The leaders are extremely fired up today, and with good reason.

Naoto trailed behind the three leaders, noticing how swiftly they swept through Zurui's prison, how furiously they beat down the Shadows and cultists in their way. Being kidnapped changed them, and Naoto saw how they'd finally stopped butting heads against each other. That's good.

There was something else that had changed about them too. When Naoto first joined the Investigation Team, they had noticed something strange. Yu was a lot stronger than the rest, giving off an intense aura that contradicted his otherwise relaxed personality, though the reason only became evident later. He had the power to wield multiple Personas, calling it the wild card. And now, as they ran after the rather feral leaders, Naoto could tell that the other two must have that power as well. They didn't have to be a Navi to feel the strength the three leaders radiated.

With the leaders as fired up as they were, it wasn't long before the Persona users made it to the top of the temple. Zurui was waiting there, a few of her followers nearby. She cackled, staring down at the leaders.

"So you did make it out alive. Absolutely incredible, but I shouldn't put anything past you damned God Slayers at this point right?" The cultist, or Acolyte, as they were supposed to be called, stood from the overly gaudy throne she was sitting in. Her followers moved forward, weapons in hand. Naoto pulled their gun from their uniform, calmly fitting it into their palm as Zurui kept talking. "You even managed to break free of those Shadows I designed for you. That's incredible."

"So you kidnapped your own son?" There was no mistaking the fury in Kurusu's voice. The anger he spit could have been considered reckless, but Naoto could feel actual power behind each word. What on earth? Even if they were special, there's no way they could have gained this much power over night!

But Zurui only laughed. If she was intimidated by the power radiating through the room, she didn't show it. "I never thought the famous God Slayers would bother themselves with a delinquent child, who only acts that way because his momma is some big shot police officer! But of course I was wrong." She snapped her fingers, and the other cultists stepped forward. "Even so, I don't plan on failing like those other two. I've researched you, and I've discovered your weaknesses." She nodded, a smirk on her face.

Right before the cultists could attack, the three leaders turned around. Yu spoke first, addressing the groups as a whole. "From today forth, we work as one."

"Putting aside our differences and retaliating against these Acolytes and their master is what we need to do to save this world. We will do our best to lead you in that way." Arisato's voice was quiet, but the lethality with each word was like a blade.

"We must succeed, to save the people here, and this world! Persona users, we will not let these Acolytes, whoever they work for, ruin the lives of countless people here!" Kurusu spun his blade in his palm before whirling back around to face the cultists. "Navis, get a reading on Zurui, and everyone else? Do what you do best."

"Hah! I already bested you once, what's to stop me from doing it again?" Zurui's cultists let out a massive blast of ice, aimed at the leaders in particular. "You can't resist my power!"

"Oh no!" Rise's voice cut into Naoto's thoughts. "That's an extremely strong attack, they won't be able to resist!" Damn, really? Naoto ran forward, the shimmering blue card appearing in front of them. Right before they could shoot it, the ice hit the leaders in all of its fury.

There was a chuckle as the snow cleared. All three were standing tall, completely unaffected by the powerful attack. No way. Did… Naoto's lingering question was interrupted by Zurui's hiss of rage. "How? How did you resist that attack?" She growled, but Naoto could see the fear in her eyes. "Who the hell are you people?"

A blue card shimmered into view near Zurui. Naoto watched the arcana change. The wild cards! The card shattered, and a huge snake-like Persona roared to life. "Yamata-no-Orochi!" There was a screech as the serpent breathed huge gusts of wind at the cultists, picking them up into the air. "Minato!"

The blue haired boy spun his gun between his fingers before pointing it at his head. "Jack Frost!" A small Persona leapt forth after Arisato pulled the trigger on his Evoker. "Go for it!" With a rush of ice, the cultists in the air were frozen in a mangled mess of frost and snow. "Akira, the final blow!"

The masked Joker threw his mask off, blue flames curling around the new Persona. "Chi You! Take them down!" A golden clad fighter soared through the air, slamming a huge fist into the frozen cultists. The ice shattered, sending them crashing down, completely unconscious. Zurui watched in horror as her followers were taken out so easily. Naoto felt a small amount of satisfaction. Our leaders are so strong!

Zurui spat angrily. "So you took out my followers, and you're much stronger than you were before getting captured." She seems upset, but… something is off. Naoto's intuition sparked worry within them as Zurui continued. "But I've got something that Inoshi and Hokori never thought of using! My Listener, come to me!"

From beside the lavish throne, a cultist wearing a mostly white robe with black patterns on the trim stood. Naoto couldn't make out their face, and even as they walked over to Zurui they never spoke. As if they had rehearsed this, the cultist bowed their head and Zurui placed her hand upon them. She cackled loudly. "You have fought Acolytes before, but Listeners have a much different power." She pulled the hood from the cultist's head, revealing that they had what appeared to be bandages covering their mouth. "Go, my Listener." This is bad! Naoto prepared themself for the worst, clicking a bullet into the chamber of their gun. "Show these cursed God Slayers your true power!"

The Listener stepped forward, reaching up and pulling the bandages from their face. Their face began to shift, twisting into an evil snarl. Naoto felt something cold creep into the room as a strange voice slipped from the Listener's mouth. It sounded both high pitched and low at the same time, and weirdly echoey. "I see now, the God Slayers before you, my Acolyte. They certainly are troublesome, so I do not mind abandoning my progress to lend a small amount of my time to assist you."

Rise's worried voice rang through the room. "Everyone! We don't know what's really happening, but that cultist suddenly has a huge amount of power, and it's from somewhere very far!" Naoto wasted no time in summoning Sukuna-Hikona, preparing themself for the absolute worst. Power exploded from the Listener as they charged towards the Persona users. That speed!

"Yosuke!" Naoto knew that while they worked best with Kanji, in this instance, the two fastest would be needed. Luckily the wind user was paying attention, summoning Jiraiya and sending him forth in the blink of an eye. Sukuna-Hikona followed behind, nowhere near as fast as the frog, but that didn't matter. Naoto took aim with their gun, following the line of sight down their outstretched arm. Time seemed to slow as their blue eyes traced the Listener's movement, the tension in their trigger finger as they waited...and waited...for the perfect moment to-

BANG! The shot rang out, louder than the sounds of the Evokers being fired around them. Blood spun into the air as the Listener recoiled in pain. Naoto's shot hit the mark, the bullet imbedding itself deep into the cultist's shoulder. Yosuke was there in a literal flash, appearing out of thin air. He hit the Listener with a strong wind attack, though it was blocked by an even stronger bolt of lightning. Yosuke was flung back, hitting the wall of the room hard. Naoto winced.

"I've got it!" Yamagishi's soft voice echoed through Naoto's head. "That Listener is being controlled from somewhere else, but whoever it is can't give them more power than any normal Acolyte. Naoto's shot has slowed them down considerably…." She cleared her throat. "Akihiko! Kanji! Ryuji! Can you three hit them from different angles, enough to knock them out?"

There was a gruff reply from beside Naoto. Kanji. The muscled blond rested his shield over his shoulder. "Thanks Naoto. This hit is dedicated to you!" He raced forward, leaving them with a warm feeling in their chest. They watched as the three powerful attackers lunged for the cultist, a swarm of strong fighters taking to them. There was an inhuman screech as the Listener tried to fight back, but their strikes were weaker against the tanks. Within a few moments, the powerful cultist was knocked out.

To say that Zurui was angry was an understatement. She shrieked and ran for the Persona users, shadow gathering around her as she finally revealed her powerful form. "I never wanted to show this form to your useless eyes, but I have no other choice if I want to rip you all to shreds!" Her form was akin to that of a naga, but instead of a human torso, it was that of a fox. A rather disturbing sight.

She cackled as power surged through her. "You shitty God Slayers won't be leaving this place in one piece!" She slithered towards them, screaming profanities.

"Oracle!"

"We've been running scans since we got here!" Oracle quipped up. "She uses a lot of high powered Psy attacks, so be careful! We haven't found her weakness yet, but we're close." Naoto adjusted their hat. We'll just have to see what works.

"Sukuna-Hikona!" They called back their Persona, feeling that power rush through them. Come on, someone give me an opening! As if on cue, another of Yu's Personas crashed into Zurui, followed by two others from Kurusu and Arisato. Zurui blocked their attacks, then lunged and grabbed Arisato's Persona. With a sickening shattering sound, the Persona broke apart into light. Naoto winced again, but Arisato simply pointed his Evoker at his head again and fired. I see, so the members of S.E.E.S. can continually summon their Personas, but their endurance is much lower, so they must keep summoning. Naoto lowered their head, staring at their hands.

If that's the case, then I wish to show off the power of a lasting Persona! Naoto spun their gun in their hand, gesturing for Sukuna-Hikona to take the front lines. In a flash of light, the moth flew forth, darting between Persona users and spiralling up Zurui's body. A small voice piped up from beside them, one full of awe.

"Whoa! Your Persona is fast too!" Amada was standing beside Naoto, watching as their Persona glided so easily around Zurui. "You're just like Yosuke!"

Naoto chuckled. "Yosuke certainly has me beat in terms of jaw dropping speed. Jiraiya is incredibly fast and agile, but…" Those deep, calculating blue eyes turned up to concentrate on Sukuna-Hikona's power, the Persona's sword glowing with Bless, charging a powerful Kougaon to slice into Zurui. "...In terms of blinding power and speed, Sukuna-Hikona cannot be defeated! Go, Persona!"

Sukuna-Hikona was nothing more than a streak of light, landing slash after slash all over Zurui's form. The painful scream that resounded through the area proved that Naoto's strategy was perfect, the naga screeching with every Light attack that combatted her powerful Psy abilties. Naoto was not without damage of course. Each attack Zurui landed, it showed on their body. Bruises started to appear, as well as a long cut along their cheek.

"Naoto!" Kurusu's powerful voice commanded them. "Allow us to match our attacks, and destroy Zurui together!" Naoto didn't respond, other than to summon Sukuna-Hikona back to them. Kurusu had his original Persona, that winged demon named Arsene, at the ready. "I'll bind her with my Eigaon, then do whatever you were just doing. Land that killing blow!"

Kurusu's enthusiasm must have been because he was finally getting his revenge on Zurui. Something they overheard Makoto saying once was that Kurusu can't keep quiet about injustice because of his past. Being captured may have changed his view of the other leaders, but it only made his fiery personality stronger! Naoto smiled and messed with the brim of their hat. "I may be nearing the limits of my stamina, but I'll support you with everything I've got. Sukuna-Hikona." There was a tightening in Naoto's concentration, things around them getting sharper and defined. "Mind Charge."

The power that instantly laced across Naoto's body was a rush they'd never get used to. It was true that Mind Charge was an incredibly powerful move, but at the cost of a lot of stamina. This is what I must do. Their Persona glowed with the extreme power, waiting for Kurusu to attack first.

And oh how he attacked. Somehow it managed to slip Naoto's mind that Kurusu wasn't just a Persona user, he was a wild card and an acrobat. He darted forward, Arsene in tow, challenging Zurui to fight. She slashed for him, but he easily flipped over the attack and bound one of her arms with his Eiga strings. I see. He wants to bind her fully, making it impossible for her to fight back against Sukuna-Hikona.

Kurusu slid behind Zurui, ducking under her thrashing tail with the strings. He leapt up the serpent's back, narrowly avoiding Zurui's snapping jaws as she tried to turn around. The same strings shot forth again, binding her mouth shut as Kurusu kicked off her head. With her mouth firmly connected to her arm, Zurui was already bound enough for Naoto to work. But Kurusu wasn't finished. Another Eiga found its way to her shoulder, and as Kurusu fell, he grabbed tightly to the strings. Using his momentum, he swung underneath her arm and made sure it was wrapped tightly before letting Arsene tie them to her lower body. He skidded across the floor smoothly, pushing off again one last time.

"Eigaon!" This time the strings were part of what appeared to be spears, three of them sticking in Zurui's body. The narrow weapons held tight, even as she tried to wriggle away. With a hard yank, she fell, completely vulnerable. "Naoto, now!"

Power whipped through the air around Naoto right before Sukuna-Hikona shot off in a beam of light. Despite their waning stamina, their Persona struck hard, the Kougaon splitting Zurui's body in half in one strike. With a screech, she dissolved into shadow, her limp form collapsed on the ground. Naoto retracted Sukuna-Hikona, then walked over to Zurui. She seemed to be trying to talk.

"Please…" Kurusu was already there, blatantly refusing to stoop to her level. "M-my master, he is calling me back, I don't have much time." Naoto knelt, wanting to hear her better. "Y-you God Slayers are strong, that's for damn sure. I promise though, you cannot defeat my master. So instead...please send the devil my regards for hell!" Power exploded from around her, throwing Naoto and Kurusu back. "You really think I'd give in to you annoyances? Hah! Nothing will stop me from continuing to aid my master!" Shadows swirled around Zurui, causing a cry of alarm from Yamagishi.

"She's back at full power, please, be careful!"

Naoto swore, ready to keep fighting, but Kurusu calmly stepped forward. "Kurusu, I know you're a wild card, but even you have your limits!"

"So you don't really care about your son, or this world, or the countless lives of people who are sacred and powerless against this master of yours?" Naoto could hear a strange control in Kurusu's voice, something tight, like anger. They looked up, and what they saw sent a chill down their spine. Those eyes! Kurusu's eyes were no longer their deep gray, instead they were bright red, flickering with a yellow color.

Oracle's voice rang out. "Joker!" There was unbridled fear in her words, not for Kurusu but because of him. "Skull, his eyes are flickering!"

Before Sakamoto could get over there, Zurui was cackling again. "Of course I don't care! All that matters to me now is my master and the chaos he brings!" She barely had a form at this point, darkness swirling around her. "I'll kill all of you if it's the last thing I do!"

The anger and rage that radiated from Kurusu intensified flowing out from him in a wave. Sakamoto cursed from behind Naoto as the black haired teen cackled. "Oh, you've done it now! I was mad before, but now I'm beyond that!" His eyes were glowing with a sinister yellow light, the color of Shadows. The hell?

"Everyone, get away from him!" Sakamoto cried out, startling Naoto enough to make them get up and shuffle away. "Dammit! I'd go over to him and calm him, but right now, he's the only one who can take Zurui back down." His dark eyes watched from behind the silver mask. "Just stay out of his way, and don't make noise." Kurusu cackled again.

"Why can't we make noise?"

"He can't see. He'll attack anything that makes a sound." As if on cue, Kurusu shot forward, laughs building in his throat. He was faster, much faster than before, streaking towards Zurui like a bolt. He's almost as fast as Yosuke!

The Acolyte tried to dodge out of the way, but the Shadows around her were making so much noise. Kurusu shot back after her, slashing away a good portion of the Shadows. Zurui screeched, trying to fight back. Kurusu was too fast. His blade sung through the air, each swipe hitting her Shadows and scattering them. He only cackled, ripping into Zurui like some sort of monster. He tore away her shell, revealing the cultist beneath and sinking his knife deep into her shoulder. Zurui fell with a cry of fear, staring at the thief with terror.

"No! Please!"

Kurusu laughed, the sound scalding. "I don't take orders from anyone!"

"Akira!" Sakamoto called out in a firm voice. The black haired teen looked up, those yellow eyes still brimming with rage. "Shirogane, can you still summon your Persona?"

Naoto spun their gun into their hand, the arcana card shimmering into view. "Barely. Why do you ask?" They had a feeling they knew what Sakamoto was going to ask, but they wanted to make sure.

Kurusu bolted over to them, racing over the ground at that same breathtaking speed. "Get ready to hit him, and don't be afraid to hit hard." Naoto watched, fear building in their chest as the thief got closer and closer. At the last possible moment, Sakamoto shouted. "Now!"

Sukuna-Hikona's sword slammed into Kurusu's chest in a split second, the boy letting out a sharp cry as he was stopped so roughly. Sakamoto wrapped his arms around Kurusu, holding him tightly. The thief struggled for a moment, before starting to calm, his eyes flickering between red and yellow, then fading to gray. His body completely relaxed, becoming limp in Sakamoto's grip.

After a few more moments, Kurusu stood, though he gripped Sakamoto's shoulder firmly. "Guide me over to her, I still can't see shit." Naoto walked over with them, wanting to make sure Kurusu wouldn't snap like that again. "Damned cultist."

Zurui tried to scramble backwards, but the knife in her arm prevented that. "Don't come any closer! You might have defeated me again, but I still don't believe you can beat my master, not even with that power. And...I really didn't mean it when I said I didn't care about Tafu." Her voice had some note of remorse. "He might hate me, and that's ok. You're unable to stop it, but you're still strong. I'll at least acknowledge that. So when the worlds collide, keep him safe. That's all I ask." Her form was dissolving, turning into shadow.

"I will." Kurusu turned his sightless eyes up, searching for where the Investigation Team was helping Tafu. It's his sense of justice. It's what he always relies on. "I don't know what the hell you mean by the worlds colliding, but I won't just keep your son safe." There was a snarl in his words, and Naoto felt the fires burning within them matching the passion Kurusu had.

"I'll stop these worlds from merging if it's the last thing I do."

Zurui laughed. "That will be your downfall, God Slayers." Without anymore explanation, Zurui was gone, returning to her supposed master. Despite the ominous words, Naoto felt rather warm inside. This is the true passion of the Persona users.

This is what we were meant to do.