds, it's easy to tear them down around them".

"Grr. We may have come together by chance" Teddie growled, "but our bonds of friendship are real. Even though I'm just a Shadow, Sensei and everyone accepted me for who I was. You're just a villain who chose to reject society and hurt others for your own amusement. I'll never forgive you!"

"Chose, eh?" Misaki said coolly. The mocking playfulness was gone from her voice. "You are right in one respect; I did choose to allow myself to be recruited by Master Fox, and joined Darkstorm. But that was the first real decision I had made in my entire life!

"I was born the daughter of a Yakuza boss. I didn't choose to be born into a family of criminals; it was thrust on me. What prospects were there for me? Where could I have gone? If I'd gone to the police and tried to turn in my own family, assuming I somehow survived to do that, what would I have left? Nothing. I would be alone in the world, a reviled traitor to a criminal family. Even those outside the criminal organisation would look on me with scorn and distaste for my betrayal.

"Crooks they might be, but they had their little rules and sense of 'honour', just like old Japanese nobility or major corporations. More so, in some ways. I was told how to dress, how to behave, and was expected to obey like the dutiful daughter, like I was some kind of princess born to a noble lord".

Misaki's voice and facial expression were bitter. Contempt dripped from her every word.

"I was told I was to be married to a man twice my age, son of a rival gang boss. I longed to be free of them, to be able to make my own decisions. I resented and hated my own family. I was all alone, treated like an object, a thing to be put on display and then bargained away for the sake of my father's ambitions.

"When Master Fox and Lord Nyarlathotep came and showed me a way to be free, it felt as though my chains had been broken, and I had been given wings to fly. I used my powers and my charm to turn my father's gang and my would-be husband's against each other, and watched gleefully as they slaughtered each other. Since then I've been living how I want, doing what I want, all the while working towards my ultimate dream; a world of total freedom, with no worthless society tying anyone down, and no obligations. Just pure, unadulterated survival. When our God, Typhon descends upon this world we Tenebrae will be exonerated; we will become gods in our own right, and this entire world will become our playground!"

"I've heard enough" Rise declared disgustedly. "C'mon Kanji-kun, Teddie, let's show this bitch what happens when you mess with our friends and our world".

Kanji practically leapt onto the stage, Rise not far behind him. Teddie scrambled up behind them as quickly as he could. Misaki danced back, and as she did so her silver-skinned Persona, Eris, appeared above her, and several twisted marionettes armed with sharp blades interposed themselves between her and her attackers. A network of thin wires connected the marionettes to Eris' hands, which were bereft of the black revolver and golden apple that were her trademarks.

"Everyone, please be careful" Fuuka warned them. "Those puppets are actually Shadows. She's controlling them through her Persona".

"That's just the kind of cowardly crap I'd expect these guys to pull" Kanji complained, smashing two of the twisted humanoid figures with one mighty blow of his folding steel chair, then mowing down four more with a sweeping blow from his Persona. Rise was no slouch either, ruthlessly targeting the different elemental weaknesses of the Shadows and shredding them with fire, ice and lightning. Teddie did his best to support them, freezing entire groups of them at a time with Kintoki-Douji and clawing at any that got too close, but it seemed for every one they defeated, two more took its place.

"Teddie, we have to beat the Tenebrous herself" Rise called out, "otherwise there'll never be an end to this".

"Do you truly think I'll allow that?" Misaki gloated. "Rather than fighting my poor minions, why don't you kill each other for my amusement? Eris!"

The golden apple once again appeared in front of Eris, and a sickly yellow light filled the room, emitted by the fruit that lay at the core of Eris' power. It washed over them, and everything became clouded and muddled. Teddie lost sight of the battle, and found himself drowning in visions forced into his mind by the insidious Tenebrous.

He saw a vision of the future, or rather, a possible future that could have come to pass. Yosuke, Chie and Naoto were still alive in that future. The battles with Darkstorm had never happened, and it was about ten years from the present time. Yet all was not well. Teddie had not fit in well in this alternate reality. Yosuke and Chie were married, and had young children of their own. Yosuke coldly made it clear that Teddie had become a burden on him, and it was time for him to go.

"You don't belong in this world" Yosuke told him coldly. "You're just a Shadow, after all". He had found no sympathy from any of his other friends, either. Other visions assaulted him, of other timelines in which his friends had fallen out with one another. Sometimes a major tragedy or misunderstanding would cause them to fight, other times they simply drifted slowly apart as the world got in the way. Either way, the result was the same. Teddie was always left alone.

Some part of him knew that what he was being shown wasn't real, but the situations Misaki presented were painfully plausible, and in any case they still hurt. Kanji and Rise were likewise subjected to their own painful visions of failure and loneliness, and it ground down their spirits slowly but surely. They became less and less able to concentrate on the battle, their Persona's abilities became weaker, and the crazed Shadow marionettes began to surround them, snapping and slashing at them like packs of hungry hyenas hounding their prey.

As he was surrounded by the mocking, jeering faces of Misaki's minions, Teddie found himself turning inwards. Once, he had been an empty costume, with nothing inside. As his heart had grown, he had grown a human body. He had since come to realise that the latter was a product of the former. He thought about his dear friends, the people who had accepted him and nurtured his growing heart. He knew that there was some truth in Misaki's words. As he'd learned about the human world, he understood that sometimes people who were once dear to one another could become cold and distant as time went by.

He had journeyed together with friends who sought out the truth and strove to accept it even when it was difficult or unpleasant. They had been naïve- Teddie more so than most- but he still didn't believe they'd been wrong. And so it was that Teddie honestly examined his own heart even as his claws moved automatically to fend off the marionettes who came for his blood. If Sensei and his other friends one day came to despise or reject Teddie, what would he do? How would he react? Would he turn on them in kind, like the petty creature Misaki claimed all people truly were?

He searched, and found his answer. As he did, his mind suddenly became clearer. He no longer had to fight to keep Misaki's visions from overriding his senses. He could see the whole arena, not just the Shadows closest to him. He could see Misaki standing there, her smug expression giving way to one of surprise, then intense concentration. And above her, the Persona Eris, with her golden apple shining brightly between her hands. Teddie focused all his attention on that one point, moving slowly forward, freezing the enemies that swarmed on all sides. With all the strength he could muster, he placed all his remaining mental energy into one last ice missile and sent it hurtling towards that golden apple. His attack hit, and the apple shrivelled within the consuming cold and shattered into a thousand pieces.

Misaki and her Persona screamed in unison, and the Shadows around them began to lose their cohesion, melting into shapeless puddles of black ichor before disappearing completely. "How?" Misaki cried, an expression of horror on her face. "You should have seen your friends betraying you, abandoning you, hurting you. You should been certain of their contempt for you. No one can resist Eris' power! So why aren't you tearing out each other's throats? Why are you still fighting alongside each other? This can't be happening!"

"I did see Sensei and my other friends leaving me" Teddie replied quietly. "It really, really hurt, almost as much as when you guys killed Nao-chan and Chie-chan and Yosuke. But I realised that even if Sensei and everyone else started to hate me and deserted me one day, I would still care about them, and do anything for them. The time we spent together will always be among my most precious memories, no matter what happens in the future or what fate has in store for me. That's why I still wanted to fight for this world and my friends even when you made me believe they weren't my friends any more".

Misaki hissed and drew her twin guns, preparing to riddle Teddie with holes, but Rise knocked them out of her hands with a well-aimed blast of energy from her Persona. "Teddie's right. I feel the same way, too. Even if Senpai doesn't love me, even if everyone told me to go away, I'd never forget how they were the first people to truly see me and like me for who I am, not the Idol Risette".

Desperately, Misaki drew her knives and flung herself at Rise with a primal shriek of fear and anger, but Kanji interposed himself between the Tenebrous and her intended target, knocking her to the floor with a sharp swing of his folding chair and prising the knives from her fingers. Misaki scrambled backwards away from him over the wooden floor of the stage like a frightened animal.

"It's just like Ted and Rise said" Kanji agreed. "Even if me' 'n Senpai fell out later on, he'd still be the first guy who accepted me and didn't care what my hobbies were. If we stopped bein' friends, I'd at least know it wasn't 'cause of that. He ain't that kind of guy. Same goes for Yukiko-senpai and the others. They're always gonna have my respect. Plus, it's not like I'm gonna forget how they risked their lives to save my ass, either. A debt like that is for life, and no sorry scumbag like you can make me forget it with a buncha cheap tricks".

Misaki had managed to snatch up one of her guns as she retreated across the floor, but she did not point it at any of the Investigation Team. Her back was against the wall, and her eyes darted warily between the faces of her adversaries.

"You might as well give up" Rise told her, placing her hands on her hips. "Your minions are all defeated, your Persona's powers won't work on us anymore, and there's no way you can beat all three of us no matter how good you are with your weapons."

Teddie could see the look of horror on Misaki's face as she realised the truth of Rise's words. The battle had turned irreversibly against her. She was alone against three opponents, three friends who she could not beat, and whose bonds she could not break.

"I hate you for what you've done to Yosuke, Chie and Naoto, and Nanako-chan too" Rise told her scathingly. "We all do. A lot of people would say you deserve to die for it. But we're not like you. No matter what happens, no matter how you try to break us, we'll never degenerate into cold-blooded murderers like you. I get that you've had bad lives, but it doesn't justify what you've become". Rise took a deep breath. "That's why we're giving you a chance. Surrender and come back with us, and we'll let you serve out your sentence in jail".

Misaki's eyes were hollow, and she trembled for a moment as her reality fully sank in. Then she threw back her head and let her bitter, insane laughter ring out through the cold stone of the Storm Temple. "So you'd spare me, only to drag me back and force me to live out the rest of my life in a cage? Everything I have done has been to escape my cage, and free the world of all cages. What you offer is not mercy, but torture". She looked down at her hands and the gun they still held. "No" she said softly. "I will not be caged. How could the Moirai have betrayed us so badly? How can this be my fate?" Her voice was slowly rising to a shrill scream. "Are you saying that these saccharine idealists and their bonds are somehow stronger than the Sisters of Fate?"

Misaki slowly raised her gun. Teddie drew back, ready to dodge her attack, and Kanji raised his folding chair and stepped protectively in front of Rise, but she did not aim the gun at them. Slowly, she pointed the barrel at the side of her own head. "Carve this into your memories, idealists. This world is a place where happiness for everyone will never be possible. People will always fight each other over their ideals, over the way of life they desire. There will always be winners and losers. Today, you won and I lost. Now, this is my only way out. Farewell".

Teddie and his friends rushed forward to try and stop her, but it was too late. The sound of a gunshot echoed throughout the obscene theatre, and a splash of bright red blood coated the far wall and floor. It was over.

Wearily, the three of them exchanged a hug. The memory of Misaki's final moments would be forever burned into their memories. Darkstorm had taken so much from them; their friends, their ideals and their innocence. Yet for now the enemy had been vanquished, and all who had faced her still lived. The relief, warmth and companionship they felt was beyond measure, and they knew the battle with Misaki had made them even closer than before. Silently, they sent their thoughts to Yukari, praying that their victory would not be in vain.

BREAK

All three Shadow Operatives were panting as they finished off the last of the Shadows who had barred their path. Exhausted, they had no choice but to slump against the dark walls of the chamber and sink to the floor. Even Mitsuru was showing the effort their harsh progress, constantly impeded by Shadows was costing her. Yukari tried not to look at any of the vile drawing surrounding her as she battled her fatigue. The Temple was like an endless nightmare she couldn't wake up from. What had she ever done to deserve this?

Yet as she was battling weariness and despair, she heard Fuuka's triumphant voice telling her that yet another Tenebrous had fallen, and once again there had been no casualties on their side. The jubilation Yukari felt was mixed with a surge of power, and she felt her fatigue melting away.

Thou art I, and I am thou.

The Darkstorm Eradication Force social link has reached Rank 5. Thy power to create Personas of the Judgement Arcana has grown.

After pausing a few more moments to catch their breath, the three of them pushed on.

BREAK

Ken walked across the narrow bridge, following close behind Koromaru, trusting his old friend's sure footing. The wind was so strong that it was difficult to maintain his balance, and he feared that at any moment he could be thrown off and sent hurtling to his doom. Junpei, walking behind him, was doing little better. He gave Ken a grin and a thumbs-up, clearly putting a brave face on things, but he couldn't disguise the pallor of his skin or the cold sweat gathering at his brow, beneath the rim of his baseball cap.

They had landed on one of the smaller islands, separated from the main tower by a wide chasm. They would have been hopelessly lost if Fuuka had not reached out to them and guided them. The relief at hearing all their friends were still alive was short-lived when they were told that even now they were fighting for their lives against the Tenebrae. Resolving to reach the main tower and assist their comrades as quickly as possible, they had begun to search for a means of crossing to the central structure. In the end, they had needed to climb the smaller tower on their island and cross one of the suspended aerial bridges that linked the various parts of the Storm Temple.

The crossing seemed interminable. The narrow bridge had no walkways, and there was nothing but the chaotic jumble of the Storm Temple's black depths below them. Surviving a fall would be impossible. Above them, the great black hole in the sky loomed ominously, and Ken had to keep reminding himself that they would not suddenly be sucked into it. At last, they reached the security of the central tower's walls, and Ken and Junpei slumped against them in undisguised relief. They were more than halfway up the main tower, by Ken's guess. Koromaru whined piteously and licked Ken's hand in an effort to reassure him.

After a brief respite, Junpei hauled himself to his feet and announced they needed to get moving. Ken nodded his assent, and they moved deeper into the tower. The chambers they soon found themselves in were very different from what Ken had expected. From his observations, the rest of the Storm Temple most closely resembled some kind of nightmare-twisted medieval castle, but this area was lined with black metal and looked technologically advanced, even futuristic. There were monitors displayed inside the mouths of monstrous metal heads coming out of the walls, and other strange devices displaying a variety of information. After a short while, Ken realised that it was all reports on the status of the world: weather and climate, reports on natural disasters caused by the unholy storms, reports on the number of victims, on how well the Darkstorm cultists were doing against the authorities as well as how Darkstorm and Typhon were perceived by people of different cultures and nations around the world. It broke Ken's heart to see the suffering of the innocent, and it sickened him to hear those who spoke with awe or excitement at the prospect of Typhon's descent.

He felt Junpei's hand on his shoulder. "We've come to make them pay for this. Don't forget that Ken" he said firmly. Ken nodded, feeling reassured. For all his precocious maturity, Ken still acknowledged how reassuring it was to have trusted comrades with you to watch your back.

"Ken-kun! I'm so glad you're still alright!" Fuuka spoke into his mind. "Ken-kun, Junpei-kun, Koro-chan, please listen. I'm picking up a Persona user near to your location. It's not one of us"

Ken shared a meaningful look with Junpei. That could mean only one thing. A Tenebrous. A burning desire for vengeance passed between them, and they began to move forward with even greater determination and purpose, Koromaru at their heels.

"Be careful. This presence isn't one I've felt before" Fuuka warned them. "Could there be a Tenebrous we haven't seen yet?"

Ken suppressed an irrational jolt of disappointment. He had been hoping to face one of the Tenebrae who had been responsible for his comrades' deaths, and the pain and suffering they had all been through along the way. Still, if they were here in this place, then they must be as evil as their allies. Resolutely, they moved forward.

After a few more rooms filled with alien-looking equipment, they eventually entered what Ken could only describe as a kind of control room. The room was nearly a semi-circle in shape, with the inner circumference of the chamber lined with consoles and monitors. There was a raised dais occupying the half-circle that supported the console banks, and in the middle of that space was a large metal chair. It appeared to be integrated into the floor somehow, and as it slowly turned around, Ken was able to at last get a good look at their opponent.

Junpei's gasp of shock mirrored Ken's own. The steel chair's occupant was a girl, and one no more than around Ken's own age, if not slightly younger. She was thin and pale, but there was something about her deep, dark eyes and lustrous black hair that reminded Ken of Shizuka. She was wearing some sort of delicate-looking apparatus on her head, with wires coming out of it and connecting to the back of the chair behind her, which was itself connected by thick bundles of wires to both the floor and ceiling of the chamber. To Ken's disgust, he saw that there were other places on her body where her very skin was pierced beneath her white dress, the connections framing her slender body against the wide, high back of the chair. She looked up as the three Shadow Operatives approached, and Ken was shocked by the intensity of the hatred in her eyes. The force of the gaze alone was nearly enough to bowl Ken over. It reminded him chillingly of how he had felt towards Shinjiro-senpai on first learning the truth about his mother's death.

Junpei didn't seem to realise the intensity of the girl's feelings. His face showed both pity and disgust as he took in both her apparent youth and fragility and what had been done to her. "Damn, she's just a kid" he exclaimed. "Look at what those bastards have done to her! I bet they're just using her. Don't move" he told the girl. "I'll get you out of there".

He began moving toward the girl, but she shrieked, an animal cry of pure rage and hatred. "Don't come near me!" she yelled venomously, and as she spoke, gun turrets came out of the ceiling above the consoles and trained themselves on Junpei, Ken and Koromaru.

"Whoa! Are those things for real?" Junpei cried, jumping back on reflex.

"You destroyed the Neo-Deva system in Mr Fox's basement" the girl said coldly, "but I've done my best to recreate it here. I can use it to send messages to our people on the ground below and observe how Lord Typhon's message is spreading across the world. The Storm Temple was built by us, you know, out of people's selfish hearts and Lord Typhon's power!"

Ken stepped forward. "Why are you doing this?" he asked, his voice as icy as hers. He was mindful of her age, but he could not be too sympathetic even towards a Tenebrous this young. The girl seemed to be on the verge of shouting again, but she mastered herself with a visible effort.

"I'm doing this for my family" she replied defiantly.

"Your family? Don't you even know what you're doing? There's no way your folks would want this!" Junpei protested.

"Darkstorm is my family" the girl replied, her voice suddenly small and sad. "My parents don't want me. They never did. My Dad was a rich man, and he had an affair with my Mom. I wasn't planned, and my Dad didn't like the scandal I caused him. He paid off my Mom to take me and get out of his sight. Mom didn't like looking after me, though. I was born unable to walk, and I was always weak and sick. I needed lots of medicine, but Mom always wanted to spend the money she'd gotten from Dad on parties and clothes and jewellery. She always hated spending time with me, and sometimes I would be left in my own soiled clothes because I couldn't walk".

Ken felt a sick feeling in his stomach. He had loved his own mother more than anyone else in the world. He couldn't imagine what it was like to have a mother like that. He was uncomfortably reminded of his recently recovered memories of Rei. Her situation sounded very like this girl's. Would she have ended up the same way, if she'd lived?

"I ended up in the hospital a lot. The nurses were nice to me at first. They told me they liked my name, Selene. I knew Mom had gotten it from the perfume she was using at the time, but it still made me happy.

"After a while, though, everyone just got sick of me. Mom never visited, and she made no secret of the fact she hated paying my medical bills. She told me I was a little parasite and she wished I'd never been born. I was so lonely and miserable. I thought I had no worth, and even wished I would die.

"Then Mr Fox came along, and offered to take me in. He said my Mom and the others were fools who didn't understand how special I was, but that he and his friends did. He said he would give me a new family who would care for and appreciate me. He told me that the rest of the world were fools like my parents, but Darkstorm had a way of changing the world.

"Then I got my Persona and met my big bro, Hawke. He said he would always protect me, and together we would be like gods of the new world. Then I wouldn't be sick anymore or need to rely on people like my parents for money. I used my powers to help Darkstorm and was praised for it, and for the first time in my life I felt valued, like my life had a point and a meaning".

A grim silence settled over Junpei and Ken. Even Koromaru sensed the atmosphere and whimpered. What Selene had done was undeniably wrong. Yet at the same time there was also no denying that she had suffered terribly, and hearing her story, they could understand why she had acted as she had.

"But you" she snarled suddenly, sitting bolt upright. "You killed them. Your friends killed my family. YOU KILLED HAWKE!" Her voice rose to a screech, and the fury and hatred returned to her countenance in full measure. "That's why I'm going to kill all three of you! Then your friends will be sad, and cry, and feel like I do now! I won't let any of you reach the top where Master Erebus is! Lord Typhon will come down and kill all of you, just like I'm going to do right now!"

The gun turrets bearing down on them suddenly roared into life. In that enclosed, metallic space, Ken and Junpei would have surely been riddled with holes were it not for the quick thinking and courage of Koromaru. He leaped up into the air with every ounce of strength and agility he possessed, and aimed a careful Maragidyne at the gun turrets, splitting the attack into four precise, targeted fireballs, each of which detonated a different turret in a shower of hot metal.

Selene was not finished, however. "Hecate! Kill them! KILL THEM!" she screamed, and her Persona manifested, metal dogs snapping at her heels, each of her three faces mirroring the fury of her mistress. She opened her gem-adorned arms, and a storm of the elements assailed the three Shadow Operatives. It was all they could do to avoid being burned alive or torn to shreds.

Yet hung on they did. Junpei and Koromaru shielded Ken from the flames, trusting in their own immunity to fire. Though Ken and Koromaru had no wind resistance, they nonetheless shielded Junpei from Selene's blades of wind, heedless of the cuts and gashes it opened across skin and fur alike. Seeing they needed to counterattack despite their reluctance, Ken summoned Kala-Nemi and unleashed a Ziodyne attack. Though it did not strike Selene directly, it hit the consoles behind her, causing them to overload and burst open in a shower of sparks and belching of smoke.

Selene's power lessened noticeably, and she pushed herself even harder to compensate for the damage. Her small body began to shake, and spittle flew from her open mouth. Realising what was happening, Junpei called out desperately to her.

"Stop! If you keep pushing yourself like this, you'll die!"

It was no use. Blinded by her hatred, Selene immersed herself deeper and deeper in the damaged systems behind her, desperately seeking a way to slip past the Shadow Operatives' defences and kill them. For an instant, a look of hideous triumph passed across her features, but it was immediately swept away as her eyes widened and she began to have a full fit. Her head bounced and lolled painfully against the back of her chair, and her arms flailed. Her eyes stared sightlessly as her body and mind were ravaged. Her attacks ceased, and Junpei boldly leapt forward, wrenching the wires out of the device on her head in an effort to save her.

It was too late. Selene lay still and silent against the back of the chair that had been at once throne and prison. Her eyes were open and lifeless, her mouth ajar, a trickle of saliva dribbling slowly down her chin. There was a hint of blood about her nose, and she was not breathing. Her hatred had pushed her beyond the limits of her frail body. Ken fought back the urge to vomit. The emotional pain he was currently feeling far surpassed the pain of his physical injuries.

Junpei stared at Selene for a while, then eventually tore his gaze away and focused on Ken. "We're all in pretty bad shape, Ken. Can you heal us?" Wordlessly, Ken called Kala-Nemi and healed the burns and cuts they had accumulated in the battle, though she could do nothing for their fatigue or the hurt they felt inside.

"Her story….makes you wonder what we're fighting to defend, doesn't it?" Junpei said at last. Koromaru howled in agreement.

"There are bad people in this world" Ken replied slowly, "but there are also so many good people, like my Mom and Shinjiro-san. We have to protect this world for their sake. If we stop believing in people, and the world, because of what's wrong with it, then we're no different from Darkstorm".

"Yeah, you're right" Junpei replied, his former strength returning to his voice. "It's all up to Yuka-tan now. Once more I guess I'm on the side-lines, but I don't envy Yuka-tan one bit. Especially after seeing what it cost Minato." He paused. "Please, come back safe Yuka-tan".

Ken knew he didn't need to voice his agreement.

BREAK

As Yukari continued to ascend the tower, she could feel her connection with everyone else fighting for the world growing. Not just her friends who engaged the Tenebrae, but the ordinary people who tried to maintain social order, spoke out against Darkstorm's activities and provided aid and relief to those in need. At a time when society was falling apart and civilisation was crumbling, paradoxically human beings were coming together on a scale unheard of before now as their hearts rallied against the oncoming darkness. She did not have time to wonder over the subdued note in Fuuka's voice as she told Yukari that another Tenebrous had fallen, again without casualties on their side.

Thou art I, and I am thou.

The Darkstorm Eradication Force social link has reached Rank 6. Thy power to create Personas of the Judgement Arcana has grown.

With Saya and her best friend, Mitsuru Kirijo, at her side, Yukari continued to carry the hopes of humanity higher up the tower of evil.

BREAK

After being separated from her friends, Yukiko had found herself high up in the Storm Temple's main tower, on a balcony protruding from the outer walls. From her vantage point, the Storm Temple looked like its own impossibly bleak, nightmare world, stretching on forever. She could not see the lights of Tokyo far below her, and above her the black void in the sky looked as though it expanded endlessly in every direction. She battled down her fear at being alone in this horrible place, but could not suppress the gnawing sense of isolation she felt inside. The hole in her life that Chie's death had made now seemed larger even than the abyss above her.

She had never been as relieved as she was when she heard Fuuka's voice, reassuring her that everyone was still safe. Fuuka also warned her that there was a Tenebrous near her location. Yukiko kept a firm grip on her fans and set her mouth in a grim line. She had come here for a reason; to save the world and avenge her dear friends. It was time to settle the score.

She walked through a curving circular passage that went along the tower's outer perimeter. It wasn't long before she came to a chamber entirely different from those she had passed on her way. This chamber was brightly illuminated, the colours of the many torches on the walls more natural than those in the corridors without. By their light, Yukiko could see the walls were covered in horrific murals depicting humans butchering and torturing one another in all the savage ways of their collective history. There were scenes of men being suspended upside down and slowly sawed in half from groin to head, of people pulled apart by horses, or left to slowly starve to death in cages. Against the walls, wracks, an Iron Maiden, thumb-screws and various other medieval implements of torture were arrayed and lovingly cared for by someone, their surfaces polished and gleaming. As Yukiko walked past the Iron Maiden, she could see that it had a particularly cruel mechanism; the more someone trapped in it struggled, the tighter it would close and the deeper it would drive its spikes into their flesh. Yukiko shuddered in revulsion and turned away. The far wall was open to the air, and a large stone ledge overlooked the Storm Temple below. There, standing with her back to the open air, mace in her hand and a cruel smile on her scarred face was the Tenebrous, Razor.

Yukiko's stomach twisted at the sight of her, and a boiling rage came up from the pit of her stomach and lit her veins on fire. This woman had tried to torture and mutilate Rise, and had laughed as Yosuke and Chie had been brutally murdered. Yukiko could scarcely express in words the anger she felt towards this woman, but she called upon the experience she had as acting Manager of the Amagi Inn and schooled her face to stillness and her voice to even smoothness, as she would when faced with a particularly unpleasant customer.

"You're the one who tried to hurt Rise" Yukiko accused her in a calm, cold voice. "And you share some of the responsibility for murdering my friends. I hope you don't expect mercy."

Razor sneered at her, the expression twisting her scarred face even further. "So, the pretty small town princess has grown a spine eh? I don't think any of us expected to see you again, after the way you were crying and snivelling when we blew your friends' brains out".

Yukiko wanted to fly at Razor and physically scratch her eyes out, but she held herself in check. "I know from what Rise-chan told me that you've had a horrible past" Yukiko told her, "but what's the point of going around inflicting pain and suffering on others? All that's going to achieve is creating more people who've suffered like you, and who are then going to take their pain out on others. All you'd end up with is a world of pain and sadness. Why would anyone want that?"

"Pain is the only language humans truly understand" Razor replied contemptuously. "Humans are nothing but beasts. Like any animal, they can be conditioned. A scrap of food or a bit of comfort as a reward for good behaviour, and a shock of pain to discourage things you don't want. Anyone in the world can be programmed that way- or reprogrammed." She gave a Yukiko a wicked smile, stroking her mace lovingly with her other hand.

"There's really no reasoning with you, is there?" Yukiko exclaimed angrily, her voice rising a little in pitch despite her efforts. "Fine. If you love pain so much, I'll be happy to give you some".

Razor laughed mockingly. "Human morality is nothing but a sham. You yourself are proof of that. You're trying desperately to take the moral high ground, to come across as the 'civil' and 'reasonable' one, but you hate me, don't you? You want to tear my eyes out, spill my guts, and hear me scream in agony because of what Retsu did to your friends, right? Yet not so long ago you were all dead set against the idea of killing, even defending someone who wanted to destroy the world. You see? Pain, the emotional agony of having your friends murdered has changed your behaviour. You're not above killing anymore, and we've purged the idealism from you. You desire my suffering as you previously would have never wanted anyone to suffer".

Yukiko stepped back as if slapped. Though it was agony to admit it, Razor's words had stung her. There was a truth in them she couldn't deny. A part of all of them had died with Yosuke, Chie and Naoto. The innocence of those days, the way they had seen the world would never come back. Yukiko was colder and harder than the person she had been a few weeks ago. There was a part of her, a big part, that wanted Razor to suffer, just as the Tenebrous had said. Yukiko hated that part of herself, and hated the Tenebrous even more for making her feel that way, in an endless feedback loop.

As she continued to examine herself, however, Yukiko realised there was more to this than that. Certainly, part of her wanted vengeance. But that wasn't the only reason, nor even the main reason she had come here. She still cared about her family and friends, about Inaba, and about the world. She wanted to protect those things. More than anything, she wanted the world to make sense again. There were times when she felt she would never get over her friends' deaths. For her to have a chance at truly healing and moving on, she needed Darkstorm to be defeated, completely and utterly. As long as they were out there, the spirits of Chie and the others could never rest, and neither would Yukiko herself.

Wordlessly, she summoned Konohana Sakuya and hit Razor with the strongest Agidyne she could muster. The heat of her attack was immense, the flames so strong that the edges of implements of torture near Razor began to melt. To Yukiko's horror, Razor stepped out of the blazing inferno completely unscathed.

Razor once again laughed, and pointed to her maimed features. "You can't harm me with fire" she sneered. "Have you forgotten? Lord Nyarlathotep showed me how to embrace pain, become pain, make it my strength. The fires that scarred me should have left me with a crippling phobia of fire, but by awakening to my Persona I have instead become immune to their touch. I have become pain itself!"

Razor finished her insane tirade by leaping at Yukiko with her mace raised. Yukiko tried to raise her fans to defend herself, but could not completely block the impact. A searing pain shot up Yukiko's arm, and she wondered if the bone might be broken. Thankfully, she could still move the arm, but it was painful. She tried to counterattack, but Razor batted her fans aside effortlessly, all the while raining blows on Yukiko with ferocious strength.

Yukiko knew she was in trouble. Her primary strength was in her magic; she could heal almost any injury, and her Persona's fire magic was almost unparalleled in power. Yet Razor gave her no time to heal, and her fire magic was of no use against an opponent immune to fire. Razor was larger, faster and stronger than her, and had more experience in close combat. Yukiko soon found herself completely outmatched.

"Hah ha ha! This is sublime! Oizys, torture her!" Razor cried out gleefully. Her hideous Persona, covered in boils and sores, pierced by chains and with its eyes stitched shut emerged like a horrible apparition from Razor's body. It pointed its diseased fingers at Yukiko, and Yukiko screamed as every nerve in her body burned with intense agony. When the pain finally receded, it was all Yukiko could do to pick herself up off the cold stone floor and force herself to stand. It took every bit of will she had, every bit of knowledge that her friends and the world were counting on her.

"What's the matter?" Razor taunted her. "Have you already had enough? We're just getting started! By the time I'm through with you, you'll be so ugly your own mother would puke at the sight of you. I'll tear off your ears, snap those pretty fingers of yours like twigs, and smash your knees so you'll never walk again. I'll leave your eyes intact, so you can watch your friends being slaughtered by our God, Typhon".

Razor revelled in her superiority, already certain of her victory. Ignoring the many wounds on her body, Yukiko forced herself to calm down and think, taking advantage of Razor's gloating to heal a little a she did so. Razor was toying with her, like a cat plays with a mouse, or like a child pulling the legs off an insect one by one. It galled Yukiko to admit it, but if Razor had attacked seriously and at full force with the intention to kill as quickly and efficiently as possible right from the start, Yukiko would certainly be dead by now. True to her title, she was deliberately drawing the battle out in order to savour Yukiko's pain and humiliation. Her overconfidence was Yukiko's only advantage, but it would make no difference in the end if Yukiko couldn't find a way to turn the tables.

Frantically, Yukiko searched the room with her eyes, her mind in overdrive. Her gaze fell upon an object she had walked past on her way in: the Iron Maiden. She had one chance. It sickened her and hurt her pride to do this, but she had no choice.

"Please" she whispered, trying to make her voice sound weak and broken. "Please, don't hurt me anymore. I'll do anything you say. I'll even say Darkstorm is right and praise Typhon. I'll be a good girl, I swear!"

Yukiko's acting sounded awful in her own ears, and she was afraid the Tenebrous would not be convinced. However, Razor was so swept up in her own bloodlust and sadistic pleasure that she failed to suspect anything in Yukiko's performance.

"Yes, that's it!" she shouted jubilantly. "Grovel before me, you pathetic little worm! You're all like this, all of you! All your bullshit talk about friendship and bonds, but in the end you'll sell them all out to spare yourself a little pain! Truly, Darkstorm deserves to inherit this world!"

Keeping a careful eye on Razor, Yukiko carefully backed up, manoeuvring herself into the corner of the room opposite the Iron Maiden. As she'd hoped, Razor came to stand opposite her, wanting to see her supposed terror face to face before she inflicted more pain on Yukiko. The Iron Maiden was open right behind her.

Yukiko discarded her fans, both to look more convincing and because they would get in the way of what she planned to do next. She was risking everything on this one gambit. She crawled toward Razor, trying to imitate a terrified, beaten victim come to lick the feet of her abusive master. Razor lapped it up, grinning horribly as Yukiko pretended to grovel at her feet.

"So much for the pride of humanity" Razor said mockingly, and spat on Yukiko, her saliva soiling Yukiko's sleek black hair. "You aren't even worth killing. Maybe I'll petition our God to let me keep you as a pet after he remakes the world. That way, I can make you my little bitch, and taunt you about how you'll never see your dead little friends again". Razor reached down and grabbed a fistful of Yukiko's hair, doubtless intent on hauling Yukiko up to face her. Yukiko waited until the exact right moment, when Razor was most overbalanced, and then sprang up suddenly from the floor with every bit of strength left in her battered body.

Her vicious two-handed uppercut landed squarely under Razor's chin, powered by the full force of her body springing up from the floor. The unbalanced Tenebrae was flung backwards, and, unable to regain her footing, staggered right into the Iron Maiden. Before the startled Tenebrous could react, Yukiko grabbed the door and slammed it shut on her, not allowing herself to think of what she was doing.

Inside, she heard Razor begin to scream in pain as the spikes began tearing into her flesh. Even though this was her hated enemy, the reality of what was happening settled into Yukiko. She may be evil, but she was twisted by the life she's had, Yukiko thought. I'm not like her. No matter what she's done, I won't stand by and take pleasure in her suffering.

"Hold on! Don't struggle! You'll make it worse! Here, let me help you" Yukiko warned her urgently.

"Fuck you, you little bitch!" Razor screamed from within her steel prison. "I'll tear you limb from limb!" Without thinking, Razor threw her full strength against the door of the Iron Maiden, apparently forgetting the nature of her own torture device in her animalistic fury. The spikes dug deeper and deeper into her, and soon her vulgar cursing turned into shrieks of genuine agony. Yukiko fumbled frantically with the locking mechanism on the vile contraption, but soon she heard Razor's screams turn to a gurgling sound as the spikes pierced her lungs and they filled with her own blood. By the time she got the door open, it was too late. Razor was stuck to the back of the spiked coffin, her front covered with bloody holes. Reflexively, Yukiko closed the door on the body of her enemy and turned away, covering her mouth.

It was only then that Fuuka's desperate voice reached her mind. She felt the other woman's relief over her safety so strongly it was like they were her own emotions. Apparently, Fuuka must have realised who her opponent was. It was only then that Yukiko allowed her own relief and exhaustion to overtake her. Wearily, she sank to the ground.

She had done all she could to stop Darkstorm. Now it was up to Yukari and Zeus. She prayed that the courageous Shadow Operative could bring this nightmare to a final end, for the sake of those who had fallen, and those that still lived.

BREAK

Yukari, Mitsuru and Saya carefully traversed the floating walkways that spiralled around the outside of the Storm Temple's central tower. Though they had not been able to climb any higher within the main building and had needed to resort to this exposed external path, Yukari saw that the tower was narrowing, tapering to a point. They were almost at the top.

From this high up, Yukari could look down and see that there was actually a kind of order and symmetry to the seemingly chaotic jumble of the Storm Temple. The assortment of floating islands that made up the foundation of the Temple actually formed the overall shape of a star with six narrow points. Yukari couldn't help wonder if this corresponded to the number of Tenebrae who had participated in the ceremony used to summon it.

Fuuka informed her that yet another enemy Persona user was down. Only one to go, and Yukari was nearly at the top. She rode the swell of hope and triumph, felt her connection with every other person fighting to bring Darkstorm down, both up here and on the ground.

Thou art I, and I am thou.

The Darkstorm Eradication Force social link has reached rank 7. Thy power to create Personas of the Judgement arcana has grown.

Feeling the end was finally coming into sight, Yukari pushed onward.

BREAK

Above Yu's head, dozens upon dozens of spiked spheres floated in defiance of gravity, connected to each other like the neurons of some monstrous brain. Set into the front of each sphere was a television screen, hundreds and hundreds of them within the vast hall he walked through. Each one showed a liar. Some screens showed politicians from around the world making bold promises to their people, then turning and laughing at their gullibility in private. Others showed people making passionate confessions of love to another and promising to be theirs and theirs alone, only to be in a third person's bed before the week was out. There were scenes of criminals lying to the authorities about their crimes, and of ordinary people lying about their condition to make claims to social welfare they were not entitled to. There were monitors depicting apparent religious believers whose inner thoughts revealed they did not believe in their God, but only maintained the pretence of faith because they feared their family would abandon them or their society would turn against them. There were people who felt they needed to lie about their sexuality for similar reasons. Still others were secretly bigoted and intolerant, racist or homophobic, but smiled and acted just to the public while secretly working to undermine those they disliked. And there were people whose Shadows revealed they were lying to themselves.

So many lies. The world was full of lies. The scenes came from all around the world, from dozen of nations in dozens of different languages. Yu could only speak Japanese and a smattering of English, but somehow he found he could understand everything that was being said. The lies and hypocrisy of the world battered at him like a rock smashed from all directions by aeons of relentless waves. Some of the lies were trivial; a teenager lied to her friends about liking a certain band out of peer pressure, or an employee called into work and pleaded sick to cover a hangover. Yet even these tiny lies added to the great flood battering Yu's soul and his already damaged faith in the human race. How did the world function? How did society even hold together in the face of so many lies?

Yu's feat carried him forward, over a blue-white floor that felt almost like glass. The walls were a silvery white colour, and carved elegantly with depictions of flowers and flowing vines. It was a huge contrast from the harsh, stark, alien appearance of the rest of the Storm Temple. Yu knew that this place of near-beauty was only one more lie in the great fabric of lies that made up the world, and there, seated upon an elegant crystal throne beneath the very heart of the web of lies above was the Tenebrous, Aria.

"Welcome to my Chamber of Deceit, my own little corner of our God's Temple" Aria greeted him, rising and giving him a mocking curtsey. She was wearing a long dress of pure white, a colour that, when combined with her fair, flawless skin and flaxen hair gave her an almost angelic appearance. Knowing the black heart that façade contained, Yu felt sickened. It almost felt as if Aria was deception personified. As if sensing his thoughts, Aria smiled confidently at him.

Yu drew his katana, hearing the satisfying sound of steel rasping on leather. He held up the sword in front of him. "I don't know what you intend to accomplish dressed like that" he growled, "but after what you've done, you'd better not expect me to go easy on you just because you're a girl".

Aria's tinkling laughter filled the space between them. "Oh, how charming! Yet if you think my attire and lack of a weapon means I am defenceless, you may rest assured that you are quite mistaken".

"Before you get what's coming to you, just tell me one thing. Why? You may be foreign, but I can tell you're both beautiful and intelligent. You should have had every opportunity in this world, so why did you become such a horrible person? Why did you want to hurt Rise, and why are you trying to destroy the world?"

"I simply wish to reveal the world's true character" Aria replied dismissively. "My Father was a wealthy businessman, who owned ventures both in my home country and here in Japan. I was born into a life of wealth and prestige. My family was kind and loving, and I wanted for nothing. In those days, simpering little wretch that I was, I believed the world to be a bright, wonderful place, filled with hope and understanding. Had I met your little 'Investigation Team' back then, I might well have become your friend in truth.

"It did not last, of course. There were many who were envious of my Father, and conspired to bring him down. The board of directors planted false evidence against him that he was embezzling and misrepresenting company funds, and my father lost his position in his own company". Aria shook her head, a bitter smile on her face. "Afterwards, our fortunes continued to spiral downward. We could no longer afford the lifestyle we had been living up to that point. We had to sell our house. The rich girls who I had thought my friends soon turned on me, sneering down at me when I could no longer afford the expensive clothes and fashionable accessories they so admired. Nor did I find comfort where we found ourselves afterwards, for our new neighbours took a dislike to our 'posh' manner of speaking and envied what we still possessed. They deemed us snobs, and any contact we had with them was most unpleasant.

"Yet the ruination of my family was not yet complete. There was one man who had desired my Mother for a long time, and tried relentlessly to woo her, but she was determined to remain faithful to my Father. Eventually, he took advantage of our vulnerable position, and discreetly murdered my father. It was mere chance that I happened to witness the poisoning. I dare say that had I been discovered, you would be facing one less Tenebrous this day. A terrible lapse on the murderer's part, wouldn't you say?"

Aria gave Yu a ghastly smile, more a distortion of that pretty face than any expression of genuine mirth.

"No one believed my claims about the murderer, just as no one believed my stories about the previous injustices against my Father within his company. The man who claimed my Mother adopted a friendly attitude. He smiled and was courteous, and they accepted what they saw at face value. I was seen as a selfish, immature teenager making up horrible stories for my own amusement, or because I was too immature to accept the tragedy of my Father's death.

"When Lord Nyarlathotep came to me, I had already ran away. I was a making a living as a con-artist of sorts, tricking people out of their money. I had always had a gift for seeing into people's hearts and divining their true thoughts, desires and intentions. Say the right thing, act the right way, and you can manipulate them into doing nearly anything. I was not proud of what I had become, but it seemed preferable to selling my body, my only other recourse.

"Initially, I refused Lord Nyarlathotep's offer. I did not see his greatness at first. But as he showed me the depths of the world's lies and hypocrisy, showed me injustice after injustice committed without care or even awareness, I began to realise that honesty was the exception, morality a delusion. After meeting Razor and learning what she had been through, I realised humans were nothing more than selfish beasts who would turn against each other without hesitation to ensure their own advancement and survival. That was when I officially joined Darkstorm, and committed myself to stripping the world of the blanket of lies we call civilisation, to reveal the single truth of humanity that lies beneath it; that we are nothing but selfish beasts."

"That's not the truth, that's just your perception of the world" Yu replied harshly. "Remember what you told me before your friend murdered Yosuke and Chie? 'What people call 'truth' is nothing but individual perceptions based on personal experience' right? Well, two can play at that came. What you've said is just your truth, not mine".

"Indeed" Aria replied calmly. "But that is exactly my point, both now and then. There is no universal truth to human existence and behaviour. Everyone merely acts on what they perceive to be the truth, and try to impose that view on others. The only thing that truly matters is which side is stronger".

"Then I guess I'll just have to prove to you that my truth is stronger" Yu growled, and took a ready stance.

"I thought the lesson in the reality of the world you received from Lord Nyarlathotep back then would have sufficed" Aria replied pityingly, "but it appears you are more thick-headed than I believed. Very well then. I will give you your final lesson in despair. Apate!"

The sleek black Persona with the shards of black glass in her dark hair manifested above Aria. The images in the countless screens above and around Aria seemed to be reflected in her Persona's hair and features. A vicious blast of ice that would have frozen Yu to his very soul emanated from Apate, and it took Yu all his speed and skill to evade it. Nonetheless, Yu summoned Izanagi and counterattacked, the searing lightning arcing towards Aria.

It struck her directly- and bounced harmlessly off some kind of invisible shield. Aria laughed and spread her hands, and the room began to blur and warp. Yu could no longer see Aria. He appeared to be surrounded by jeering enemies, their dark shapes quickly resolving themselves into the forms of the other Tenebrae. Razor's scarred face was suddenly in front of Yu, snarling as she brought her mace down. The pain he felt as the mace struck his arm was all too real. If it hadn't been a glancing blow, his arm could have been broken. Desperately, Yu unleashed Izanagi and sent a searing Ziodyne directly towards Razor.

She rippled like a mirage and seemed to disappear as the attack passed through her body, and suddenly Yu was somewhere else. He saw Kei Nanjo surrounded by a group of Shadows on the ground, his face covered in sweat and his clothes dishevelled. His concentration was on the multiple enemies before him, and he did not see the unexpected burst of electricity arcing towards his back. Only the timely intervention of one of his female comrades saved him from electrocution.

Suddenly, Yu was once again surrounded by the Tenebrae, each of them circling round him, waiting for a chance to attack. Yu knew this was wrong, and his instincts screamed at him, but he could not focus his thoughts. His heart told him what he was seeing was impossible, but his senses, including the pain in his arm, told him it was all true.

"Narukami-kun, can you hear me?" a worried, feminine voice came into Yu's mind, like a reviving drink of cold water to a man suffering from heat-stroke and dehydration in a desert.

"Fuuka-san, is that you?" he asked aloud.

"Yes! Narukami-kun, please listen! The other Tenebrae have all been defeated already by our friends. What you're seeing are just illusions created by Aria."

"They seem pretty real to me" Yu grunted as he barely blocked a downward sweep from Hawke's sword.

"That's Aria's power" Fuuka replied. "She creates lies and illusions and feeds them to her victims. If she can convince them the illusions are real, then they become real in this place, as do the injuries they inflict. Please, you mustn't fight the illusions. Your power is being re-directed against our allies on the ground, and by treating them as real, you increase their power!

"Damn it" Yu cursed in frustration, dodging and defending with all his might. "Then what can I do?"

"You have to see through them. It's something only you can do. Aria draws her strength from lies. Only the truth can defeat her".

Yu stopped and forced himself to focus. He lowered his weapon, leaving himself completely open to the 'Tenebrae' surrounding him, refusing to acknowledge them as opponents. He had once channelled Izanagi-no-Ookami himself, and tore through the lies of the Goddess Izanami. He should be able to see through Aria's lies.

Quieting his mind, Yu focused on turning inward, on seeing the truth of reality, no matter how unpleasant it may be. He felt his mind pushing against something, a wall that tried to fog his thoughts and blind his eyes. He pushed against it, and his surroundings began to shift. The dark plane on which he fought the Tenebrae under a bleak sky was suddenly overlaid by an image of Aria's chamber in the Storm Temple, like two photographs overlapping. He saw surprise on Aria's face, followed by a look of furious concentration.

The image of the Storm Temple began to fade. Yu felt himself being pushed back, his thoughts becoming muddier again.

"You can't defeat me in this place" a feminine voice declared confidently. "Here, I can feed upon the power of all the lies in the world. The idealism of a handful of fools is as nothing compared to the lies and deceit of the entire human race!"

Desperately, Yu fought for purchase. If Aria was feeding on lies, then Yu had to draw strength from the truth. He knew that if he lost this mental battle, he would doom the world. He was an idealist, Yu realised. Or he had been, before he heard the backstories of the Tenebrae and saw two of his best friends murdered right in front of his eyes. He had thought he knew the truth, but he now realised he had been subconsciously cherry-picking, focusing only on the brighter and more positive sides of things, and ignoring the darker, more cynical truths on the other side of the coin.

Aria wasn't truly drawing her power from lies, Yu realised. She was drawing her power from a single huge truth: that the world was full of lies. If Yu wanted to defeat Aria, he would need to accept that truth, as well as other painful realities he had previously denied or been unaware of. He would have to accept it all, the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly.

Resolutely, Yu opened his heart completely. He saw all the pain in the world, the hurt, the injustice. He accepted that sometimes people lied, whether for selfish reasons or to spare someone's feelings. He took in people's hope and their despair, their idealism and their cynicism, their love and their hatred. He accepted the truth of the world as a whole, and as he did so, he felt a change occurring within himself. He felt a surge of immense power, and his Persona, Izanagi, once more transformed into Izanagi-no-Ookami.

Myriad Truths was the attack he had used to defeat Izanami, but Yu realised that would not suffice this time. For every tiny truth he could send at Aria, she could find a counterbalancing lie. What he needed was not an array of insignificant truths informed by the perceptions of each individual, but a single, overwhelming Truth, shared by a majority of the human race, a Truth greater than the one Aria was using to attack him.

Yu thought of his friends, both within the Storm Temple and back in Inaba, his many bonds and social links. He felt their firm support, but did not stop there. He pushed his senses out further, letting his consciousness flow out over the whole human race. He was fighting not just for the people of Inaba, as he had been when he had faced Izanami. He was fighting for the whole world. He opened his heart to its people, and into him flooded the Truth he needed.

We want to defeat Darkstorm. We want to go on living. We want to protect our world. These were the cries of the world's people. From different nations, different cultures, different worldviews, people were coming together, their eyes on the heart of Tokyo, there hopes pinned on the people fighting above it. Yes, the world was full of lies, deceit and other nasty things. Yes, people were sometimes callous or selfish. These things could not be denied. But there was another truth to humanity, one even deeper and stronger. The shared wish to go on living. The desire to understand others, and be understood in turn. The basic compassion and empathy that bound all people together, even when they did not always agree.

That Truth filled Yu's entire soul, and he was soon brimming with a force incomparable to the one he had used to finish Izanami two years ago. Aria's illusion shattered, and Yu looked directly into her widened blue eyes, boring into them with his own grey eyes.

"No! This can't be! This is impossible!" Aria screamed, her face going chalk white.

"No Aria. This is reality" Yu replied calmly. He felt at peace, one with the world. "The world can be cruel, as can fate. There are many truths that are incredibly painful to accept. The truth can be wielded with malice, as a weapon. You and Razor taught us that. Yet despite that, people's hearts are full of love. They want peace and acceptance. They can be foolish, selfish, and can make mistakes. But the desire to be loved and understood, and offer love and understanding to others lies at the very core of the human race. It is universal, transcending individual experiences and worldviews, the limitations of perception you spoke of before. Let me show you".

Calmly, Yu dropped his sword and stretched out his right hand. "Final Truth!" he called out in a strong, clear voice. The entire Storm Temple shook as an incredible power gushed from Izanagi-no-Ookami. A single, brilliant beam of pure white light surged forward and struck the cluster of screens directly above Aria's head. They exploded, shattering into pieces in a burst of white. The explosions carried on, spreading throughout the room in a chain reaction that obliterated every inch of Aria's web of lies. Apate vanished as she was flung to her knees. The building continued to shake as the very structure of the Storm Temple itself struggled to withstand Yu's power.

Abruptly, the floor beneath Aria cracked and splintered just as the entirety of the wall behind her was blown open, exposing the ruined Chamber of Deceit to the storm outside. The ruins of curved walkways spiralling around the tower tumbled into the void below. The floor began to fall away. Aria, who had been stunned, barely reacted in time to fling herself forward and catch the edge of the firm floor that remained as the tower below her continued to crumble.

For a moment Yu stood over her as she held on, looking up at him. Slowly, he knelt down and offered her his hand. "It's over, Aria" he said quietly. "I don't think I'll ever be able to completely forgive what you've done. You'll also have to accept the punishment for your crimes. But it doesn't have to end like this. I know now that this world can be a cruel place. If someone doesn't offer their hand in friendship and forgiveness, nothing will change. So come back with me. Give up this evil plan, and help us put things right".

"You may have defeated me" Aria replied desperately, "but my fellow Tenebrae will avenge me! Razor won't forgive you for this. I bet she's picking bits of your friends off her mace right now…"

"Razor's dead, Aria" Yu told her, and was surprised himself at how gentle he was able to make his voice. "They all are. You're the only one left. It's over. You've lost. You know you can't beat me, and you've got nothing left to gain from further resistance. Just let me help you".

Aria's eyes widened, and disbelief passed across her face, followed by anger and finally anguish. At last, she seemed to accept her defeat. Yu saw the strength and will drain from her eyes.

"You may have killed us" she said quietly, "but you haven't won. Not yet. Lord Erebus and our God will decide that. I must confess, I had greatly underestimated you. All of you, but you in particular. Even if we Tenebrae still find victory in death, your achievements have been nothing short of miraculous. For what it's worth, you have my respect".

With those words, Aria let go, physically and mentally. Yu tried to catch her wrist, but it was too late. She continued looking up at him as she fell, and did not scream. Her body grew smaller and smaller, until at last she was lost in the raging storm-clouds now swirling around the base of the central tower.

Yu slumped back wearily. A mixture of emotions filled his chest, but most important was a sense of satisfaction. Whatever else might happen, Yosuke, Chie and Naoto had been avenged. He felt Fuuka in his mind, and let her know what had happened.

Yu hoped that Yukari could feel the will of humanity as he just had. She would need every ounce of strength to face their final foe.

BREAK

Yukari felt the tower shaking violently beneath her, and to her shock, she saw the walkways she and her friends had been on just minutes before crumbling and falling away as the wall of the sealed chamber they had been unable to get into was blown outward in a shower of rocks and debris.

Fuuka's voice came triumphantly into her mind. "Yukari-chan, I have wonderful news! All the Tenebrae have been defeated! I can't detect their presences anywhere in the Storm Temple anymore! I've also found Erebus. He's on the roof of this big tower. There's only one more chamber between your current location and him. We can do this!"

Yukari felt unstoppable. After all the torment they had been through at the hands of the Tenebrae, after the fear and despair they had felt, their enemies were finally falling before them. Only one obstacle remained. Yukari felt her connection to her friends and the world, their growing faith and confidence in their salvation.

Thou art I, and I am thou.

The Darkstorm Eradication Force social link has reached Rank 8. Thy power to create Personas of the Judgement Arcana has grown.

All they had to do was make it up those stairs in front of them, and then….

There was a sound of rattling chains. A cold dread settled into Yukari's heart. No, oh no. Not when we're this close.

Gliding down the stairs they would have to ascend to in order to reach Erebus was the figure Yukari dreaded seeing. Floating eerily above the ground, its emaciated form covered by a long, dirty trench-coat, chains and bandoliers crossing over its chest was the dread Shadow, and the scourge of Tartarus. The Reaper. In each of his hands was a long-barrelled silver revolver, and his nightmare visage held the absolute certainty of Death.

"How are we gonna get past this thing with just the three of us?" Yukari heard herself say, though she wasn't sure who she thought would answer her. The Reaper was a being that haunted the nightmares of every Shadow Operative since the days of SEES. Even with a full team of powerful Persona users, it was next to impossible to defeat.

Saya stepped forward, laying a gentle hand on Yukari's shoulder. "Yukari. Let me handle this" she said with quiet determination.

Yukari spun toward her, eyes wide. "What? That's insane! You can't beat that thing alone!"

"She won't be alone, Yukari" Mitsuru said, drawing her slender rapier with grim determination and facing the incarnation of death without a hint of fear.

"What? Mitsuru, you're the leader of the Shadow Operatives! You can't risk yourself here. You have to come with me to fight Erebus….and….I need you by my side" Yukari finished in a whisper. She knew she sounded pathetic, but she could not bear the thought of leaving her best friend behind to face this monster.

"I may be leader of the Shadow Operatives in name" Misturu replied solemnly, looking Yukari right in the eyes. "But you have become our leader in our hearts. As we did for Minato before you, all we can do is believe in you and entrust the world to your courage and strength. I have absolutely no doubts about your ability to succeed. All I ask is that you believe in me in turn. I won't let this thing kill me". She turned to look at Saya. "I won't let it kill either of us".

"Maybe we can't beat it" Saya interjected, "but we can at least buy you enough time to make it up to the roof and stop Erebus. You're the only one who can".

"No! I can't just leave you both here like this" Yukari protested.

"Yukari" Saya said gravely. "I've sinned. I don't know if my world can be saved, or if it's even real. But I do know one thing. I care about you, not just because of your resemblance to the Yukari I knew, but for yourself. I feel the same about all of you. I want to save this world. I don't know how much time I have left. Maybe I'll fade away when this is all over. So please, let me do this".

Yukari's eyes blurred with tears, but she knew the other woman was right. As Saya set herself and drew the Reaper's attention, Yukari began a desperate run for the stairs. But as she ran, something remarkable happened. The room suddenly filled with the voices of her friends. They were all encouraging Saya, telling her she could do it, that they were her friends and they were with her. Even those who had been most against Saya, like Ken and Junpei seemed to forget their animosity.

A radiant glow began to form around Saya as the last traces of doubt vanished from her soul. Persephone emerged from her, bathed in white light as Saya bathed in the voices of their mutual friends. A wondrous transfiguration came over Saya's Persona. Her hair shone like the sun, her elegant dress seemed to be woven from starlight itself. Her face was so lovely it took Yukari's breath away, and she radiated life and power.

The resolution within Saya's heart has given birth to a new Persona. Persephone has given rise to Hemera.

As she ran up the stairs, Yukari had time enough to see the Reaper consumed in light before she passed through the door to the final chamber and heard it lock behind her. She shared in Saya's triumph, and so did her friends, and everyone counting on them to stop Erebus.

Thou art I, and I am thou.

The Darkstorm Eradication Force social link has reached Rank 9. Thy power to create Personas of the Judgement Arcana has grown.

Yukari turned around, looking for a way onto the roof where Erebus awaited her. As she did, she locked eyes with a being that sent waves of anger and dread coursing through her. Nyarlathotep.