Shen looked at Arisu as she ducked into the alleyway across from the school, an airsoft rifle slung over her shoulder. "Hey," Shen greeted her.
"Hey," she answered curtly.
"I'm not sure where Kenzo is," Shen started, fingering the hilt of the Jian sword he'd brought.
"I'm right here," I said, stepping out of the shadows.
Shen gave a start and whirled to face me. "Dude!" Shen protested. "You almost gave me a heart attack!"
I laughed. "Apologies. I wasn't expecting you to jump like that. Heck, I wasn't even trying to sneak up on you."
Arisu eyed me suspiciously. "You said you were going to teach us about fighting Shadows?"
"I can only teach you the most basic of basics," I informed them, crossing my arms. "Anything else will have to wait until you both obtain Personae, and that's not something I can really teach you how to do."
"I suppose that will do for now," Arisu relented.
"Didn't you bring a weapon?" Shen asked, motioning with his sword.
There was a sound like shattering glass and Hephaestus materialized behind me. "I am the weapon, Shen."
Both of their eyes widened. "Whoa," Shen murmured. "You really are…"
"-A Persona-user, yes," I finished for him. "Now before we start, I should explain something. I'm a little different from your average Persona-user."
"Are you referring to how you summoned a second Persona during your fight against your Shadow?" Arisu inquired.
I grinned at her. "Good catch. That kind of thing is exactly what I'm talking about. Deinonychus."
Hephaestus vanished in a flash of blue and was replaced by the shoulder-high feathered raptor. "I happen to be a rare sort of Persona-user called a Wild Card. This gives me the ability to take on multiple Personae, which also gives me access to a far wider range of skills and abilities than almost any other Persona-user. I'll explain the specifics later, but at the moment, I only have the two Personae, Hephaestus and Deinonychus, and my current capacity is six. Hephaestus is a fair tank and has fire and earth magic, while Deinonychus is fast and uses wind. Both are capable of physical attacks."
A light bulb seemed to turn on in Shen's head. "Wait, in the video, Risette's boyfriend was swapping between Personas as well. He's another Wild Card too, right?"
"That's right," I answered. "As far as I know, every major team of Persona-users has a Wild Card to lead them in the field. Including the Phantom Thieves."
"So how do you get more Personae?" Arisu asked.
"I capture Shadows," I said brightly. "So let's get to it."
I walked past the two of them and poked my head out of the alley. The sky was rapidly darkening as the twilight faded, and all of my senses had turned up to eleven. Very soon, Shadows would begin to spawn, but for now, the coast was clear.
"Both of you stay behind me and watch your six," I told them.
"My what?" Shen asked.
"Behind you," Arisu clarified.
"Oh."
"And don't just keep a look out with your eyes," I advised quietly. "Keep your ears pricked as well, and be extra on-guard around anything smelling vaguely of rot."
"Does that include the trash?" Shen asked.
"You'd be surprised how many Shadows I've seen crawl out of dumpsters," I told him.
"I was half-joking…"
I peeked around the corner down the road leading around the western side of the school. I was about to signal that the coast was clear when a trio of lesser Shadows formed from a few piles of black sludge. I motioned for silence instead and motioned for them to look with me.
"Those are our current targets," I told them. "Lesser Shadows. They're about the same size as the average human, but they're stronger and stupider. In a one-on-one contest of strength, humans usually can't beat even lesser Shadows, but a human with basically any kind of combat training will be able to make mincemeat of them." I looked down at Arisu, who was crouched next to me with her rifle in her hands. "One of the best strategies against Shadows is to get in the first attack before they notice you. Arisu-san, you any good with that rifle?"
"I took the time to practice a little with it recently," she answered softly. "I wasn't that good, but let's see if I can do something at least."
Arisu laid one knee on the ground, bracing the rifle against her shoulder and aiming carefully at the closest of the lesser Shadows. There was a sharp crack as she squeezed the trigger, but her shot missed, drawing their attention.
"Keep shooting," I told her. "Shen and I will handle them if they get too close."
Arisu was pale-faced, but nodded and started firing again. She hit and wounded two of them as they approached, and then Shen and I stepped in to finish them off. Shen dodged around the baton of one of the wounded Shadows and slashed against its side, causing it to produce an otherworldly howl of pain. I directed Deinonychus to slaughter the untouched Shadow while I moved in against the last one, similarly dodging its baton and moving in to slam an elbow into its torso. I followed up with a kick that knocked the Shadow to the side, leaving it completely out in the open.
"Arisu-san!" I called out. There was another crack from the rifle, and the Shadow dissolved. "Good shot," I complimented her.
"Rrraah!" with a short battle-cry, Shen slammed his sword through his Shadow's chest, and it too dissolved. "Whew! That was exhilarating."
"Looks like both of you now have your first Shadow kills under your belts," I told them as Deinonychus stepped back over to my side and faded into my chest. "Let's move on, see if there's anything else around."
Naturally, the next group of Shadows was a group of seven behind the school. "Okay, this is the part where things start to get tricky," I told my students. "You see that big one in the middle?" They both nodded. "That one's a Greater Shadow. They disguise their forms by grouping together into larger masses like that. One that size could be anywhere between one big Greater Shadow to three weaker ones, and you don't know until they attack."
"So what's the plan?" Shen asked.
"Well, there's a trick to fighting Greater Shadows when they're in disguise like that," I told them. "If you can manage to grab the Shadow's mask and rip it off, it'll momentarily disorient them and allow you to get in a preemptive strike. Once you do that, you have their true forms to deal with. At that point,..."
Each of us was in position. After moving slowly and carefully from hiding spot to hiding spot, I'd managed to work my way around to the Shadow pack's flank. I signaled to Arisu to begin.
A series of gunshots as she began to gather their attention. Three Shadows were hit by the hail of bullets as they confusedly tried to determine where the attack was coming from. Fast as a striking snake, I darted out of hiding, straight for the Greater Shadow. Pouncing like the Deinonychus in my soul, I leapt onto its back, my right hand seizing the mask and ripping it off with a flourish. As the Greater Shadow howled and dissolved, I summoned Hephaestus, looking back at where Shen stood, desperately fending off a pair of Shadows that had managed to locate his and Arisu's position.
"Maragi!"
I let out a multi-target fire spell, blasting the remaining lesser Shadows even as Shen slashed his Jian across one's throat and caused it to dissolve. The remainder were wiped out in bursts of flame as the three of us spun to face the Greater Shadows that spawned out of the one I'd ambushed: a blue-clad fairy and a happy snowman.
"Arisu-san!" I called out. "Target the fairy!"
Without a word, Arisu fired at point-blank range. The fairy dropped.
"Nice!" I held my hand out to her. "Pass the baton so I can follow up!"
Arisu looked a little confused, but she gave me a high-five, and Hephaestus erupted into existence behind me. Power surging, I thrust out my right hand, Hephaestus mimicking the motion with an Agilao that floored the snowman.
"Now move in and hold them up!" I ordered. Rushing forward, we surrounded the downed Shadows, Arisu aiming her gun, Shen pointing his sword, and me on point, threateningly holding up a fireball in my bare hand.
"What do you want? Please don't kill me!" the fairy whined pitifully.
"Kill you?" I asked. "When I want you to lend me your power?"
"Do you?" the fairy asked. "Rather a rude way to ask a lady, don't you think?"
"Apologies," I replied, more graciously this time, "but it seemed the best way to get your attention."
The fairy actually giggled at that. "I'll admit, I do rather like a man who takes action. I suppose we're alike in that way-! Wait, I remember!" The fairy floated into the air. "My name is Pixie, and I'm a spirit from the Sea of Souls. I am thou, thou art I! Allow me to live within your soul now, and call upon me when you have need of me!"
The Shadow turned into an orb of cerulean light and flew into my chest and faded. I grinned as I felt Pixie join Hephaestus and Deinonychus in my roster of Personae.
"Nice, man!" Shen congratulated me. He momentarily lowered his sword, but the snowman was starting to get up. I quickly floored it again with another Agilao and Shen finished it off with his sword.
Shen and Arisu both gathered around me. "Did you really turn that Shadow into a Persona?" Shen asked.
I smiled and there was a sound of shattering glass again as the Pixie appeared, hovering above my shoulder and wreathed in a blue aura. "She uses electric magic and has healing spells," I reported, letting the Pixie fade back into me. "So if anyone gets hurt, I can fix you right up."
"Good to know," Arisu answered softly.
"Hey, you kids!" came a sharp voice from behind. A police officer was coming towards us. "What're you three doing out this late? It's dangerous now that there's Shadows roaming around."
I stepped forward. "If I may be blunt, officer, that's rather the point," I told him bluntly. "We're here to make it a little less dangerous."
The officer stopped and noted Shen's sword and Arisu's gun, then looked at me questioningly. I shrugged, raised my right hand, and rolled my fingers, little jolts of lightning arcing between the digits.
The officer looked at me more scrutinizingly. "Wait… you're that kid who awakened out in public earlier this week, yeah?"
"That's right," I confirmed.
The officer smirked and held out his hand. "Officer Kai Shinigami. I'm currently stationed in Harajuku, and I learned a fair bit about Shadows and Personas at an old job of mine. If you're ever in need of a little help, just come by the police station in Harajuku, and I'll come running."
I raised an eyebrow, but accepted the handshake. "I'll certainly be considering your offer."
"All I could ask for," the old man told me, turning away. "I'll leave you and your team to it. Just make sure you kids don't get yourselves killed, got that?"
"Understood," Arisu answered.
"See you!" Shen said cheerfully.
I let out a small chuckle as he walked away. "Team, huh…"
"Why not?" Shen asked. "It's what we are, isn't it?"
I blinked. I had been so focused on the fighting that I hadn't even realized. "Wow," I murmured. "It's been so long since I had any real friends, I almost forgot what it was like."
"Well, we can't have that streak going any longer," Shen insisted, punching me in the shoulder. "'Cause the three of us are a team now, and there's nothing you can do about it!"
I gave a light laugh. "Feel up to putting up with all my crazy for the foreseeable future?"
"Dude, the entire world's gone crazy if you hadn't noticed," Shen told me.
The two of us shared a laugh. I glanced over at Arisu. She was hanging back, fingering the pump of her airsoft rifle and looking uncertain. "Well, Arisu-san, you've had your first taste of combat as part of a Shadow-hunting team. Feel like joining us officially?"
Arisu looked conflicted. "I… I don't know. I'm grateful for your instruction, but…"
"What're you hesitating for?" Shen interrupted. "You were great in both those fights, especially when you took down that Pixie so our leader could make it his Persona. Or what, do you just not want to be friends with us?"
"That's not it!" she protested. "I just… I have a lot on my plate already. I don't want to burden anyone else with my problems."
"Okay, yeah, you might as well give up now," I told her. "See, I happen to have a little alarm in my head that goes off if I'm not being as helpful as humanly possible. So if you have problems, I want to hear about them."
Now Arisu was bewildered. "But why? You barely know me!"
"Do I need to know someone to want to help them?"
Arisu looked a bit dumbstruck.
"We just want to be your friends. Nothing more. We might as well if we're going to keep learning how to fight Shadows together."
Arisu finally let out a small smile. "Well, when you put it that way, I can hardly refuse, can I? Alright, we're friends. That doesn't mean I'm going to let you coddle me or whatever just because I'm a girl. I can pull my own weight, and I'm going to prove it to everyone, got it?"
I held back another laugh. "Loud and clear. Should we come up with a name for our group?"
"Sounds cool!" Shen told me.
"I mean, if you want," Arisu said skeptically. "I personally think it's a bit early for that."
"We can change it later if it doesn't fit," I told her. "For now, I'm thinking… the Raptor Pack."
"Because one of your Personas is a raptor?" Shen asked.
I shrugged. "Pretty much. Best I got at the moment. Besides, I'm planning on using the codename 'Raptor' once I hit Phantom Class."
"I suppose it works," Arisu agreed. "Though I'm not entirely comfortable with how… savage it sounds."
"Hey, when we're talking about birds, raptors are symbols of power and nobility," I objected. "And when we're talking about dinosaurs, yeah, there's the savagery, but there's also the cunning. We're hardly a gang of brutes after all."
Arisu gave a slight smirk. "Shen's efforts notwithstanding."
"Hey!" he protested. "The Jian is an elegant weapon! And I'm not dumb, just look at my grades from my last school!"
"Still a pretty savage roast there, Arisu-san," I grinned as Arisu was immediately torn between laughter and wanting to facepalm. My smile widened as Shen realized what I'd just said and started to laugh as well. I could already hear Saraiah's voice in my head.
I am thou, thou art I...
Manifest hast been thine vow...
Reforge thy soul and seize thy future with thine own hands...
The birth of the Fool Arcana shall give thee the power to open thy wings to freedom...
It was official. The Raptor Pack was born this night.
Somehow We Are All Still Alive
Futaba: I found Sho.
Futaba: He's coming back to Yongen.
Futaba: And Maruki's with him for some reason.
Sumire: Maruki? Are you sure?
Ann: How'd he get involved?
Mitsuru: Who is this Maruki you speak of?
Ren: He's a former mental health counselor.
Ren: After I shot Yaldy, he tried to warp reality to get rid of everyone's pain.
Ryuji: And we decided we didn't want to live in a fake world.
Ren: He's learned his lesson, but I have no idea what he's doing with Sho.
Mitsuru: I'll send Minako-san over to check it out.
Minako: You don't need to tell me twice. I'll head right over.
Mitsuru: Thank you, Minako-san.
Minako: And stop adding honorifics to my name.
Mitsuru: Apologies. It is still a struggle to omit them, even among friends.
Yukari: You should've heard her talk back in high school.
Yukari: Absolutely refused to address anyone by their first name.
Mitsuru: You speak as though there's something wrong with being polite
Minako: lol
Minako put her phone away after rereading the exchange with a slight giggle. Mitsuru really was on a different wavelength than most people.
She was standing outside a small clinic in Yongen-Jaya. According to Futaba-chan, Ren-kun came here to purchase medicine for his Phantom Thief activities. Obviously, the doctor here had to be one of his Confidants, which was useful since she ought to already know about Persona-users and their activities. Minako opened the door and stepped inside.
The inside of the clinic was clean, as clinics tended to be, with a red couch for patients to sit and a blue door leading into what she assumed was the examination room, though the posters below the reception window were a little garish. Evidently, her approach was heard because it wasn't long before the doctor herself appeared behind the reception window. She was a young woman with a black bowl cut and black makeup, wearing a gothic dress and leather choker under her white lab coat.
"Can I help you?" the doctor asked as Minako approached the window.
"I should hope so," Minako replied. "Are you Tae Takemi?"
The doctor nodded. "I am."
"Excellent," Minako told her. "Am I correct in assuming a young man with red hair was brought to this clinic recently?"
Takemi eyed her suspiciously. "Does this have something to do with all the Persona business that's been going around?"
"Right in one," Minako said ruefully. "I don't know all the details, but the young man I'm looking for is something of a rogue, and my team and I need to make sure that he doesn't intend to continue his past actions."
Takemi nodded, seemingly satisfied. "A young man fitting that description did indeed arrive here an hour ago. He's been roughed up real good too, so if you want to see him, I'd advise you not aggravate him too much. Which might be a little difficult, since he has a tendency to mistrust anyone trying to be nice to him or threaten people with death every other sentence."
Minako sighed. "That's Sho alright. May I please?"
"Very well," Takemi told her. "The door is right there."
Minako walked into the examination room. Sure enough, Sho was lying on the bed with his top bare save for the bandages covering his chest and shoulders. Sitting nearby was a petite woman with russet hair and another young man with black hair and glasses stood next to her.
Sho glared up at her from the bed. "Well well. I guess I should've expected you Shadow Operatives to find me soon enough." He tried to sit up, but grimaced in pain and laid back down.
Takemi walked in from the back and glared at him. "It's a wonder you're even alive, you moron. Fourteen bullet wounds, abrasions on both arms and legs, and a broken finger. Even if the nice couple who brought you in hadn't told me you were a Persona-user, I'd have come to that conclusion myself considering the level of damage you've sustained."
The russet-haired woman blushed slightly. "Oh, we-we're not a couple," she stammered.
The man with glasses gave a slight sigh. "My name's Takuto Maruki. This woman is…"
"Rumi Tominaga," Rumi introduced herself. "And we just met today, more or less."
Minako wanted to question the 'more or less' bit, but she had more important things to worry about. "Alright, Sho, I'm going to give you a little heal, so hold still."
Sho grimaced. "Sure. I'm totally going to try and kill you and escape while I still have fourteen bullet holes in me."
Minako's hand pulling out her Evoker stalled as she glared at the redheaded scarface. "You're the one who ran into the middle of a group of armed gangsters."
"Yeah, yeah, sorry for inconveniencing you and all that. Can you just heal me already? I'd like to be able to fall asleep without being in danger of dying for once."
Minako was seriously tempted to put her Evoker away and leave him like that. "If you want to sleep so badly, I'll hit you with Dormina first."
Sho raised his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright. I'll shut up and let you heal me."
Minako fluidly raised the Evoker to the side of her head. "Persona." She summoned her High Pixie to cast Diarama on Sho. "That'll do for now," Minako stated. "You should rest now. You ought to be entirely healed by morning if Takemi-san's medicine is as good as Joker says it is."
"I'll have to thank him again for advertising my work," Takemi said appreciatively. She looked at Sho. "Now you ought to get some rest. Mostly healed or not, if you start messing around and opening up your wounds again, I will have her put you to sleep so you can heal."
Sho rolled his eyes and grumbled, but agreed to settle down.
Minako turned to Takemi. "Sorry to intrude like this, but do you mind keeping an eye on him until tomorrow? I'll be by at noon or so to take him off your hands."
"What's going to happen to him?" Takemi asked.
"Not sure," Minako admitted. "He made a bit of a menace of himself a few years back, so at the very least, we're going to be keeping an eye on him for a little while. Still, he is a Persona-user. That's probably the main reason we're hoping he doesn't have to be locked up."
"Tominaga-san? Are you alright?" came Maruki's voice. Rumi was staring blankly ahead, her terrified gaze fixed on the Evoker in Minako's hand. Her breathing was getting faster and shallower. Upon noticing this, Minako instantly put the device away and rushed over to Rumi.
"It's okay, breathe, breathe," she told the smaller woman reassuringly. Rumi slowly calmed at the woman's touch. After about a minute, she was breathing normally again.
Takemi narrowed her eyes at Rumi. "Shock and PTSD symptoms," she muttered. "That's concerning. Miss, did you happen to have a bad experience with guns in your past?"
Rumi put a hand on her forehead. "I… I don't know. I don't think I did, but…"
Out of the corner of her eye, Minako noticed Maruki clench up a little, his eyes full of regret. Minako made a mental note to grill him about what he knew at some point.
Takemi was unsatisfied. "In that case, I think you'd better come with me for a little while." She gestured to Minako and Maruki. "You two skedaddle. I have important work to get to before the night is over."
"Sure, Doctor," Maruki said wistfully. Minako followed him out the door.
"Maruki," Minako started as soon as they were outside. "You know something about Tominaga-chan, don't you?"
Instantly the regret was back. "I was… engaged to her. But then around six and a half years ago, her parents were murdered in a home invasion…"
