Justice was subjective. Forces of such touted a viewpoint which they proposed to be such. Of course, subjective viewpoints led to subjective justice, which led to opposition.

Tonight, the group known as Strega had chosen to interrupt their briefing in the underground bunker they'd been led to.

Questions raced through the team's minds as the pale man spoke. "My name is Takaya. This is Jin. We are known to some as Strega..." A glint appeared in his gold eyes. "We've been keeping an eye on you...

"From what we hear, you've undertaken a 'righteous' battle to save the world. But, we've come here tonight to put an end to that dream. You've gained new allies, yet this land still crawls with sin. Tartarus is towering as beautifully as always..."

Minato wasn't quite sure who to focus on at this point, as he caught the four presences behind the two. Kishimaru.

"But, why the hell would you wanna stop us!?" Junpei exclaimed.

"Simple... If the Shadows and the Dark Hour disappear, then so will our power. And we can't let that happen, now can we?" Jin smirked. He knew that his words would only provoke them further.

Minato gritted his teeth.

"What about you?"

The words seemed to be directed at him. Minato wouldn't be honest if he said he knew much of what they were talking about.

"Don't tell me you're really letting these guys push you around for a goal you might not even want." Jin sneered.

How did that guy know? Minato narrowed his eyes as SEES turned towards him. "I wouldn't say that it's your business," he intoned.

"You're so different..." was muttered in whispers, perhaps from one of the four behind Takaya and Jin. A twinge of a frown threatened his façade, but Minato stayed his words.

"I get it... You've each got your own reason for fighting. 'Justice' is only an excuse... And that makes you all hypocrites! So I say, to hell with you!" Jin's words pierced through their thoughts. As they turned to leave, Akihiko lunged after them to no avail. The doors had slammed shut and only his banging against them was left. "Have fun in there."

Minato swung his gaze towards the murky tunnel ahead. Inviting. "We will be alright. Rather than wasting our energy, I suggest we deal with the Shadow first," Aigis advised.

"You're right. If we lose our cool, then they win," Yukari agreed.

"The Shadow's moving! I think it's noticed us!"

"Alright, let's concentrate on our original goal. We can look for a way out after we've won. Everyone, prepare for battle," Mitsuru said after a few moments.

"What is the matter?" Aigis asked as Minato stood, staring at the locked doors.

He shook his head in response. "Not now." They were on his mind and it would ruin his concentration.

"Arisato." He turned to face Mitsuru. "I realise that you've mostly been called upon as backup, but this time, if you feel you're ready, you may go join the others."

His heart began fluttering, although he couldn't put his finger on why. Was she… trusting him? "A-Alright."

The team of four traversed down the tunnel, only feeling reassured by Fuuka's voice leading them through the darkened, clammy walls. "I sense the target two blocks ahead of you! It's moving slowly downward. Chase after it!"

A Shadow leaped from the darkness.

"Please stay on guard. There are some Shadows in the tunnel too," Fuuka warned as Minato batted it away with his compendium. He kicked the Insidious Maya into the wall and let Yukari make the final blow through its mask.

Obviously, Minato would have time to mull over his quiet seething. "Convenient," he muttered. Yukari pulled the arrow from the concrete.

As they walked, they observed tread marks in the ground. Thrums and vibrations came through, signalling that it was some kind of vehicle—a tank, from what the tracks indicated.

Remnants of weaponry were strewn across the floor in greater numbers than before. "Whoa... This place seems to have been some kind of weapons depot. I've never seen so many weapons before..." Fuuka gasped. "All designed to kill... But, I guess that's the reality of war... It's hard to believe that a time like that actually existed..."

His eyes shuttered. She made it sound like it had ended. People just chose not to pay attention.

"Akihiko. Shadow."

On cue, he planted his fist into rock-hard hide. It was a Justice Sword, about to swing its blade into him. Akihiko wrestled against the strength of the Shadow, giving Minato an opportunity to hurl a Garula-using Shadow at it.

The wind tore into the Shadow's skin and blew it into the nearby wall, making groans of metal as it lifted itself from the pile of artillery. With Minato recalling his Shadow, Aigis sped forward and grabbed the Shadow by its sword.

A thud rang through the room. It dissipated. "Enemy annihilated."

There was a brief moment of understanding between the four: be on guard.

Tunnels ahead had patches of steel sewn into the floor, with stitches of darkness making it difficult to discern the dust filled throat. The occasional creaks and whirrs from working gears were a half-hearted attempt to lift the heavy atmosphere.

"Watch out! There's a Shadow spinning towards you!" Fuuka warned.

"What kind!?" Minato exclaimed, his eyes darting through the shadows.

The dark tornado came in a torrent. "A Wild Drive," she informed.

He could feel the Shadow's roar disturbing the air. "Hug the left wall!" Minato experienced the same shuddering the tunnel did ceaselessly. It wasn't aiming for them. It slammed into the walls and sent the trembling impacts through the hall. "Akihiko!"

"Polydeuces!" In a flash, his Persona appeared with a bolt of lightning in hand. Crackling, it screamed when it was thrust into the Shadow. Locks of metal and grinding shrieked when the Zionga hit home.

A blur shot into the Wild Drive with no chance of recovery. Brief blue paralysed the foe before ripping it apart into gore. "What was that Shadow even doing...?" Yukari wondered to herself as Minato recalled his own.

"I do not know. But our main enemy is ahead. We must focus."

"You're right Aigis. The target has stopped. It's waiting in the next area. Be careful!" With that, the team moved ahead. The darkness grew and grew, until it engulfed them and pulled them under.

They were thirty-three metres underground.

A set of yellow eyes stared at them, being the only things they could see in the darkness. "This explains the tread marks... It's using the tank as armour!"

"A tank." Minato sighed. This was going so well. They could see so well. "Please scan it, Fuuka-san."

"Roger that."

There was a surprising amount of space in the bunker, which the team began to spread out in. Golden sigils flashed on the ground, triggering the only proper reaction: Dodge. The Hama spell splashed light thorugh the darkness, searing their enemy's image in mind. "Its Arcana is Justice..." Fuuka murmured. "Wait, it's Chariot? What the—

"Why am I sensing two entities...? It doesn't make sense!"

The tank clanked into action, while a yellow blur shot towards him with a rain of bullets on Minato. "I see... there are two parts to the Shadow. The bottom is the Chariot, while the turret is Justice!" Fuuka said. "You have to defeat both of them! They don't have any weaknesses."

That's easier said than done! Minato hissed in annoyance and dodged the line of shots. Or at least, two waves of the torrent. The third hit home when he realised the turret had him trapped by the earlier assaults, leading him to switch his Persona to minimise the damage. Still, the bullets burned into him until he found himself against the wall. "I thought you'd be stronger than that! This should be easy then!" he heard the Shadow taunt.

"I'm hoping you're not serious..." Minato growled as he cast a Diarama spell to neutralise the pain, on guard for any more attacks.

"You better catch me." Talkative for a full moon Shadow, wasn't it?

"Kishimaru, use Garudyne and knock it into the other Shadow," Minato whispered.

"You have to do better than that." Arcana Justice flung into close range before he could summon and slammed Minato into the nearest wall. His wounds scorched under the Justice Shadow's smirk, making it difficult to concentrate on his next action. "And all the others thought you were trouble! I'm not going to believe them now."

"Shut up!" he rasped, groping for his compendium.

"You're not going to win! You'll die here and together with our mother, we will be victorious!" the Shadow gloated. It still had every bit of vigilance and swung its turret into Minato's dominant hand, knocking away the tome.

"Argh!" A huge pain snapped through his arm, burning every time he tried to shift it. Broken?! Just his fucking luck!

"You better catch me." Minato growled as the Justice Shadow flew for the book on the ground, comfortable in its tiny grip.

"Look out!" he yelled, catching the attention of his other three teammates. "Justice incoming!"

"Heehee. I wonder what this thing has inside…" Arcana Justice seemed to smirk as it rifled through the pages, trying to find the most devastating thing in the book.

"Get my book back!" he roared, bringing the muzzle of his Evoker to his head. Minato didn't want to rely on this kind of healing, but at this point, the pain was too distracting and he needed it minimised as much as possible.

Aigis leaped towards the Shadow. "Understood." It wasn't expecting the next assailant and was swept through the air.

"Get outta the way, stupid robot!" the Justice Shadow screeched. The human members nearly flinched at the board scratching wail, barely dodging the bullets it spewed. "You'll pay for that! Get 'em!"

Arcana Chariot responded to its master's calls and the other rushed towards Aigis so she'd move, forming the single menace from before. "They've fused together again! Watch out!" Fuuka blurted out. With her Persona, she could feel their merged strength. Independently, the two Shadows were bad, but together…

"Not one of you will get out alive!" The Justice component roared and commanded its Chariot to the tunnel behind.

"What is it doing!?" Yukari shouted.

"It's going towards the tunnel, but..." Minato stopped short as he realised what the two Shadows were going for. They'd thought the behaviour of the Wild Drive earlier was strange, but until now there wasn't a reason. "Stop it from shooting!"

Polydeuces, Aigis and a funnel of wind charged at the combined Shadow at his words. "Tch... Persona," Minato muttered.

A purple haze fell on the Shadow, leading Akihiko's Persona to disappear with its job done. The Garula twisted into the Chariot Shadow's side and Aigis bolted with a kick to knock the Justice and Chariot Shadows over. Master Justice zoomed from the wreck with the metallic red angel, Power, on its tail.

"You can't stop me..." it growled, spraying Myriad Arrows at the team to keep its pursuer in particular at bay. The tank behind it groaned to action and further impeded them with a wild rush into the team.

"Is it aiming for the crack the Wild Drive made earlier?" Fuuka mumbled as Power threw its spear at Arcana Justice.

"Exactly," Minato forced through gritted teeth.

"This is your grave!" The Justice proclaimed as the spear zipped past its wing—not close enough. Bullets and bombs pelted into the cracks.

What were they going to do?

"We can't be trapped in here!"

"I'm not going to listen to it..."

Minato bit his lip as Power picked up its weapon and thrust it towards Arcana Justice.

A loud rumble.

The Shadow was plunged into the ground with a bent turret by Power's attack. Surely that would've been long enough for a collapse, but—

"The structures of this facility are quite strong. It would need more impact to cause significant damage to the bunker," Aigis informed. "It is a military bunker after all, with reinforced walls and scaffolding to prevent collapse."

That Justice Shadow obviously found out the hard way.

"You've got to be kidding me!" it wailed as Minato's Persona wrenched his book from its grip. "Why didn't it work!? Why!?" Arcana Justice sobbed into the ground.

With touch, Minato's compendium shrieked with sacrilegious whispers of murder, suicide and warped terror.

Everyone's vision spun as shadows, darker than night, palled the room. Pulled by their flesh and compressed into the smallest space, the most accursed blessing warped their senses with scorched nerves.

"They've all disappeared, including the Shadows and our team!" Fuuka gasped, almost unable to process the influx of power she'd felt. It was surely strong enough for even the combat-based Persona users to feel; the swamp of cold heat that rushed through their systems. It was also nothing that she'd ever felt before.

Mitsuru had an idea.

"What happened?" Minato groaned.

"I... I'm not really sure myself," Pharos answered. "But I can tell you this—you're in Tartarus."

"Tartarus!?"

"Yes. I believe that it might've had something to do with your compendium," he mused aloud. "But you better find those Shadows and your... team. You need to get your compendium back too."

"Loving how you're putting my compendium on top priority."

"Yes, Mr. Asocial, your teammates are important." The greens of the Thebel block filled Minato's vision when his eyes opened. Well, he had the intent of rolling his eyes at Pharos.

Thump!

"I better find it..." He mumbled, struggling to stand as another thump ran through the floor.

"Hey, come here." Pharos's apparition beckoned Minato to the corner where he stood. There in the corridor he saw the Chariot Shadow on the prowl. "I don't know where your friends are... The other ordeal is nearby too though. Be careful."

"...thanks Pharos." He disappeared, but not before pointing out the separated Justice Shadow the other direction, sprawled and convulsing with ugly sobs on the ground. The compendium lay near it.

Thump! The Chariot ploughed into the nearest wall.

He ran towards Arcana Justice and picked up his compendium, who only howled further at its loss. "Hey."

"What!?"

"Come here." He remembered that he'd kept the rest of the full moon Shadows in that notepad of his. The Shadow faded into pad after giving him a baleful look, secured within. There was little to no resistance at that point.

Thump!

Shadows were gathering near the larger rampant tank after hearing the beating of war drums. This was certainly not going to be a walk in the park with all these Shadows around. He still had to deal with the Chariot Shadow too.

"That isn't a friend of yours, is it?"

A voice from behind loomed over Minato. "The Reaper…?" he muttered to himself.

"That Shadow is damaging the labyrinth. I'd like you to remove it from the premises," it whispered.

"Why don't you do it yourself?"

"I didn't say I was just going to leave it to you."

"Oh."

"And you're not alone."

"Hey! I found it!" Akihiko yelled, beckoning Yukari and Aigis to the room. Shadows were gathering there, seemingly drawn to the Chariot Shadow's presence. He pulled up his Evoker and shot Polydeuces out of his skull, summoning a Mazio spell on the Shadows.

Many of them burst into gore as they were cracked open by splits of blue-white light, spilling blackness on the battlefield. Those that were left...?

"See that tank? Maul it. Kill it. Spill that goddamned ichor all across the floor because I'm afraid I'll be mopping up after your own corpses."

Minato trembled as he cupped his hand to his mouth after commanding the lesser Shadows. They'd frozen to full attention upon hearing his voice, hearing Death's stronger voice wash over their senses.

They drifted towards the Chariot Shadow, who began to charge against the oncoming sea of Shadows with a Swift Strike attack. The treads smashed into flesh, staining the metal with night.

The Reaper chuckled as it floated from behind the corner, sending chills down everyone's spines (except for Aigis).

"We can't really be dealing with the Reaper too, can we!?" Yukari stammered as she summoned Io, firing a Garula blast at the Chariot Shadow. She couldn't even fathom having to deal with a full moon Shadow and the Reaper too. Honestly, Minato was thankful that no-one had to as well.

It chuckled and shot icy shrapnel from its revolvers at the Chariot Shadow. Cold spread from the shards and pinned it against the nearest wall. "The Reaper appears to be assisting us for the moment," Aigis pointed out as she leaped out to shoot Arcana Chariot. The bullets left shallow dents in the tank's armour with every satisfying 'clang'.

"Aim for its face!" Minato shouted as he wiped away some blood.

Its exposed, square face spun wildly as it struggled against the spears of ice, spewing poison gas against the waves of incoming Shadows. Ice and fire shot into the Chariot, beginning to eat away at the hull and treads with heat and rapid cooling.

"Can you do me a favour?"

"Whatever would that be?" the Reaper asked.

"I need you to scare them away for a moment. I'll handle the Chariot Shadow."

"...You shall repay me." It floated amongst the throng of shrilling Shadows, heading towards the team.

"Guys, just run! I can handle this guy!" Minato yelled.

"This isn't good..." Akihiko wasn't sure about leaving Minato alone, but with the Reaper coming towards them, he also doubted he could argue with that.

"We'll go back around!" Yukari said as she started to run.

"Are you sure this is the action which will optimise our utility?"

"Yes."

Minato turned back towards the pierced Chariot Shadow. "Get in here!" he hissed, crunching his spiritual energy around the thrashing beast. It wailed and forced itself off the wall, despite its now decrepit body.

The wounded tank roared and thrashed about in the crowd of Shadows, finally ridding it of those insects. After all, who followed the orders of a human? Its glare fixed on Minato. He wouldn't even need words to figure out how that Shadow was feeling; a feeling that needed to be quashed.

"Samael." Crimson bled from the air, arching back with flared wings towards the Chariot Shadow. Electricity steeped the air as searing light formed in the snake's maw, coiling around the beast's throes.

It latched its jaws into the hull of the tank, holding onto the energy forming. Arcana Chariot's treads were strapped by Samael's long body, with no way to defend itself from the Persona. The orb of light engulfed the Shadow's body and ate away at the hull, dribbling light that nearly burned to look at.

"Get. In. Here." Minato again increased the pressure of his spiritual power, squeezing the Chariot's broken body into a ball of blackened gore. The flesh of the Shadow warped into the notepad, sticking reluctantly to the spiral.

Silence. Breathing. Iron. He breathed out, suppressing his smirk. Today was done.

"You still owe me. Remember that." With that, the Reaper disappeared.

Pharos smiled. "You did well, Minato."

"Hope so." Minato held his hand up. The other grinned and met it with his. No-one would hear, but the impact seemed real.

He asked, "How're we getting out of here?"

"We'll find the others and... get to an access point," he replied. It was getting harder to suppress his coughing and blood.

"Alright. Imagine if they found out what you did so that they wouldn't see you obtaining that Shadow though."

"How about I don't?"

The two's laughter filled the hall, and Minato donned a wild grin.


Edited: 25/11/16

AN: Ohhhh man, I basically cut out the flashbacks from this chapter and moved them to the one before. Then, I just tried to refine some of the expressions that I used. Other than that, nothing much else changed. (But Mitsuru's thrown Minato a bone, so yay! Who knows what will happen after the whole teleportation thing though, haha.)

Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed the chapter.