"I really want to kick your ass," Minato fumed, barely controlling himself from lunging at the amused God that sat opposite to him.
Nyarlathotep chuckled. "That is a tall order."
"You piece of shit," Minato snapped.
The God widened his smirk. "Calm yourself."
"GRRR!" Minato growled but finally took a seat. "If she had caught me then it would have been over."
"I had full faith that you would pull it off," The Crawling Chaos replied with another cruel smile. "And you did. Even damaged her, no less."
"That didn't mean shit," Minato scoffed. "She still killed everyone of your weak demons." Nyarlathotep frowned at his jab. "Mended her bond with asshat, Aigis returned and last but not the least, it fucking rained! That thing was a slap to my face from the fates."
"The clock is ticking," The Dark God reminded. "The fifth full moon is upon them. You have a lot of work to do."
"I'm waiting for you, sucker," Minato spat. "You needed some time for God knows what reason."
"Ah yes," Nyarlathotep chuckled. "I nearly forgot about that." he held out his hand materialized a cracked skull into the palm of his hand. Minato eyed the thing with his brow twitching, he was annoyed.
"So, I smash their heads with this thing?" he asked. "Do you have anything of value?"
"Silence!" Nyarlathotep's roar actually silenced Minato who gritted his teeth, ready to yell back at him but he was interrupted before he could do so. "This THING will bring me to full power."
"I don't see how that's my problem," Minato shrugged. "I don't give a crap if you reach full power or not. Do it yourself."
"Fine," the Dark God shrugged as well. "Free yourself from the cycle then. I don't care."
Minato slumped his shoulders, he got him there. "Fine..." he resigned to his fate with a sigh. "What can I do with this?"
"This crystal skull has the power to steal," Nyarlathotep explained.
"Steal what?"
"Dreams, hope and will. The persona will neither be living or dead. They'll be invisible to the eyes of a normal human being,"
"So, I collect their souls or something?"
"Something like that," the Dark God tossed the skull to Minato who caught it. "Cripple their body and force out their essence. Every time you take away the essence of a persona user, I'll grow stronger and stronger. Strong enough to free you from the cycle."
"So I use it on Hamuko and the rest?" Minato questioned, eyeing the skull.
"No, they are far too weak for me," The Crawling Chaos replied. "Those remaining Velvet siblings will be sacrificed to break the gates." he leaned forward. "You will use this against the veterans."
"..." Minato thought for a while and pocketed the skull with an annoyed sigh. "Okay, but I swear... if this doesn't work ou-"
"Believe me, it will," Nyarlathotep assured. "Keep that in your possession until the end. It will be very useful."
"Whatever," Minato turned heel and walked away.
"This is no good," Minato muttered, stepping into the mall. "I need a powerup before I deal with the veterans..." he looked back at the alley and pulled out the Velvet Key from his pocket and instantly, the door to Nyarlathotep's domain was replaced by the familiar blue door of the Velvet Room.
Minato sighed once again.
...
"So, you can summon a persona, eh?"
"Correct, Hamuk-san. I am capable of operating the persona, Palladion. Would you like me to demonstrate?"
"No need Aigis," Ikutsuki added quickly.
"Hey, uh, Aigis?" Yukari spoke up. The team had finally returned to the dorm with their trip cut short. Ikutsuki arrived just before dawn on a yacht and took them back to Iwatodai. Nobody was against the move though, since the short time they spent in Yakushima was horrifying.
"So, Aigis," Yukari spoke up, twirling a lock of her hair. "You've been hugging Hamuko for the past few hours. Is there any reason for that?"
Hamuko shrugged. "I don't mind it. Hugs are fine."
Aigis separated herself from the redhead and looked at Yukari. "Yes, it is very important for me to be by her side."
Junpei sighed. "So that's her preference..."
"Stupei!" Yukari yelled at him, disgusted.
"I'm just stating facts!" Junpei defended himself. "Or do you want to keep Hamu-tan all to yourself?"
Yukari blushed beet reed and looked away from Hamuko who rubbed the back of her her head, embarrassed as much as the brunette.
"S-Shut up! You pervert!" Yukari yelled at him, causing Akihiko to sigh.
"Can you two stop it?" Akihiko rubbed his temple, speaking before Mitsuru could execute them. "We have more important things to talk about."
Mitsuru coughed. "Thank you, Akihiko." the redhead turned to the mechanical maiden. "Aigis, do you know who attacked you?"
"It was a male," Aigis replied. "His face was concealed by a part of his clothing but his hair color was jet black."
"Wait, what clothes was he wearing?" Hamuko asked.
"A black hood," Aigis replied. "I am terribly sorry but I couldn't look through the clothes."
"No problem, Aigis," Hamuko smiled warmly. "The guy I chased had the exact same clothes as well... except for the fact that his hair color was brown."
"Brown and black," Fuuka said. "Are they two different people?"
"Obviously!" Junpei added. "Nobody can change hair color just like that."
"Minato-kun mentioned that a bunch of hoods attacked him," Hamuko recalled. "He was pretty strong, actually," she winced. "Managed to nearly break my back in half... not to mention, he destroyed the place and caused the fire in seconds."
"... Why was he running then?" Yukari questioned. "If he was that powerful, why didn't he finish everyone off?"
"I believe he has some other plans," Mitsuru massaged her temple. "Like you said, he could have finished everyone of us if he really wanted."
"No wonder he ran," Hamuko cursed under her breath. "Spineless little..."
"It freaking sucks that every meeting like this ends with nothing," Junpei exhaled loudly. "At the monorail. The rescue mission. And now this... We got no clue about who these guys are."
"WAIT!" Mitsuru spoke up. "Arisato also described the appearance of someone..." she thought hard. "Long brown hair and brown eyes..."
"That sounds about right," Hamuko replied. "Matches the dude I saw..."
Mitsuru fished out her cellphone. She dialed the main police station and walked away, issuing orders.
Ikutsuki winced once again but finally spoke up. "I believe we'll catch him fairly soon now."
"At least we got a lead," Junpei smiled. "We're finally beat that asshole!"
"... Can we?" Hamuko spoke up.
"What do you mean, Hamuko-san?" Aigis asked. "I am willing to support you at anytime."
"Thank you," Hamuko rubbed the back of her neck. "But I'm afraid it won't be enough. That guy was crazy strong. Strong enough to summon those things, nearly crack my back and most of all, he even put Minato-kun in that condition."
"... Yeah, I can't beat him," Akihiko declared.
"Senpai?" Junpei gawked.
"I'm being real," the boxer shrugged. "The only one who has a chance of beating them is Hamuko."
"Eh?" the redhead blushed. "M-Me?"
"I saw you fighting that crazy powerful female back in the hospital, you definitely are special,"
"Oh, cut it senpai," Hamuko said shyly, looking away.
"... Uh guys, wouldn't it be best to call Minato-kun back into SEES?" Yukari suggested.
"I was going to say that," Hamuko nodded. "He has, by far, the best chance in beating them. I might die against them next time." she laughed but it caused the others to pale. "H-Hey, chill out! I was just kidding."
"Don't joke about that," Yukari glared. "But yeah, I'd really like Minato-kun back in the team..." she blushed faintly. "Um, I feel more secure when he's around."
"Did you forget what happened? He attacked all of us in Shirakawa," Junpei reminded.
"He was charmed," Yukari sighed. "Can we just drop this? I mean, if he really hated us that much, he would have killed us way before that. I hardly doubt he needs a reason."
"..." Akihiko thought. "I don't like him but you're right, we do need him right now."
"So, can we call him right now?" Hamuko flipped her cellphone open with a giggle. "He'll be back before you know it!"
"NO!" Akihiko cut in. "Let me talk with Mitsuru first. She'll execute everyone of us."
"Awww," Hamuko pouted. "Do it for the team, senpai!"
"Yeah!" Yukari agreed.
"Same here," Fuuka added.
"Well... I guess?" Junpei sighed, obviously conflicted.
"... Excuse me, but who is Minato-san?" Aigis blinked.
"He's someone special," Hamuko giggled again. "By far, the strongest persona user in the world."
Ikutsuki stood up at this point, his face stretching into the familiar expression of pain. "I a-agree. Excuse me, I have an appointment with a doctor." he limped away.
"... Ow," Junpei broke the silence. "Ikutsuki-san... I really feel for him."
Hamuko winced. "Me too... Painful to even watch."
...
Minato stood on the edge of the rooftop, listening to every word of the conversation because of his Universe powers. "So, Ice Queen is finally sending someone over to catch Tatsuya..." he trailed off. "I love it. I'm gonna turn Sumaru into a goddamn wasteland."
Minato squinted as Ikutsuki limped his way towards his limo, sat inside and shut the door close, looking to quickly get away from the dorm without any more injuries. "Ah, I forgot about you, my favorite little bitch."
"Minato-kun and I are just good friends!" Hamuko's flustered cry came from below, causing the fallen one to chuckle. "We'll see about that." he quickly teleported away as the limo took on speed.
Minato followed the limo like a goddamn ninja, going unnoticed by the normal eyes, he was that fast. The moment the vehicle went over 100mph, Minato teleported once again, and this time... Inside of the limo.
Ikutsuki yelled out in utter horror as someone spawned next to his driver. Minato knocked him out with a single punch and threw the driver out of the vehicle. Minato pressed on the race, clocking the vehicle's speed up to 250. Ikutsuki was frozen in fear and could only yell at him to stop.
Finally, he broke away the steering wheel, gave a small smirk to Ikutsuki and teleported away just before the limo was about to collide with an oncoming truck. Bright lights was the only thing Ikutsuki could observe as his limo crashed into the truck and the chairman blackened out.
The onlookers quickly gathered around the wreckage, and among them was Minato who was back to his real appearance. "Heh, that was fun." he nodded to himself, glad that Ikutsuki managed to survive that, prolly due him cowering at the very end of the limo.
"Like a bitch," Minato sneered as a couple of people pulled the chairman out of his limo, and he looked absolutely horrified. Like someone had taken his soul. The fallen one quickly teleported away, ending inside of his apartment.
Minato was ready to hit the sack but blinked when he sensed a familiar presence very close to him. "So, she's here..." he sighed and teleported outside once again.
"Hello," Minato smiled cheekily at Elizabeth who was sitting quietly on the bench.
"Greetings," Elizabeth smiled slightly as Minato took a seat next to her.
Elizabeth nearly choked, Minato sitting next to her literally lessened the oxygen in the atmosphere. Elizabeth couldn't believe that his aura had become so frighting.
"So, how you been?" Minato asked. "I'm sorry for hitting you last time. I really hated messing up your gorgeous face."
"Um..." Elizabeth stammered to ask the question that was on her mind. "... Minato, why are you doing all this?"
"Elizabeth, why did you reject my plea for help, despite the promise?" Minato shot back.
The attendant flinched as Minato wrapped his arm her shoulder and pulled her close. "Can we stop talking about this? I won't harm Margaret and I'm sorry for putting you through the pain..."
"Minato," Elizabeth whispered, snuggling against him.
"... I'm alone," his voice cracked slightly. "Just be with me... We won't ever be together after what happened but let's enjoy the time we have."
"Y-Yes," Elizabeth squealed, noticing a lot of people were staring a them but a cold glare from the fallen one made them scurry away in fear.
Elizabeth looked back towards him and was silenced when Minato smashed his lip onto hers. The attendant was caught a little off guard by the abrupt kiss but soon found herself returning the kiss. Minato looked through the corner of his eye and scared the rest of the people looking at them.
The kiss sparked a multitude of old memories, almost making him choke but beyond that, he finally got what he wanted.
SMASH!
World Arcana Rank 1.
Minato quivered, not because of the kiss but the jolt of power that spread over his entire body, causing an influx of spiritual energy inside the sea of his soul. The power was incredible. He wanted more of it.
Elizabeth finally pulled away and blushed furiously as Minato gave her another cheeky grin. "Thank you. I missed that." he said softly.
Minato was still a little tipsy due to the power up but as Elizabeth leaned against him, Minato's hand went up and gently caressed her cheek, causing Elizabeth to smile once again.
"Damn, that was something," Minato panted, a little bit drained for something reason. "I enjoyed that..." he was really looking forward to another kiss/rank up.
Thank you for the review guys. I really really needed that. I've decided, I'm gonna finish this. I really want to finish a story beside the crappy first Death and Chaos. Also, because there is gonna be a killing spree soon, I am a little pumped to write that. Also, the skull. Similar to the skull that sucked away the ideal energy and this does the same thing. Except, this powers up nyarly. I was waiting to introduce this and since it has finally arrived, the real p1/p2 arc starts.
Also, MD : I totally agree. Hamuko has been a victim of really bad characterization. I'm glad you guys are liking this version of Hamuko.
Anyway, review if you liked this. All I ask.
Later.