2-F,?

"Hey, he's starting to come around!" I heard voices, they were distorted for the most part. "Kazuki, can you hear us," Mitsuru asked. "*Yawn* Yeah, I can hear you just fine..." "Thank goodness," Fuuka said as she was helping me up from the ground... "Hey, what happened in there," Jun asked. "Huh, oh that's right!"

I went over to the door to the tower. "It's no good, the door is sealed shut," Akihiko stated. "..." "Kazuki-kun?" "*Sigh* I knew he was gonna do something like this..." "What do you mean," Yukari asked. "Nothing, but right now we need to get going on this rescue! But first..."

I made my way to the blue door. "Excuse me for a moment." I knocked on the door and soon after, a familiar scenario happened all over again when I was entering this room the first time.

Velvet room,?

"Ugh!" I rolled on the floor when I entered the blue room. "Huh, why are you rolled out on the floor like that?" "Gee, I wonder why" I retorted as I was rubbing my chin. "Well, at any rate, you completed the quest: clear the tower within an hour. So, here is your reward..." Liz threw me an important my way. "Aw yeah!" I caught the sword that was flying my way. "I noticed you didn't name it." "Oh, yeah, I didn't." "So, in light of this, I name this blade Kuroumi." "WOW! My own sword name!" "I know! I, too am feeling the excitement!"

I was wondering something for a while. "Um, what is that thing behind you?" "Oh my, you have seen it despite my best attempt to hide it!" "Umm... your best...?" I think she thinks too highly of herself; just a bit...

"In any case, here you are." Liz gave me the object in her hands. "...Is this a mirror frame?" "Why yes. I was told to give it to you." "By who?" "By my master." "...Me?" "No, my master." "But you call me Kazuki-sama." "Yes, but you are my second master." "Okay...who's the first?" "You shall meet him in due time." "Wow, that isn't vague or anything..."

This chatting and asking questions was me wasting time.

"Hey, why did you give me this frame for?" "Those glass shards are meant to fit into that frame." "Really?" "Why yes. And they will necessary to save Makoto-sama." "I had a feeling these were important." "However, I advise you put all the mirror shards in the frame when you try to free him, or else something unprecedented could happen; ultimately, putting the world in danger." Shit, that sounds bad! I better make sure I have all the shards...

At any rate, I should get going. Juro is sacrificing himself to buy us time to save Makoto.

"Hey, Liz, I'm gonna get going!" "You don't want the spirit of Juro Manabu to go away just yet." "No, I know that he'll die during this, but I don't want to waste the time he is giving us..." "I see..."

I opened the door to the outside. "See ya around." "We will be anticipating your next visit." "Okay..."

I walked right through the opened door and went back to the outside...

2-F,?

When I exited the Velvet room I was surrounded by everyone. "Um...hey?" "Kazuki, are you okay." "Yeah, I'm fine. Right now, we need to go to the other tower." "...You won't need to." "Hmm?" I heard a voice coming from the entrance of the class. It was Minako. "Here..." She presented a bag to us. "What is that Arisato?" "Look and see for yourself Mitsu-chan," Minako replied.

Kio went over to open the bag... "What the- When did you get this!?" Kio took out what was in the bag, and it was a mirror shard! "Arisato, where did you get that," Mitsuru demanded. "From the other tower." "By yourself!?" "Well, not exactly." We all heard another voice coming from behind Minako. "Hello." "Natsuki," Fuuka exclaimed while running over to her to hug her. "Natsuki, are you okay?" "I should be asking you that, some of you guys look hurt." "That isn't important right now."

Mitsuru went over to Minako... "Arisato, do you know the gravity of your situation?" "Yeah, but does it matter?" "Yes, it does!" Mitsuru was already getting pissed off at her. "This is not over yet. I want you to tell me why you went in there by yourself." "Hmph, she was with me in there." "Huh!?"

Minako was pointing at Natsuki. "Is this true?" "Yeah, but it was by accident!" "..." "Natsuki, you could've been killed!" "I-I know..."

While they were arguing, I started putting the pieces of the mirror in the frame. Jun began helping me. "OW, my finger!" "Yukari: can you help us?" "Sorry, but I can barely even move my hands; used to much energy." I turned to M.G. who was staring off into space... "Emmy, you okay?" "Huh, yeah... I'm fine." "...You sure; you look...pale." "J-just ignore me." "Well, can you help us?" "Um, sure..."

Shizuka was helping me and everyone else put the shard pieces in place. "There, finally," Jun yelled with sweat rolling down from his head. Why is he sweating anyway? "Give it here!" Minako picked it up. "No, time to lose; let's get going!" She opened the door out of the class. "I'm going to him now." "W-wait!" I tried to stop her from going by herself, but she didn't listen. "Grab your equipment, she's heading to the gym!"

I opened the door, with the intent of heading to the gym.

Gekkoukan high, gym,?

I arrived at the gym with my katana in hand.

"Yo, Mino!" "What!?" "Do you know what you are getting into?" "I do, Makoto is in there, and if I can get in there I can get him out!" "Do you think it'll be that easy? Cuz it won't be!" "I know, but I am powerful, so I don't have any worries!" "Yes, yes you do!" "Whatever!" "Why are you being so hotheaded?" "...Why should I tell you? What will the great Kei Kazuki be able to do?" "I-" "...Do you even know what it's like to have one person be your only link to this world; do ya!?" "YES, I DO!" "...!"

It was out there in the open now. "What do you mean?" "I know how you feel, about the whole important person thing." "How would you." "Because I only had one person that cared about me during the past fourteen years. What about you?" "..." "The point is: I just want you to know that this isn't something you have to do by yourself. You don't have to push yourself to save him. You have a team you can trust." "Trust is a two-way street; you show a form of vulnerability, but at the same time it can be a good thing. To rely on, to care for, and to know everything about them to a 't'. Overall, trust is a very dangerous thing, but what I and Makoto have." "And what is that exactly?" "A promise." "Yes, the type you know is real."

I think I get where she's coming from with this, but I don't know what to think about her, now.

"But what does that say about the others?" "They don't really matter," she said with a cold tone. "What do you mean by that?" "I mean, do we even matter? These gods are just using us to make ends meet. You, me, Makoto, we all don't matter to them. But all the same with us humans. We can do the same to each other; we can manipulate until we satisfy our needs of one another." "Minako, that's-" "...A truth I learned working with Nyar." "So, you think everyone in sees is a lie to one another?" "To each other and themselves. Hell, you would know, do you even have parents?" "Hey, that's-" "...Because last time I checked, when I asked Fuuka about your parents, she told me they were alive."

At this point, I had an irritated look on my face and the anger was building. "Does she even know about it?" "What?" "Does she even know that she's apart of this game, or did you forgot to mention it to her." "No, I didn't." "Do you not...trust her?" "No, that isn't it! I-" "You think that you're protecting her from this, tch, what a joke! No, it goes deeper than that, doesn't it."

I can't make it out, but something about Minako's eyes was scaring me right now. "W-what are you talking about?" "I know what it is, and so do you, don't you." "Shut up." "...It's the fear of..."

I grab Minako by the neck, slamming her into the wall. "Shut up!" "Oh, looks like I hit the nail on the head." "So what!?" "What do you mean "so what"? You obviously are scared if you haven't told them about the game, and your little shadow problem. Well, it looks like you're controlling it just fine from what the color of your eyes tell me." "Yeah, and you know what, you aren't gonna say anything." "...Let me top off the part where you really betray SEES: Shizuka." "...I am not betraying anyone."

I was close to hitting her until I heard the door fly open. "Kazuki: what are you doing," Mitsuru asked me as she saw my hand on Minako's neck. "Don't worry, just some horse-play, right," she was taunting me. She brought her mouth near my ear. "(Whispering) Let me go, and don't tell anyone about this talk, or else I discover the traitor on the team." "*Gasp*"

I totally forgot about that! "So: let me go!" I let her go from my grasp. "Minako, are you okay? Kei, what were you doing?" "Nothing at all," I said while pulling up my hoodie to cover my eyes. "Maybe Minako said something." "Y-yeah, that's it!" Junpei and Yukari are trying to cover for me. It did matter, for now, we need to save Makoto while we have time; while he is still alive...

After we broke through the ice with the mirror, we were inside the gym now.

"M-Makoto!" After all this time, we were finally able to see him. I saw his arms, they had slash marks on them, but they aren't recent. "What's that on his face?" It looked like a mask made of ice. Guys, point the mirror at him." "Got it, dude." Junpei and Akihiko pointed it at him. For some reason, I felt like this wasn't gonna be easy.

"Kazuki, do you feel it?" "Yeah, it's dreadful." "I feel it too." All three of us were looking at Mako with curious eyes... "What is that mask on his face?" "That mask... Why is it-" I felt the room get even colder than it was before. "Shizuka, why did it get cold all of a sudden!?" "I-I don't know?"

For a split second, I felt a pressure pushing down against us. "(Grunting) What the hell..is this!?" "I can barely even stand." "This is ridiculous!" We all had trouble standing, I didn't have time to think about why this was happening.

"You pitiful fools! You dare disturb my slumber!" "Yeah, we do," Minako bit back. "Hmm, you..." The one possessing Makoto pointed at me. "I feel a dark presence within you, but yet, you are human?" "I have no idea what you mean." "Do you not? ...Well, it matters not, I will just take your body and see what this presence is." "Point the Mirror!"

Like before, we held up the mirror and it seems to have finally taken effect. "Stop them from separating me from this vessel!" The monster called for some backup in the form of icicles. "That's it? Man, this will be easy!" When Junpei was getting ready to slice it in half. "W-wait, Junpei!" I saw an arm break through the icicle as if it was nothing. "Huh!?" "Junpei, move!" Junpei moved out of the way like Akihito said, but to only to slip on the ground. "Someone: throw your Evoker to Junpei!" "Lori, catch!" Mitsuru threw her Evoker towards Junpei. "Tch, Agilao!" Junpei burned the icicle to nothingness. "Damn, that was close!" "Shizuka, let's go!" "R-right!" "Wait for me!

Shizuka, Minako and I were closing in on Makoto… "…Kazuki, to your left!" "I looked to my left, I saw a fist coming into contact with my cheek. *Bam* "AHHH!" "Kazuki, are you okay!?" "Yeah, just fine!" The other icicles were beginning to break apart. "What the hell!?" The things that came out looked like humans ice sculptures; they looked like me!

"Okay, this is just freaky." "Everyone be careful! They look like Kazuki-kun and are just as powerful as him!" If they are, then... "Shizuka: go help them with my clones!" "..." "Shizuka?" "I-" She was glued to the spot she was standing in. "Shizuka, what's the matter?" "I don't know?" "You're shaking!" "N-no I'm not!" "..."

Her body language, her eyes, she was scared of something. I think it was because of me...

"Flick." *Thumb* "Aww! What in the hell!?" "You were zoning out there, so yeah." "You fool, I am not some child you flick on the head!" "Sorry, ma,am! ...But I did it because you were scared." "I'm not-" "Don't lie to me, I can see it clear as day." "..." "We really don't have time for this now, so you can tell me all about it when this is over." "*Sigh* I'll take you up on that."

I saw some of the ice clones creeping up on us. "Ziodyne!" Shizuka destroyed some of them with her Zio skill. "What are you waiting for, go get your leader back." "Got it!"

We dashed off to different sides of the gym. "You go help the others! I'll get Mako back!" "Careful, this is god we are facing, one false move and you could die!"

After hearing Shizuka's warning, I drew my sword and I began to draw some power into Kuroumi. "Come, child, I wish to study you a bit." "Study this!" I drew even more power out. "Ocean's stream!" I shot the almighty attack at him. "Bufudyne!" My attack was able to slice past the Bufu spell. For some reason, my Ocean's stream attack looked white. I guess in shadow-mog it turns white, just like his... "Makoto, can you hear me? You need to wake up, now!" "Makoto, it's me, Minako! Can you hear me; answer me, you idiot!" "Makoto Yuki does not remain, only I -The night queen!" "You sure are pompous like a queen!" "You dare make a fool out of me," the snow queen roared. "Yeah, whatever!" I slashed at the mask. "Absolute zero!" A blizzard was coming my way, I launched an Ocean's stream at it. The bufu attack was blown away. "Why you- *Gasp*" I was already next to him before he was able to use another attack. "What's the matter, did see me coming? I thought you were a god..." "Damn this body! I can't move!" "Yeah, sucks for you."

I had my hand on the mask, so I tried to rip it off. "What the hell? I thought it was weakened!?" "My connection with the boy is weakened by the mirror, but it will take more than that to take me off this boy!" "Is that so...?" "Yes!" "Not even if I slice you off!" "Hmm!"

I was gonna slice the mask right off of Makoto's face, but I was interrupted. "Susano'o!" *Crush* I saw a blade flying towards me. I directed it away from me by hitting it with my sword. "Don't you dare!" Minako had a fire in eyes like none other. "Hang on a minute, we need to-" "Not like that!" "I think we do, because the mask won't come off so easily, so-" "No!" She summoned her Persona again and had it do Vorpal blade, but this time I was fast enough to see it. When the sword was about to hit me I grabbed it. "I'm sorry, Minako, but I need to!"

I raised my sword up and I swung it towards the mask on his face. *Slice* When I looked at the result of my attack. "D-damn! This is as painful as I remember." Minako was on the receiving end. "Arisato!" "Kei, what the hell are you doing!?" "I didn't mean to!" "Makoto... you have to wake up, now. I really, really miss you!" Minako placed her hand on the mask... "Please...for me." "Beg all you want, woman, but you are-"

The night queen pause during its sentence. It looked like it was struggling, judging by how it was pressing on the mask. "GAHHH! AHHHHH!" "MAKOTO!" He dug his fingers into the edge of the mask. "AGGGHHH!" He was trying to tear it off of him. I think I can help him with that! "Makoto, listen to me! I know it's hard, but you need to fight against the current; push against it and get that damn thing off you!" A current, that's what it's probably is for him inside that mask just like when the shadow would take control of me. "You hear me Makoto! You need to just rip that thing off you right now! Or I will!"

Makoto's desperate struggle to get the mask off was nearing its end. "AGGGHHHHH!" The mask was finally ripped from Makoto's face. It was rolling down on the floor, it was nothing but a mask now.

"Makoto!" Makoto collapsed on the floor. "Kazuki, what are you waiting for! Finish the mask off!" "Got it!"

I jumped into the air to get a good angle. "Time to finish this! Shiro stream!" I shot an charged almighty attack at the mask. The mask was turned into tiny pieces, then into nothingness.

"Good riddance!" I deactivated Shadow-mog and let down my hood. I looked back over to Minako and Makoto. Makoto's head was on Minako's lap, still unconscious. "Makoto, are you okay? Makoto!"

I heard Mitsuru's heel click. "Takeba, Shizuka, Akihiko: heal Arisato." "What are you gonna do Mitsuru," Akihiko questioned while taking an Evoker from Junpei.

"I don't sense the mask anymore." "Are you sure?" "Mhm." I let out a sigh when she said that... This was all finally coming to a close.

"Aw, did I miss the ending?" "Huh?" We all turned around to where the voice came from. There were two figures in the doorway of the gym. "My, my. Looks like it was weaker than I thought. What a waste of that much godly energy; it should have been worthy of some observation." "You're the children that escaped from me!"

I recognized both of their voices, but one of them made my blood boil and my Persona cry out with anger. Without thinking, I ran towards them, summoning Skeith. "What a fool you are, child." The lanky looking man with a long black coat stood in front of me. He took out an Evoker. "Persona!" *Bang* A purple mist came out of nowhere, it was coming towards me. "Ocean's stream!" I shot it into the mist to make it disperse, but when it did the mist wasn't gone but it just got back together. And on top of that, I noticed the Ocean's stream didn't make an impact on the enemy.

"Was that suppose to hurt or something," the blonde one mocked, laughing at what my attack did. "Orgia mode!" I heard Aigis' gears from a where I was at. She put her hand on the hood of my jacket and threw me back over to the others. "AHHHH! CATCH ME!" "Junpei, watch out!" I crashed into Junpei, full force. *Bang* "Haha, you okay, Jun?" "Hehe, no prob, Kazu..." I was seeing stars but I snapped out of it.

"Aw, that hurts." "Kazuki, are you okay?" "Yeah, I'm fine, Mitsu-chan." Can't say the same for Jun though...

"You, the blond one." "Yes..." "I'm gonna beat your ass into the afterlife!" "Oh, me? That would be insane." "Like you," the other man next to him retorted. "What makes you say that?" "Do I need to list off the insanities you unleash whenever you speak, let alone fight?" "I fight just like "him", there is no problem with that to me." "*Sigh* There is no use in using reason with you..."

I felt the floor shaking, the ice from the ceiling was falling off. "Hey, we don't have much time here anymore!" "That really is a shame, I wanted to play with the kid in the back for a bit." "You'll get another chance, later." "Oh, fine, I'll wait for another time."

A fire covered the two to the point where we couldn't see them, and when it disappeared they were gone as well. "Where did they go," Yukari asked out loud. "I don't know, but we need to get out of here!" The ice was starting to melt from walls and floor, and icicles were falling from the roof. We were all ran out of the gym before the number of icicles fell to the ground... I saw Minako moving slower than anyone else here because she needed to carry Makoto, so I went over to them. "Let me help you with that." I slide his right arm around my neck. "Let me help you with that." "..." "Come on, let's go!" "...Right." We both made a break for it out of the gym...

Outside of Gekkoukan high,?

We the second years went to the second floor to check up on everyone while Kio and Mitus-chan went to the third floor... originally, I went back to the courtyard to find that time capsule. I eventually found it... I opened it to find jewelry; it looks rather expensive... I also found a note in there too... But before I left the area, I heard something. "Thank you". At first, I thought it was the wind, but another thought came into my head... I then said, "Your welcome When I went back to class 2-F, most of the students were badly beaten and poisoned; Fuuka and Shizuka were the ones left in charge of treating them since they have some medical knowledge. I was heading outside to get some help, and due to most of the ice being melted I was able to get out.

"Alright, what time is it now?" I opened my phone... "Huh, this isn't right?" It was 8:04 A.M. We were in the school for more than a half-an-hour, right? So why is it still this early in the morning?

Oh right, the ambulance! I dialed them up, and it seemed like they were coming... "Huh?" I saw a figure at the gateway of the school, he/she moved away the moment I spotted them. "Hey, wait!" I ran towards the gate, and when I did I felt something hit my neck. *Thumb* "ACKK!" I was slammed to the ground; hard...

"Hmph, that was too easy." This voice... It belonged to only one person I know. "Katsu!" "Sup." I got up from the floor while Katsu was grinning at me. "So, why are you here?" "Oh you know, doing work some work for the boss man." "Some work you're doing, he might even give you a treat!" "...Kicking your ass will be a treat!"

I was starting to feel some adrenalin... Out of nowhere, I heard sirens down the road/ "Tch, you got lucky today. Next time we'll really settle this another time!" "Can't wait!" Katsu ran off into the city...

I saw the ambulance and the police pull up in front of the school... After a few minutes of me answering questions for the police, I went back to the school to make sure that the school really was clear of any threats...

...

I was far away from the school, hiding in an alleyway. "Masaru, why did you break-off from us?" "Cuz I can!" "...You went to fight the Kazuki kid, didn't you?" "Of course I did!" When I said that, the blonde bastard started laughing. "Why is that so funny," I angrily asked. "Because he would sweep the floor with you." "What do you mean, you lunatic!?" "He has shadow transmogrification." "Is that suppose to mean something to me?" One of these bastards sighed when I said that. "To save us some time, do you remember your last mission?" "Yeah, of course, I do! The idiot beat my ass senseless!" "Well, shadow transmogrification is the reason why he was able to beat you."

When Tsuneo said that, I grabbed him by the collar of his coat. "How did he gain that power?" "Usually it should be impossible to even be able to obtain something like that due to how normal shadows act, but, the boss might be able to help you with that." "Why would a chicken-shit who doesn't show himself be able to help me?" "Because he's a god himself!" "...Oh, and how would you know this," I questioned with one of my fist aimed at his head. "Because he came to directly when he was forming the organization."

This info wasn't really necessary but it wouldn't hurt to ask. I threw him to the ground...

"I want to meet the boss." "Ha, good luck with that. He only shows his face to are Yatagarasus," the blondie laughed while mocking me. "Don't worry about that, I'll see him one way or the other, and I will gain that power...!

I guess you can say "Another one bites the dusto"! Okay, that was a terrible joke. Hello, everyone, Proxy's saga here, and wow, this still took to long to make. (But not by an entire mouth at least, right?) So anyway, I originally wanted to have the team fight against the night queen when it turns into queen Asura, but I thought this arc was going on long enough... And besides, there is gonna be more awesome stuff to come. And also, Makoto is back, and he has a bunch of wounds on his arm? I wonder why...? (I do.) Another thing, I fixed and updated the previous chapter's dialogue, so, yeah. Welp, I hope you guys enjoy this chap, (maybe this arc) because now we can get on with the story. As I almost always say, until the chapter; see ya...