Chapter 29: Inaba Day Five (Pt. 1)
As though to prove that their actions the night prior wouldn't hinder them, Yu and Naoto had been up, showered, dressed, and at the Amagi Inn by eight in the morning. They enjoyed a light breakfast, drinking coffee and just taking a moment to relax and settle down before their task for the day. It was not uncommon to have to wait two hours or so for either the Phantom Thieves or the Investigation Team.
Naoto glanced up as she finished checking the small pack she had. It rested against the edge of the chair and held a variety of things to it. Cans of her preferred soda, a medkit, her revolver. She was already wearing her armor underneath her dress shirt, the feel of it a small comfort to her.
She glanced across the table at Yu as he seemed to be looking between his phone and a piece of paper that he was jotting things down on. Looking a little confused, she leaned across to actually look. It seemed to be a list of ingredients.
"What are you making?" Akira announced his and Morgana's presence as they came out and sat down at the table, setting a clinking bag down at his feet. Naoto knew it contained a few cans of soda and probably a coffee thermos or two. But between their group of sixteen, they should be fine enough without the Phantom Thief leader carrying enough to feed a small battalion. It also contained Akira's knife and pistol. She was interested to see what would happen with the Phantom Thieves once inside the TV World.
"Grocery shopping list for this afternoon." Yu said. "I don't think it'll take us too long, we should be out in time for dinner." Yu continued jotting things down, scratching things out and making various amendments based on his own history of cooking.
"A bit relaxed aren't you Partner? I mean, we're about to take a dive." Yosuke showed up and took a spot at the table. He leaned away and yawned into his hand. From his pack, he pulled out an energy drink and popped it open to sip. "Sorry, still waking up."
"I'm not relaxed, but I have to believe that we'll make it through this just fine." Yu said. Naoto heard the edge to his voice that said he definitely was not fine. It was not often that she heard it, but it was the truth of the matter that sometimes Yu had to bury things deep.
Slowly, the various other members of the Investigation Team and the Phantom Thieves came out, each of them geared up and ready. Naoto had never understood why Chie, Rise, and Yukiko each wore skirts while they were inside the TV world if they were going to wear shorts underneath. At least Rise had stopped wearing flats.
"What are you planning for dinner Partner?" Yosuke finally asked, apparently curious as to what their fearless leader was looking up and making an ingredient list for.
Naoto was amused to watch several people begin to look over to Yu who set his pen down, folding the notebook closed. "Hot pot." He said calmly.
"Ooh, that sounds nice." Yukiko said, almost excited. "I haven't had your cooking in a while Yu-kun."
"Oh! Oh! Is there going to be steak to it?" Chie asked excitedly and animatedly.
"Relax, I have it covered." Yu said. He then put the notebook away. "Honestly, it'd be my first time preparing it. I'm rather excited to try."
Naoto smiled a that as she finished off her coffee. It was true, they didn't exactly get much of a chance to be a large enough group to constitute a hot pot. And here there were sixteen of them. Yu would likely enjoy the chance to cook not just for the size of the group, but the culinary challenge of something he had yet to have the chance to make.
Naoto checked her watch. It was about a quarter of nine. "Senpai, what's the game plan?" she asked.
Like that, there was a switch and the group went from a group of friends and teenagers to a group of people about to make a dive into something dangerous. Yosuke finished off his energy drink, Ryuji put his phone away, Yusuke set his sketchbook down, and Chie took a seat. They all were getting ready in their own ways.
"When we go in, first things first is we need to see if the PT can use their Personas' powers, then we need to determine if their equipment still works." Yu said seriously. It was a solid point. If the Phantom Thieves couldn't use their Persona, then they were a liability. Not all together useless, but definitely a liability. If their equipment didn't work, then they were dead weight. "If they can't use either, we need to send them out." Yu said.
"Hey!" Ryuji said, sitting up straighter.
"No, he's right." Akira said, calming his group down. "If the roles were reversed, and the Investigation Team couldn't use their Persona in Mementos, wouldn't you want to get them out? First priority is to make sure everything works."
"Right." Yu nodded his head. "Everything should, after all most of us were just using replicas while we were in the TV World until we faced the Reaper and got a serious upgrade." Naoto remembered her original model revolver, something she had put together in the weeks as she recovered from the ordeal of her kidnapping and the subsequent exposure to the Fog. "After that, we have Futaba and Rise use their respective abilities to see if they can't pinpoint these guys. From there, divide and conquer. Four Investigation Team Members with four of the PT, two teams. I'm thinking myself, Chie, Yosuke, and Rise with Ryuji, Ann, Makoto, and Yusuke. I'll act as a dedicated healer for my group. Naoto, Kanji, Yukiko, Teddie, you guys will work with Akira, Morgana, Futaba, and Haru. Let Yukiko do the healing, she's best at it."
Yukiko opened her fan and hid her face behind it. "Stop Yu-kun, you'll make me blush." she said amused.
"Seems reasonable." Akira said, nodding his head. "This way one group isn't clearly a weak link for the enemy to pick off."
"That's right." Yu said. "Another thing is, if you start hearing the Reaper, run. There's no shame in it, just get away from it and hide out until the rattle of chains passes."
It was at that point that the group, collectively, heard a scratching at the door. Yu stood up and let in the Fox. It even seemed to wipe its muddied paws on the rug at the entrance before trotting over to the group. It gave a short yip.
'I'm never going to get used to that thing's smarts." Kanji said.
"I have a question before we make this dive." Makoto said. "Say everything goes according to plan. What do we do if we encounter you, Yu?"
"That depends." Yu said. "On the Persona I mean. If I'm using Yoshitsune, keep your distance and avoid physical attacks. If I'm using Izanagi-no-Okami, hit hard and quick. If I'm using anything else, avoid the spell fire, try to target a weakness. Haru, Makoto, you two are actually the best for this. None of my Persona have an immunity to Nuclear or Psychic skills."
"I would hope if we encounter it," Haru said, trying to have some levity to the situation, "That you would take care of yourself."
Yu nodded his head. "I'll do my best, unfortunately I may be preoccupied and you might have to survive for a while on your own. Just stay focused, pay attention, and we'll make it through this."
Yosuke stood up and headed towards the TV. Thankfully it was in a part of the Inn that wasn't frequently used, and since it was the day after the festival people had already left or people were sleeping in before leaving. It allowed them to talk a bit more openly and transition as well. Yosuke stuck his hand in through the TV, the surface rippling.
Yu and Yosuke ushered the others in. Morgana and Ann followed by Rise and Yukiko. Kanji and Teddie, then Yusuke and Ryuji. Haru and Makoto went, then Chie and Yosuke slipped in. Naoto took his spot, holding the portal open. Akira gave a nod to Yu as he slipped in with Futaba and Yu then gave her a smile before slipping in. The fox leapt through as well.
Naoto glanced around before she slipped in and fell.
This time, the transition wasn't smooth and quick. It felt tumultuous, and Naoto couldn't see anything. It was almost like razor sharp gales ripped at her. She heard her bag tear and she quickly brought it to her chest, holding it at the tear, swearing as she felt it was pretty much her revolver left in the bag.
Something hard and metallic smacked into the side of her head and darkness took her vision.
Take Your Time
Kanji grunted as he felt something shaking him. Slowly his eyes opened to see the bright blue eyes of Morgana as the cat's claws descended over his cheek. "Gah!" He bolted upright, throwing the cat off him. "The Hell did you do that for?!" He shouted.
"Shadows!" The cat barked over the rat tat tat of automatic gunfire.
Kanji scrambled to his feet, turning as he watch Ann using her submachine gun with a grim look on her face, having to give ground. But Kanji quickly dredged up memories about the advancing Shadows. They were like trees, their head swaying back and forth, wearing a green almost kimono like top.
And more importantly, they were weak to lighting.
"Maziodyne!" Kanji roared out, throwing his hand out. Magic wasn't Kanji's strong suit. His strong suit was busting skulls open. Even still, the lightning that erupted from Kanji's hands was still potent enough to blast the Shadows to dust.
"That was awesome Kanji-kun!" Ann said excitedly, no doubt happy that they had been saved.
Kanji used his fist to wipe the blood that welled up from Morgana's scratches off of his face as he took in his surroundings. "Hey, where's Senpai?" he asked.
"We don't know." Morgana said from his position on the ground. "This is a completely different game. We didn't transform, and I'm stuck like a cat. Joker has my gear."
"Joker?" Kanji asked a little confused.
"Akira-kun." Ann supplied.
"Alright." Kanji took a moment, thinking. They were attacked by Shadows in a large drove of them. That meant the peaceful land of the TV world was being thrown into a chaos again, and it was up to them to stomp it out. They were seemingly separated from their friends, just being himself with Ann and Morgana. Morgana was in no way, shape, or form capable of using equipment, which was with Akira regardless. And worst of all…
Kanji took in the area they were in and grimaced. "It just had to be this place." He said. He blushed at the implications. They were inside his bath house on the top floor. But it didn't make sense. The Shadows he had just blasted were found elsewhere. At least from what he could remember, they had been found in Adachi's crazy area.
"Damn it!" Kanji punched a hand into the other. "I'm not the damned thinker of the team!" That wasn't to say that Kanji was incapable of intelligent decisions or making some plans, but it was simply that Yu and Naoto were better at it head and shoulders than the rest of the team. During the last few days, they had gotten into so many mind bending discussions, it was what drove Kanji to do better in school.
Kanji grit his teeth. "Alright. We need to stick to the plan. Can you two use your Persona?" he asked.
Morgana waved a paw at Kanji. "Dia." A wave of healing energy flowed over Kanji and he didn't need to look to know the light scratches on his face were gone. "It's a little strange, but yes."
Ann nodded her head. "I keep wanting to pull at my mask, that's not there." She said.
Kanji nodded his head. He didn't see a Tarot card, but that could be advantageous. "Alright, Ann, I need to make sure your armor works." He said. Ann grimaced but nodded in understanding, looking to the armor beneath her tank top. If they didn't do this, then they had no way of knowing if they could even put her on the front lines or not. Already they would have to regulate Morgana to playing catch up. "Zionga!" He backed his power back as much as he could.
Ann took the bolt of lightning, crying out a little bit. Even bracing for it, it was a jarring experience getting shocked by lightning.
"Hey! Why didn't you use Zio?!" Morgana said before casting a Diarama on Ann.
"I ain't got Zio." Kanji said a bit snappishly. "I used the weakest attack I got."
"It's okay." Ann said shaking off the effects of the damage. "Armor works though." she said.
"Alright." Kanji closed his eyes a bit more. "We need to get out of here, which means going down several floors. The layout ain't the same every time, but I do know that the rooms and halls ain't infinite also. We need to check the floors below us in their entirety before we leave."
"Wait, why do we need to check the floors?" Morgana asked.
"I can't scan the area like Rise." Kanji said. "Which means we need to check for Senpai and the others. If they're out cold, then we need to get them outta here."
"That makes sense." Ann said, checking her hip. "I have my whip and gun, I have about four more clips for the gun. And two cans of tea, sorry, I forgot to stock back up and I've been drinking them while we were here."
Kanji nodded his head. And without Morgana having anything, their supplies were even more limited. He checked his pack and pulled out his weapon, the large plate resting on the ground for a moment. "I got a six pack of drinks." He pulled them from his bag. "And that's it." He then tucked them back into his bag and shouldered it. "Senpai was the one that carried the most, with Yukiko carrying the second most."
It was just good planning. Yu had to switch it up the most and tended to need more to keep going than everyone. Plus, he grew the tomatoes, so he carried the most. Yukiko had become a mother hen of the group and just carried a lot to try and help everyone out. After her, it would have been Naoto who was of the mindset of 'being prepared for everything'.
Kanji glanced to Ann and Morgana. Their situation was bad. Really, really bad. "Alright. I'll take point." He said. It used to be Yu that took point, so it'd be a new situation for Kanji. "I'll be your Shield. You guys focus on healing unless we're up against something resistant to physical and lightning attacks." He hefted the plate and held it in one hand. "We need to ration out the drinks, I have some mild regeneration because of Takeji Zaiten so I can use him a bit more, but I'll be doing the heavy lifting."
"I don't like it." Morgana said.
"Then don't but unless you can come up with a better plan with the crap we got working against us, then shaddup and deal with it." Kanji said. He started to head towards the stairs. "My girlfriend and Senpai and friends are somewhere, without me to watch their backs. You guys are good people, so I hope you guys can handle this place. We're in one of the weaker areas and the enemies are tougher than they should be."
Kanji hefted the plate and began to move forward, stepping down the stairs. The humid heat of the place was making it difficult, but he had to press onwards.
Slowly, the trio made their way through Kanji's Bathhouse. As promised, he took point, setting a good moderate pace. The Shadows swarmed them, and he knocked them back with his plate and blasted them with lightning. Takeji Zaiten helped keep his wounds from being too severe, and Ann and Morgana kept him topped off. They occasionally had to blast an enemy with wind or fire, but ultimately, Kanji did the heavy lifting.
And they had to cover every meter of every hallway that was between them and the entrance to the bathhouse.
Kanji's tank top clung to him in a mixture of sweat and just the moisture in the air. His breathing was hard and heavy. His arms ached. And panic was beginning to set into his mind. The others weren't in the bathhouse. Where could they be? They were completely out of the soda that they once had, the sodas not doing nearly as much as other things. And without Yu's stockpile, Kanji was really feeling the burn.
But finally they came to the last set of stairs, the entrance in sight. He settled down and began to climb down, trying to catch his breath.
"They weren't there." Morgana said.
"I know!" Kanji said. "We'll just have to keep looking, maybe head back to our usual starting area. They're bound to try and regroup back there. Everyone knows the way there and it's usually pretty safe."
"But what if they're not with someone of the Investigation Team?" Ann asked as she moved down the stairs.
"We can find them if we have Rise, and the others know the other ways to the various dungeons." Kanji said. He was already starting to panic, his nerves starting to fray. But he had to try and stay calm, try to stay composed for the others. For better or for worse, he was the senior member of their trio, and it was the Investigation Team's old stomping grounds.
He came to what could be called the locker room of the Bath House when he saw a figure through the steam. "That is if they even survive, but you should be more concerned with yourselves. Mabufudyne!" Kanji watched as Ann dove the rest of the way off the stairs, avoiding the blast of ice.
Kanji himself wasn't so lucky, and his body ached at the rapid cooling of his heated body. Morgana managed to avoid it as well.
"Yusuke?" Ann asked, sounding a mix of surprised and confused.
Kanji glanced up, watching as Yusuke Kitagawa stepped through the steam. A rifle sat slung across his chest and a sword held loosely in one hand. But it was wrong, he looked more ragged and he wore a school uniform to some school Kanji didn't recognize.
Was this one of those Reflections Yu mentioned?
"It matters not." The rifle was brought up, the trigger being pulled with cold calculation and without hesitation. Kanji forced his body to move and tackled Ann down behind some of the lockers. "I have a chance to kill the Phantom Thieves, and I will do so. You have ruined my life, you especially Takamaki-san."
The rifle was swiftly discarded and Kanji heard the scrape of the sword being drawn. "Goemon and I will put you to the sword." Yusuke began to dash forward to their hiding spot.
Kanji came out and brought his plate up, stepping into the swing as Yusuke swung his sword. Kanji deflected the blade and he grit his teeth at the strength behind it. "If you wanna put them to the sword, you have to go through me!" Kanji stepped forward, dropping the plate to his left hand as he delivered a heavy right punch to the other boy's face, feeling the crunch of his nose breaking.
Yusuke broke off wiping at his broken nose. "So be it." He said.
Kanji brought his plate up to hold with both hands again. He was tired, so very, very tired. And he knew that Ann and Morgana would have difficulty attacking what should have been their friend. Kanji inhaled deeply and rolled his shoulders. He could take the blows better, he had become the Shield of the Investigation Team because he could take the blows. He cracked his neck a bit.
Yusuke came in again, fast and moving low. He swung his sword again and Kanji backed away before he swung his plate down with both hands. It smacked into the ground as Yusuke leapt back from the attack. Kanji frowned a bit more. "Senpai's a lot faster." And having to keep up with Yu, Yusuke felt slow and uncoordinated.
"Brave blade!" Yusuke swung again, this time seemingly even faster. Kanji grit his teeth, even as his chest was cut open. But Takeji Zaiten helped him resist the attack, regardless of being cut to the bone, and Kanji swung his plate again, catching the Reflection in the side of the head, driving him into the lockers and causing them to dent inwards.
"Kanji!" Morgana called out from his spot, sounding worried.
"I'm fine. I'll handle this for you guys, just stay back!" Kanji said. He brought his plate up and deflected another hit before he stepped inwards at Yusuke. "Ziodyne!" He blasted the other teen with a bolt of lightning. He was the Shield to Yu's Sword. Kanji would defend Yu's friends from this poor Reflection of their friend.
"Bufudyne!" Kanji leapt forward, rolling out of the way as he came up with another heavy haymaker, laying the blue haired boy out. Kanji then stepped over the body and raised his plate up high over his head. He then brought it crashing down heavily on the other boy's head.
Kanji put his foot on the sword, keeping the Reflection from bringing it up in retaliation. Kanji then dropped his plate and stomped on it, driving his other foot hard into the plate, sandwiching the head of the Reflection between the unforgiving ground and the metal plate. He did it twice until there was a slight crunch.
The Yusuke then shattered like glass, going limp beneath Kanji.
The blond picked up his plate, and made a point to not look at the underside of it. "Let's go." He told the other two. "I know you're pretty tapped by now, but could you maybe stop the bleeding?" he asked.
Morgana held his paw up. "Dia." The spell was weak, but it did as Kanji asked, stopping his chest from bleeding so much. Takeji Zaiten should take care of the rest.
Ann shivered as she moved past the pool of blood where Kanji had rather violently handled the Reflection. "How… How could you do it?" she asked. "I… I hesitated. The Shadows we deal with aren't usually human looking."
Kanji rolled his shoulders a bit as he continued walking. "Neither were most of ours." He said a bit grimly. Indeed, most of them hadn't. "And I have no doubt I will be having nightmares about the crunch, but it helps that I can go talk to Yukiko about it. But I've never been the type to hesitate about fighting." And that was unfortunately not always a good thing.
Kanji still woke up in a cold sweat, imagining throwing Taro Namatame into the TV World and then finding out he was innocent.
But this Reflection had come after them with deadly force. Kanji just returned the damn favor.
"Let's go, the others might be waiting on us." Kanji stepped out of the bath house and into the TV world proper. Ann and Morgana trailed behind him.
Take Your Time
Makoto groaned softly as she was shaken awake. "Uhgn… What hit me?" She asked as she forced herself up to a sitting position.
"I don't know." Naoto spoke, making Makoto look at the blue haired sleuth. Her brow was busted, and crimson trailed down the side of her face. Her cap was missing, and her clothes were ruffled. And unless Makoto missed her guess, Naoto had a nice bruise forming on her head.
"I can get that, I think." Makoto reached up, a Diarama on her lips.
Naoto grabbed her wrist. "Don't. We have limited supplies." Naoto said and stood up. "And you're our healer at the moment." Makoto winced as she took Naoto's hand and stood up.
Makoto patted herself down and found her revolver as well as the bronze knuckles that she kept in her pack. They were mostly in a front, smaller pouch. The larger pouch had a hole in it, some of Makoto's supplies having spilled out. And one of the shoulder straps was broken. "Still armed." She said.
Naoto moved over towards an unconscious Ryuji to rouse him. He looked banged up too. "Ugh… The hell happened? Where are we?"
Makoto grimaced at the excellent question. Some sort of music was playing? She turned around. It looked like some sort of arena, only blocky like some sort of video game?
Naoto winced. "I think we're in Mitsuo Kubo's dungeon. Why is it still here?" She asked, turning a bit. Makoto didn't know the significance of it.
"It looks like some sorta game." Ryuji said. "Oh… Man, that music is gratin'. Is there a mute?"
Naoto shook her head and walked over to her cap on the ground. She picked it up and smacked it against her thigh a moment.
"We should really get you healed up." Makoto said, moving over.
Naoto shook her head. "Again, save it. I have a feeling we're on the top floor of the Dungeon. Which means we have to go through the rest of the Dungeon." Makoto didn't like the sound of that. "I have two cans of soda." She said.
Makoto checked her pack. "Two cans here." She said.
"I got nothin'." Ryuji admitted, picking up his bag. "Looks like the shotgun went off and blew a hole in the bottom of the bag." He shoved his hand through the hole in the bag. He then pulled out a bandolier of shotgun shells and put it on around his chest. He picked up the shotgun and jacked the pump. "At least I know this works."
Naoto produced her medical pouch and used her phone. Makoto watched as she pulled up the camera and flipped it around so she could see herself on screen and touch the cut over her brow. "Here, let me help." Makoto said. She rummaged in Naoto's pack for a bandage which she pulled out and applied. "It's not too deep and will heal up just fine on the first heal."
Naoto nodded her head and jammed her hat back on. "We know the guns work. What about the Persona? Your armor?" she asked.
Ryuji punched himself in the gut. "Yep. Still works." He said. And since he was speaking without gritting his teeth, it was worth believing. He reached up for his skull mask, a mask that wasn't there. "Uhh… Not sure how I should do this." He said.
Naoto shook her head. "Think of the spell you want to cast Ryuji, then point and fire, casting the spell like normal. You're not trying to summon your Persona."
Ryuji brought his hand away from his face. "Right." He said. He held his hand out. "Zio!" A bolt of lightning struck a wall some distance away. "Alright, looks like we're in business!" he said excitedly.
Makoto glanced around a bit. "Where are the others?" she asked.
"That's the question of the hour." Naoto said. "Unfortunately, we're going to have to find them the old fashioned way, and these dungeons can be quite large." She said.
And with four cans of soda, Makoto was going to have to be extremely sparse with her healing. She belted on the holster she had for the revolver, tucking it in before she slipped the brass knuckles on. "And if they're not in here?" she asked.
"Then we regroup outside of this place where it's safer." Naoto said. "Everyone in the Investigation Team is aware of where to go from the entrance of all the Dungeons." She said. She checked her revolver and then pointed it to the ground.
Makoto frowned a bit more as she jumped up and down a moment. "And if the Phantom Thieves aren't with the Investigation Team?" she asked.
"Rise can find anyone in this place." Naoto said. "And if Rise goes down, then Teddie can sniff them out. If both of them are out of commission, then we do it the long and slow way." Naoto began to head for the large doors. "Regardless, we will find everyone, regardless of how long it takes."
Makoto nodded and headed forward, staying at the ready as she walked. She felt as adequately prepared as she was going to get.
"Ryuji, up with me. We're taking point. Makoto is our healer." Naoto said.
"Gotcha." Ryuji jogged forward and took his bat out, resting it on his shoulder as he began to walk alongside Naoto.
The trio moved through the 8-bit dungeon. As Ryuji had said, the music that played around them was grating on Makoto's already frayed nerves. She couldn't help but wonder about what happened. She thought the transition was supposed to be safe. She wondered about the other members of the Phantom Thieves. To a lesser extent, she worried about the Investigation Team, but they all seemed confident enough that they were competent enough to take care of themselves.
It was a long slog through almost endless Shadows. Ryuji had to quickly switch to simple Zio spells or Mazio spells if they were under fire from a large group weak to lightning. Anything larger like the Zionga or Mazionga threatened to exhaust him too quickly for their needs, nonetheless a Ziodyne. And Makoto quickly learned that the best thing she could do at that point in time was indeed act as the Healer. As diversified as Naoto's Persona was, it lacked in healing quite thoroughly. The sleuth however seemed to recover more and more, getting stronger as they made their way through the dungeon.
It was a maddening, headache inducing place. Makoto seriously doubted she was going to be going back to video games anytime soon after the dungeon. She'd get flashbacks to the fear, the worry, the stress building in her stomach, causing it to knot and tighten.
She wondered how anyone could go back to video games after this trek.
"I think this is the entrance." Naoto said, stepping forward. It seemed like a set of castle doors leading to what seemed like a long and winding path out to a clearing.
"It is." A feminine voice rang out. Makoto could scarcely believe the tone of voice, but there was no mistaking it.
"Haru?" Makoto asked. Sure enough, it was Haru, dressed in a pale lavender top with white leggings and a simple black skirt. In hanging from a strap on her shoulder was her signature battle axe while her hands held the grenade launcher.
The RG-6 Rotary Grenade Launcher replica raised up. A dull thud was heard before the sharp whistle of the grenade flying at them.
"Get down!" Ryuji turned and pushed both Makoto and Naoto to the ground heavily. The grenade went sailing overhead, only to explode behind them some ways off. "Damn." Ryuji was quick to his feet.
"Shadows!" Naoto barked out as she got up to her feet as well, snapping off a pair of rounds at Haru to force her to not fire a second round.
Makoto glanced behind them where a swarm of Shadows was coming in, she turned with her revolver and shot off a trio of rounds. Two hit, but one went wide. Her mind raced for what they could do, but she was drawing blanks. They had to fight Haru, or what was likely Haru's Reflection. At least Makoto hoped it was Haru's Reflection. It seemed likely to be Haru's Reflection since the girl was wearing different clothes. "I'm open to suggestions!" she shouted.
Naoto turned and snapped off the rest of the rounds she had in the current cylinder before she reloaded with practiced ease. She then holstered the gun. "Give me your guns, and your ammo! I'll take the Shadows. Get in close, keep Haru from using her launcher, I'm better suited for range." It seemed like a solid plan, built on facts.. But Makoto still hesitated. She didn't want to fight Haru, and if she was wrong about it being Haru's Reflection, she'd be hurting a friend.
Ryuji tossed the shotgun and quickly whipped the bandolier of shells off, passing them off as well. He grabbed his bat. "Either do it or come up with a new plan Queen!" He shouted before taking off towards Haru. "Damn it! Outta the way!"
Naoto was quick to put the bandolier of shells on more like a belt and she brought the shotgun up. The sleuth had a determined look on her face as she began to make sure it was fully loaded before jacking a shell into the chamber. Makoto quickly passed off her own revolver. "Joker got it upgraded to use .44 rounds." She said before she tightened her grip on her knuckles. Naoto tucked the revolver into the front of the bandolier before she began to rush the Shadows.
Makoto winced before she followed after Ryuji to get in close to Haru. Unfortunately, Naoto was quite correct. Haru was best fought up close. Milady's gun skills would be neutralized, and they would neutralize the threat of the grenade launcher. It wasn't that Haru wouldn't shoot at close range, but more that Makoto and Ryuji could stop her from shooting.
Case in point, Ryuji knocked the launcher to the side with a heavy smack with his bat, causing the next grenade to go wide and explode against some 8-bit tree.
Makoto came in quick. She brought her hands up. She had to believe it was the Reflection. She grit her teeth a moment before she threw a heavy punch. Haru stepped back and discarded the grenade launcher, tossing it away before she drew the axe with both hands. She took a hard swing.
"Woah!" Ryuji leapt back from the swing, the blade grazing his chest and splitting the shirt and armor a bit. He moved to come back in with his bat, but Haru came back around with a back swing that hit him with the back of the axe in the ribs. "Gah!"
"Skull!" Makoto worried for the boy. The shotgun blasts in the background punctuated the battle, and every so often a heavy explosion sounded out, likely Naoto using Megidolaon to thin the oncoming horde. Their backs were covered, but it meant it was up to Makoto and Ryuji to clear the way.
Haru's eyes looked dangerous. It was the sadistic side of Noir, the side of her that got a shiver of excitement down her spine whenever the Shadows ran or pleaded for their lives. She brought her axe up with both hands and stepped into the next swing, looking to bring it down hard into Ryuji's chest. "I HATE ALL OF YOU!" she screamed.
Makoto yanked Ryuji back and had to throw herself to the side to avoid the blow. She came up, almost instinctively looking to draw her revolver before realizing she didn't have it. She rushed in as Ryuji recovered enough to bring his bat up against the next heavy blow, using it on the shaft of the axe before the axe head came down on his head. The blond had to duck a little bit.
Makoto stepped in and laid a heavy punch into Haru's ribs. She heard the distinct crack of human bones breaking and Haru was forced back. Ryuji got up beside Makoto, holding his bat at the ready.
Haru righted herself and prepared her axe once more. "I hate the Phantom Thieves. They took so much from me, destroyed what was precious to me." Haru grit her teeth and came in with her axe once more. She ducked under Ryuji's swing before she swung the blunted back of the axe against his knee. There was a sharp crack sound as the knee broke and Ryuji went to the ground, crying out in agony.
Makoto rushed over and forced Haru back with a quick three punch combination. None of them landed, but it forced Haru back.
"Look at you." Haru said a bit cruelly and sadistically, no doubt anymore about it being Haru's Reflection. "Prim. Proper. Student Council Prez." She shook her head. "Always thinking she can plan for every. Little. Thing. But you can't. Always needing someone stronger, smarter, more decisive to back you. Well what will it be? Mako. Chan. Going to run away? Go let the burden of leadership land on someone else's shoulders? Drop the dead weight? Simply not care like you always do?"
Makoto clenched her fist and her head hung in front of her face a little bit. Was that really what she had been doing? Running away? Not caring? Letting someone else shoulder the burden of leadership? "Don't you ever call me that again." Makoto said. Only the real Haru was allowed to use that nickname. She was furious, with herself and this poor imitation of who was coming to be a good friend. "Ryuji, I promise we'll get your leg fixed, but I might not have the energy to do it after this."
Ryuji grit his teeth and offered a pained smile as he clutched the knee. "Alright, I trust ya."
Makoto stepped forward. She could hear in her head the way Johanna was telling her that she wasn't ready for her plan. Margaret had said that the increase of their power was only temporary, but that wasn't quite true. They still had the knowledge of the spells and abilities at the higher tiers. It just meant it was more draining at their current ability. Makoto stood in a ready stance. "I'm not running from you, you poor excuse for Noir."
The Reflection hefted the axe and gripped it tight. "Then I'll take your head." She said before coming running.
"Atomic Flare!" Johanna was right. Makoto wasn't ready for the spell. Not at her current ability, not mostly drained and running on fumes. Immediate pain spiked through Makoto's head as the Nuclear blast rocked Haru's Reflection. Blood dripped from Makoto and for a second, it felt like she couldn't breathe. Her ears rung as well, like she had someone pull the trigger of a gun right beside her ear.
But through it, Haru's Reflection came charging out. Hair burnt, clothes scorched, skin suffering from second and third degree burns, she gave a battle cry as she swung with her axe. Makoto stepped in and brought her hand up. She grabbed the axe handle and stepped in further and used Haru's momentum to throw her to the ground.
Without thinking, Makoto flipped the axe around and swung it down into the Reflection's chest with a sickening wet crunch.
The downed Reflection coughed up blood. "May Haru find out the truth of the Phantom Thieves. May they become liars, thieves, murderers, and villains to her. And I pray that she destroys the Phantom Thieves just like I did." She then shattered like glass.
Makoto fell to her knees, breathing heavily. The taste of copper was in her mouth. The repeated retort of a pair of revolvers told Makoto that Naoto was fine. But the student council President still pushed herself to her feet, seeing the sleuth with a revolver in each hand firing. It wasn't quite the same methodical and precise shooting, but when shooting into a horde, it wasn't as necessary as more firepower was.
Naoto turned and came running, Ryuji's shotgun bouncing around her hip from the sling around her chest. "Here." she said and passed over the revolver to Makoto before holstering the other one. "We need to go. They won't come past the boundaries."
"What about Ryuji?" Makoto asked.
Naoto bent down, with surprising strength for a girl of her size, she picked Ryuji up onto her shoulders, fireman style.. "Ah, ah! Leg! Leg!" Ryuji shouted in pain as the broken limb was jostled. But Naoto used her other hand to hold and help stabilize the leg while she moved. It wasn't a fast sprint, but sure enough the Shirogane Successor was carrying Ryuji out.
Makoto turned and snapped off a pair of shots, reaching to her belt for a fresh speedloader to help buy some time. But in short order, they managed to get out of the 8-bit dungeon. Makoto also vowed to start doing some more strength exercises.
Take Your Time
Haru gave a loud cry in pain as she landed on her back, impacting with the bag her axe was in and the stonework. But she grit her teeth, grunting and rolling to her hands and knees. Yusuke and Yukiko both hit the ground as well with a dull thud. The Okumura Heiress pushed herself up to her feet and dusted herself off before she made her way towards Yusuke with a slight limp. "Yusuke-kun," She said as she bent down and shook him roughly.
Yusuke grunted. "Ah… I need to stop landing on my sword." He said, rolling from his hip and shoulder which had taken the brunt of the impact. And sure enough, the hard sheath of his sword was under his hip inside the bag he had.
"Ow. Ow. Ow." Yukiko dragged herself up and limped slightly, glancing down to her ankle. It was undoubtedly sprained by the way she limped. "Here." She said. "Media." A wave of her fan through a Blue Tarot card and a wave of healing energy washed over the trio. It didn't quite get rid of all the aches and the pains, but it made it so Haru's back didn't throb with every step she took.
"You have my thanks." Yusuke pushed himself to his feet and moved his bag around, taking his sword out and putting it on his hip. He then took his rifle out and slung it around his shoulder. He then shifted the rifle around on its sling before he pointed it skyward and squeezed the trigger. The sound of gunfire sounded out, making Haru and Yukiko flinch since they hadn't expected it. "Everything seems to be in working order." he said.
Haru nodded her head. That was a good thing to check. She pulled her axe from her bag and took the cover off the edge before she put the sling around one shoulder. She then got out her grenade launcher before pausing, seeing she didn't have any ammo for it. Her bag had a nice hole in it. "Any ideas where we are Yukiko-chan?" She asked.
Yukiko winced a bit as she took in the decorations. It seemed to be some sort of old castle, with plush red carpet and red drapery. "My... Castle." There was a distinct blush on Yukiko's face. "I'd rather not talk about it, okay? I know the way out, and it should be fairly simple to look for everyone."
Haru glanced around a moment. "Yes, that would likely be for the best." She said. She readied her axe on her shoulder a moment. "Psio." She said. The blast of multicolored energy told Haru that Milady still worked within the TV World, even if the connection felt… off. Like Haru was trying to see through a camera and the lens was smudged and dirty. The picture was there, but not as clean as it could be.
Yukiko grimaced a bit, drawing attention to her. "I don't have any supplies. My bag came off in the fall." She said.
Haru checked her bag. "I have… a thermos of coffee." She said. It was in a smaller pouch.
Yusuke checked his pack. "I have some teas, but not many and they are generally not that effective." Great, they were going to be working through what could probably be considered a Palace on minimal supplies. Haru's launcher was next to worthless too, and she didn't know how that was going to affect Milady.
Haru shifted her axe in her hands a moment, better preparing to do a run with it. "Well, I suppose we should get moving. Yukiko-chan, do you know how big this castle is?" she asked.
"Not as large as some of the later dungeons. But we'll definitely be making a trek, so pace yourselves. I can keep us healed up, and I got fire damage covered. I'm not exactly the most physically offensive, but I can make do." Yukiko offered.
"Haru and I will handle the frontal combat." Yusuke was quick to say. "Goemon and I are more physically oriented rather than magic, but we will have Ice covered."
"Milady has several long range gun skills. However, I don't have ammo for the launcher, I don't know how effective she'll be." Haru said. "We also have Psychic damage."
Slowly the trio began to make their way out of the top floor of Yukiko's castle. Haru felt like there was a story there, one that she wasn't likely to get anytime soon, but that was fine. It wasn't relevant to the situation. "Has something like this ever happened before?" Haru asked.
"No, not once." Yukiko said. "We've made dives after someone that was separated from the group before, but we've never actually had the group split up as we got in." She said.
The first group of Shadows was taken care of with lethal efficiency. Haru learned that Milady's gunskills, draining as they were, were still quite useable even without her grenade launcher. And Yusuke was all to willing to use his sword. And the focused way Yukiko ruthlessly set the Shadows ablaze told Haru that the Amagi girl was not a threat to be taken lightly.
It was information Haru tucked away in the back of her mind on the off chance she ever encountered Yukiko's Reflection.
And as the group continued moving through the castle, Haru decided to talk with the group. "So why a castle?" She asked of Yukiko.
"It's symbolic of our inner most wants." Yukiko said. "And no, I don't want a castle." She added as an afterthought.
Haru nodded her head a moment. They continued moving through the castle. There wasn't very many questions she felt the need to ask of Yukiko, so most of the trip was done in silence. Yusuke was focused, so wasn't making much small talk either.
"These Shadows are stronger than they should be." Yukiko said as she took a drink from Yusuke and sipped at the tea. While the sugar and caffeine wouldn't do much, it would help them stretch Yukiko's apparently impressive reserves farther.
"How much stronger?" Yusuke asked.
"Strong enough to warrant caution." Yukiko said. "If I had two of the more offensive oriented members of the Investigation Team with me, or Yu, then we'd have no difficulties. As it is, no offense, we're having to be cautious.'
"Damn." Yusuke said almost bitterly.
"What is it?" Haru asked. Was it a Shadow? A Reflection? She had only seen Akira's Reflection and that had been odd enough.
"I grow tired of watching the backs of others, and wondering how far I still have to go." Yusuke said. "Makoto, Ryuji, Ann, Morgana, and myself all had difficulties with Futaba's Palace in the beginning. Yu had apparently gone through it himself, even saved our group while covered in black ichor from the Shadows he slew. I swore to myself I would not always watch his back."
"Don't let it eat you." Yukiko said seriously. "Yu-kun is special in a way many of us cannot compare against. Not because of his Wild Card ability, but just how adaptive to things he is. I have never met anyone that could adapt to things like he could. His strength comes from his flexibility. I've seen what Yu-kun can perform when he is single minded in his drive."
Slowly they came outside to where the group encountered Makoto Niijima. She stood there with her revolver drawn and already aimed. There were no words, just the cold calculating gaze of the Student Council President. Haru reached for her axe, about to rush forward when the revolver went off.
The trio dodged out of the way and Haru was about to dash forward when Yukiko stepped forward. "You must be one of those Reflections that Yu-kun mentioned."
"Leave." Makoto said. "This doesn't concern you." She said as she quickly took aim at Yukiko's chest.
"Oh, but I'm afraid it does." Yukiko's tone wasn't that of the usually jovial and quick to laugh girl. It was that of someone that was quite angry. "You see, you hurt them, you hurt Yu-kun. You hurt Yu-kun, you bother me. So by trying to hurt them, you bother me." Yukiko waved her fan against her face a bit as she continued to step forward. "Now most of the time, I'm quite content to appear the demure Inn girl that's going to inherit the managerial position from her mother. But when you threaten to hurt and bother my friends, I bare my talons."
"So be it!" Makoto took another shot at Yukiko. The girl moved out of the way, spinning on the tip of her toes quickly before the revolver had gone off. "Freila!" Yukiko dodged out of the way again. It was like watching a graceful dancer spin out of the way of danger.
Yukiko spun her fan around in her hand before with practiced ease snapped it open. "Sumeo-Okami!" Yukiko declared as the Tarot card began to spin in front of her. "Burning Petals!" The dark haired girl struck the Tarot Card with her fan like she was throwing out a gust of wind with her fan.
A graceful golden feminine figure holding dual katanas in her hand appeared behind Yukiko, a long ribbon connecting both hands and running behind the Persona fluttered in the wind before unleashing a torrent of cherry blossoms that drifted ever so softly towards Makoto's Reflection.
An eruption of fire engulfed the Cherry Blossoms. The sheer intensity of the heat actually forced Haru to look away, shielding her face against it. The fire roared with intensity, burning so brightly and even lingering. And as the flames began to die down, Yukiko unmoving from where she had summoned her Persona, Haru glanced forward.
The flagstones were scorched black, and there was no evidence of the Reflection except for a revolver that shattered like glass.
Haru turned to look at Yusuke. "Do I get like that?" she asked.
"I believe it is in my best interested not to answer one way or another." Yusuke said, quickly moving forward.
Haru watched his back as he walked away. She shook her head and began to followed after Yukiko as well as she began to give them directions on where they were going.
Take Your Time
Yosuke landed with a heavy thud, only to have someone fall on his back. He gave a wheeze of pain and lack of air that quickly set whoever landed on him scrambling off of him.
"Crap! Yosuke, I'm sorry!" Chie was quick to apologize and she bent down and helped haul him up to his feet. He gently touched at his chest, making sure nothing was broken or out of place. A third thud alerted them to the arrival of Teddie. Chie went over and helped the blond up as well.
Yosuke glanced around. "Great." He said. "This place." From his bag, he pulled out the twin knives that he had gotten from the Reaper. He quickly flipped them about in his hands, making sure to familiarize himself with the weight. Not that he'd ever really forget, but it helped to do so.
Their landing spot? Magatsu Inaba, the twisted version of Inaba that Adachi had dreamed of.
Chie bent down and stretched her legs out. The howl of Shadows sounded nearby. "Looks like we're going to have to fight our way through." She said. She came up and threw her leg up into a high kick, clearly making sure she was limbered up.
Teddie sniffed the air as he got his claw ready, sliding it onto his hand properly and gripping the handle. "I don't smell Sensei or any of the others." he said.
Yosuke glanced at Teddie. "You sure about that Ted?" He asked. They couldn't afford any slip ups on any of their parts, not his, not Chie's, not Teddie's.
"I know my nose hasn't been working right, but I don't ever forget a scent!" Teddie said. "And I'm not smelling anyone that I know!"
"Easy there." Yosuke said. While he was far more comfortable playing second banana to Yu, he knew that when Yu wasn't there, he was practically leader. Naoto was Yu's right hand, but Yosuke had been leading the backup team without their fearless leader for a while. And he was honestly comfortable working with Chie and Teddie. "I'm just making sure Ted. We need to do this right, we don't know what's going on. We've never been separated on coming into this place."
"He's right." Chie said, putting her hands on her hips. "We need every advantage we can get right now."
Teddie settled down, much to Yosuke's relief and sniffed around. "I'll have to sniff around on each new area, but they aren't around here. I know that much." He said confidently.
Yosuke nodded his head. "That works for me." He said. He turned to the entrance and rotated his neck. "Sorry guys, I won't be able to offer much in way of speed buffs this time." He said.
Chie stepped up. "It's all good." She said and clicked her heels together on her metal greaves. "That's what these bad boys are for. Do we have anything in way of supplies?" She asked. From her skirt, she took out a pack of gum and quickly put a piece in. The nauseating scent of the meat gum made Yosuke wish she wouldn't chew it.
"I got a dozen sodas." Yosuke said. "But we both know they don't do much. And I'd rather not be drinking so much I puke while running."
"Not to mention you don't want to have to use the bathroom again." Chie said, lightly popping him in the ribs.
Yosuke grunted. "One time, I swear. You're never letting me live that down are you?"
"Not a chance." Chie said with a grin.
"Ted, you ready?" Yosuke asked, glancing towards the bear.
The blond boy nodded his head. "I'm ready to run wild, rawr!" He said, charging ahead.
"Hey, wait for me!" Chie took off after the excited boy.
Yosuke sighed and took a moment. He reached into his pocket for his MP3 player and cranked the volume up a little bit. He then took off running after his friends. While he wasn't as fast as Chie or as excitable as Teddie was, his time running around Junes left him having more stamina.
The first wave of Shadows hit, and together the three moved to quickly dispatch them. While they weren't particularly powerful, the wave seemed almost endless and the three had to act as rocks for the wave to break upon. Yosuke was grateful for having settled on dual knives, the work he had put into taking advantage of his ambidextrous nature paid dividends.
It meant that he could fight two of the sword wielding Shadows at the same time while Chie broke through with a flurry of kicks.
The next wave brought stronger enemies to fight. "Chie! Robot! High Low!" Yosuke rushed ahead of his girlfriend to get prepared.
"Right!" Chie disengaged from the enemy she was fighting, kicking it to drive it down before rushing up ahead behind Yosuke.
Yosuke went towards the sword toting giant robot and he bent forward a little bit. He grunted as Chie jumped up onto his back and used it as a springboard into a flying kick like she was reenacting some epic scene from a Bruce Lee movie. Yosuke came up and blasted one of the legs hard with a powerful Garudyne. It was a move they had done several times.
The large mech fell backwards with a loud, thunderous crash as it crushed Shadows beneath it.
"Teddie!" Yosuke yelled out, bolting towards the bear.
"Bring it Yosuke baby!" Teddie slashed through his opponent and moved over.
Yosuke leapt over a Shadow, half sliding across the table as he landed behind Teddie. He felt Takehaya Susano-O flare to life and he slashed through the Tarot Card as Teddie descended down and slashed through his own.
Takehaya Susano-O sprang up and launched his hands up, kunai launching from the sleeves before arching and skewering the downed robot before Kamui-Moshiri came screaming down after the kunai. It had a broad grin on its goofy face like it was having the time of its life. It wasn't a sadistic grin in the slightest. The rocket shaped Persona exploded with Almighty Damage, the blast ripping apart Shadows.
It was nothing new for the trio. They worked well together, they knew what the plans were, they knew when and how to execute the plans. And honestly, compared to the exhausting run that was the Hallowed Forest and then later on Izanami's Dungeon, the run through Magatsu Inaba was easy. They still had to be careful not to get overwhelmed, but it wasn't like they were struggling for every inch.
They came to the entrance, the black and red portal guarded by a crouched blond figure. The group came to a bit of a pause as they were out of breath and looked to the figure guarding the portal. Teddie sniffed at the air, and frowned a moment.
"Teddie?" Chie asked, glancing between the two.
Sure enough, she was right. It was Teddie guarding the passage way, half crouched and clutching at his blond hair, whimpering slightly. "All alone. I'm nothing. No one." He lamented.
"No!" Teddie stomped his foot. "We're Teddie!" he said. "Sensei accepted us!"
"Sen...Sei?" The blond raised his hand and seemed to see the claws it had on his hands for the first time. They were a pair of three curved blades on a gauntlet, extending out several centimeters, almost the entire length of Teddie's forearm. And unlike their Teddie, this thing had one on each hand.
Yosuke also noted the crimson staining the metal.
"I… Sensei… I remember… Sensei… he abandoned me for that girl…" The figure rose up, slowly with his arms falling and hanging limply. "Even after I saved him… I remember a voice, telling me how I'd be abandoned, how I'd be forgotten, how I'd be discarded."
"That's not what happened! Sensei accepted us, and we got an awesome Bearsona!" Teddie said, clearly refusing this… thing. Yosuke had a feeling it was a Reflection like Yu told them about.
"It offered me a chance to show Sensei and the others the truth. When I came to… I had this form… These claws…" Yosuke could see where this was going, and he felt the bile in his throat begin to rise. "I cut and hacked and cut and hacked and cut and hacked… I had to show Sensei and the others the truth." Blue eyes overshadowed by blond hair looked to Yosuke. "How are you still alive Yosuke?"
"Oh enough of this! Get out of our way!" Chie rushed forward, dashing swiftly.
"Chie, no!" Yosuke shouted. Something didn't feel right about this Reflection, like it was more dangerous.
Chie went for a straight kick. Her form was flawless, it was a kick she had performed a thousand times, a sort of punt that would drive most Shadows away. It was a kick that Yosuke had felt on Yu's first day of school and she had only strengthened her legs since then.
The Reflection Teddie dove under the foot. The blue eyes flashed with something. "How could you forget about me?!" It screamed before coming up with one of those gauntlets. It proceeded to slice through Chie's unprotected leg, cutting from the calf muscle up to the hamstring.
"Ahhh!" Chie's scream echoed out as crimson began to flow freely, splattering the Reflection in Crimson. It sprang up and was beginning to spin, like it was going to use those claws to cleave out Chie's throat with a vicious backhand.
"Garudyne!" Yosuke rushed forward as the wind buffeted at the Reflection, driving it back as he went to his girlfriend. Teddie's Reflection landed in a bit of a crouch, with the actual Teddie coming up and holding his claw out.
"Yosuke! She's looking bad!" Teddie shouted.
Indeed, Chie's leg was cut to ribbons. And neither Teddie or Yosuke were that good at healing. Teddie was better, having a stronger version of the Dia line than what Yosuke had, but it didn't change the fact, it was probably too much for the bear to completely heal up. Yosuke grit his teeth. "Ted, watch her, give her aid." Yosuke gripped his knives tighter as he began to walk forward.
"Yosuke…" Chie gritted out. "He's fast." Her tone was a whimper that cut through Yosuke's heart.
Yosuke inhaled a bit and he put his headphones on properly. Anger surged through Yosuke as he gripped his knives a bit more before letting his grip lax. "I'm faster." He cranked the volume up as loud as it would go, drowning everything but the music out.
Yosuke charged forward with the Reflection coming to meet him head on. The Reflection reached out to swipe with those long claws, Yosuke reversed the grip of his knife and parried, going into a roll under the deflected arm. As he came up, he ripped his knife through the Reflection's side. Behind it, he drove his foot backwards slamming into its back.
He slid to the right, half dancing to the beat of the music as he dodged Teddie's Reflection spinning to try and cut out Yosuke's feet. Another hop and and he blasted the false bear with another Garudyne, landing as he cast the spell. He rushed forward to get in close, deflecting, parrying, and dodging the slashes. He even jabbed his knife in between the claws, twisting harshly to force the claws back and away before cutting across the bear's chest.
There was just a cold, bottomless rage in Yosuke at what this thing had done to Chie. And he was the wrathful storm exacting its revenge. Cut, by cut, Yosuke split the bear to ribbons. One after another, the cuts came fast and swift. He didn't focus on anything but the bear. The music drowned everything else out, and Yosuke was hyper focused on dodging and using his leaner form to stay out of danger.
He dodged another slash before he came up and drove the knife up under the ribs of Teddie's Reflection. The other tip of the long knife stuck out through the shoulder and Yosuke spun around the blond. The other knife came up and he slit the throat, deep and from ear to ear.
The Reflection shattered like glass. Yosuke's knife clattered to the ground before he picked it up and took his headphones off.
"Yosuke?" Chie was staring at him wide eyed. "Where the hell did that come from?"
Yosuke began to walk to the pair and he crouched beside Chie. "Ted, what's the verdict?"
Teddie actually whimpered. It caused Yosuke to look at him, and Teddie flinched. "Yuki-chan will want to look at it. I did what I could."
Yosuke put a knife down and he reached out. Teddie flinched again as Yosuke put his hand on his shoulder. "Hey, I'm not going to do that to you. Okay?" He asked the bear. "You and me buddy."
Teddie nodded carefully. "R-right." He still hesitated, but then Yosuke supposed he had just witnessed his own body double getting massacred at Yosuke's hands. "Right." Teddie said with a little more confidence. "Do you mind if I talk to Sensei about this?"
"I'm sure he'd like that." Yosuke said. He looked to Chie a moment. "Sorry you had to see that side of me."
"The hell did it come from?" Chie asked. There was still some tightness in her tone from her pain, but it was clear she was focused on other matters.
"Long story short, you don't fuck with my girlfriend." Yosuke said bluntly. "Come on." He tucked his knives away and actually lifted Chie up bridal style. "Damn Chie, you need to lay off the steak."
"Oi!" She smacked him upside the head. "You don't make a stupid comment like that!"
Geez. Yosuke really wondered how Yu handled the pitfalls of his relationship with Naoto.
Take Your Time
Akira grunted as he impacted hard onto the ground. He grunted in pain as he felt something pop out of place, pain shooting through his left shoulder viciously. He forced his body to get up. First to his knees and then up to his feet, pushing himself to get up. His left arm didn't want to respond, and even the few minor tests he tried had pain shoot through it, pain that almost drove him to his knees.
He breathed a bit and glanced to the arm. He couldn't tell if it was broken or dislocated. Would one of the Dia line of spells fix it? Or would it have to be set properly? He touched the shoulder, wincing in pain at just the weight of his hand on it. He had to try. "Diarama." There was a sickening pop and white hot pain lanced through his arm, driving him to his knees. "Gah!" But then a soothing sensation spread from his shoulder and he could feel his body begin to relax.
He breathed a heavy sigh of relief before he reached up and brushed the tears from his eyes away. "Oh thank you for small miracles." He whispered before he glanced around to really take stock of his situation.
He was in some kind of lab set up like it was straight out of science fiction. Large saws and drills hung from the ceiling on moveable arms. There was an operating table in the middle of it all. None of his friends were there, his dagger stuck point down from where it landed on the ground, and some distance away his handgun sat in pieces. He could also see Morgana's saber and slingshot.
"Oh fuck me." Akira allowed the swear to slip in the privacy of him being by himself. Iwai was going to ream him a new one when he went to get a new handgun, the man would probably be wondering what he had done to his work of art.
His pack was also missing, meaning he had no supplies to work with other than his current reserves, part of which had just been spent on healing a broken or dislocated shoulder.
Akira went and gathered what he could, silently lamenting the loss of money that would come when he replaced the various thermos that he had. They weren't cheap, and being a Phantom Thief wasn't exactly the most lucrative of businesses when he also had to pay for maintenance on their weapons, pay to put their armor through the wash, and more.
He tucked Morgana's saber carefully between his belt and his waist. The slingshot he tucked into his back pocket and the pieces to his gun went into his various pockets as well. He inhaled a moment and just took a second to get himself mentally prepared for what was to come. It was the first time that he had been alone inside of the Metaverse.
No, it wasn't the first time. He could feel the old nightmares creeping back at the thought of Futaba's Palace. He shook his head a moment. He gripped the handle of Paradise Lost. He didn't bother with checking the edge of it, even outside the Metaverse it was incredibly sharp.
"This must be Naoto-senpai's lab." Akira said, glancing around and recalling the memories of what Yu said. Back then, he certainly hadn't been ready for it. Even now, he wondered if he was ready for it. He didn't have a choice in the matter this time, but he did have to wonder about the difficulty of the enemies that he was about to face.
He bounced on his toes a moment before he started to jog. He would have to conserve his energy to the best of his abilities.
That last about four fights.
Akira forced himself to grit his teeth as another explosion that he was danger close to rocked his body. His skin was covered in burns and soot, his clothes were scorched. As he impacted the wall, he swore he was going to have a very long conversation with Naoto about the amount of explosive ordinance the Shadows within her Lab had. He was having to use a base Dia after every fight just to push forward. He was tired, his brow was drenched in sweat, and he knew he smelled burning hair.
But he pushed through, he pushed and pushed, running up the stairs. Sometimes he stumbled but he had to keep pushing on. His feet felt like they were made of lead, his body ached in ways he never knew were possible, and he was pretty sure he wasn't ever going to look at tanks without having some semblance of a panic attack.
He came up to the top and sucked in fresh air, half collapsing to his knees and almost throwing up from the pain his body was racked with. The cool and fresh air of the outside of the Lab made congealed sweat against his chest and half ruined shirt. He collapsed to the side, gasping for air.
Hell. He had just walked through Hell. "Never. Ever. Going. Without. Friends. Again."
Suddenly, Akira's vision was obscured by his face leaning over him. "Yo." The other him said rather cheerfully, including a wave. Akira had once slicked his hair back, trying to tame the mess of curls and tangles that his frizzy hair brought. He thought it had looked stupid.
He still thought it looked stupid as he looked up at it.
"I don't suppose you'll accept a rain check on this fight." Akira said with a grunt. He was too tired to care. He had been through too many fights at that moment to care.
"Nah…" His Reflection slowly shook his head.
"DIdn't think so." Akira said with a groan. "Look, I just blew up like… two dozen tanks on my way up her, can I get like five minutes?"
"Sure! Recharge those batteries." His other self was chipper. Great. Not only was his hair stupid looking, he was chipper. Akira was going to feel so much satisfaction when he punched him in the face.
"So what's your deal?" Akira asked. "DIdn't really get to talk with my last Reflection."
His Reflection stuck his hand out. "Ren Amamiya, Phantom Thief extraordinaire."
Akira reached up and took the hand. "Akira Kurusu, currently I smell like smoked short ribs."
Ren laughed at that as they shook hands like they were friends. If Akira could tolerate being around Goro Akechi who sounded like he was measuring Akira up to slip a knife into his back, then he could tolerate this… chipper version of himself. "Yaldabaoth called a favor in, so well… Here I am." Ren said with a grin.
"I immediately didn't like you." Akira said rather bluntly. "Your hair is stupid."
Ren laughed at that a bit. "Oh! Oh! This coming from the guy that looks like he made out with a light socket?"
"You know… Fuck the five minutes." Akira pushed himself to his feet and picked up Paradise Lost.
"That's the spirit!" Ren said. He produced another knife, but Akira noted that it wasn't Paradise Lost, so he had something to be thankful in that regard.
Akira measured his opponent. His body was sore, and his reserves were… minimal at that moment. And he was right. He smelled like smoked meat. He tightened his hand on his knife a bit as he watched Ren. "So… how'd you and Yaldabaoth become buddies?" He stepped in and took two slashes, both of which were deflected.
"Oh, he made me an offer I decided was better for the team." Ren stepped in with two probing slashes which were also avoided. "See, I can't give too many spoilers, but you just finished up Futaba's Palace right?"
"Been done for about a month and a half." Akira stepped in and the slashes came faster. Paradise Lost had a long reach, so his Reflection had to be more careful.
Ren gave a low whistle. "Not bad. You must have known about her Palace even before Medjed. Anyways, you guys should be on the top of your game. Your name should be on everyone's lips. See, I loved that. People actually believed we were doing good! I couldn't give that up."
'So he has abandoned his Rebellion!' Akira was surprised to hear the deep, booming and regal voice of Satanael echoing from Paradise Lost. Hadn't he executed the Persona? 'This cannot stand!'
'I must agree.' Arsene's voice echoed through Akira's head as he continued to deflect and block Ren's knife. 'You once swore to me to walk the path of Rebellion, even knowing you were chaining yourself to Hell itself. Show this imposter what happens when you break our pact!'
A red and black aura erupted around Paradise Lost, making Ren leap back in surprise at the event. Akira however just went with it. It wasn't hurting him. He saw Ren looking to use his Persona and Akira took a swipe at his arm, making blood spill out.
"Ah Shit!" Ren shouted as he pulled his gun, pulling the trigger.
Akira ignored the way the round tore through his shoulder. Sharp pain erupted in the shoulder again, but for the past two hours he had been blown up so many times he was in a constant fuzzy state of pain that he was able to ignore being shot again. He brought Paradise Lost up and took Ren's hand with the pistol in it at the wrist.
Akira then kicked his Reflection away before he bent down. He had to pry the gun out from the fingers of the severed hand which was a new concept, but Akira was going on pure survival instincts. Arsene and Satanael were demanding the death of Ren Amamiya.
And Akira knew that he wouldn't be safe until the Reflection was dead.
"Black Viper!" Ren shouted his spell out and Ren hit the ground hard, the spell flying over him to impact against the entrance to Naoto's lab.
Akira drew a bead on the chest of his Reflection and pulled the trigger. Once, twice, three times. He stood up as each shot caused his Reflection to jerk as blood splattered and stained his shirt. Akira ejected the clip with practiced ease as he approached his Reflection.
"You should have finished your Rebellion." Akira said before he drove his knife into the Reflection's chest. He watched until it shattered like glass.
Akira examined the handgun a moment and nodded his head. He tucked it into the waistband of his pants. It took the ammo he had for it, and it was quite the nice handgun.
Now… he just had to find his way out of there.
Chapter End
A/N: And there we have it, a lot of fights jam packed into one chapter, I tried to keep them short and fast paced so you guys wouldn't get bored reading it.
Each of the Phantom Thieves' Reflections are based on sort of bad endings. Like if Akira and his friends didn't steal Madarame's Heart or Kaneshiro's heart. Now imagine the worst possible things that could happen to Yusuke and Makoto. Hell, the game makes it sound like Makoto is raped and brutalized in Kaneshiro's club. Haru was more the concept that she takes her father's death poorly and actually sells the Phantom Thieves' plot out to Goro Akechi. And Ren was of course where you accept Yaldabaoth's offer.
Teddie's Reflection was sort of the idea of what if Teddie fell into the despair his shadow brought at the end of the Strip Club dungeon. Why he has a human form and weapons… Yaldabaoth. We're blaming that fuck for a lot.
So… where is Yu, Futaba, and Rise? Who will they face? Are they even together? Who are the remaining two figures? God, this is starting to sound like the end of a Dragon Ball Z episode.
The other half of this chapter should be about this length, so hope you guys have been liking these big updates.
