"Hey… Did we lost them?"
"I don't see any Replicas coming out way so… I think we're in the clear."
"That and having massacred most of them and form a path for you speedsters to escape while I hold them off briefly."
"Well you're certainly strong so I give you that."
Sonic, Ragna and Ruby shared an almost casual conversation among each other after they stop running. Having been so focused on purging Infinite Replicas and escape, they haven't paid attention to the change of location. Or is it the surroundings changing, making it look like they go to a different place?
In any case, Ragna and Ruby recognize the food court of a department store called Junes. Like the dilapidated view of Lakeside Port, Junes Food Court is destroyed and torn with many tables, chairs and umbrellas scattered around. Similar to the raging fire and gloomy sunset of the port town, glitches seem to be the atmospheric theme of this place as red pixels float in any spot in the court and the sky flickers sporadically as if it's glitching.
While the two know that they're in Yu Narukami's world, Sonic, obviously, doesn't recognize it. "Where are we guys? Is this a food court?"
"Yes, it's a food court," Ragna confirms. "Specifically, we're in Narukami's world.
"Yu Narukami? You mean the one who wields a Persona?" Sonic clarifies.
"Yup. That Narukami." Ruby nods.
After his question is answered, Sonic folds his arms and tap his food as he mutters, "Persona, huh? Hmm… Can't believe I'm seeing another Persona."
His statement hasn't gone unheard as Ruby, curious he expresses familiarity with Persona, says, "Huh? What do you mean by that Sonic?"
"Oh, well, it's just that I faced up against a person who wields a Persona before," He shrugs. "Specifically, the one who has a mask."
"A mask?" Ragna parroted, also curious.
Seeing they're getting distracted, Sonic states, "Look, let's just say that I know about Persona and leave it as that. It's not important here. Besides, based from this little glow from the Chaos Emerald, I believe there's an emerald nearby." He brought out the emerald out of his quills and display the little glow to the two so they see what he's getting at.
"Hm, I suppose we can take that as our clue," Craning his neck, Ragna says, "Let us find the second Chaos Emerald before we leave this place. Is that clear with you two?"
While Sonic nods to show he agrees, Ruby is conflicted. "I agree with you there Ragna but what about finding out lost friends? Specifically Yu?"
"As much as I like to find him, we don't any clue if he's ever been in the area. Even if we're in a place originating from his world, that doesn't mean he might be in it." The dhampyr replies, looking around and seeing any clues if Yu might be in this place.
"I…guess you have a point there but still…"
Whatever statement Ruby was about to say, that was cut off when System, who is currently in the red-hooded girl's pocket, suddenly speaks up and says, "Actually, Yu Narukami's in the area, Ragna."
Their surprised look now directed at Ruby, Ragna asks, "Huh? What?"
"I said, Yu Narukami is in the area," System reiterates. "If you want to know if I'm correct, take out of a pocket, Ruby"
"Er, okay?"
Doing what she told, Ruby brings out System and open her hand that is holding the keystone only to be surprised that System changed from red to yellow. This hasn't gone unnoticed from Ragna and Sonic. "Huh? System? You changed color?"
"Yup! Considering I'm stuck in a keystone but because of my former role in observing possibilities, my guess is that anyone who is in a different world will cause the color to change according to their assigned color." System hypothesized. "In fact, when you accidentally left me, the keystone become colorless until I turned red, which is when Sonic picked me up.
"So wait, does that mean Ruby is nearby when I suddenly entered in Phantom World?" Sonic guesses.
"Well, considering I was near the temple alongside Ragna, I'd say it's possible." She taps her fingers and nods, as if confirming his question.
"Hmm… Colors, huh?" Sonic seems to be curious of what his color is. Wanting to know, the hedgehog asks System, "Hey System, what is my color? Is it blue?"
"No Sonic. Blue is the color of Ragna's world. Can't have two worlds be the same color, right?"
"What? Seriously?" He turns to Ragna in shock over having his obvious color choice go to the dhampyr.
"Hey don't take it on me. The color of the keystones were already decided before the bogus tournament began. And also, is this really the time to chit-chat? We got Narukami and a Chaos Emerald to find." He reminds him, eager to not let this wait any longer.
"…Guess you're right. So, how should we do it? Should we split so we can focus on one task while the other is busy on another task?" He proposed, hoping this strategy covers more ground.
"Hey, that's not a bad idea. We should split up to two. Is that fine Ragna?" Ruby asks him. After thinking on Sonic's suggestion, he agrees.
And so, after briefly deciding who's gonna find Narukami and a Chaos Emerald, Ragna chose to find Narukami, bringing along System to get an accurate location based from her guesses (he told System not to mess with him, reminding her of her "bogus tournament" he came up with) and Sonic and Ruby chose to find the emerald and see where it is based on the blue emerald's glow.
With the objective established, the three split up and went on their separate ways with Sonic and Ruby agreeing on meeting up with Ragna and Yu in the food court.
With Ragna…
Under System's guide, Ragna scoured first the surrounding areas of the food court, making sure he doesn't leave any stone unturned. Along the way, Infinite Replicas came in to make his search harder. He doesn't have any of it so he utterly decimates them before continuing his search.
Despite meticulously scouring the place, Ragna is not making progress, much to his chagrin. "Damnit. Is it just me or am I not finding Narukami around? It feels like I'm running in circles, especially when I keep running in the same place like I first began."
"Hmm… Perhaps Yu is not here?" System questioned.
"If he's not here then where is he?" He implored, glaring the keystone.
"Let me check, okay?" Humming for few seconds, a DING-DING-DING! sound erupts from her, denoting she may have hit a jackpot. "I got it! I believe Yu Narukami is in the school gate next to the food court."
"Next to food court? You mean near it, right?" Ragna guesses.
"No no no. I meant that when I said it's next to food court. You remember how Phantom Field and by extension, Phantom World works, yes?" She clarified.
"…Oh, I see." Ragna sees where System is getting at. "I better hope you're right and aren't messing with me." He growled.
"I'm not in mood for that due to our situation. I wouldn't dare do that if your worlds are at stake." System claimed.
"Says the machine who instigated it in the first place." He rolled his eyes at that comment.
Following System's directions, Ragna made it to the school gate by wandering aimlessly around until he finds himself near the gates. He's not alone as Infinite Replicas surround a gray-haired teenager in Yasogami uniform tries to fend them off. Judging from his crouching posture and panting, he must have been fighting them for a while.
Eyes widening upon recognizing the teenager, Ragna yells, "Yu!"
Perking up and recognizing his voice, Yu turns to him and sees it's none other than the Grim Reaper himself. Ecstatic to see him, Yu responds, "Ragna-san!"
Unfortunately, that distraction is enough for one Infinite Replica to wound him by swiping his arm. "ARRRGGHH!" He screams in pain, clutching his wounded arm and getting himself vulnerable.
"Oh no you don't, you bastards!" Acting quickly, Ragna made his way through the horde, attacking them using Dead Spike and Carnage Scissors. Once he's in the center, he disposes all of them through his Blood Scythe, spinning around without remorse.
With the Replicas gone, Ragna turns to Yu and asks, "Hey, you're still in piece?"
Despite wincing from the wound, Yu lets out a weak smile as he answers, "Y-Yeah. Good to see you Ragna-san."
"Could say the same to you," He said, glad to see he's still alive. Before he can say something next, Yu's eyes widen and exclaims, "Ragna-san! Behind you!"
Alert, Ragna turns around in time to block a sword swing from a Replica. Grunting, he pushes the sword away before swiping it, killing it. He then see many Replicas glaring at the two with yellow eyes, obviously thirsting for their death. "Tch. They always don't make this easy huh? Fine then, if any of you feel like being reckless, come at me. I'll take you all on!"
Echoing cackles from Infinite Replicas seem to the answer, as they prepare to take the two on. Seeing he has to fight, Yu stands up on his feet, ignoring the pain from his wound. He opens his palm and a blue tarot card appears hovering over his palm. Ragna took notice of this and, concerned, says, "Hey. You're wounded. You have to rest and let myself take them on."
"This is just a scratch, so I can still fight," Yu crushes the card, summoning his Persona called Izanagi-no-Okami, the upgraded form of his initial Persona Izanagi. He had been using it ever since Infinite came in the picture, which isn't unjustified considering the monstrous strength of the jackal.
Though still having doubts, Ragna relents, but not before saying, "Alright. But be careful. These Replicas aren't pushovers despite being weak in defense. We just have to thin out the numbers so they're mot gonna be problematic."
"Understood, Ragna-san. Now then, let's do this! ZIODYNE!" Commanded Yu, prompting Izanagi-no-Okami to fire a massive stream of lightning against the Replicas.
"GAUNTLET HADES!" Ragna follows suit, punching and licking five or six Replicas with darkness. A fight soon erupts, with the two intent on getting out of here and back to the food court where Ruby and Sonic are waiting. Ragna told Yu about the plan, which he understood despite having questions.
And so, the fight rages on.
With Sonic and Ruby…
"Hey. Is that a white Chaos Emerald floating in the air?"
"Yes it is. Can't believe the hunt would be this easy."
Right now, Sonic and Ruby are in a bus stop near the convenience store, which alongside the surrounding road and bus stop is already wrecked with glitches and all. Being here reminds Ruby of how she first meets Hyde and before that, how she ended getting stuck when Yosuke and Yukiko accidentally squished her. That part isn't supposed to come out but she accidentally rambles it anyway, much to her embarrassment. Sonic at least has the decency to not bring it up.
So far, no enemies have show up on their way here. While that is a bit of relief, the two kept their guard up so they wouldn't get blindsided by any hazards or enemies.
"Well, easy or not, we must take the emerald with us. We shouldn't keep Ragna waiting." Ruby said, looking left and right.
"Eh, I don't think he's waiting for us to come back. After all, we are fast." Sonic replies as he walk to the emerald. After inspecting his surroundings for anything out of ordinary, he grabs it and returns to Ruby. "Alright. Two down, five to go."
Sonic expects Ruby to smile at them getting the second Chaos Emerald. But instead, the girl has a nervous and scared look when she sees something behind him. Concerned, Sonic asks, "What's wrong?"
"Uh, well… I think we should run." Ruby suggested, already preparing on leaving the area. "This place is collapsing the moment you got the emerald."
Wondering why she said such a thing, Sonic turns around and sees the convenience store, bus stop and the surroundings riddled with glitches, which is deleting them as the glitches continue.
And it looks like it's going to continue toward the two.
Alerted, Sonic tells Ruby to bolt out of here, which she didn't need to be asked twice as the two start running. As soon as they start running at high speed, the glitches go faster, deleting anything on its path. Ruby notices this and, in a panicking tone, says, "Ah! Sonic! The glitches are catching up to us!"
"What?! Darn! We have to move fast Ruby!" Commanded Sonic. The two runs faster in hopes of outrunning the glitches only to realize that their speed is causing it to speed up and they aren't gonna shake it off soon.
What's more, small splotches of glitches start popping up in front of them, requiring them to evade them as well. And to make things more difficult, few Infinite Replicas came charging in towards the two, having no intention of attacking them but instead, they attempt to hold them in one place and let the glitches do their thing.
With all of this combined, Sonic and Ruby is not having a good time making their escape.
"Argh! We're getting nowhere at this rate." Sonic expresses his frustration, jumping over a Replica and sliding under a floating glitch. "And I don't think we're running back to food court where Ragna is waiting."
"Y-You're right. What should we do? We're gonna be deleted if we're caught." Ruby fearfully stated, not daring to look back as she thinks the glitches are mere inches in touching the two.
"Hmm…" Sonic thinks on how they should escape here. With the number of glitches appearing in front of the two making it difficult to go back, he needs to do something that lets them go back without dealing with the onslaught of glitches on their trail. The most simple answer may be teleporting out of here… Wait.
Yes, that's it!
Seeing he's still holding the white emerald, Sonic grabs Ruby's wrist, which causes the girl to ask, "S-Sonic? What are you-?"
"Chaos…CONTROL!"
After saying the command, Ruby is surprised as a bright light engulfs the two. When the light died down, the two are nowhere to be seen. The glitches finally caught up as soon as they disappeared, and so, without anyone to delete, the glitches stop its onslaught, leaving the place torn apart, literally.
With Ragna and Yu…
After dealing with the Replicas, Ragna and Yu return to the food court with the former explaining of who they are waiting for and their new ally System believes to be the key in defeating Infinite. As part of this, Ragna told him about the Chaos Emeralds and how their power should work against Infinite's might. Yu understands it all, feeling hopeful they have a chance to counterattack.
With the two sitting on a table, they wait for Sonic and Ruby to return. After few minutes of waiting, a flash of light appeared in the air beside them, startling them. "What the hell?" Ragna exclaims, getting on guard. While Yu remains calm, he is cautious.
When the light dies down, Sonic and Ruby emerged with the former still holding the latter. As soon as he sees they made it safely, he lets go of her as he says, "Phew! We made it. I thought I was gonna be deleted for sure."
"My exact thoughts too. Can't believe you teleported us here using the Chaos Emerald." Ruby responds, still shaken up from the adrenaline of running away.
"Hey, that is one use of Chaos Control. It's a versatile technique to be sure."
"Not only versatile, but also cool!"
"What are you two talking about? And what is this about glitches?" Ragna's voice reminds them of who's present. Meanwhile, this is the first time Sonic and Yu meet each other but introductions have to wait as he answers Ragna's question.
"It's about how me and Ruby were almost deleted by glitches that appeared shortly after we got the while emerald. After seeing we're not outrunning it, I used Chaos Control to teleport, fully escaping the glitches."
"Huh. Sounds like you two have it rough." Yu expresses his sympathy.
"Well, at least we're not injured," Ruby stated, relieved she's in one piece. Looking closer at the two, especially Yu, she asks, "What about you two? Did you get in a fight?"
"We have. I saw a couple of Replicas surrounding Yu so I gave them a beating. No sooner than that, multiple Replicas appeared, which me and Yu, despite being injured, we disposed all of them before coming here. It's a rough fight to be sure due to overwhelming numbers but we managed them just fine." Ragna states his side of story. Upon hearing Yu's injuries, Sonic reacted accordingly, intent on healing him with the Chaos Emerald.
"Hey, what are you…?"
"Don't worry. I'm gonna heal using the emerald. Now hold still…"
Carrying on his words, Sonic uses the emerald's power to heal Yu, causing any wound and bruises to disappear. Once he's done, the Persona User feels refreshed and lighter. "What the…? I feel like I haven't gone into a fight and got myself injured."
"Heh. Guess the emerald has done its job." Sonic smiles.
"It really did its job. Thanks for healing me Sonic," Wanting to know more of the hedgehog, he adds, "You're Sonic the Hedgehog, right?"
"That's me. And you must be Yu Narukami. This is our first time meeting so it's a pleasure to meet you." Sonic extends his hand, which Yu took it and shake hands with him.
"The pleasure is mine." He returns the greeting. The introduction is watched by Ragna and Ruby, who is glad to have Yu back on their team and Sonic making a good impression on him.
With their objective done here, the four proceed to the next location after System informs them of Hyde's location, which is evident by her flashing into purple every now and then. With Ruby eager to find Hyde so she, Ragna and Yu have a reunion of a sort, they leave the place.
Not much else to say here except about bringing you the third chapter. So... See you next chapter.