Chapter 3: First sign
The school bell rang several times, signaling the end of the school day. Kai packed his books and stationeries into his bag. He glanced at his partner. Mei was doing the same to her stuff. Her bag looked considerably denser and bigger, however. He straightened after he packed all his books and walked off. Stevan and Takeshi were outside his class, waiting for him as usual. Stevan smirked and gestured with his head for them to be on their way. Takeshi was pleading to Stevan to let him off the bet. "Look. I'm telling you. I don't have any money to spare!", he said loudly to Stevan. "Yeah, right", Stevan said in that 'yeah right' tone. "You guys have more money than me, that I know", Kai said, and it's true. "Yeah, but Stevan's the one with all the cash here", Takeshi said to both of them. "Oh, c'mon! You're just stingy!", Stevan retorted. "Umm..", a voice said behind them. Kai looked behind him. It was Mei. And her friends. "Hey, ladies. Why don't you join us for dinner? This guy's paying", Stevan said as he point towards Takeshi. "Stevan...!", Takeshi said not-too-softly. "Uh..but.", this time it's Kanako. "OK. It's settled then! Come on!", Stevan said as he pushed the whole group along. "Umm.help?", Ami said softly to no one in particular. Kai sighed as he tagged along behind them.
They arrived at a small café half an hour later. "Good evening", a lady said from behind the counter as the group came into the café. "So, who's paying today?", a middle aged man said from behind the counter. "Him again, uncle", Kai said softly, pointing at Takeshi with his thumb. The 'uncle' laughed and said, "I should've known, with that look on his face". He then looked over at Mei and the other girls. "Hey, who are they, your girlfriends?", he said to Kai's group. "No! It's nothing like that!(Mei) You're kidding right?(Kai) Err..not really(Kanako) Hah! I wish!(Stevan) No, we're not(Ami)....(Takeshi)". "Ah, I see. Another of your unfortunate victims, huh", 'uncle' said. He looked over at Takeshi and sighed. "Alright boys. It's on the house tonight!", he said again. Takeshi positively brightened up at this. "You sure, uncle?", Kai asked. Stevan laughed and said, "All right! In that case, give me the most expensive one!". "But...", 'uncle' continued. "Uh oh", Kai said. "Here comes the but", Takeshi sighed. "You gotta get rid of that lady there", 'uncle' said and pointed at a group of girls. Kai recognized the girls he fought with some time ago. There was something different here, however. The leader of the girls walked up to Kai. Kai gestured with his head to go to the back alleys. Stevan looked at Takeshi. Takeshi shook his head. Kai looked at Stevan and nodded before he walked off with the girls to the alley. "Umm, what was that about?", Mei asked. "Nothing big. They just have a few stuff to go over.", Stevan said. "That's right. And we don't want to interfere.", Takeshi added. Mei wasn't really convinced.
In the alley, Kai and the girls stared at each other. Kai could feel a strange presence around them. It didn't feel human either. "You're dead today, Kai", the leader said. Kai looked at the rest of the girls. They seemed afraid of something, but what? Their fears didn't seem to be directed to him. Then he saw it. The leader's shadow was irregular. It didn't even look remotely human. The shadow suddenly rears up and slashed at Kai using long, sharp claws. Kai leaped back out of reach and landed in a crouching position. "Heh heh heh..What do you think? Nice, isn't it?", the leader said. She cackled madly as the shadow straightened up. Kai stared at it for a while. There were 4 slits on the clothing on his chest from the attack. He stood up and dusted himself off. The leader pointed at Kai with her right index finger and the creature charged forward again. Kai didn't move. The girls began to flinch as the creature got nearer to Kai. Kai still did not make a move. The creature slashed as soon as it is within range. There was a sharp 'skrang' and the creature leaped backwards. The girls, including the leader, stared at Kai. He wasn't hurt. There was not a scratch on him. A shape slowly began to materialize in front of Kai, like a mist that slowly gathers. A translucent shadow crouched at Kai's place, holding a large shield bearing a cross symbol on it. Kai seemed to be encased within the shape and protected by the shield. As the shape became clearer, it was revealed to be a huge man in armor. His left hand bears the shield and his right hand bears a long sword. Kai withdrew something from the shield and positioned it behind him. It wasn't clear what it is, but as soon as he withdrew it, the figure began to dissipate. In a matter of seconds, it had disappeared completely. The shadow charged again as soon as the figure disappeared. This time, Kai charged forward as well. They clashed and ended up at opposite ends of the alley.
The thing Kai withdrew was revealed to be a katana. He was holding it in front of his face after the clash. He straightened up as the shadow behind him shrieked. Kai had cut off one of its arms and the arm had disappeared without a trace. "Urrghh.You!!!", the leader growled at Kai. She was about to give another command to attack when the shadow suddenly rushed towards her. "What the.!", she managed to spit out before the shadow began to expand and envelop her. Kai stared at the shadow at it began to fuse with the girl. Unsatisfied, the shadow moved towards the other girls, who were too shocked to say anything. "Foolish ones", a soft voice suddenly said behind Kai. Kai turned around and saw a man much older than he is. The man had long red hair flowing down to his shoulders. On his right ear, he wore an onyx earring, carved in the shape of 2 intertwining snakes. He wore a brown coat with black shirt, jeans, shoes and gloves. Kai stared at him. There is something about this person that feels familiar. The man stepped in front of Kai and called out softly, "Ashura". A shadow suddenly formed in front of him. The shadow solidified into a grinning figure. The figure stomped on the ground and sent spikes of earth impaling the shadow both from above and below. The shadow gave another shriek as the spikes tore it apart. The figure called Ashura then rushed forward and slammed a huge axe into the shadow, destroying it. As soon as the shadow is destroyed, the figure disappeared. Kai looked at the man. The man turned to leave. "Wait", Kai said. The man stopped and glanced back at Kai. "Who are you?", Kai asked. "You can call me Naoya", the man answered and turned to leave. Kai stared at him for a while and returned into the café to get his meal.
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Naoya took out a hand phone and dialed a number. "Hello", said the voice on the other end when the call went through. "Nate? It's me, Naoya", Naoya said into the mouthpiece. "Hey! It's been a while since you contacted me. What's up? You're doing fine, I hope", the voice replied on the other end. Naoya smiled. He didn't usually contact anyone unless it's really important. Right now, it's not just important. It's almost an emergency. "Yeah, I'm fine. But there's something going on in Lunarvale", Naoya said. The man on the other end frowned. Nate still wore those spectacles from high school. He only changed the lenses a few times to accommodate his improving eyesight. His hair is longer now and it's tied back in a ponytail, but he still kept a neat appearance with his slicked-back hair, unlike Naoya, who looked wilder than his high school days. "What do you mean?", he asked Naoya. "It's happening again, just like 10 years ago", Naoya said, taking out a cigarette to puff on. "You mean..", Nate said, afraid of the answer. Naoya let out a puff of smoke before he answered. "Yes. Persona users. And it might be worse this time around".
End this chapter. First battle scene(sort of). The next update will most probably be about the returning characters(yay). R&R? Stay tuned.
The school bell rang several times, signaling the end of the school day. Kai packed his books and stationeries into his bag. He glanced at his partner. Mei was doing the same to her stuff. Her bag looked considerably denser and bigger, however. He straightened after he packed all his books and walked off. Stevan and Takeshi were outside his class, waiting for him as usual. Stevan smirked and gestured with his head for them to be on their way. Takeshi was pleading to Stevan to let him off the bet. "Look. I'm telling you. I don't have any money to spare!", he said loudly to Stevan. "Yeah, right", Stevan said in that 'yeah right' tone. "You guys have more money than me, that I know", Kai said, and it's true. "Yeah, but Stevan's the one with all the cash here", Takeshi said to both of them. "Oh, c'mon! You're just stingy!", Stevan retorted. "Umm..", a voice said behind them. Kai looked behind him. It was Mei. And her friends. "Hey, ladies. Why don't you join us for dinner? This guy's paying", Stevan said as he point towards Takeshi. "Stevan...!", Takeshi said not-too-softly. "Uh..but.", this time it's Kanako. "OK. It's settled then! Come on!", Stevan said as he pushed the whole group along. "Umm.help?", Ami said softly to no one in particular. Kai sighed as he tagged along behind them.
They arrived at a small café half an hour later. "Good evening", a lady said from behind the counter as the group came into the café. "So, who's paying today?", a middle aged man said from behind the counter. "Him again, uncle", Kai said softly, pointing at Takeshi with his thumb. The 'uncle' laughed and said, "I should've known, with that look on his face". He then looked over at Mei and the other girls. "Hey, who are they, your girlfriends?", he said to Kai's group. "No! It's nothing like that!(Mei) You're kidding right?(Kai) Err..not really(Kanako) Hah! I wish!(Stevan) No, we're not(Ami)....(Takeshi)". "Ah, I see. Another of your unfortunate victims, huh", 'uncle' said. He looked over at Takeshi and sighed. "Alright boys. It's on the house tonight!", he said again. Takeshi positively brightened up at this. "You sure, uncle?", Kai asked. Stevan laughed and said, "All right! In that case, give me the most expensive one!". "But...", 'uncle' continued. "Uh oh", Kai said. "Here comes the but", Takeshi sighed. "You gotta get rid of that lady there", 'uncle' said and pointed at a group of girls. Kai recognized the girls he fought with some time ago. There was something different here, however. The leader of the girls walked up to Kai. Kai gestured with his head to go to the back alleys. Stevan looked at Takeshi. Takeshi shook his head. Kai looked at Stevan and nodded before he walked off with the girls to the alley. "Umm, what was that about?", Mei asked. "Nothing big. They just have a few stuff to go over.", Stevan said. "That's right. And we don't want to interfere.", Takeshi added. Mei wasn't really convinced.
In the alley, Kai and the girls stared at each other. Kai could feel a strange presence around them. It didn't feel human either. "You're dead today, Kai", the leader said. Kai looked at the rest of the girls. They seemed afraid of something, but what? Their fears didn't seem to be directed to him. Then he saw it. The leader's shadow was irregular. It didn't even look remotely human. The shadow suddenly rears up and slashed at Kai using long, sharp claws. Kai leaped back out of reach and landed in a crouching position. "Heh heh heh..What do you think? Nice, isn't it?", the leader said. She cackled madly as the shadow straightened up. Kai stared at it for a while. There were 4 slits on the clothing on his chest from the attack. He stood up and dusted himself off. The leader pointed at Kai with her right index finger and the creature charged forward again. Kai didn't move. The girls began to flinch as the creature got nearer to Kai. Kai still did not make a move. The creature slashed as soon as it is within range. There was a sharp 'skrang' and the creature leaped backwards. The girls, including the leader, stared at Kai. He wasn't hurt. There was not a scratch on him. A shape slowly began to materialize in front of Kai, like a mist that slowly gathers. A translucent shadow crouched at Kai's place, holding a large shield bearing a cross symbol on it. Kai seemed to be encased within the shape and protected by the shield. As the shape became clearer, it was revealed to be a huge man in armor. His left hand bears the shield and his right hand bears a long sword. Kai withdrew something from the shield and positioned it behind him. It wasn't clear what it is, but as soon as he withdrew it, the figure began to dissipate. In a matter of seconds, it had disappeared completely. The shadow charged again as soon as the figure disappeared. This time, Kai charged forward as well. They clashed and ended up at opposite ends of the alley.
The thing Kai withdrew was revealed to be a katana. He was holding it in front of his face after the clash. He straightened up as the shadow behind him shrieked. Kai had cut off one of its arms and the arm had disappeared without a trace. "Urrghh.You!!!", the leader growled at Kai. She was about to give another command to attack when the shadow suddenly rushed towards her. "What the.!", she managed to spit out before the shadow began to expand and envelop her. Kai stared at the shadow at it began to fuse with the girl. Unsatisfied, the shadow moved towards the other girls, who were too shocked to say anything. "Foolish ones", a soft voice suddenly said behind Kai. Kai turned around and saw a man much older than he is. The man had long red hair flowing down to his shoulders. On his right ear, he wore an onyx earring, carved in the shape of 2 intertwining snakes. He wore a brown coat with black shirt, jeans, shoes and gloves. Kai stared at him. There is something about this person that feels familiar. The man stepped in front of Kai and called out softly, "Ashura". A shadow suddenly formed in front of him. The shadow solidified into a grinning figure. The figure stomped on the ground and sent spikes of earth impaling the shadow both from above and below. The shadow gave another shriek as the spikes tore it apart. The figure called Ashura then rushed forward and slammed a huge axe into the shadow, destroying it. As soon as the shadow is destroyed, the figure disappeared. Kai looked at the man. The man turned to leave. "Wait", Kai said. The man stopped and glanced back at Kai. "Who are you?", Kai asked. "You can call me Naoya", the man answered and turned to leave. Kai stared at him for a while and returned into the café to get his meal.
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Naoya took out a hand phone and dialed a number. "Hello", said the voice on the other end when the call went through. "Nate? It's me, Naoya", Naoya said into the mouthpiece. "Hey! It's been a while since you contacted me. What's up? You're doing fine, I hope", the voice replied on the other end. Naoya smiled. He didn't usually contact anyone unless it's really important. Right now, it's not just important. It's almost an emergency. "Yeah, I'm fine. But there's something going on in Lunarvale", Naoya said. The man on the other end frowned. Nate still wore those spectacles from high school. He only changed the lenses a few times to accommodate his improving eyesight. His hair is longer now and it's tied back in a ponytail, but he still kept a neat appearance with his slicked-back hair, unlike Naoya, who looked wilder than his high school days. "What do you mean?", he asked Naoya. "It's happening again, just like 10 years ago", Naoya said, taking out a cigarette to puff on. "You mean..", Nate said, afraid of the answer. Naoya let out a puff of smoke before he answered. "Yes. Persona users. And it might be worse this time around".
End this chapter. First battle scene(sort of). The next update will most probably be about the returning characters(yay). R&R? Stay tuned.