The Stratacombs
It's been a day since the members of QUILL successfully retrieved the food replicators from the Sumeragi Groups' Pharma Lab.
The first thing to do was distribute the replicators to the people at Anthem Academy and set some ground rules on how to use them. These rules are mostly about to only use them sparingly each day so they have enough charge in them. Another is to only create food items that they couldn't get otherwise such as meat, fish, eggs, milk, bread, fruits, and anything else that can't last for very long.
The second was to get Nimrod up to speed on everything that's going on in the city.
"Wow! I mean... I always knew Sumeragi was so radical, but this?! This is reaching for the deepest depths here!" he exclaims stupefied at everything that's been explained to him.
"Must you always make ocean metaphors?" Zonda asks in exasperation.
"Yes."
The last thing is to inform Michiru and Ouka of Dr. Kamizono and Asimov's deaths.
Let's just say Acura's twin sister didn't take it very well as she's locked herself in her room and not allowing anyone to come see her.
Acura himself spends most if his time training with Lola waiting for Xiao and Nowa to look over all the data they took from the Pharma Lab.
An impromptu funeral was held in the backyard of the Kamizono mansion. Everyone living in the mansion except Michiru was there to pay their respects to two respectable fathers.
"There's no proof! Why should we believe that asshole Nova was telling the truth!" Gino angrily shouts to the others.
"As much as I want to believe he was lying, there's no reason why he shouldn't have done it. The fact that Sumeragi has already done something like cover the entire city with the Metaworld would indicate they've done enough research so they wouldn't need Dr. Kamizono anymore." Monica states sadly.
Guren was simply silent looking at the 'grave' they set up for his stepfather as once again he lost another parental figure.
"I didn't know him very well but I do know how much he meant to you G.V." Ouka says in a comforting tone.
'I know my own father cares about me, but not enough to allow me to use the Sakurazaki name.' she thought dejectedly
"Thanks Ouka, once again everything is happening so fast. It just doesn't feel real sometimes." he admits thinking back on all the experiences he and his friends went through.
"Since we have a food replicator I can cook up your favorite meal for dinner. Wouldn't that make you feel somewhat better?" she offers as that's the most she could do to support his friend.
'Oh no, I know all of Guren's favorite foods but I don't know how to cook! There's go to be a way for me to learn?!' Elise thought frustrated that she doesn't really have any talents in the fine art of cooking.
Perhaps she can ask the maid to teach her since it'll be awkward asking Ouka, her supposed rival.
"How's the data coming along Nowa?" Acura asks in a solemn tone looking at his father's grave.
'Once this is all over we'll have a proper funeral with proper memorials.' he thought before looking at the window where Michiru's room is.
"Most of the data are about the experiments done in the Pharma Lab, but since the place was destroyed they're pretty much useless." Nowa replies as professional as always.
"What about anything not from the Pharma Lab?" he continues questioning.
"We're still going through those. If Xiao and I finds something of importance we'll inform you all." she says as everyone leaves to do whatever for the rest of the day.
"I know this isn't a good time but... can I swim in your pool?" Nimrod sheepishly asks since swimming is one of his favorite things to do.
The next day
During the morning Elise asks Nowa if she can teach her how to cook.
"I'm always very busy Elise-san, even with Ouka-san helping me with cooking and cleaning and Xiao and Monica helping me comb through the data files." Nowa answers as she's making breakfast with Ouka.
"But I really want to learn how!" Elise tries to convince her.
"Why don't just ask Ouka-san?" the maid simply asks
"Um... well... it's just that..." Elise can't come up with a good excuse.
"Wants to help Michiru-san feel better." Zonda answers for her.
"Huh?" Elise wonders in confusion.
"Elise-san simply wants to learn from the best cook here so she can lift not only her spirit but everyone else's as well." Zonda adds
"Hmm... very well Elise-san, when I have the time I'll teach to how to cook properly. Why don't you join us as well Zonda-san?" Nowa agrees and offers the same thing to the blonde girl.
"I'd be delighted." Zonda accepts as she gets started but not before giving Elise a knowing wink.
'Why did she help me?' Elise wonders as to why her teammate would want to help her with this.
At the laboratory, while Xiao is going through the data they got from the Pharma Lab with the help of Monica since Nowa is currently doing household chores with the girls, Gunvolt, Acura with Lola, and even Gino are in the training field practicing their fighting skills just to take their minds off the depressing atmosphere.
"Dammit! Come on Persona! Activate!" Gino who's wield his blaster rifle shoots at all the faux soldier robots that were designed as practice targets.
"That's not how it works Gino." G.V. says to the guy holding up his hand thinking a tarot card will appear.
"But I have the potential to be a Persona-user so I should get a card if I believe hard enough!" Gino exclaims using all his energy on believing.
"I don't think it'll be that simple, if it was then anyone with potential can awaken their Persona easily." Gunvolt counters Gino's hypothesis.
"I know... it's just... I want to do more than just drive you guys around!" he says in frustration of wanting to contribute more to the team.
"Even though you don't have a driver's license?" G.V. rhetorically asks since you need to be at least eighteen to get one and Gino is only sixteen to seventeen years old.
"You know what I mean G.V., I want to fight side by side with you guys and I know Monica and Xiao feel the same way." Gino admits not liking that he's just support for them.
Gunvolt was silent after hearing that. Ironic because even though he's a Persona-user he feels powerless since he couldn't do anything to prevent his stepfather's death.
"Are you sure you want to test it out?" Lola in humanoid form asks warily.
"I do. When Stratos was defeated the last of his Septima was absorbed by my shield so I can use his The Fly ability." Acura explains to the A.I.
"But you'll end up just conjuring a swarm of ravenous flies and Stratos himself said he couldn't really control them." she reminds her now official boss.
"I know, but the battles will get much more difficult now that we know Sumeragi has their own group of Persona-users so I have to train in using all the Septima powers I have." he clarifies desiring to defeat the evil conglomerate more than ever.
"Okay, I'll be with you here to help just in case anything goes wrong." Lola affirms to her partner.
Acura walks up a few feet away from a training dummy that's actually duct taped with pieces of meat thanks to their own food replicator.
He holds his EX Gear shield differently as it changes shape, retracted on one side to reveal a flight groove and barrel. When Acura gathers Stratos' Septima the barrel glows yellow as yellow energy forms into the shape of bow limbs with strings attached making EX Gear look like a crossbow now. He aims at the meat covered dummy before...
"Million Eater!" Acura declares as a swarm of flies in a wide line formation heads towards the dummy.
When the flies came into contact, the meat on the dummy was consumed within seconds leaving the material made dummy unscathed.
With no other targets they can eat nearby, the swarm of flies eventually disappears as though they never existed.
"What a relief." Lola sighs glad that nothing went wrong.
"They definitely only damage anything organic so it won't be useful against robots and other forms of machinery. Wonder if the flies will work on Shadows?" Acura ponders since the creatures are manifestations of humanity's Id and may or may not be organic in nature.
At the same time Xiao and Monica are going through the Pharma Lab's files.
"Destroyed... destroyed... destroyed... sheesh! They really wasted a lot of money on all these experiments and research since Nova blew it all up!" Xiao sighs in exasperation as some of these inventions would have been pretty helpful to humanity and the entire world.
"It's no use dwelling on what could have been Xiao. It's best that we move on." Monica states going through every file in minute detail.
'Move on huh? I get the feeling your telling 'yourself' that more than me.' the kid thought feeling sorry the young woman who knew Asimov the longest.
After eating their own breakfast Ouka, Zonda, and Elise are delivering Michiru's meal to her room.
"Even though Michiru is severely depressed at least she'll eat and bathe when she feels like it." Ouka says as she carries the food on a tray.
"I would be like that too if one or both my parents passed away." Zonda comments as she and Elise are walking two meters behind Ouka.
"Um..." Elise whispers to get just her schoolmates attention.
"Yes?" Zonda asks but knows what Elise is going to ask her.
"Um, why did you help me convince Nowa-san to teach me how to cook?" the shy girl whispers making sure Ouka doesn't hear their conversation.
"What can I say? I'm a sucker for romance." Zonda coolly replies getting a shocked look from Elise.
"Huh?!"
"Don't give that look. It's blatantly obvious that you're in love with Guren." Zonda lays it out.
"Really?!" Elise getting flustered at easily being found out.
"I've watched plenty of love stories to tell when someone is head over heels with another so I decided to help you. You definitely need it." Zonda explains
"Oh, well... I guess you can help me since I have no idea what to do to get his attention." Elise accepts the help as she twiddles her hands for being uncertain of herself.
After that exchange the three girls reached Michiru's room.
"Michiru, it's me Ouka. We have your breakfast." Ouka knocks on the door waiting for the girl inside.
A few shuffles were heard until the door opens revealing a disheveled Michiru who by the looks of it just finished another crying session.
"Hey girls, thanks for the meal." Michiru slowly takes the tray from Ouka's hands.
Just as she's about to close the door...
"Wait Michiru, can we talk?!" Ouka pleads as she keeps the door from closing.
"What's there to talk about?" the white haired girls shoots back placing the food tray on the desk where she does her homework.
"We can talk about a lot of things. Like gossip, fashion, boys, soap operas, anything you want." Ouka does her best to lighten her spirit.
"Those are very interesting things to talk about, wish my other friends were also in the mood." Michiru reveals feeling sad.
"What do you mean?" Zonda asks curiously as what do Michiru's friends have to do with her depression.
"It's not just the fact that my dad died. That was the breaking point. There's also the fact that we almost got killed by monsters and that we're trapped in the city with no way out or help from the outside." she explains to the three girls.
"What does that have to do with your friends?" Ouka queries not seeing a connection.
"During the explanation to everyone, when they found out my dad was the head researcher of the Metaworld, they pretty much blame him for everything that's happening. That if it wasn't for him then Sumeragi would have been incapable of covering the entire city with it." she finishes as she sadly plays with her breakfast with a fork.
"So in other words, they're keeping their distance from you and not even on speaking terms short of simply breaking off their friendship with you." Zonda claims that's exactly what they're doing to Michiru.
"That's terrible." Elise frowns feeling sad.
"While I understand how stress inducing every is it doesn't excuse how they're treating you, their so called friend." Ouka being upset at those girls.
"And they obviously know that Dr. Kamizono tried to stop Sumeragi." Zonda adds also agitated.
"I know they'll get over it eventually but it still hurts." Michiru says while eating.
"Well if they won't even spend time with you Michiru, why don't we do it instead?" Zonda offers with a smile.
"Huh?" she's surprised to hear this.
"That's a wonderful idea! You let all of us live in your mansion after all! It's the least we can do!" Ouka agrees whole heartedly.
'That's right! She's the reason I'm living under the same roof as Guren!' Elise happily joins.
"Really?!" Michiru exclaims in excitement.
"Of course! We can even invite Monica, Lola, and Nowa-san and have some girl time!" Ouka answers happily.
"Let's get started right away!" she quickly eats the rest of her breakfast being careful not to choke.
During the evening at dinner, the guy's were surprised that Michiru actually came down.
"Michiru-" Acura starts but she interrupted him.
"I know what you're going to say Acura and I'm feeling better now. It still hurts since we never got to say goodbye to him but as long as we're living our lives happily with no regrets then I can get through this." she says with conviction.
"Sigh, very well. We'll continue living for him, it is what he would have wanted anyway." Acura accepts his sisters decision to move on as the two hug.
"If I could cry right now, I would." Lola is touched by this moment.
'I understand, Asimov is gone but everything he did will live on through me and the others.' G.V. thought while looking at his three oldest friends and family.
Two days later
Nimrod is relaxing in the pool as he floats on the water face up.
"Nothing beats a relaxing swim." he says to himself after an afternoon of helping the refugees at the academy.
'I'm just glad no one recognized me, I'm guessing it's because I haven't done anything in this country yet besides the Pharma Lab.' he thought since it was the first time he was actually going up against the Sumeragi Group.
"HEY EVERYONE! WE'VE FOUND SOMETHING!" Xiao voice booms from a loud speaker.
Hearing the announcement Nimrod quickly left the pool making sure not to slip as he dashes for the laboratory.
Before long, every resident of the mansion was now with Xiao and Nowa at the main computer.
"Nimrod! You could at least dried yourself with a towel before entering!" Lola reprimands seeing him still dripping with pool water.
"Sorry, I ran without thinking about it." he apologizes as Ouka gave him a towel.
"What did you guys find out?" Guren asks as Xiao wouldn't use the PA speaker otherwise.
"While most of the files from Pharma Lab is useless because the place was destroyed, we instead looked through anything that didn't involve any experiments that took place there." Nowa began explaining
"That narrowed the search as we came across something interesting." Xiao says as he pulls up a specific file one the computer.
"What's this?" Acura questions seeing that's just personal logs.
"It seems that whenever Stratos was not in a hunger induced craze he kept a private journal ever since he was assigned to watch over the Pharma Lab." Nowa reveals
"It's mostly boring stuff but in one of his logs he mentions something interesting." Xiao then highlight a specific one from the list.
"It's been months since Shiden put me in charge of watching over this Garden after he pulled all the scientists, researchers, and other personnel back to Babel Tower for something big. Other than sating my hunger with food from these replicators and the drug S.E.E.D. there's nothing to do but watch the robots take care of everything."
"Nova relocated every person working there to their headquarter?" Gino wondering why.
"Most likely they were preparing to activate the massive Metaworld Field Generator to cover the entire city soon." Monica speculates
"Well... being bored is much better than wallowing in a gutter somewhere begging for table scraps and change for my next fix. All those painful experiments to strengthen my Persona's Septima power was worth it when I received my Glaive. I don't really remember much about the place they took me. All I remember is being taken to the city's slums and towards an underground parking garage. The only other thing I could remember was the name of the laboratory..."
"The Stratacombs."
"The laboratory where he was experimented on to make his Persona more powerful." Zonda states with intrigue.
"Sounds scary." Elise mutters looking nervous.
"Then that's our next mission! Investigate a most obviously secret lab where the Sumeragi was experimenting on people who have the power of Persona!" G.V. declares to the team.
"But where exactly is the place? The old slums are a wide area and there's definitely more than one underground parking garage." Nimrod points out.
"Don't worry about that. Guren will handle that problem." Xiao confidently states.
"I will?" he asks in confusion.
"Yup, your Septima power can also detect electricity nearby you and how much of it is being used." the boy explains
"And a laboratory advanced enough to do such experiments would require extensive amounts of power." Nowa adds
"Considering that there should be no power at the old and abandoned slums we'll find it easily." Acura realizes what they're saying.
With a unanimous agreement all member of QUILL prepare for...
Mission: Underworld
First they had to drop off Ouka and Michiru at the academy again.
"Come on Michiru, lets help take care of the children." Ouka proposes to her new friend.
"Sure, it'll be fun!" she happily exclaims since the children love talking to them about the superheroes that rescued them.
During the evening
Neo Tokyo's slums were a reminder of old times. A time before absolutely everything became digital and before robots became a common thing.
"This place is pretty depressing." Lola states seeing everything in the area decrepit as though it'll all collapse at any moment.
"It's also a really good place for a secret laboratory to do human experimentation." Acura call out angry that such a thing still exists.
The crew spent some time checking every underground parking garage seeing if there's power still being generated while dealing with the occasional Shadow popping up.
"Wait! I sense something!" Gunvolt announces as the group is checking out the bottom floor of the ninth underground parking garage they're in.
"Are you sure G.V.?" Monica asks as she and Gino are waiting in their armored tank just outside the parking garage.
"I'm sure, I feel a strong electrical current coming somewhere here even though there shouldn't be." Gunvolt affirms as he feels the wall of the floor.
"You think there's a secret lever or button somewhere?" Zonda asks at how cliche that is.
"If the entrance is electrical then perhaps it can open up with electrical impulses. Try using your own electricity." Xiao recommends.
"Roger!" Gunvolt then pulls his Dart Leader gun out and fire his lightning rod darts at the wall where he feels there's and electrical current.
"Flash Field! Zio!" streams electricity hit the wall where the darts are attached.
Soon enough a red light flashes before it's replaced by a green light as the wall slides to the left revealing an elevator.
"Bingo!" Gino excitedly shouts.
"Alright, let's get going." Nimrod says as the five humans and humanoid A.I. steps in.
"Be careful everyone, the facility goes deep underground and I do not detect an Anti-Shadow Field Generator there so be wary of both the security system that Sumeragi placed and Shadows that may appear." Nowa advises caution to the team.
The silence as the elevator goes down at what seems like several stories is really awkward since everyone is feeling tense at the claustrophobic atmosphere. Well, except Elise who's happy at being pressed against G.V. who doesn't really notice.
When the elevator finally stopped and opened the doors, all the field team can see when they stepped out is utter darkness with the only lights being a red laser grid that would slice anybody coming into contact and a panel that's also glowing red.
"Ok, looks like you guys made it in without any issues." Gino comments at the successful infiltration.
"It's pitch black in here. Guess they left the lights off." Gunvolt comments making sure that no gets separated.
"Do any of you see any glowing panels?" Monica asks trying to help guide them.
"I think I see a one glowing red." Lola says seeing it on the wall to their right.
"Then light it up with electricity and you should see results." Xiao tells not liking the dark visuals.
Gunvolt does the honor as he marks the panel and shoots electricity at it causing its switch to activate which turns the red laser grid off while also turning on a red emergency light.
With the red light illuminating the area the team can finally see what's around them.
"I can see some weird apparatus. This definitely is a research facility." Acura comments though he sees the apparatus is broken.
As they walk through the now lit hall they see one of Sumeragi's many defenses that they usually use in many of their guarded facilities.
"A Roll Cannon, basic stationary defense turret." Gino identifies as the turret moves its cannon ready to shoot the intruders.
"Easy, Harp Boomerang!" Nimrod detaches his two-pronged blade from the staff before throwing it at the turret causing the machine to get cut in half before returning to him.
As the group moves forward they notice a pit leading to a lower level but is blocked by a green laser grid.
"You need to go deeper down into the facility. See if you can find anymore colored panels that correspond to each laser grid to shut them off." Xiao advises as they jump over the block off pit and continue through the floor.
Once again they encounter more of Sumeragi's toys, this one being able to fly.
"Flying Drones, annoying guys to be honest. Especially when there's an alarm going off." Gino mentions
"Slithering Whip!" Elise extends her snake arms at the Flying Drone grabbing it before slamming the thing onto the floor hard destroying it.
"Impressive Elise, you didn't hesitate at all." Zonda comments with a smile.
"They're just robots." Elise simply states as it seems she no longer fears machines anymore.
"But this place is really creepy!" she immediately hides behind G.V. who laughs awkwardly.
'There's not a soul in sight, only security mechs. Makes sense, there's no Anti-Shadow Field Generator here. However, it feels as though no one returned to Babel Tower to prepare the Metaworld dome.' Gunvolt thought as he agrees with Elise that there's something eerie about this place.
"This place is crawling with security mechs, wonder if they're actually keeping the Shadows at bay." Monica suspects as would the creatures even attack the robots.
As she's pondering that the team once again sees another pit leading down a level but this time blocked by a blue laser grid.
"Without any blueprints of the location it'd be easy to get lost. Make sure none of you ends up going around in circles." Nowa warns as they're going blind, even with emergency lights on.
The Persona-users continue running through the red lighted floor taking out even more Roll Cannons and Flying Drones while dealing with a Brush Saw, a spikey robot with a detached top that moves along the floor. They're more of a nuisance as one Zio Bullet is enough to take it down.
Eventually they reached the end of the hallway to a dead end but sees a blue panel on the wall.
"There's the blue panel, once we electrify it the blue laser grid will deactivate." Acura states before attacking it with his own Flash Field Zio move.
As a result the red emergency light has switch to blue.
When they return to where the blue laser grid was they also see a red laser grid now blocking the way they came from.
"Looks like you can only turn one colored laser grid off at a time." Xiao states as the place is like a puzzle maze.
Gunvolt looks down not seeing the bottom so he takes a piece of a drone and drops it down the pit.
Five seconds later they hear it land on the floor.
"A long drop but not as long as when you guy fell into the sewer. In our transformed states we'll be no worse for wear." Nimrod confidently says thinking they'll be fine.
"Um yeah, no thanks."
The plan was simple. Gunvolt and Acura will use Flash Field to slowly hover down while carrying Elise and Zonda respectively and Lola will carry Nimrod down much to her chagrin.
When they reached the bottom though they're once again surrounded by darkness.
"Suit of Hearts! Agi!" Zonda throws a flaming card across the dark hallway to at least see the floor for even just a moment.
Thanks to that they see a floating device up at the ceiling.
"It's some floating electrical mechanism. If I zap it... Things should brighten up in here quite a bit. Maybe Sumeragi uses these in their everyday operations." G.V. believes as it looks like a lightbulb with wings.
"As an emergency light it doesn't seem all that practical." Gino could help but comment.
"Just make sure you don't end up destroying the Spotlight." Monica adds
"Why didn't we bring a flashlight? Lola, can't you just teleport one here now?" Acura asks the blatant questions.
"Uh... I can't... because there's none in the mini-teleporters storage box." Lola embarrassingly answers.
"What?! Why not?!" Acura demands in frustration.
"I don't know, you're the one who did the storing. I just thought a flashlight was one of the many things you stored in the box." Lola defends herself.
With that exchange over Gunvolt hits the Spotlight with his electrified darts from his gun as the floating device activates creating a light shining down on the floor before it flies away.
"Let's follow it!" G.V. orders at the group does just that.
As they move further and further down, Gunvolt or Acura end up lighting more Spotlights in the area while also dealing with machine defenses they've dealt before.
It wasn't until they dropped down again that they saw another green laser grid.
"Same thing as before, find the same colored panel and zap it to turn off the laser grid." Nowa reminds
"It's dark again and I don't see any Spotlights nearby." Zonda notices nothing put blackness.
"You're stronger Flash Field should shed a bit of light, ya? You're so useful. Gunvolt: Keep one in every household." Gino jokes
"..." was everyone's reaction.
'Keep a Gunvolt? Heh heh.' Elise could help but find that part amusing.
"Everyone keep up with me so no one gets lost!" Gunvolt activates his Flash Field as he runs through the hall of the floor they're on.
They eventually see another Spotlight to light up and end up seeing more pits being blocked off by green lasers grids they have to jump over as well as more drones and cannons to deal with.
"I'm beginning to hate this place." Zonda mutters getting tired of the pitch blackness along with the color laser grids.
It wasn't long until they saw the green panel on the wall. G.V. zaps it turning on the green emergency light and most likely turn off the green laser grids.
As they were about to head back...
"Look out!" Nimrod shouts as they all jumped back before three somethings could attack them.
"What the hell?!" Acura yelled in surprise.
"WAAAHHH!" Elise screams in terror.
The enemies in question are creatures in the form of either human soldier or scientists, purple, walking on all fours, and are wearing the Reverse Hermit mask on their head.
The three once again lunges at our heroes until...
"P-bits shield!" Lola's orbs form a shield causing the purple things to crash into them.
"Torrent Shot!" Nimrod stabs one of them repeatedly.
"Swift Strike!" Zonda kicks another again and again.
"Shield Bash!" Acura decks one with his EX Gear before backflipping away.
With these monster forced away from the group allows Gunvolt to tag all three of them.
"Flash Field! Mazio!" streams of electricity damage them over time before they disintegrate.
After a moment of silence and a sigh of relief.
"Hey... were those... Zombies?" G.V. asks everyone in disbelief.
"Zombies?! C'mon man... This ain't no horror story!" Gino couldn't accept what he just saw.
"Making zombies in a lab... How very 'evil organization' of Sumeragi. You know, just like those retro games you love, Gino." Xiao tells everyone though he actually very afraid.
"Honestly you three." Monica shakes her head in exasperation.
"If you all looked closely you would have noticed that they were wearing one of the twelve masks that Shadows wear." Nowa observed
"So those things were Shadows too. Phew, that's a relief." Nimrod calms down as he saw Shadows for the first time when they drove to the slums.
"Yes, but something's not right. Even for Shadows, those things were not natural." Zonda couldn't help but feel unnerved.
"I just thought most people have a fear of zombies and that's why those Shadows looked like that." Acura tries to logically explain.
"That's a good theory, but I think it's something else." Xiao says as he accesses a file on Shadows.
"What do mean Xiao?" G.V. wonders as well as the rest of the squad.
"A file from Dr. Kamizono suggests that the Shadows you just encountered are in the category of Unique or Special variants." the young lad explains
"Variants?" Lola couldn't help but wonder.
"The human mind(and certain animals) is very complicated, especially the subconscious part of it. Shadows are born from the part of our minds that represent the Id, the part of our psyche that's animalistic and driven by desires. When faced with certain stimuli like trauma there's a chance that at least one new type of Shadow can manifest." Nowa begins teaching.
"So someone suffered through some sort of trauma and that's why these Zombie Shadows exist?" Gunvolt questions
"Correct, the only good news is that these Shadows will only appear in the Stratacombs since it's the location of where the trauma happened." the maid finishes
"The trauma in question must be at least one person who was experimented on here." Acura hypothesizes getting infuriated by Sumeragi again.
"Despite looking like a zombie himself it didn't seem like Stratos had any obsessions with death." Zonda thinks back at the glutton.
"Perhaps another Persona-user imprinted these Shadows when they were experimented on." Monica believes
"That's the only real possibility." Xiao agrees
While the squad discuss having to face these unique Shadow, G.V. couldn't help notice Elise shaking in fear.
"Elise, are you okay?" he asks the girl who's still looking to where the Zombie Shadows were defeated.
"G-Guren, I'm s-scared. I d-don't want to b-be here a-anymore." she hugs his arm looking for comfort since she's extremely frightened at what they just encountered.
Gunvolt returns the hug feeling very guilty for bringing this timid girl here. Though it's not like he could have predicted what they would find.
Zonda looking at this couldn't help but wonder.
'Is she truly frightened by those Shadows or is she just using it as an excuse to get closer to G.V.?' she thought because this isn't a really good time to do the later.
"I know that this dark place is really scary and it doesn't help that the first Shadows we encountered looks like zombies from a horror movie, but we need to move forward. Any information here will help us fight Sumeragi and their Persona-users so I need you to be brave. We'll all be with you no matter what. Can you be brave for me Elise?" Gunvolt asks as he looks into her eyes.
Elise looks back into into his gorgeous blue eyes and couldn't help but be mesmerized by him looking at her with such kindness and compassion.
'G.V., he's believes in me! He's counting on me! I can't disappoint him! I won't!'
"I'll be brave Gunvolt! With me by your side you won't have to worry about getting hurt! It doesn't matter who gets in my way anymore!" Elise declares getting pumped up seemingly no longer frightened by the Zombie Shadows.
"That's the spirit!" G.V. happily exclaims as the group turns back to where they came from.
With the green lasers gone they didn't have to worry about jumping over them with the danger of getting sliced into pieces.
What they did have to worry about are more Zombie Shadows appearing from the well... shadows to attack them.
"Agi Bullet!"
"Suite of Hearts! Agi!"
The Zombies burst into flames before turning to dust.
There's even Hanging Zombies dangling from the ceiling with what looks like thick-bloodlike strings spewing globules of purple acidic materials as they bounce.
Thankfully Lola's P-bits' shield is protecting the team from the acid shower.
"Viper Throw!" Elise throws two kunai cutting the red strings supporting the Zombie causing it to fall on the floor.
With no more globs of acid raining down it gave Gunvolt the chance to destroy it with his electricity.
With the green laser grid turned off the group can now proceed further into the facility.
Right into two Sentry Units wielding blaster cannons instead of chainsaws.
"Like these guys are any challenge to us!" Nimrod confidently shouts since they're no longer normal human beings.
Suddenly the Alarm System blares from the room's ceiling with flashing red lights causing the door they came from and the door they're headed to close shut.
"Aqua Trident!" one gets impaled with a big water spear before it could even attack.
The second one tries to shoot Acura but he manages to avoid it.
"Hydro Zapper!" Acura strums the water strings from his shield creating three water orbs that shoot streams of highly pressurized water powerful enough to tear the second Sentry Unit apart.
"Looks like security is getting friendly with you guys. You OK?" Gino asks jokingly
Two more cannon wielding Sentry Units came in from the floor when it opened up to transport them.
"Probably because of our not so stealthy entrance." Lola used the P-bits' concentrated lasers to cut one of the robots apart.
The other one fires right at Zonda.
"I believe it's time to try out a new skill I've been working on." she prepares to counter the piercing gun attack with...
"Tetrakarn!" she coats a reflective shield over herself as the shot is repelled right back at the robot destroying its own head.
Afterwards, Zonda sighs in exhaustion dropping to her knees.
"That used up a good deal of your Septima Zonda-san, you should use those types of skills more sparingly." Nowa advises as the young girl is helped up by Lola.
A third pair of Sentry units appear as the alarm continues sounding.
One aims its cannon at Elise ready to fire.
"Slithering Whip!" she wraps her snake arms around its cannon mounted arm and yanks it so now it's aiming at the other robot before firing.
BANG
The other robot also suffers a headshot before it blows up.
"Good work Elise!" Gunvolt compliments her now knowing that's what motivates her as he destroyed the sixth one with his Zio move.
With six Sentry Units destroyed the Alarm System finally stops as both doors open.
"Sigh, this place has more security than the Pharma Lab." Zonda feeling fatigued especially after using her new ability.
"It's not like there's a sewer system to bypass most of the security." Nimrod mentions
"Let's just hope there's a quicker way back outside when we accomplish what we came here to do." Acura states moving forward with Lola by her side.
As the others follow, G.V. notices that Elise is walking very closely next to him with a small smile on her face.
'Come to think of it, I never really made any friends last year. I was so busy studying and helping people with their problems that I never just hung out or spent time with any of my classmates. Though it was mostly girls asking me.' he thought before making a decision.
"Elise, when we get back I want to spend some time with you." he says very seriously.
"HUH?! Really?!" she exclaims blushing madly and very excited.
"Yeah, we've been so busy training and helping the refugees that we didn't have enough time to relax and have some downtime." he replies looking at her intensely.
"That's right!" Elise feel like there's butterflies fluttering in her stomach.
"I admit, I regret that I never gotten to know you better last year even though we practically saw each other everyday at school." he says regretfully.
"I regret not doing so too, I really wanted to be your friend but I was too scared to do so!" she admitted feeling more elated.
"Then it's settled then, I'll hang out with you and get to know you more and..." he says
"Yes?!" Elise getting her hopes up believing Gunvolt wants to ask out on a date with her.
"... also do the same with Acura, Michiru, Zonda, Nimrod, Nowa-san, and even Lola." G.V. finishes
"Huh?" Elise deflated flabbergasted not expecting that.
"The only friend I had outside of my family is Ouka and deep down neither if us wanted it to be just the two of us." Gunvolt thinks back on when they met.
'I don't want that either!' she thought at the idea of just those two together reprehensible.
"But before we can begin, let's finish our mission first." he says as he walks closer towards the others.
"Of course." is her only reply a little disappointed that he isn't treating her as special.
As the group walks through the hallway that's still lit with the green emergency light they couldn't help but notice double doors with the word 'cafeteria' above them.
"Should we even bother checking it out?" Zonda asks since there would definitely be no computers in that room.
"Leave no stone unturned." Nowa says using the metaphor.
So the team goes into the cafeteria at least glad that there are no security robots or Zombie Shadows.
"Ewww! What the hell is that smell!" Lola pinched her humanoid nose as to not smell something obviously disgusting.
The sentiment was shared by the rest of the field team.
"Gross! It's the food!" Nimrod points out the clearly rotten food trays either left on the tables or were accidentally dropped onto the floor.
"By the looks of how spoiled they are, it's definitely been at least over a month since anyone alive has been in the facility." Monica surmises
"So something really bad happened here and it was way before the dome covered the entire city." Acura believes as there's no other explanation.
"Since there's nothing of importance here, we should just leave and continue on." G.V. proposes which everyone readily agrees with.
When they go down another level, the group is once again in pitch blackness.
"This place really was abandoned." Gino comments
"You don't suppose those Zombie Shadows are actually the mental remains of every personnel that died here do you?" Nimrod wonders feeling very disturbed.
"If they are I can't say they didn't deserve it." Acura bitterly states
"At least some of them were just doing there job Acura-kun, please do not speak ill of the dead even though they were our enemy." Zonda admonishes
They see another Spotlight and activates it to light the way. As they travel along the corridor more Roll Cannons, Flying Drones, and even Sentry Units with chainsaws appears to block their path.
"Sumeragi definitely didn't want anybody discovering their little secrets if these things are still active." Xiao observes
"If we found this place sooner we could have revealed it to the Japanese government and they would have stopped Nova from unleashing the Metaworld upon the city." Monica mentions though it's obviously too late at this point.
As the team advances behind the Spotlight they halted when the light shines upon a bunch of spikes in a pit.
"Spikes again? I understand keeping intruders from advancing but how do they get around them?" Lola wonders as most normal people wouldn't be able to make such a jump.
Everyone is in agreement to call this particular hazard, Death Spikes.
After a few more enemies and spikes on both the floor and even the ceiling they eventually came across a blue panel near the blue laser grid blocking them off.
With a zap the blue emergency light came on as the laser grid turned off.
Eventually they came across a wide pit of Death Spikes and the only way across is the floating platform hovering over it.
"That is a plasma lift, just give it some voltage and it will take you across." Nowa advises
'This place is looking more like a video game level rather than an actual building.' G.V. couldn't help but note.
Lola simply floats towards the other side and signals that there aren't any enemies waiting to ambush them.
Thanks to Zonda knowing what Elise wants she, Acura, and Nimrod went first as the white haired boy activated his Flash Field making the plasma lift move towards the other side where Lola is.
After another zap the floating platform goes back to where the remaining two are waiting.
"Ready Elise?" Gunvolt steps on the lift and offers his hand to her.
"Um... Hai!"(Yes!) the snake nurse/nun takes his hand happily as she gets on making sure neither of them falls off before G.V. activates his Flash Field so they can rejoin the others.
As the team continues on both a Flying Drone and a Hanging Zombie appeared to attack them at the same time.
"The robot didn't attack the Shadow even though they were right next to each other!" Gino shouts in shock.
"Is it possible that the security recognizes them as the personnel who once worked here?" Nowa ponders
They eventually spot a pit blocked by a green laser grid but luckily the green panel was just a jump away and with a zap the blue lights switched to green and no more green lasers.
Jumping down lower and lower until they see both red and blue laser grids blocking their path.
It's a good thing that both the red and blue panels are nearby though to not close to each other.
"Looks like both panels need to be activated at the same time." Xiao suspects
"I'll go for the blue one while you'll go for the red." Gunvolt tell Acura who nods.
They both tag their respective panels before...
3
2
1
"Flash Field! Zio!" both streams of electricity hit the panels at the same time disabling both the red and blue laser grids while also turning the emergency lights into the color purple.
As they proceeded further SHEEP squad fought even more robots and Zombies while also using plasma lifts to avoid even more Death Spikes not just on the floor but also on the walls as well which was very difficult with having a party of five and a humanoid A.I..
"That was harrowing." Zonda states seeing Elise on all fours panting from the stress of having gone through that.
"She'll need a few more seconds to recover before we can move on." G.V. says as he comforts the girl which is definitely appreciated from her.
With that out of the way the team enters a another room with an Alarm System on the ceiling.
"Get ready everyone!" Gunvolt and the others prepare for the waves of robots that are about to come in.
The alarm blares out while flashing its red lights as the door they came from closes shut.
Four Flying Drones appear in attack mode instead of their more passive patrol setting as they fire upon the team.
Everyone manages to avoid the slow moving plasma balls the drones use to attack with before...
"P-bits laser!" Lola shoots all four of the drones simultaneously destroying them at the same time.
Then two chainsaw wielding Sentry Units dropped down from above.
"Vortex Rush!" whirlpools of water entraps them and lifts them up unable to attack.
"Suit of Diamonds! Mazio!" Zonda and a clone throw their electrified cards in the whirlpools causing the machines massive damage before being destroyed.
Lastly, three more chainsaw sentries and a drone show themselves.
"Flash Field! Zio!" Acura tags one sentry whittling away its health as it falls apart.
"Viper Rondo!" Elise jumps on top of the head of one of the two remaining sentries.
The other sentry seeing the target prepares to slice her to ribbons but just as it was about to swing its chainsaw down, Elise uses her snake arms to grab the drone and pulls herself up now hanging from it causing the sentry to slice its own ally by accident.
"Dragonsphere!" Gunvolt destroys the last sentry with his orb of electricity.
CRASH
Just like she did to an earlier Flying Drone, Elise destroys the one she was hanging on by slamming it onto the floor.
With all robots in the room no longer functioning the Alarm System turns off and the doors open.
"Kind of weird that we're free to move on after we've dealt with all the security." Nimrod points out thinking that it's counter-productive to stopping intruders.
"Let's not question it and move on." Zonda just brushes it off.
Going to the next hallway reveals...
Even More Death Spikes that they have to use a plasma lift to get across.
"I hate Sumeragi even more." Lola states even though she doesn't have to worry about falling into them.
It didn't help that on one of the two platforms over the pit of Death Spikes is a Roll Cannon and if you look far enough a Flying Drone at the other side.
"How does anyone get around this place?!" Zonda sighs in exasperation.
"I'll take care of them." Acura says in confidence.
"It'll be easy with Lola helping you." Nowa reminds the A.I. herself that she's floating.
Acura jumps on the plasma lift and activates his Flash Field to get it to move with Lola floating behind him.
For some reason the plasma lift would go under both platforms making anyone riding have to jump up onto them in order to not fall on the spikes.
He climbs on the first platform and faces the Roll Cannon that's on the second.
With him in range the cannon fires a powerful energy shot at him.
"P-bits barrier!" only for Lola to defend him from harm.
"Garu Bullet!" Acura fires a wind bullet blowing the cannon off the platform before falling into the pit of Death Spikes destroyed.
"Now for the drone." he whispers seeing the thing passively patrolling.
"Through the Looking Glass!" Acura uses Zonda's Septima to make a mirror clone that appears on the other side.
The mirror copy get the drone's attention as it starts shooting at the decoy.
With the drone facing the opposite of the real Acura, he has a clear shot at its thrusters.
"Bufu Bullet!" Acura accurately shoot the drone's thrusters freezing them and with no propulsion it fall onto the spikes.
With the obstacles dealt with the team manages to get across easily enough.
(For those who are tired of me typing out in detail of how the team traverses the actual stage in game I'll just use the cliff notes.)
(More colored panels to activate in order to turn off the colored laser grids, more having to deal with the darkness of the place, more Sumeragi robots they have to destroy, more Zombie Shadows they have to deal with, and references to a very popular zombie game franchise.)
After many trials and tribulations the field team seems to have reached the depths of the Stratacombs.
All that's left is to get passed what looks like a purple rectangular energy barrier comprised of hexagons with the Sumeragi symbol on it.
"That's a Hexapyle, also known as a Gate Monolith. Sumeragi uses it to lock away there most important and confidential assets to anyone who doesn't have clearance." Xiao explains what's essentially a vault door.
"No normal person can get passed these things without the proper deactivation code." Monica adds
"So how do we get passed it?" Gunvolt asks
"It's still powered by electricity just like everything else in there so overloading it will do the trick." Gino basically saying that attacking it with electric attacks will unlock it.
"Acura, Zonda, let's do it!" G.V. declares as the two nods in agreement.
"Flash Field! Zio!" both users declare
"Suit of Diamonds! Zio!" she and her clones exclaims
The electric attacks causes the Hexapyle to start cracking as the hexagons it's comprised of to start shattering.
"Keep at it guys!" Lola and Nimrod cheers them on.
"You can do it G.V.!" Elise encourages him specifically.
CRACK
The Gate Monolith shatters no longer blocking entry.
"Good job all of you, just passed that door is the main laboratory of the entire facility." Nowa congratulates them for getting so far.
The Persona team finally enters the laboratory and sees that it's a very large room filled with various computers, lab equipment, and medical tools. The room itself has three metal poles that have no obvious purpose. Lastly in the back is a very large piece of machinery that looks like a person is suppose to go inside for experimentation.
However, those are not what has grabbed their attention.
No, instead the only thing they're seeing is the fact that pretty much everything in the room minus the poles are completely destroyed and that there's dried blood all over the place.
This gets everyone on edge as they ready their weapons and are in a circle formation to cover each others backs as to not have any blind spots.
"Heeee! What happened here?!" Elise shivers in fear at all the destruction and left over gore.
"Monica's hypothesis was right, someone who was being experimented on here must have went on a rampage and killed everyone here." Xiao declares freaked out by what he's seeing.
"But this is obviously before the dome came down so how can they have transformed into their Persona form?" Gino wonders in confusion.
"Maybe it has something to do with that." Zonda points up at the middle of the ceiling where a large destroyed device is.
"That's a Metaworld Field Generator, though a much smaller one compared to the one on top of Babel Tower." Nowa informs
After a few minutes of wandering the room, the team realizes that there are no enemies in the area so they finally relax.
"Look around. See if there's any terminal or computer that's still working." Gunvolt orders as the group splits up.
Well except Elise who's still sticking by him and still very nervous.
"What a horrible place." she whispers looking around the devastation that most likely happened months ago.
"I know what you mean Elise, even if the people volunteered to be experimented on it doesn't make it right." G.V. agrees with her.
A few minutes of looking around the team sees nothing that can be salvaged until...
"I found something!" Acura shouts getting everyone's attention.
They all gather towards him to see that he and Lola are in front of a computer that's still functioning, but barely.
"What have you found?" Monica curiously asks
"It's information on the Persona-users who were experimented on here but most of it is either corrupted, degraded, or flat out gone." he replies as he downloads as much as he can to the main computer back at base.
"Is there anything that's relevant in any capacity?" Xiao asks hoping to get something useful.
"What I'm able to gather is the data about the people who were experimented on." Acura answers as he accesses the files.
"And who are they?" G.V. questions
The first file details a familiar face they've come to despise, which is the leader of the Sumeragi Group's Japanese branch...
Shiden Tsukuyomi
"Shouldn't be surprised, he is a Persona-user after all." Nimrod states
"But for he himself to undergo such obviously painful experiments, he must really believe in Sumeragi's cause." Zonda says kind of impressed at the guy's dedication.
"It says here that he was the first to be experimented on and the first success since he was able to obtain his Glaive which is proof that his Persona's Septima power has been greatly enhanced." Acura noted
"And it seems he used his Psychokinesis to find other naturally born Persona-users who would be on board with their plans on using the Metaworld, seven to be exact." Xiao observes
"His seven best employees, huh?" Gunvolt remembers what Nova said to them.
"It says that they are called the Sumeragi Seven Swordsman(Samurai in Japan) because they each have a Glaive of there own or what Nova jokingly calls them...
The Seven Deadly Sins
...because their powers and personalities are based on one of the sins of man."
"With Stratos it was pretty obvious he represented Gluttony with his constant need to eat and his power to conjure ravenous flies that devour anything organic." Lola says still creeped out by the guy.
"What about the other members?" Zonda asks curious about them.
"Unfortunately, that's it." Acura sighs in exasperation.
"Wait, really?!" Gino exclaims in surprise.
"Like I said before, most of the data is corrupted, degraded, and most likely removed." he reminds him.
"So the only thing we've learned after coming all this way is that Nova recruited seven people who would become powerful Persona-users." Nimrod says in disappointment.
"It's not much but at least it's something." Nowa saying that it wasn't a complete waste of time and effort.
"She's right, besides Nova himself we still have six Persona-users to deal with if we have any chance of defeating Sumeragi." G.V. states as the enemy Persona-users are the only things keeping QUILL from just storming Babel Tower and destroying the massive Metaworld Field Generator since Sumeragi's robots aren't really much of a threat to them.
While most of the team are talking about the data they've found, Elise couldn't help but feel that they are no longer alone in the laboratory.
'I hate being here! But I want to be useful to G.V.! Keep calm Elise! Be brave! For him!' Elise thought until she thinks she saw something move in the darkness.
"WAAAHHH! I saw something!" Elise screams getting everyone's attention.
"What is it Elise?!" Gunvolt questions but the answer has already revealed themselves.
What looks like three large black snakes with the gender signs for both male and female worn around their necks and on their heads are a red mask with the Roman numeral for the number six on the forehead slither down from the ceiling and are coiled around the three poles each.
Lustful Snake: Wearing the Reverse Lovers mask, snake Shadows that specialize in inflicting the Charm status ailment.
"Those Lustful Snakes aren't very strong but they make up for it by inflicting a certain mental status ailment at their victims." Xiao reports from the Shadow Compendium.
"Like Xiao said, mental ailments affect your thought processes while being poisoned affect you physically." Monica points out the difference.
"They are weak to ice attacks and drain(heal) from wind attacks." Nowa lists their stats
"At least it's not more Zombies." Gino couldn't help but think of super zombies with artillery.
"Then that means Acura and Zonda are the best people to fight them!" G.V. looks at the two who nod in agreement.
"Heee! Snakes!" Elise scream in fright causing the others raise an eyebrow at her.
"Hydro Zapper!" Nimrod summons three orbs of water with his harp before they shoot beams of water at the Snakes.
Unfortunately all three Snake twists their bodies in a way so that the water beams would miss them.
"Nimble suckers aren't they!" he mentions with frustration.
The Snakes lunge at the party in order to bite one of them which is considered a pierce attack.
Elise and Zonda manages to evade while Lola shields herself and Acura, but Gunvolt and Nimrod take a hit.
"Ow! Bastards!" Gunvolt curses rubbing his arm and Nimrod his leg.
"G.V.! Media!" Elise heals the two which is appreciated.
"Time to skin these future belts! Bufu Bullet!" Acura shoots an ice bullet at one of them causing the thing to fall on the floor.
"I'm with you! Suit of Spades! Mabufu!" Zonda throws ice cards hitting one to also cause it to fall down and the one already down to take even more damage but the third one was able to dodge in time.
The remaining Snake seeing its allies in bad condition...
Media
Heals both downed Shadows as they recover and coil back up to their metal poles.
"Damn! They can heal each other! Only we should have that advantage!" Lola yells in anger.
"Who knew snakes can be good nurses?" Gino wonders in amazement.
"It's just a coincidence." Elise mutters in embarrassment.
"Flash Field! Mazio!" Gunvolt tags and shocks all three Snakes simultaneously.
Since they've already been tagged the Snakes' efforts to dodge are wasted, as such they decided to use their signature move.
Marin Karin(Single target: has a chance to inflict Charm)
The Snakes start shooting a pink arrow with a heart shaped tip each from their mouths towards the target of their choosing.
"Watch out!" Lola takes the hit that was going to Acura.
Nimrod gets hit as well.
Thirdly Zonda despite her jumping high in the air.
Gunvolt watched in confusion as the arrows didn't seem to actually hurt them.
"Acura-kun!" Lola exclaims with much affection in her voice and if one looks closely they can see a pink heart in each of her pupils.
"GAAAHHH! Lola what are you doing?!" Acura is visibly freaking out for the first time G.V. has ever known him.(Acura yelling "What the hell was that?!" doesn't count.)
And for good reason to as Lola is nuzzling against his cheek with her own and that's something he has never experienced before.
'Master Acura will never hear the end of this when Mistress Michiru finds out.' Nowa thought as she presses the record button.
"What is she doing?!" Gunvolt asks in bewilderment.
"That's the mental status ailment I told you guys about. More specifically, they've been Charmed" Xiao elaborates
"Charmed?" Gino asks
"Basically they've been bewitched though it's odd. They're suppose to end up fighting for and support the ones who inflicted the ailment in the first place... and not that." Xiao referring to what Nimrod is doing.
"My beloved Mother Ocean! Let me commemorate my love for you with this water sculpture!" Nimrod who also has hearts in his pupils has made a mermaid shaped sculpture using his Ichor Septima.
"I don't even know what to say about that." Monica says wanting to forget she ever saw that.
"Wait, if they're acting like that then that mean Zonda... Guh!" G.V. doesn't get to finish as the girl glomps on him from behind.
"Gunvolt, I never knew how muscular you actually are. You should show off your abs more often." Zonda says in a sultry tone with hearts in her pupils.
"Zonda! Get a hold of yourself!" Gunvolt panics as the rabbit girl starts feeling him up.
"But G.V., your big, strong, and manly. How can I not do this?" her hands get lower and lower until...
"Slithering Whip!" Elise's snake arm wraps around Zonda's waist before pulling her off of Gunvolt.
"HAAA!" then Elise throws the girl away and she crashes onto the broken computer terminals.
"Elise, you didn't have to throw her." G.V. says perplexed at what she did.
"Um... it was so she wouldn't immediately harass you again." she quickly makes up.
"Acura-kun, let me teach you human interactions between a male and female!" Lola tries to smooch him on the lips.
"Knock it off Lola!" Acura pushes her face away so she wouldn't.
While trying to get his assistant under control he notices the Snakes preparing what looks like exorcism talismans to send them towards the inflicted targets.
Hama
Acura grabs a hold of Lola much to her delight as he jumps out the way with her before the talismans surround where they were as a symbol made of light engulfs everything within with a pillar of light.
"That was a Hama attack guys! For people it's an instant knock out and for Shadows it's an instant kill! Whatever you do, don't get hit by them!" Xiao warns as the other two Hama moves head towards Nimrod and Zonda.
"Nimrod!" Gunvolt tackles Nimrod as they both avoid the talismans.
Zonda was too far away for Elise to reach her even with her extendable arms as the smaller girl get surrounded by the talismans.
"NO!" everyone in their right mind except Nowa screams in terror, her eyes still widened though.
The light engulfs Zonda as everyone waits for her to scream in pain.
"Huh?" but nothing happens as the girl is totally fine.
"Oh that's right, Zonda resists Hama and Mudo skills which reduces the chance of them actually succeeding and the move already has a low chance to be successful by default." Xiao explains as everyone sighs in relief.
"Luck was merely on our side this moment." Nowa says stoically but deep down she's happy.
'I was really worried there for a second.' G.V. smiles even though Zonda would only have been knocked out.
"Gunvolt!" Zonda affectionately runs towards him again much to Elise's chagrin.
"Elise, can you dispel the ailment?" G.V. questions as he keeps Zonda from hugging him again.
"I can try." Elise focuses her Septima not to heal wounds but to heal the mind.
"Charmdi!"(Single target: Dispels Charm) a green flash hits Zonda as the hearts in her pupils vanish and she regains her senses.
"What happened?" Zonda holds her head in confusion feeling pain on her body as though someone threw her at a bunch of junk.
"It's those Snakes' doing, we have to be careful to not get hit with those arrows." Gunvolt explains keeping what she tried to do to him out of his mind.
"Charmdi!" Elise uses her skill on both Lola and Nimrod breaking the spell they were under.
"Huh? What's going on?" Lola asks also confused.
"Nothing! Nothing happened!" Acura insists to her.
"Why do want to be an artist all of a sudden?" Nimrod asks but no one wants to answer that.
"These bastards are tricky guys! You should finish them off as quickly as possible!" Gino exclaims
"Right! We need to distract them so that they won't avoid Acura and Zonda's ice attacks!" Gunvolt and the others try to think up a plan.
"I got it! Those Snakes don't seem to want remove themselves from those poles even when dodging our attacks! Let's take advantage of that!" Acura proposes
"Good idea! Nimrod, let's do a little team attack!" G.V. says to him who smirks in excitement.
"Vortex Rush!" Nimrod summons three whirlpools that engulf the three metal poles the Snakes are coiled around and like Acura said aren't letting go of them.
"Flash Field! Mazio!" with the mixture of water and electricity the Snakes takes considerable damage that's more than they can heal at a time.
With the Snakes distracted it gives Acura and Zonda the chance to attack them.
"Mabufu Bullets!" he fires at all three of them.
"Suit of Spades! Mabufu!" Zonda does the same.
All three of the Snakes get hit as they get knocked down.
"Now's your chance everyone!" Monica announces
"Alright everybody! All-out Attack!" Gunvolt commands
The Persona-users and Lola charge towards their fallen foes as a dust cloud builds up obscuring what exactly each member is doing.
When the assault was over two of the Snakes ended up destroyed with the final one on its last 'leg' so to speak.
"Torrent Shot!" Nimrod goes to finish it off with his trident.
In a last ditch effort the Lustful Snake shoots one more Marin Karin arrow at the merman.
Thankfully Nimrod avoided the attack before he stabs the Shadow repeatedly until it finally disintegrates into nothingness.
"It's finally over." Zonda relaxes glad they survived the ambush.
"It's been a long evening everyone. Let's return home to that we might restore at least some of the data that's been corrupted." Monica advises to the weary field team.
"Roger that, let's see if there's an emergency exit or something." G.V. states before...
"GUREN!" Elise suddenly coils around him with her snake tail in her lamia form.
"Guh! Elise?!" Gunvolt gasps from within the constrictive hug.
"GUREN! MY LOVE! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!" Elise all but shouts for everyone to hear.
While struggling he looks at Elise who's looking at him with so much love and affection that it's actually suffocating and sees hearts in both her eyes.
"Oh no! She got hit with that last arrow!" Lola exclaims with worry.
"Elise, uck, can you... please let go." he manages to say while being squeezed.
"NO G.V. I WON'T! NOT UNTIL I..." Elise opens her mouth to reveal her tongue that's longer than a normal human one which is most likely due to her snake themed Persona.
"WAIT! WAIT! WAIT!" Gunvolt yells out in panic.
'It's not like I don't find her ugly or repulsive or anything, she's actually quite pretty, but this isn't how I pictured my first kiss would be!' he thought as Elise starts licking his right cheek before slowly going for his mouth.
"Elise, this isn't the time!" Zonda shouts as she, Acura, Lola, and Nimrod try to pull and release G.V. from her grasp.
"NO! LET ME KISS MY BELOVED!" Elise screams as she fights back.
"I'm freaking out dude!" Gino yells in panic.
"Why? It's not like it's happening to you." Xiao sweat drops.
"She seems more extreme than Zonda and Lola were when under the effect." Monica points out
"With the healer under the effect herself, it looks like you have to wait until the duration is over." Nowa explains to them.
"How long do these things last?!" G.V. asks trying to stay away from Elise face and tongue.
"It varies from person to person." the maid simply answers
"CRAP!"
After another minute of sexual harassment later...
"Huh?!" Elise finally snaps out it and is in a state of confusion.
"Elise-san, you're back to normal!" Nimrod is the first to notice.
"I'm back to normal?" still confused until she notices the position she's in.
Her snake tail coiled around G.V. and their faces mere inches from each other.
"EEEKKK!" she quickly uncoils herself much to Gunvolt's relief as her legs return.
"Thank goodness that's over." Zonda says glad that it's over.
"Gomen'nasai! Gomen'nasai! Gomen'nasai!" Elise keeps apologizing to G.V. while crying feel greatly ashamed of herself.
As awkward as it was, Gunvolt knows he has to comfort her.
"It's alright Elise, you weren't in your right mind." he says with a forgiving tone.
"But... but... but..." Elise tries to talk as she sobs.
"There, there, it's going to be alright." G.V. says as he soothes the distraught girl with a more gentle hug compared to what she did.
"I've have enough of this place. Nowa, is there any faster way? I don't think any of us would want to backtrack the way we came." Acura asks with a yawn.
"Good news Master Acura, while you were all busy keeping Elise-san's tongue to herself I was scanning the room for anything peculiar and I found that there's an express elevator back to the surface that's hidden. Guren-san should be able to find it with his Septima power." Nowa informs them.
"Roger." Gunvolt separates from Elise before he goes to where Nowa tells him where the secret elevator his.
By feeling the electrically currents from within the walls he finds the elevator and activates it with a Zio move.
"Let's finally get out of here." Zonda states as they all enter.
And with that, SHEEP squad's field team leaves the Stratacombs for good. Hopefully no one should ever return to such a horrific place.
They arrived topside as the elevator entrance was disguised as a payphone of all things.
It was only a mile away from the elevator they used to enter the facility as not long after the SHEEP mobile arrives to pick them up.
The drive back to the mansion is awkwardly silent as Acura avoids talking to Lola whenever she asks him something.
But that's nothing compared to the uncomfortable atmosphere that's between G.V. and Elise as the later is looking that the former with such... well a lot of things.
'I can't believe I did such a thing to Guren! Even though he said it wasn't my fault, it seems like he's afraid of me now! Oooooh! What should I do?!' Elise thought has she's having a mental breakdown.
No Shadows attacked them on their way back that perhaps even they don't want nothing to do with all the drama.
After Dinner
All the girls including Nowa and Lola were having an impromptu sleepover in Michiru's room as they tell her and Ouka everything that happened on their mission.
"Zombies!" Ouka and Michiru shiver in fright and hug each other for comfort after hearing that they encountered Shadows that looks and acts like the fictional monsters.
"They were easy enough to deal with so no worries." Zonda says to calm them down.
"But still, zombies, who knows what other terrible things can spawn from the human psyche!" Ouka worries as the Metaworld is becoming more and more dangerous as long as it remains.
"It really does seem like Sumeragi has really made a deal with the Devil in order for people to have super powers." Zonda comments as the powers themselves are great but having to deal with Shadows on a daily basis is a hard sell for most people.
"I want super powers of my own but I would never want to go through any horrible experiments just to have them." Michiru states disturbed at the thought.
"They must be stopped as soon as possible before there can be a large number of casualties." Monica states angry at the organization.
"Let's stop talking about big bad Sumeragi and talk about some more juicy topics." Ouka says with an interested expression.
"Yeah, like Lola totally hitting on my brother!" Michiru excitedly bellows out.
"Oh come on! I was totally under a mind altering ability!" Lola in her combat pod form tries to justify.
"Yes but you you chose to put the moves on Master Acura and not either Guren-san or Nimrod-san." Nowa states with a smile.
"He was just the closest guy when I got hit by that Marin Karin move!" Lola cries out knowing Michiru will never let her or Acura forget about it anytime soon.
"Then there's Zonda, is there anything you would like to share?" the white haired teen asks her suppose to be schoolmate.
"Sigh, I do admit that I find Guren attractive but I don't think he'll be interested in me." Zonda replies making it clear to a certain someone that she won't get in the way.
"Don't say that! How do you know if you never try at least once!" Michiru tries to encourage.
"Uh... Monica-san, you've known G.V. the longest out of everyone hear. Do you know if he has a specific type?" the blonde asks the oldest(Not counting Nowa) young woman in the room.
Monica who understands what Zonda is asking as she briefly looks at Elise decides to answer the question.
"Well for one, he definitely likes females only, just to be clear." she declares causing Elise to sigh in relief.
"As for his type, Guren has always been a pretty straight forward guy, he likes any pretty girl who's kind and compassionate to others without asking anything in return." Monica explains
"That's still a broad category, what about the type of figure he likes in a girl?" Lola questions
"Like I said, he's pretty straight forward, so like most boys his age Guren likes girls that are curvy and bouncy." the QUILL operator reveals
"Like yourself?" Zonda comments as Monica has also described herself.
"I guess I unintentionally had a hand in his preferences when he grew up." she sheepishly states.
Both Zonda and Michiru look at themselves and sigh in disappointment at their not as developed figures even though they're in high school.
Lola is also bummed out wondering why her humanoid body is what it is. Not curvy or bouncy.
Elise though looks at herself and is glad that she's at least a C-cub.
'It's a good thing that I'm in good health and that I'm still growing.' she's happy with the fact that though she's no supermodel she can at least say she's developed in all the right places.
Though when she looks at Ouka she suddenly remembers how beautiful the other girl actually is.
"Wait! We can't forget how Elise acted when she was Charmed!" Michiru remembers as what Nimrod did is never mentioned at all.
"Oh no!" the timid girl buries her face in her pillow in utter embarrassment.
"Her actions seemed extremely excessive compared to Lola and Zonda-san. Perhaps it was because of your Persona's nature or maybe something was there long before it awakened." Nowa surmises with a knowing smile.
"Heeee!" Elise screams into her pillow as everyone else in the room knows how blatantly obvious that she's in love with Guren.
"There, there Elise. There's nothing to be ashamed of." Monica comforts her just like G.V. did.
"B-but I m-molested Guren and n-now he h-hates me!" Elise cries as her tears start staining her pillow.
"He doesn't hate you Elise. He knows that you didn't really mean to do what you did." Zonda chimes in.
"But what should I do now?! I don't think he'll just forget what I did!" she moans in sadness.
"Don't worry Elise, we'll help you hook up with Guren!" Michiru declares with determination.
"Really?!" the silver haired girl is surprised at what she heard.
"If Mistress Michiru said it then I'm obligated to help." Nowa states in agreement.
"I've already agreed to help you and I'll stand by it." Zonda mentions what she said a few day ago.
"I still don't know much about romance but maybe I'll learn by helping you. So I'm in!" Lola announces her intention.
"Normally I wouldn't get involved in Guren's love life but with how ignorant he his on girls I have to make sure he treats you right." Monica decides to aid the love struck girl as well.
"I've never been a matchmaker before. Perhaps this will be a fun experience." Ouka smiles happily at being part of this.
"What?!" Elise is surprised at what the green haired girl just said.
"Is there something wrong?" Ouka asks confused by her response.
"Um... nothing!" she quickly replies.
'So she doesn't love him romantically?' Elise thought with a bit of relief.
"While you were in the Stratacombs, I overheard that G.V. wants to spend time with you Elise." Monica reveals since the operators pretty much hear everything the field team says.
"He also wants to spend time with his other new friends as well." Elise reminds her.
"True, we'll spend time with him and the others as well but for you we'll be your wingwomen and put in a good word for you when we can." Michiru winks and gives a thumbs up.
"Uh, okay. If you are all insist. I'll do my best so that Guren would want to date me." she says feeling a little more confident.
"Excellent, then we can start with coming up with a few scenarios you can use to charm G.V. yourself." Zonda states as the girls begin their planning on...
Operation Ai(Love in Japanese)
With the girls all together and Gino, Xiao, and Nimrod already turned in for the night, we find Guren wandering the halls of the second floor of the mansion in deep thought.
'With all the security robots, Zombie Shadows, and enemy Persona-users we've uncovered, it's Elise trying to French kiss me with her elongated tongue is what's occupying most of my thoughts.' G.V. sighs not knowing how to deal with it.
Perhaps getting to know Elise better would make his feelings on the girl make more sense.
His musing were cut short when he sees Acura staring up into the stars on the mansion's balcony so he decides to see what's up.
"Acura, you're still up?" Guren asks getting his attention.
"I could say the same for you." he shoots back.
"Just a lot on my mind is all." G.V. admits
"Sumeragi or girls?" Acura want clarification.
"Sumeragi of course!" he really didn't want to talk about that and he's guessing Acura doesn't as well.
"Yeah, human experimentation is not something that should ever exist even with the best of intentions." Acura states his opinion on the matter.
"I hear you, that's one of the reason why I want to take them down!" Guren says with a serious look.
"Indeed, and the main reason for me is to avenge my father. He deserved better!" Acura exclaims in anger.
"So did my stepfather. I now understand why he fought them for so long." G.V. agrees as the two of them bond while now looking at Babel Tower out in the distance.
After a grueling mission in the depths of Sumeragi's Underworld we found out how many Persona-users Nova has left. With how powerful Stratos was, it's going to be a uphill battle along with saving as many people as we can. Also, how am I suppose to deal with all these confusing emotions that I have for Elise?
End of chapter
Important characters
The Fool 0(Upright): Acura Kamizono
The Empress III(Upright): Lola, Monica, Nowa, Ouka, (Gino and Xiao technically count)
The Lovers VI(Upright): Zonda
The Hermit IX(Upright): Elise
The Strength XI(Upright): Guren Val
The Temperance XIV(Reversed): Stratos(Deceased)
The Devil XV(Reversed): Shiden Tsukuyomi
The Star XVII(Upright): Michiru Kamizono
The Moon XVIII(Upright): Nimrod
A/N: I always disliked the fact that Elise was just another boss to kill and an in story reason why Gunvolt fights the stage bosses again in the final level. In my opinion she was the most interesting character in the first game but it's Zonda who ended up in the sequel.
