Pre-Chapter Review Answer Corner GO!

Delta XIII - You should. That was the entire point of it. Mwahaha! And no, Physics is for LAME PEOPLE. Nobody in SEES is a lame person.

We Thought It'd Be Funny - Aaaaaaah well some of these scenarios were spur of the moment ideas(like the drawing of Roy at the end of the last chapter for example), but others(like the Asura Project) were spawned ages ago. In fact, what I have planned for the next chapter has been planned since I started writing Reshuffled two years ago! *screams internally about that length of time*

rsdk525 - Oh you'll see what's next on Shinjiro Aragaki's list of ways to utterly ruin things soon enough. Trust me. Mwehehehe...

Evilshroom - Actually, Shinjiro is getting more focus because Roy is talking to him more frequently than he is most other members of SEES. And Akihiko... well, you'll find out what's up with him later in the story. The other characters WILL get more moments to shine, but then again think about who's telling the story in universe; What does it say about Roy as the narrator that he's personally focused on Shinjiro's abilities so much? I believe my cunning story writing tactics are too subtle for you! Also, Shinjiro isn't super good at Kendo; He knows enough to keep up with his crazy brother and grandfather. It's in his personality to resort to more direct approaches, hence why he uses an ax instead of a sword or something.

Overlord Duelist - It's actually a little bit of world building, and Shinjiro's version ISN'T the infamous version from Persona 4 that obliterates everything; it's not a persona skill, it's a kendo technique and it's a fair bit too unweildly to pull off with an ax. His Brother and Grandfather, though, totally have the Persona version. Good thing those two are side characters, huh?

Jenni Saba - Haha, I'm glad you liked it! Of course, you've been getting previews while I've been working on it too ya lucky bugger. XD

SwiftwyndTheHero - You win a cookie for that nickname for Katsuro, but dON'T COMPLIMENT THE ORIGINAL AFNF IT'S GARBAGE *external screaming of despair*

Why no I'm not going to stop thanking Lady Starwing/Puppeteer of Hearts for being awesome and helping me with chapters, why do you ask? Also, THANK YOU WHOEVER UPDATED THE TROPES PAGE! That made my day. Anywho, ON WITH THE CHAPTER!

The remaining days leading up to the Final Operation were... odd. Mainly in how tense the atmosphere always felt at the dorm despite the lighthearted conversations going on. On the upside, I got the chance to talk to Akinari again which was pretty nice... even if anyone listening in probably would've been worried by how morbid our conversation sounded. Also there was some... weird stuff going on in Tartarus. The Reaper kept popping up, but... he never attacked. It was really creepy to see a bag-head monster thing staring at you intensely like it wants to eat you or some shit, lemme tell ya. Outside of the Dark Hour though, nothing really worth talking about happened until the day before the Full Moon. The lot of us in SEES were gathered up in the lounge, keeping to our usual routines for the most part.

"...It's hard to believe tomorrow will be our last operation." Fuuka said suddenly.

"Yeah... We've been through a lot these past six months..." commented Yukari, who then looked at me. "Don't ya think?"

I thought about it for all of a seventh of a second. "Man, we've had so many crazy things happen in that time I still wonder if I'm asleep on my flight to Japan back in April."

"Dude, that was months ago."

"Dreams can be weird, man." I said to Junpei. "Really weird."

"Speaking from experience?"

-Shut up, Pharos.-

"Eh, true..." Junpei admitted. "Still, even for all the bad stuff that went down, this was all a lot better than doing nothing the entire time. Besides that, we made some pretty great friends!"

"Yeah, you're right." agreed Ken.

"I'm with you two." said Akihiko. "This has all been worth it. Been two and a half years since I got this power, and you don't hear me complaining."

"That's because I complain for you."

Hamuko giggled. "You complain about him, Shinji."

"Same difference."

Koromaru let out a playful bark as he sat on Shinjiro's lap before chomping down on that one squeaky toy of his. He really likes to chew the hell out of that thing.

"Two and a half years is a long time..." noted Fuuka. "Oh, wait... it's been longer for Aigis, hasn't it?"

"I was asleep for much of that time, unfortunately..." Aigis said. "Thus I have not been active for as long as Akihiko-san."

"How 'bout you, Mitsuru-senpai?" asked Junpei. "You started before Akihiko-san, right?"

She looked up from her book. "Me? ...Yes, it was just me at first. Of course, back then SEES didn't exist, and this was an ordinary dorm..."

"Did the chairman recruit you?"

"No... I've been aware of the Dark Hour since I was a child." she replied. "I accompanied my father's research time into the lobby of Tartarus, and Shadows attacked us. That's when I awakened to my Persona..."

Yukari's face paled. "You were just a kid...?"

Mitsuru nodded. "Slightly younger than Amada, to be exact. I was the first person that the researchers had encountered capable of summoning a Persona. If I hadn't... then perhaps none of you would have to bear this terrible burden."

"Well I've been Dark Hour sensitive since I was six." I pointed out. "So even if you hadn't, it's possible me or someone else would have sooner or later."

"He's right." agreed Akihiko. "Even if it wasn't you, someone would have awakened and had to defeat the Shadows. They're an enemy that can just be ignored."

"...I suppose you're right." Mitsuru admitted. "Even if I wouldn't wish this on anyone, I can't change what has already happened..."

CRASH

-Wait what which one are you?-

Thou shalt have our blessing when thou choosest to create a Persona of the Fool Arcana...

-Seriously? Cripes, whichever Spooky Voice guy is in charge of that one is a lazy bastard.-

The rest of that evening was fairly calm, but the day of the operation proper there was a surprise guest turning up around ten thirty with Shinjiro; His Uncle Roland.

"Somethin' wrong?" I asked as I finished double checking my gear.

"No, I just have a request for you and Mitsuru." he replied as Shinjiro walked over to the kitchen.

"What is it?" asked Mitsuru, sounding fairly curious.

Roland went into extreme serious mode, or so it seemed he did anyways. "Let me tag along for this."

The dorm went quiet all of a sudden, apart from a confused whine from Koromaru.

"...Why did you want to join us for this?" inquired Mitsuru.

"This is the last Shadow you guys have to put down to end everything, right? That'd mean those Strega guys might be there to stop you, seeing as it's there last chance." he answered. "I wanna see this Takaya guy for myself, especially after what he did to my nephew."

Shinjiro grunted from wherever he was standing. "I said he didn't have to, but if he wants to keep those idiots occupied while we deal with the Shadow, he can be my guest."

"It's not like we could really say no to the help..." pointed out to Yukari. "With as many Lost as have been turning up lately, we might not be able to beat the Shadow..."

Junpei scoffed. "Please, that thing doesn't stand a chance between everyone here hammering it with their Personas!"

"Regardless of its strength, I see no reason you couldn't provide assistance." said Mitsuru. "What of Asami-san, though?"

"She suggested it in the first place, actually." Roland admitted. "Kaede said she couldn't go though, since she thought I was going to Gekkoukan and it's 'not momma's job to beat up the bad guys at school'."

Hamuko giggled. "Awww, that's cute!"

"Well like Mitsuru-senpai said, no reason to stop you." I noted. "So take a seat, we still got time to burn..."

"Alright..."

A louder than expected ringing echoed through the lounge, which was quickly silenced as Mitsuru answered her phone.

"Hello?" she asked, then suddenly her eyes went wide. "What do you mean there was an explosion?"

-Whoa wait WHAT?-

"And you're certain...?" her eyes narrowed. "...I see. Thank you for warning me. Please tend to the injured as quickly as possible."

"What's wrong, senpai?" asked Fuuka as Mitsuru put her phone away and scowled.

"...The hospital was attacked." she said, sounding fairly upset. "And Chidori has gone missing from her room."

Junpei sprang to his feet. "She's WHAT?"

"...Strega." spat Yukari. "They must've busted her out..."

"Why?" asked Shinjiro. "Last time they saw her, I'm pretty sure she'd locked them out of her room and was terrified as all hell of them..."

I looked at him. "Do you honestly think Takaya cares?"

"...Shit." he growled, likely having come to a similar conclusion about what was going down to the one I had. "Tonight just got a lot more complicated."

Junpei looked between the two of us. "So what's gonna happen?"

"If I'm right, we'll find all of them waiting for us on the route to wherever the Shadow is." I said. "We'll just have to sort this out then... and see about getting Chidori away from the dipshits." I looked Junpei in the eye. "You're on save the girl duty for that. Set Takaya's stupid head on fire if he tries to stop you."

His expression turned intense. "Not a problem."

"Cool."

The Chairman turned up shortly before the Dark Hour, and once it hit, Fuuka had already summoned Juno to scan. It didn't take her long, so Juno must be a serious step up from Lucia.

{I found it.} she reported psychically. {The final Shadow is currently at the south end of the Moonlight Bridge... and you were right; Strega is waiting for us on the north end.}

"Is Chidori with them?" asked Junpei.

{...Yes. But... something's odd about her...}

I scowled. "They probably forced some suppressants down her throat thinking she still needed them."

"Bastards..."

I am not even surprised to know that word is already in Ken's vocabulary.

"You should remain cautious." warned Ikutsuki. "They'll likely have something planned, especially with how desperate they must be."

"Indeed. This is our last operation, so let's do our best to come back from it safely." said Mitsuru. "You've all done a fine job up to this point."

Shinjiro cracked his knuckles. "Let's end this, once and for all."

I adjusted my hat slightly. "My thoughts exactly. C'mon, we've got a Monster to slay!"

With gear on and weapons in hand, SEES marched towards the South side of the Moonlight Bridge. Halfway across, we found the only thing dumb enough to stand in our way: Strega.

"Good evening..." said Takaya, a smirk on his face. That new pistol of his looked silly tucked into his belt because of how much smaller it was than the hand cannon he used to have. "I trust you know the significance of today?"

"Why else would we be here?" I scoffed.

He shrugged. "Perhaps you wish to die in futility? I cannot say I know how your mind works."

"Good, then get the fuck out of the way." I spat. "We've got a Shadow to kill."

"Like hell!" snapped Jin. "We don't take orders from you maggots! Especially not after what you did to Chidori!"

"What do you mean 'what we did'? You're the ones forcing those damn pills on her!" shouted Junpei. "Do you even know what they're doing to her?"

Chidori was standing a little ways behind Takaya and Jin. She seemed... dazed. Drained of life, even.

"You idiots were killing her!" Jin countered. "The pills are the only thing saving her life!"

"Who the hell told you that?" asked Shinjiro. "Because no matter how you slice it, those suppressants don't do anything but kill you!"

"Hmph. More lies..." said Takaya. "I wouldn't expect you to know the finer details of our power."

I had to resist the urge to scream in frustration. "You fucking IDIOT! We know you need those pills to NOT get murdered by your Personas! Chidori's not like that; She doesn't need them! All you're doing is sapping her ability to think for herself!"

"Bullshit!" snapped Jin. "She came with us willingly once we got her out of the damn hospital!"

-Hrm. Idea!- "Oh, so then you were there when she got out of her room?"

"No, Takaya went to get her while I made the distraction."

-AH HA!- "So then you have no idea what Takaya could have done like say... oh I dunno, force feed her suppressants?"

"He wouldn't do that!"

"The face he just made says otherwise."

Jin's head snapped around to face Takaya, who was now on a bit of a backpedal. "Takaya?"

"False accusations, I assure you..." insisted the pale hippie.

"And there was a security camera in her room." Roland piped up, finally making himself known to Strega. "So we can see exactly what he did once the Dark Hour's gone."

Takaya, surprisingly, recognized him. "You..."

"Hmph... yeah, you're his brother alright..." he observed. "Certainly got the look about you."

"What do you know of my family?" spat Takaya. "They're all gone, taken away from me by accursed souls who desire naught but their own demise."

Roland shook his head. "Not all. Your brother brought it on himself. I would know, I saw him die."

The leader of Strega chewed on his lip for a moment. "...No matter. The fact remains he is gone."

"And you're every bit as twisted as he is."

Takaya scoffed. "What proof do you have?"

"Oh, I dunno..." I commented, switching to Pixie. "Maybe this?"

I hit my evoker to summon the tiny fairy, who promptly threw as big of an Amrita spell as she could muster at Chidori. The red headed girl clutched her head.

"Ngh...! What is...?" she sputtered, then started glaring at me. "You..."

-Not enough! Do it again!- Bam, more Amrita from Pixie.

Chidori clutched her head more intensely, now shaking it back and forth. "Nnngh... R-Roy...?"

"You BASTARD-"

If Jin tried to do something, a bolt of lightning from Roland sure changed his tune.

"Don't even think about it." he snarled.

"My head..." stammered Chidori, who was now getting a good look around. Once her eyes settled on Takaya, though, she suddenly got panicked. "Y-You!"

"Chidori, over here!"

Her head snapped towards Junpei, and just like that she started running right towards him. "Junpei!"

BANG

"AAAAAAAAAAAGH!"

"JUNPEI!"

"MY ARM!" shouted my best friend as he fell to his knees. "HE SHOT ME IN THE FUCKING ARM!"

"Hamuko."

"Right, Shinji."

KRSH-KRACK

"Takaya- HRK!"

"Just stay put." said Roland, having somehow gotten behind Jin in the time it took Hamuko to freeze Takaya's gun hand to the ground. A large, vajra-like arm was currently holding right up next to Jin's neck. "And you don't get hurt, kid."

"J-Junpei!" sputtered Chidori, kneeling next to him. "H-Hold still...!"

"Stay away from him!" barked Takaya. "Your purpose is not to make friends with the ENEMY!"

A large shard of rock suddenly jutted out of the ground, and like, formed a hand that clamped itself over Takaya's mouth.

"Be SILENT." snarled Shinjiro.

"What the...? Chidori, what'd you do...?"

I looked over at Junpei, and he'd taken his left arm out of his uniform jacket and pushed up the sleeve. I could see blood on the sleeve, but... there was no trace of a wound on Junpei's arm.

"...Ha... It actually worked..." she said, sounding relieved.

"Chidori, what are you doing?" shouted Jin. "Why are you helping them?"

She didn't look at him. "...I'm sorry, Jin. You... you don't know what Takaya did."

"What are you talking about?"

"When he came into my room, he woke me up by forcing pills into my mouth and covering it with his hand." she said, helping Junpei stand up. "He said... he said he needed his 'tool' to fulfill its role..."

Jin shook his head. "No... that's impossible..."

"I heard him say it, Jin!"

"Y-You're lying!" he shouted. "Th-They're manipulating you!"

-Shit, he's havin' a freak out...- "Only one being manipulated right now is you, dude."

"SHUT UP!" he screamed before Roland shoved him to the ground.

"If you're so sure, ask him yourself." said Roland, walking over to Takaya and using his vajra arm to break the rock keeping the creep's mouth shut.

Jin looked over at where his ally was still partly frozen to the ground. "Th-They're lying, right? You... you didn't do that to Chidori... right...?"

"O-Of course I wouldn't..." Takaya replied. "You both are the only people in the world I can trust..."

"So then..." I began, loosening the sarashi on my right arm. "If I were to oh, say..." I walked over to Jin. "Do THIS!" Aaaand there's my foot meeting Jin's gut. "You'd get upset, right?"

"Roy, what the hell!"

"I'm going somewhere with this, trust me." I said, picking Jin up off the ground. "Your thoughts, Takaya?"

He just laughed. "You've gone mad..."

"Wrong answer." Knee to Jin's gut.

"You've gone completely mad!"

"Still wrong." Fist to the jaw.

"What manner of fool ARE you?" Takaya laughed.

I just stared at Takaya. "What kind do you think I am?"

"A spectacular one!" he replied. "It's like before! You keep insisting we're not threatening, but here you are trying to coerce me into talking by near torturing my friend!"

"And yet not once did you actually tell me to stop."

Oh man, the look of the wind going COMPLETELY out of Takaya's sails right there was amazing.

"I... simply..."

"You simply don't give a flying shit about anything but what you want." I said, pumping Jin full of Dia so he wasn't in pain as I set the poor guy down. -Fuuka, please let the record show I feel like an ass for doing that to Jin.-

{O-Okay...}

-Thanks... sorry about that.-

Takaya just stared at me, then I saw it. I saw the very instant all semblance of sanity just SHATTERED inside his tiny, warped little mind. In the next instant, he started to laugh. That cliched sort of evil laugh that starts off subdued, but goes full on megalomaniac cackling a few seconds later like when some one is outed as being an evil bastard in an anime or something. It was kinda surreal to see it actually happening.

"Aaaah..." he sighed, his psychotic guffaws finally winding down. "What's the use? I've been tired of this facade since the day I first began to use it... All I sought was a way to see this foul, corrupt world burn for all that it had done to me..." A twisted chuckle escaped him. "And you were so eager to follow, all because I gave you meaningless direction... But Chidori, though..." Takaya turned his gaze to her. "Ah, now if ever there was a more perfect pawn... I just had to keep making her take those pills and she'd do whatever I told her to. It was so simple... haha, but you all had to step into things..."

I felt the air starting to heat up suddenly and looked towards Chidori and Junpei.

"A pawn...?" asked the redheaded girl, shaking with fury. "Jin and I were just PAWNS to you?"

"Of course you were!" exclaimed Takaya, madness practically erupting from him at this point. "Nothing more than means to the ends I desire, and that is for all in this world to suffer as I have!"

"So because you had a tough time..." began Junpei. "You want to drag everyone down with you all because you think you CAN? And you were using Chidori to do it? How can you do that to ANYONE?"

Takaya laughed. "Because I don't care! There is nothing more meaningless to me than attachment and desires that do nothing put poison the mind and make it weak!"

-HOLY SHIT HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT- "GUYS, BACK AWAY FROM JUNPEI!"

"Meaningless...?" snarled Junpei and Chidori in unison. The air was so hot I'm amazed the pavement wasn't starting to melt.

I still don't know where Chidori got that evoker from, but I didn't really get the chance to worry about it when suddenly both her Persona and Junpei's were looming behind them.

'I am thou... and thou art I...'

-Wait, WHAT?-

'From the sea of thine souls, the resolution of thine hearts calls forth new power...'

A pillar of fire suddenly exploded up around both the Personae. It was bright enough I had to shield my eyes until it died down. Whatever Hermes had changed into looked similar to before, but with a bright red body, a bird helmet holding a red gem in the beak, and additional metal wings on his shoulders. Legs seemed longer as well.

Medea's transformation, though, was something else. It went from what looked like a skinny woman in a skintight jumpsuit with a white, horned helmet and scraggly brown hair to a more... elegant figure. She wore long, flowing maroon robes with the hem at the base near her feet and the ends of the sleeves having gold thread woven in a way that resembled the outline of fire. Gold sandals were on her black skinned feet, and floating behind her were several orbs of fire. A less rough version of Medea's helmet mask thing sat on her head. The Persona's most striking feature, however, was its hair; Long, down to the waist, and it looked like fire was trapped inside of it.

'Hermes has given rise to Trismegistus, and Medea has given rise to Hestia!'

"BURN IN HELL!"

Next thing I know, and suddenly Takaya's on fire. Like, completely on fire. Hell, I think even his SOUL is burning right now.

"ENOUGH!"

An explosion of red mist suddenly dispelled the flames, and Takaya's Persona was floating above him. His right hand looked like it was in bad shape, probably from the fire, the flash melted ice, and the likely now stupidly hot pistol that's sitting on the ground.

"I WILL HAVE MY VENGENCE ON THIS WORLD!" he screamed. "BEHOLD MY ETERNAL NIGHTMARE!"

Several orbs appeared around the Persona, but something felt odd about the air all of a sudden as the orbs started to converge in front of the gray skinned thing Takaya had somehow called forth.

"I don't think so."

A bright flash came from Roland's direction before a sudden crash of thunder rang out. In the following instant, Takaya was shouting in pain as he was struck by lightning about three or four times.

"Holy shit..." Junpei said in awe, having apparently snapped out of his anger. "What just...?"

Roland stepped forward and- "HOLY SHIT!"

He looked over at me... which was surprising because he was suddenly some kind of demon thing that didn't seem to HAVE eyes. A mouth cover like thing on his face popped open a moment later.

"Atma's a hell of a thing, isn't it?" he asked, picking up Takaya with his right arm... which still looked like it had vajra armor on it.

Takaya coughed, slowly turning to glare at the one holding him by the neck. It was kind of a feat, since he looked pretty badly burned from getting hit by both a large amount of fire and a buncha lightning bolts.

"Go... to hell..." he spat.

"I'll pass." retorted the elder Persona user. "You, though, can go to jail."

"Like I'll g- AAAAAAAAAH!"

I winced, and I'm pretty sure everyone else, even Jin, did too. Seeing a guy's arm almost get bent into a shape it really shouldn't go into can do that to a person I'd say.

"Shut up." growled Roland. "And make this easy on yourself. I have no qualms with taking you to the cops with broken bones."

Takaya scowled, but seemed resigned to his fate now. I doubt he could wrench free of Roland's grip even if he wasn't in Atma mode.

"Wait for me..."

"Jin?"

I looked over at him, and he was finally getting up.

"I've got nowhere else to go..." he said. "And I know more than enough about everything Takaya's done..."

"But, Jin..."

He shook his head. "It's alright, Chidori. I've... I've made enough mistakes at this point. I have to start fixing them somehow..." he glared at Takaya. "And cleaning up his mess is a good place to start."

"Then come on." said Roland, beckoning Jin over. "Less time we waste here, the sooner we can get this nut to Kurosawa."

Jin started over to him, only to stop in front of Junpei and Chidori.

"...You take good care of her, you hear me? She's a good person." he said. "If you don't, I'll make sure you regret it."

Junpei was just confused as Roland led the two members of Strega away, but Chidori... she seemed a little flustered.

"Well, I wasn't expecting that to happen..." Yukari admitted.

"A most peculiar development indeed..." noted Aigis. "But, what will happen to Chidori-san?"

Mitsuru seemed to ponder than for a moment before looking right at Chidori. "...Yoshino."

She jumped slightly. "Y-Yes...?"

"Would you be willing to assist us in defeating this Shadow?"

Chidori seemed utterly confused by the question. "...You'd trust me to help you...?"

"Would you rather sit around doing nothing?" asked Akihiko.

She hesitated for a moment before answering. "No."

"Then let's get our final operation underway." said Mitsuru. "Iori, keep an eye on her."

He saluted instantly. "You got it, Senpai!"

"Follow me guys." I said. "Let's go see what kinda ugly bugger we've got to deal with for our last battle."

Once we were further across the bridge, Fuuka summoned Juno to see what we were up against. -And where the hell is that noise coming from?-

{...It's not moving.} she noted. {But it's... in the air?}

"That would explain the helicopter noises..." I commented as I looked around. "But where the hell is it?"

{It's... Just behind the bridge supports,but I think it's noticed us now!}

On cue, what I presume to be the Shadow appeared. It was in one of those small, military style choppers you'd see in like Vietnam War movies that dudes are trying to get to. Except instead of those large blades on top, it was a large ring with a bunch of wings on it. I'm not sure I wanna know how or why it was making sound like it was a regular helicopter, but it was pretty high above us... too high, in fact.

"How're we supposed to hit that thing?" asked Ken. "Can our Personas even get that high in the air?"

"I might be able to..." began Yukari, then suddenly a blast of green shot towards the helicopter. It struck the side, but didn't really do much. "Okay, at the very least I can hit it if I channel Io's skills through my bow!"

"Uh, Yuka-tan I think you pissed it off..." Junpei noted as the side door panels on the chopper opened up. Several soldier-looking Shadows jumped out, all of them with Hanged Man masks on their helmets, and pointed assault rifles at us. "LIKE A LOT!"

The Shadows opened fire and we scattered, though Mitsuru and Hamuko put up a large Ice wall to hide behind.

"Sure as hell don't sound like they're using guns!" Shinjiro called out. "Good for us in that case!"

{They're using piercing attacks to emulate gunfire.} Fuuka reported. {But there's something off with the main Shadow...}

Aigis ducked back down next to me after shooting at the Shadows with her finger guns. "What do you mean, Fuuka-san?"

{...Ah! Three more Shadows just appeared, but they're... different! They feel like the main one!}

I poked my head around the car I was hiding behind, spotting the 'different' shadows. They were color coded versions of the other Soldier Shadows; One red, one blue, one yellow, and each with a backpack hooked up to the weapon in their hands. Red seemed to have a flamethrower, which would suggest Blue's packing a freeze ray and Yellow has a lightning gun. A moment later and I got to find out I was right when Akihiko took a lightning bolt to the face from Yellow's weapon.

"Gah!" he grunted, ducking back behind cover. "How the hell are we supposed to deal with these things? We can't even get close!"

I stared at him. "Personas, duh?"

He stared at me for a second, then slapped his hand over his face.

"Right." He grumbled. "I forgot about that for a second."

-Oh my GOD Akihiko, REALLY?-

"Persona!" "Come, Hestia!" BANG

Junpei and Chidori got the retaliation started, Trismegistus slamming into one of the regular Shadows like a bus while Chidori's Persona unleashed an explosion of fire on some of the others. Red didn't seem phased, while his other two color coded pals got slightly roasted.

"Yamagishi, are those Shadows resistant to their own attacks?"

{Yes, Senpai.} she reported. {The colored ones are also immune to Hama and Mudo skills, but the others have no resistances at all!}

Koromaru barked before Cerberus appeared with a howl, unleashing a wave of darkness upon the Shadows. Several were quickly obliterated, but the Blue one seemed to take offence to his buddies getting disintegrated by a small dog summoning a bigger, three-headed dog and started firing more ice blasts at us.

"This feels like one of those stupid war movies that keep coming out of America!" Shinjiro shouted over the imitation gunfire. "Only more magical or some shit!"

"And also with better special effects." I said as a piece of the ice wall I was behind was chipped off. Everyone was doing their best to take turns blasting at the Shadows without staying out of cover too long, but no matter how many we blasted it didn't seem to put a dent in their numbers. Also the Triple Threat Trio had absolutely OBSCENE levels of Endurance. Like, 'they tanked Shinjiro hitting them' obscene.

-...Wait a minute. Hanged Man.- "Hey, does anyone see a mask on the outside of that chopper?"

"No, why?" Yukari shouted back after she wind arrowed the head off of another Shadow.

"Then can anyone see who the hell is flying it?"

"Why is it important, Fortune?"

I pitched Shade at the Shadows, letting him deck the Red one in the face before vanishing. "Because I think I have an idea of how to kill the Shadow, but I need to know where in the chopper it is!"

{It's... in the pilot's seat!} Fuuka stated. {But... it's alone... where do all the other Shadows keep coming from?}

"Take a look at 'em!" I said, summoning Pixie to patch up Aigis and Hamuko. "The other shadows look like foot soldiers! How much you wanna bet the Hanged Man is an incompetent moron of a general throwing troops into the meat grinder instead of facing us itself?"

"That would fit the reversed meaning of its Arcana if I'm not mistaken..." Mitsuru admitted before having Penthesilea unleash a barrage of ice shards at the Shadows. "But how do you suppose we get the Shadow out of the helicopter?"

"Hey, Fuuka-chan!" called out Hamuko. "You said the colorful ones felt like the main one right?"

{That's right... Why?}

"COVER ME!" she shouted, barreling into the fray.

"YOU HEARD HER!" exclaimed Shinjiro, wasting no time in throwing Vaisravana at the Shadows.

The rest of us followed suit, leaving Hamuko with only a small conga line of Shadows between her and one of the technicolor ones – The Blue One to be exact. What I saw next was some of the most preposterously expert naginata wielding I've ever seen from Hamuko... up until she suddenly pitched her weapon into the air, used one of the lesser Shadows' face as a springboard, CATCH the naginata and start spinning along with it, perfectly land so she was slashing part of the Blue One's arm off from behind, then dash-slashing her way back THROUGH it along with about five other lesser Shadows, killing the lot of them and giving her time to get back behind cover.

"What the hell was-"

My confusion and surprise at what I just witnessed was cut off by the helicopter suddenly shaking violently.

{That's it, Hamuko-chan! Those Shadows are what's keeping the Helicopter from taking damage! Destroy them, and you should be able to shoot it down!}

In that next instant, what sounded like an explosion going off was heard, followed by an audible sound of something getting impaled on the face. I say that, because I turned and saw that Ken had not only managed to throw his spear like he was some kind of living railgun or something, but now Themis was hovering behind him.

"I got this one!" He shouted, then he called down lightning bolts right onto the spear and into the body of the Shadow he'd pegged – specifically, the Red One which was now extremely dead because Spear to Face and Lightning Bolts. The chopper lurched in the air again, nearly crashing into the metal support cables on the bridge.

-...Shit, Surprise Ken(tm) is very effective...-

"Did you just trademark one of your friends kicking ass?"

-What, I can't have SOME fun while trying to not get shot, Pharos? And where the hell are you, anyways?-

"Behind a car like ten feet away!" he replied as another shot chipped off part of the ice wall near my head.

-Okay, that answers that question...- "But now how do we get rid of the rest of these bastards quickly?"

"Chidori, let's go!"

"A-Alright!"

"Wait wha-"

"PERSONA"

For what was I'm pretty sure the third time that night, Junpei and Chidori summoned their Personae at the same time. And then burnt the hell out of something. Or in this case...

"RENDING WILDFIRE"

...Everything on the bridge that wasn't SEES, a car, a coffin, or the bridge itself was now dying horribly in fire that sounded rather literally like something was being rent asunder by pure heat. It was fairly terrifying to hear... Of course I didn't get to dwell on it, because the helicopter was coming crashing down right about where we were all currently standing. It seemed like the entire bridge shook when it impacted the ice walls we'd been using for cover. After a few seconds of nothing happening, we started to approach the downed vehicle. It was pretty clearly shadow matter, with parts of it dissolving much like Shadows do. A side panel suddenly opened and something was shoved out. It took us a couple of moments to register that it was one of the Soldier Shadows.

It took us until the first 'beep' to realize it had a bomb with a hanged man mask on it strapped to its chest.

"Oh fuck-" I heard Mitsuru start to say before the next thing I knew, there was a really fucking loud explosion and I was flying through the air.

There was shouting around me. I couldn't tell where, but I think I recognized a voice or two. One was Yukari, another was Aigis. I think my hat fell off. It was hard to tell because, apart from that whole 'oh shit I'm flying through the air potentially off a fucking bridge' factor I was experiencing, something else was going on in my head.

-Genbu.-

I felt a tug in my mind.

-Byakko.-

Another tug.

-Seiryu.-

Now it's feeling about like when Igor is taking Personas from me to fuse them...

-Suzaku.-

And then everything clicked into place within my mind as I slammed my hand on my Evoker.

"KOHRYU!"

An explosion of blue light filled the air around me, and next thing I know I'm sitting on something. Something very big, very scaly, and very likely to ruin shit that pisses it off.

"Wha-! What is this?"

I turned my head around and, to my surprise, Yukari and Koromaru are sitting on this thing as well.

And 'this thing' appears to be a massive golden dragon.

-So Pharos, my night just got a hell of a lot more awesome...-

'I can see that, now get your ass back up here with Puff the Oriental Dragon! The Shadow's grabbed a chunk of the chopper and is using it as a weapon to surprising effectiveness up here.'

-On it!- "You two okay?"

Koromaru barked while Yukari nodded slowly. How the hell we were all managing to fit on the nape of this thing's neck is beyond me.

"Yukari, grab Koro and then hang onto something!" I said. "We're going back up!"

"O-okay!" she replied, scooping up the Shiba before carefully gripping the hair coming off the back of the dragon's head. "Where did you get this...?"

"Beats me!" I answered, holding onto the hair as well as the gold dragon flew back towards the bridge. "Must be a Wild Card thing I didn't know about yet!"

"That keeps happening!"

"Yeah, it's kind of annoying that I just get to find this shit out at random!" I commented as Kohryu got close enough for us to get off. "Here's our stop!"

"Roy!" "Yukari!" "Koro-chan!"

Aigis was quick to latch onto me, which was fine because now I was getting a good look at the Persona I summoned. For one, Kohryu is BIG. Like, it's coiling itself around the bridge without TOUCHING the bridge and is now staring down at where the Hanged Man is. It appeared to be holding colored orbs in each of its claws, and I'll be damned if the sight of a massive, golden dragon looming over a bridge with a full moon for a backdrop wasn't fucking awesome. The Shadow, however, appeared to be terrified. I imagine if it was human, it'd have shit a brick by now.

I snapped my fingers and pointed at the Shadow. Kohryu responded in kind with a roar before it lunged at the Shadow, golden scales glittering in the moonlight, and then had itself a light snack consisting of the Hanged Man and the remains of its helicopter. The dragon reared back and roared once more before disappearing.

"...Is it over...?"

{...It's over...} replied Fuuka. {The Shadow's gone! We did it!}

"HELL YEAH~!" cheered Hamuko.

"Talk about a big finish, though..." Ken commented. "A giant dragon? Where did that come from?"

I shrugged. "Wild Card shenanigans? I don't know and I don't care! It's not like I'm gonna need to throw it at random bullies at Gekkoukan or anything."

"Operation completed. Or should I say, 'Mission Complete'?"

"Either would be accurate, Aigis." chuckled Mitsuru. "It's finally over..."

"I believe a celebration is in order!" Aigis insisted. "What will be our victory cheer?"

I threw up my arms. "Who the fuck cares? We did it!"

"One... two... three... Who the fuck cares, we did it!"

To say that the entirety of SEES spent the next ten minutes laughing their collective asses off would be an understatement. Thankfully we managed to stop.

"Oh my god, Aigis..." Yukari laughed. "What WAS that?"

Aigis shrugged. "A thing."

"So, uh... Senpai..." began Junpei. "...What happens to Chidori now...?"

Everyone went dead quiet.

"...I don't see why she can't stay at the dorm." Mitsuru said after what probably seemed like an eternity to Junpei. "There is one spare room left on the third floor..."

"Wait, what?"

"S-senpai, you serious?"

Mitsuru nodded with a small smile on her face. "Of course. As I understand, she's the daughter of a close friend of Asami-san... and it's quite evident she's fond of you, Iori. I see no reason why she can't stay, especially with this being the last instance of the Dark Hour. She would have to attend school, however..."

"...But I'd get to stay at your dorm if I did? Not the hospital?"

Another nod from the upperclassman. "Yes."

A small smile curled its way onto Chidori's lips.

"I think this calls for a party." I said. "What do you think, Junpei ol' pal?"

"Hell yeah!" He agreed. "Whaddya say, senpai?"

Mitsuru chuckled. "I suppose I could arrange for it... it's not every day you do something this amazing."

"Yes! In that case, would you be okay with ordering us sushi?"

"Oh now there's something I haven't had in a while..." commented Akihiko. "I'm calling dibs on the halibut and sea urchin now, those are my favorites."

"To the point he refuses to put that protein crap on it." said Shinjiro. "I'm not kidding, either."

Yukari let out a laugh. "Now that I've gotta see."

"Oh, senpai? Can you order tamago for me?" asked Ken. "I'm not a big fan of sushi."

"Okay, okay." said Mitsuru, holding up her hands. "I'll have the very best delivered tomorrow evening."

I held out a closed fist to Junpei. "Hell yeah?"

"Hell yeah." he said, bumping fists with me. "Great time to be alive, bro."

"Totally."

"...I guess we get to say farewell to all of this, huh?"

We all turned towards Hamuko and Fuuka, who were looking up at the moon.

"Yes... and despite myself, I feel... reluctant to see it go." said Mitsuru.

"Well, you and me have had this as part of our lives for about ten years." I noted. "Gonna be weird adjusting to it not being around..."

I heard a few murmurs of agreement before Fuuka spoke up.

"...We did it, didn't we everyone...?"

"Yeah..." said Shinji. "Saved the world, but nobody will ever know besides us."

"And y'know what?" I commented. "That's fine with me."

I'm positive everyone slept amazingly well once we got back to the dorm. I actually woke up early, for me on a school day anyways, and saw Pharos sitting on my desk.

"Mornin' little buddy." I said, sitting up in bed.

"Nice weather outside, huh?" he commented, looking out the window. "A bright new day... and not just for you."

Eyebrow. "Oh?"

He nodded. "I remember. I remember everything. There's someone I have to see..."

"Who?"

"My grandmother." he said, smiling happily. "I know where she is... I know what I have to do."

I smiled. "That's great!"

"Yeah, but..." the smile faded from his face. "...As much as I don't want it to be the case, I'm afraid this is goodbye."

"...Goodbye...?"

"There's a lot I have to do, and a long way to go..." Pharos sighed. "But, I want you to know something. For me, our friendship was a miracle. Sadly it doesn't seem like miracles last forever."

I chuckled. "Death is change, not the end Pharos. You should know that better than anyone."

"Ha! True..." he admitted, hopping off the desk and walking over to the bed. "It's not like I can't come visit. Maybe I could even bring my grandmother with me..."

I smirked as he sat next to me on the bed. "That'd be pretty cool, Pharos. What's she like?"

"She's... wonderful." He said, almost whimsically. "A kind woman who doesn't let others push her around."

I laughed. "Sounds like my grandma Tamiko."

"How many relatives do you even HAVE?"

"Mom's side there's just Kihei and their parents Masaru and Tamiko." I said. "Dad's side there's his siblings Shane and Melissa, Melissa's husband, their son Alex, then Grandpa Rowen and his wife Tia."

"Huh... big family you have there."

I shrugged. "I guess..." I nudged him with my elbow. "Just make sure you come back and visit sometime, okay?"

Pharos chuckled. "Alright, I promise. But before I go, there's something I want to leave with you..."

"What?"

He took my hand and shook it, and I felt an odd tingle in my mind.

"A little something to watch out for you while I'm gone." he said with a smile.

"See ya Pharos." I said as he hopped off the bed and onto a windowsill. "It'll be boring without ya, though."

He chuckled again. "And here I was thinking the same thing..." Pharos smiled and waved. "Farewell for now, Roy."

And then he phased through the window and disappeared.

CRASH

I am thou... and thou art I...

The bond thou hast nurtured hath finally matured. The innermost power of the Death Arcana hath been set free.

We bestow upon thee the ability to create Thanatos, the ultimate form of the Death Arcana...

-Ha... what a note to leave on.- I thought as I stood up. -See you on the other side, little buddy.-

Junpei was beside himself with glee the entire day at school, but I couldn't blame him. Ikutsuki turned up near the end of the day to talk to Aigis, leading to her saying she had to go to the lab with him for some post-Dark Hour refitting. Figure that means they're taking out the combat stuff in her arms and everything since there's no reason for her to still have that stuff at this point. I was still kinda sad that I had to walk home without her, but if it couldn't be helped then I probably shouldn't have moped like I did. Junpei insisted I help him get his homework done quick once we got back to the dorm. I'd say it was a surprise, but he totally just wanted an excuse to stick around at the party for as long as possible. And once the sushi arrived, I absolutely could not blame him.

"Whoa... nice spread."

"The slices are huge!" exclaimed Yukari.

"Hey, where's Aigis?" asked Hamuko.

"The Chairman took her to the lab for a refit." I replied. "I guess they're taking off the gun arms or something like that, maybe?"

Chidori hummed. "That sounds like it would..." She looked around suddenly. "...Roy, what happened?"

Eyebrow. "What happened to what?"

"That presence I felt before... it's not near you anymore."

"You felt it too, Chidori?" asked Fuuka. "I wonder what it was..."

I shrugged. "Could've been anything, really..." -...I miss him already.-

The sound of a large car stopping outside was heard outside, prompting Mitsuru to stand up.

"That must be my parents..."

The lot of us walked over to the door as it opened, with Mitsuru's dad walking in with a couple of suit-clad bodyguards.

"We've been waiting for you..." she said, then looked confused. "But, where's mother?"

"She'll be arriving late, sadly." replied Takeharu. "Something she couldn't ignore came up, much to her displeasure... but, it's over at last, isn't it...?"

She nodded. "Yes. The Shadows have been eliminated."

"The congratulations are in order for you all." stated Takeharu, actually smiling. "You've done an excellent job. There are no words to express my gratitude and although you will never receive the recognition you deserve for your actions, it is undoubtedly a monumental achievement."

He took a step forward, placing a hand on Yukari's shoulder.

"To you, I owe a deeper debt." he continued. "For lending us your power even in the face of the hardships my company caused you and your family."

Yukari smiled sadly. "It's alright, and it's not like I did it alone..."

"Indeed..." agreed Takeharu, letting go of her and stepping back. "The Twelve Shadows that were the cause of all our troubles have been destroyed thanks to your efforts. You deserve the chance to experience the joys of youth instead of bearing this burden. The Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad will be dissolved as of midnight tonight. No longer must you put your lives on the line in battle; come the morning, you can triumphantly return to a normal life."

"To be fair, I don't think any of us will make life at Gekkoukan 'normal' by a long shot." I noted. "We're all a bit too... colorful a collection of people, I'd say."

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

I scoffed. "As if, Ken! I wouldn't trade you guys for anything."

"Like we'd let you go anyways." said Junpei, putting an arm around my shoulder. "You're stuck with us forever, dude."

Mitsuru chuckled. "Alright, clearly you've waited long enough. It's time to celebrate, so dig into your feast. No need to hold back; eat as much as you'd like-"

Me, Junpei, and Hamuko jumped straight into a three man mind sync and practically dove at the sushi with a shout of 'BANZAI' at the top of our lungs. I'm pretty sure Takeharu now officially thinks the three of us are completely insane.

CRASH

Thou shalt have our-

-SHUT UP FOOL ARCANA I'M EATING-

"Hey guys, can I ask you something?"

I looked up at Junpei with eyebrow raised and at least three pieces of sushi in my mouth.

"Sure, what is it?" asked Akihiko.

Junpei held up a camera. "You guys cool with taking a picture together? I wanted to take one last night, but I kinda forgot it wouldn't work in the Dark Hour..."

"...You had a camera in your pocket the entire time?"

"Well, it was our last battle so yeah..." he admitted, then he looked at one of the bodyguards. "Hey, mind taking the picture for us?"

Yukari sighed. "On one hand, I feel like a tourist. On the other... I kinda wanna be able to look back at this so what the heck. Sure."

"Sweet!" Junpei cheered. "Oh, wait... Aigis and the Chairman aren't here yet... eh, we can take another one later. C'mon everybody, gather round!"

Hamuko and I finished inhaling the sushi we currently had half swallowed and joined everyone over by the door. I got to be in the back with Junpei and Shinjiro on account of lording over everyone like I'm Godzilla.

"Everyone ready?" asked the bodyguard.

"You bet!"

"Knock it off."

"Aww..."

"C'mon, quit fooling around Junpei."

"I got this... SMILE!" And then I put both Shinjiro and Junpei into a headlock with each arm.

"HRK!" "GAH!"

"I REGRET NOTHING!" And there's the camera flash.

Getting punched in both arms by Shinjiro and Junpei was totally worth it. Still regret nothing, by the way. The party kept going for a long time, but there was still no sign of Tenshi, Aigis, or Ikutsuki. Junpei, Hamuko, and I were also the only ones still eating everything in sight by then. I'm almost positive the two bodyguards were making bets as to which of us lasted the longest.

"Oh come on, don't tell me you guys are full already!" Junpei exclaimed.

"Junpei, you skipped breakfast and lunch..." noted Chidori.

"And these two are black holes." said Shinjiro, gesturing to me and Hamuko.

Yukari was staring at us. "Where do you two put it all...?"

"I can't eat another bite, and they're still going..."

"I couldn't even classify this as some kind of endurance training..." said Akihiko, sounding equally perplexed. "I'd be sick by now if I ate like that..."

"You guys are frightening the children again..."

I just looked at Ken while Shinjiro started busting a gut.

"You are learning well, young one." I said, doing my best 'wise mentor' voice. "Soon, you too shall be a master."

He smirked. "I try my best..."

Koromaru let out a loud whine, drawing my attention to him. He was staring at the door from his seat on Chidori's lap.

"What's wrong, Koromaru?" asked the redhead, scratching the Shiba behind the ears.

He just whine again.

"He's probably wondering what's taking so long with Aigis..." commented Junpei, taking out his phone. "It's almost midnight, and you'd think Ikutsuki-san would-"

Chidori's head suddenly snapped towards Junpei. "Wait, Ikutsuki?"

DOOM

Koromaru leapt off Chidori's lap and started barking as everyone else jumped to their feet. The bodyguards were now coffins. The Dark Hour was still around.

"What the hell?" exclaimed Junpei. "I thought the Dark Hour was gone! Senpai, what's happening?"

"I-I don't know..." replied Mitsuru.

"How do you know Ikutsuki?" Chidori suddenly demanded. "Don't you know who that is?"

Hamuko looked at her curiously. "Um, the Chairman of our School?"

"He's the one who was selling Takaya and Jin the suppressants!" she said. "I remember them saying his name when they talked to him!"

"And why was he late?" asked Takeharu sharply.

"H-He said he had to do a post-Dark Hour refit on Aigis..." I replied shakily. "Over at the lab..."

Koromaru's ears perked up a moment before I could hear the chiming of a bell.

"...Do you guys hear that?" asked Yukari. "Is that a bell...?"

"Aragaki, go to your relatives house. NOW." said Mitsuru sharply. "Tell them to meet us at Tartarus."

"Tenshi should be there with them." added Takeharu. "She needed to speak with them about something."

Shinjiro nodded. "Right, I'll see you guys at the tower."

Fuuka was looking around nervously. "U-uh... what's going on...?"

"We're heading to Tartarus." stated Mitsuru. "That's the only place that sound could be coming from."

"We'd better prepare for a fight." said Akihiko as Shinjiro bolted out the door with Koromaru and Hamuko in tow. "I've got a bad feeling about this..."

Addendum 11/5/09: And that's when it all went wrong.

Author Notes - Hoo boy. This. This right here. This is where things get shaken up. Think about Roy's narration up to this point. Think about what he's said to people. What he's said to Pharos. His early chats with Akinari. His meltdown when Maiko was trapped in Tartarus. The sarashi on his arm. The fact he had a lot of friends back in the US that he left behind to come to Japan. The other 11/5/09 Addendums on earlier chapters.

Think about everything Roy Lawrence Fortune has said and done in A Fool Named Fortune: Reshuffled up to this point.

And be prepared to Switch It Up, because it's time to see if someone can face themselves in battle.