Italics: Mitsuru or Fuuka talking through their Personas
The lobby of Tartarus - Dark Hour
Entering the inside of Tartarus for the first time is like entering a dream; everything in here feels unreal.
"Whoa... it's as cool on the inside," Jun exclaims as he's looking around the lobby like a kid in a candy store.
Yeah, this place is just too unreal.
"But, It sure is creepy," Yuka-chan shutters.
"This is only the entrance, the labyrinth is beyond the doorway at the top of the stairs," Mitsu-chan informs us.
My attention goes to the entrance
"First, we'll have you four get a feel for this, so Mitsuru and I will have you guys go in there," Aki says.
"What, by ourselves," Junpei questions as he springs back, surprised by his conclusion.
"No, they won't send us in there without a way to communicate," Mako-kun intuitively points out.
"What do you mean Mako-kun?"
"While Sanada-senpai was explaining our objective, I was looking at Kirijo-senpai's bike."
"How did my bike catch your attention?"
"I'm pretty sure you know why it did, but I should explain why your bike had my attention."
I look at the bike, it looks ordinary to me. Wait a minute, why is there a bike here?
"Kazuki-kun, can I ask you something?" Mako-kun asks. "What's out of place here?"
How would I know that? It's my first time being here? Regardless, I look around the entire room, so far everything seems to be normal, I guess. Though, I wonder why Mitsu-chan has a bike here…? Hold on, it's her bike!
"It's the bike, right?" I skittishly answer.
"Correct. First of all, I want to know how the bike got here, Kirijo-senpai? Certainly, you didn't push it here."
"There's a certain material inside the bike that allows it to function during the Dark Hour.".
"I see… That aside, allow me to get back to the bike. Other than the material inside the bike, it's completely normal, except for one thing actually."
"What would that be," I ask.
"The radios on the bike. Senpai, you don't have any type of earpieces, do you?"
"None at all."
"Then let me ask you this: your Persona, what is it capable of?"
"My persona can fight in battle, and provide support off the front lines."
"I see, so are the radios amplifying your support abilities."
"Yes, they do - Depending on the right frequency, I can provide better support while you all are inside Tartarus."
"Wow... Yuka-tan, did you know she can do that?"
"No, not at all."
The idea that she can give support outside of the is comforting. However, Mako-kun's analytical skills are on point. In fact...it's kinda scary...
"All right, we don't have all night. Let me appoint the leader, so we can have you guys enter the labyrinth," Aki says.
"One of us, for real!?" Jun's eyes beam with excitement for some reason.
"Oh, oh, me, me, me, pick ME!"
Seriously dude? It isn't like it's a big deal… Then again, I wonder if I'll get picked? Nah, I can't see that happening.
"Hmm, Yuki, you're in charge."
Yep, as expected. Though, I can't say I'm not a bit disappointed.
"What, why him!?" Jun voices his objection.
"I guess the leader was going to be either, Kazuki-kun or Yuki-kun," Yukari says.
"Why would it be Kazu?"
"I mean, he has fought a shadow before."
"Really!?"
Yeah, and I nearly got killed by it. But that was different, I'm not going to embarrass myself like I did back then.
Mitsu-chan clears her throat. "Enough of the idle chit-chat, time to begin the mission."
Tartarus block - Thebel - floor 5
The four of us arrived on the fifth floor. The inside has a chilling feeling to it that makes it hard to keep calm, let alone let my guard down. I can see the upper floors of this place; it seems to go on forever as staircases lead further up. Fighting in here is kind of tiring, but I'm still able to keep going. Speaking of fighting, I have more strength than usual. Mitsu-chan said that it's because of our Personas. The enemies in this place are much easier to manage than the ones from the other night.
"Hey, this floor's pretty small. Think we can take a break?" Jun suggests.
"No, we'll keep moving forward. I have a feeling taking a break in here will cost us greatly. So let's… What the!?
The ground quakes as something drops from above. A gust of wind hits us, nearly knocking me off balance. From the dust that was created by the object, A large shadow with wheels rolls toward us.
"What the hell! Is that a shadow?" Jun clasps his sword. The blade rattles as he holds it up. Then, to add to the insanity of the situation, three birds arrive from the corridor behind the monster.
"Everyone, get ready," Mako-kun orders.
The birds soar at us, their talons aim at Junpei. He's hit on the shoulder, narrowly escaping a terrible attack.
The two of them pick me as their next target. My blade escapes my scabbard as I attempt to slash at them. They're quick to evade the attack as they circle around me. One of them broke the circle and just straight-up lunge me. Luckily enough, I'm able to stab it, but I can't move the blade through it.
"Get off me damn it!"
With enough force, I rip my sword out of it, slicing through its torso. As a last act of attack, it summons a gust of wind to hit me from under my feet, pushing me up a few feet into the air. Another aerial shadow grabs me! It's taking me up in the sky as it gawks at capturing its prey. It's raising me higher and higher to the air. Is it gonna take me somewhere? Looking below, I see Orpheus darting at us. It uses its lyre to crush the shadow's face. It dies immediately after impact. I'm falling fast since I'm not being held by anything. "Holy shiiiiiit!"
As I'm about to hit the ground, Orpheus catches me. Mako-kun waves at me, I wave back at him as a nervous chuckle leaves my mouth.
"Hm?" The last bird zooms towards him, circling to his backside. I can catch it if I jump from here.
"Here goes nothing!"
I jump from Orpheus to the bird, grabbing its wing. The added weight to it is too much for it to handle. We end up crash landing on the ground. My elbow is first to hit the ground, pain sparks in my shoulder
It's a struggle to get up for me, as well as the bird. My legs felt like crap from hitting the ground as well. Damn, this is worse than the other night; at least I was able to fight back, but I'm flopping all over the damn place.
A shrill cry from the shadow in front of me snaps me out of my thoughts. Right, I need to kill it before it gets back up. I pick up my sword off the ground and walk to the enemy. Before it can take off again, in a swift motion, I cut its head off. The cries of the shadow came to an end as it melts into black ooz...
"That's that… Now..."
Time to fight the bigger shadow. As I search for it, Yukari is sent flying from one end of the room to the other. Junpei has his Persona attack the shadow head-on.
"Iori, your attacks aren't effective on it!"
Senpai's warning is too late. Hermes is smacked out of the way by the shadow as it spun around to use its wheel as an attack. It set its sights on Makoto and me.
"Ready, Kazuki?" Makoto asks as he prepared to use his Evoker.
"Yeah, let's go!"
"Careful, physical attacks are not as effective. Use magic to defeat it!"
With a strategy in mind, we charge for the shadow, Makoto summons Orpheus. The Persona spews fire against the shadow, but it brushes it off as if it was nothing. I slash at the enemy. I know that using my sword isn't the best idea against this enemy, yet, since I can't use magic, I need to rely on physical attacks. The shadow's attention comes to me as it spins to hit me with its wheels. There's no time to dodge, I need to block it! The shadow's attack is too strong for me to handle as it flings me toward the wall behind me. Whether it's because I'm lucky or because of my sword, I managed to block the attack with minimal injuries. A sword isn't gonna cut it against this thing, I need my Persona.
"Alright, let's do this!" I take my Evoker out of my holster as I sprint towards the enemy. I jump into the air with the built-up momentum. It's busy fighting Makoto, so being noticed is the last thing that could happen. As I put the gun to my head, the shadow once again spins at an incredibly quick rate. It strikes me with the spike for an arm. Seems like my fortune is strong, cause I got hit with the side of the spike, so my skin didn't get sliced open. However, I crash into a pillar. All the breath is knocked out of me as a skin-crawling shock rumbles through my body.
"Kazuki, dodge!"
The shadow rolls its way to me. It's as if a chariot is coming my way with how loud it is. Damn, I don't have any time to dodge, or move! Hermes swoops in from the side, kicking the shadow's head. It slams it to the wall.
Junpei snaps his fingers. "Oh yeah, home run,"
The shadow is stuck in the wall as Hermes is keeping it at bay, The thing's blood-red eyes glow brighter. It pushes Hermes off, sending it rocking toward Junpei. Yukari has her Persona summon a strong gust of wind, but it did nothing to affect it. It's charging for her as Orpheus' lyre smacks it on the head, causing it to crash into a pillar. Yet again, it spins to attack Orpheus. It goes for Yukari again. She uses her Persona as a shield. The shadow easily shatters it into blue shards.
"Takeba is in danger! Somebody cover her!"
I grit my teeth as I'm the first to dash off after the shadow. It spins around over and over again as it's preparing to do a big attack. I get in front of Yukari, my sword pointed at the enemy.
"Kazuki, this attack will be devastating! Use your Persona!"
"Right!"
My left hand goes for my Evoker. Nothing, there's nothing but empty space near my holster. No way, I lost it!
"I lost my Evoker somewhere," I report, fear leaking into my tone of voice.
"Are you joking!?"
"I'm sorry!"
"Damn, here it comes!"
The shadow seconds away from approaching us. I look to see if Yukari can move. She's still recovering from the damage she received. There's not enough time to move her, and I definitely can't leave her.
"Damn it, I don't have a choice! Yuka-chan, stay behind me!"
Summoning my Persona is the only way to get out of this, and as much as I would like to, I don't know how to summon it... I have to remember the details of that night, the sensation...the feeling that has power behind it! I need to picture the Persona and the feeling.
"Kazuki, that shadow is going to attack! Hurry up and get Takeba out of the way!"
Her voice begins to fade out of my mind as I try to find the feeling I need. What is it, that feeling that gave me such power? That feeling, that powerful feeling that allowed me to survive… That feeling that allowed me to destroy my enemy!
"Persona!"
Two blue blurs make impact with the shadow. It changes direction, slamming through two of the pillars in this room.
"It's down," Mitsuru yells.
Now's our chance, let's destroy this thing!
"Then it's time to end this," Makoto states as he summons his Persona again. It smashes its lyre into the side of the shadow's face. Orpheus grabs its head. An explosion goes off in front of its face. It's pushed towards a wall. This is it, I'll end it. With all the strength in my legs, I shoot off the ground as I charge to it. I jump to reach its head. My sword impales its head as I landed on its shoulder. The shadow drops to the ground, losing its support from its legs. It begins to disintegrate as I hop off its shoulder.
Thought in my brain is none existent, the air in my lungs runs dry, and my arms and legs continue to shake... We did it, we managed to defeat them!
"Alright!" I scream, despite my shortness of breath.
"Oh, yeah!" Jun joins in on my celebration yelling.
"I think that was enough for one day. Everyone use the teleporter on the floor you're on and get back here to the lobby."
Mitsu-chan cuts off with us after her command.
"Let's get going before more arrive," Mako-kun orders.
Everyone heads off to the teleporter as I gawk at my hands. That power, that feeling being manifested into power... I like it! So much so that I let out a slightly menacing giggle. Why was I so scared before, I got this!
The lobby of Tartarus - Dark Hour
We all make it back via the teleporter.
"Welcome," Mitsu-chan greets us. "Back. So how do you all feel after that fight?"
I stretch my arms as I yawn. "Exhausted."
"Yeah, me too," Yuka-chan says.
"Well, I can't blame you, with that fight and the effects of the Dark Hour making you fatigued faster, it's to be expected."
I thought that I would get exhausted, but this is ridiculous.
"But Kazuki, how did you summon your Persona without an Evoker," Mitsu-chan asks while expressing her shock.
"Wait, what did you say!"
Jun looks surprised by the fact that I can summon my Persona without an Evoker.
"Is that not normal?" I ask.
"No. I can summon my Persona without an Evoker, but it takes too much concentration to be done in battle."
It didn't take too much concentration, all I needed was that feeling, then boom, Persona.
"I suppose that means you won't need your Evoker."
"Sounds pretty interesting," Aki states.
"In any case, today's expedition mission over. Let's head back to the dorm."
Our senpai leaves for the exit. Mako-kun walks behind them.
Jun approaches me with his hands in his pocket. "Yo, Kazu, you should give me your Evoker."
"Why?"
He strikes a pose with his sword. "So I can summon double-Personas!"
"Junpei..." Yuka-chan says, not even trying to hide her disappointment.
"What-up, Yuka-tan?"
"You're a moron."
"What!?"