A/N: Its been a long time but I finally got an update done! If Kiryu's first trip into the Persona dimension was shocking enough, then the second time has to be better right?
There were better places to study than Junes' Food Court. The noise, smells, obnoxiously cheery advertisements that littered every corner except the tables themselves all contributed to exam study distraction, but finals were coming up and for some reason Yasogami high did not appreciate fur balls in the library. Morgana had apologized for that though, he just wasn't feeling well that day "Hmm..." Ren mumbled to himself as he strained his eyes to look intently at his phone displaying pirated practice exams and study materials for free, a black cat trying to discreetly eat a pre-packed sushi set underneath.
"I think you got that one right~" Morgana purred in between tactical munches of rice and fish as Ren scribbled something in his notebook.
"How do you even know?" He whispered back as he swiped over to the next page, a half-eaten rice ball cooling next to him.
"I just get a feeling," his companion justified "Like there's an unconscious tick when you get something right, you had it all the time in Tokyo." To be fair, Morgana had a valid point, the cat had managed to guess how well the delinquent had done on his exams as he was writing the answers down way before the results got posted on the board. Maybe he did have some subconscious tell, like his foot twitched or something.
"Alright, just... crap!" Ren hissed as he saw the giant of Junes walk through the food court, out of uniform but with the manager in tow as any crowd swiftly moved out of their way with no one daring to demand their attention "Hide!"
"If you're sure about this..." Yosuke sighed, shaking his head as the two walked "It's not exactly going to be easy to pull yourself out after tonight, once you look in to that world for real, its gonna be hard to look away."
"You managed." Hiroki shrugged as the sounds of a cat struggling into a bag caused his ear to twitch slightly.
"I got kicked out 'cause I flunked the physical," Yosuke reminded him as they made it to the elevators and stepped in "And not all the way. I mean if anything comes up here I'm gonna be raring to go, so I'm kinda there still just on a local level but its not anything I can really recommend." the young manager said, shaking his head as they headed down to the entrance
"Thanks Hanamura-san," the security guard nodded "I'll keep that in mind."
"Oh hey Hiroki, hey Yosuke!" Chie waved with a smile that was simultaneously bright and tired. The 'Yeah I only had 3 hours sleep but I definitely enjoyed the last 2 hours of being awake' look that matched her outfit. Out of her police uniform she was dressed fairly casually, wearing denim jeans, a green top that was held up by thin straps and covered by her dull but light blue open jacket that hung loosely over her shoulders.
"Hey Chie..." Yosuke groaned, of course they were making Chie do the running around. Well at least it was better than a security guard being picked up in a limo by someone who wears fur coats in summer "What's up?" he asked, already guessing the answer.
"Not much: just gotta pick up a few people for the other place, maybe do a bit of training and then watch a movie after maybe, who knows?" She shrugged with a smile.
"Did they tell you who you're picking up Satonaka?" Date asked as he strolled into the lobby, stubbing a cigarette out into a bin.
"Oh! H-hey detective! So you overheard that..." Chie jumped up, her smile quickly turning nervous "Its nothing that's affecting my-"
"Don't worry about it," the older detective waved off "So where are you taking us?"
"Huh?" Chie let out, blinking in confusion.
"These are the guys you gotta take to the other place," Yosuke explained for her, leaving her to make a sound that was almost like a duck's quack that stopped half-way as she stood slack-jawed in the lobby "And this is why I'm glad I never got passed the physical." he sighed as he turned back into the elevator.
The car ride out of Inaba was as awkward as their meeting, not helped by the fact that Chie's car was comparatively tiny compared to the police cars and Date's own ride, meaning it was a squeeze for the older man to get in the back seat while Kiryu, who Chie had only just found out was Hiroki, could feel his hair touching the roof. "So uh... what made you pick Inaba?" She asked, desperate to not let an awkward silence settle for too long while she didn't have to concentrate so hard on the open road.
"Seemed like a quiet town, whole thing was short notice so we didn't have time to look out Sendai way." the detective answered, putting a little to much emphasis on 'Seemed like' for Chie's liking. Like he was slightly blaming her for a witness protection program getting compromised like this.
"Yeah..." she trailed off in response, turning off the highway while the sprawl of Tokyo spread out across the horizon through the forested hills "We should be there pretty soon."
"So what do you do for these... Shadow Operatives?" Kiryu asked.
"Me? Oh, I'm kind of a reserve operative person," Chie explained "Mostly I'm just making sure the TV World doesn't start acting up again and no-one's messing in it. Other than Yosuke and Teddie."
"There's a TV Wo- of course there is..." Date sighed, just another fantastical thing to add on to the pile of crap he was suddenly involved in.
"Wait," Kiryu interrupted, answers to long lost questions suddenly in the balance "So if Yosuke knows of this TV world, and Teddie..." the ex-yakuza began, letting the gears turn "Has he been hiding inside of another world in a TV when he's supposed to be working?"
"He's still doing that?" Chie exasperatedly exclaimed "Sheesh, he was doing that when I was working part-time there! One time I had to go in and drag him out so he could make a grocery section shift." she complained as they drove off the main road, around another hill and past a bit of woods that had some... complicated feelings for the security guard in the passenger side, earning a stifled sigh as he tried to think past the distant memories.
"I think we're here," Date grunted as he caught sight of a red and white barrier arm across the road. A small camera on a pole beside it "How d'ya get in if the power's out?" He asked as the arm raised as soon as the Chie-mobile approached.
"Its got its own generator hooked up, pretty much everything here can work off the grid. It needs to." the brunette explained.
"And what happens when that goes out?" the detective continued as he pulled out his cigarette packet
"Uh... you get out and lift it?" she suggested as the main facility came into view. It honestly wasn't that impressive outside, almost looking like a generic industrial park out of the city. Square grey buildings linked connected by an expanse of asphalt with only a few trees breaking up the monotony of it. It was almost... disappointing how little style it had. This was supposed to be the headquarters of a super secret force backed by one of the richest women in Japan focused on the paranormal and well, it could have been any small factory in the country. Maybe that was the point, it was meant to be a secret after all.
"...Not that much security here, is there?" Kiryu noted as they pulled up. There wasn't exactly that many cameras that he could see, nor was the facility enclosed by anything more than a chain wire fence and that honestly flimsy looking barrier at the entrance.
"You're probably better off asking the people inside about that." Chie shrugged as she pulled into a parking space in amongst the unmarked white trucks, letting the two men climb out.
"Ugh!" Date groaned as he stretched out, finally free from the oppressive confines of the back seat of a reasonably priced hatchback "If there's a next time coming here we're taking a squad car," he grumbled as his legs shook, holding on to the nearest truck to regain his balance "Gahh..." the detective panted as everyone abandoned ship, following Chie inside to what seemed to be a fairly standard reception... with a very-not standard woman behind the desk.
Her hair was a pale and bright blue that positively glowed against the bland magnolia walls, a solid gun-metal grey headband stretched over the mess of hair and concealed the bright red headset that covered the young woman's ears, she looked like a teenager who'd been stuck on desk duty for five minutes and was already drumming her fingers across the counter top out of boredom when the three walked in "Heey! Chie-han!" She perked up with a big smile and a heavy Kansai accent "You finally made it here-" she said, leaping over the desk to grab the police officer by the hand, only for her to notice the two large men alongside her "Wait, wasn't there only supposed to be one of yous on the tour?" she asked, her hand still in a vice grip around Chie's
"Slight change of plan there..." she winced, pulling herself free with a visible amount of effort from what looked to Date and Kiryu like a normal teenager with a young person's wild fashion sense "Kazuma Kiryu, Detective Makoto Date, meet Labrys. She's one of our agents."
"At her age?" Date mumbled under his breath.
"Hey!" Labrys snapped "Age ain't nothing but a number. Especially to an android."
"Sorry, didn't mean to- WHAT!?" the detective recoiled, Kiryu joining suit in jumping back.
"Could have waited to tell them that..." Chie groaned.
"Oops," was all Labrys could reply with before resetting the conversation "But anyway, wasn't there only meant to be one guy with you?"
"It's... an arrangement," Kiryu answered, still processing the concept of a robot woman in front of him "Because of my circumstances, if I'm going to join the detective here needs to know about it."
"Yeah, what he said. I gotta know what's going on as well." Date nodded along, searching for his cigarette packet as Labrys seemed to accept the situation.
"Okay, but what happens here is a super secret. The only people who know about this place are the people who are supposed to know about this place... and Yosuke and friends who aren't a part of this but kinda are... and the EMMA people 'cause they needed to know for the map integration thing they're doing with the new app." Labrys explained. Of course she knew who Yosuke was at this point considering how well connected (if at arms length) Hanamura-san seemed to be with this whole affair.
Chie, however, was not so accepting "The EMMA people? Madicce Corp people have been here?" She repeated "They haven't even set things up in Inaba yet, why've they been here?" the spunky officer demanded.
"Whoa! Whoa, they spotted it on the satellite maps so they asked what it was. Gave them the 'High Energy Research' or something explanation and they just moved on. They've been doing it everywhere," Labrys responded, waving her hands across her face defensively "You really not got EMMA in Inaba? Eesch... I knew that place was the boonies but I didn't think it was that bad."
"Anyway-" Kiryu interjected before the argument got any worse "Who's supposed to be giving this 'tour' here?" he asked.
"Oh! That's me," the robotic receptionist answered, literally jumping back behind the desk to type something into the computer "Okay, I think everything's ready if you wanna follow me, I'll take you to Sanada-han's office first. Chie, if you wanna go get set up in the practice room now..." she said, reaching for the unassuming door behind her
Far from the mundane front this building put up, once Date and Kiryu were beyond the facade the facility looked out of this world. All sleek and white panels broken up by large windows which allowed a glance in to the complicated machinery and scribbled formulas inside "Sanada works here?" Date asked incredulously.
"Yeah, not in the labs though. We keep him away from anything delicate with a stick." Labrys dismissed as they walked past a doorway clearly labelled 'Viewing Gallery' and past the laboratories, ominous green glows poking through the occasional door.
Unlike everything sci-fi in the research lab they'd just seen, Akihiko's office looked 100% exactly as the two had imagined it. Home gym equipment was pressed in wherever it could be, piled up just in case the man in question wanted to pull anything out at a moments notice, a hammock swinging in from the ceiling that looked as well used as anything, a mini fridge for all the convenience that someone who was on first-name terms with the owner of the Kirijo group could ask for and a desk with an in tray that had gone far past the point of being piled high and was now claiming more territory as its own, including a nearby keyboard that the man himself was trying to use. "Oh hey," he called out, wearing a red waistcoat over a long sleeved white shirt "I just gotta finish this and I'll be with you in a sec." the blond said before pulling his eyes away and smiling brightly, even if that smile did briefly fade when he saw the detective.
"Yeah, I'm here too," Date sighed at Akihiko's expression "Don't look so surprised, if you found Kiryu you should've known I'd be there as well."
"I guess that explains a few things," Akihiko shrugged "So, welcome to the Shadow Operative Tokyo HQ, or close enough anyway."
"We were supposed to have an actual HQ in Tokyo by now." Labrys added on with a vindictive glare.
"And I'm still getting blamed for that..." the blond sighed as he shook his head "Anyway, like what you see thus far?"
"Its different," Kiryu answered diplomatically "Although I don't see how any of this is something you need my help with."
"Well that's the brains department, I'm not expecting you to throw on a lab coat or anything," Akihiko chuckled "Come on, walk with me. It's gonna make more sense if you see something." he waved as he stood up and walked straight out.
"He's like this all the time..." Labrys groaned out in apology, trying to strategically place herself between the detective and the overflowing in-tray. Denying anyone who wasn't officially part of the crew the chance to spy on the documents.
"Basically we need a new trainer here because we need some full time agents instead of everyone but Labrys and Aigis being people with jobs," Akihiko explained as the headed backward through the halls, not mentioning who Aigis was "I am a cop still, so I can't be burning all my time off here and neither can Chie so when the Dragon of Dojima shows up..."
"Well its better than the urge to throw a punch at me," Kiryu commented "But if all you needed was a trainer, why me?"
"Because you can stay awake in the Midnight Hour, and anyone who's going to be working for us is going to need to get used to their bodies being in there. It can be kind of a freaky experience first time." He replied as he lead Kiryu and Date back the way they came, only turning into a door they'd passed earlier.
"You're telling me..." the ex-yakuza groaned as they walked up the stairs.
"Trust me, you got off pretty easily. I found out while I was still in school," Akihiko grimaced at some of the less pleasant memories "Anyway, Chie's gonna show you the level we're gonna need people at before we can call them Operatives." the blond nodded along as they came to a row of seats next to an internal window overlooking a rounded off rectangular arena with two athletic looking women standing inside.
One, even in her green top and black tights, was unmistakably Chie Satonaka. Even from this distance, her bob cut hair not concealing the large grin on her face as she bounced up and down to warm up. The other looked much calmer, dressed in a blue and white palette swap of Chie's outfit but with a pistol in a holster at her hip as she got in a few last minute stretches, her raven black hair cut short and tied back into a small ponytail. "Hey... is that?" Date whispered, his eyes wide as he looked at the woman below.
"Okay Satonaka, you ready?" Akihiko called out through a microphone, earning an enthusiastic nod from the Inaba officer "Sayama, you ready?"
"Sayama!?" Kiryu spluttered out, finally seeing what the Detective had spotted. There in the makeshift arena, was a woman he hadn't seen in over ten years since she left for the United States. The Yakuza Hunter herself, Kaoru Sayama.
"Great, activating the Dark Zone in fifteen!" The blond declared before sprinting back over to Date "Wear this and don't take it off until its safe." He whispered to the detective as he forced an ugly black ring on to his finger.
"Hey, what the!?" Date struggled as the whole world went an ugly shade of green. With a blink of his eyes, it felt like Kiryu was back in that strange other world as his backup watch stopped. Only this time there were no coffins standing around
"Almost forgot... you need that ring on if you can't stay with us during the Dark Hour," Akihiko explained before turning back to the microphone "Alright ladies, you got ten minutes max, show us what you got!" He declared as Kaoru pulled the pistol from her holster.
"Satonaka's gotta fight someone with a gun? The hell kinda fight is this?" Date demanded, still not over the forced accessorizing he was put through before the Osakan detective placed the pistol to her own temple, much to the shock of the non-blond men watching.
"SAYAMA!" Kiryu yelled as he shot up, thumping the glass with his fist before the Operative grabbed him firmly by the shoulder.
"Relax. And. Watch." Akihiko told him firmly. Time seemed to stand still as the Dragon of Dojima watched in horror as Kaoru pulled the trigger, only for a burst of blue to seemingly shoot through her head and swirl up behind her.
Fading into view in the air above her was a new shape, slowly taking form of what looked to be a pale blue skinned woman in a deep blue dress, a black bat wing stretching out from her left shoulder while in her right hand held a vibrant red whip. There she floated, as Kaoru spoke in a voice that everyone could hear despite the thick glass separating them "Persona," she let out, a firm look of determination in her eyes as she holstered the false gun.
"Punish them, MEGAERA!"