A/N This chapter marks the beginning of the end of the White Mask saga, which I think will likely last about 1-2 more chapters at this point. Next chapter will also be next Friday as per usual, so no changes there.
Disclaimer: I do not own Persona, or any of its characters, and I make no money off of this.
Chapter 15
July 24th – Tokyo: Outskirts of Shibuya, Early Evening
A vast majority of the Persona users from both the Phantom Thieves and the Investigation Team had gathered in the northeastern section of Shibuya, right alongside the border with Shinjuku. It was a rather inconspicuous and sparsely-populated area, possessing large streetways and wide but generic buildings.
This part of the city was the city equivalent of 'in the middle of nowhere', and yet they found themselves there for one reason: To track down to White Mask's main base of operations.
The data that Futaba had thankfully been able to gather had been more useful than they could have possible dreamed. Mostly through process of elimination, Naoto was able to narrow down their search to only a few locations, all but one of which could easily be crossed out due when taking into consideration the kidnapping patterns.
"So this is the place?" Yosuke questioned.
"Yep, all signs point to here," answered Futaba.
"Think Chie will have any luck in her sweep?" Kanji asked.
"I can save you the effort of guessing," Chie stated.
The brunette walked up to the group garbed in her police uniform, cap and all. It suited her well, though the same could not be said for the disappointed frown crossing her features.
"I assume your search failed to bear fruit?" Sae thought aloud.
A curt nod was all that the officer gave in response. Still, from the beginning it was more than likely that her search would come up empty. The White Masks would have to have been stupid beyond belief to kidnap people and cart them off to the Metaverse only to then store them in the real world once again.
"Well, we pretty much expected that," stated Yu.
"Which means that we'll have to do this the hard way," Ren reasoned.
Nothing more needed to be said. Once the coast was clear, each member of the group pulled out their smartphones and set off for the Metaverse without delay.
Metaverse: Shibuya Boarder with Shinjuku
"…it still annoys me that it's so easy," Chie stated.
"Aren't we benefiting from it now though?" Yosuke countered.
"Well… yeah, but they still get cool costumes!"
"Now you're just lookin' to complain about stuff…" Kanji pointed out.
The mentions of costumes had actually caused Ryuji to realize something rather obvious. He turned to their latest joiner, donning a look of realization.
"Speakin' o' which, don't we gotta come up with a codename for Sae-san?" Skull thought aloud.
"Codename?" Sae uttered in response.
"Yeah, each of us—well, us Phantom Thieves, have codenames. We call each other by 'em to keep our identities hidden n' stuff," Skull replied.
"Would that mean that they don't?" she asked, referring to the members of the Investigation Team.
"No, at least not yet," stated Oracle. "But I think the rule is if ya got a costume ya get a codename!"
Sae couldn't help but lightly sigh, "Must I?"
"Like Oracle says, all of us have 'em," said the blond-haired teen. Gesturing to is other teammates, he listed off the rest. "We've got Joker, Panther, Mona, Fox, Queen, Noir, and mine's Skull."
Sae couldn't help but quirk a brow upon hearing one in particular.
"Queen?" she asked, sounding somewhat amused as she glanced at her younger sister.
"W-Why don't we focus on your codename, sis," Makoto suggested. She turned urgently to the others. "Thoughts?"
Much to Sae's chagrin given that she couldn't have cared less, virtually everyone started eying her with the clear intent to give a name or two.
"How 'bout Shoulder Pads?" Skull offered.
"Didn't you suggest that when I joined the team…?" Queen sighed. "And the answer is still a firm no."
"Oh, oh! How 'bout Punisher?" continued Skull, undeterred. "Maybe Bulldozer? Or how about Spikes?"
"Also no," Sae replied, her brows furrowed. "And with that I would kindly ask that Skull refrain from making any other suggestions for the time being."
The mentioned young man, predictably, went quiet.
"Does Judge work?" Chie thought aloud.
"Not bad, but…"
"I think I've got one," Yu spoke up. "Avenger."
"Ooooh, that's a good one," Skull thought aloud.
"It definitely sounds as badass as she looks," Yosuke said with a chuckle.
"I think it suits her aesthetic perfectly," Yusuke remarked.
"Hmm…" muttered Sae in consideration, cupping her chin. "I like it. Avenger it is."
Nodding in agreement, Naoto was quick to get the group back on track. "With that settled, shall we get to work?"
Everyone was quick to move on to the task at hand, and so it was that they went about taking in their new surroundings with their full focus brought to bear. Despite this, the area seemed about as plain as could be. Each of the buildings were near-perfect mirrors of their real-world counterparts, possessing no noticeably distortive properties whatsoever.
'Well, it couldn't be as easy as the last time…' Joker thought.
"Perhaps it's best to do a building-by-building search. We should at least be able to find something," Naoto reasoned.
"I agree," Queen stated. "Although I suggest that we stick closely together and stay on guard. There's no telling what the White Masks have in store for us here."
"Makes sense. Then… how about we start at the largest building over there?"
Joker's suggestion was quickly taken by the rest of the team at large. Exactly as Queen had advised, they moved carefully and as a unit, coming up to the structure without issue.
Once they'd done so, the two leaders shared a look and, out of an abundance of caution, readied to test the waters to ensure the entrance wasn't set with a trap of some kind.
"I'll take this one," Yu volunteered.
While the rest stood back, he called on Izanagi and proceeded to slice the door open. It collapsed like a house of cards under the pressure of the successive slashes, subsequently after which nothing out of the ordinary seemed to occur.
They gave it a comfortable amount of time just to be safe, and yet still nothing happened.
"Inside we go," Joker mused.
One-by-one they entered, taking in what appeared to be a rather ordinary warehouse-like interior by the look of it. It seemed that its size was the only noteworthy thing about it.
"Echo!" Skull shouted, unable to help himself.
The reverberations sounded off just as he'd hoped if his childlike grin was anything to go by. Though nothing happened as a result, it was clear that some of the others didn't find it as amusing as he had.
"What?" asked Skull defensively. "You're tellin' me no one else wanted to do that?"
"Well, yeah, if you hadn't, I prolly would have," Yosuke admitted with a chuckle.
"Same," Chie added.
"Regardless, we should search the interior as thoroughly as we can. Given this is the Metaverse, things are often not as they appear to be," Naoto stated.
The group did exactly that and headed off every-which-way, dividing into groups of about four or five a piece. Though the atmosphere was ominously quiet, any sense of foreboding danger was lessened on account of the fact that they could still clearly see one another regardless of distance.
"It's a lot emptier than I was expecting," Panther said.
"Yeah, it's kinda creepy…" Rise muttered.
"Do you think it might be haunted?" Yukiko asked.
Though the Amagi heiress had an odd enthusiasm in her tone and smiled at the prospect, the rest of those around her clearly felt the exact opposite. Ann and Rise stiffened noticeably while Queen started shuddering at the thought.
"G-Geez, why'd you have to say that?!" Rise exclaimed. "Great, now I've got goosebumps."
"But wouldn't it be kinda cool if a ghost or something suddenly came out?" asked Yukiko.
"I-I'll pass," Panther replied.
"Ditto," added Rise.
"Amen to that," Queen in agreement.
Closer to the center of the room, Skull was making mischief of his own. Or at least he was about to were it not for Morgana putting a preemptive stop to it.
"If you're thinking about doing that echo thing again, just don't," Mona stated firmly.
"You are such a killjoy, you know that?" Skull shot back.
"Meh, it's not as funny the second time," said Yosuke with a shrug.
"Thank you," Mona replied triumphantly, giving the blond a know-it-all smirk. "And by the way, it—ooof!"
The feline suddenly tripped and nearly fell flat on his face. His uncharacteristic slipup drew a concerned look from Ryuji, who stopped in place to make sure he wasn't hurt.
"You okay?" Skull asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," muttered Morgana as he picked himself up. He eyed the ground beneath his feet curiously. "It felt like my toes got tripped up on something…"
"You sure you're not just losing a step?"
"Ha-ha, you're hilarious," he remarked dryly, his eyes never leaving the floor. "But seriously, I swear I…!"
As if to humor Morgana at the very least, Ryuji and the others knelt down to take a look. Most found next to nothing, but as Yosuke ran his hand across the floor, he noticed something odd.
"Hm, is that…? I think I feel a slight crease here," Yosuke thought aloud.
"Huh? Let me see," Chie uttered.
The brunette came right up to her long-time friend's side and felt up the ground in much the same way. She too found the crease, wiping the area off with her hand and ridding it of some residual dust that had been covering it.
"H-Hey, hang on, there might be some kind of latch here!" Chie shouted excitedly. "I'll bet its some kind of secret entrance!"
"Then don't just go touching it all over!" Yosuke cautioned.
"It's not like I'm trying to open it," she countered, giving him a slight sideways glare. "What's the worst that could—"
Without warning, the ground itself started to shake and rumble. Everything, from the walls to the ceiling, started to split, dizzying anyone who dared to look as they spun in a virtual merry-go-round.
"I'm sorry, Chie, you were saying?" Yosuke asked.
"Bite me."
Those were the last words anyone managed to say before the earth beneath their feet started to shift. Everyone clung to the ground out of necessity, hoping that whatever was to come would at least still leave them on solid ground.
The nausea-inducing movements finally stopped, though the group waited a short time just to be safe, still bracing for any further impact.
"Is it over…?" Teddie uttered, peeking up with one eye. "I think everything finally stopped moving all over the place."
"Thank goodness for that. Otherwise, I'd—w-woooh…!"
Skull found himself barely able to stand properly in the wake of their recent roller-coaster ride. Still, he at least managed to stabilize and save himself the embarrassment and pain of a nasty fall.
"Lost your step?" Morgana jibbed.
"Can it, cat," Skull barked. "Anyway, you guys good?"
"Well, considering we're in the middle of this, I'm gonna say no," Yosuke replied.
"Huh…?"
True to the brunette's words, their surroundings weren't exactly a sight for sore eyes. They were encased in a series of walls with paths diverging in all directions. A very bland beige color dominated all surfaces, almost as if they were in the middle of a desert.
"Oooh, I know! This is like some kind of maze, right?" Teddie guessed.
"Seems like it," Morgana replied. His eyes narrowed as they glanced across the paths at their front. "And this goes without saying, but I doubt this is any ordinary old maze. I get a bad feeling just looking at it…"
"Same here," said Teddie. He took several whiffs of the air, his expression becoming oddly serious in the aftermath. "Yep, definitely. This place is bad-news-bears for sure."
"Yeah, I coulda guessed that…" muttered Yosuke.
"So, uh… which way do we go?" Skull wondered aloud.
"Well, we should try to head over to whichever direction leads us to everyone else," Yosuke replied. He turned to the Investigation Team's mascot. "Your nose giving you any read on which path that'd be?"
"Hmm… I think…" Teddie muttered. His eyes closed and he focused up. With supreme confidence, he ultimately declared, "I've got nothin'!"
"Why do you sound proud of that?!" Yosuke shouted in disbelief.
"Good grief, Teddie," Chie said, pinching the bridge of her nose as she did so.
"I'm sorry, but it isn't my fault. This place is… strange," replied the bear-like Shadow. "Something about it is messing with my sense of smell."
"I can't really sense anything either," Morgana added disappointedly.
"…could you ever?" asked Skull.
"Wha—shut up! Of course, I could!" Morgana exclaimed. "I'm not as good as Teddie, but I can still sorta whiff out Shadows and humans in the Metaverse."
"Guys, focus," Chie berated firmly. "Let's just pick a path and get moving. The longer we stay here, the more likely we're gonna run into something we're better off avoiding."
"That's rich coming from…"
Yosuke stopped mid-sentence, starting with an annoyed expression but ending on one that was stone-cold and stiff as a board. Chie quirked a brow upon noticing this, subsequently after which she realized that everyone else was looking at her with pretty much the exact same expression.
"What?" asked the young officer.
It was then that she realized they weren't so much as looking at her as they were behind her. She peered over her shoulder at what she believed to be one of the maze's walls, though upon doing so, her features became just as petrified as the others.
A large, human-esque eyeball was protruding from the wall and staring directly at her. The eyelid held the same beige color that dominated the maze itself, though the iris was a haunting red while the sclera was pitch-black.
The fear she felt in the moment had paralyzed Chie entirely, though once the eye blinked, she finally found the force of will to react in as gracefully a manner as she could.
"Eeeeeeeeeeeep!" she squealed.
Reflexively, she rushed away and called on Tomoe. The personification of the legendary warrior spun its polearm to gain momentum before crashing one of its blades into the wall. The eyeball receded before the hit could land, leaving the wall to take the blow. However, the weapon's metal just skirted along the surface creating sparks while leaving the actual wall itself undamaged.
"W-What the hell was that thing?!" Chie exclaimed.
"Creepy as hell and definitely not friendly," Yosuke answered with a grimace.
As if to confirm what Yosuke had said moments earlier, the eyeball reappeared on one of the other nearby sections of the maze. It started to protrude more and more until a recognizable shape around the eye started to show.
The form of a star surrounded the center of the eye, the color changing to a dark shade of purple as if it were doing away with its camouflage. Their saving grace was that the disturbing creature was alone, though none of them were naïve enough to believe it would stay that way.
"This isn't the only one, is it?" said Skull, hanging his head in anticipation of what was to come.
Across the wide-open area, many matching eyeballs started to appear on the surfaces of the walls, which then gave birth to dozens of other star-shaped Shadows. They floated in place, massing in front of several of the pathways as if to form a cone around their would-be prey.
"Knew it. Why can't it only ever be just one?!" Skull wondered aloud.
"This calls for emergency plan X," Teddie stated firmly.
"The hell is emergency plan X?" Chie questioned.
"We run and run fast."
No one seemed to have an objection as once the bear had bolted for one of the open pathways, they followed closely behind.
Inside the Maze: Northeastern Section
In the aftermath of the building's transformation, the two Wild Cards, Avenger, and the youngest of the two navigators found themselves still bracing for impact within a long narrow hallway that had spawned around them in the aftermath of the maze's creation.
On instinct, Futaba had opted to cling onto Ren during the chaos, while Sae and Yu were more than fine on their own.
"Everyone still in one piece?" Joker asked.
"I'm fine," Sae quickly answered.
"Vitals are green, thankfully," Oracle stated, still clinging to Ren's overcoat. "That scared the crap out of me though. I definitely lost a year off my life at least."
"I'm sure you'll be just fine," said Joker with a chuckle.
As everyone got up on their feet, Ren suddenly noticed that one member of their group hadn't spoken up and so naturally he opted to check up on him. However, once his eyes landed on his fellow group leader, he quickly took note of his odd behavior.
Yu was standing in place, looking thoughtfully down the hallway with a deadly-serious look about him. To say it's was cause for concern was putting it mildly.
'Something's definitely up…' Joker thought. He asked the obvious. "A yen for your thoughts?"
"I'm just getting a really bad feeling about this place," he answered, his eyes narrowing as he gazed off in the distance. "Do you feel it too?"
"No more than usual," Joker answered with a shrug. "Oracle, do you mind scanning the area to see what you can see? Maybe there's something to this 'bad feeling' Yu's got right now."
"I'm on it!" she answered energetically.
Any positivity on Futaba's part soon vanished mere seconds after she had called forth Necronomicon. Her instruments came up totally blank, which marked perhaps the first time she'd ever experienced such a thing in her entire career as a Phantom Thief. No matter how hard she focused her power, the results remained the same.
"Hang on a sec, I'll be right back," Oracle stated.
The tentacles of her Persona descended and guided her to its cockpit, allowing the navigator to take to the skies to get a bird's eye view of the maze. Her attempt was quickly put to a crashing halt, and this was in the literal sense given that Necronomicon's frame quite literally rammed into an invisible barrier.
Be they Joker, Yu, or Sae, each of them winced upon hearing the loud banging sound that resulted from the collision. A period of silence followed as Necronomicon remained floating in the air. Eventually, the tentacles exuded from its lower half once more, guiding a very unhappy and scowling Futaba to the ground.
"…ow," Oracle muttered, rubbing the back of her head.
"You okay?" Joker inquired.
"Mad, but otherwise fine," she replied. "And as an FYI, I've got nothing. Something about this place is jamming my instruments in a way I've never seen before, and obviously I wasn't able to get a good view from above."
"Then we'll just have to map it out ourselves," mused Sae. She cupped her chin in thought before drawing what appeared to be a map on the dust-ridden floors. "Even if the maze's size is greater than the building, we should still be able to gather from memory where the others are. I was able to get a relatively good look at where some of the walls landed near where we are as well."
The silver-haired beauty knelt down, drawing up the semblance of a localized map using the dust-ridden floors. The attention to detail was remarkable to say the least.
'She really is Queen's sister, huh?' Joker thought, almost amusedly. 'I almost feel bad for whoever we fight now that there's two of 'em…'
"So, it appears that the group of Naoto-san, Kanji-san, Noir, and Fox. They should be southwest of our current position, meaning that we need to take the path here, here, and… here," added Sae, tracing her fingers along the proper path. "We should hurry though. There's no telling which way they'll head."
"No objections here," replied Yu.
"Me neither," Joker said in agreement. "Then let's get going, shall we?"
Inside the Maze: Southeastern Section
"—and so that would mean those closest to us are the group containing both of our leaders," Naoto surmised.
She'd just finalized the creation of her own map on the maze's floor, which boasted such fine detail that it had Kanji staring at it in utter disbelief. Haru was less dramatic and kept her reaction to being just flat-out impressed while Yusuke was the odd man out and merely nodded in understanding, appearing unfazed by the display.
"You seriously got all that from just one look before shit started hittin' the fan?" Kanji asked.
"Very impressive, Naoto-san!" Noir chirped.
"It's noting, really," she replied, rubbing the back of her head bashfully.
"Hey, one question though…" Kanji began. He knelt down, adjusting his glasses to get a better look at the map. "Anyone else think the center of this place looks a little off? Like a 'big red X on a treasure map' off?"
"How do you mean?" asked Fox.
"Actually Kanji, I was thinking the same thing," Naoto stated. "My instincts are telling me that the key to escaping this labyrinth lies there."
"There seems to only be one path though," Noir said observationally.
True to her word there was only one way to get to the maze's center and they seemed to be perhaps the farthest from it. The closest, judging by Naoto's estimation, were Rise, Ann, Makoto, and Yukiko.
"Then that pathway over there is our fastest route," Fox mused.
He then set off with the others closely behind, though the moment they were within spitting distance of the open passageway, a wall emerged from the ground and blocked the path entirely.
"…okay," said an annoyed Kanji. He cracked his knuckles and his neck for good measure. "If this maze wants to play it like that…"
The young fashion designer's large, broad-shouldered Persona quickly made an appearance. It stood still at first, gathering all the physical power it could muster before unleashing it in a powerful punch that slammed right into the newly-created wall section. A shockwave reverberated around the immediate area, but little else was done.
"Ow, son of a bitch!" Kanji exclaimed.
He quickly found the need to shake his wrist to rid himself of the pain, swearing underneath his breath as he did so.
"Are you okay?" Noir quickly asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied. "I just really felt that one."
"Suffice to say, punching our way through isn't likely to do us any good," Naoto mused. Her eyes narrowed as her mind went to the obvious. "Though the timing of this passage being blocked off was most definitely not a coincidence. We should proceed with extreme caution."
Inside the Maze, Southwestern Section
"Ugh, my head…" groaned Panther, rubbing her temples all the while. "All that moving around really threw me through a loop. I can barely see straight."
"I know how you feel," Rise said, appearing much the same. "This vertigo is definitely something I can do without."
"Agreed," commented Queen plainly.
"I'm perfectly fine, actually," Yukiko thought aloud.
"And I couldn't be happier for you," Rise replied, her voice heavy with sarcasm. "Anyway, what is this place?"
"Well, clearly it's a maze of some kind…" reasoned Queen. "And given that we're separated from everyone else, our main goal should be to meet up with them before finding our way out."
To that end, she intended to create a makeshift map on the floor from her own memory, and thus she knelt down and set to work. No sooner than her finger touched the ground, however, did she see something that had her questioning her grasp on reality.
Makoto had quite literally only blinked, and yet she could swear that the floor was now smiling at her. She rubbed her eyes and took another look, still seeing the same wide, toothless smile.
"Guys… am I crazy, or are you seeing this too?" Queen asked stiffly.
Those present peered over her shoulder not quite knowing what to expect. As they did so, the smile widened into a big, toothy grin. It took less than a second for Rise, Ann and Makoto to shriek in terror, all the while jolting backwards so as to put themselves as far away as was possible.
Though they did manage to put quite a bit of distance away from the pearly whites on the floor, it gave them little comfort. A large number of the very same demonic grins started to appear more broadly on the room's floor and walls, shortly after which emerged an equal number of Halberies out of the solid surfaces. Their color remained the same dirt-brown, though their lips shifted to an obsidian black.
The initial shock of the encounter had for the moment stunned Rise, Ann, and Makoto. Luckily for them, a certain red-loving inn-heiress was more than ready to deal with the unwanted guests.
"Konohana Sakuya!" Yukiko shouted.
Her Persona quickly appeared and began purging the spherical monstrosities in a blazing inferno. Fire coated the entirety of the surrounding area within seconds, scorching everything in its path. The dust quickly settled, revealing each of the enemies to have been promptly dealt with.
"Thanks, Yukiko," Rise said, breathing a sigh of relief.
"Don't mention it. After all, you were all so scared stiff by that one Shadow I had to do something," she replied.
"S-Scared might be a bit much," said Queen, having regained her composure.
"Not for me," Rise admitted. She winced at the memory of the humanoid teeth showing in the floor. "That was terrifying! Ghh, jump scares should be against the rules here! Just thinking about how it popped up like that…!"
"Yeah and—ow!" Panther exclaimed. A sharp pain shot out from her wrist, and she could feel something latching onto it with great force. She turned, shocked, to see what was actually doing so. "Makoto, what the hell?!"
"S-Sorry," apologized the black-clad teen. She retracted her hand in an embarrassed manner. "I um… yeah…"
"Are the three of you not too good with scary stuff?" Yukiko innocently inquired.
"Why did you say you three? You know I'm not good with stuff like that," Rise stated matter-of-factly.
"Oh, do I?"
"Yukiko?!"
"Just kidding," she said with a giggle. "But what about the two of you?"
"No, I'm not too good with scary stuff," Panther replied, fighting the urge to avert her gaze.
It seemed as if the blond had been embarrassed to admit what she had, and it seemed her slightly older friend was no different.
"W-Well, I… no, I don't do well with horror," Queen confessed, albeit in a voice just above a whisper.
"Hmm, I see…" Yukiko trailed off. She appeared to give great consideration to something before continuing. "So then how do you feel about ghosts?"
"I feel like the answer is kinda obvious," Rise replied.
"That's too bad…"
"Huh? Why's that?" Panther asked, quirking a curious brow.
"Oh, no reason," she answered plainly. "Although if I were you, I wouldn't turn around right now."
Obviously the trio did exactly that, and almost immediately after doing so, their blood froze. At the end of the large room, they saw what appeared to be near-transparent humanoid creatures pass back and forth beyond the opening. Their bodies seemed to be made of fog, being thick enough to see but thin enough to appear almost corporeal in nature.
One of them clearly took notice of their gaze, and in turn it stopped in place, staring directly back at them with its expressionless face baring down on them with horrifying intensity.
Ironically, both Queen and Rise quickly cowered behind Ann out of reflex, perhaps because she was the tallest among them. She in turn hadn't even noticed, being too stunned to do so, but thankfully the creature simply went about its business. Even as it began traveling down the corridor in the opposite direction, the metaphorical specter of its presence still loomed heavily over the squad.
"I did warn you," said Yukiko.
"Not the point," Queen replied, her voice of a noticeably higher pitch than normal. "J-Just what were those things?"
"You mean besides creepy?" Rise shuddered.
"Well, they definitely saw us, but they just kept going about their business, so… maybe they aren't hostile?" Panther reasoned.
"Either that or just not the aggressive type," Queen stated. "Still, in either case we should still be careful. There's no telling what this place has in store for us."
"Agreed," said Panther. "So, uh… which way do we go?"
Rise soon added, "And more importantly, who's going first?"
Inside the Maze, Eastern Section
Sae pulled her twinblade out of a defeated Shadows vanishing carcass, brandishing it above her head so as to ward off an incoming pair of Halberies. She drew her double-barreled pistol as they were sent flying, ready to pump the Shadows full of lead before they could regain their bearings.
Two bullets shot through them, piercing the masks on the back of their heads and effectively killing them. The bullets, however, didn't belong to Sae. She turned, seeing both Joker and Yu standing a short distance away with their guns drawn and freshly fired.
"Can't let you have all the fun, right?" Yu said cheekily.
The gray-eyed young man twirled his piston in his hand stylishly, if not cheekily, before holstering it once more.
"Nah, that was a K.S. for sure," Oracle stated with a shake of her head. "You gotta let her finish 'em off. That's just good manners."
The platinum blonde was understandably confused.
"A K.S.? What's that?"
"Kill steal," Joker answered. "And for the record, Shadows are first come first served."
"Booo," Oracle replied.
"It's fine," Sae said through a slight chuckle. She allowed the blades of her weapon to retract before she placed it on her hip once more. "Although I will certainly pay you back in kind."
"Grehehe…!"
The twisted cackling drew their attention to the southern portion of the corridor. Its shape was that of a large sphere much like the Halberie's, however it had edgier ridges akin to a rock and it was far bigger in size. In addition, the mask was placed firmly in the front of the circular body, and a pair of large hands extended from both of its sides.
"Careful, I don't have any data on that one," Oracle announced, a bit of frustration in her tone.
"It looks like a Basalt, which I've seen plenty of times before, but it's body type is a bit off," Yu muttered in thought.
"How so?" Joker pressed.
"In my experience, Basalt's aren't as round. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that one is built to…"
The esteemed lawyer paused-mid sentence upon seeing the Shadow's body begin to spin wildly in their general direction. Given its shape, size, and projected path, it was all too obvious what was about to happen.
"…to do that," Yu finished. "We should run."
No one had even time enough to give a response before running for their lives became a necessity. The boulder-like Shadow shot towards them at incredible speeds, closing the distance more and more with each passing millisecond.
As luck would have it, they managed to peel off into a room on the left side of the hallway, barely managing to do so before the rolling horror turned them into a corpse's equivalent of raspberry pancakes.
The Shadow had failed to barrel over them and instead continued rolling forward down the hallway, passing the room by on its way. Each of them was panting heavily, clearly short on breath in the wake of literally running for their lives.
Still, for the moment, they were safe.
"Hopefully we don't run into many more of those," Sae remarked.
None of her teammates responded on account of them being nowhere to be found, a fact that she soon realized. She mused that perhaps they had dodged off into other rooms along the hallway and that she had merely failed to notice.
'There weren't any other paths though…' Sae couldn't help but think, all too sure that she was correct.
As she pondered where the others could be, she noticed a fog starting to set in. The speed with which it did so was staggering and unnatural, prompting her to grab the hilt of her weapon and make ready for an incoming attack. She scanned the area with her crimson eyes, ready to fight anything that stepped within her attack range.
'I should try to find everyone else. God willing, they'll be in this fog too,' Sae thought.
Joker stood firm, overlooking a sea of fog with a cold and analytical gaze. While it didn't take a genius to realize the ominous mist was bad news, it was rare for his instincts to scream it out so fervently.
He ran a hand through it, taking note that it behaved no differently than fog would in the real world.
'So just what the hell does it do?' Joker wondered.
Knowing he wasn't going to get anywhere by standing still, he took a few steps forward, though he did so in a cautious manner. Nothing interesting seemed to happen as a result, and so he walked on at a quicker pace expecting to get at least some reaction out of the fog.
"Still nothing…" Joker uttered curiously.
The fog started to thicken abruptly, which put him more on guard. Instinctively, he pulled out his knife and gun in a defensive posture, expecting an incoming attack.
"Ren?"
"Oh, Ren! It really is you! Thank goodness!"
The two voices that called out were not instantly familiar to Joker, though perhaps it had been out of the fact that he hadn't heard either of them in over a year by that point.
When he did recognize them a split-second later, his eyes immediately widened in shock. His ready-stance dropped, and he turned to see two silhouettes off a short distance away. He couldn't make out their faces or other features, but the outlines of the man and woman were more than enough for him to realize who they were.
The raven-haired thief of hearts couldn't believe his eyes. His arms went lax, leaving his knife and gun to fall to the ground with an accompanying thud that echoed loudly in the midst of the overpowering silence.
"Mom…? Dad…?" Joker uttered in disbelief.
"Joker!" Oracle called out.
Her words elicited no response. It was as if they were swallowed up by the fog itself that eclipsed everything before her. She was alone, and gradually her anxiety levels were starting to rise.
"I swear, Ren, if you're out there and just playing a prank on me…!" Futaba whispered to herself. She groaned a moment later. "Nah, no way he'd do something like that. Ugh, where are you, Ren?"
Albeit with the cautious pace of a snail, the navigator set off in search of any of her companions.
"Joker! Yu-san! Sae-san!" Oracle shouted.
"Who are you talking to, Futaba?"
Though it was a voice she hadn't heard for quite some time, it was one that Futaba Sakura knew like the back of her hand. It was something her mind would never let go of under any circumstance.
In disbelief, she turned to see none other than Wakaba Isshiki approaching. Her dark hair, glasses, and subtle smile were exactly as she remembered them to be. Even the copy from her Palace, by Futaba's own admission, didn't hold such great detail.
"M-Mom?!" Oracle stammered.
"Why do you sound so surprised?" She asked with a chuckle. "Yes, Futaba, it's me. So who were you talking to?"
"Uh, my… my friends," Oracle answered, almost warily.
"Oh, is that so? Would they like to stay for dinner?"
Her surroundings changed entirely before she even had a chance to respond. Where previously she'd been standing amidst a thick fog garbed in her Phantom Thief attire, she now sat in a booth seat at Leblanc waring her everyday clothes. Her mother took her place directly across from her, leaving the orange-haired young woman at a loss for words.
Within seconds, Sojiro walked up to the table, placing three plates of his famous curry down for them, and presumably himself to enjoy.
"Dinner's ready," said the shopkeeper. "Mind scooting over, Futaba?"
"O-Oh, uh…"
"Why don't you ever sit next to me?" Wakaba asked, her expression akin to a light pout. "It's not as if I bite, you know."
"Well, you're great company, no question about that. But no competition for this one here I'm afraid," Sojiro replied with a chuckle.
"Are you sure you're not just sitting next to her so that Ren-kun can't?" Wakaba asked, sporting a knowing smirk.
"W-Well, I…"
"I don't really mind where I sit. Either side is fine with me."
Ren's voice sounded off as he approached the table, carrying his own plate of curry. He carried himself with the same kind, pleasant aura that he always did, even smiling down at Futaba as he approached in a way that felt far too real to be a mere illusion.
"Please, sit next to Futaba," Wakaba insisted. "Unless a certain someone takes issue with sitting next to me?"
The look that the woman gave Sojiro was one that all men feared. Needless to say, his decision was made before he even opened his mouth to reply.
"Well, I suppose I wouldn't mind."
"You'd better not," replied Wakaba with a chuckle. She scooted down the booth. "Here, have a seat!"
"Geez, alright, alright."
A scene played out before Futaba Sakura's eyes that not even her wildest dreams had as of yet granted her. In alarming detail, she could see Sojiro and her mother seated right across from her eating, smiling, joking, and laughing. All the while, Ren was at her side, chiming in from time to time in what could only be described as a familial back and forth.
Either because she simply couldn't help it or out of simply curiosity, she began to eat the curry as well, shocked by the sensation of it.
"W-Woah, it's real…!" Futaba exclaimed.
"What kind of reaction is that?" Sojiro asked with a smile. "Of course it's real. Why wouldn't it be?"
"It's getting better, too," Wakaba stated, eating all the while. She looked at the shopkeeper almost teasingly. "What is it about a man that can cook good curry?"
"There you go again," replied Sojiro, appearing a bit bashful at the intended compliment.
In spite of what her brain all but screamed, everything felt and looked so incredibly realistic that it was truly hard to believe. Even her deepest of dreams never felt like this before.
Futaba looked across the table at her mother, noticing Wakaba's bare hand simply laying atop the table as she was chatting along with the others. Though she hesitated for a split-second, her very soul itself screamed for her to reach out for her mother's hand with her own.
Her daughter's hand now randomly atop her own, the raven-haired woman turned to Futaba surprisedly, not knowing what brought about the sudden gesture.
"Hm? What is it sweetie?" Wakaba asked.
Out of what seemed to be playful curiosity, she flipped her hand and grasped her daughters with her own. Their fingers locked, the sensation of which actually made Futaba recoil.
Again, it simply felt too real.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," she laughed pleasantly. With the soft tenderness of a mother, she squeezed the young woman's hand. "You've grown so much, haven't you? I can't remember the last time I held your hand like this."
"Four weeks ago, at least that I've seen," Ren passively remarked.
"What the—does that memory of yours have an off switch?" Sojiro joked.
"Nope."
"A good thing too," Wakaba stated. "I count on that memory of yours every time we go out shopping. You always seem to remember the one thing I forget…"
The conversation among the three continued, but Futaba could no longer hear them speak. Her eyes were fixed on her hand as it was joined with her mother's. The emotion of it all was overwhelming, so much so that she couldn't stop tears from streaming down her cheeks.
To her, this was real, even if at the same time she knew it wasn't.
Futaba neither sobbed nor whimpered. In fact, she didn't move so much as a muscle or make so much as a sound. On some level she feared that if she did, the moment would end.
Those around her didn't seem to understand what was going on. All they could see was the orange-haired teen shedding tears.
"Sweetheart, you're crying!" Wakaba exclaimed urgently. "What's wrong? Is something the matter?"
The concern in her voice only made the tears fall all the more. She retracted her hand and started to wipe them away, her thoughts in complete and total disarray.
"D-Did I say something wrong?" Sojiro asked almost frantically.
"N-No, it's not that…!" Futaba replied. "I just… I'm so happy that I…!"
"—ba…! Futaba!"
The orange-haired teen's eyes opened wide as she noticed the change in her surroundings once more. Although this time instead of a fog or Leblanc, she saw Ren gazing down at her with incredible concern.
"Huh? Wha…?" Futaba uttered, clearly disoriented. "Where am I? What happened…?"
"Easy," Joker cautioned, holding onto her with tender care. "Deep breaths. Try to stay calm."
Her mental fuzziness subsided, allowing Futaba to realize that she was back in the maze, back in her Phantom Thief attire, and thankfully, right back next to Ren. As such she looked at the black-clad Wild Card intensely.
"Hold on, you're real, right?" she asked in a serious tone of voice. "Cuz if you're not, I'm gonna be so pissed off…!"
"Yeah, I'm real," Joker replied, unable to stifle a laugh. "You're not under the illusion anymore, I took care of the Shadow that was making them. But more importantly, are you alright? You were crying harder than I've ever seen you…"
"Hm?"
The orange-haired prodigy felt a wet sensation down her cheeks, clearly evidence that the tears she had shed hadn't been part of the illusion. Knowing that the sight of them probably drew concern from Ren, she did her best to put on a brave face.
"I-It's fine. They weren't tears of sadness or anything like that," she replied. Her expression fell, and noticeably so. "I just… it felt so real. I saw my mom, and she was at Leblanc, and you and Sojiro were there, and I…!"
Futaba's voice started to crack and tears started to pull in her eyes once more. Ren reached for her hand and firmly clasped it within his own, surprising her in the process. She couldn't help but recall the short-lived moment when she'd been able to hold her mother's hand; Joker's grip held just as much warmth and kindness to it.
"It's okay, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," he said reassuringly.
"…right," answered Oracle with a nod.
She mustered a smile that seemed second nature, managing to subside her tears as she did so. A relieved Joker soon stepped away, observing the remainder of the room they found themselves in.
"So, uh… where are Sae-san and Yu-san?" Oracle couldn't help but ask.
"No idea," he answered. "If I had to guess, somewhere nearby experiencing the same thing we just did."
"In that case, we've gotta hurry and find them. There's no telling what happens if you're exposed to those illusions for too long," Oracle reasoned.
"Couldn't agree more."
Joker quickly took the lead and peered out into the hallway to ensure the coast was clear. Given his scowl, it was obvious that it wasn't, prompting a curious navigator to steal a glance for herself.
As she expected, a large number of the humanoid transparent creatures were trotting the hall almost aimlessly. They were eerily devoid of any physical characteristics, something that made even the seasoned horror-gamer that she was shiver on reflex.
"W-Woah, what the hell are those things?" Oracle asked.
"Those are what created that fog earlier," Joker answered.
Lowering her vizor, Futaba began to scan the Shadows in the hopes of gaining some form of information on their affinities or weaknesses. Sadly, she was met with no such luck.
"Dammit, I'm not getting anything," she sighed in frustration. "I at least wanna know what they're called. That'd make them at least twenty percent less creepy."
"From what I can tell, they're super weak in a straight up fight. Their illusions, on the other hand…"
"Are incredibly realistic. Yeah, I got that much," finished Oracle with a frown. "By the way, do they… do they try to attack you or anything while you're under their illusion?"
"Not the one I got rid of," Joker answered. "Although I also wasn't trying a 'wait and see' approach."
"Good call," Oracle stated in firm agreement. "So what do we do about them?"
"Easy."
Before the young navigator could even turn her head, Joker rushed down the corridor with his knife in hand. With great stealth and agility, he bodied Shadow after Shadow, slicing through them as if they were nothing more than paper until the entirety of the hall was cleared.
"G-Grrrh…!"
The raspy wails echoed through the area as they dissipated, though Futaba in turn glanced down at them, calling her Persona's full power as she analyzed them in greater detail.
"Ya know, it's times like these I'm thankful you're such a showoff," Oracle remarked with a noticeable grin.
"I aim to please," Joke replied with feigned humility. "I take it you were able to get something this time?"
"Thankfully, yeah," Oracle stated. "They're called Désirs, and like you said, they're basically super weak to anything and everything."
"Weird name," Joker remarked, twirling his knife before placing it back up his sleeve. "We need to move carefully so they don't notice us. If we do that, we should be able to make our way forward nice and easy."
"Roger that!"
Sae continued to move through the thick fog on high alert, her weapon perpetually drawn. The quiet only served to put her more on edge.
'Something's not right. This fog is obviously meant to be a prelude to some kind of attack, so why hasn't anything happened yet?' Sae wondered.
She began to entertain the possibility that her walking randomly in the misty purgatory was the point. Clearly it succeeded in slowing her down a great deal.
Hearing a footstep just off to her side, she swung immediately flipped her position and sent her twinblade swinging towards her would-be attacker. She stopped the attack dead in its tracks upon turning to see it was none other than Makoto, Phantom Thief attire and all.
"Relax, sis. It's just me," Queen said.
The brunette spoke as calmly as she was able, though that proved to be challenging given that her sole family member currently held a blade at her throat. This fact did not go unnoticed by Sae herself. Just the sight of Makoto's panic at her own hand filled her with self-loathing.
"Sorry about that," she replied, retracting her weapon.
"No worries, my head is still attached to my body," Queen said good-naturedly. With a small smirk, she added, "Although just barely, it seems."
"I'll simply point out this could have been avoided altogether if you hadn't snuck up on me."
"Fair point," conceded the younger of the two, laughing ever-so-slightly. "Still, a few inches further and you'd be having one difficult conversation with dad."
"I beg your pardon?"
Sae merely blinked, and in an instant quite literally everything around her had changed. She found herself standing in her apartment, garbed in her normal work clothing as if it were any other day of the week. Makoto still stood at her front, but she too wore her every-day clothing, no longer sporting her alter-ego's attire.
The door to the apartment abruptly opened, following which a voice called out that she'd only heard in her dreams for quite some time.
"I'm home, girls. Sorry if I'm a bit late."
The silver-haired beauty's eyes widened significantly. She froze, her mind unable to comprehend what was happening. Her skin went pale, drawing her sister's concern.
"H-Hey, are you okay?" Makoto asked. "You don't look so good all of a sudden, sis."
"Hm? Is Sae not well?"
Akashi Nijima soon entered her line of sight, looking at his daughter with evident concern. Her eyes drifted to him in disbelief, unable to help herself from taking in every single molecule of his being. Every detail of his appearance was exactly as she remembered it to be right down to even his mannerisms.
The following second felt as if it lasted an eternity. Her conscious, thinking mind rejected what she saw, knowing it couldn't have possibly been genuine. However, the fact remained that it looked, felt, and sounded perfectly real.
A sudden pain shot through her head akin to a migraine, causing her to stumble and wince under the strain.
"A-Ahhh…!" Sae hissed, clenching her forehead.
"A headache?" Akashi asked. With a reassuring smile, he added, "Don't worry, I've got just the thing in the medicine cabinet. It'll be just fine."
Without warning, her father caringly put his arms around her, hugging Sae one-sidedly for the moment.
"There, there."
His voice was calming, and his embrace even more so. Everything was exactly as she remembered it to be. In spite of all his faults as a father, in the precious moments where they connected as parent and child, his love and affection were all too clear. She couldn't help but return his embrace with her own.
There was nothing more in the world Sae Nijima wanted than for this moment to be real. She rested the side of her head on his chest, listening to the soothing heartbeat. The happiness she felt was truly beyond description.
That, however, only made it all the more painful. She held back tears in her eyes, unable to run from what she knew to be the truth.
"…this isn't real."
With those simple three words, the illusion seemed to shatter. Her eyes were greeted with the sight of the maze once more. Even so, she couldn't help but dwell on the haunting experience.
'I know it was fake, but… I could swear I was hugging my father just a moment ago,' Sae thought.
It was then that she came to the realization that she was, in fact, still embracing something. Her cheek was still nestled onto what felt like a man's chest as well. Naturally, she pulled away a short distance to look up at what, or who, she was actually holding onto so tightly.
To say she was then stunned into silence was an understatement.
'Oh dear god…' Sae internally groaned.
"Hey there," Yu spoke up somewhat stiffly. "Everything okay?"
The red-eyed lawyer took a calm step back, releasing Yu from a hug that she previously thought had been illusory. She cleared her throat, trying her level best to remain as calm and collected as she could in a beyond awkward situation.
"I'm quite fine," she replied. "Just now, that was… There was an illusion, and—"
"No need to explain, I pieced it together from context," Yu said, flashing a reassuring smile. "I took care of the Shadow that was creating it. I walked over to check on you, and you can probably guess the rest."
"Y-Yes, well… thank you all the same," Sae stated. She quirked a brow, an obvious question having come to her mind. "By the way, how were you able to break free and defeat it? Did it not trap you in its illusion as well?"
"No, it didn't manage to," Yu answered nonchalantly. "I was actually able to take it out because it targeted you."
"That at least helps me to feel a bit better."
"How do you mean?"
"It's just that it would've annoyed me that you were able to do so while I wasn't," she explained.
"I see you're still as competitive as ever," Yu chuckled. "Reminds me of the one time we played chess at the coffee shop. That may have been one of the few times you were actually mad at me."
The silver-haired beauty seemed to glare reflexively in the wake of his words.
"As I recall it, you forced a stalemate intentionally, of course I wouldn't be satisfied with something like that!" protested Sae vehemently. "And you never once accepted my request for a rematch either."
"Gee, I wonder why?"
She couldn't help but blush slightly, clearly embarrassed by her own competitive streak showing in full force. It wasn't something she could help though.
"Let's just get moving," Sae grumbled.
As the young lawyer made for the exit, Yu quickly held her back, placing a hand on her shoulder and stopping her hasty advance. She peered back, seeing him hold a lone finger up to his lips so as to request her silence.
He proceeded to guide her to the entrance, peering down the hallway and signaling her to do the same. She quickly realized why he'd opted to be so cautious given the number of fog-coated Shadows walking the path ahead.
"So those are the Shadows that cast the illusion then?" Sae mused.
"Yep," he replied.
Yu was looking at the demonic shades with meaningful intensity, drawing his companion's curiosity.
"Something wrong?" asked Avenger.
"You don't have to answer, but I admit I am curious as to what they showed you that drew you in so easily," Yu stated.
"My father," she quickly answered, actually surprising her teammate a great deal with her lack of hesitation. "It showed me a vision of my father were he still alive today. At least that's what I believed it was doing."
Her choice of words struck a chord with Yu almost immediately. The implication was, obviously, that Akashi Nijima was no longer of this world—a fact that he had previously been unaware of.
Knowing it was likely to be a sore subject, the Wild Card did everything he could from letting any emotion show, opting instead to keep a stone-cold visage. This seemed to work, as Avenger was already looking to the Shadows that roamed the hallway in front of them.
'I probably shouldn't ask,' Yu internally reasoned. 'This is neither the time nor the place.'
"How easy are they to take down?" Sae offhandedly inquired, breaking her fellow attorney out of his thoughts.
"Incredibly easy if you get the jump on 'em, and physical attacks seem to do the trick. Probably a tradeoff since—"
"Good."
With that said, the eldest of the Nijima sisters leapt into action. Her twinblade felled foe after foe as she sprinted down the hallway, never missing a beat and taking each and every Shadow by surprise. The ferocity of her attacks actually had a bead of sweat dripping from Yu's temple, himself almost feeling sorry for the creatures as she mercilessly mowed them down.
When all was said and done, Sae stood at the far end of the hall, slamming an end of her weapon into the ground with authority. She then turned to watch the Désir's decaying corpses with venom breathing through her eyes.
Just as soon as their remains were nothing but dust in the wind, she allowed herself a content, satisfied smirk.
"You were right, they were easy to take out," Sae commented, looking back to her teammate. "Though I can't deny taking immense satisfaction in cutting them down after what they subjected me to."
"I guess Avenger was the perfect codename after all," Yu quipped good-naturedly.
"Seems so. All the same, we should set about finding Joker and Oracle as soon as is possible."
"Agreed."
"Hmm…" Naoto muttered in thought.
"Whatcha thinkin'?" asked Kanji.
"I'm thinking we take the right at the end of this hall and then… yes, there should be a doorway on the left that filters into a large room," she replied.
The group of four followed her instructions to the letter, the detective's predictions coming to fruition as they quickly found the entrance to the large room she had referred to.
"I must say, that you've been able to guide us this far off of just a cursory glance is truly incredible," Fox stated, a clear impressed note to his tone.
"Well, that's Naoto for ya," Kanji said with a chuckle. "Even back in the day she was like a bazillion times smarter than everyone around. I can't even imagine what she's capable of now."
"S-Stop that," Naoto replied almost playfully, fighting back a pleasant smirk at the compliment. "It's no big deal, really. I just happen to have a good memory."
"This goes a bit beyond just having a good memory," Noir remarked.
A series of dark, hushed cries echoed from the corners of the room. The four adopted ready stances, scanning the area for any obvious sings of enemy movements.
"Speaking of memory, I'm gettin' a real strong feeling of déjà vu here," Kanji stated.
They began walking around the perimeter cautiously, never putting much of any distance between them as they did so. In spite of the raspy echoes, no Shadows made their presence known.
The quiet continued until Naoto abruptly found herself flung off the ground, at first believing it to be an enemy attack.
'What the hell?!' Naoto wondered.
Her eyes landed on several one-eyed Stars shooting into the air from right below where her feet previously been. She correctly assumed that she'd drawn the metaphorical short straw and happened to be the one to step on where a trio of Shadow had been hiding. Sadly, however, that realization did her little good in the moment as they were now about to launch an actual attack.
Before the Shadows could actually harm her, Kanji quite literally leapt into action and flew to Naoto's side, catching her in his arms and carting her a fair distance away. The rest, Haru opted to take care.
"Milady!" Noir exclaimed.
Her pink-dressed Persona appeared and let loose a hellfire of gatling gun shots directly into the Star's respective toros. They were shredded to pieces, leaving Fox to stare wide-eyed at the expedient and incredibly excessive use of force.
"…was that truly necessary?" Fox wondered aloud.
"Well, they're gone, right?" Noir answered.
The cuteness in her tone coupled with the contrast of what she'd just done only added to his bewilderment.
Off to the side, the black-haired young man stood tall and breathed a sigh of relief, thankful he'd been able to dive in fast enough. He looked to Naoto, smiling amply.
"You good?" Kanji asked.
"Yes, thank you," she answered warmly. "Although I would like to be put down now…"
His eyes went wide and his face tinged red when he realized he was still holding onto her.
"O-Oh, right… uh, sorry."
"It's perfectly fine."
"I trust you know which path we should take next, Naoto-san?" Fox inquired.
"None of them, actually. We're exactly where we need to be. On that note…" Naoto trailed off.
She led the young fashion designer to the center of the room, the two Phantom Thieves following closely behind if only to discover what it is that she intended to do.
"By my estimates, we should be near both our leaders' group and Chie's group. Now we need only get their attention," Naoto explained. "Kanji, would you bring out Take-Mikazuchi and fire off the strongest attack you can into the sky?"
"Sure thing! Oh, but ya may wanna stand back a bit…" he replied.
The other three members of the squad placed themselves a comfortable distance away, allowing Kanji to get to work. He called out his towering hulk of a Persona which subsequently lifted its gigantic metal lightning bolt high into the air, charging it with electricity all the while.
When the gathered energy reached a critical point, an enormous burst of electricity shot into the sky. It was more than likely that anyone nearby would have seen it do so, though sadly the same could be said for the non-humans the maze housed.
Seconds after the blast had dissipated, a legion of Shadows started to grow out of the floor and walls of the room. A large number of Stars coated the area within seconds, their singular demonic eyes staring soullessly at their prey-to-be.
The sheer number of them was dauting, and the pace of their arrival seemed to never slow. They coated nearly every inch of the room from floor to invisible-ceiling, eclipsing every exit in the process.
"I believe we'll need that excessive force again, Noir," Fox mused.
A moment later seemed to prove that statement false. Several explosions erupted on the sides of the room, taking down the Shadow's flanks in the process. From one side came Avenger, Oracle, and their two trump cards while from the other came the group's two mascots, Chie, Yosuke, and Skull.
The two groups carved their way towards Kanji and company, meeting at the near-center in the chaos that ensued from their arrival.
"Perfect timing," Naoto remarked.
"I'm only sorry we couldn't get here sooner," Yu replied.
"Good call sending that flare though," Joker added.
Several of the Stars lunged towards the Persona users, each a deep, hot red color. Chie was fast to intercept, calling forth Tomoe who then batted the incoming Shadows away with the side of her polearm. They proceeded to explode off a fair distance away, taking a number of their demonic comrades with them.
"Smash now, talk later," Chie stated simply.
The lone all-female squad present in the labyrinth found themselves in a deep consideration after clearing out the room in which they stood, now debating which of the numerous paths forward they should choose to take.
"So… thoughts on Eeny, meeny, miny, moe?" Panther offered.
"Should we really be relying on something so random?" Queen all but sighed.
"We wouldn't need to if my Persona worked fully in here," Rise huffed. "Ugh, this sucks! What use is a navigator if they can't even navigate?!"
"There's no need to be so hard on yourself," said Yukiko in a friendly tone of voice. "At least your other support abilities still work."
"True, it could certainly be worse" Queen added in agreement.
"Yeah, for instance, we could've run into those creepy mist-covered Shadows from earlier," Panther muttered. "I'm just thankful they went the opposite way."
Both the twin tailed girls shivered in unison at the recollection of the spectral entities. They knew not what they were nor why they decided not to chase them, though at this point they were thankful not to.
"I wonder why that was…" Queen muttered analytically.
"At this point I'm not so sure it matters," Yukiko replied. "Come on, we should get going."
The Amagi heiress once again acted as the groups trailblazer and chose their path singlehandedly. The chosen door led them into an eye-catching sight to be sure.
In the room at its center stood an object embedded in the floor itself. It was large and somewhat circular, though its actual appearance was clouded by a pitch-black mist that coated its body and hovered in the air around it.
"What the hell is that?" Rise couldn't help but ask.
"Whatever it is, I'll bet anything it's important," Queen stated. "Take a look around. There aren't any other entrances or exists. None of the other rooms have been like that so far."
"Then let's get a closer look," Yukiko reasoned.
They assumed an ambush was waiting for them the second they got too close for comfort. In spite of their expectations, no Shadows appeared to bar their way and thus they managed to make forward without issue.
Now getting a closer look at it, Makoto couldn't help but raise a curious brow. From a distance, she hadn't been able to make it out correctly, but the object was pulsing, and beneath its obsidian coating appeared to be veins of some kind.
"This thing almost looks like a heart," Queen stated.
"I think so too," Yukiko said in agreement. "Rise, can you take a look at it and see if you can discover anything?"
"Way ahead of you," replied the idol, Kanzeon already forming behind her.
It was obvious even as her face was hidden under her Persona's vizor that Rise could hardly believe was she was seeing. Every time the shadowy organ twitched, she could see a rush of energy flare up in all directions.
The Shadow heart wasn't truly a heart at all. It was simply the center and likely power source of the being in which they currently walked.
"What's up?" Panther asked.
"If what I'm seeing is right, then this thing is the maze," Rise answered.
"Beg your pardon?" uttered Queen.
"I don't quite believe it myself. This is the source of the walls, the Shadows—everything. There's arteries or something like them sinking into the ground from this heart, and it's flowing all over the place."
As astonishing as the discovery was, it did hold an undertone of convenience to it. That this heart was the maze meant only one thing.
"Then if we destroy this, we destroy the maze," Panther reasoned.
"I highly doubt it'll be that easy," Queen mused.
"Only one way to find out, right?" mused Yukiko. "All at once?"
The three fighters among them drew their Personas while their navigator lent her support as only she could. A storm of fire formed on the sides while the engine of Johanna revved and gathered an immense amount of white-hot concentrated heat.
Each of the three attacks launched in unison, hitting the black heart at all angles and surrounding it with a sea of fire and nuclear energy. So intense was the blow that Rise found herself needing to guard her allies from the fallout, encasing them in a light barrier courtesy of Kanzeon.
The blast was so bright and powerful that none could look directly at it for some time. Even in the aftermath, dust and ash clouded their target, leaving them in momentary suspense.
"Did we get it?" Panther asked.
"Well, you definitely hit it," Rise stated. "I'm still sensing it though. Stay sharp."
True to the redhead's word, the heart was indeed still intact. The black mist had dissipated somewhat, and a black sludge hemorrhaged around several of its corners, but it still nevertheless still standing.
"Hit it again, and fast!" Yukiko shouted.
The Shadow heart began to pulse all the more urgently, as if it sensed that its life was in imminent danger. Just as the trio were preparing to attack yet again, a large crystalline surface formed around it. A lighter but far quicker volley of fire and nuclear beams then smashed into it, though the barrier managed to brush off the blow entirely.
"It shielded itself from our attack?!" Panther exclaimed.
"That's probably the least of our concerns at the moment," said Queen. "I doubt a shield is its only defense mechanism. Even if the heart itself can't fight, I have a sinking feeling it's about to call on something that can."
A moment later would prove Makoto right. The rushed and panicked cries of Shadows started to echo from the doorway they'd entered from, a clear indication that they were about to have company.
"Should we try to blitz down the shield before we get overrun?" Yukiko asked.
"It's too strong, we'd need a big juiced-up attack to get through it," Rise stated pointedly. "From what I can tell, just one will do if they give it everything they've got."
"That makes things easier," Queen mused, breathing an inward sigh of relief. "Rise-san, that barrier you made before… would you be able to maintain it for a prolonged period of time?"
"Probably, yeah, but as to how much punishment it can take…"
"That shouldn't be an issue. Two of us can ward off Shadows and make sure our primary attacker can properly prepare," Queen replied.
As sound a strategy as it was, one question remained.
"So, who's going to be delivering the coup de grâce?" Yukiko asked.
"I'm much more of a crowd control expert," admitted Queen.
"Then between Panther and Yukiko… Hmm…" Rise whispered to herself.
She directed Kanzeon's vision towards her two mentioned teammates, clearly comparing them for the sake of choosing the best person for the task at hand.
"No doubt," said the redhead firmly. "Ann-chan—er, I mean Panther is the one for the job."
"M-Me?!" stammered the blonde in response.
"Why do you sound so shocked? You pack one heck of a punch," Yukiko said reassuringly. "Now get ready, we'll cover for you. Ready, Queen?"
"Always."
The heiress and the former student council president took their positions near the doorway in front of their two twin-tailed friends. Ann, still a bit at a loss on account of being chosen for the job, was momentarily confused as to what it was she was meant to do.
"Don't look so surprised," Rise whispered, clear amusement in her tone. "Yukiko definitely packs a punch, but so do you Ann-chan. My readings are never wrong, so have faith in yourself. Focus up, and when you're at your peak, blow that creepy thing away, okay?"
Those words of encouragement seemed to bring Panther back down to earth. Determination returned to her eyes, knowing that her surprise or lack thereof was irrelevant. She had a job to do, and everyone in the labyrinth was likely depending on her to do it.
"You're right. Don't worry, I've got this!"
"That's the spirit!"
Elsewhere in the Maze…
"Captain Kidd!"
A thunderous wave slammed into a number of surrounding Stars and Halberies, wiping out nearly all of the latter but doing virtually nothing to the former. The star-shaped Shadows lit up with electricity, their skin turning red as they charged headlong towards Skull.
With both his mace and his Persona, he managed to tear through a number of them, though still not all. Thankfully, there were many around him who were more than away enough to lend their support.
As the Stars readied to erupt around Skull's torso, a series of small kunai and boisterous gunfire pierced their torso's and ripped their bodies to pieces.
Before he could even look towards who'd swooped in to his aid, both Kanji and Yosuke made their way to his side, their weapons drawn and eyes still focused on the fight. Ryuji noticed this instinctively, realizing there'd be a time for 'thank you' after the fight was done.
"Yosuke, mind bunching 'em up?" Kanji asked.
"Way ahead of ya bro!" replied Yosuke. A tarot card appeared at his front, soon shattering as a result of coming into contact with his kunai. "Jiraya!"
A sea of wind soon caught a slew of Shadows at their front, killing some and damaging others, but in all cases uprooting them in a raging torrent of air. When the attack finally dissipated, however, the previously menacing mass of demons was little more than a hoard of sitting ducks.
Though Skull and Kanji themselves didn't have the reach to do the damage by their own hands, their Personas were bound by no such limitation. Take-Mizuchi and Captain Kidd took flight, peppering each of the helpless Shadows with physical attacks until they shattered and fell to the grounds below.
Throughout the area, similar results occurred be that with Yu and Sae, Naoto and Ren, or Chie and the mascots. Though their enemies vastly outnumbered them, it was clear that they still didn't stand a chance.
Abruptly, however, the fighting in the area came to a halt on account of a large explosion sounding off from a fair distance away. The winds whipped even where they currently stood, a testament to the raw force that had just been used.
'That must be the others,' mused Yu.
The Shadows started to rile themselves up in a panic. With the momentary distraction behind them, the Persona users quickly adopted a defensive posture, assuming of course that a charge was incoming. The exact opposite proved true as the legion of demonic creatures started a hasty retreat.
"They're runnin' away?" Skull uttered confusedly.
"More like running to something," Joker pointed out.
"Took the words right out of my mouth," Yu stated. "If I had to guess, the others just hit something important. That's the only thing that would explain why those Shadows fled the way they did."
"And there's no telling how many more of them there could be," muttered Joker with a scowl.
At the Maze's Heart…
A number of Shadows quickly bolted through the room's only doorway only to be turned to ash and cinder an instant later courtesy of Yukiko's red-coated Persona. Konohana Sakuya flexed its feathers in the aftermath, the tips of its wings still loosely coated in the embers.
The sadistic confidence in the black-haired woman's eyes as she watched the flames had even Queen feeling sorry for the twisted creatures that dared to attack them.
'I'm not so sure I buy that Ann is stronger than her…' thought Makoto, a bead of sweat dripping down her temple at the sight.
"Hopefully they're stupid enough to keep doing exactly that," Yukiko said with a smirk.
"I wouldn't count on it," stated Queen.
She revved Johanna's engine at the sight of a number of Shadows entering the room from above the walls on all sides. Stars and Halberie's came in droves, baring their twisted teeth and hellish eyes respectively.
Queen opted to make circles around the perimeter while Yukiko continued to cover the front wall, lining everything in a coat of bright blue energy that warded off most incoming creatures.
She waited for them to mass at one section in particular, after which she zoomed towards them at high speeds, popping a wheelie before bringing Johanna's front tire down and causing an eruption of nuclear power that engulfed dozens upon dozens of enemies.
"Queen, the left side!" Yukiko exclaimed.
The heiress had turned for only a moment but in doing so she left an opening for one of the Star's to make a move. A lone elongated shard of ice shot towards her, grazing her leg and leaving a shallow cut dripping with fresh blood.
"Khh…!" Yukiko winced, reflexively grasping the wound.
Her rage boiling, she turned to her attacker with a glare before sending a volley of fire towards it that erased its existence and then some.
Elsewhere, however, other problems were starting to arise. From the leftmost portion of the room, a number of Stars had made their way through to the navigator's barrier and were fast at work assaulting it without relent.
"Don't worry, just keep your focus! I can hold out just fine!" Rise exclaimed.
She'd yet to truly feel any strain, regardless of how many headbutts or ice attacks the Shadows launched at her shield. Desperate as they were, the demons opted to switch up their attack, going for one massive suicidal blow in an attempt to pierce her defenses.
The Stars began to glow a deep, heated red, their intent clear as day. Thankfully, Queen was speedy enough to arrive with precious few seconds to spare before the eruption. She dove off her Persona with incredible agility, pulling out her pistol and firing from the hip at each of the Shadows in rapid succession.
Bullets shredded the creatures to pieces, all the while Johanna continued to circle the immediate area on autopilot, effectively warding off any other approaching enemies even without her wielder in its driver seat.
Though the Shadows continued to come in droves, it was clear that if only just barely, the heiress and the former student council president could hold them off. Each of the creatures fought tooth and nail, but nevertheless the writing seemed to be on the wall.
'It looks like we're gonna be able to hold out!' Queen thought confidently. 'If we can just… Wait, what the…?'
A deep fog flooded into the area faster than the eye could even blink. The suffocating, thick aura eclipsed everything as far as the eye could see, consuming even the Shadows that littered the room. The first instinct of both Queen and Yukiko was that it was a distraction for the Shadows to launch a decisive attack. However, none came.
The Shadows could neither be seen nor heard. All that remained was the fog.
"Yukiko-san! Can you hear me?!" Queen shouted.
When no response was given, she readied to call out again, though the words were destined to never leave her mouth. She stumbled, her head spinning beyond anything she'd ever experienced before.
'What is this? I can't…!' Queen thought in frustration.
Even in spite of her best efforts, she found herself stumbling to the floor, unable to move. Elsewhere, Yukiko was little better, grunting annoyedly as she tried her level best to get control of herself yet again.
Each would struggle to no avail.
"What the hell is with this fog?" Rise wondered aloud.
"D-Do you think the others are okay?" Panther asked worriedly.
"Don't focus on that!" Rise chided. "Just focus on…"
The redhead trailed off, unable to so much as continue speaking on account of an onset of sudden vertigo. As the barrier fell, Ann turned to check on her friend in a panic, though the entirety of her form was eclipsed by the fog.
'What the hell?! She was right there just a second ago!' Panther thought.
She nearly found herself walking off into the fog in search of the redheaded popstar, though the final works Rise had uttered gave her pause. In spite of her worry, she still had a killing blow to deliver.
Ann steeled herself and faced forward, knowing even through the thick fog exactly where the maze's heart would still be. Her concentration now at its peak, she summoned Carmen to her side, the energy she had gathered raging around her body like a tempest all the while. However, just as she was about to launch the attack, she noticed a distinctly human silhouette a short distance away.
At first, she thought it could have been Makoto or Rise, though as the figure gradually became more and more defined, it was clear that it was neither of the two. The fog soon dissipated, revealing the individuals' deep brown eyes and jet-black hair styled in a ponytail.
It was someone Ann would recognize until her dying day even if she somehow never saw her again for the rest of her life.
"No way…" Panther whispered in disbelief.
"Ann, is that you?" Shiho asked.
The voice was a perfect mirror. It's soft-spoken and kind nature drove right into the pit of her soul.
'Wait, there's no way that can be Shiho. That'd—'
Panther's thoughts were interrupted by a throbbing pain emanating from her head. It pained her to even keep her eyes open, causing her to wince and nearly fall to the ground on account of its sudden and severe nature.
"What's wrong?!" Shiho cried out in worry. "Ann, what's happening? A-Are you okay? Here, let me help you."
The blonde managed to pry a lone eye open, though it did her little good. Her surroundings seemed to shift back and forth with ever blink of her eye—one second being the fog and another seeming to be her own room back in the real world. It was as if her grip on reality itself was slipping away.
Though she could hardly fathom exactly what was going on, her conscious mind still loosely understood what needed to be done. Thus, in a fit of desperation or a demonstration of her absolute conviction, she willed Carmen to fire the attack.
A/N Bit of a cliffhanger, I know, but this was a long one and it felt right to cut it there before the next chapter. Once again, next chapter will be next week at the usual time.
Explanations:
Avenger: I just felt like this codename suited Sae well, though there are broader character implications that will become more and more apparent in the future. Feel free to let me know what you think it should have been though xD
Codenames in General: I really don't want to give codenames to the IT if I'm being honest. For starters, I don't see much of a point to it for them because they look just like their real-world selves anyway. It works for Sae alone because she has the costume, so my view is if they get a costume, they get a codename. Everyone else would just be for the lol's at best, and I think its more cringe than funny so I won't be doing it.
The Désir: The name comes from the French word for 'desire', and it's pretty obvious why. They show you what they perceive to be a desire lingering within your heart in a very realistic way, but it isn't all powerful. As for why they didn't attack everyone, it's because they only existed in certain sections of the maze, much like how Yu, Joker, Sae, and Oracle didn't encounter any Halberies or Stars in their area.
The Illusion on Joker: Yes, how he got out was an afterthought, but that is intentional on my part. It will be explained to some extent in the near future.
Kanji, Ryuji, & Yosuke's Teamwork: I've been trying to put bits and pieces as to how they've improved their teamwork as cross-generation teammates, so look for more stuff like this to show up in the future.
Yukiko & Ann Magic Power Levels: I'll just start off by saying even compared to Naoto and Sae as we'll eventually see, these two are the highest firepower on the team when it comes to using magic (excluding Yu/Ren). I'm giving the edge to Ann at least for now because Yukiko is out of practice, but the two are more or less even at their peaks, at least as I see it.