The Prideful Silhouette
A week has passed since the mission to investigate the Stratacombs. Afterwards, nothing important really happened. There were a couple of times when people would be released from stasis to be rescued and sent to Anthem Academy just to be safe.
Already, in less than a month, at least a thousand people are already taking refuge inside the school grounds. At the rate people are getting released, eventually all the dormitories and classrooms will get filled up and most people will have to camp outside when autumn comes. At least it's still only near the end of April.
But even then, trouble keeps happening with some of the refugees who aren't exactly the pleasant types.
"This is becoming a big problem." Guren states as he and the others are relaxing in the mansion's living room after another day of aiding the refugees with their daily problems.
"I know what you mean G.V., some of those shallow girls I would have called schoolmates and several older women kept making requests to go and retrieve their jewelry, makeup, and other accessories from their homes." Zonda is exasperated at dealing with these people.
'Those same shallow girls kept glaring at Elise since she's always by Guren's side.' she thought remembering how jealous they looked seeing the timid girl who always stayed in the background have the most popular boy's attention.
"Some jerks I couldn't bother remembering their name pretty much asked us to go and pretty much rob stores and take a few TVs, massage chairs, and even some motor vehicles you'd see in a car show!" Gino complains in anger.
"So far all the people we've rescued are normal civilians who's ages vary widely. If we could find at least a few people who know how to keep order like a policeman or a city official then we'd have more time to take breaks from all the training and missions." Monica surmises as she's the one who makes sure every machine at the academy is in working condition.
"By the way, is there any movements happening from Sumeragi?" Acura asks the computer experts.
"None whatsoever Master Acura, it would seem the group inside the dome is maintaining themselves without any need for support from any of their allies in the outside world." Nowa informs wondering what the other branches of the Sumeragi Group are doing.
"Also, there's never been any sign of any Sumeragi army or battalion of robots heading straight for us. Considering it wouldn't be hard for them to find out where our base is it seems like Nova is keeping to his word that he won't attack us for the sole reason of avoiding any civilian casualties." Xiao announces
"Yeah... I doubt he doesn't want any of his forces to hurt innocent people out of any kind of altruism. There's got to be an underlying reason for his decision." Nimrod states suspicious of the Sumeragi's Japanese branch leader.
"You don't suppose they want the people with potential to be Persona-users to be used for their horrible purposes, right?" Lola asks getting everyone worried if that was the case.
Acura looks at his twin and clenches his fists.
'No! I won't let them!' he thought angrily.
Not wanting to let his friend wallow in anger and frustration G.V. decides to change the subject.
"Well, we have to rest of the day off. We should probably just relax and have fun. What to do guys say?" he cheerfully announces.
"That's sounds like a great idea. Right girls?" Monica asks with an unspoken signal.
"Indeed, let's go and have some fun!" Michiru gets it as she takes Nowa's hand and leads her away with Lola following.
"There's somethings I want to talk to you about Monica-san. May we speak in private?" Zonda asks as an excuse to leave with her.
"Of course Zonda-san. We'll talk in my room." the young woman replies as they too leave the living room.
"I'm going to do what I always do and that's exercise by the pool." Nimrod goes to change into his swimming trunks.
"Nowa-san asked me to do maintenance on her motorcycle with the sidecar so I'll be busy for the rest of the day." Gino goes to the garage where the vehicle is.
"I'm still trying to restore the data we got from the Stratacombs with barely any progress so I'll be in the lab for awhile." Xiao goes to his work place.
"I'll be at the workbench in the laboratory to improve my plasma blade, call me if there's an emergency." Acura follows Xiao.
That just leaves Guren and Elise all by themselves.
A few seconds of awkward silence permeates the room.
"So, uh..." G.V. tries to come up with something to say.
"Um... w-well." Elise stutters having no idea how she would respond.
"Elise... I did promise that I would spend time with you... so why not start now?" Guren was able to say it.
"T-that's g-great... but..." Elise is happy but is afraid she'll mess up her words.
"Stay calm Elise, don't panic and accept his invitation." Monica talks through the earpiece they normally use to communicate with the support team.
"O-okay." Elise whispers back before her attention is back to G.V.
"Hai, I would like that." she replies without stuttering.
"Great, let's go to my room." he proposes with a smile.
"HUH?!" Elise blushes bright red as a million thoughts are going through her head at once.
"What in blazes are you fantasizing when he said that?!" Zonda sighs in exasperation.
"Gomen'nasai." Elise replies back in shame.
"Well, she is a teenager after all." Lola comments as she detects Elise's temperature rising.
"Okay, let's go." the silver haired girl answers him as they go to the room that the Kamizonos gave him.
'He just wants to get to know better, that's all! Don't think of any other reason!' she thought as they walk closer and closer to his room and hopefully not faint again.
"Remember Elise, be confident in yourself. Don't believe that Guren will just start hating you all of a sudden." Michiru coaches her.
Guren opens his door and the two enter inside. Just like the other guest bedroom they're all pretty identical. The only difference are the items the people staying in the mansion have brought from their original homes.
His room is a typical one for teenage boys. though not messy or disorganized.
Trying not to think of what's in his drawers, Elise notices game consoles she's familiar with since she owns them as well.
"You play video games?" she asks curiously.
"Yup, though I only really play games not just for their fun gameplay but also for their interesting stories." G.V. replies as he shows his collection to her.
"I do too, I love playing those types of game!" Elise cheers happy that the two of them have something in common.
"Then how come you didn't bring any of them along with you when we moved here?" he asks in confusion.
"Um... I didn't think with all that we need to do, bringing them with me wasn't important at all." she explains since they're fighting a powerful organization and saving people from monsters.
"Well I agree that we have a huge responsibility, but that doesn't mean we should leave behind the things we enjoy in life." Guren advocates the simple joys in life.
"Really? Well if you say so." Elise responds immediately believing his opinion.
"Do not just readily agree with everything he says. He'll just think you're just another shallow girl who just wants to date him just for his looks." Nowa chastises her behavior.
"But I don't want to upset him by disagreeing with what he believes in." she counters back.
"Any real relationship no matter what kind, there will always be points of contention between at least two people. If they can stay on good terms with each other even after such disagreements it's a sign of a true relationship." Zonda lectures the girl.
"Do you want to play something with me?" G.V. asks ignorant of the exchange.
"Hai, you don't mind if I choose one myself do you?" Elise asks sheepishly.
"I don't mind at all." he simply replies as he smiles.
And so, Guren and Elise play a two player video game that they both enjoy as they make small talk to get to know each other better. All the while the rest of the girls watch on with amusement.
When G.V. brought up Elise's family, the girl's mood dropped and whispers that she doesn't want to talk about it which he respectfully accepted.
'She doesn't really like to talk about her personal life at all.' Guren thought feeling greatly saddened that perhaps Elise doesn't have a happy relationship with her family.
'He cares so much for me, though I shouldn't be surprised. Guren always cares for the well being of others. That's what makes him my hero.' Elise smiles fondly and extremely happy that they're together even with a secret audience watching.
"Everything's looking good!" Michiru exclaims as she watches from the main computer inside the laboratory.
'They're sure getting a lot of enjoyment out of this.' Xiao thought as he works nearby.
While the teenage girls and combat pod watch the screen, Nowa notices Monica using her own personal screens.
"What are you doing?" the maid questions.
"Doing a background check on Elise, I haven't really gotten the chance to since we've had so many other things to do." Monica answers as she types.
"Did you find anything noteworthy?" she continues her queries.
"She is in fact a normal teenage girl but what I found is just upsetting." Monica says with a look of anger.
"What is it?" Ouka asks overhearing their conversation.
Monica explains that Elise's parents pretty much abandoned her the moment she was born. Paying only enough for her housing, necessities, tuition, and temporary housekeepers when she was younger. Finally when Elise is legally an adult they'll completely cut her off not even allowed to use the family name.
"That's horrible!" Michiru starts crying at how tragic her new friend's life is.
"No wonder she's such a wreck most of the time." Zonda feels sympathy for the poor girl.
"It's just like me but only worse. At least my father and even my stepmother does care about me in some capacity." Ouka notes how similar the two's lives have been.
'Not even any of her caretakers bothered with her. What's wrong with these people?' she thought bitterly.
"Who are her parents anyway?" Lola questions with curiosity.
"They're simply wealthy people who are currently living in Europe and are financial supporters of the Sumeragi Group." Monica looks up.
"They don't even care that they're supporting such an evil corporation, as long as they stay rich and live in luxury, not even sharing any of it with their own daughter!" Michiru is enraged now.
"There's nothing we can do since we're trapped in the city. Maybe once Sumeragi is defeated and the Metaworld is gone then we can do something about them." Nowa lays it down.
"For now, let's just help Elise hook up with Guren. They both deserve a close companion with all that's happening." Ouka declares with determination as the other girls agree.
'It's a good thing Ouka doesn't have romantic feelings for G.V.. I don't think Elise would enjoy having a rival for his affection.' Xiao thought with none of the females acknowledging he overheard their conversation.
While Guren and Elise are having fun spending time with each other, Acura on the other hand is simply upgrading some of his gear even though they would already get enhanced when in his Persona form.
'Father, I wonder what lies Sumeragi told you when you worked for them in researching the Metaworld? What honeyed words were said that you were making the world a better place for everyone?' he ignites the blade form of his Border gun which is actually a memento of his father.
"With my Persona I'll take down Sumeragi and that Devil who's controlling it." he narrows his eyes thinking about his hated enemy Nova.
Later that evening
Dinner was normal as usual ever since the Metaverse covered the entire city. The girls helped Elise cook one of Guren's favorite meals and tell her to pass it off as she didn't know it was as to endear herself to him.
"This tastes great Elise, I didn't know you could cook so well!" G.V. exclaims in joy as he eats.
"It was nothing really G.V., I just found a new interest in cooking is all." Elise says embarrassed as she twiddles her hands by reflex.
"That looks pretty good, mind if I have a taste?" Nimrod asks in amazement.
"Uh..." Guren doesn't know if he really wants to share since there's plenty of other dishes to choose from.
Then Nimrod gets a bad feeling as though his life is in danger.
He looks to see that all the females are projecting to him a menacing aura.
"On second thought... I'm probably allergic." he sheepishly goes back to his food.
"So no problems with the food at the academy?" Zonda asks since more people are there now.
"Fortunately nothing is wrong, we've got plenty of people there who know how to cook." Ouka answers with a content smile.
"That's nice at least. The children won't have to eat rations but real food." Gino is happy things are going well considering the circumstances.
As the gang continue eating...
RING
Michiru's phone suddenly rings.
"Who could that possibly be?" she wonders as the only people who would call her are at the academy.
She presses the answer button that appeared on the screen and puts the phone to her ear.
"Hello?"
"Michiru!" a girls voice is heard yelling in a panicked tone.
"You're actually calling me?!" Michiru is shocked that one of her friends who was ignoring her has called.
"I'm really sorry for giving you the cold shoulder for a while Michiru, I really am! But you have to listen to me!" the girl shouts as she's really freaking out about something.
"What is it?! Is something wrong at the academy?!" the white haired girl starts getting worried.
"No, everything's fine here! It's hard to explain! Just turn the TV on and go to the local news channel!" the friend told in urgency.
"The news?!" Michiru goes to the living room where the television is.
The others curious as to what's going on goes to watch the TV as well.
"There shouldn't be any local stations active from within the city. Hell, we can't even get any channels from outside the dome either." Xiao points out.
Michiru picks up the remote control and turns the television on before going to the channel where the local news is on.
The first thing they see is the symbol of the Sumeragi Group in the background.
"WHAT?!" everyone yells in shock before someone appears on screen.
"Greetings citizens of Neo Tokyo! My name is Iota and I represent the Sumeragi Group's Japanese branch!" the now identified Iota introduces himself.
He is a young man with cyan, somewhat spiky hair, and green eyes, as well as a large scar on the left side of his face. He wears a standard black Sumeragi executive uniform with gold highlights, a white shirt underneath, a blue tie and a pair of brown boots. His uniform has green stripes on its shoulders similar to the uniforms of Nova and any of the group's top executives, indicating that Iota has a high rank.
"He definitely looks like some big shot from within the organization." Nimrod states already disliking the guy for his smug attitude.
"I know you are all confused and afraid at what's been going on for the last several days. There is a barrier surrounding the entire city isolating us from the rest of the world. There's even horrible monsters roaming around in just about every location."
"And who's fault do you think that is?!" Gino angrily yells at the guy on screen.
"But rest assured! We of the Sumeragi Group will do everything within our power to aid and protect everybody from this terrible phenomena! We've even achieved a new means to combat these creatures besides our military robots and soldiers!"
"So that's how they're going introduce the power of Persona to the general public? Have Sumeragi Persona-users save and defend them like a bunch of superheroes?" Guren predicts that this is part of their plan.
"Those Goddamn liars! They're pretty much tricking people to bow down to them!" Lola yells with outrage.
"We only have about one thousand of the population that knows the truth. If Sumeragi has more people on their side then we're in a lot of trouble if they're able to convince them that QUILL is responsible for all of this." Monica suspects with worry.
"Have faith everyone! Do not take this grisly crisis as a sign that the end times have come! Instead, see it as a new beginning not just for Neo Tokyo, but for the entire world as well!"
"He's really hamming it up now with all his arm waving." Zonda comments as she's correct.
The longer Iota's speech goes on the more he moves his arms like a robot with not a lot fluid motion. Must be a personal quirk of his if he doesn't notice it himself.
The rest of the speech was just Iota spouting more Sumeragi propaganda before saluted the Japanese flag along with Sumeragi's symbol above it.
"Bastard!" Acura suddenly spouts in rage as he rushes out of the living and towards the laboratory.
Seeing this the others follow as well.
At the laboratory Nowa and Xiao are looking up info on the Sumeragi representative Iota.
"The broadcast seems to be on loop as well. Most likely to get the attention of whenever more people start being released from stasis." Monica states as it keeps playing over and over again on TV.
"Here's all the information I've managed to find on Iota." Nowa announces showing them some public files.
Iota was born into a famed family known for producing many great soldiers. He was no different, and when he was old enough he enlisted in the Japanese Self-Defense Force. He's also currently nineteen years old.
However, in a mission to try and suppress terrorists(Not QUILL), he saw how powerless the Japanese army was against them, and the terrorists were only stopped by the Sumeragi Group.
"When restoring the data from the Stratacombs I just uncovered that Iota is one of the Persona-users that were experimented on." Xiao reveals showing what he managed to get.
Nova himself has talked to Iota a few times and he eventually decided to leave the army, claiming a wound made himself lose his sight and joined Sumeragi. Once there he dedicated his efforts into helping Nova consolidate his position within the conglomerate.
"No matter how great humanity has become, it'll never be enough. Poverty, world hunger, diseases, and terrorist attacks still run rampant all over. That is why I desire to create a new world. A better than the one we were given. Can I count on your support in Sumeragi's agenda?" Nova asks Iota at his office.
"There's no need to ask me that Shiden. I've already been through the experiments that I volunteered myself and obtained my Glaive. It is proof of my dedication to yours and Sumeragi's ideals." Iota answers while kneeling down on one knee with his Glaive out like some knight bowing to his lord.
"Then let me share with you in more detail what we're planning to do with the Metaworld." Nova said as Iota officially became one of the Sumeragi Seven Swordsman.
"If it wasn't for the fact the he's working for Sumeragi, I'd say he a pretty decent person." Nimrod couldn't help but respect the guy.
"Agreed, there's no way I actually would want to kill him." Guren admitted somberly.
"Doesn't matter, he's a Persona-user working under Nova! He'll just get in our way and will try to kill us! We have to kill him!" Acura exclaims with a cold face.
"Acura." Michiru couldn't help but be worried at her twin's behavior.
"While I definitely do not want to murder anybody, Acura is right. We must fight Iota so we're one step closer to stopping Nova." Zonda says as a matter of fact.
"Now that he's revealed himself, we can go where he is and take him out!" Gino exclaims getting pumped.
"The broadcast of his speech took place at Neo Tokyo's Media Tower and it seems that he's still there if the Anti-Shadow Field covering the entire building is any indication." Nowa informs as she shows a video feed of the large pointed tower of a building surrounded by a blue dome to keep the Shadows out.
"Then that's where we're going! To fight and defeat Iota and also stop the Sumeragi propaganda video before anyone who's released from stasis will fall for it!" G.V. declares as the team all agree to take part in this mission.
"Michiru and I will observe the channel to see if he makes anymore broadcasts." Ouka says before she heads back to the living room.
"Acura, please don't do anything rash." Michiru pleads to her brother before following her friend.
Acura doesn't respond as he just looks down with guilt.
'I'm sorry Michiru.' he thought as he goes to prepare his gear along with Lola.
Elise who stayed quite for the entire conversation couldn't help but fear for Guren's safety.
'Unlike the other guy who was just crazy, we're facing off against a seasoned soldier.' she thought before she and the others gather all the supplies they need for the assault on the Media Tower.
After discovering that food can slightly recover ones health and energy drinks can somewhat replenish SP by believing they can, the team decides to bring some with them along with any medical supplies that can do the same thing.
"Is everybody ready?" Monica asks as she, Gino, Lola, and the five Persona-users all enter the SHEEP mobile.
With a unanimous nod the members of QUILL drive off to...
Mission: Minaret
'Once I'm done with Iota, the rest of the remaining Seven Deadly Sins are next, and finally I'm coming after you, Nova!' Acura thought as he's filled with nothing but revenge.
The Media Tower
The location where the tower stands is in the middle of a district where many high profile people actually live from within the city.
The team has parked their vehicle a few miles away from the tower as to not alert any Sumeragi forces that would be nearby since the Anti-Shadow Field Generator in this location covers a wide distance. A few blocks at most.
"Looks like most of the security is at inside the tower rather than outside." Monica notes as her scanners scans the building.
"Iota's broadcast seems to have taken place at the top floor of the building. That's probably where he his." Nowa notifies
"Of course he is." Zonda sighs as it's never that easy.
"It doesn't look like we can just sneak all the way up there." Nimrod observes as there's no blind spots for them to exploit.
"We need to think up a strategy so we don't get into trouble." Gunvolt advises as fighting the robots will only tire them out before they even reach Iota.
Meanwhile at the top floor of the Media Tower.
"Is everything ready Iota?" Nova asks calling Iota from a monitor from his office at Babel Tower.
"Affirmative Nova, the first thing the confused people we will awaken from stasis is my broadcast from all the news monitors outside and most will immediately flock to Sumeragi's embrace." Iota replies with a salute.
"Excellent, oh and be mindful, I'm pretty sure the members of QUILL inside the dome will have already seen the broadcast at least once and will confront you in order to stop it." the boss warns with a cunning smile.
"Do not concern yourself with these terrorist dogs Nova, I will smite them with the light of righteousness when I face them in honorable combat!" Iota pledges confident that he'll take them all down.
"I'll hold you to that as now is the time to begin the operation." Nova orders as the call ends.
Iota then goes to a special device that was transported to the top of the Media Tower. The device is in fact a larger and more powerful version of the device that Xiao used to release Ouka from stasis even though she doesn't have the potential to be a Persona-user.
This one however can release many people at once in a wide range and there's even the ability to choose who gets released and who doesn't. Iota has already uploaded a list of people who he wants to awaken and they're all people who already support Sumeragi and others who are political figures, rich and influential company owners, and anyone famous enough to help endorse the conglomerate.
The Anti-Shadow Field Generator from inside the tower covers enough that only the most high priority VIPs are already inside of its range. The rest are unfortunately outside the dome's range so they'll definitely be besieged by Shadows. As such, they will be rescued by Sumeragi forces as a show of strength and compassion in order to have more supporters on their side.
3
2
1
"BEGIN!" Iota activates the device.
Back at the Kamizono laboratory...
WARNING! WARNING! WARNING!
"Emergency guy! It looks a lot of people are about to be released from stasis!" Xiao shouts in surprise.
"NANI?!" the team basically yells as well.
"Now of all times?!" Gino is flabbergasted.
"Where are they?!" G.V. asks anxiously.
"That's the thing, it's the people all around the Media Tower!" Xiao reveals
"That can't be a coincidence!" Lola exclaims as the probability is actually very low.
"It's definitely not, but that's not what's important." Monica says as her monitor shows dots of all the people about to awaken, both inside and outside the Anti-Shadow Field.
"Right, there's people we need to rescue before the Shadows can come and attack them!" Gunvolt exclaims getting ready.
"Wait, what about assaulting the Media Tower?!" Acura argues feeling indignant.
"We'll have to postpone that once we save everyone who's in danger." he says back to his teammate.
"But if we're too busy doing that then he'll most likely get away!" the white haired boy shoots back.
"Then we'll go after him another time!" the Azure Striker talks back.
"GUNVOLT!" Acura finally has enough and grabs his collar in frustration.
"What are you doing?!" Elise actually yells looking very irritated.
"I'm fighting Sumeragi to avenge my father G.V., I thought you felt the same way!" Acura shouts as he looks at the blonde eye to eye.
"I want to make them pay for my stepfather's death just as much as you do Acura, but I'm not going to ignore the fact that people are in danger!" Ginvolt remains absolute in his conviction to protect life in general.
"Fine then!" Acura lets him go before rushing off towards the tower.
"Hey, where do you think you're going?!" Gino yells angrily at the retreating form.
"He's seriously going to assault the tower by himself!" Monica couldn't help but be dumbfounded.
"Acura-kun! Wait for me!' the humanoid Lola flies off after him.
"Damn it! Zonda, Nimrod, go support him!" G.V. orders his two friends.
"Very well."
"Roger."
the two rushes to catch up to their AWOL teammate.
"I'll support Master Acura like I always do." Nowa states focusing on the assault team.
"Elise, Monica, Gino, we'll go and save the people outside the Anti-Shadow Field!" he declares to the people remaining.
"Hai!"
"Of course."
"Yoshi!"
"And I'll support you guys like I always do!" Xiao chimes in focusing on the rescue team.
"Power Slash!" Acura slices a Green Gunner in half with his plasma blade as he charges towards the front entrance of the Media Tower.
He also notices that the stasis cubes encasing several people shatter into nothingness as the former occupants collapse on the ground.
'It's as strange seeing it myself than the actual experience.' he thought before continuing on.
Then the large news monitors around the area turn on and start broadcasting Iota's message on loop.
"It's already beginning." he states as he reaches the main entrance.
Which is guarded by two Sentry Units, but unlike the previous ones, these are equipped with a large tower shield in one hand a and gatling gun on the other.
"Those are some big guns!" Lola couldn't help but comment.
The sentries detecting a Persona-user not registered by Sumeragi and starts firing at him and Lola with a volley of energy bullets.
"P-bits shield!" Lola blocks the continuous volley.
'When they stop shooting to prevent overheating is when I can strike, but those shields will prove troublesome.' Acura thought as he assesses what to do.
"Assault Dive!"
"Aqua Trident!"
Zonda dive kicks one sentry on its head destroying it while Nimrod conjures a water trident to impale the other.
With the enemies out of the way Lola disengages her shield.
"What are you two doing here?" Acura asks in an annoyed tone but still very much appreciated.
"We're your backup!" Nimrod smirks confidently.
"We're also here to make sure you don't get yourself killed." Zonda crosses her arms frustrated at this guys' pigheadedness.
"Master Acura, I'd advise never going on a mission alone even if Lola is with you." Nowa says over their coms.
"Sigh, fine. We have to hurry and stop the broadcast before these people wake up." he says as they enter the interior of the tower.
"And if they do?" Lola wonders what they can do.
"Then we try to convince all of them just like we did with the people we've already rescued." Zonda answers for him.
As they're walking through the main lobby of the building...
"So you lot are a part of that detestable terrorist organization QUILL!"
A large screen appears a few feet above them. And on that screen is the now familiar face of Iota looking down on them.
"Iota! We're hear to stop your and Sumeragi's lies!" Acura declares pointing a finger at the screen.
"Humph, you must be the son of Dr. Kamizono. Nova's right, you are nothing more than a foolish boy." Iota insults not impressed at all.
"Come down here and say that to our faces!" Nimrod goads pointing his spear at the screen as well.
"As if I'll debase myself by going down to your level! That's not a metaphor by the way. If you want fight me then you have to come to me!" Iota proudly declares.
"Let's stop with the banter! He's doing it just to stall for time!" Zonda realizes as the team starts heading up.
"As if it will be that easy!" Iota snaps his fingers as flying grey-white robots appear in the lobby.
"Those are Laser Drones everyone. As their name suggests they fire lasers at their targets." Nowa explains as the group starts attacking them.
The drones start firing at them with purple lasers as the Persona-users evade them.
"Harp Boomerang!" Nimrod throws his sharp harp cutting several of them before returning.
"Suit of Clubs! Magaru!" Zonda's wind cards blew them hard onto the wall or even each other.
"Flash Field! Mazio!" Acura's streams of electricity gradually destroy all that he's marked.
With all the Laser Drones in the area destroyed the team moves up the stairs.
"As I thought, the machines are no match for even one Persona-user to deal with. Looks like I'll have to do this myself." Iota states as he reveals his tarot card.
The card depicts a clearly male figure wearing royal garb including a cape and crown above and shows the Roman numeral for the number four. He's also holding his card upside down as well.
"That's the Major Arcana, The Emperor." Nowa tells the team as they go up.
"He's using his Septima power without being in his Persona form." Zonda warns the others thinking he's able to attack them from where he is.
"Luminous Rain!" Iota announces as five floating swords with some parts glowing green are pointed at his enemies.
"Watch out!" Nimrod shouts as each sword's blade opens up as they suddenly shoot a highly concentrated laser beam at where they're pointing to.
All four of the QUILL members managed to avoid getting hit by the lasers that only lasted for a second by not being in the positions of where they aimed.
"You all have really good reflexes I must admit, but that won't help you for very long! My Septima power Lightspeed allows me to control photons to manipulate light itself!" Iota reveals what his power is.
The five floating swords reposition themselves as they're once again about to fire at the team.
"Luminous Rain!"
"P-bits shield!"
Lola uses her barrier to block the lasers. However the continuous rain of lasers starts whittling down the integrity of her barrier.
"We can't progress up the tower with him constantly attacking us!" Zonda exclaims as she and the others attack the swords but Iota just summons new ones to take their place.
"Master Acura, it seems that he can only attack you all as long as he sees where exactly you're all located." Nowa suspects as there's no other way Iota can be so precise.
"The holographic screen he's watching us from must be connected to the security system of the building." Acura states looking around the current floor they're in.
He looks around the floor and notices several security cameras monitoring every part of it with no blind spots.
"There! Zio Bullet!" he shoots electric bullets at every security camera he see that can spot their location preventing Iota from seeing them on the screen.
With the cameras on the floor taken care of the assault team can relax for now.
"You did the most obvious solution by taking out the cameras but they're not the only way to keep watch on you lot." Iota said to himself as he sends his forces down as their sensors can be used as his eyes and ears as well.
"What do we do now?! That Light Guy has the range advantage whenever he spots us!" Lola exclaims not wanting to be blasted by plasma beams.
"Nowa, do you have any ideas?" The Avenger asks his long time servant.
"The only other alternative to reach the top floor and to avoid all the security cameras is use the route outside the building." Nowa informs them.
By using a door to the outside the group then sees several devices that are projecting three yellow rings that are either pointing up or to the side.
"What are those things?" Nimrod curiously asks.
"Those are linear catapults. The robot workers there use them to transport cargo to the higher parts of the tower." the maid explains
"So we just jump onto those things and they'll launch us in the direction where the rings are positioned?" Zonda asks not liking the idea of scaling a large tower from the outside in such a fashion.
"I'm going!" Acura simply declares as he rushes forward and jumps onto a catapult that launches up to a higher platform.
"Wait for us!" Lola shouts as she, Zonda, and Nimrod follow.
Meanwhile with the rescue team, people outside the Media Tower's Anti-Shadow Field are starting to wake up and are confused as to what's going on.
"What's going on?!"
"Why is it night already?!"
"I can't see through all this fog!"
Is what the some of the awakened people are saying until a few moments later the Shadows started appearing.
"AAAHHH! What is that thing?!"
Screams are being heard all over as the attacks have begun.
"Flash Field! Mazio!" Gunvolt while riding on top of the roof of the SHEEP mobile destroys all the Cowardly Mayas and Muttering Tiaras that were besieging a group of people.
"Is anybody hurt?!" he asks them.
"Those things clawed at my leg!" a poor grown adult shouts on the ground clutching his bleeding leg.
"Elise, go and help him." he tells his friend.
"Hai." she steps out of the armored vehicle and approaches the downed man as he and the others are confused who these people are.
"Is she a nurse or something?" one of them wonders.
"Her outfit looks more like snake than a medics." another comments
"Dia!" green energy surrounds the injured man as his wounds heal as though he was never hurt to begin with.
"Hey! I'm alright!" he exclaims in astonishment as he stands up and jumps for joy.
"How did you do that?!"
"That was amazing!"
Elise who got nervous at all the attention rushes back into the vehicle.
"G.V., what are we going to do?! We didn't bring any transports that can take all these people back to the academy!" Gino asks while on the driver's seat.
"Indeed, and there are too many Shadows in the area that we simply can't just tell them to take their vehicles and drive there without supervision." Monica adds as she mans the turret shooting Black Ravens flying flying in the sky.
"Hmmm, the only option available right now is to get them inside the Anti-Shadow Field of the Media Tower." Gunvolt suggests
"Are you sure G.V.? They'll definitely hear Iota's broadcast if they get closer the the tower." Xiao reminds him.
"Whether or not they believe Sumeragi is not important. Their lives are more important than anything else." he says as he told them to enter the vehicle so they can lead them to safety.
'I hope Acura and the others are doing alright.' he thought as they drove off.
Back at the tower the assault team continues ascending the building on the outside by using the catapults.
"An aquatic creature like me shouldn't be up this high!" Nimrod yells out feeling more and more distressed.
"Then stop looking down and watch where you're landing." Zonda rolls her eyes as she jumps from one catapult to another as a means to quickly reach the top of this tall tower.
"And if you actually fall, I'll be here to catch you!" Lola declares as she's having the easiest time since she can fly.
"That's not making me feel any better!" Nimrod rebutted in annoyance.
"Heads up everyone!" Acura warns as he hides behind a steel beam.
The other three took his cue and hid also as they see Flying, Shooter, and Laser Drones patrolling the outer areas. There's even another type of Drone that they haven't encountered before.
"Those are Bombers, and just as their names suggest they drop bombs on any enemy they come across." Nowa informs them as they see what looks like a Flying Drone but silver instead of red.
"Is it just me or do all of them have something that the previous robots we've encountered didn't?" Lola asks as she scans them.
On closer inspection Acura notices that each Drones' lenses or 'eyes' have additional gear on them.
"It seems that each of the robots' visual sensors have been outfitted with a camera..." Acura deduces while peeking from the steel beam.
"And if even one of them spots us, Iota will start attacking us again." Zonda finishes.
"There's no way we can move forward without being spotted." Nimrod points out that stealth is impossible.
"We should take them all down at once!" Lola proposes
"How will we do that?" the merman questions
"In the past you've managed to destroy Sumeragi robots fairly quickly by using both electricity and water together, this time will be no different." Nowa states as a matter of fact.
The four all nod in agreement as they prepare to strike.
"Hey idiots! Over here!" Lola flies near the drones getting all of their attention and insulting their limited intelligence.
The drones attack her, whether or not they felt insulted, as she creates a spherical barrier to protect herself from all sides from the lasers and bombs. Strangely though, Iota himself isn't attacking even though he should see Lola from the cameras each drone has.
"Now!" she yells which is the signal.
"Vortex Rush!" several whirlpools of water engulf all of the drones spinning them around so the cameras won't work with all the moving around.
"Suit of Diamonds! Mazio!" Zonda and her clones throw their electric cards at the whirlpools.
"Flash Field! Mazio!" Acura marks one drone in each whirlpool and add more electricity to the mix.
In only a few seconds all the drones patrolling the area were destroyed.
"Great job everyone!" Lola praises as she flies back to them.
"Why don't we just keep doing that?" Nimrod asks in confusion.
"If we did then Sumeragi might find a way to nullify or even counter it." Zonda guesses as she wouldn't put it passed them.
"I agree with Zonda-san, you shouldn't keep doing the same team attacks all the time." Nowa concurs the rabbit girls response.
"Alright, let's keep moving." Acura orders as he starts walking.
PEW
"GAAAHHH!" a laser grazes his left shoulder that's holding his shield.
"Acura-kun!" Lola goes to him and inspects the injury.
"Where?!" both Zonda and Nimrod looks around with their guard up to see where the shot came from.
It was only through pure instinct that both of them moved out of the way in time before five lasers could hit them.
"Above." Nowa warns as indeed, five of Iotas floating swords are above them ready to fire again.
"P-bits shield!" Lola erects her barrier protecting the team.
"Are you alright?" Zonda asks their second in command.
"Just a flesh wound." Acura assures though he's clearly in pain.
"Crap! And Elise isn't here!" Nimrod curses that they only have one healer.
"How is he seeing us?!" Lola queries as she keep blocks the lasers.
What they didn't find out is that there's a Flying Drone that was far away from their position and that it has a camera with a good zoom function.
"Fools! Did they really think I'd let all of them be in one place?!" Iota rhetorically asks himself as he continues attacking the barrier.
"Now what?!" Nimrod asks getting very worried about their predicament.
"We have to withdraw back inside!" Zonda exclaims as they're sitting duck on the outside.
"But that'll take too long!" Acura argues as using the catapults on the outside of the tower to go up is faster than running up the flight of stairs.
"There's no time to argue!" Zonda kicks the nearest door back inside of the tower open and drags the injured boy in as Nimrod and Lola follow.
"Remember to destroy any security cameras and robots you find." Nowa reminds seeing as they're taking the longer route up.
Back with the rescue team, Gunvolt and the others have safely escorted another group of people into the Anti-Shadow Field's range.
And just like several previous groups, they've managed to convince them that Sumeragi is the one responsible for all the chaos happening in the city and that they are the enemy.
"Bad news guys, several people that were already inside the field have already been transported in heavily armored and guarded vehicles and are on their way to Sumeragi's headquarters." Xiao announces to the team.
"Who knows what they're planning to do with all those people. I just hope it's only just to get support from the citizens and not anything sinister." Monica says in a worried tone.
"That's the best case scenario if you ask me." Gino comments not liking the fact that Sumeragi would only use these people for something and not really care for their wellbeing.
"Sigh, and I'm willing to bet they're all important people who are either wealthy or influential as well." G.V. suspects Sumeragi's real plan.
"Please, forget about them Gunvolt. They've made their choice." Elise says trying to comfort him in this scenario.
'She's right, and who's to say that they've already been supporting Sumeragi already?' he thought as they make everyone they've gathered all night so far is okay.
"If I didn't already distrust Sumeragi, I wouldn't have really believed you young man." a tall man wearing an expensive looking business suit with dark green hair said in an actual friendly tone.
"I appreciate your trust Sir, especially since QUILL has always been seen as a terrorist organization." the spikey haired boy thanks.
"People around the world who joined forces to fight Sumeragi don't do it because they have nothing better to do." he says jokingly but knows how truly serious everything is.
"G.V.! We got a problem!" Xiao exclaims getting his attention.
"What is it Xiao?!" he asks in concern.
"There are three strong Shadows attacking more people on the outside! You have to hurry!" the young kid urges him to hurry.
"We're on it!" he acknowledges before turning back to the civilians.
"I'll make sure none of us gets into any trouble." the businessman Gunvolt is talking to assures.
"Thank you." G.V. simply said before the rescue drove off.
A few blocks away outside of the safe zone people are being chased by a new type of Shadow that SHEEP squad has never seen before.
These Shadows take on the appearance of birds though larger than a Raven. They have a pink heart-shaped collar around their necks and are wearing a gold mask with the Roman numeral for the number three on the forehead.
Venus Eagle: Wearing the Reverse Empress mask, these flying Shadows use Wind based attacks.
Despite all the screaming that defenseless citizens are making as they run away from the clearly hostile monsters, there's one person who is calm and collected enough to lead them to the blue dome of the Anti-Shadow Field.
"Everyone! Keep going in the direction of the Media Tower! It doesn't seem like these creatures can enter the blue dome!" a teenager with short, somewhat spiky white hair proclaims as he runs along side them.
He wears a white suit, a blue waistcoat with gold highlights, black shoes, and a white and black jacket draped over his shoulders with blue and silver highlights. He also wears a black belt with a silver buckle and black gloves. What's most notable about him is that his eyes are always shut.(Like Brock/Takeshi from Pokemon.)
However, the Eagles aren't making thing easy for them as they keep swooping down in order to slash at the fleeing people with their razor sharp talons.
'I don't think we can all make it in one piece.' the young man thought fearing for the lives of these people.
That is until each Eagle got blasted away from a powerful shot before they could reach their prey.
The impromptu leader looks towards the direction of where the attack came from and sees an armored vehicle with a turret mounted on top heading towards them. He also notices the feather symbol that the tank has on each side.
'I've seen that symbol before, but I can't remember where.' he thought as two people exit the armored vehicle from the back.
In his opinion, the armor they're wearing wasn't the standard for the Japanese Self-Defense Force or for Sumeragi soldiers. It also clearly looks like they're teenagers around his age.(He's seventeen to eighteen years old.)
"Are you all aright?!" the spikey haired blonde male wearing blue armor asks him.
"We've been running for awhile trying to reach the blue dome and luckily no one was hurt." the well dressed teen replies.
"You made the right decision, the blue field covering the area prevents the Shadows from wanting to enter it." he reveals
'Shadows?' the older teen thought wondering how this guy knows what these monster are.
"By the way, my name is Tenjian, and I'm someone planning to go into law school in the future. Who might you two be?" the now named teen introduces himself and to let them know he's a responsible person.
"My name is Guren Val and this is my friend and teammate Elise." G.V. introduces as Elise nods in acknowledgement.
"And to be completely honest with all of you, we're members of QUILL." he admits as well.
This got surprised looks from everyone though they're not complaining since they were just saved by them.
Tenjian looks at the Media tower in the distance while also listening to Iota's broadcast that's played on loop, looks at the Eagles that are recovering from the turret's shots, and finally to the two who revealed that they're part of the known worldwide terrorist organization.
'I see now.' he thought before addressing the people he was leading to safety.
"Everyone! These brave people are saving us from these Shadows that Sumeragi has unleashed throughout the city!" Tenjian announces to them as murmurs spread towards each individual.
"And what's worse is that Sumeragi has the gall to say that they'll protect us as though they didn't have a hand in what's happening" this got the crowd all riled up.
Much to the surprise of QUILL, Tenjian is actually rallying the group he's with to go against Sumeragi and side with them.
"Where should we go for safety? None of us feel comfortable being escorted by Sumeragi's security bots." he asks Gunvolt who he believes to be the leader.
"We've already rescued several groups of people and escorted them to a shopping mall at these coordinates. You all should head there as well." G.V. commanded as he transmitted the location to each of the citizens' phones.
"Very well. everyone, quickly into the blue dome!" Tenjian points towards the direction to where they should go.
"Gunvolt, the Shadows have recovered from my attacks." Monica announces seeing the Eagles fly right at the Persona-users.
"GO NOW!" he shouts as he and Elise go to face them.
As the rescue team engages their foes no one notices that Tenjian isn't following the rest of the civilians.
"Those are Venus Eagles, they resist fire and wind, but are weak to ice." Xiao explains the large bird Shadows.
"Too bad Acura and Zonda aren't here to help us." G.V. states getting ready to attack them.
'Zonda?' Tenjian couldn't help hearing the familiar name especially since it's not a common one.
Magaru
The Eagles unleash several blasts of wind at the Persona-users.
"WAAAHHH!" Elise screams as she and Gunvolt barely evaded the barrage.
"Be extra careful Gunvolt, remember that you're vulnerable to wind attacks!" Monica warns worried that he actually has the disadvantage.
"Roger! Dart Leader!" G.V. shoots his lightning rod darts to mark each Shadow.
Sukukaja
A green aura engulfs each Eagle as they managed to quickly evade being marked by the darts even though they're very small to see coming at such a speed.
"They just increased their speed, meaning their accuracy and evasion got a power up!" Xiao warns them.
"Viper Throw!" Elise throws multiple kunai at each Eagle.
FWOOSH
Only for them to flap their wings hard creating a strong gust that blows them away.
"If they're faster than we need to stop them in their tracks! Elise, petrify them!" Gunvolt tells the snake girl to use her signature move.
"H-hai! Gorgon Gaze!" Elise uses her visor to fire her purple cone-shaped beam at the Eagles.
Only for them to fly up and away from her attack range.
"These guys are a lot smarter than any Shadow we've encountered before!" Gino comments while watching from the driver's seat.
'If only we had someone who can use ice attacks, dammit Acura!' G.V. thought in frustration.
"Gunvolt! Watch out!" Elise tries to warn him before...
Garula(Medium single target wind attack.)
"GAAAHHH!" he takes the stronger wind attack as it blasts him through the window of a nearby building.
"Oh no!" Elise ran towards her crush in order to heal him.
"He took a lot damage! It'll take a while for Elise to mend him!" Xiao exclaims as Monica tries to shoot the Eagles but they're too fast.
"Damn Shadows!" Gino exits the driver's seat and grabs one of the blaster rifles in the back.
"Wait Gino! Don't!" Monica tries to warn but he's having none of it as he tries to shoot the flying creatures.
"Dia!" Elise heals a small amount of damage that Gunvolt took but it's still not enough to fully restore him.
'It's still not enough, we all still need to get stronger in order for us to reach the next level of skills.' she thought as she continues to heal G.V.'s wounds.
While he's being healed Gunvolt wearily looks at Elise who's trying her best.
'Elise, what truly motivates you?' he couldn't help but wonder.
"Die you dumb birds!" Gino fires the best he can, he's no slouch when it comes to guns, but the speed enhanced Shadows are a challenge even for him.
"Look out Gino!" Xiao warns as Gino dodges out of the way from the Eagles' talons.
While SHEEP squad is fighting, Tenjian looks on from a safe distance as the people he was with made it inside the Anti-Shadow field safely.
"They're doing the best they can, but things don't always go the way we want. Not without any proper guidance." he said to himself as he watches.
Tenjian grew up as an orphan, never knowing who his parents are or the rest of his family if he had any. However, that didn't stop him from developing a strong sense of morals. To him, society is based on the beliefs and traditions of any given culture that many should at least teach and obey to keep things morally good.
When confronting a group of delinquents who were hanging out at a shrine and callously leaving garbage on the ground...
"Just because none of you care about our country's traditions doesn't mean you can disrespect it." Tenjian admonishes them for their uncaring attitude.
This of course got them angry at being told what to do and decided to teach Tenjian a lesson.
This didn't end will for them as Tenjian knows martial arts and the fight was pretty one-sided in his favor.
'I always try to make a good example to other people, and sometimes it doesn't work out very well. I may not be the best at teaching lessons, but that doesn't mean I'll stop aiding people who need guidance.' he thought as his resolve to prevent people from getting harmed intensifies.
It was then that the card that he put in his breast pocket that was in his hand when he woke up started glowing with bright blue flames. He looks at it before finally realizing what it actually is.
"Are you okay G.V.?" Elise asks as she helps him on his feet.
"I've been better." he groggily answers before his attention was now on Tenjian who's still in the battlefield.
Though he mostly notices the glowing tarot card in the slightly older teens hand which was a picture of a blue Papal hat, two keys on each side, and two people(one red and the other white) with the Roman numeral for the number five.
"The Hierophant." Gunvolt states in surprise with the fact that the person they just met is a Persona-user.
"I see, it would seem that I'm needed to stop Sumeragi's plans and help those who've been fighting them all this time." Tenjian says as he sees the Shadows' attention are now on him.
"I am thou, thou art I... let my words guide those in these troubling times!" he shouts to the heavens as the card enters his chest.
"PERSONA!"
"THE FROZEN BLADE!"
A bright blue flash and a powerful shockwave blows the Venus Eagles away before they could attack him.
"Oh man! Someone else awakened their Persona and not me?!" Gino exclaims in astonishment.
The light dies down to reveal Tenjian in his Persona form. What's most notable is that his eyes are now open.
His black sclera eyes reveal pale blue pupils along with his hair now bright blue. He wears black and gray armor with white and blue highlights, with two wing-like appendages attached to his lower back. He wields seven blades that are currently stored in two black half-spheres attached to his shoulders by arm-like appendages that are either swords, sickles, and chakrams.
The Eagles corrected themselves in the air after being blown away and unleashed their attack on the new Persona-user.
Garula
"The wind will only make my ice even colder!" Tenjian says as he rushes forward while evading the strong wind blasts.
"Mabufula!"(Medium multitarget ice attack.) Tenjian grabs a sword and a sickle from his shoulder spheres and slices them in the air causing large jagged ice blocks at the Eagles.
Even with their enhanced speed the sheer number of ice blocks that are being thrown at them meant that they'll get eventually hit by them before crashing onto the ground.
"We're so lucky that this guy uses ice attacks!" Xiao exclaims in excitement.
"Now's my chance! Shadow Ice Cut!" Tenjian slashes each Eagle with his frozen blades dealing more ice damage as well as forming ice walls around them to keep them from flying away.
"Guren-san! Finish them!" he shouts as he sees Gunvolt who has finally recovered.
"Right! Flash Field! Mazio!" he's able to mark them this time as streams of electricity eventually destroys them.
'I'll need to train more so I can destroy my enemies much quicker!' G.V. thought believing he and his team needs to achieve the next tier of their abilities since the Shadows are getting stronger as well.
"Electricity and snake healing? What interesting powers our Personas can give us." Tenjian states as he sheathes his blades back to his shoulder spheres.
"I can say the same thing in regards to your ice abilities." Gunvolt replies as the two shake hands in gratitude.
Monica steps out of the SHEEP mobile as she and Gino walk up to the new Persona-user.
"Thank you sir, with our team split up I didn't know if we would win without suffering major injuries." she thanks with real appreciation.
"It was my pleasure ma'am." he simply said with a small bow.
"At least you don't seem the type to run off without thinking. Unlike one of our teammates." Gino comments on how reckless Acura is being.
"Am I right to assume that you want to help QUILL fight against the Sumeragi Group?" G.V. asks
"You are correct Guren-san. If you would have me that is?" Tenjian asks politely.
Gunvolt looks to his companions. Elise looks like she doesn't mind really, Gino looks more disappointed at the fact that he didn't awaken to his Persona, and Monica is just glad they have a new ally but she still has to run a background check on the guy later.
"Very well, welcome to QUILL's SHEEP squad." G.V. declares as he gives Tenjian an earpiece.
He puts it on his left ear and checks if it's on.
"Hey there Tenjian-san, my name's Xiao and I'm the one of the team's guy in the chair!" Xiao greets over the communication device.
"A kid?" teenagers are one thing but young children are part of this organization.
"It looks like everyone outside the Anti-Shadow Field are safe, they've either been escorted to Babel Tower or are taking shelter at where we sent them." the youngest member of the team informs.
"Now all that's left is to go to the Media Tower and help the rest of our team." Monica states as they all enter their armored vehicle.
As they drove off, their newest member couldn't help but ask...
"Guren-san, You said that one of your teammates is named Zonda correct?" Tenjian questions the field leader.
"You may call me by my Persona title Gunvolt, and yes one the members of our team is a young teenager named Zonda, blonde hair and pink eyes, do you know her?" Gunvolt curiously asks.
"Your description is accurate, I'm actually a friend of her family. You might even say that she's like a sister to me." the respectable young man reveals.
'Looks like Zonda will have something to look forward to after this.' G.V. thought as they near the entrance of the tower.
Back with the assault team, they've hidden themselves in one of the Media Towers dressing rooms for either news reporters and tv actors to use as Lola is mending Acura's wound with a med-kit that only heals him for a little amount.
"We've destroyed every security camera on the floor we're on and it doesn't seem like any robot saw us entering the room, so we should be safe for a while." Nimrod points out as the group is taking a breather from climbing up every floor they've been to.
"We're also so close to the top floor where Iota is." Acura states still wincing in pain from his shoulder.
"That just means he'll have all his security bots converge in the only route up from the inside so we can't reach him without going through them." Zonda remarks as she eats a granola bar and drinks an energy drink to replenish herself slightly.
"Master Acura, Xiao has just informed me that Gunvolt's team has rescued everyone who awoke outside the Anti-Shadow Field's radius and are now headed towards the tower." Nowa announces to the assault team.
"That's great news!" Lola cheers as they'll do a much better job with the team together and not split up.
"What's more is that one of the people they rescued awakened their Persona and is now aiding us fight Sumeragi." the maid added
"Really?! That even better news!" Lola became even more excited than before.
"Another Persona-user has appeared? With how things are going we shouldn't complain that we unexpectedly have another person who wants to join our cause." Zonda states curious who this person is.
"That's great though I don't we can just wait here until they reach us." Nimrod says as gets away from one of the doors that the dressing room they're in has.
BAM
Green Sumeragi robot soldiers bursts through the door and start shooting with their laser rifles.
"Cheese it!" everyone makes a dash for the other door to exit the dressing room.
"Luminous Rain!" Iota seeing them through his robots attacks with his more powerful lasers as well.
'Still, even with all the robots guarding the entrance to where he is. It won't stop me from getting to him!' Acura thought before he makes a decision.
"It may be risky but we should split up!" he exclaims much to the others shock.
"What do you mean split up?!" Nimrod had to ask as they ran.
"Don't tell me you want to split Iota's focus so he won't be able to target us at the same time?!" Zonda realizes the Avengers intention.
"That's exactly what I'm planning! It seems that he can only conjure five swords that can shoot lasers at a time!" he managed to notice whenever they got shot by them.
"It's not the best plan in this situation but it's the only one that has a chance that at least one of you reaching Iota on order to face him in combat." Nowa analyzing their situation.
"Lola, I want you to go your own way as well!" Acura told her.
"What?! But I'm your Autonomous Combat Pod!" Lola's surprised that she has to be separate from her boss.
"Sorry Lola, but we need to do this!" he declares as they come across a hallway intersection that splits off into four different directions.
Without a second to waste the group of four go their separate ways.
Lola ended up outside being chased by Flying Drones, Zonda and Nimrod ended up going down in different floors, and Acura was the only one going up.
"I'm almost there!" Acura notifies Nowa as he burst through the double doors of the top most floor of the Media Tower.
"So you finally made it here, but without any of your teammates." Iota says as he and Acura come face to face.
"I may be by myself but it doesn't mean I won't be able defeat you!" the white haired boy declares.
"Thanks to the Glaive it took your entire party to defeat Stratos and you all barely survived your first encounter with him. What's makes you think you can take me on by yourself?" the ex-military soldier arrogantly questions.
"Why don't you transform so we can find out?" Acura points his Border at Iota but is not going to shoot just yet.
"Nova warned me of a powerful lightning wielding Persona-user called Gunvolt. You may have the ability to copy the Septima power of others but they won't be as strong as the original. A jack of all trades is a master of none. I, Iota. Sumeragi's shining Sentinel, defender of our country's glory! This tower is a gallant symbol that spreads our message far and wide... I will not be defeated by traitorous scum like you!" Iota declares as he summons his Emperor card.
"Come forth! Shadow Dragon!" a Glaive just like Stratos' appears near Iota.
Iota throws his tarot card at it in order for it to be absorbed as the jewel on its guard the line patterns glows green before grabbing the hilt.
"PERSONA!"
"THE PRIDEFUL SILHOUETTE!"
His eyes glow green before he's engulfed by a black aura with green outlines shoots upwards. When the aura dies down his Persona form his revealed to his opponent.
Iota has gained black sclera eyes with green irises and his hair becomes more spiky and turns a light green. His scar has turned glowing green as well. He wears black and grey armor with green highlights. His feet also turned into jets and his back is a white halo with detachable five swords that also double as lasers.
STRIKE!
"Light, become one with me!" his battle cry echoes throughout the room.
"Business as usual for Sumeragi. You're severely misguided." Acura says as he fire a Zio Bullet at him.
"Sumeragi is the shining light that keeps this country safe! That's why I left the military and joined up with them! All for the glory and protection of my homeland!" Iota exclaims before teleport away with a flash of light.
"Humph... Light of mine! Luminous Rain!" Iota flies around Acura placing his five detachable swords to surround his enemy with one of them even tracking the shield wielders position.
"Fire!" the five swords' blades open up to fire their concentrated lasers.
Acura who spend the majority of his time in the tower evading this attack is able to find the right position in order to avoid all of them, even the one that was tracking him.
"You must be very proud of that attack you peacock!" Acura insults considering how flashy Iota tends to be.
The five swords return to Iota's white halo(Acura makes sure he isn't in their path) as he looks down on the QUILL member with disdain.
"And you're just a copycat who doesn't have any unique skills of your own!" the light manipulator shoots back at the guy as he deflects Acura's bullets with the green plasma blades on his wrists.
"Does it really matter? As long as I can avenge my father's death, what tools I use is inconsequential! Especially to Sumeragi lapdogs like you! Hydro Zapper!" Acura summons three water orbs that shoot highly pressurized streams of water at Iota.
Iota unimpressed merely teleports out of the way.
"Traitors like you and your father will never understand. Prepare to be mesmerized... And blinded by my ultra high-speed righteous light! They say the speed of light is pretty fast! But my light is even faster!" he announces before unleashing his next attack.
He launches his five swords, two in one direction and three in the opposite, as they surround Acura.
"Be cut to shreds! Calamity Ripper!" Iota declares before teleporting out of site.
The swords then generate their plasma blades and started spinning making them look like green energy drills that are all headed towards the Avenger.
'The blades themselves are pure energy but they're still being generated by something material!' Acura thought before...
"Flash Field!" activating the Azure Striker Septima power the ten meter sphere of electricity is blocking the drills that are trying to push through to rend him to shreds.
Thankfully, all five drills were deflected as they bounce of the electric field.
"Humph, once again you prove that you'd be no match for me without copying the Septima of others!" Iota once again belittles Acura for not being anything special.
"You sure love to gloat... I'm gonna take you down!" Acura shouts as he deactivates his Flash Field.
"That's some big talk... However! You are waaay too slow, Avenger! You'll never be able to keep up with me!" Iota keeps teleporting around the large room not giving Acura any chance to counterattack.
"You just keep on gloating, don't you? Think I'm too slow? You're all flash, nothing more. Keeping up with you is a breeze!" Acura shouts as he uses his shield to block Iota's wrist blades.
"Shut your trap, traitor! By my blade of light, I will cut you down for humanities evolution!" Iota yells as he teleports out of sight again.
He reappears standing on the floor as his five swords start aiming at what's in front of him, which Acura is in the line of fire. What's more noticeable is that silhouettes of himself circle around him as he charges his lasers.
'He must be using his light manipulation to create mirages. That means he's actually aiming somewhere else!' Acura thought as he waits patiently for Iota's true whereabouts.
What he didn't expect was that Iota chose to take the position of where his mirage was and...
"You shan't escape! Judgment Ray!" he fires his five lasers in continuous beams right at Acura.
"I don't think so!" Acura evades to the side just in time.
"Naive!" Iota's then starts rotating his five lasers so that they'll cover the entire one hundred and eighty degrees spherically in front of him.
"GAAAHHH!" Acura takes a hit from one of the beams as he didn't expect that to happen.
"Just as I told you fool! You are no match for me, especially by yourself!" Iota brags as his attack ends at is in the air again.
"Heh." Acura though on the ground in pain couldn't help but chuckle a little.
"And what pray tell is so humorous? Did you finally realize the folly of you actions?" Iota questions in confusion.
"It's just that you didn't even noticed that when you were waving your lasers around... that I marked you three time." Acura answers while smirking.
"NANI?!" Iota looks at his body and indeed three lightning rod darts are attached to his armor.
"Flash Field! Zio!" three streams of electricity shoot towards Iota and electrify him.
"GRRRRRR!" Iota endures as much as he can while taking gradual damage until the darts wear off.
"Not so superior looking anymore are you?" Acura sarcastically asks as he gets up despite the pain from his injury.
"Guh! I admit that your more resourceful than I gave you credit for, but it just means that I will no longer hold back anymore!" Iota shouts as he gathers his Septima for a powerful attack.
The five swords detach from Iota's halo as they combine to form a large energy blade that glows an eerie purple before he takes the hilt.
'Some scientists in quantum mechanics believe that what we observe with our naked eyes is what actually exists, and acknowledges that 'light' is what shapes the world. Can Iota with his ability to manipulate light tear through the world/space by reducing it to zero?' Acura thought with worry.
"Even light itself, can break!" Iota prepares to swing downwards.
Blade within whose wake
Light declares us all condemned
Before we flicker out
PHOSPHORATORIUM!(Japanese Name: Light Demise Blade or Zero Blade, Mega man Zero reference)
"I don't think so! Million Eater!" Acura turns his shield into its crossbow form with yellow bowstrings and barrel as it unleashes a swarm of organic eating flies at Iota.
"IT'S USELESS!" Iota swings down as the blade shoots forth a damaging wave that creates what can only be described as dark light that destroys the entire swarm before heading straight towards Acura.
BAM
The dark light wave slashes through the windows which can be seen from the outside.
Back at the lower levels of the Media Tower, Zonda is being chased by several soldier robots.
"Zonda-san, I've lost contact with Master Acura. There's seems to be some sort of interference from the top floor." Nowa informs her as well as the other members of SHEEP squad.
"If he's on the top floor then Acura is already fighting Iota." Zonda speculates as she uses her mirror clones to destroy every robot that's attacking her.
"I hope he's okay, he's fighting someone with a Glaive after all." Nimrod punctures several sentry bots with his trident.
"If it's Acura-kun then he'll pull through somehow!" Lola still flying outside of the tower blasts every drone she sees with her P-bits lasers.
While Zonda's attention was on the soldiers firing their blaster rifles at her she didn't notice a new type of enemy that was hiding from the ceiling of the floor she's on.
One of them drops down on her and...
Slash
"GAAAHHH!" she screams in pain and also because she's very vulnerable to cutting attacks.
She looks up to see a Sumeragi robot soldier she or the others have never seen before. Its body consists of black and white armor with a red visor helmet. Instead of the standard military firearms this type is instead wielding a katana.
"Those are Assassins, Zonda! Get away from them!" Zonda's surprised that it's Xiao who spoke to her over the coms and not Nowa.
'I can't move... the pain's too much!' she thought as more Assassins join the one who attacked her.
As they're about to attack her at the same time...
"Ice Chakram!"
Several Assassins ended up getting slices to pieces by two spinning blades of ice. The surviving ones jumped backwards to get some space from the unknown assailant.
The Chakrams that are coated in ice return to the person who threw them. Zonda looks in the direction from where they came from and saw who saved her.
"Zonda! Are you alright?!" the person rushes to her side in order to protect her.
"Tenjian?! Is that you?!" Zonda asks in astonishment at seeing her honorary brother in Persona form.
"It is Zonda, Gunvolt-san and the others helped me and several others from those monsters called Shadows and now I'm repaying the favor." Tenjian states coolly while facing the Assassin robots.
"Tenjian, please be careful." Zonda worries though deep down she knows just how strong he can be.
"Of course." he simply says while drawing a sword and a sickle.
The Assassins quickly rushes towards their new target ready to slash at him with their katanas.
Ice covers both of Tenjians blades as he's able to block all of them and are now in a blade lock.
"Your programmed fighting skills are no match for one who has learned through practice and dedication! Glacial Edge!"(Single target medium slash and ice attack, from Persona Q) he manages to overpower the Assassins as he slashes at them while also freezing them in ice.
With the robots unable to move Tenjian is free to finish them off with his...
"Shadow Ice Cut!" the remaining Assassins have been reduced to nothing more than ice chunks on the floor.
"Zonda! Are you hurt?!" Lola flies in through a broken window having seen the battle.
"Yes, but I can still fight if you're wondering." Zonda replies as she gets up.
"You should go and met up with Gunvolt-san and Elise-san to get healed, they've probably already met up with your other teammate by now." Tenjian advises before rushing to the top floor.
"Tenjian, wait!" Zonda tries to follow but grunts in pain from her injury.
"Whoa! Zonda! Let's get Elise to patch you up first!" Lola grabs a hold of the rabbit girl so they can meet up with the others.
'I was just glad that my parents weren't here when the dome fell, but now I'm even more thankful Tenjian is here and on our side.' Zonda thought as she and Lola moves out.
"Dia!" Elise heals Nimrods health as soon as she and G.V. encountered him.
"Thanks, those Grenadiers sure like lobbing their explosives around!" Nimrod flexes his once injured arm no longer feeling any pain.
"Flash Field! Mazio!" Gunvolt gradually destroys every robot solder on the floor as they blow up into pieces.
"G.V., Zonda and Lola are on their way to your location. Zonda took a nasty hit but Tenjian made sure nothing else happened to her." Xiao informs as the floor was cleared of enemies.
"Roger that, you know what to do Elise." Gunvolt said to the girl.
"Hai!" she nods having no reason to disobey his command.
'Looks like Tenjian is headed for Iota by himself. I hope he can help Acura in time.' G.V. thought as Xiao warns him that more robots are converging to his location.
Back at the top floor of the tower, the destruction from Iota's ultimate attack fades away as the wave of dark light finally disappears. His massive sword deactivates as it reverts back to the five blades that made it up before returning to his halo.
"Looks like luck was on your side." he said as he's once again floating in midair.
Acura is laying flat on his stomach as the wave was above one meter from the floor and the only way he could not have gotten hit was to just dive down.
"Grrr." Acura growls under his breath as he gets up.
Despite getting hit with continuous streams of electricity and unleashing his most powerful attack Iota doesn't really seem all that winded.
"You're just a naive little kid even though you're only three years younger than myself. Did you really think you can overpower someone who went through such painful experiments in order to strengthen their Persona?" he asks as he crosses his arms.
"Someone as high and mighty as you will never understand." Acura says as he tries to keep himself standing.
"Sumeragi in their belief for the greater good, doesn't care if they trample on the lives of people. The ends justify the means, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, I've heard it all before." the high schooler said with disgust.
"While I understand that you're very upset about your father's death, you have every right to be. But sacrifices must be made so humanity can thrive and not suffer the terrible harshness that is reality!" Iota exclaims with pride.
"Their sacrifices are not yours to make!" Acura declares with own conviction.
"Nicely said! Bufula!"(Medium single target ice attack) a voice announces as a large jagged ice block hits Iota sending him backwards in the air.
Acura looks to the doorway and sees a person he's never met before and is obviously a Persona-user.
"Who are you?!" he questions though somewhat glad that this person attack Iota and not him.
"My name is Tenjian, I'm a friend of Zonda and as such is an ally of QUILL!" he introduces himself as he readies himself in a battle stance.
"Another who would defy Sumeragi? You will not live to see the next day!" Iota declares as he prepares for his next attack.
Iota's five swords detach from his halo to form a V formation as they activate their plasma blades and start spinning like drills.
"I'll cut you down! Flash Stinger!" Iota rockets towards Tenjian in order to slash him with his green plasma blades on his wrists.
"Freezing Splitting Slash!" Tejian dashes towards his incoming opponent while also leaving a trail of ice spikes behind.
Both of their blades locked as they push each other for supremacy.
"You're strong, I'll give you that! However, I'm stronger!" Jota exclaims as the energy drills head straight for them.(Iota is not stupid enough to get hit by his own attacks.)
"Don't forget about me! Flash Field!" Acura gets in between the two swordsmen and the incoming drills as he deflects them like he did earlier.
"You bastard!" Iota curses at Acura.
"Now!" Tenjian takes advantage of his distracted enemy as he breaks the blade lock.
"Get ready! Hah!" he sheathes his sword and sickle before pulling out a double-bladed sword and jump thrusts towards Iota.
"Grrr!" Iota manages to dodge out of the way as his five swords return to him.
Tenjian while in the air redirects himself as he uses one of the unbroken windows to jump back and is now above his target.
"Two halves, one slash!" he dives down ready to impale down with one half of his double-bladed sword.
"Predictable!" Iota simply teleports away before Tenjian slams down his weapon on the floor causing the ice spikes he made earlier to shatter.
The light wielding Persona-user scatters his five swords around to ready another Luminous Rain at both of his foes.
"Humph... Light of mine!"
Instead of all five firing at once they each fired their quick beams one at a time.
'This will use up most of the Septima I have, but Iota won't see it coming.' Acura thought as he and Tenjian evades four of the beams already.
The ice user throws his double-bladed sword at Iota as it spins like a buzz saw though Iota seeing it coming he merely jets out of the way.
The final laser is about to fire at Acura until...
"Makarakarn!" a reflective mirror coats his shield as the laser bounces off it and Iota gets hit with his own attack.(Tetrakarn: reflects physical attacks, Makarakarn reflects magic attacks.)
"GUH!" he grunts in surprise and pain.
He didn't get to question what just happened as like a boomerang, Tenjian's double-bladed sword hit Iota from behind dealing more damage before returning to its master.
"Very good you two, despite being more powerful than the both of you, it doesn't seem like Iota is very good at dealing with multiple opponents." Nowa was able to get a clear connection. Wonder if Iota's Septima power was making the interference.
"You knaves!" Iota curses underestimating the strength of his new opponent.
"Surrender Iota! And tell us the real reason you and Sumeragi are gathering people with the potential to be Persona-users!" Tenjian demands while pointing his sword at him.
"I will never surrender! Nova has commissioned me to find the Muse and I will not stop until I do!" Iota shouts in anger not realizing he said something he shouldn't have.
'The Muse? Is that someone's Persona?' Acura thought as Nowa managed to record that tidbit.
"Whatever goal you and Sumeragi are planning we'll stop you no matter what!" Tenjian declares as he gathers his Permafrost Septima.
"I'd like to see you try! Judgement Ray!" Iota teleports away before several miraged silhouettes of him appear all over the room as he charges his attack.
"Only one of them is real, that's what we're looking for." Acura tell his new teammate trying to discern which Iota is the real one.
'Just trying to find with sight alone won't be good enough. Maybe if I do that it will work. It's a good thing he's standing on the floor.' Tenjian thought as he puts his plan into motion.
"Permafrost!" Tenjian then uses his power to freeze the entire room's floor with slippery ice.
'What's he doing?!' Acura wonders in confusion since Iota can just fly.
It was only when he notices something from one of the mirages that he can finally see the difference.
A reflection that's being cast from one of the mirages thanks to the clear surface from the iced floor.
"There! Gorgon Gaze!" Acura's shield turns into its crossbow form with purple bowstrings and barrel as it unleashes a purple coned beam at the real Iota.
"NANI?!" Iota screams before he gets petrified and no longer able to charge his attack.
"Shadow Ice Cut!" Tenjian dashes towards the 'frozen' Iota and slashes him with his ice covered sword.
"GWAAAHHH!" Iota screams in pain once again as the attack breaks him free from stone.
"Looks like he's almost finished." Acura notes seeing his enemy struggle to get up.
"Indeed." Tenjian simply replies.
"N-no... this can be... I am the shining beacon of Sumeragi... for the country of Japan! For humanity!" Iota shouts as he glares at the two.
"You will not defeat me!" he combines his five swords into one large energy blade as he takes the hilt and raises it over him.
Blade within whose wake
Light declares us all condemned
Before we flicker out
PHOSPHORATORIUM!
"We have to stop him!" Acura yells with worry.
"There's only one way for me to do so!" Tenjian starts gathering more of his Septima as his body starts getting colder and colder.
Strike down cold petals
On a plain of perfect white
With this frosted blade
FRIGID BLOSSOM!
Tenjian jumps in the air and flash freezes Iota who was about to swing his giant dark light sword down.
"THIS CAN'T BE!" most of Iota's body is frozen in a large snowflake of ice mid-swing.
"Care to do the honors Acura-san?" Tenjian asks since the white haired boy was fighting the Prideful Silhouette first.
"Acura-kun!" Lola calls out as she and the others finally reach the top room.
"Lola, good timing. Can you help me for what I'm about to do?" Acura asks as he walks towards the actually frozen Iota.
"Sure, that's what I was created to do!" she cheerfully goes to his side.
"Looks like he's going to finish him off." Gunvolt states once again regretful that they have to kill another human being.
"I'm sorry that there's no other way G.V.." Monica says as they watch what is about to happen.
Lola brings forth all of her P-bits as they circle around Acura and Iota.
"You told me earlier that I can only copy the abilities of others. That I don't have any unique skills of my own." Acura says as he ignites his plasma blade.
Iota grits his teeth as he dreads what's to come.
"You're wrong about that Iota. I do have at least one unique skill of my own and I'll show it to you right now!"
May claws shatter chains
Of those who traipse in my wake
Begone you impure!
Shred Storm!
All the P-bits, instead of laser beam, ignites their own plasma blades as they and Acura attack Iota all at once. If one looks closely enough they would notice that the storm of slashes end up drawing the Kanji for 'Claw'.
"Ugh...! Let there be light!" was Iota's final declaration before...
BOOM
he explodes into green particles until all that remains is his Glaive which stops glowing green as cracks appear all over it before disappearing in a flash of light.
A small green particle of Sepitma then makes its way to Acura's shield before being absorbed.
"So it's over then?" Zonda asks as they all finally reunite.
"We did... and it was very exhausting." Nimrod states as his shoulder droop showing how tired he is.
"Remember to take down the broadcast guys!" Gino reminds them as it's still playing on loop.
"Roger that." G.V. walks up to the main computer and begins shutting off the broadcast and all the security of the Media Tower.
As he's working an alarm goes off signaling that something's going on.
"EEEHHH! What's going on?!" Elise screams in fright.
"Crap! It seems there are bombs rigged all over the top floor set to blow if Iota ever died!" Gunvolt figures out when going through the computer.
"Everyone! Get out of there!" Monica yells as the field team rushes to get away from the coming explosion.
"Even if we go down several floors, I don't think we'll be safe from the blast radius!" Acura suspects
"Then we have no other alternative!" Tenjian then leads the other towards the shattered windows that Iota destroyed earlier with the first time he used his ultimate attack.
"You're not planning what I think you're planning right?" Zonda questions her friend who she sees as a brother.
"I'm afraid so Zonda!" is his only reply.
"OVERSURGE!" G.V. yells as all of them jumps out the top floor that's several stories high with Lola diving down with them as the explosion occurs destroying the Anti-Shadow Field Generator and the device that was used to release the hundreds of people from stasis.
Despite all the screaming most of the Persona-users kept a leveled head when they came closer to the ground.
"I got you Acura-kun!" Lola uses the P-bit's anti-gravity field to catch him.
"The ocean is with me!" Nimrod summons a water current and catches a ride on it.
"I got you!" Tenjian catches Zonda with one arm and does the classic Iceman ice surfing to slide down safely.
"Hang on tight Elise!" Gunvolt exclaims as he's carrying her bridal style much to her delight as he uses his Flash Field to slow his descent.
'I wish this moment would last longer.' Elise thought as the entire party finally touches the ground.
"Glad you guys all made it in one piece." Xiao says in relief.
"And the missions, both the rescue and the assault, are a complete success." Nowa adds as another Sumeragi Persona-user was taken down.
"Thank goodness it's all over. By the way, where's Monica and Gino?" Zonda asks not seeing the SHEEP mobile.
"They're actually leading the people we've rescued to where the transport buses are located when not in use. There should be enough for everyone so we can safely escort them back to the academy." G.V. explains to the assault team.
A few minutes later a familiar armored vehicle approaches followed by several buses one normally sees at bus stops.
"Hey guy! Hurry up on inside!" Gino exclaims as he pulls up beside them.
"We better move on. Without the the Anti-Shadow Field, this place will be swarming with Shadows soon." Monica advises as they all enter before driving off.
Babel Tower
The main computer on Shiden Tsukuyomi's office has just informed him that Iota has perished from QUILL's assault on the Media Tower.
"Sigh, Iota, you were always so proud of yourself that you never realized that you flew too close to the sun and now you've crashed and burned." Nova mutters to himself as he saw the battle with the security cameras that was there.
"No matter, as long as we can find the Muse amongst all the people who have potential to be Persona-users then your death will have been worth it in the end." he says as he chuckles to himself since QUILL has no real chance of stopping his plans.
Anthem Academy
Everyone has made it back safely without any civilian casualties as the new refugees enter the school grounds where they will be staying for the foreseeable future.
Michiru, Ouka, Xiao, and Nowa are also there to greet the team for a job well done.
"You were amazing Acura! The way you fought the guy even when he kept shooting at you with his lasers!" the twin sister exclaims in awe.
"Wait, how do you know about that?" he asks in confusion.
"It was actually being broadcasted as it replaced Iota's speech most likely when you first reached him Master Acura." Nowa explains though with the top floors of the Media Tower destroyed, there will be no more of anything being shown on television.
"It must be Sumeragi's way of showing the people the power of Persona." Tenjian couldn't help but speculate the reason for their battle to be shown.
"I'm pretty sure those that they escorted to their headquarters will most likely be on board with whatever it is they're planning on doing with the Metaworld." Xiao comments on believing the rescued people Sumeragi took were just more conspirators to their cause.
"Let's keep a lid on it for now. In the meantime we'll help these people adjust to their new living space." Guren decides as it's pretty late now.
As the group separates with Tenjian taking the reins of leading all the responsible people who will be in charge of the refugees...
"Ouka, I'm glad that you're safe."
The teenage girl looks behind her to see the tall man wearing an expensive looking business suit with dark green hair that G.V. saved earlier.
Ouka shows a surprised look before calming down to reply...
"I'm happy that you're safe as well... father." she says with a smile though genuine it conveys several conflicting emotions.
We've defeated another one of Sumeragi's Seven Deadly Sins, though I worry about Acura's need for vengeance. If their plan requires a specific Persona-user called the Muse then we must not allow them to find him or her. I'm just glad that we have another ally to help us fight. In the meantime we all need to get stronger. Who knows what new threats await us in the future.
End of chapter
Persona User Database
Name: Iota
Persona: The Prideful Silhouette
Septima Power: Lightspeed, allows him to control photons to manipulate light, similar to how Gunvolt can manipulate electrons to control lightning.
Major Arcana: The Emperor(Reversed)
Glaive: Shadow Dragon
Resists: Hama/Light
Weak to: Mudo/Darkness
x
Name: Tenjian
Persona: The Frozen Blade
Septima Power: Permafrost, which grants him dominion over ice, which he can utilize for a variety of purposes.
Major Arcana: The Hierophant(Upright)
Resists: Bufu/Ice
Weak to: Agi/Fire
Important characters
The Fool 0(Upright): Acura Kamizono
The Empress III(Upright): Lola, Monica, Nowa, Ouka, (Gino and Xiao technically count)
The Emperor IV(Reversed): Iota(Deceased)
The Hierophant V(Upright): Tenjian
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
