Author's Note: Brief addendum, but I had an utter mental lapse when giving Akechi his 'given' name last chapter, since I had forgotten about the naming convention that both myself, the Evangelion dubs, and the localized Persona games took (namely, given name first, surname last). As such, Akechi's surname would be Shido, not Masayoshi.
As such, his 'birth name' is now Shimaru Shido.
(And yes, there will be at least one future scene that will have Joker mocking Akechi relentlessly for having such an alliterative name.)
On with the story!
xxxx
Sokila watched as one Persona learned from another.
"It's neat...watching you learn from yourself..."
The girl frowned as she fiddled with her crayons.
"I wish I was able to learn like that..."
She returned to drawing a portrait of the Second Child...who was wearing a pirate hat, for some reason. Probably to fit with the eyepatch?
"...if I had a Persona, what would mine look like?"
The faint haze of blue began to brighten-
xxxx
/Saturday: July 11, 2015/
/Room 23, 2nd Floor, Izanagi Dorms, Hakone Academy/
Shinji Ikari slowly opened his eyes, absentmindedly feeling his earbuds pop out. What...?
(After a brief bit of playtime with Sokila, Shinji considered his options. Finally, he told Igor of his decision. "I would like Andras to be Yaksini's apprentice...so he can learn Counter.")
Ah. Right. Blinking his eyes more rapidly, he turned to his phone...and frowned at the message therein:
NERV: GHOST ACTIVITY HAS HAD AN UNEXPECTED SPIKE. MISSION ACCEPTANCE IS REQUIRED.
Opening the Mission Board application, the Third Child frowned at the selection which had been forwarded to him:
SUBMITTED BY: Office of Cognitive and Spiritual Affairs (Hokkaido Prefecture)
LOCATION: Sapporo Dead Zone; Kushiro Dead Zone; Hakodate; Fukagawa
MISSION: Ghost subjugation and dispersal.
SUBMITTED BY: Takuto Maruki (NERV)
LOCATION: Various locations along the Eastern Seaboard of the United States of America
MISSION: Ghost subjugation and dispersal.
"...huh..." Well, it looked like his Saturday was shot. Why do I feel so irritated? Was it simply because his schedule had been interrupted? Would it have been any better had it been after school, or on Sunday? The work had to be done regardless.
He noticed another message, this time from Ayanami.
R. Ayanami: By the time you read this, I will be handling Ghost assignments in South America and Africa.
R. Ayanami: You will have to complete your assignments on your own.
Shinji grimaced; on the one hand, it was rather thoughtful that his fellow Evangelion-user had thought of him...but on the other, he was apparently going to be working solo. (Inwardly, he wondered if he could somehow get the Second Child's number. Why?)
Then again...an idea came to mind.
S. Ikari: Misato-san
S. Ikari: would it be okay if Kirishima helped me on a Ghost mission today?
Within a matter of moments, a reply came.
M. Katsuragi: gimme a sec
Not twenty seconds later, a flurry of responses came.
M. Katsuragi: whoa
M. Katsuragi: Mana-chan was like 'I AM WOMAN HEAR ME ROAR'
M. Katsuragi: lemme get a hold of Ritsky so Mana-chan's weapons can be unlocked
M. Katsuragi: head on over ᕕ(ᐛ)ᕗ
Shinji smiled; at least his upcoming day wouldn't be lonely. After leaving a notification in the Room 23 group text that he would be on a mission, he slowly concentrated before fading from sight.
xxxx
Right as Shinji Ikari knocked on Misato's apartment door (wow, that took less than five minutes; he's finally mastering Ayanami and Asuka's teleportation trick), her ward (and yep, that thought still took getting used to) had already worked herself into frantic pacing. She had half-expected Mana Kirishima to falter at putting her old bodysuit on, given the recent change of circumstances; rather, Mana-chan couldn't wait for an opportunity to have her axe and shield in a situation other than under Ritsuko Akagi's not-so-tender mercies.
"That him?" asked Mana, having foregone the use of her helmet.
"Probably," remarked Misato, idly sipping from a can of beer as she opened the door. "Yo, Shinji-kun. Good timing."
Whatever the boy wanted to say died an ugly death in his throat, as his eyes widened and his face burned red. "Erk," he choked out, looking away from her. "G-Good morning, Misato-san..."
"Eh?" Misato glanced down, and realized why. Ah. Blue shorts and a yellow tank top. Probably the lack of a bra. "Ah, I'm sure you'll be able to use this story to make your friends jealous later. Come on in and grab a bit of breakfast before you go."
"Uh...yes ma'am..."
As the two kids ate some toast with ochazuke, Misato noted the slight bit of awkwardness between them. To be expected, really. Time for an icebreaker! "So, Shinji-kun, what exactly made you think of Mana-chan for backup?"
The boy blinked. "Um, well...I sort of figured that Kirishima-san...kind of liked fighting...?"
Mana stared flatly. Misato inwardly sighed. Swing and a miss, Shinji-kun...
(Unbeknownst to them all, Pen-Pen - eating from a bowl of sardines - actually slapped his face with his flipper.)
"Yeah. I like fighting. Because I must have seemed like such a fighter compared to you, right?" said Mana with an annoyed expression, her tone dripping with enough sarcasm to drown a comedian.
Shinji froze. "Oh...um...did I...say something wrong...?"
"Look, people think things about each other that may or may not be completely accurate, so let's not get too mad at each other, m'kay?" Satisfied with her efforts, Misato looked over at her phone as it buzzed; Ritsuko had responded. "Mana-chan, you should be able to summon your weapons."
The girl quickly devoured the rest of her breakfast before practically hopping over to the middle of the living room. Deep down, Misato thought it sad that a teenager got so excited over having weapons that had been forged from such harrowing experiences.
(Then she remembered that those weapons were the only remnant of her sisters.)
(She inwardly cursed Shiro Tokita's name once more.)
xxxx
Mana Kirishima, once she concentrated, felt the familiar tug of soul with soul; it was akin to performing an old exercise that had been practiced a thousand times before. With an extension of her will, AIGIS and LABRYS phased into existence on her back...
xxxx
Both souls quietly embraced her.
xxxx
It was liberating, to have them by her side outside of NERV's sterile bowels. "Okay...so when do we leave?"
"Give me a second," said Shinji, finishing off the last of his toast. He quietly walked over towards her side. "Um...you don't mind if I put a hand on your shoulder, do you?"
"Go ahead." Seriously, it's just a hand.
The boy did so, closing his eyes. There was...an odd sensation. A very odd one. "What are you doing...?" she murmured.
"Um..." The Evangelion-user opened his eyes, a concerned expression on his face. "...I've only ever done this with Ayanami-san...but it's hard, with your...weapons."
"Why?"
"Because...of their souls."
"...so what, am I going to have to travel separately? How are we doing this?" At that moment, there was something that chimed, deep within...
xxxx
Big Sis quietly nudged her. "We can help."
xxxx
...and felt a dash of inspiration. "Here." With a seamless motion, she pulled AIGIS off of her back, holding it out towards Ikari. "Hold it in your other hand. If you drop it, I'll break you."
Shinji blanched, yet nonetheless obeyed her command. As he gripped onto the shield's handle...
xxxx
Little Sis quietly approached the form of a young man, bound to a terrifying Beast. "It's okay...will you take my hand...?"
Tentatively, the young man did so.
Little Sis smiled as she reached back towards Big Sis.
xxxx
...Mana could feel her very being connect with his...and not just him, but with something otherworldly. Something without limit. What the hell are you?
"I...I think I can do it, now." Shinji gazed calmly towards Misato Katsuragi. "We're off to Hokkaido, Misato-san."
"Take care, you two!"
Nodding, Ikari glanced back towards her, keeping a clammy hand on her shoulder. "Please keep calm...I don't know how it'll feel for you."
"How what will feel-?"
And then she lost the ability to speak as reality fell away.
xxxx
Misato watched silently as the two children - the boy, grimacing as he held a gigantic shield; the girl, standing stalwart with an axe on her back - began to flicker and dissolve into static, before fading away entirely.
"Good luck, you two..."
"Wark."
Misato smiled, glancing back at her pet. "Thanks for the pick-me-up."
The penguin trilled as he took another big gulp of savory fish.
xxxx
The sensation was different, this time. Though the world had shifted to a dreamy soup of gray, he had expected to feel...a shield.
Instead, there was the soft (yet undeniably strong) hand of a young girl with blonde hair and blue eyes. So many different images overlapped her wake, but all of the same person.
He thought his hand would be on the shoulder of Kirishima. Rather, it was on that of an older girl, with long hair colored a strange shade of light ash and blue mixed into an icy, platinum blue. This girl had her arm wrapped around Kirishima's torso, practically dragging her along as they moved through the sky.
The bond between the three girls was...tangible. Real. Far more substantial than that between Kirishima and himself.
(There was also the vague, phantom sensation of something - or someone - else lingering about the three girls, solidifying their bonds. It felt vaguely familiar, but he couldn't quite place it.)
"Don't think about it," whispered his Other, invisible to all. "Focus."
"Yes. Propel yourself forward through this ephemeral realm," hissed the unseen Beast, pushing them along through the air. "Think only of the destruction that thou shalt wage..."
The rest of the world was like molasses beneath them; Tokyo-3 fell away...Hakone...Kanagawa Prefecture...the Kanto region...then, the entirety of Honshu, arching through the 'sky' of this strange, otherly place...until, at last, the island of Hokkaido loomed before them.
Inexorably, Shinji was drawn to a familiar place, pockmarked with utter voids. Slowly, he willed himself (willed them all) to slowly disentangle...
xxxx
...and with a sudden shift, Shinji and Mana landed upon Mt. Moiwa, which overlooked the Sapporo Dead Zone. Not much had changed since he had last been here with Ayanami and Makoto Niijima...save for the fact that the militarized perimeter to the southern side of Sapporo's ruins was utterly overrun by Ghosts. "What...?"
"Man, that felt weird..." murmured Mana; she took a few moments to gather her bearings before looking towards the perimeter. "...huh. That's a lot of Ghosts...thousands of them..."
"What happened?"
"This sort of emergence usually only occurs whenever there's a large gathering of Acolytes, but they come with warning signs that are easily picked up on..." He looked at her with a questioning glance, prompting her to explain, "I've fought quite a few Ghosts in my time. Can't say I ever got to the point of facing an Acolyte, but I know how things are supposed to go..."
"...but why?"
Mana shrugged. "Who knows? All I know is the military presence here is FUBAR'd, and this many Ghosts will eventually start prowling...and I doubt you could coordinate enough monks, priests, or other spiritually-empowered people to deal with a group of this size..." With a sudden grin, Mana pulled LABRYS off of her back, yanking AIGIS away from Shinji with her other hand. "...guess we'll just have to take care of them all." Without hesitation, the girl charged down the hill, taking inhumanly large strides.
"Wait-!" yelled Shinji, his words dying as the girl moved further away. "...when she acts like that, why'd she get mad when I said she liked to fight...?" Shaking his head, Shinji focused on summoning Unit-01: there was work to do.
xxxx
The Ghosts meandered, crimson eyes seeking new life to sunder, and crush, and extinguish.
They felt Mana Kirishima's presence before she landed amongst them.
With a ferocious burst of spiritual power, Mana landed shield-first, crushing a small group of Ghosts beneath its bulk; as flickers of metaphysical energy was absorbed by the gem in AIGIS, Mana grinned viciously at the surrounding horde. "Boo," she taunted.
Howling - sounding akin to wounded animals, knowing not why they felt pain - the nearest Ghosts surged forward. With a seamless movement, Mana swung her axe about, bisecting the horde with terrifying ease; with each particular Ghost that was defeated, the gems in LABRYS and AIGIS glowed ever brighter, absorbing the remnants of the departed souls. To an outsider, it would have seemed a harrowing sight: the dead, smote and sundered by a death-dealing girl with an inhumanly large axe.
To Mana, she felt so alive! I've missed this, she thought with detachment, ducking underneath the outstretched hands of an obese Ghost. The more I defeat, the more empowered my weapons become. Without thinking, she angled her shield behind her, deflecting a woman's Ghost that tried to spear her back. The more powerful they become, the greater our bond becomes. Before long, there would be that familiar sensation of the axe becoming an extension of her very being, of the shield feeling like her very flesh, so stark were the sensations! The greater our bond, she leaned backward, dodging a Ghost's palm; her axe lashed up and over, bisecting it as it passed by. The greater our bond...the closer I am with you...
xxxx
One soul stood stalwartly, serving as her shield. The other stood defiantly, lashing out with furious fists against the world.
xxxx
...with you two...I can do anything...!
There was a sudden sense of warning in the pit of her soul, at the base of her spine; she impulsively jumped up, glancing down as a Ghost - no, two, three, five, seventeen?! - phased out of the ground, reaching up to tear at her-!
"Garula."
And then they weren't, as bursts of wind blasted them away.
Mana landed safely - swinging her axe through the spiritual 'flesh and bone' of her adversaries - and stared at the figure walking through the battlefield.
It was his Evangelion, and yet it seemed...different, than when she had last seen it. It now felt familiar, yet fuller: the Sun, as compared to the Moon. A purple demon with a single great horn, walking with purpose amidst the ruins. The body of the beast (why does it feel like it should be capitalized...?) flickered with orange lights as dozens of Ghost swirled about it, smashing into its A.T. Field. All the while, Shinji Ikari moved solemnly beside it, looking...unaffected, by the Ghosts. They phased through his body as though it were nothing. What in the hell...?
The Beast's eyes gleamed a vicious yellow.
And why...
"Wretched slaves. Hapless specters!"
...why did it feel like she could hear it talking? All she could hear were the screams of Ghosts (she absentmindedly swung her axe, moving on autopilot; more fell to her blade, as the locus of conflict swirled around Shinji Ikari and his Evangelion).
Impossibly, she could hear Ikari speak. "Sukukaja."
Shogoki's A.T. Field flickered with a flash of green; the very movements of the fusion of mind and soul vibrated at a higher frequency. Wait a second, that's a skill used by certain Archetypes and Personas...
Ikari said two more words. "Double Fangs."
The Evangelion hissed with tangible satisfaction, as its A.T. Field twisted and sharpened into twin blades along its forearms, and then it began to cut and cut and cut.
Mana stared with stunned silence as the Beast became a whirlwind of blades, eviscerating Ghosts by the dozens. At that moment, she realized just how doomed Shiro Tokita's ambition had been from the outset.
(Inwardly, she felt just a tad more bitter against that man. Worse was the sensation of revulsion she felt for Ikari, because how did a boy come across such power!?)
Gritting her teeth, Mana Kirishima gripped the handles of AIGIS and LABRYS, continuing her deadly dance.
xxxx
Thousands of Ghosts were reduced to hundreds, then hundreds to dozens; with Unit-01 drawing the most attention by far, this enabled Mana to carve her own sizable chunk out from the ghostly horde.
Shinji Ikari pondered quietly as his Evangelion moved with deadly grace, empowered (so to speak) by one of his newer Personas, one that had been fused during the same visit where Andras had been formed...
(The cards for Berith and Sandman fell into the orange pools; dissolving, they joined into the central cylinder, mixing - bringing along Double Fangs, Garula, and Dormin Rush - and morphing into a lean and fantastic figure. "Who shall charge against me?" he asked.)
...and as the battle had gone on, he sensed more and more aspects of Matador begin to bleed through, to the point where Shogoki was fighting with a single rapier fashioned from his A.T. Field (where did this knowledge come from?). Despite this, he felt strangely...detached. Was it the lack of tension? (So long as Unit-01 was the active avatar of his very soul, he had nothing to fear from the purely spiritual threat of the Ghosts.)
Or perhaps it had to do with the bodies of the JSDF personnel that became more visible as the Ghosts were further whittled down; some looked like they had just fallen asleep. Others possessed faces stricken with sheer terror. Not a few appeared...resigned, as if they had accepted the fate that had befallen them. How awful, he thought with a grimace. He raised his head, watching as Kirishima delivered the final blow with her axe. At last, silence reigned.
Their footsteps echoed loudly amidst the ruins; as Kirishima approached, he asked, "so...what do we do? With the bodies, I mean?"
"I think we leave them for the backup."
"Backup?"
Kirishima shrugged. "I was...ordered to observe, after certain Ghost eradication missions. Usually, places with any kind of military presence have eyes on them from long-range. Once they confirm that the target Ghosts have been neutralized, they'll arrive to retake the area."
In a fantastic bit of cosmic timing, Shinji's phone buzzed; reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the device and gazed at the Mission Board app.
SUBMITTED BY: Office of Cognitive and Spiritual Affairs (Hokkaido Prefecture)
LOCATION: Sapporo Dead Zone; Kushiro Dead Zone; Hakodate; Fukagawa
MISSION: Ghost subjugation and dispersal.
UPDATE: Sapporo Dead Zone - Recon has confirmed Mission Complete. Reinforcements en route to reoccupy Forward Defensive Area.
As he finished reading it aloud, he could hear the distant sound of helicopter rotors. "Ah...I think that's the military."
"Then are we done?"
"...I guess we move onto the next area. But...should we wait for them?"
Mana shook her head. "They know we have other places to be."
"...okay then." He glanced at AIGIS. "...um-"
"Yeah yeah, here." Kirishima was more casual now, yet...conflicted? She looked both satisfied and irritated.
(Maybe it was one of those 'girl' things he wasn't supposed to know about. He hoped it was only that.)
"Where to next?"
"...uh...I think Fukagawa is closest..."
"Then let's go."
Long before the military arrived to reclaim the land and their dead, Shinji and Mana had vanished into the divide between dimensions.
xxxx
/Tokyo-3/
As the short half-day of school ended, Toji Suzuhara found himself making his way towards the agreed-upon restaurant where Ryuji Sakamoto would meet with him. Before long, he found himself outside the doors of the Big Bang Beef Bowl Shop. "Huh...haven't been here in a while..." Steeling himself, the youthful adolescent entered the pleasant interior, quickly finding the booth where his new (guardian? Overseer? Oyabun? Sensei? Yeah, that fits.) sensei was sitting. "Yo!" said the older man. As Toji grabbed a seat, his eyes fell upon a plate of fried buns, with a few dipping sauces on the side. "Got us an appetizer, hope you don't mind."
"Nope," bluntly answered Toji, immediately grabbing a bun and tearing into it.
"...say, do schools still have lunch on the half-days?"
"They do at Hakone Academy," he said, absentmindedly speaking with his mouth full. (Part of him immediately braced for a correction in manners.)
"...so you've already had lunch?"
"Yep." (The correction wasn't coming?)
"Still hungry?"
"Eh, lunch today wasn't special." (The correction wasn't coming.)
"So that's a yes."
"Yeah." (This guy is the best!)
"Then pick something; we're gonna be busy afterwards, so you'll want as much energy as possible."
"Yes, sir!" Toji opted for one of the special ground beef bowls; although similar in looks to a Korean beef bowl, it had a very different flavor profile: less savory, more tangy and spicy. It was still delicious, and filling.
By the time they finished, Sakamoto-sensei had somehow wheedled out some of the details about his school life. "This Nebukawa sounds like quite the character. Can't imagine what it's like dealing with a period dedicated entirely to Second Impact."
Toji shrugged. "He's got some practical homemaking stuff, too."
"Practical?"
"...well, the Class Rep says it's practical. Don't have much chance to practice it myself."
"Fair enough. You mentioned this Class Rep a few times."
"Mostly because she's kind of a pain. She likes to get on my case."
"That a fact?"
"Yeah...why are you smiling?"
The older man smirked. "Do you think she's cute?"
"Like hell!" he impulsively retorted, because seriously!
His ire only made the man laugh. "Ah...takes me back."
"What, you gonna start telling stories?" Older people tended to wax nostalgic, based on how some of the teachers behaved; it's not like he could stop them from doing so, but it was so...lame.
Mercifully, his new sensei shook his head. "Nah, ain't gonna bore you. But us older folks like to remember. Telling it to a younger crowd helps convince us that it was still real, so be patient whenever that happens. You never know; even the act of listening might make their day."
"...I guess," he answered, not knowing how else to respond. (It felt like it would have been rude to disagree.)
After the man paid for their meal, he hoisted a rucksack over his left shoulder, while grabbing a cane with his right hand. They exited the restaurant-
"Took ya long enough to have lunch."
-only to be interrupted by an ugly man with the worst teeth he had ever seen! "Who're you?"
The lanky man looked at him with an irritated expression. "You ever heard of respecting your elders, kid?"
Before Toji could retort, Sakamoto-sensei laid a hand - a heavy hand - on his shoulder. "Can't blame a kid who's probably never met you before. From his perspective, you're just a weird stranger."
The strange man gave Sakamoto-sensei a massive stink eye. "Finally got rid of the dye, eh? How long have you been free of the blond?"
The taller man chuckled, leaning on his cane. "For real? Come on, I was yellow, not blond."
"It sometimes felt like you had the brains of a blond."
"Guess I heard it enough from the literal Horse's Mouth that it must have been true," cracked Sakamoto-sensei, staring none too subtly at the man's buck teeth.
Toji almost blanched at how bluntly he had called out the man's obvious deformity. "Uh..."
The man, instead of rising to Sakamoto-sensei's taunt, simply said, "I was patient enough to let you finish eating. Least you can do is hear me out, Ryuji."
"...fair enough, Kinshiro-san." And just like that, the social dynamics took a massive turning point. "Mind waiting a moment, Suzuhara-kun? This won't take long." He lowered the rucksack off of his shoulder, holding it out towards him. "Mind holding this?"
"Uh, sure thing." Toji promptly grabbed the bag and backed away, coming to a stop by the corner of the building; he watched as Sakamoto-sensei and the buck-toothed man moved several feet away from the front doors of the Big Bang Beef Bowl Shop, speaking in hushed tones. However, he could see Sakamoto-sensei look slightly more animated, in the way of someone who just got told something unpleasant and upsetting and vaguely frustrating all at once. Finally, after a few minutes, the unpleasant man rapped the back of his fist against Ryuji Sakamoto's shoulder; his new sensei simply grinned in response - tapping his cane against the side of the smaller man's shin - before walking away. As Sakamoto-sensei approached, he managed to ask, "uh...what was that about?"
"Just an old friend who had some...unpleasant news. Nothing you need to worry about, though."
"...who was that?"
Sakamoto-sensei answered, "that was Commissioner Morooka, current head of the A.T. Task Force for our entire country."
Toji, readjusting the rucksack on his back, nearly tripped over his feet, because what. "Wait...that guy?!"
"Yep."
"But...he looks..."
"Ugly? Freakish? In need of an orthodontist?"
"...well, yeah."
"Morooka's a stubborn coot. But that's partly what makes him effective; his looks make people underestimate him. Helps that he's a good trainer."
"He is?"
"Hell yeah he is; I was working alongside him before the A.T. Task Force officially existed as a government-sanctioned organization! You could even say he's one of my senpai."
"...huh...explains how close you two were."
Sakamoto-sensei shrugged, rubbing at a shoulder with his free hand. "We've been through some heavy sh-er, stuff."
"...you know, I hear worse from the Track Club. Ya don't have to keep yourself in check just for my sake."
"Maybe, but it's still not proper, you know? I already feel crappy enough for letting your table manners pass without comment, but I figured I'd be getting on your case enough later on as is."
Toji wisely didn't say anything (damn it, I thought he didn't care...eh, not that big of a deal, he's not really getting on me about it), falling into place behind Sakamoto-sensei as he hobbled along. "So...what now?"
"Now?" The older man now sported a devilish grin. "We're gonna take a trip to the Metaverse; I'm gonna whip you and your Persona into shape...except, you know, without the whip, but you get what I'm saying."
For a brief moment, Toji wondered just what getting whipped into shape would feel like. Hell, can't be any worse than the track team.
Then it was all swept aside by youthful exuberance, because who didn't want to get training in superpowers?!
Those thoughts consoled the young man as he followed Ryuji Sakamoto through the city; his new sensei seemed content to hobble along at his own particular pace. Despite his own impatience, Toji was smart enough to realize that whatever that buck-toothed man (seriously? That guy was the COMMISSIONER?!) had told Sakamoto-sensei...well, it was enough to at least weigh on the man. So he kept his mouth shut.
After all, he had enough experience in dealing with heavy crap to know how annoying it could be for others to pry.
After about a half-hour of walking, they had reached the northern outskirts of the city, at the threshold where urban sprawl transitioned abruptly to forested mountain slopes. "Ah...this should make for a good spot," said Sakamoto-sensei, gazing at the sign marking the Mount Kintoki Trailhead. "Hard to believe how quickly things can change..."
"Whaddya mean?"
"Visited Hakone a few times before. Mostly during the 2000's for mission work; every single time, it seemed like the city got bigger...specially after NERV set up shop and this place got labelled 'Tokyo-3'." The man chuckled, reaching into the pocket of his burgundy jacket. "Heck, there even used to be a big golf course where much of the downtown area now sits."
"...for real?"
"For real." Sakamoto-sensei pulled out what looked like a small tin badge of sorts: less elaborate than the one he had seen Misato Katsuragi wear, but no less important. "Might wanna hold on. We're about to make the shift."
Toji immediately grabbed a hold of the back of his sensei's jacket.
"Freelancer Ryuji Sakamoto, identification whiskey-tango-foxtrot-lambda-beep-boop-bop: activate cognitive tunnelling."
Moments later, a calmly robotic voice emerged from the tin device: "Cognitive tunneling: authorized."
Suddenly, Toji heard...an odd whisper in the back of his mind, slowly becoming louder as the colors of reality began to shift...
zhuu
zhuu
ZHUU
ZHUU
...until, at last, the blue sky gave way to the unnerving waves of red and black that characterized the cognitive world. "...that's freaky."
"Kind of. You get used to it."
"How did we even do that?"
Sakamoto-sensei quietly placed the badge back into his jacket pocket. "Freelancers are supposed to cross dimensions with a badge that syncs with the MAGI, much like the A.T. Agents do. We've got a bit more leeway in the ID tag we can use-"
"Was wondering about the 'beep-boop-bop'..."
"-and it also helps the government keep track of us Freelancers. Course, that doesn't stop some from seeking out...well, weirder ways of entering the Metaverse, but that's neither here nor there."
Toji glanced around; the trailhead had shifted in certain subtle ways, taking on the appearance of stairs going up the mountainside. Also, for some reason, a bunch of demons in white gis without arms were walking up and down the stairs without end. "...what's up with them?"
"Eh, just a reflection of the people that probably walk up and down that trail a lot. I mean, you don't usually use your arms when hiking up a trail."
"...makes sense."
"Now..." The freelancer quietly hobbled over to a patch of blank asphalt, bearing shades of real vehicles that flickered and shifted in model and size. "...let's get started. Persona!" With a flash of blue fire, the man's outfit was shrouded over by what he could only describe as a biker suit made of black leather, with a high collar and a red ascot and yellow gloves and DAMN he looked so cool! The man adjusted his red ascot, leaning on his cane (which now looked far sturdier and more elaborate, like a strange cross between a long rifle and a baton and a metal pipe) with a confident grin. The blue flames solidified into a majestic simian with a thick staff and a spiky yellow mohawk, standing atop a storm cloud with eyes. "This here's Seiten Taisei."
"...kind of getting some Son Goku vibes...or was it Sun Wukong?"
"Same thing, really."
"Ah."
"Now...you gotta summon yours."
"...how do I do that?"
"Just think about your Persona; about your other self; recall what you felt, when you made that connection...and then call it. Think of it like charging up, or something like that! Yell if it helps."
"...all right." Toji inhaled deeply, trying to recall that thick and heady soup of emotions that he had felt not six days ago. That sensation of loss, of resolution, of coming to terms...there. "PERSONA!" A rush of ghostly fire (it's not burning...?) swept over him. His school uniform gave way to the kimono and headband befitting a mythical being of Japanese folklore...or a really cool manga character. The fire solidified into the solid form of Gilgamesh, standing stalwart like a king. "This guy's name is Gilgamesh."
"Pretty sweet looking."
Toji looked at his Persona - towering over him - and couldn't help but agree. "Yeah." He tapped a finger against the golden gauntlet covering Gilgamesh's right arm. "It is...what are you doing?" he asked, watching Ryuji Sakamoto dip his arm into the cloud that the Monkey King stood upon.
"Just grabbing a little something." The man inexplicably withdrew a boombox, of all things. "Anyhow...Seiten Taisei, put him through the paces."
The impish Persona grinned.
Before Toji knew it, Gilgamesh was speared by Seiten Taisei's staff in the chest (why do I feel a weird sting?); the boy could only blink as the cloud-surfing Persona carried his own into the woods, causing numerous spirits and monsters (Archetypes, that's what they're called...) to scatter. "...eh?" He whirled towards his new sensei. "The hell?!"
The freelancer had a devilish grin on his face. "My Persona will keep yours occupied. As for you...you'll be working with me." Reaching down to the boombox, Sakamoto-sensei pressed the play button.
A metal instrumental began to play, with two electric guitars dueling each other. "If you get better, so will your Persona, cause y'all are one, deep down. So bring that stick of yours over here and show me what you're made of!"
Toji blinked...but not for long. Puffing his chest up, the boy set the man's rucksack down on the ground before holding his staff of gnarled wood up with both hands, a determined expression spreading across his face. "You asked for it!" With a boisterous yell, he charged at the freelancer.
(It didn't take long for Toji Suzuhara to learn that Ryuji Sakamoto was deceptively agile for a guy with a bum leg.)
xxxx
Meanwhile, as Toji Suzuhara trained in the Metaverse with Ryuji Sakamoto, Shinji Ikari and Mana Kirishima were almost at their next destination.
xxxx
The sensations had become routine, by now. Almost shockingly quickly.
From the ruins of Sapporo, they had gone to the rice paddies and apple orchards of Fukagawa; from there to the outskirts of Hakodate, which was still a vibrant city; from that place of life to the Kushiro Dead Zone, which had been distressing in an entirely different way than the Sapporo Dead. Whatever had happened to that city however many years ago, it had been reduced to a proverbial ghost town. Or, perhaps ghost city was more appropriate.
What had happened, to depopulate an entire city with practically no collateral damage?
Such was the psychological scar that had devoured all of Kushiro's cognitive landscape, lingering years after the fact. Such was the void that had rendered a continuous military presence impractical.
In the end, the Ghosts had been dealt with like all the others.
Thus did they begin the trek across the Pacific, towards the lands of America. The mission to Atlanta made the foray...simpler.
Mana had stopped questioning how he was doing this strange dimensional shift; it worked, and that's what mattered.
Her acquiescence made this whole thing easier, even as his mind zeroed in on their final destination.
"The connections between humanity are closer than you think," advised his Other. "You desire to make it to a certain place; thus do your mind, soul, and will make it so."
"Questioning it is useless," crooned the Beast, quietly running a hand along the heads of AIGIS, LABRYS, and Mana. The living weapons bristled at her touch; the latter didn't react. "You must do it, and so you shall. Do not trouble yourself with needless trifles."
Yet...the lack of knowledge was something that bothered him. It did nothing to resolve the questions he had about so many things.
And thus he would endure, no matter what.
So he maintained his focus, slowly drawing closer to a particular place, where the echoes of nearby thoughts called to him...
xxxx
...and with a sudden shift, he and Mana Kirishima landed at the edge of a river in the dead of night. There was an office complex of sorts amidst a green field, but they could make out little else. Certain aspects of the surrounding metro area could be seen just based on the skyglow from the low-hanging clouds, but far more of the city appeared to be dead. This was especially notable based on the downtown area to the east; mere miles away, the black silhouettes of skyscrapers could be seen, all the more unsettling from the lack of light. "Huh..."
"Any idea where we are?" asked Kirishima, as she took her shield back from his hand.
"Well, the mission in the app said it was submitted by someone from NERV named Takuto Maruki-"
Without warning, security lights flared brightly, illuminating their position from all sides. Shinji impulsively yelped, dropping to his knees from the sudden disorientation; Mana quickly knelt down, hiding both of them behind AIGIS as best as she could. Angry and forceful shouts - all in English, as best as he could tell - could be heard, but they couldn't see anything through the bright lights.
Then canisters landed around them, spewing clouds of vapor that smelled oddly sweet and why was everything becoming wavy...?
"Damn it, sleeping gas-!" cursed Mana, who was coughing up a storm.
Ah, that sounds reasonable, idly thought Shinji before even the bright ambience faded away into darkness.
xxxx
Meanwhile, deep underground - a few hundred feet beneath the riverside park that Shinji and Mana had arrived in - a man and a woman were sleeping quietly in a relatively threadbare room. It was a testament to the fact that the two were generally deemed workaholics by their peers and subordinates, and as such didn't much care for decorating their personal sleeping quarters.
The man - in his late 30's - suddenly sat up with a jolt, the digital watch on his wrist buzzing with palpable irritation. "Ah, I thought I told the night crew that it was emergencies only..."
The woman - in her early 30's - grumbled from her side of the bed, muttering, "maybe for once it actually is an emergency..."
The man sighed, reaching over to the small nightstand for his phone. Whatever message had been sent through his phone had been flagged as important enough to warrant the 'buzzing wristwatch alert', because sometimes the phone alarms just didn't cut it. "Let's see..." His voice trailed off. "...oh no..."
"...what's up, Taco-kun...?" slurred the woman, slowly rising to wakefulness.
"...I think our security may have incapacitated the Third Child."
"...wait, seriously?"
"I'm looking at a picture of his unconscious face right now."
Grumbling, the woman sat up; she clapped her hands in a particular sequence, which caused the nearby table lamp to light up. "I told you that we can do better than those meatheads..."
"Unfortunately, our security budget is considerably less than our R&D budget," dryly admitted the man, running a hand through a messy mop of brown hair. Reaching for his black-rimmed glasses, Takuto Maruki - Director of NERV's First Branch - gave his wife a nervous grin. "At least they used the sevoflurane gas, so the side effects should be minimal...?"
The woman snorted, placing large, circular glasses on her face. With her shoulder-length hair frazzled because of bedhead, the single dyed streak of orange through her black tresses appeared like a frayed rope instead of a seamless curve. "Eh, competence is supposed to be a minimal expectation, not a feature," griped Futaba Maruki née Isshiki, Chief of the First Branch's Cognitive Psience Division. Reaching for her phone, she muttered, "2:32 AM...managed at least a few hours of sleep...welp, might as well inject some caffeine and introduce ourselves!"
"Come on dear, we should at least make ourselves look presentable."
"Eh, wouldn't be the first time I've worn your clothes when meeting new people," she joked.
"...you can take a shower and I'll have coffee and breakfast waiting by the time you get out," he answered with a tired smile.
The woman's mauve-colored eyes twinkled with impish glee. "Proposition: approved!"
xxxx
TO BE CONTINUED
xxxx
/and that's where we're cutting this chapter
/because by going from Japan to America
/Shinji and Mana basically went back to the 'beginning' of July 11
/but hey, WE'VE GOT A COGNITIVE PSIENCE POWER COUPLE IN THE HOUSE
/so that should make up for it :V