August 2nd, 20XX (Tuesday)

Afternoon - Ishida's Palace (Cemetery)

"He summoned… a dragon!?" Makoto clenched her fists, staring down the massive dragon as it hovered in the air.

"He killed all of those Shadows just to summon this… he truly has no remorse for those around him. He's just using them as sacrifices…!" Toya held his head for a moment. To see such a horrible act… he was getting angrier just thinking about it. He tried to calm himself down- but he was distracted by the dragon letting out another roar, the force of it slightly pushing Toya and Makoto back. They had no time to worry or complain… this dragon could kill them within seconds. The dragon began to descend down towards the two of them, raising its claws into the air. They both dodged out of the way, but the sheer shockwave of its claws hitting the ground sent them flying back, stopping their chance to even retaliate. Toya aimed his blade towards the dragon's claws as it tried to bring its claws back, shooting at them, but there wasn't much of an effect on it, it only slightly staggered from every single shot.

"We need more firepower!" Makoto yelled out, as she jumped back and ripped off her mask, summoning her Persona and mounting on top of it, with Toya summoning his as well. They channeled their energy, and fired off their own blasts of magic. Makoto's nuclear attack magic caused the dragon to take actual damage, but it was able to shrug off Toya's dark magic.

"Damn it… My magic isn't gonna work here. We need to think of something- fast!" Toya put his mask back on, staring down the dragon for a moment. There had to be a weakness… he needed to think of one. As he began contemplating a strategy for taking, the dragon let out another blood curdling roar, and began to flapping its wings at a much faster rate than normal.

"Get on!" Makoto yelled out to Toya, who quickly jumped on top of Johanna, as the two drove out of the way. The dragon roared once more, and with the use of its wings, sent out consecutive blasts of wind magic. Makoto grit her teeth, driving around as fast as she possibly could, trying not to hit and of the graves that were stuck in the ground. She looked back, seeing that the dragon was still attacking- and it didn't look like it was gonna stop. However, it was at that moment that Makoto had an idea- one that might be enough to buy them some time. "Those wings… that's it! You have to aim for its wings!"

"The wings… you're right! Keep driving, I can bring it down from here!" Taking off his mask again, Toya summoned Diabolos and stared directly at the dragon's wings, before Diabolos' arms morphed, and fired consecutive shots right into the wings, landing perfect shots. The dragon screamed out in agony as it slowly began to descend closer to the ground, still just barely floating above.

"He's down! I'm going in!" Makoto turned towards the dragon and accelerated straight towards it, gritting her teeth as Toya stood up, jumping off of Johanna as the two of them both rushed in, constantly barraging the dragon with attacks. However, after taking a beatdown, the dragon let out a massive roar, pushing Toya and Makoto back. "Keep your eyes open, this thing might have more tricks!" The dragon roared, and began smashing the area around it in sheer anger. Countless graves were destroyed and sent flying towards Toya and Makoto, who dodged out of the way accordingly. However… something caught Toya's eye. He took a glance at the grave down at his feet… it was broken, so he couldn't read much, however, he saw one word… "Kazero." He froze for a moment. His father… the man he looked up to for so long in his life… this was his grave- or at least some version of it, and this dragon simply destroyed it like it was nothing. His mind went blank of a second, as he desperately tried to process things. "WATCH OUT!" Toya's eyes widened as he was suddenly pushed away, falling down to the ground as he looked back, seeing Makoto in the place he originally was, as she got smacked away by the dragon, sent flying across the cemetery and landing down on the ground, tumbling around before finally coming to a stop.

"QUEEN!" Toya rushed over to Makoto's body, turning her onto her back, feeling for her neck. He felt her pulse… she was alive, but completely unconscious. He breathed a sigh of relief, and looked towards the dragon, who was trying to fly in the air, just barely getting further off the ground. "You broke the grave of my father… and then you hurt one of the most important people in my life…!" Toya felt his anger spiking out of control, but this time… he didn't care. That anger made him feel stronger… and he needed it. He gripped his blade tighter, and dashed straight towards the dragon, his anger visible in his eyes as he stared at the dragon. The dragon tried slamming its claws down on him, but he was able to dodge out of the way rather easily, closing in on the dragon. However, the dragon had one trick left, one that Toya, in his fit of anger, didn't even think of. Reeling its head back, the dragon suddenly let devastating green fire fly out of its mouth, aimed straight towards Toya. Not expecting this, he was forced to summon his Persona, and fire magic at the dragon's fire breath. The two attacks collided against each other, which gave Toya the time he needed to get out of the way. He thought for a moment about what he could do… he wouldn't be able to close in on it.

Then, he got an idea, one that would work. He took out his hookshot, and aimed right for the dragon's eye. He took a deep breath… before firing, and connecting right with the dragon's eye. He began to fly through the air, gritting his teeth as he got closer and closer to the dragon. However, the dragon reacted by preparing another blast of fire, aimed right towards Toya, who was unable to dodge. It reeled its head back, before shooting out the devastating breath of fire. However… Toya knew this was coming. Gripping his blade tighter, he raised it above him, and sliced through the chain of his hookshot, breaking it in half and bringing him down to the ground, dodging out on the breath of fire altogether.

As the dragon continued to breathe out the green fire, Toya ran forward, out of the dragon's sight and sneaking behind it, stabbing its tail and climbing up on top of it. He ran forward, standing on the dragon's head and slashing away at the top of it, causing the dragon to yell out in pain. He didn't stop though, he needed to be sure he defeated it, so he continued slashing away at the zombified beast, relentlessly going at it, until he thought it was done.

Toya took a deep breath… before his eyes suddenly moved to Makoto. She was still completely unconscious… and seeing her in such a horrible state… it made something snap in his mind. For a moment, Toya's eyes flashed golden, as he angrily gripped his blade, and shoved it into the dragon's head again. There was no response from the dragon… it was already done for. However, at that moment in time, Toya didn't care at all. He was so angry… and that anger began to control him. He knew the dragon wasn't really there anymore- that it was completely dead at this point, but it didn't change anything. He still felt the need to hack away at it… and so he did. For what felt like an eternity, he slashed away at the zombified dragon, before eventually tiring himself out, and jumping down onto the ground. Once he did… the dragon disappeared into a black fog. It was finished at that point… completely eradicated, without a trace remaining. Toya reached back into his pocket, pulling out the now broken hookshot. He didn't want to break it… but he had no choice. A part of him regretted it, but he knew that was the only way he could defeat the dragon. After looking at his hookshot for a while, Toya quickly made his way back to Makoto, who was still completely knocked out. But still… she was alive. That was all that really mattered to him now that the dragon was gone. He got down on his knees, before putting one hand on Makoto, and pulling his phone out with his other hand, exiting the Palace and returning to the real world.

August 2nd, 20XX (Tuesday)

Evening - Shibuya (Kazero Household)

After bringing Makoto home, Toya finally got back to his own home. He took a deep breath, before laying down, and feeling his phone vibrate in his pocket.

MAKOTO: What happened…?

MAKOTO: My head is all fuzzy, and I feel so sore...

TOYA: What do you remember?

MAKOTO: We entered Ishida's Palace… we split up and eventually found his Treasure, and then on our way out… I don't even remember. Something was stopping us, right…?

TOYA: A dragon. A giant, zombified dragon. I'm surprised you could forget that thing…

MAKOTO: We fought a dragon…!?

MAKOTO: Wait, how do I not remember that then…?

TOYA: You got hurt.

TOYA: It wasn't a real injury, but you'll probably want to lay down for a few days...

MAKOTO: That explains the soreness…

MAKOTO: Still… I'm so confused. Did you take down the dragon then…?

TOYA: Eventually, yeah. I was able to overcome it.

MAKOTO: How…? If it was able to hurt me so bad, then it had to have been really strong, right…?

TOYA: It's like when we fought that Shadow in Kaneshiro's Palace, the one with golden armor.

TOYA: Neither of us could brute force it, but I was able to outsmart it, so we won.

TOYA: Something similar happened, only… I wasn't the one who outsmarted it. It was you.

MAKOTO: I did…? I don't even remember…

TOYA: You came up with the idea to attack its wings. That completely crippled its movement, so it couldn't even attack anymore after a while.

TOYA: Doing it was easy, but coming up with the plan… that's a lot tougher. The credit goes to you, even if you don't remember it.

MAKOTO: If you say so…

Toya put his phone away for a moment, staring at the ceiling. He lied to Makoto… but he felt like he had to do that. He would only worry her if he told her the truth, and he really wanted to avoid that… He just had to find a way to control his anger. He looked around in his room, and saw the sandbag in his room- the one he had bought two weeks ago. He broke a sandbag due to his anger alone… it was abnormal. Anger can give someone adrenaline, but for Toya, it was different. He was getting much more than just adrenaline from being angry… it was like he got noticeably stronger, and a lot riskier. He sighed, before looking into his bag… only to see that his father's hookshot wasn't even there anymore. Toya completely broke it… and as a result, it didn't even exist in the real world anymore. He didn't want to think about it, but… he couldn't help it. It was the one thing he had to remember his father… and now, it was gone, and that was all because of him. There was nobody else he could blame… only himself. Before he could beat himself up over it, he felt his phone vibrate again.

MAKOTO: Ugh, I don't think I've ever been this sore before…

TOYA: Get some rest… You really need it.

TOYA: We found Ishida's Treasure, so we don't have to go back in until we're ready to send the calling card. You have the time to rest up a bit first, so don't worry so much, okay?

MAKOTO: Okay, but… There's still something I have to do tomorrow.

TOYA: Well, if you're feeling well enough tomorrow, then sure. What do you have to do?

MAKOTO: Well… I actually meant to ask you for your help after we got out of Ishida's Palace, but… well, things obviously got in the way of that. Are you free tomorrow?

TOYA: Tomorrow? Yeah, why?

MAKOTO: Well… you remember Eiko, right?

TOYA: Eiko…? Oh, that girl we saw at Shinjuku? What about her?

MAKOTO: Well… apparently, she's now dating a host from a club near her work. Maybe I'm just worrying too much, but… hearing that she's dating a club host… doesn't that seem suspicious to you?

TOYA: It could be…

TOYA: I'd have to meet him before actually judging him though.

MAKOTO: I was thinking the same thing, and… I wanted you to come with me, but…

TOYA: But…?

MAKOTO: Well… since Eiko is convinced that I have no knowledge of love at all, and that I wouldn't understand the bond that the two of them have together, so… do you think you could pretend to be my boyfriend for the day…?

MAKOTO: It's just going to be at a diner, nothing fancy, I swear!

TOYA: So, a double date…?

TOYA: Sure. That'd be a good way to figure out what kind of a guy Eiko's boyfriend is.

MAKOTO: Thank you so much… I don't know what I would have done if you said no.

MAKOTO: I'll see you tomorrow, then. Goodnight!

TOYA: Goodnight.

Toya put his phone away, looking at the ceiling again, before closing his eyes. There was so much on his mind… maybe he needed a break. Going out on a date with Makoto wouldn't be so bad… even if it is just for information about some guy neither of them have ever met. Still… for some reason, he was excited to go. He closed his eyes, thinking about what would happen the next day before going to sleep.

August 2nd, 20XX (Tuesday)

? ? ? ? ?

Opening his eyes, Toya found himself in… a weird place. Everything around him was… dark, and it was really hot, enough to make him sweat. Was this a dream…? It felt so real… there's no way it could be just a dream. He looked around, but there was only one thing he could see… it was a throne. A large throne, fit for royalty, was in the room, for seemingly no reason. For some reason, Toya felt… like it was calling to him. He slowly made his way towards it, but as he turned around to sit in it, for a brief moment, he saw something. Suddenly, there were images in his head- ones that he couldn't make out, but he saw them, and it hurt his head. He gripped his head in pain as he saw these incomprehensible images, screaming out in pain as he fell to his knees, before looking up. The throne was behind him, but in front of him… there was a light. It was like a door… but what was it…? Toya couldn't tell, but he needed to get out. Wherever he was… it felt like it was going to kill him. He quickly ran towards the light, gripping his head tighter with every step, before finally stepping through, exiting the dark room he found himself in.