Only courage in the face of doubt can lead one to the answer.
Cohen's situation never left Syphus' mind, but it wasn't until the end of the day that he took the time to go help Cohen. It wasn't like he had decided to waste the day for no reason, all things considered it was a bit of a productive day. "Can we go now?" she asked, pouting a bit and looking at him with an expression that said 'I dare you to say no. I dare you'
"Yes, we're going now. You better be ready" that day Syphus had taken the time to get the best equipment he could find; it'd be a waste if Ananas didn't use it.
-ooooo-
It was still early, so Undyne was still at her home. She polished her helmet, staring at her blurry reflection. The Captain of the Royal Guard was in better mood than the day before, there was something about a loved one returning from the brink of death that was encouraging and made her feel like she'd be capable of overcoming any obstacle. Alphys...she was such a strong person...
Her first action when she woke up was say 'sorry' to Undyne, as if falling down was something one needed to apologize for. That's precisely what Undyne had said, sounding more boisterous than usual to disguise how scared she had felt about Alphys falling down, but Alphys had simply repeated 'I'm sorry, Undyne, I'm so sorry' before the hospital employees had gotten Undyne to leave the patient alone. Undyne planned to visit Alphys later, apparently she was going to be allowed to return to the laboratory that morning – with the condition she returned to the hospital every day for the next month for a check-up, to make sure she wasn't going to fall down again. Alphys had stoically accepted that, nodding with resigned expression.
Undyne put on her armor, making sure her gauntlets were properly adjusted, and opened the door of her house. There was someone there! Undyne instinctively formed a spear in her hand, prepared for an attack, when she realized it wasn't a human or a hostile person. Syphus was there, with his hand raised in the air to knock on the door. "Hello there, Undyne"
"You! What're you doing here?" she let the spear dissolve in the air. Undyne wasn't very happy to see him, after the little number he had done in Alphys' hospital room. Syphus shrugged, his pupils narrowing a bit more than usual. Without his jacket, it was pretty obvious he was awfully skinny – well, rather fitting for a snake. It was almost amazing his clothes made him look a tad bulkier than he actually was. Not that he was the only monster in the Underground that made such thing happen, though.
"I'm here to apologize for what happened yesterday. I left without explaining anything, and I guess you're angry about that"
Undyne looked at him sternly for a moment before sighing. "Forget about that. It's no big deal. You better not do that again, but it doesn't matter anymore"
"Really? All is okay now?"
"Yeah. You think I'm the type of person that holds grudges?" she said. Syphus' skeptic expression made her laugh, her laughter resonating in the cavern "Come on! What's that face for? Most people would be offended if you made that face when talking to them!"
"You didn't seem to me the type to bygones be bygones, that's it"
"Punk, if I didn't forgive or leave anything in the past I'd have refused to train you a few days ago" She wasn't wrong about that. Undyne didn't have to bother with him, yet she did. That by itself should be enough to show she wasn't the type to hold grudges. Undyne looked at the clock on the wall, tapping her fingers against the helmet in her hands "Hey, since you're here why don't we try the next step in your physical training?"
"Right now?"
"I have some free time right now! I had planned to go to the headquarters early today, but it's not like anyone's keeping count of how many hours I spend there. That's because I'm the captain! I answer only to the big guy, and he'll understand if I take my time once or twice" Undyne left her helmet aside "Besides I still need to show you how to truly hit hard with that halberd. You willing to do that today?"
Syphus took the halberd he had left to the side of the house, brandishing it. It looked like he had gotten used to the weight of the steel halberd. "Let's do it!"
The training session was different to the one from last time. While it did start with some exercises to warm up his arms and prepare for the tough movements she had planned now, soon he was moving the halberd slowly from side to side, letting her guide his movements. She had her gauntlets on, there wasn't much danger of her realizing his scales weren't real. "Keep it level. I'm going to let go. Don't drop it!" she let go of his arms. Syphus managed to keep the halberd up without much difficulty. His arms were trembling slightly, but he endured the weight of the halberd. "Nice! I thought you'd have more trouble than this"
"I have been practicing" Syphus said with a wry smile. Not much of a lie, that halberd had been vital to traverse Alphys' SOUL. Undyne grinned.
"Good! You have initiative, I like that!" she pointed at a training dummy not too far away "I want you to attack the dummy over there. Tear it in half if you can!"
Syphus moved the halberd in an arc, testing how he'd do it. It was true that in a real battle he wouldn't have the time to think his moves like this, but since there was no danger right now... "Like this?"
"You're going to fall flat on your face if you move that thing like that. Move your hands further up the pole"
Once Syphus got the right technique, Undyne told him again to cleave the training dummy. Syphus stepped forward, raised the halberd with a scream of fake rage and slammed down the blade on the dummy's head, cutting it from top to half of its body. The split dummy fell down, Syphus retired the halberd with a grin, just to almost drop it in surprise when the dummy repaired itself. "What the-?!"
"Surprised? There's a ghost living inside that dummy" Undyne pointed at the dummy's face "Don't say a single word. There's no time for a rant right now" the dummy grumbled something unintelligible and repetitive-sounding but didn't defy Undyne "It's a living for them"
"So it's like an infinite dummy"
"Something like that. Do it again, this time from the side!"
There was something nice and almost therapeutic about slicing a dummy over and over, watching it mend itself together, and repeat the process over and over. It also helped that Undyne shouted with excitement every time Syphus did the moves correctly, to the point where he started yelling too. "Taste justice!" Syphus shrieked, slamming the spike into the dummy.
"YEAH! Make the dummy know what justice is made of!"
"AaaaaaaHAAAAA!" Syphus removed the spike, poking the dummy again. He was having fun, like there was nothing to worry about, but part of him was feeling very guilty. Cohen was trapped into his own SOUL right now. Would there be consequences for a prolonged stay? Syphus let go of the halberd, distracted. ...what am I doing here? I'm such a moron...
"What? Why did you stop?"
"Sorry, Undyne, I have to stop"
Undyne grabbed the halberd, giving it back to Syphus. "It's because of the dummy? I told you, there's a ghost inside—"
"It's not that. I just need to go do something"
"Is it work?" she was already resigned to Syphus going away before her free time ended, but she was honestly curious about that. Syphus made a pained expression, not looking at Undyne to the face. I shouldn't be fooling around...why am I here?!
"No, it's something else"
Something about what Syphus said made Undyne remember something. She took her helmet, patting it. "Hey, I just remembered! There's something you can do for the Royal Guard. Why don't you try applying to help at the headquarters?"
Syphus' hand went to the brooch without deactivating it. Going to the very core of the troop that patrolled and had as a mission fight any humans that fell into the Underground? That was insane! Yet...there was something strangely alluring about it. Syphus' feathers stood on end slowly, getting on guard. "I thought you had said I wasn't a good pick for being a member of the Royal Guard"
"Yeah, and that hasn't changed. I'm talking about a part-time job in the Royal Guard headquarters at New Home. You'd shine the armors, keep stuff clean, basically be our support and keep everything ready. Give it a try!"
"I don't know..."
"I'm not promising anything, but you should apply. You have the right attitude, you're proficient, you'd do great! How about it?" It wasn't that bad of an offer, and it was likely the pay was going to be higher than at Grillby's. Lately he wasn't the most hard-working guy, so just to cover his bases he told Undyne it was likely he wouldn't have time every day for the job. Undyne didn't seem too worried, though. "Don't worry about that. The pay is nothing amazing, so nobody expects you to go everyday"
Syphus was about to ask for more details when he again felt pangs of guilt about not going to help Cohen immediately, so he decided to cut the conversation short. "Alright, I'll apply to that job, but why're you offering it to me?"
"Because we're friends and you look like you need a good pick-me-up" she said rather naturally. For a moment Syphus wasn't sure what to say, so she continued "It looked like you had something in your head. Something bothering you?"
Am I that obvious? "Not really, but thanks for asking"
"Fine. You can count on me anytime, don't be afraid of talking to me whenever you want, got it?"
You sense Undyne's earnest kindness
IMAGE JUSTICE RANK 3
The Undyne Social Link has reached Rank 3!
Your power to create Personas of the Justice Arcana has grown!
Undyne and Syphus walked to the part of Waterfall where the paths divided, where the two of them would take their separate paths. Syphus still had a rather conflicted face but Undyne didn't press any further. Better to let her friend talk to her whenever he needed, without forcing him to do it. Still...did he not trust her enough to share whatever was eating at him? Well, she wasn't going to demand he talked, anyways. Before he went too far away she called for him. "Hey, did you know Alphys is already back at the lab?"
That made Syphus stop immediately. "Really? So soon?"
"Yeah! Alphys said she wanted to get back to work as soon as possible. She's amazing" Undyne pointed with her head towards Hotland "You should visit her sometime, I bet she'd be happy to see you"
That wasn't a bad idea either, especially if Alphys felt better and was able to return to her laboratory so soon. Thanking Undyne, Syphus went in direction of the Hidden Village. A new thought had crossed his mind, and since it was directly related to his efforts to break the Barrier, he felt less guilty about leaving the rescue mission for later. Besides, bringing Ananas with him to see Alphys was a good idea too. The girl deserved to see that Alphys was okay.
-ooooo-
Igor really knew a lot about the workings of those strange worlds that were the SOULs. The moment Syphus asked why Alphys' SOUL didn't have Shadows roaming around, Igor was able to answer, sounding completely sure about what he was saying: "Monsters and humans aren't as different as you may think. Their SOULs are made of the same components and emotions. You may think of it as the method of tarot reading: the way you lie the cards may change, but the cards themselves don't. Do you understand?"
"I do, actually"
"But there's a difference between human and monster SOULs: monsters are better than humans at compartmentalizing their emotions and feelings in their SOULs. Human SOULs are more complicated, which is why monsters tend to see human SOULs as...more lacking in certain qualities, and why instead of seeing Shadows you see them take the form of Personas – very fragile Personas, where the slightest emotional imbalance on them may cause them to revert into Shadows again"
The explanation was simple enough to be understood, yet convoluted enough for him to not be sure about the implications of it all. Did that mean all the Personas he saw in Alphys' SOUL were related to her personality in some way? Even though he thought about it while he arranged the fusion of a few new Personas, he didn't get to any big epiphanies about anything. Thanking Alphonse for their aid, Syphus left the Velvet Room, feeling the cold air of Waterfall. He was completely prepared for the trip into Cohen's SOUL, but before that...
Ananas' expression of annoyance when Syphus announced they were going into Cohen's SOUL later vanished when he mentioned Alphys, the girl's annoyance turned into concern. "Alphys...is she really okay?"
"Apparently she is. Undyne said—"
"Wait, Undyne?" Ananas frowned, staring at the ground "The same Undyne of the Royal Guard? Th-That Undyne? She's going to be there...?"
"No, she's at work. It'll be just you, me, and Alphys. We should all talk about what happened, yeah?" such proposal did seem convincing enough for Ananas. After she put on her cowboy costume and her cloak, she followed Syphus to Hotland, to the laboratory. Just like Undyne had said, Alphys did look happy to see Syphus, and her happiness morphed into surprise when Ananas revealed herself.
"S-So you're that human! And you..." Alphys looked outside from side to side before getting them into the laboratory "Syphus, y-you're a human too?"
"We'll explain once we're inside" Syphus said. Soon the three of them were sitting on the couch, Syphus showing the firefly brooch and explaining what it did. Hearing that such a small thing made Syphus look like a monster and allowed them to enter SOULs impressed Alphys, she turned it in her claws over and over.
"That's amazing! This little object can do that? How d-does it work?"
"No idea. It just does"
Ananas put her hands on her knees, leaning forward. "Where did you find it?"
"It was given to me" he hurried to take the brooch away, putting it away "Anyways, we're here to explain what happened and ask you to keep silent about it" The explanation about the whole thing with Personas, Shadows and fighting it all took quite a while. Alphys listened intently, her face showing confusion at times but she didn't interrupt. Once the tale was finished, she stared at her claws, trying to process everything she had heard.
"Wow...that's a lot to think about...and so w-weird" she paused for a moment before looking at him "How many humans are down here in the Underground?"
"Eight" Ananas answered, taking a can of soda from the fridge without permission. Alphys, too busy processing everything she had been told, sunk her face in her hands.
"Oh my god..."
"If you have any questions I'll try to answer them" Syphus offered, glaring silently at Ananas so she left the soda back into the fridge.
"...what'll happen now? I didn't get a Persona...did you need my h-help?"
"It'd have been nice to have another team member, but there's nothing you can do about that now"
"I'm such a failure..." Alphys stood up, slowly walking around "What my Shadow said was right. I'm a coward...I know what I ha-have done is awful, all those lies I have told...and now I failed at facing myself" neither Syphus nor Ananas knew what to say, they felt very awkward hearing such things. The silence seemed to have been the right choice, without having them reply to what she said she had to think about what she had just said "...I have to start getting better, somehow. How can I help you?"
"You don't need to force yourself to—"
"Tell me how I can help! I'm begging y-you here" proving herself useful was a good first step towards redeeming herself, in Alphys' opinion. Surely she could be of some use despite not having a Persona! And even though Syphus immediately said he wasn't going to take her with them, she insisted. "I know I'm already making that big weapon you need to shatter the B-Barrier, but I...wait a minute...that's it!" her spirits lifted once she saw a way she could be useful.
"What? What's it?"
"I can make good weapons for your team! Bring m-me some of those weird m-materials you talked about, and I'll make weapons th-that'll help you in your quest"
Ananas' eyes widened. "You really can do that?"
"Of course! I'm pretty good at e-engineering, making special weapons is going to be easy" Alphys stopped for a moment, noticing what she had said "...I said that...hear that, I'm a great engineer!"
Syphus shrugged. It wasn't a bad offer, and stronger weapons would always be welcome. If Alphys wanted to do that, then sure! Why not? Although letting her do it for free made him a bit uncomfortable. "As long as I can pay you for that then sure, I accept"
"Thank you! I promise you, y-you won't regret it. I'll be of help...and it'll be the first step I'll make towards i-improving myself. I won't hide from myself a-anymore" Alphys stopped, once again weighing her words before nodding "Yes, I mean it. I-I'll get better until m-my own Shadow has nothing to scold m-me for!"
You feel Alphy's desire for change.
IMAGE RANK 4
The Alphys Social Link has reached Rank 4!
Your power to create Personas of the Priestess Arcana has grown!
Ananas passed Alphys her gun, telling her she had run out of bullets and therefore her gun was useless. "Hum...I'm not going to ask why you have a gun...but maybe I can make you one th-that doesn't need bullets"
"You can really do that? I want to do some good damage to the Shadows!"
"That should be easy" the royal scientist glanced at Syphus "I can make a halberd for y-you, too. Bring me what I'll tell y-you" she started rattling a long list of materials, barely slow enough for Syphus to keep track of it "...and some sharpened metal would be good too, and I want to s-see if talc can temper s-some kinds of steel, a-and...uh, bring me everything you have. I'll see what I can do"
"Can you make some armors too?" Ananas asked.
Alphys shook her head. "I'm not sure I could make good ones. You'll have to ask the Queen for that"
"Toriel? She must have better things to do than make clothes for someone like me" Syphus said.
"N-No! You didn't know? She designed the armors for the Royal G-Guard. The Queen is pretty g-good at blacksmithing...maybe it's because she's proficient with f-fire magic" Alphys played with the safety of Ananas' gun, examining the mechanism "But I don't think s-she'll do it quickly unless the Royal G-Guard sends a formal request to her, s-signed by the captain"
Okay, it's settled: getting that job in the Royal Guard is going to be very helpful. What better way to convince Undyne to sign something like that? Standing up, Syphus told her he'd go for all the materials he had obtained from his three expeditions so far. Once they left, Alphys stood up and went to the second floor of her laboratory, grinning to herself. The possibility of crafting some fun weapons was rather enticing, and practicing her skills was always a nice thing to do. Besides, if it led to them getting more stuff for the Barrier-shattering weapon she was making then even better. Cheered up, Alphys went to her work table, preparing some tools to start working as soon as Syphus returned. "Oh?" Among them she found the cellphone she had been making for the child with the stripped sweater. Had she left it in the drawer with her tools? She didn't remember. Just in case, she checked the different functions the cellphone had, quickly finding something odd.
"This is odd...I thought I had left it full" she mumbled, checking the fuel container for the jetpack function. The cellphone could transform into a jetpack for a very short amount of time – as long as there was enough fuel for that. "Oh well"
It wasn't farfetched to think she was mistaken about leaving it full.
-ooooo-
It took Alphys the whole day to make the weapons she had promised, but the wait was worth it. When Syphus and Ananas returned that evening to pick up their new weapons – Syphus having spent the day in Snowdin working at Grillby's while Sans messed with more stuff he had received from Syphus - they found Alphys standing amidst a considerable amount of weapons. Not only there were several halberds and guns around, they also saw several pairs of tough-looking gloves, a spear and a thick club. Wow, someone was busy today!
"Look at everything I made" Alphys said with pride, picking up some of the weapons. "All those materials were so unusual! It was fun to see what I could do" Her efforts were notable, she displayed all the options to them and encouraged them to choose the one they liked the most "None of these need bullets" she explained to Ananas, showing the guns.
"What does this one fire?"
"Thorns! And you don't even need to reload it, it's, um, a bit hard to explain how that works" she then showed Syphus the halberds "Pick the one you want, but if I were you, I'd go for th-this one over here...it's made of t-tungsten and it should increase y-your strength" The weapons were very well made, sharp and shiny. "S-So, what do you two think?"
"It's awesome! Thank you, thank you!" Ananas had already put her new gun in her holster, almost jumping with joy.
"I'm impressed; you do know what you're doing" Syphus added. Alphys, happy, chuckled, picking up the weapons they didn't choose.
"It was easy...I didn't think I'd do all this in a single day..."
"That's why I want you to have this" Syphus left a lot of gold in Alphys' hands. When she tried to say it was all free, Syphus closed his eyes tiredly. "Don't reject it, please. You deserve a reward" Arguing for that was going to be a waste of time, so she put it aside.
It had been more than a day since Cohen had fallen down. Although Ananas was happy to have a stronger weapon, the more they got closer to the Hidden Village the more anxious she looked. "We're going in now, right? We have to do it now" she kept asking.
"Yeah, we'll do it now" he kept answering. The two entered Cohen's cabin, finding Ciruel inside. He looked at the shiny halberd Syphus had brought but didn't comment about it. "Have you been here all day?"
"Kinda" Ciruel suppressed a yawn "I'm so tired..."
"Annie and I can watch over Cohen for the rest of the night. You go rest, we'll take care of him"
"You shouldn't say stuff like 'take care of' someone when you're holding a sharp halberd" he said but he stood up, now yawning openly and leaving the cabin. Once Ciruel was gone and they waited ten minutes or so in case he came back unexpectedly, Syphus took out the firefly brooch, pinning it on Cohen's robe. He also rummaged among the stuff Sans had made with random materials, giving Ananas a ring.
"Take this. It'll sometimes reflect physical attacks"
"Really? This thing?" somehow it was hard to believe a ring could do such thing.
"Don't ask me how it works. All Sans said was 'magic' and wiggled his fingers, what a jerk" he grabbed an accessory for himself. Leaving aside that they still had no armor, they were better prepared than any other time before. "Are you ready?"
"Let's go" Ananas grabbed Syphus' sleeve. Once the two of them were sitting down on the floor next to Cohen's mattress, Syphus pressed the brooch, activating it.
-ooooo-
This time Ananas woke up first. When Syphus opened his eyes, he found her shaking his shoulder, trying to wake him up. "Syphus? Syphus, I think something happened"
"What...?"
"We're still in the village"
She wasn't entirely wrong. They were in a small room, surrounded by piles of cardboard boxes. The quality of the wooden construction that formed the room revealed they were currently inside the storage of the big communal building of the village, the dining room and the small kitchen were downstairs. High on the wall there was a small window, a bit too high for Syphus to look through. "Huh...looks like Cohen's SOUL takes the form of the village. It's weird we're starting in this storage, though"
"Let's look through the window"
"Stand on my shoulders" Syphus crouched so Ananas could do as instructed and look through the window. The girl held on the frame, peering over it into the dark confines of the cavern. None of the shacks she could see had any lights on, there were no signs of life outside them – at least nothing that wasn't Shadows. Unlike Alphys' SOUL, the Shadows in Cohen's SOUL looked like the oily fragments of psyche they were. "See something?"
"I don't see Cohen; I just see those weird Shadows that look like blobs with masks"
"Then everything is like normal" Syphus carefully got Ananas to the floor "Alright, strategy meeting: stay close to me. We don't know what may be lurking anywhere. There may even be Shadows in this room"
"Will you keep using that giant made of paper?"
"No, I got rid of it to make better Personas. I have some good immunities! But...hm...let's just hope nothing in this place uses ice" Once again most of his Personas had a glaring weakness.
"Don't worry, I'll defend you with fire! Now..." Ananas looked at the boxes "Let's look for supplies here"
"Supplies? We're staying here for a few hours; this isn't a camping trip"
"I know! But I want to see what's in here. We could find something useful!" It wasn't that bad of an idea, so they started checking the boxes. Most were empty, but a few had random healing items that could actually come useful. Ananas took another box, opening it with glee, when something slid out of it. "S-Syphus!"
The ink and slime overflowed the box until it started spilling on the floor, some if it leaking down between the wooden planks. Ananas aimed her gun at the growing mound of ink while it took form, growing until it overtook most of the small storage room. The ink started compressing, the Shadow's frame forming and solidifying into steel. It wasn't a small thing, a levitating horse armor formed, shining ominously in the dim light, and over it there was its rider, holding a large medieval spear. "That one's definitely dangerous" Syphus mumbled. Hard not to be intimidated by a knight that almost filled the whole room.
Ananas, trying not to panic, fired her gun, hitting the Intrepid Knight right on its mask. It was barely fazed. Quick, analysis! The analysis showed nothing good. It was astoundingly sturdy. "Step back!" he said to Ananas while he summoned one of his new Personas. A bizarre-looking woman with an odd green and blue pattern and purple hair emerged from Syphus, raised a hand, and struck the Knight with a lightning bolt. Although the Knight did crumble down to the floor, the amount of damage done was negligible. Damn it, we're in big trouble!
"What kind of Persona is that?" Ananas had frozen, looking dumbstruck at where Queen Mab had been a moment ago.
"Forget about that and attack!" Syphus slammed the face of the Knight's horse with his halberd, not even making a dent. Ananas wasn't doing much better with her bullets, most bouncing from the Knight's armor. They had barely managed to dent its health when the Knight rose, its lance pointing at Syphus. "Change of plans, we get out of here!"
"What?!"
"It's too strong! We don't stand a chance against it!"
As if that was its cue, the Intrepid Knight started charging up an attack, its medieval lance shining brightly. Not wanting to be harmed by whatever it was readying, Ananas yelped and followed Syphus through the narrow hallway. Behind them, a thunderous blast tore apart the wooden wall that separated the storage from the hallway, broken planks and splinters crashing against the outer wall of the building. They had narrowly avoided an extremely strong attack.
The second floor of the communal building wasn't very big. It didn't take long for them to reach the other side of the floor, finding the stairs that'd lead them to the first floor. They had been about to run down the stairs when something started coming up, something big that was blocking the way. A large golden statue was floating upwards, too wide for them to run aside it. "Come on, you have to be joking!"
"Uh, Syphus...?" Ananas inched closer to him, looking behind her, the Knight approaching. The Relic advanced from the opposite direction.
"We're going through here!" he shouted, stabbing the Relic with the spike of his halberd. If they had to choose between taking their chances with the Knight or with the Relic, the Relic definitely was the better option. Even if they couldn't defeat it, they had to push it aside at the very least. The Relic tried to counter with electricity, but Syphus' actual Persona was immune to it. He pretty much jumped on the Relic, his weight making it float down the stairs.
Ananas went down the stairs, Hippolyta using its axe to deflect the Knight's lance. The girl looked around the first floor. There were no windows, and the double door she knew was on the wall wasn't there. All she could see was the wall made of logs, without even a hint there was a door there. That was going to be a big problem now – there was no escape route! "Syphus! There's no door here!"
"Why am I not surprised" he muttered, cleaving the Relic with the halberd and finishing it "Are you sure?"
"There's no door!" she repeated right before the Knight's lance hit her right on the back, throwing her against the wall of logs. Ananas, out of breath due to the impact, fell to the floor, and Hippolyta vanished, leaving her defenseless while she struggled to stand up. The Knight charged up again, rearing back the lance to hit Ananas again. With a grunt, the Knight attacked, hitting Syphus.
The piece had hurried from the other side of the room, changing his Persona to the only one he had that resisted physical damage, and blocked with his body the lance, stopping it from hitting Ananas. The impact made him fall to his knees, woozy, while Ananas used fire spells with her Persona to get the Knight away from him. "Are you okay?" she tried to help him stand up.
"...I think I am...that one really hurt" he said, his back creaking "Forget about me, we need a way out"
"There's no door!"
"Then make one!" It couldn't be simpler than that. Either someone broke the wall of the building so they could leave, or they stayed until the Knight killed them, and since dying was not a good option...while Syphus stood up and faced the Knight, Ananas looked at the wall. It depended on her, and the only way she had was with Hippolyta.
"Come on...!" she mumbled, Hippolyta appearing and raising the axe, bringing it down on the wooden wall. Splinters and pieces of wood fell all around her, it seemed like it'd take a while to make a way out. How long would Syphus resist? No, she couldn't leave him alone. She'd help. Ananas turned around, her mind focusing on controlling Hippolyta to continue breaking down part of the wall. "I'm ready!" Ananas took out her gun. Syphus glanced at her while he readied his halberd.
"Are you sure you want to do this too?"
"I'll do it"
There was no time for arguing. The Knight had charged up its attack level once again. Please stay safe, Annie... he'd try his best to protect her, but he could make no promises. We just need to keep this Shadow busy until Annie is done with that wall. It shouldn't be too difficult. "Rakshasa!"
His only defense against the Knight's powerful physical attacks was that Persona. The demon floated in the air, holding its swords at the ready. At Syphus' signal, Rakshasa pounced forward, aiming with its swords at the Knight's horse, while Ananas shot at the Knight's head. The bullets bounced on its head, the swords slashed at the Knight's armor and left marks on it. Unfazed, the Intrepid Knight moved forward, trying to run Syphus over with the horse. Syphus dove to the side, falling on the splinters from the wall. "Wait, I got it!" Ananas aimed at the eyes of the Knight's mask, it wasn't that much better than what they were already doing. "Nevermind"
The next minute seemed eternal for both of them. Ananas tried to break the wall as fast as possible, but she still wasn't used to directing her Persona in a completely different task than what she was doing. More often than not she completed missed with her bullets. Syphus wasn't faring much better, despite Rakshasa's fierce attacks the Shadow was almost completely unharmed. "This never ends!" he yelled in frustration, having once again deviated the Knight's lance with Rakshasa's swords.
"I'm almost done!" Ananas ran to the other side of the room, shooting at the Knight's back. It was logical that staying as separate from each other as possible would divert its attention! And indeed, it did – much to her chagrin, when she saw the Knight turned around and aimed at her. With a cry of war, the Shadow bolted towards Ananas, surprising her. "No!" she squealed, cowering to try not get too hurt. The Knight's lance was aiming at her head, but the blow never came. Suddenly, a metallic noise rung from very close to her. When Ananas opened her eyes she just saw a transparent barrier vanishing in front of her, like a barrier. Was that the ring accessory's power? "W-What...?"
When two swords got stuck between the plaques of the horse's armor Ananas jumped back, startled. Rakshasa, having leverage on the Shadow, pulled from its swords, dragging the Intrepid Knight away. "How much longer, Annie?"
"I think it's done!" Ananas said between shots, more of her bullets, bouncing on the Knight's armor. Indeed, right after that a noise like a falling tree shook the room. Syphus turned his head around right in time to see the hole on the wall and Hippolyta rushing with a fire spell at the Knight. "But we can't win!"
"Then we're going to run away" taking advantage of Ananas distracting the Knight, Syphus changed back to Queen Mab, hitting the Shadow with a Zio spell. Stunned, the Knight fell to the floor. Syphus hit the Knight with another bolt of lightning for good measure, just in case, while Ananas ran through the hole on the wall. Looking back to make sure it wasn't following them, Syphus followed Ananas until they left the building behind, they hid behind a large rock, catching their breath.
"...that was too hard. Are all Shadows going to be like that?" Ananas huffed, doubling over with exhaustion.
"I hope not! We'll be screwed if they are"
"And what about Cohen? If this is his SOUL then his evil copy must be around here, right? We need to find him before his copy catches him!"
Syphus patted Ananas' back, trying to breath normally. "We will, don't worry. First we'll need to find where's Cohen, and that means we'll fight more Shadows until then. Do you feel ready?" A bit hesitant about going now, Ananas touched her protective ring. The thought of finding Cohen and potentially finding out his suppressed thoughts and traits was unnerving to her, mostly because it was someone she knew. Seeing the secrets of a stranger like Alphys was one thing, seeing the hidden side of someone she had seen every day the last six months was a completely different thing. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah...I'm fine, pardner..." she stood up, making her hat cover her face "Let's get going"
-ooooo-
Ananas aimed at another Eagle-like Shadow, the bullet hitting it right on its feathery chest and making the Shadow disappear. The swarm seemed to be endless, right after finishing the group that had been attacking just now another approached, flying and screeching. "Hurry up!" she demanded to Syphus.
"I'm doing this as fast as I can!" he said, hacking away the wood of the cabin, Rakshasa working with its sword not too far from there. The wood the cabins were made of was surprisingly resistant, it was taking ridiculously long to break it.
A ball of fire impacted him on the back, making him double over for a second before resuming his work. His back stung, like his skin was severely sunburned. The Jupiter Eagles were rather annoying, managing to hit both Ananas and him with fire attacks. At first Ananas had tried to defend him, blocking the fire with Hippolyta and leaving herself vulnerable, but Syphus had insisted her to defend herself, leaving him with just the resistance of his Persona to help him.
"Bang! Bang bang!" Ananas was muttering, firing her gun with a lot of expertise for someone of her age. One after another, the Eagles spiraled to the ground before crashing and vanishing in smoke. Another three Eagles flew towards them, their feathers smoldering before balls of fire impacted the ground around Ananas. The girl jumped back, firing more bullets and eliminating the Eagles in matter of seconds. "Are you done now?!"
"Yeah!" the noise of part of the wooden wall falling into the cabin echoed in the cavern. Finally! As soon as that noise spread around and the dust settled, Ananas grabbed onto her hat and ran inside, right when an unknown Maya ran away and towards the exit of the Village, flailing its arms. Syphus tried to crush it with Rakshasa's swords, and Ananas fired her gun several times in quick succession, but every attack missed, it was too fast to hit. "Damn it!"
"We'll get it next time"
"This is the fourth time!"
They were still looking for Cohen. None of the cabins of the village had doors or windows, they were like perfectly sealed wooden boxes. Could Cohen really be inside one of them? "He must be; I don't see the old man around here" Ananas had said after they went around the Village. That's why they started breaking open the cabins, Ananas protecting them from the Shadows while Syphus cut the walls of the cabins. So far, all they had managed to do was release a Maya per cabin – was that important? All the Mayas they released were shiny, with a reddish color instead of the deep black they usually had, and unexpectedly quick. Not that it mattered, they hadn't managed to hit any of them.
Ananas entered the cabin first, raising her gun in case there was a foe ready to pounce on them. She quickly scanned the room, not finding anything suspicious, there was no more stuff than the rustic furniture all cabins had. "He's not here!"
"There are only two left. Come on, let's go" Syphus grabbed the edge of the hole he had made and looked outside, finding out there was no Shadows nearby. Great. He stepped outside prudently, keeping his guard up...and then noticed Ananas hadn't followed him. When he returned to the cabin he found her standing there, seemingly deep in thought "Annie?"
"Um...can we talk...?"
"Sure. What is it?"
Ananas took off her hat, turning it around in her hands morosely. "Can I...go home now?"
"What?!" Syphus almost dropped the halberd in surprise. Seriously? Was Ananas trying to bail out in middle of the mission? Ananas cringed, a bit startled.
"It's not that I'm scared, it's just..." she paused, looking at him with puzzlement "You don't feel weird? That we will see Cohen's hidden side?"
"No, but—"
"I don't want to see Cohen's hidden side. I'm scared about what I'm going to see" she stared at her hat as if it was the most interesting object ever "I'm afraid what he'll say. Does he hate me? What if he says he hates me? What if he hates everybody?"
"So that's what you're afraid of..." Syphus sighed and went to a side of the cabin, sitting down and inviting her to sit nearby. This was going to be a bit awkward to discuss, but if Ananas was feeling afraid then he needed to make sure she'd be okay. Once she did, Syphus extended his hand and put it on her shoulder in what he hoped was a comforting gesture "I know this makes you nervous, but we can't turn our backs to our duty just because we're afraid"
Ananas blinked, unsure what to say. "I know, but...I'm scared..."
"I'll be there with you all the way. I promise you I'm going to stay by your side no matter what Cohen's Shadow says, you have my support"
"I know" apparently his words weren't as comforting as Syphus had hoped "We're going to have to fight Cohen...right?"
Syphus smiled uncomfortably, taking his hand away. "Maybe. You think you can do that?"
"...no. But I'll have to anyways"
"Pretty much, yeah. It'll be like going to the dentist, it's something you don't want to do but you have to do"
"What's a dentist?" Ananas tilted her head. Syphus suppressed another sigh, his simile having fallen flat on its face. When Ananas stood up, dusting the dirt off her pants, she nodded half-heartedly. "Whatever. I just hope I won't hear him say he hates everyone. We all like Cohen, even if he's so annoying sometimes"
"Really?"
"Yeah..." Ananas hugged her knees, putting her chin on her knees and gazing ahead, nostalgic "You know, when I first arrived to the village, Cohen let me sleep in his cottage until my cabin was ready. The first night I couldn't sleep...I wanted to return home, to see my parents again. Mom Toriel was nice, but she was not my real mom. I didn't want to be there.
I think I cried a lot that night. When Cohen entered he found me crying..."
-ooooo-
"What's wrong?"
The old man looked at Ananas with worry. Ananas was huddled in a corner of the cottage, crying into her cowboy hat. She looked disheveled, dirty, like she wanted to do no more than stay where she was and not move for a long, long while. When she heard Cohen's voice Ananas raised her head, barely managing to say something between sobs.
"I-I wanna go home...I don't want to be here!"
Cohen crossed his arms. "You know where you are, don't you?"
"I don't care! I want to leave!"
"We can't leave. You're trapped with us here until the Barrier is gone" Cohen answered gruffly, without even trying to soften the blow. It was so blunt Ananas stared at him in surprise, having stopped crying. Stupor replaced her sadness.
"What...? I'm trapped here forever...?"
"Pretty much, yeah"
"But that can't be possible, I don't wanna be trapped here! I-I'm the Sheriff, I can't be...!" her eyes welled with tears again. Cohen, softening a bit because of Ananas' reaction, grabbed the quilt on is mattress, putting it on Ananas' shoulder.
"Here. You'll feel better after you're a bit warmer. Are you hungry?" he asked. Ananas nodded, wiping the tears off her eyes with her hands "Alright, I'll solve that. I'll be back in a minute" When he returned, he had brought some of that soup Graham made so well. Leaving it in front of Ananas, Cohen sat on his mattress, watching her with attention. "What's your name?"
"I'm...I'm the Sheriff"
He didn't press her for a name. If she wasn't willing to say it right now then maybe once she felt better she'd feel more cooperative. "Alright, Sheriff, listen here: you're not alone. We're all the same than you, trapped down here, with Toriel being the only person who cares about us in this whole mountain. You'll be okay as long as you're here with us"
"...I like Toriel..."
"Nice. Give us a chance. We may be a bunch of weird random people, but we're all together in here" Cohen extended a gloved hand "What do you say? Will you be part of our village?" It took Ananas a few seconds before she dared to shake hands with him, Cohen moving hers with a little too much energy "Good! I'm Cohen, and I'm the guardian of this village"
"The guardian? What does that mean?"
"I'm the one who keeps the monsters at bay. It's thanks to me" the old man grinned cockily, puffing his chest out "As long as I'm here nobody here has anything to fear"
Ananas' eyes widened with admiration. "Really? You take care of us?"
"Exactly. That's what the guardian does, and that's me, never forget that. That's why you can ask me for help anytime you want. Got it?"
"Yes! I see!"
"Good" Cohen stood up from his mattress "I was here just to check on you. Tomorrow Graham will start building your cabin. Until then you can sleep over there, if you want" he pointed at the mattress on the other side of the cottage "I'll now return to my spot near the exit of the village. Keep my quilt for tonight if you want to, but please return it in the morning"
Ananas wrapped the quilt around her a bit tighter. "Thank you" she said shyly.
"I made it myself, you know. Someday I'll make one just for you, I promise" Cohen smiled and left the cabin. Now alone, Ananas dragged her feet until she reached her mattress, lying down on it and making a cocoon with Cohen's quilt. It was warm, comforting, and for the first time since she had arrived to the village she felt calm. She didn't believe they were all trapped with no way out. Quietly, Ananas took the decision to find out more about the Barrier and about ways to escape. It wasn't fair they had to stay under a mountain for the rest of their lives just because they fell down a hole on the mountain.
At least she had all this people to take care of her. Maybe things wouldn't be so bad as long as they were there for her.
-ooooo-
"He was so nice during the first few weeks...it's because of him that I want to be the guardian of the village. I want to protect everyone like he does. I told him all that, but I think he didn't like it not even back then" Ananas had calmed down, taking a more conversational tone "I don't know why, but he started treating me different...I miss the old Cohen..."
Syphus chewed on his thumb, thinking what to say. That did sound like Cohen, from what he knew, but it also was kind of hard to think of the actual Cohen as someone who had been treating Ananas in a friendly manner. "It's not two different Cohens. It's the same one, he hasn't left"
"What do you mean it's the same one? Cohen is a jerk now! Wait, then Cohen was always a jerk?"
"Yes, but that's not the point. Look, I'm sure Cohen truly cares about you, and about everyone else"
Ananas pushed her hat so hard into her head it almost burst through the seams. "Then why's he trying to drive me away? If he cared he wouldn't do that, all he cares is about being the guardian and—" suddenly, as if she had an epiphany, Ananas shut up, letting go of her hat in shock "...I get it...I think I get it now"
"What? What do you think now?"
"I'm not sure, but I think...I think I understand something" the girl stood up, gesturing Syphus to stand up too "Come on, we have to find him"
"What? Now?"
"Yeah, now! I'm not scared anymore. Come on, he must be around here somewhere!" her eyes were shining with renewed vigor. Syphus wasn't sure yet what epiphany she had reached, but whatever it was had definitely helped.
You feel like you were able to support Ananas.
You feel like you understand Cohen a bit better.
Your bond with Ananas isn't ready to get stronger yet.
Your bond with Cohen will get stronger soon.
-ooooo-
None of the cabins had Cohen in them, not even the one that belonged to him. In all the cabins there had been no more than a Maya, all of them shining with the same strange pinkish color. All of the Mayas also had different masks on them, so they were all different variations, but none of the Mayas stayed still for long enough for Syphus to analyze them. After the fifth Ananas noticed that the Mayas were crawling in direction of the sentry station, flailing their slimy arms all the way. "...of course Cohen would be there" Syphus said, trying to look towards the hole on the rock wall. If Cohen saw his guardian status as an important part of herself...then no wonder his Shadow and him would be there. "Are you ready, Annie?"
"I'm ready" she made sure the safety of her gun was off. The two of them slowly descended the slope towards the sentry station in the wall, trying to look through the darkness and distinguish anything. There was something amidst the dim illumination, but it was rather hard to see what it was. It seemed like a group of something. Shadows? Most likely. When they got closer the group could be seen better. The six Mayas they had found inside the cabins were gathered there, surrounding a taller form...Cohen. "Hey! We found him!"
"Wait –Annie, wait!" Syphus tried to stop Ananas, but she rushed forward. Cohen looked like normal, his eyes hinted this was the real one and not his Shadow Self. When he turned around he didn't look happy, though. As soon as he saw them, he raised his fists and got into defensive position, glaring at them.
"What do you want?" he growled gutturally, stepping forward. The hostile reception made Ananas stop, confused.
"W-We came to save you..."
"Step back, Annie" Syphus said. Thankfully, Ananas obeyed, getting to his side. For a moment Syphus looked at Cohen with attention, trying to judge what to do. What was going on...?
Cohen adjusted his worn gloves, staring at them with caution. "Save me? Save me from what?"
"What do you mean from what? From those!" Syphus pointed at the Mayas, who shook with fear behind Cohen. The old man's expression turned threatening.
"Leave them alone! You're not getting to them if I have anything to say about it!"
"But those are Shadows!" Ananas argued.
"Shut up with that nonsense! These are the people I swore I'd protect" Cohen turned his head around towards the Mayas "Stay behind me"
Ananas inched towards Syphus, baffled. "Uh, Syphus, why's he trying to defend the Shadows?"
"I don't know. Something must be going on" Is he under mind control or something? If so, then it was very likely it was the Mayas' fault. Why else would he feel so compelled to protect them?
"Will we have to attack him?"
"Hopefully not!"
Cohen approached, hitting his fists together, the sound of the gloves squishing together putting the team on high alert. "You had the chance to go away. You'll regret staying here"
"Cohen, we—"
The old man didn't give any chance to say anything else. He moved rather quickly, approaching Syphus with surprising speed and threw a hook with his right hand, hitting Syphus in the jaw with such strength Syphus' head swiveled to a side, almost throwing him to the floor. Ananas gasped, astonished, chance Cohen used to focus on her. In a moment he gathered strength and hit Ananas right on the temple before adding a kick, pushing her back to the floor. "C-Cohen..." she tried to say, shielding her face with her hand.
"I told you two to go away!" he shouted, his ashen face contorting with rage. Whimpering for a second, Ananas stood up, shaking.
"I can't believe he punched me..."
Syphus threw his halberd away. Going away was not an option, and Cohen wasn't listening to any of them appeals. Subduing him seemed to be the only option available, and there was no way Syphus was going to try such thing with his halberd. "Something's wrong. We'll have to get him to stop fighting"
"You mean we're going to fight back?!"
"We will" I'm very sorry, Cohen... Cohen, noticing the team was getting ready to attack him as well, stepped back, rooting his feet onto the ground to avoid being moved. "Analysis" The analysis was immediate. Oh no... "Annie, be gentle! If we go too far he'll be severely hurt!" Without the outstanding increase in endurance and resilience their Personas gave them, the same that let them survive otherwise fatal hits, Cohen was at serious risk. We're going to hold back our punches all we can!
Bracing himself for whatever they may do, Cohen shot them a daring look. "Do your worst" he stated. Ananas, taking a shaking deep breath and trying to convince herself what she was going to do was for Cohen's well-being, made sure to leave her gun in the holster and raised her hand.
"Persona!" she summoned. Hippolyta came out of her chest without aiming the blade of the axe towards Cohen. For a moment Ananas hesitated, but she forced herself to continue. "Fire!" A tiny ball of fire, no bigger than a hand, emerged from the tip of Hippolyta's axe, crossing the air towards Cohen. The impact of the fire against his chest made him double over, but he didn't seem that surprised.
"Of course...of course you monsters would be using magic" he muttered hatefully. Ananas hesitated again, Hippolyta vanishing.
"Monsters? He's seeing us as monsters?"
"Seems so" Syphus browsed through his Personas, trying to find one with a harmless as possible attack. Wind, maybe? Wind spells? No, a more defensive stance may be useful. "This is for your own good!" Syphus claimed, summoning Kaiwan. It was a rather cumbersome Persona, given its weakness to physical attacks that proved to be highly inconvenient, but maybe... "Tetrakarn" Syphus murmured, the creepy star with a face flexing the tips of its arms, creating a barrier around Syphus. Cohen, having expected an attack, tried to shield himself with his arms, but since nothing happened he shouted with fury and tried to deliver a strong punch to Syphus' face again.
The barrier activated immediately. The moment Cohen came close to Syphus, the barrier shattered, his punch reflecting. Cohen's arm shook while he grunted from the impact, being thrown backwards. Just in case, Syphus raised the same barrier on Ananas while she prepared her Persona for more weakened fire spells. One after another, fireballs hit Cohen, slightly burning his clothes. With every one that hit him, the more he tried to attack, until the constant stress on him was too much to endure. Cohen shouted with rage and impotence towards his situation before falling on his knees and hands, aching and feeling like he had sunburns. Despite that, he didn't give up yet. Shaking, he stood up, glaring with such intensity at Ananas it was almost a miracle she didn't back down. Nervous, she grasped the protective ring Syphus had provided her of. She was aware she had the barrier Syphus had given her for 100% guaranteed protection, but having to face Cohen like that still made her nervous. Part of her was even hoping he'd turn around and attack Syphus instead.
"...this is my last stand...I'll make it count even if it's the last thing I do!" Cohen roared, gathering all his strength in his fist, all the force he had, and threw the punch. His fist activated the barrier immediately, reflecting the damage onto the old man. For a moment Cohen swayed, dazed, before falling to the floor, defeated but still conscious.
"Cohen!" Ananas hurried to lift Cohen's head, finding out he was awake. She had never felt so much relief in her short life "He's okay! We did it!"
"We got lucky" he murmured, sighing with relief too. Just in case, Syphus covered Ananas with the Tetrakarn spell once again before dismissing his Persona and approaching Cohen. Cohen tried to glare at him coldly but he was too exhausted to even do that, instead he looked at the Mayas cowering a fair distance away. He fell limp, defeated.
"...I'm sorry. I couldn't protect you" he scowled at Ananas "What are you doing? Kill me already. That's what you came to do"
"W-What?" Ananas shook her head.
"Take my SOUL. Fine, you earned it. Just – please leave them live"
"What are you talking about?!"
"You monsters need SOULs to shatter the Barrier. I'll give you mine, but please, at least let the rest have a long life before claiming theirs. That's all I want. Please...have mercy of them..." he pleaded, so softly Syphus had a hard time hearing it. Cohen was being sincere, that much Syphus was sure about. Ananas looked at Syphus, silently begging him to say something. Syphus stood over Cohen before extending a hand.
"Stand up. You're deluding yourself, those beings over there aren't us. Look at them!"
"What the hell...?" Cohen narrowed his eyes "Are you trying to mess with me even right now?"
"Cohen, we're not monsters. It's us, Syphus and Annie. Try to see us how we really are, not whatever you're imagining!"
"What nonsense are you..." Cohen trailed off, blinking repeatedly. After a moment his eyes widened in recognition – or at least that's what Syphus hoped such gesture was. It took several seconds for Cohen to say something "...what the hell? Why was I seeing you two as monsters? What about the rest—" he looked at where the Mayas were, recoiling "What are those things?!" The Mayas stared back, not making any noise.
"Why did you think those were us?"
"That's because I was seeing all of you! You were all asking me to help you" Looks like he as under an illusion of some sort. Was it the Mayas' fault? Cohen stood up, unsteady on his feet. "I was trying to protect everyone, but I failed"
"I don't think you were doing so badly..." Ananas said, but Cohen ignored her, a hand going towards the bandanna around his neck.
"It doesn't matter this was a trick or whatever, I was trying to protect you! I wasn't able to do such a simple thing! I can't believe I'm such a failure!" he closed his eyes, starting to sweat "I can't have failed! I can't...!"
"Cohen!" she tried to go forward, but Syphus stopped her. He recognized what was going on "What's happening?"
"His Shadow is possessing him" or at least that's what it seemed like. But there's nothing here! What was his Shadow tied to? Suddenly, from the gloves Cohen was wearing, wisps of blackness and red particles started seeping out, enveloping Cohen. ...damn it! Of course, his gloves. The very tool he used to fight for everyone in the village. The shock of failing to protect what he had perceived to be the humans must have left him emotionally vulnerable to his Shadow Self. Just like Frisk when he faced changes he didn't understand, Ananas when he saw the house of the monster she thought she had to overcome, and Alphys when facing the truths she didn't want to hear about, Cohen was now vulnerable. His feelings, the side of himself he kept suppressed, it was now emerging.
And it did. Cohen stopped grabbing his head, instead squaring his shoulders with determination, as if all the pain and discomfort from the earlier fight hadn't happened. He turned around, muttering loudly:
"Hmph...I think I know why I saw everyone in those things. They're weak. Useless. They need someone to protect them...just like the rest of you guys" Cohen slowly turned around, his golden eyes in plain sight "That's why I'm the guardian of the Hidden Village: because I'm the only one who is remotely capable of taking care of that bunch of cowards. If it weren't for me, everyone would be dead"
"...Annie, you know what we have to do" Syphus said, grabbing his halberd from the floor. What was Cohen hiding? Even if they didn't want to find out, now they were going to hear it all.
SOCIAL LINKS:
Fool - Frisk - RANK 4
Magician - Burgerpants - RANK 2
Priestess - Alphys - RANK 4
Empress - Toriel - RANK 2
Emperor - Cohen - RANK 3
Hierophant - Ciruel - RANK 2
Lovers - ? - RANK 0
Chariot - Ananas - RANK 5
Justice - Undyne - RANK 3
Hermit - ? - RANK 0
Fortune - ? - RANK 0
Strength - ? - RANK 0
Hanged Man - ? - RANK 0
Death - Cornio - RANK 2
Temperance - ? - RANK 0
Devil - ? - RANK 0
Tower - ? - RANK 0
Star - Lucia - RANK 2
Moon - ? - RANK 0
Sun - Papyrus - RANK 3
Judgment - Team - RANK 1
Aeon - Syphus - RANK 2
Jester - Alphonse - RANK 2