Right, this chapter is a little weird because this was actually supposed to be one large chapter but it went on for an insanely long time so I've split them up into two to make it a lot easier to read and I've added extra story plots for this one and the next one. I don't think people will appreciate a massive 20k word chapter plus I don't want to edit something that large either. No way.
Anyway the second half just need to be cleaned up and I'll put that in too. If anything please review to ask any questions or opinions. I'll answer them as soon and as best I can. Also the title of the chapter is the same name as the battle music from Digital Devil Saga 2 (Amazing game).
"Mitsuru-san?"
The head of the Kirijo group looked over at the anti shadow weapon sitting opposite her with an expression telling her to continue. She looked uncomfortable as her mind was seemingly on something and wasn't sure it would come out strange because of the absurdity of what it was. Mitsuru quickly caught on how out of character it seemed for, even as a machine with a soul by all technicalities this was very much unlike her.
"Is there something wrong? Please speak your mind."
Aigis sighed, it was something she found rare to do when she was feeling like her soul was on full display.
"After being in Seta-san's room I feel like I'm being sent into a direction, it's hard for me to explain. Like their power compelling me to go somewhere..."
Mitsuru leaned forward, obviously curious at the sudden development. Whenever it was the matter of the soul, she knew better than to ignore it because it was always the best indication of where to go next or if there was something wrong.
"Has something stirred inside you?"
Aigis nodded.
Mitsuru hummed, acknowledging that this was a delicate situation, there was a supernatural being running around with a user of the Wild Card stuck in the TV World with the only team mate of his that can remember him running after him. And now Aigis has a need to be somewhere. In her mind she knew it was risky given the circumstance but the past couple days have been nothing but gambles. Seemingly most of Naoto's one have worked out, maybe it's about time she rolled the dice herself.
"If you were able to direct us to where you need us to go, do you think you would be able to take us there?"
Aigis looked up in confusion for a moment, unsure at what her team leader was asking of them.
"What do you mean?"
Mitsuru shook her head but put on a comforting smile.
"Whatever you are feeling, I think it might be the key to the next part of figuring out what is going on, it's obvious that whatever happened in that apartment resonated with you in some shape or form, you wouldn't be feeling that if you weren't. It might also be important in supporting Shirogane-san from the other side too."
Letting Mitsuru's words sink in, Aigis ran through her system to make sure this feeling wasn't an anomaly and not leading them down a weird goose chase. No matter how many micro-diagnostics she ran as she sat in thought, she couldn't shake off this feeling so she knew it was a matter of the soul coming into place. Raising her head slowly she made eye contact with her captain and nodded. The head of the Kirijo group smiled at the sudden resolution. There was nothing more Mitsuru liked than someone who was sure of themselves in a given situation. Given the metaphorical barrel they were staring down, it only put her at ease.
"Yes, I will."
Mitsuru's smile only grew.
"Good..." Slamming her hand on the button to call the driver.
"Yes Kirijo-sama?"
"I need you to follow Aigis-san's direction to a T. No deviation unless absolutely necessary."
There was a hum of acknowledgement over the intercom.
"Of course Kirijo-sama. Aigis-san, where would you like to go."
The Wild Card user turned to Mitsuru who had a rare confident smirk on her expression.
"It's all yours Aigis-san."
...
...
"This ends here, this ends now." Amanozako scoffed, weapons ready.
"You are nothing but a human being handheld by a God who has everything. Nothing but a fake." Naoto laughed openly before a smirk plastered across her face. Her narrowed dangerously on her opponent, taking her insult as nothing but banter.
"Irony coming from you."
"I've had it!" She lunged at the pair, her familiars joining in as they circled her like option bits waiting to strike her target.
"I'll take the wolf and the bird!" Margret said confidently as she summoned Helel. Her compendium glowed with power as it floated ahead of her. Naoto only nodded before Margaret jetted away at the speed of light.
"Helel, you know what to do!"
The persona nodded as it charged at the wolf with Margret flying directly into the Daoshi and blocking it's claws with her tome. Amanozako growled as she made contact, her long nails swiped for Naoto's face as she blocked with Souji's sword as she parried back and swiped for the god's head. She ducked before one of the floating ethereal blades shot forward attempting to embed themselves into Naoto's chest but she used her revolver to blast all four individual knives causing them to blow up in midair. Amanozako grunted before drawing a large two handed katana herself and performed a large overhead swing. Naoto was just about able to block it in time as she pushed back against it with the Toukasa blade. The blades grinded together causing sparks to be omitted before the long nosed god turned and did a sideways slash aiming for her midsection but the Sleuth flicked her wrist and drew her revolver blasting Amanozako squarely in the face multiple times before jumping back.
"Persona change, Sraosha!" Naoto then raised her hand, the Justice Arcana appearing before her before she crushed it, activating it.
"Power Charge!" She felt the full power as her muscles bulge slightly from the ability coursing through her body. Amanozako rubbed the magical smoke from her eyes, the scowl on her face even more twisted in anger at being hit. Through the mist, seeing Naoto's with a soft smirk only made her divine blood boil.
"You'll regret that." Amanozako growled as she charged her slashes now being parried with ease as Naoto deflected each incoming blow with precision as her extra power allowed her to shrug off attacks. Moving on the offensive, she pushed back with her sword with a couple slashes before throwing it up into the air. It took Naoto a second to take advantage of the distraction as the melee weapon pulled the god's attention away from herself long enough for Naoto to draw her revolver and fanned the hammer causing all 6 rounds of them to hit Amanozako in the chest, knocking her cleanly off her feet. Expertly catching the blade on the way down before pointing it back at her enemy. She felt her body contract a little as the power charge wore off, her arms and legs relaxing as a result.
...
Helel caught the paw of Amanosaku and punched the wolf directly in the face. It shrugged it off with the shake of the head and roared in the face of the Persona. All it did was cause Helel to punch it again making the wolf to tackle the Persona to the ground. Teleporting under it back to Margaret who parried a swipe from the tengu before hitting it with a baseball bat style swing to the head with her tome making it reel back a considerable distance. Opening her compendium...
"Ardha, heed my call!" Helel quickly faded away into the air leaving behind nothing but a sinister smile as the half male, half female Hindu god appeared in front of the Velvet Room attendant in a tornado of fire clipping both of the shadow beasts and pushing them back. Once the embers dissipated, they flexed their arms at their newly appointed freedom. Margret continued to flick through her book until she got to a page she wanted. Concentrating as much as she could, she floated off the floor.
"Now! God's Hand!" Ardha flexed its arms and pressed them against the floor. The skies started to open. A giant meteoric fist from the heavens pierced through the night sky descending on the targets below. Daoshi managed to fly out of the way just in time but the wolf was caught under it's huge weight before it crashed into the ground in a massive explosion causing a shockwave rippled through the air. The resulting sonic boom more than enough to alert all of the participants of the battle that the first large attack had been thrown down.
From an off angle Daoshi dove in claws first as Margaret blocked with her tome but was pushed back from the impact. She held it off with her Le Grimoire, pouring spiritual energy into it to keep the tengu at bay as it's claws started to poke out from the sides of her tome. She could feel her arms tremble from the pressure but she gritted her teeth and tried to heave back in defence. After a couple seconds, she felt the weight of the enemy weakening until her Persona wrapped their arms around the tengu's waist before heaving it up with its gargantuan strength and planting it with a German Suplex right on its head making the ground to quake from the impact.
The attendant stumbled back a bit, pleased by her Persona's resourcefulness with a smile. Turning to her left, the roar of Amanosaku deafened the night sky as it leaped out of the rubble from Margaret's last attack only to be intercepted in mid air from Ardha jumping at it elbow first, bringing it to the ground with a large crash.
"Good work Ardha,"
...
Naoto skipped back gaining distance after she dodged multiple blasts of energy from Amanozako. The grip on her beloved's weapon tighter than ever. Naoto blocked another incoming slash with one of the knives before she launched them into the air for them to rain down on the Sleuth. Rolling out of the way she fired upwards deflecting any of the ethereal weapons that got close but suddenly realised her target wasn't there. Suddenly her brain came alive like a sixth sense poured through her being, the deep voice of Izanagi-no-Okami invaded her senses without warning.
Behind you child
She whipped herself round, just able to get out of the way in time as Amanozako's energy infused fist which almost collided with her back. Naoto fired a couple shots forcing her to block them before running in to press her advantage blade in hand and ready. Pushing forward as she swung with Toukasa Blade forcing another block and parry, sparks flying with each strike. She spun in place, the slash to the mid section knocking the god back a little from the unsuspecting force before another one aimed for the face made Amanozako reel back seemingly just missing it's mark. Her right hand came to her face clutching her cheek.
"H-How dare you?"
Naoto said nothing as her sword poised again ready to strike. The god lowered her hand to see a gash across the left side of her face. She growled in anger as she lunged again with a kick aimed to Naoto's midsection which the Sleuth deflected with her leg before jumping back to create distance.
"Sraosha!" Naoto called, raising a hand into the air forming a card in her hand. The soft blue aura lighting up the area around them.
"Ziodyne!" From her extended hand a pillar of electricity shot forward like a beam. The lightning crackled and crashed, bellowing through the air as it aimed directly at its target. Amanozako only grinned as it came towards her, her ethereal short blade imbued with the energy of the gods. At the point of impact she used her weapon to swat the beam of energy away into the sky, exploding into the air in a fireworks display of sparks and bolts.
"Weak!" The god's hand flowed with purple energy and pointed it to the ground. A large chunk of the earth was lifted from the ground and the giant rock crumbled under the magical energy fed into it. What was left was improvised granite daggers floating through the air. Naoto frowned, lifting her right heel in preparation to move as she saw the smirk coming from Amanaozako's face. With a single point of the hand, the daggers jet through the sky, homing in on the Sleuth. Cursing under her breath, Naoto was able to spin and duck out of the way for some of them, the Tousaka Blade cutting whatever it could out of the air. Naoto grimaced as one caught her leg, just skimming across her left shin, before rolling to the side into cover. Only then she noticed she also took a hit on her right arm, ripping through her shirt sleeve leaving a gash on her arm. The sound of them battering the marble plaque she was hiding behind made her heart thump as the threat only pumped more adrenaline through her body.
"You can't escape from me!"
Lifting her hands into the air the floor started to quake around Naoto. The Detective looked around her at the sudden shift of terra firma. She quickly got up on her feet and moved out at what seemed to be glowing ground in her vicinity. Leaping out of the way, the ground began to collapse as it fell away from the rest of the street they were fighting in. She shifted, hoping to find new cover but struggled in the area's open space knowing she was a sitting duck in the open.
"You must be aware that as a deity, I have powers you can't even fathom. Here in this world, mine are just as amplified as yours. It doesn't matter how many Persona you have, it doesn't matter how powerful they are. You will die by my hand."
Naoto grimaced as she stumbled slightly, feeling the pain in her leg, disabling her movement for a second.
"..."
Amanozako's hand turned a pearl white before Naoto felt a drop in the temperature even from their distance apart. Thinking quickly...
"Persona Change! Isis!"
She felt the new voices in her head begin to mumble as her enemy started their next cast. Taking a deep breath, Naoto stood her ground as she saw the ground start to frost over, her prediction of an ice related attack fuelling her confidence. Knowing of her immunity she charged forward, firing shot after shot in the possibility of either putting off the god's incantation to their attack or hitting them with enough damage that it would possibly fall after they finished it. Unfortunately the bullets bounced off her like an armoured shell as she smirked at the Sleuth's attempt of putting up a panicked offense. Naoto gritted her teeth before running at her, turning the blade as the curved end pointed forward.
"Have a taste of your own medicine! Bufudyne!" Screamed the sword tooth deity. Giant icicle spikes shot up from the ground heading in a giant wave towards the Detective. She smirked knowing that her plan had worked, now running head first into the attack to take full advantage of her tactical prowess. With the trust of her Persona, she tanked the hit causing the spell to have two effects. The first one was the attack absorbed any minor damage she already took, a relaxing sigh left her as she felt some of the gashes from the previous attack close up. The second one caused all of the Ice spikes to be redirected back at the original caster. Using the ice waves as a visual shield Naoto ran in behind it, getting ready for it to force an opening.
However Naoto hesitated as she saw the glint in her enemy's eye...
"Fool! Agidyne!" Amanozako's casting hand quickly turned red as she sent a massive orb of fire into the incoming icicle tsunami, shattering everything in its path. Due to everything in her sight Naoto's vision picked it up way too late and barely put her sword up in response before taking the impact head on, throwing her back as her body skidded across the frozen floor from the weight of the attack. Smirking at her planned bait and switch working, she stepped towards the fallen Detective, who struggled to get back on her feet using Souji's weapon as an aid to get up.
"You may have a god guiding you but your flesh and bones are still that of a human. I'll give you one thing, you have survived long enough and you've actually pissed me off..." Kicking the sword cleanly out of her hand causing her to fall back down, she cackled darkly as Naoto struggled to reach for it making sure she looked as pathetic as possible. Hearing her mumble something on the floor only made her smile wider.
"I hope you are saying your last wishes cause it better be. It's only going to make me feel better once you are dead..." Hurling the Sleuth up by the collar and into the air so her feet were suspended above the ground as Naoto struggled in her grip, she drew one more knife and aimed directly for her throat.
"I hope the higher plane is good to you." She was about to go for the stab but she saw Naoto pop a toothy grin.
"Got you."
"Huh?"
Suddenly the area around them erupted in a purple explosion, knocking Naoto out of her grip so she could roll away and retrieve Souji's weapon to get some distance. Amanozako stumbled back from the hit, her mood souring instantly as her anger continued to boil over.
"You wench what have you-"
"Catch!" Naoto threw Souji's weapon directly at her blade first as hard as she could as it soared through the air with deadly accuracy. With no time to react, the blade was embedded into God's chest at the same point where her body flashed purple from before.
"What did you-"
"Yamato Sumeragi, now!" Naoto aimed her revolver with Yamato Sumeragi clutching at her arm, feeding it as much magical energy as it could before she fired a shot so powerful that it was enough to blow her back off her feet. The shot hit its mark as it caught the hilt of Toukasa Blade, pushing the weapon feather in before exploding in a cloud of purple and white almighty smoke. The shockwave from the multiple magical forces at work was enough to disrupt the adjacent battle of Margaret and Amanozako's two pets who looked over to see what happened. Margaret couldn't help but grin at Naoto slowly overcoming her enemy, showing that they've made great progress in taming this situation once and for all. Seeing her ability and how she fought reminded her of the same tenacity, the same drive and determination that her guest has. As the smoke cleared, Naoto could finally observe the damage. As the deity stumbled back, the hole in her chest now apparent from the impact of Naoto's attack. She coughed, seemingly unable to keep her balance as the gaping tunnel was now big enough to see right through her.
"H-How did you do that?" Naoto's frown turned into a small smile, reading her revolver to fire again.
"Why does it matter? I'm only human,"
"Urgh..."
Naoto looked on to see Margaret's fight as she danced out of Daoshi's grip before sending Loki to drive his fist into directly into its chest.
"Bufudyne!" The ghostly hand glowed an eerie white before the tengu's stomach started to freeze over. The bird-like monster tried to pull away but the ice began to spread faster and faster as it started to enclose it's body. It tried to swipe for Loki's face but the Persona grabbed it's claw and gripped it tight enough that the sub zero temperature of his hands caused them to freeze over in no time flat. In a burst of strength, Loki tightened his hand first causing the claws to freeze when with a burst of strength, he snapped them like wooden chopsticks under the pressure. The monster skwaked in pain as it's body continued to freeze over. Throwing the discarded nails to the side, Loki frowned in annoyance as he reeled his free fist back and slammed it into the Tengu's beak multiple times. The frozen body meant it could do nothing as it took shot after shot from the Persona who seemingly got more and more aggravated as each shot landed. It's head was nothing more than a boxing training bag as it rocked back and forth over and over again, slow cracks now forming in it's reinforced beak.
After a vigorous amount of shots to the face, it leaned forward lifeless as it's lower body was still encased in ice.
"Now Loki, Niflhiem!" Nodding at the command. Loki pulled it's hand away from the seemingly unconscious tengu before side stepping the partnering wolf as he pivoted around the sculpture of it's ethereal sibling before punching it hard enough as a deterrent making it jump back. Suddenly Loki began to laugh before booting the makeshift icicle statue towards the wolf who was forced to shift before placing his hands together and firing out a large ice beam at the immobilised demon. It could do nothing but take the hit full on as it's whole body froze over instantly before shattering from the force of the million ice shards crashing against it inside the concentrated beam of frigid air. Amanosaku managed to leap at Loki just as he was finishing his attack and wasn't able to dodge but Margaret was one step ahead.
"Recall!" Quickly Loki's body dissipated into thin air, any remnants returning to her compendium.
"Come forth! Yoshitsune!" The Samurai quickly remembering what it's opponent did in the last fight lunged from her compendium at breakneck speed, tackling it to the ground blade first causing the monster to howl loudly. The monster was taken completely by surprise by the tenacity of the spirit of the samurai.
"Unfortunately my team do not forget what you have done." Margaret's voice was almost sinister as she Yoshitsune held it down she slammed it with an energy blast from her Le Grimoire, knocking it off all fours allowing Yoshitsune to leap into the sky and embed one of its many swords into its chest and continued to stab it repeatedly causing it anguish. With each gouge of the blade, the target roared doing it's best to try and most out of the way from the relenting onslaught of the Samurai holding it down. Yoshitsune made sure to twist his sword with each strike making sure it felt the punishment of its crimes. After a couple seconds of applying damnation with his weapons he jumped off and leaped back to Margaret's side.
"I think it's time to put it out of its misery, Yoshitsune?"
The warrior nodded at the acknowledgment of his name, katana raised ready for he's master's next command. The two looked on to the down wolf as it struggled to get up from the damage it had sustained earlier. It was barely able to hold its form together as shadows started to flee it's being making it smaller every second.
"End it..." Gracefully pointing at the downed monster. "Hassou Tobi!"
Nodding, he planted his sword into the ground as she shockwave travelled to Amanosaku as it helplessly tried to hobble away. When the shockwave hit the monster, it was brought down again before the rain of invisible slashes landed on their down foe, with only Amanosaku knew it was the cuts running along the ground from each hit. The 8 slashes played out in slow motion as Margaret's trained golden eyes watched in amusement as the monster's body rocked from side to side with the momentum. After everything she's been through with it and as vindictive as it may, it brought her joy.
After the 8th hit, Amanozako's pet was finally given mercy as the attack ended, it's body lifeless as it hit the ground as it started to dissolve. Naoto looked on at the damaged deity, disfigured, hurt and looking considerably beaten. She growled under her teeth, as she looked on to her two pets, finally being destroyed by the attendant who she spent the better half of the day causing her a joke. Her hand felt around the gaping hole in her chest, savouring the void it left. It was that emptiness that she had felt for aeons under the shadow of Izanagi, Izanami and her father Susanoo. They were against everything she did, if it wasn't for them she wouldn't have to go through such extreme methods to get the era of the Gods to notice her. She couldn't not stop here when she was so close and she could wipe out all of those that said she was nothing but a troublemaker from existence. For her this is the path to rewrite history, to give the receipt of all those that had wronged her for thousands of years since the dawn of time itself. These mortals were nothing but a stepping stone in the path to greatness, a small test to allow her to step on to the throne of grandeur.
"This isn't over..."
"Give up, you have nowhere else to turn."
"You think this is over? You think this is OVER!?"
Her declaration felt very different to everything else that came before it. Everything up to now in the back of Naoto's mind was somewhat expected. Like she didn't predict everything that would happen but all of the things she had dealt with weren't outside the realms of possibility no matter how preposterous it seemed. This however made her insides churn as a feeling of dread started to wash over her. It seemed that they were making progress, finally able to nail down this situation and close it for good. But the way Amanozako shouted suddenly made her feel that the ending was a lot further away than she anticipated, maybe to the point where it was out of reach altogether.
Amanozako roared as she began to pulse with energy, gusts of wind blowing Naoto away as she skidded back slightly from the force of it. Growling from behind her arm as she used it for cover, she could feel the ethereal energy around them starting to shift and move like the waking sands in a desert. Peering over quickly at Margaret, she shot her back a look of concern, coming to the same conclusion that she did herself. Taking a step back, Naoto felt the ground under her feet begin to move as lines of blue energy seeped between the bricks and pavement lining on the floor. The ground continued to quake, making her knees wobble as she struggled to stay upright.
"Margaret!?"
The Secretary only nodded as Naoto bolted towards her, struggling to keep running as the terrain constantly changed and shifted under her footsteps.
"This moment will be my advent. I will not lose!" Amanozako called as she rose into the air, the energy in the ground flowing into her like a conduit filling her with a power they couldn't quite comprehend. Naoto's look of concern only got bigger as the tendrils came away from the god trying to ascend in the heat of battle as they linked into the floor, keeping connection to the ground like roots absorbing water. Naoto tried to take aim but the wind shear and brightness of the colours coming from her target made it hard to keep steady. Any shots made going wayward and any of them luckily to hit it's mark just pounced off harmlessly. Amanozako got high enough into the air, she encased herself in a red energy barrier circling around her creating a sort of energy shell as veins of ethereal substance continued to be pumped into it.
"What on earth? She could get stronger?"
Margaret's frown only deepened. tucking her compendium under her arm.
"It seems so, I didn't quite expect this. If I knew I would have held back a little."
Lightening began to crackle as the floor came apart, crumbling under the pressure of power forming above and around it. The wind in the air kicked up intensity, as Naoto felt her hair flapping against her skin to the mercy of the gusts swirling in the atmosphere. She struggled to reload her weapon as she looked on, her mind contemplating the next course of action. Standing ready, the pair guarded the front entrance of the station as Souji still laid prone under it. Naoto closed her eyes, thinking now was the best time to converse with her new Persona.
"Izanami, what is her plan?"
She could feel the gentle hum of the various spirits in conversation about the current situation. It gave her a minor headache at the sound of the voices in her head all going on at once. Just briefly she wondered if this is what Souji had to deal with all the time when they were fighting together.
"She's a known trouble maker in the land of the Gods. One that should never be trusted but due to her being a mythical being she has power reserves similar to me when we fought a year ago."
Naoto grimaced when doing the comparison of fights
"It took all of us to just take you down last time and we didn't even beat you..."
"Yes child of man that is true but it only took one to do the decisive blow."
Subconsciously Naoto turned to Souji's prone form.
"Considering the circumstances that doesn't fill me with positivity, do you have an idea on what she is turning into now?"
Izanami paused, seemingly thinking of answers in her memory.
"I'm aware she's a shape shifter. She is able to take on many forms of the human world and the plane of the Gods. what she could turn into could be almost anything. All we can do is see what she has become and fight what she throws at us."
"That fills me with confidence..."
Naoto looked on at the energy orb floating above them as it began to morph in shape. The energy was completely opaque making it impossible to see through as it was acting as a cocoon, like she was evolving.
"The amount of energy in this place is stifling. We might need to retreat." Margaret called snapping Naoto to focus.
"I agree but I'm not sure where too and we don't have many options here-"
She was cut off as the culmination of all of the energy erupted in a massive explosion. The resulting sonic boom blew open any windows that had survived the previous encounter as the ground was ripped up in its wake, turning and breaking under it's might. Anything not pulled up was splintered and crushed like an aftermath of an earthquake. Trees shook and fell, debris kicked up into the air as a gigantic roar flushed through the air increasing the feeling of turbulence around them. Naoto closed her eyes to protect them from the haze and gravel now in the sky from the various parts of earth and concrete lifted from the floor so it didn't blind her before waiting for the gusts to subside. She raised Souji's weapon to get ready as she felt the wave of power emanated from the epicentre of the force they were about to face but her eyes widened in shock as the energy began to morph in front of them.
Slowly the egg started to flex from whatever was inside. Unable to contain it's transformation, the shell started to expand quickly, the energy stretching from sudden growth, swelling as whatever was inside was about to burst. Due to the pressure from within, the shell stopped flexing and began to crack, beams of light seeping out through the broken lines as the sound of glass breaking echoed in the area as a giant claw burst from the cocoon before a second one joined it. The shell started to decent until the claws supported its weight on the ground. What was ever left of the floor shook under it's might as hind legs burst out from the back signalling to Naoto and the others that whatever she turned into was now a quadruped.
"What is that thing...?"
The sound of more glass breaking as a tail erupted, with the same thickness of a decades old tree as it wiggled then whipped against the ground almost emulating the sound of thunder. Cracks from the top before more rays of light shone upwards coating the dark sky in a light show of red before giant magnificent wings erupted from the top, something akin to a dragon. Naoto's eyes widened when she realised the scale of what she was fighting. Even from this far back looking at the size difference she estimated she was only half the height as one of its legs. Whatever was left of the orb started to be covered with fissures before the plumes of energy and ethereal gas poured from it signalling it's eruption.
The earth under them started to tremble as the red energy shaped into something akin to a Red European dragon as gravity forming from it started to pull the three of them in. Naoto and Margaret, who was holding Souji, dug their heels into the ground to stop themselves from being pulled in as the same energy that was feeding into it was now swirling around the epicentre. Naoto looked on, her legs quaking trying to step back in what was fear at what it could do. Margaret stiffened as she stood slightly behind Naoto, making sure her body was in between Souji and whatever this new monster was.
"What on earth..."
Once it hit the ground all the remains of the cocoon burst open, like shards of glass from an explosion as the god showed their true form. The intense glow blinded them for a second before the rays of light started to subside. Margaret growled in frustration as she felt the energy flowing around them all coming from the god they were fighting before. The feeling was intense in a way she hadn't experienced before. She looked at Naoto in concern who had her eyes glued on the newly formed enemy.
"This is dangerous..."
Naoto's curt nod said everything she needed to know about the situation. Suddenly the entity roared, causing a shockwave to rip through around them as they took cover, the clothes flapping violently in the wind. The battle cry sent shivers down their spines as the stakes were raised to the next level. Looking on, the rest of the shell started to fall to the floor, shattering to pieces as it hit the floor quickly disappearing into dust. Naoto looking up noticed whatever it was staring back at them with an intensity she hadn't seen in years since Izanami revealed her true form. Something about the stillness in the air made it hard to breath as the two enemies seized each other up. Naoto's fingers drummed against the hilt of her beloved's weapon, shoulders tense waiting for whatever it was in front of them to make a move.
The dragon roared again, it's three heads snapping separately as it's claws crumpled whatever rubble was under it. The flap of it's mighty wings was strong enough to pick up rocks and trees in its wake. The red scales coursed with neon green energy that pulsed rapidly and intensely, all of them leading up to the emerald crystal embedded into the middle head. The one to Naoto's left was similar to the one of the Tengu she fought earlier while the one to the right had a wolf's head, all it did was growl continuously, like it was hungry and was ready to set up its prey. From what Naoto could see, she fused with her pets, and has now become something like a cross between a Cerberus and a dragon. The main centre head was a larger face of Amanozako as she shrieked temporarily making Naoto cover her hands with her ears. Her bladed teeth were even more pronounced as they scrapped together every time she moved her mouth, sending sparks everywhere. Her horns were now bigger and sharper as her red dilated eyes focused on the two beings opposing her who she could simply crush under her heel due to the size difference.
"This is what it feels like to be alive again!" Amanozako roared, it's voice booming into the night sky as she looked down at her two enemies. Her face smirking at the size difference, feeling the holy energy flowing through her veins. Taking a step forward, the ground shook under her massive weight, claws digging into the ground for grip as she moved. Naoto quickly moved her hands for her ears as she tried to balance herself on the shaking ground.
"Do you have any last wishes before wiping both of you from existence?" Naoto growled, lifting her weapon in defiance.
"Never!" She fired a number of shots but they faded before they got close to the dragon. It caused the god to laugh, the noise polluting the air around them.
"You really think you can beat me like this? You humans are more bullish than I thought. I have no idea why someone like Izanami would consider you worthy of anything however. She should have been the first to warn you that you are against powers that you cannot comprehend. You are wasted potential and once you are dealt with she will see the light. I will prove to you and to her that the only thing that should have the power that these children wield is me and soon enough the only thing that would be left is me."
Naoto fired again, getting exactly the same outcome, her bullets fading into existence in mid travel. Naoto's expression couldn't hide how puzzled she was at the sudden ineffectiveness of her weaponry after it worked before. Lowering her weapon...
"This isn't going to work..." Margaret pulled out her compendium and opened it. It glowed white as she shuffled through the pages trying to get a reading on the god in front of her. The sound of her fingers flicking page by page made Naoto turn around to see if she had anything.
"I can't get anything. Whatever it is around her is jamming my abilities."
The Sleuth looked on, seeing the worry on the Secretary's face only made her even more uneasy. There was something about this fight that just didn't make any sense.
"We can't back down now..." Holstering her gun, Naoto gripped Souji's blade with two hands before switching Persona.
"Izanagi-no-Okami, come to me." Souji's evolved Persona rose from behind her as it stood defiantly with pride and resolve, it's eyes not batting an eyelid in the form in front of it, seeing it nothing more than an obstacle in his path. The golden dust flowing from its white jacket gathered around them as it baved the pair of them in his divine breeze. Forming the card in her hand, she smashed causing Izanagi-no-Okami to raise it's weapon.
"Ziodyne!"
Thrusting it's weapon forward, a giant crash of lightning and thunder came from the sky with incredibly force on top of Amanozako as it exploded on impact kicking up a giant plume of gravel and smoke, the shock wave was enough to leave nothing but the howling of the bolt of energy ringing in both Naoto and Margaret's ears. If she couldn't use traditional weapons, spells would have to do. Due to the ethereal physics of them, by logic it should be able to bypass any protective shield she had. Through the smoke Izanagi-no-Okami eyes narrowed at what he sensed, putting up his weapon in a guarding stance.
"What is it Izanagi?"
"No effect,"
His voice rang softly in her head as she looked up. a Green barrier now apparent from the smoke seeping away. The shield flickered for a second before fading again as the attack had no visual effect on the enemy staring her down.
"Pathetic!" Amanozako taunted as she took another step forward, the floor quaking in her wake. "I've given you enough chances, I'm getting bored of your gimmicks. If I need to raze this place to the ground to make sure you stay dead I will."
She opened her mouth, a ball of fire forming as she charged her attack. She could feel herself being pulled forward by whatever she was doing as it caused a small vacuum effect bringing them closer.
"Margaret, hold on to Souji-kun."
"I will with my life Fortune!"
Naoto gritted her teeth as she weighed up her options quickly. The sheer amount of intensity coming from this attack was beyond something she'd felt before, even when fighting Izanami. She switched back to Yamato Sumeragi as she braced for impact. They were too out in the open to hide from the attack and with Souji with her they didn't have time to run, so she banked on the power of her Persona and rolled the dice.
"Go Yamato Sumeragi!" Her Persona shot out as it circled her, looking on at the attack that was changing the complexion of the air around them coming before looking back at Naoto in concern.
"Just trust me!" He nodded hesitantly, before flying around her again, and pointing towards the fireball that was charging a distance away from them. Naoto raised the Toukasa blade defensively to protect herself and the ones behind her hoping that she could channel Souji's grit and determination. She was their shield. She was Justice, she was resolute. Anything other than absolute victory was a failure from this situation so she couldn't fall here.
"Shield of Justice!" The imagery of an amass of riot shields came crashing down in front of her like a protective barrier. Pressing the sword against them she held firm as they fell away causing a transparent glowing dome to shield herself and the two others behind her. Naoto's body now tense but felt like titanium as her legs tensed to keep her ground to stop her from sliding from the incoming impact. Her newly formed reinforced structure stopping herself from moving. She felt a gentle palm press against her back as she looked behind her quickly, seeing the small smile of Margaret, a face full of determination as she felt her feed spiritual energy into her body. In her other arm, she had Souji's unconscious form cuddled close to her holding him tight.
Naoto tried to give her one of Souji's signature grins as a sign of encouragement which the secretary shot back one of her own. That was all she needed to face this head on.
"DIE!" The dragon roared as a tsunami of fire shot from her mouth easily pouring over anything she saw as tore up everything in sight. The earth was razed to the ground as plants, walls and everything else easily collapsed or worse melted under the attack. The flood of flames was continuous and unrelenting as it ripped through everything in its way, never stopping, never ceasing. Her hatred poured into every ember of this attack, consuming every inch it was capable of reaching.
Naoto winced as she pushed back the wave of the attack when it made contact, she felt her legs shift slightly as it kept coming. The pressure in her arms made them waver but she cried out making sure to not give ground. Due to the power of the attack, it began to seep through the ever growing cracks in her defensive barrier as the flames licked and scratched at her arms. It only took a couple seconds before the sheer force started to rip her sleeves to shreds, leaving her arms bare up to her shoulders as the loose bits of fabric fluttered away into the wind before burning up into the atmosphere as the fire attack surrounded their dome sanctuary within a sea of flames.
"Fortune!"
Naoto growled as she pushed back even more feeling herself stabilised as Margaret's power helped her hold against whatever was left. Her teeth clattered together as the ground shook, it started to give away around them, the protective shield the only thing keeping the terra firma under her, her battle partner and boyfriend together under the pressure of this war ending attack.
To the Sleuth what felt to her like hours but only within a few seconds the flames subsided as the fire around them started to fade away and dissipate around them. Slowly her eyes saw the form of Amanozako behind the blade of her weapon as the endless fire disappeared. Margaret gasped in tired shock at witnessing the image of destruction around them first hand. Naoto wheezed as her arms dropped, blade clattering to the ground as she struggled to get her breath back, dropping to one knee.
Around them was nothing but catastrophic damage as the place was burnt to the ground with nothing left around them other than scorched earth. Looking behind her, Margaret noticed that the front of Shinjuku station had the front of it wiped out completely as it was unable to take the attack. Looking on, small sparks of fire still littered the ground as the landscape of the battle field was seemingly changed permanently with parts of the ground completely gone or so severely damaged that it made travelling on it near impossible, hampering any more prospects of having combat on it.
"So you survived that one..." The god bellowed at the two, as Naoto struggled to look up back at her. "I'm almost impressed. Maybe there is more potential to the children of man than I first anticipated. Unfortunately, I'm not as remorseful as the others, and in another timeline we could have worked together to show the world of the god not to underestimate what was beneath them. A shame for you is that you are just flesh and bones of man, there isn't much to you other than that. You are nothing but a facade using the godly powers that are severely diluted compared to what they could be. This is why you are unworthy to wield that sort of power, you hold it back, And in your case, you are nothing but a fake, a standing for someone else. How did you expect to win?"
She raised her wings as green orbs of energy formed around her, hovering in formation as they pulsed with energy aiming directly at Naoto and Margaret at the pair.
"Fortune are you ok?" Margaret called as she wrapped her free arm around her shoulder.
"I... I can't move..." Naoto wheezed, exhausted beyond her body's limits. She could feel the strain of the muscles as she gasped for air as her heart beat erratically. Using up that much energy was pushing her to the brink.
"Oh no..." She looked up at the other incoming attack. Pulling out her compendium to summon a persona, any persona to help tank this hit. At that point she suddenly felt the cast fail as the amount of spiritual energy needed was not met. Her eyes widened...
"FALL!" The orbs of energy fired in their direction with a flap of her wings turning into pillars of light mid flight homing in on the trio at breakneck speed. They were defenceless as the beams began to rain above them, point of impact imminent.
Margaret closed her eyes and hoped for a miracle, Naoto was unable to move and she had nothing left. Shifting her body weight she made sure she was in the way between what was coming and her guest and his loved on. She said she would do anything for her guest and if it included giving up her life to make sure he was safe she would do it. Nothing was off limits...
*CLANG*
*BOOM*
The noise of the attack being intercepted as various explosions lit the sky around them in a green hue before fading as quickly as they came.
Margaret blinked, noticing she hadn't taken any damage at all, holding both the exhausted Naoto and the passed out Souji still in her arms.
"What the-!?"
The god's voice rang out in confusion as it looked on, not quite believing what she'd just witnessed. A single person stood defiantly, her golden irises stared back intently, eyes narrowing slightly. Her blue robe moved in the wind of the explosions. Both her and the dragon in front of her locked eyes for a couple second before she turned around to assist the people she saved
"Dear Sister, if you were having this much trouble why did you not call me?" Margaret looked up and turned around to see a welcoming hand offered to her. Peering up she saw the soft hand of her younger sister with a soft yet sly smile playing on her lips.
"Elizabeth?" The smile only grew.
"The one and only." Taking her hand softly, she helped pull Naoto and Margaret to their feet.
"W-What are you doing here?" It was a half shrug as she opened her free hand, a blue butterfly coming out before fluttering around them. The image made Margaret gasp, happy at the sudden turn of events. Seeing her older sister's expression it was a perfect time for her to elaborate.
"I was guided here by the power of the Wild Card. It had been agitated since a couple weeks ago and I think I've discovered why." She turned, looking on at the mighty three headed dragon in front of them.
"I think you are right..." Margaret agreed, her voice ragged. Looking on, bemused but incredibly happy to see her. "How did you find us?"
She pointed to the unconscious Souji.
"I had been tailing him until a certain someone became a part of his massive gamble. While most people are unaware of your dealings Sister, you are not exactly subtle in the way of this world." Margaret grinned sheepishly knowing that she had been caught out.
"I'm sorry-"
"Who the hell do you think you are!?" Amanozako roared as she took the attention of the three ladies. Seemingly infuriated at she had quickly been forgotten and her plans yet again been interfered with by a third party.
"I am Elizabeth, a wielder of the wild card. There are a lot of things I tolerate in this world but causing a ruckus with my family is not one of them." Her compendium shone as she floated, readying herself for battle as her eyes glowed with renewed strength.
"I don't care who you are but now I know you wield the power of the Wild Card I'll tear that from you as well." Elizabeth's signature smile never wavered.
"Try me,"
"You're death will be just as satisfying." She opened her mouth to charge another attack. The former attendant got ready, as she flicked through the pages of her compendium. Suddenly the blue butterfly in her grasp left her before fluttering in front of them protectively.
"Is there something wrong?" It was enough to break Elizabeth's concentration so she asked curiously as it fluttered around erratically. Suddenly a second one appeared, coming from the passed out Souji's hand where his velvet room key was earlier. In tandem they jetted around, in a dance as they fluttered around the four of them.
"What's happening?" Margaret asked lightly causing Elizabeth to shake her head.
"I have no idea. I've never seen it do this before..."
Suddenly from the sky a third one joined as they fluttered together to make a triangle. Every couple of seconds they rotated and swapped ends keeping a strict distance apart but holding their shape.
"Who is the third one?" Elizabeth asked curiously.
Naoto finally got her breath back. Leaned against Margaret for support. "It- It must be Aigis'..."
Elizabeth looked surprised. Her eyebrow raised in confusion not sure how to process that information. "She's here? Where?"
"T-The normal world,"
"Enough of this!" Amanozako roared as it fired another beam of fire directly at her target but it was quickly pushed back by the blue butterflies that protected them, causing the attack to disappear without a trace a second later.
"What!?"
Was the response from all four combatants as they watched on. The butterflies split up for a second now seemingly flying in an erratic movement again. This time the blue pixie dust like residue from their wings was a lot more pronounced. Margaret and Elizabeth looked intently as they tried to work out what was going on. After a couple seconds they formed a circle cycling rotation at what was leftover of the ground in front of them. The energy from them started to radiate around them like an appearance of another divine being. However for Margaret and Elizabeth the feeling was oddly familiar, something they hadn't experienced in years. Like it was a feeling of their youth and even then they couldn't put a finger on it.
"You feel that Sister?"
Margaret nodded, unable to put the feeling into words. "Yes I do, I don't know how to explain it..."
The three butterflies flew across the ground before a portal opened. The three of them covered their eyes as a hoard of the butterflies came pouring out of the portal in droves fluttering around the area and swarming the field in their bright vibrant colour. They quickly took over everything as they landed wherever they could before they started to settle. Some of them landed on the arms of the three ladies as one even landed on Naoto's cap less head as it settled into her hair before another one joined it. Amanozako looked on in genuine horror at the latest development, this was something she didn't account for and whoever was behind this had powers similar to herself.
"It can't be..."
"So the rumours were true..." Naoto turned to the sisters tiredly, confused at what they were referring too.
"What rumours?"
They both pointed forward as she turned around. Startled at the new body she took a step back in surprise almost bumping in to Margaret who grasped her shoulder to hold her steady. The butterflies fluttered around the new entity like a tornado, they stood perfectly still, their arms folded, seemingly focused purely on the god in front of him. Their white suit shimmered from the light of the butterflies, as it gently flapped in the wind along with their brown ponytail. Everyone looked on as the air around them started to feel serene as the air settled. Any fires that were still up were put out as the butterflies surrounded the area by their seemingly magical properties.
"Who would have thought this would happen?"
Naoto looked on curiously, noticing how deep the person's voice was assuming that they were male.
His deep voice was carried in the atmosphere as he unfolded his arms looking back at the four, a soft smile under his distinct face mask played on his face.
"Now who the hell are you?"
He scoffed as he looked on, un-phased by the situation at hand, if anything seemed disappointed by it all.
"You are after the power of the wild card yet you have no idea who I am? I'm insulted."
Shaking his head in mock despair he looked on.
"I'm the guardian of the Wild Card, I am the one who makes sure those that are deemed worthy stay so and watch over them from afar. Normally making a personal appearance is not something I would soil myself with but this situation has gone far past what I deem as normal."
"Master Philemon,"
"Master..."
The two sisters said, calling to him in shock that he'd appear and in relief in such a powerful ally. Turning to the two of them his smile turned sorrowful but gave the smallest waves in apology.
"I'm sorry I left it last minute ladies. I'm proud of the work you two have done to protect the user of the Wild Card and even become one in the process..."
Elizabeth blushed as she turned away embarrassingly.
"...But having one of the Gods of a higher plane try and mess with the balance of the world and seek the power for themselves is absolutely unacceptable." He took a deep breath, "And as the one that ultimately looks over them, this is a breach of the way of the gods that deserves punishment."
He turned back to Amanozako.
"How low must you have to sink? I can't wait until they show you just how powerful the users of the Wild Card are."
"Them? Powerful? For someone who sees all, have you missed everything that has happened already. They can barely stand how do you help something that's already lost."
He shook his head again.
"Once again you have no idea the power of the Wild Card and what it's capable of. It's about time we ended this farce and made this fight fair. Using the privileges of the Gods to fight the children of man is pathetic and you harm my own attendees in the process. Your delusions of grandeur end here as I've already lost my temper with your attitude and insolence.."
Philemon took his mask off and snapped his fingers. The swarm of butterflies flew out towards the dragon before engulfing her in their tens of thousands.
"What's the meaning of this!?" Amanozaku cried, quickly overwhelmed by the army of them.
"If you really want the power of the Wild Card you are going to have to earn it. You will fight them fairly. If Izanami can do so, so can you."
The rest of the butterflies surrounded the fighting trio and the man they were protecting. While Elizabeth was already in top shape, she could feel the calming aura of Philemon's blessing surrounding them as each flap of their wings brought them closer to the apex of physical condition. Naoto could only sigh as she felt her muscles start to relax and her mind beginning to focus again as the voices of her persona which were muted while she was tired, came back in full force.
"While I would want nothing more than to correct this mistake myself I'd prefer to leave the privilege to you. If anyone deserves to provide retribution after everything you have been through. I think once I'm done this will be quite a spectacle to watch however."
Naoto flexed her fingers as she felt all of her exhaustion and pains from before disappear like they never happened. It was like the Victory Cry skill was used but from an external source. Suddenly realising, she lifted Souji's weapon from where she dropped it and felt the comfortable weight in her hands yet again, hearing Izanagi hum at the feeling of her holding a weapon was a nice added touch.
"So who is that?" Naoto asked inquisitively. The question snapped Margaret back as she was watching her master in action.
"Oh sorry. It's been a while since I've seen him at work..." Shaking her head to get her bearings. "That is Master Philemon. We serve under him as the people to look out for his chosen ones, The bearers of the Wild Card. He is the person who we answer to due to his inability to directly get involved in situations of the life of man. However this is a matter of the gods, so I think he's taken a special exception to this..."
"Oh..." Naoto turned to him, his cool attitude and his ability to exclude confidence gave her a better feeling of the fight she was currently in.
"What have you done to me!?" Amanozako wailed as it thrashed against the prison of azure butterflies as it swarmed her and closed in like a moving wall. Her giant frame enclosed in a sea of blue with no way out giving a frightening feeling of claustrophobia.
"As I said, all I'm doing is levelling the playing field."
With another click of the fingers electricity bounced between the various flying insects as they continuously shocked the dragon stuck in the middle.
"NOOOOOO!"
"Can you feel that? That's the feeling of your divine protection being stripped from you."
"How can that be?"
"As I said, the power of the wild card. Your obsession should have taught you this. There is so much to learn that I can even use it to strip you of your greatest weapon. Behold what it feels like to be normal..."
He smirked, "...Relatively speaking..."
The group looked with mouths open in surprise as they saw the rampaging god be tormented and suffering in the attack Philemon created.
"My apologies for stepping out of line Master Philemon but what are you doing to her?" He turned back to one of his servants and shook his head.
"Oh all I'm doing is stripping her of the barrier that made her invulnerable to all attacks. I have complete faith in the three of you but using godly privileges is not something I or anyone from the higher plains agree with when testing the children of man. Also using the power distributed to bring upon destruction is not something I allow unless it's a given choice of the user themselves."
His smile only got wider. "Those are the rules."
"I CAN'T-!" Amanozako roared in pain as the butterflies started to slow down before they started to settle in place, seemingly their work done.
"Did you just heal us?" Naoto asked softly to the mysterious man still standing in front of them.
"Well I did say I'll make this fight fair. Oh you must be Naoto Shirogane." He bowed politely before standing up straight again, his expression curious, but yet joyful. "From what I can sense you are in possession of a World Reverse with a modified version of the Wild Card. How intriguing..."
"Ah how do you know?"
"I sense someone in there with you. That is not normal at all. A reverse of an extended power is also a strange one too but nevertheless, I do wonder what Izanami-sama would have to say if she saw."
The Sleuth looked down making him raise an eyebrow.
"Funny you should say that..."
"My child may I take over for a quick conversation?"
"Sure,"
Naoto felt her consciousness being put on the back burner in her mind, a sudden out of body experience as she now looked on as a passenger to her body. Like her and her Persona swapped places. She blinked at the new feeling, scared that now she had absolutely no control over her body from her brain and all she could do was watch through her eyes and observe, like it was a form of possession. Suddenly some of the things she fought in high school suddenly make sense.
Philemon's eyes widened as he saw Naoto change physically in front of her. Various strands of her hair turned black as her left eye morphed into an eerie green hue reminiscent of the god he was referring to just seconds earlier.
He couldn't help but laugh at the sudden development.
"Well that sure explains everything."
"I'm sorry Philemon, as you can see I was busy with a certain someone."
He took a quick glance back at the god as it tried to gather itself.
"Understandable,"
Shaking her head, Izanami only looked on, frowning slightly that this was still going on.
"I hope you don't mind I've become a vessel for the Wild Card for now to take on Susanoo's failed kin. Will this be an inconvenience?"
Shaking his head, his smile never wavered if anything it only grew wider.
"Not at all, I'm curious what she's capable of achieving after all. I'm surprised you've stuck around this long, you don't normally get involved yourself if you don't have to. So I must ask why are you still here and why have you joined with Fortune of all people?"
Izanami in Naoto's body looked back at Souji's body behind her.
"She tried to kill the living vessel of my husband, also she is said to be the vessel's lover. I couldn't have a more fitting person to host my spirit."
Philemon's right eyebrow raised in mirth at the simple yet logical reason.
"Yeah that will do it. Romance is such an interesting concept and love is a powerful emotion. Isn't that right Elizabeth?"
Blushing even deeper before she turned away again.
"Master can we not..."
Margaret giggled at the position her sister was left in.
"Why are you laughing? You are just as guilty as she is." Margaret blushed heavily herself, keeping shutting her mouth instantly. Turning back to the Amanozako who had just picked herself back up, he smiled at the trio.
"You know, I rarely get to do this often but Izanami got me thinking... I think I'll stick around as well."
"How so Master Philemon?" Margaret asked with a still small dust of pink in her cheeks.
"Hold out your hand,"
The elder sister did what she was told. Placing his hand on hers she gasped at the sudden flow of energy as he dissipated similar to a Persona, the butterflies in the sky and around them faded away leaving a soft blue dust in their wake before being carried off into the wind. It lasted no longer than a second before the light translucent glow coming from Margaret faded as she took in a deep breath.
"Did you just-?"
The elder attendant nodded slowly at her the god inhabiting Fortune's body, getting her breath back and the increase of power that came from it.
"I can use him as a Persona..."
Izanami smiled as she turned toward Amanozako, sword in hand.
"I'm sorry that took so long... Here..."
With that Naoto felt herself pushed into the driver's seat once again as her brain adjusted to the shift in consciousness. Her eye colour faded back into normal colour as her hair turned to normal. She shook the dizziness from her vision as she brought her palm to her forehead to try and relieve the throbbing pain for a second.
"Ok, that was strange..."
The elder sister looked on in confusion. "You back with us Fortune?"
Nodding slowly and standing up straight, she focused on the enemy in front of her. "Yeah I am, just not used to that at all."
The Trickster god now roared, in anger and frustration. It looked on at the three all ready for battle. With a great flap of the wings the gusts from it caused the three of them to cover their eyes.
"I only need a portion of my power to destroy the three of you. This game has gone on long enough. His interference will prove to be pointless."
The three got ready, weapons drawn, bodies ready for the real round two.
...
...
In Shinjuku, the head of the Kirijo Group's limo pulled up to a pavement as they got out of the back, not waiting for the driver to let them out. Mitsuru looked at Aigis, she noticed that her right palm had been closed for the majority of the drive here.
"What's in your hand?"
Aigis paused for a second, unsure if she should before shaking her head. Opening it a blue butterfly fluttered out and around them for a moment.
"The power of the Wild Card compelled me to come here. Not sure why but I feel like I need to bring it here..."
Suddenly the floor quaked like a small scale earthquake but nothing unusual for Japan's standards.
"Hmm that can't be a coincidence." Mitsuru called out as the butterfly started to head upwards out of the two's reach.
"Hey, shouldn't we give chase."
Aigis only shook her head.
"I think I was only here to deliver it, the voice inside my head said it will be back soon. I just hope we made it in time..."
Mitsuru could only look on in confusion.
"I see..."
...
...
...