Minato began to step back even before Sho got within striking range, and that pissed the redhead off to no end.
Why the Hell was he being defensive?!
Still, his advance was faster than Minato's strangely slow steps, and he finally got the bluenette where he wanted. With a grunt, he tried an upwards slash with one of his swords, but it was easily dodged.
Then, with a roar, he tried a thrust with his other sword, but Minato also sidestepped without much problem. His face didn't even change, he was still looking at him with that bored face.
Sho had enough of that. "Fight like a man, you bitch!" He joined both of his swords and spun around for a huge slash, aiming to slash that bastard in two.
But Minato simply hopped back, almost coming in contact with the wall behind him. And he didn't even say a word as he turned to the side and ran.
Outraged, the redhead gave chase.
Only to see Arisato entering one of the bathrooms.
Not like that was gonna stop him. He didn't even think twice, he was just going to ram his shoulder into that door and the blue bastard would be corne-
Minato then stabbed his sword through the wooden door.
Sho immediately halted on reaction, his face inches from the tip of the blade.
Dammit, he missed the timing. Just half a second later and that two faced son of a bitch would be getting another scar.
Well, no matter. After shaking his head in slight frustration, Minato kicked the door down, knocking it out of its frame in Sho's direction, who just hopped to the side to avoid it.
And then readied himself for Minato's charge, as he was running towards him with sword in hand, once again.
He blocked a quick swipe of his short sword, and then blocked another using the hilt of his other sword. Using the opportunity, Sho quickly tried a weird, but fast slash at his opponents mid section, and it connected, opening an unfortunately shallow wound.
Minato winced and immediately backed away as soon as he felt the strike.
He should have paid attention...
He needed a time to breathe after that, so he decided to begin zoning Sho out. Switching to Samael, he channeled a small, but condensed sphere of almighty energy on the tip of his sword and fired it at his foe, who just rolled out of the way, quick as the attack was.
Looking back, he could see the 'bullet' hole the attack left on the wall. Sho stood up to his feet and shook his head. "Wow. I sure hope your girl fights better than that, or else she's gonna get torn to pieces back in Tartarus."
"... You know what's funny?" Minato responded with a question of his own.
The redhead honestly raised a brow. What the Hell was funny?
Arisato raised his sword on a guard again. "You actually think I give a fuck." He taunted with two fingers, edging Sho to go at him.
And go at him he did.
...
"Focus!" Mitsuru yelled at the junior, making Hamuko shake her head to snap away from the thoughts. "Focus, do not die over here."
Thoughts of Minato hammered Hamuko again and again, making her clench her jaw in an effort to regain composure but it wasn't working. "Ugh, dammit..."
"I am surprised," Takaya said, holding his hands up. A blast of blue mist exploded from underneath his feet. "You actually came here without your leader..."
"Shit," Shinjiro cursed.
"This will be hard," Akihiko hissed, looking back at Yukari and Ken. "Are you two okay?"
"I-I can't fight," Yukari murmured, holding her ankle. "I think I injured my ankle..."
"Just great," Junpei took a deep breath.
"I don't think we'll be needed this time," Jin smirked, looking over at Theo and Takaya. "You guys will be enough, right?"
"Hamuko-sama is mine," Theo locked his eyes on the shivering redhead who refused to meet his gaze. Her confidence was shot. "Do not interfere."
"Oh no you don't," Junpei growled, standing in front of the female.
"Persona!" Takaya yelled.
The seniors followed suit, placing the evokers against their temple. "Persona!"
...
A slash grazed Minato's cheek as he made a bad call. Instead of ducking, he weaved to the side to avoid one of Sho's strike. He was lucky he didn't weave towards the slash, or else his head would be split open.
"Where is that fire!?" Sho demanded to know as he unleashed a barrage of slashes for the demented teenager.
Minato ducked and evaded most of them but got slashed and cut as well. Sho was surprised, Minato was able to evade these effortlessly the last time they battled but now….
The redhead ran ahead and clocked the shorter male on the face, sending Minato the ground.
"Ugh," Minato lazily stood up but didn't charge, much to Sho's annoyance
"Come on get up," Sho tried to rile him up. "Your girl is going to die."
Minato's teeth barred together. "Shut your damn mouth!"
"She's gonna die!"
"I don't give a shit!" Minato yelled, crouched down for a few seconds and took off running towards Sho. "Just shut up."
Sho crouched as well and expertly weaved his way out of Minato's slash. He was actually surprised at the ease of it as well.
Minato whipped around to continue his attack but he was far slower than before and Sho cut open his cheek again.
"Grrr," Minato growled.
"Hamuko,"
"Burn in hell!" Minato ran forward and fired dozens of sloppy slashes that were evaded with ease.
"What the hell is going on here?" Sho said as he kicked the blue haired demon to the side.
Minato got up and rubbed his face, he looked pissed but Sho could tell that he was lacking the drive. His footwork was non-existent, his slashes were sloppy and his strikes were wide open.
"I'm not kidding you fool," Sho yelled at him again. "Your girlfriend is gonna die if you don't fight back!"
Minato blew a raspberry. "Girlfriend, my ass…"
Sho blinked. Where on earth was the real Minato?
…
Shinjiro skidded backwards and made a run for Takaya again, along with Akihiko and Mitsuru. The leader of Strega was merely toying with them, shooting off elemental blasts and dodging their attacks while snickering.
"You have no chance," Takaya caught the axe in his palm.
Mitsuru aimed a slash and Takaya caught that too.
Akihiko marched forward and hit him flush on the chin but Takaya didn't budge. "What the…"
"You have no chance!" Takaya shouted and coughed out blood as he started summoning his persona again. "Norn!"
The three seniors were blasted away by the powerful wind spell. They all crashed against the walls and slid down with heavy pants. The damage was building up and Takaya wasn't even getting started.
"Shit…" Ken sobbed. "Why did I…"
Yukari growled and stood up, holding her bow again. "I-I need to fight…" she looked over at Hamuko who stood pertriefied as Theo walked towards her after he disposed of Junpei.
"Come here, Hamuko-sama," Theo gave a sadistic grin and kept his pace.
"Minato!" Hamuko couldn't help but scream for help. She looked over her shoulder, praying to God that Minato would turn up and help her but he didn't….
"…. Minato," Hamuko bit back the sobs and looked forward, only to get blasted on the face with a brutal straight that sent her crashing to the ground again.
Theo attempted to jump on her but stopped as an arrow slightly bruised his shoulder. The demented persona user turned around and screeched at the brunette who took a step back in fear.
"Ugh…" Junpei was up again but he was busted up badly. "Hamu-tan, get up…"
Hamuko wiped her eyes and used her naginata for support. "Come on, focus…" she had no idea how Minato was doing against Sho.
The seniors advanced towards the laughing leader of Strega again. "Pitiful…"
Shinjiro looked back at Ken and cursed. "Dammit…. How will we get out of here, alive…." He wondered.
Yukari gritted her teeth and shivered. She had joined the battle, with a freaking broken ankle!
"P-Persona!" Hamuko yelled, finally summoning the Lord of the underworld.
Theo whipped around with an insane smirk. "I can't sense the spirit. You will lose…"
Hades momentarily faded into static.
"Come forth!" Theo yelled and Hamuko swallowed the lump in her throat.
…
Minato was still on the defensive, getting cut up and caught on the wrong end of Sho's fists. Still sloppy and demotivated, Minato barely avoided the slash to his vital points and despite winning, Sho was getting pissed.
"Attack me you fool!" despite his taunts, Minato was contend with staying on the defensive, until…
"Hamuko!"
"Piece of shit!" Minato charged at him again, only to get knocked backwards with a cut to his chest and elbow to his nose.
"M-Minato-kun," Fuuka was still there, shivering and almost sobbing. Minato was losing while Sho wasn't even breaking a sweat.
"Shut up!" Minato yelled in rage as Sho walked him down again.
The two clashed swords again with Sho easily taking the advantage and busting the shorter mal up with short punches that made Minato hack out blood.
Sho cut open his legs and spun around with a kick right to his head, knocking Minato backwards again.
"This feels so…" Sho whispered to himself as he saw Minato getting up again, lazily and nonchalantly. "Empty…" he wanted the goddamn demon that took him to limit. This version of Minato was weak and pathetic.
"You are a fool!" Pharos' demonic voice rang inside Minato's head. "You stupid mortal…"
"…" Minato kept quiet and tried to heal the wound on his leg. He was getting busted up but he was trying this best. "Grrr…"
"No, I don't need that bitch to fight my battles," Minato said to himself. "I can win on my own!"
"Come on, you idiot," Sho shouted. "Give me the thrill. I want that demonic son of a bitch who kicked my ass before!"
"He's still here…" Minato responded.
"No he isn't!" Sho replied. "You are nothing but a weakling."
"…" Minato shook his head and ran forward again. Sho studied his charge, gone was the speed, the explosiveness and mean streak, he was just sprinting forward like he was on a track-field.
Sho blocked his blade and brought it down to gaze at Minato's face. "Tsk…"
Minato growled in return.
"Your woman is in danger!" Pharos blared into his psyche but Minato ignored him and pressed forward.
"Tsk…" Sho shook his head and readied himself for another duel.
…
Theo grabbed a hold of Hamuko's ponytail and dug his fist up her gut, drawing out a pained scream that music to his ears.
"Amazing…" the male cackled with malice, hitting her on the gut again.
"Let her go!" Junpei ran forward.
Hamuko tried to struggle away but Theo nailed her on the gut one more time and tossed her right into the oncoming teen. The two friends crashed together and collapsed to the ground.
"Ugh…" Junpei groaned. "How in hell did Minato compete with these two…"
"I hope he comes…" Hamuko said, rubbing her gut. They had been battling for quite a while and still there was no sign of Minato.
"I-Is he alright?" Hamuko wondered, shaking and panting when she thought of the battle between him and Sho.
"Concentrate!" Junpei shoved her away from a fireball and scampered away to avoid one himself.
Theo walked through the flames with a smirk on his face. This was too easy. With no blue haired demon around, he was free to do as he pleased. "Where is he, I wonder…" still, he couldn't help but wonder.
Yukari helped Hamuko up and winced in pain.
Theo stopped walking and turned his attention towards Ken who froze in fear.
"Ken!" Shinjiro ignored the burns over his body and ran ahead as Theo charged for the child.
"Very well, you may kill him too," Takaya allowed and blasted Akihiko backwards with another gust of wind.
"We're losing…" Mitsuru cleaned the blood from her face and bit her lip. Even without Sho, Strega was several times stronger.
Shinjiro intercepted the attack and took the punch on his face, saving Ken from Theo.
Theo growled as Junpei tried his hardest to slash him in two but all he got was a shallow wound. "Pathetic…"
Hamuko pulled on her bangs and stood up. "Come on…" she looked towards the steps. "Come on Minato, please…"
"Persona!" Takaya summoned.
"Come forth!" Theo called upon his persona gain.
"All of them are dead," Jin snickered. "This is the end. Minato is the last one…"
"Yeah," Tsukio grinned. "Shall we join in as well? We won't get them again after tonight…"
Jin pulled out a grenade as Tsukio faded into the darkness. "Very well…"
Shinjiro got clocked several times on the gut, making the beanie clad teenager drop to a knee. "K-Ken, run.." he managed to get out.
"S-Shinjiro-san…" Ken wiped his eyes.
Theo blasted Shinjiro away again and aimed a stomp for Ken, looking to end his life.
"Ugh.." Shinjiro recovered just in time and tackled Ken away, taking the stomp on his back. "Ahhh!" he yelled out in utmost pain. Time was ticking, his body was growing weaker and weaker.
Tonight was the destined time….
"Dammit," Shinjiro took a hard kick to the gut and rolled over.
Junpei jumped onto Theo's back, trying to choke his neck but Theo easily reversed and crashed him against the wall. Junpei slid down and was cracked on the head by a knee that dropped him to the ground, his forehead busted open.
"…" Shinjiro looked over at his teammates.
Akihiko and Mitsuru were getting assaulted by Jin, Takaya and Tsukio.
Hamuko was getting hammered by Theo was taking glee in hurting her and making her scream.
Yukari was practically useless as she couldn't move.
"Damn it all," Shinjiro stood up again and looked at Ken who was cowering. "You'll get out alive…" he turned back to his foes and ran head first again. "Somehow, I promise…"
"Shinjiro-san…." Ken couldn't believe it. He was fighting for someone who tried to take his life.
More pained shouts and screeches came forth for the members of SEES as they got absolutely devastated by the stronger members of Strega and with Tsukuo and Jin joining, the numbers caught to them and Strega started breaking their bones with brutal and remorseless attacks.
Hamuko paused and ignored the flow on blood down her temple. Her friends were dying…. "No…"
Junpei screamed.
Akihiko yelled.
Everyone cried out in pain.
"M-M-Mina…" Hamuko held in the sobs. All of them were going to die because Minato wasn't here.
"Minato!" she yelled on the top of her lungs, catching Takaya's attention who kicked Mitsuru away and walked forward, right for Hamuko.
"Ah," Takaya gave a sick smile, pulling out his revolver. "No, he isn't coming…"
"He will!" Hamuko shouted in reply, gripping her weapon.
"Sho might have killed him already,"
Hamuko gritted her teeth and ran forward.
Takaya grinned and aimed the barrel for the charging redhead who was slow and flat-footed, unlike last time. "Everything ends tonight."
"Hamuko!" Yukari yelled on the top of her lungs as Takaya unloaded a bullet.
"BANG!"
Hamuko stooped in her tracks as the bullets passed mere inches away from her. "…" it passed right alongside her cheek, opening up a massive bruise.
"Huh…" Hamuko's brain was rattled due to the sickening sound of the gun. She dropped to the ground, holding her cheek which was gushing out blood.
Takaya smirked and lowered his gun, slowly walking towards the defenceless redhead. "This is over…"
"…" Hamuko glanced at her bloodied hand blankly. He was right, this was the end...
Shinjiro got up again, his body felt like it was a hundred years old at this point. "Damn pills…" he growled. He reached into his pocket, hoping to pull some more pills out and prolong his life for a few more minutes but instead, he touched something else… "Huh…"
...
More brutal strikes and slashes only made Sho angrier as Minato returned with half-assed shots or dodged them lazily. His head wasn't in the game.
Minato started to pant, blood was gushing down his body but still… the pain, the hate, the urge wasn't enough. He was lacking something.
"Hamuko, think of her!" Pharos urged him.
"She can burn in hell," Minato spat, much to the boy's anger.
"You absolute bastard!" Pharos yelled into Minato's head who cringed because the shout was horrific.
Sho didn't even think to stop. He summoned his persona and it shrouded the whole area in darkness. "Don't blink..." He said as he faded into the black.
Minato didn't worry, however, and stood his guard, his sword lower than before. His old stance, in fact. He didn't know why he eased into it, but he didn't care at the moment.
"Minato-kun, I can sense him on you-"
"I do not need your help!" Annoyed by Fuuka's voice in his mind, Minato slashed the air in front of him out of rage as he tried to cut connection to her voice. That took concentration, though, so he decided against it.
But the girl shut up so all was well.
…
Shinjiro got up and called the team together. All of them were on death doors and Strega was fresh as ever.
Shinjiro reached into his pocket and smirked slightly. "That blue haired asshole…"
Minato killed the shadow with ease and pulled his sword out before wiping it clean on Junpei's shirt.
"Hey!" the capped teen yelled and ran off.
"Fool," Minato spat. "Keep quiet or you'll be next..."
"Nice kill," Shinjiro complimented.
"Learn from the master," Minato crouched down and began to search in the remains of the shadow. "Huh…
"Found something?" Shinjiro asked.
"Yeah," Minato stood up and eyed the green gem in his grip. "Something useless as fuck."
"…"
"You keep it up," he shoved the gem into Shinjiro's hand who frowned. "You're welcome." Minato snorted and walked forward. "Come on, the other wusses are in trouble— Oh shit! Hamuko!" he shouted and ran off.
"Heh," Shinjiro smirked and pocketed the gem. "Asshole…"
Shinjiro snapped out of the memory and ignored the blood going into his eyes. "Guys…" he whispered. "I can give you two minutes…"
"What are you talking about?" Hamuko asked, blinking.
Shinjiro eyed the members of Strega who were advancing. "That's all I have in me…" he walked forward.
"Shinji…" Akihiko caught the gem and yelled. "What the hell are you doing!?"
"The right thing," Shinjiro replied, not looking back and his hold around the gem only increased. "I don't have much longer to live…"
"No!" Yukari yelled. "Senpai, you can't…"
"Heh," Shinjiro looked back at Ken. "You've got a long life ahead of you, Ken."
The child just sobbed in reply, shaking his head.
"Shinji, don't do it…" Akihiko's voice cracked and Strega came closer and closer.
"Time to end this circus," Takaya nodded, summoning his persona again. Jin readied his grenade and Tsukio gripped her blades.
"Tell Minato I said thank you," Shinjiro walked forward. "Run, run as fast as you can. Don't disappoint me…"
"Senpai…" Hamuko sniffed.
"We can work this out!" Mitsuru shouted. "Don't do anything rash…"
Shinjiro held up the gem. "2 minutes, that's all I have…"
"…" the team remained quiet, not bothered by Strega who was dangerously close.
"This is how it should be…." Shinjiro whispered and took his stance.
Akihiko ran forward but Shinjiro was far quicker. He cracked the gem right next to the team's feet and green mist exploded out of the gem, swirling around the members of SEES.
"Shinj-" Akihiko's voice faded and the last thing Shinjiro head was an anguished cry that rattled his brain but this was no time to dwell on that.
Shinjiro took a deep breath and ran forward, heading straight for his death. Strega fired and Shinjiro got clipped, blasted and burned but he kept rushing with his eyes close.
"Heh…" Shinjiro's flesh was getting blasted off but he smiled. He knew his friends were safe. "Hahaha…" he coughed out blood and ran for Strega again who repeatedly fired bullets and spells over and over again.
… Until the end.
…
Caught up in his thoughts, Minato was caught off guard by Sho appearing right in front of him. Intending to have his strike parried or block, he tried a slash at Aristo's chest, which torn the skin and drew blood.
Blinking once because of how easy that was, he tried to follow up with a thrust to his heart. "Bleed, stupid motherfucker!"
Minato had to catch using his free hand lest it hit its target. He did his best to ignore the pain and tried to be faster than his opponent's second sword by slashing at his face.
Sho was indeed planning to follow up, and was countered by the blade slashing his face, mere centimeters under his eye. He was sent staggering back, but soon regained his composure as Minato stared him down.
The devil surely was different. In any other circumstance, he'd have seized the opportunity and rushed him down without mercy.
What crawled up his ass that day?
He went back to the shadows and disappeared once more. Minato thought for a brief moment and switched to Alice, who appeared and raised a Maragidyne around himself, as if trapping himself in a ring of fire.
He'd seen what Sho could do before, and that was the only answer he thought possible for the redhead to take.
Surely enough, his enemy appeared coming down from the ceiling aiming an overhead slash with both swords to split him in half.
Minato hopped backwards out of the ring of fire, avoiding the slash and leaving Sho inside of it.
... Oh shit!
Sho tried to disappear again, but Minato was quick to close his hand and close the fire around the younger swordsman, leaving him to scream and burn.
Minato couldn't help but crack a laugh at the sight before him, as the darkness dissipated and Sho screamed in pain.
... Pain?
That was starting to seem like rage, all of a sudden.
"Raaagh!" Charred and smoking, Sho charged out of the tower of flames, much to Minato's surprise.
He couldn't react to his mad dash and found a sword piercing his mid section.
Roaring all the way, Sho pushed him all the way to the wall, and then put his other sword through the blue devil's abdomen.
"You're not fighting! Why are you not fighting?!"
Minato didn't say a word. Only coughed blood.
"Your bitch is there, fighting for her life, and because of that I came here to see if you were gonna give me a fight, but you're worth shit! You can't even swing your sword straight, you're just using those cowardly excuses for attacks!"
Still no response.
"I could be there, torturing your friends, but no, here I am wasting my time on you, you pathetic piece of shit!" He blared the last words into Minato's face as he twisted his swords.
Minato was not going to scream, but his vision surely began to blur. "Fuck you..." He said, before spitting blood into Sho's face.
"I'm gonna kill you slow, you bastard. You're not worth shit..." Sho replied.
Just when he was about to finish the wounded persona user off, Fuuka shrieked in surprise and people came rushing into the dorm.
"Oh shit!" Junpei cried. Sho was standing over a bloodied and injured Minato.
"Tch, they survived?" Sho couldn't believe it. The team was back. They were on death doors but they managed to survive the beating.
"Minato!" Hamuko yelled out in worry and Minato hissed in irritation.
Sho backed away and a vortex of darkness surged underneath his feet. "You disappointed me, Arisato," Sho spat. "You're worthless to me now…"
"Grr," Minato growled as the redheaded male disappeared. The blue haired teen looked at the rest and they all looked heart-broken, tears streaming down their bloodied faces.
... Shinjiro wasn't with them.
"Minato!" Hamuko hurried over to him and helped him stand.
Minato's rage surged and all the memories of Hamuko ordering him around flashed before his eyes. "Get away from me, you worthless fool!" the blue haired teen spat, shoving Hamuko away to the surprise and shock of everyone.
Hamuko widened her eyes and slipped to the ground in pain and surprise. Blood started gushing down her cheek again and tears welled up in her eyes as she shakily held Minato's heated gaze.
"M-Minato," she whispered.
Minato sized her from head to toe. There was a massive wound on her cheek and several other ones over her body. She was in bad condition but Minato couldn't bring himself up to giving a shit…
"Takaya hurt me…" Hamuko said as the rest stood speechless. "He gave me another scar…"
"…" Minato stood up and shook his head, giving the redhead another deadly glare. "Fight your own battles, bitch!" he spat.
Hamuko widened her eyes. Everything was over.
Minato stared her down with vengeance and Hamuko have no idea what to do anymore.
The two locked gazes and the Dark Hour ended but the darkness and depression remained.
"…"
Raidou : Hello. Raidou, here. Hope you guys liked the chapter, cause that Sho battle was unusual to me. I dislike using 'motherfucker' when I write, but that reference had to be made. :P In other news, did you guys know this has an ongoing sequel? And that it's the second arc of a four act huge plot? You probably didn't, because the writer does little to help his co writers when they need it. õ_õ Nah, I'm kidding.
Thank you for the praise so far. Hope you keep enjoying the story.
But really, the part about the huge plot is true. The direct sequel and the final episode are ongoing, the sequel is called Persona 4: Chaos Within, and the last episode is called The End Of The Line. Anyways enough advertising. I feel like you could hide this An by turning ADBlock on. :P Thanks for the read, drop the crrritiques below in the review box... see ya next chapter.
Nightly7 : and Shinjiro goes out in an absolute badass blaze of glory. Sad but the show must go on. And Minato got his ass kicked sideways and backwards and the ending... sheesh, these two are the definition of star crossed lovers, they just can't catch a break from complications and problems, poor fellas.
Sorry to the guest who requested the chapter last night. :P it took a while to get the plan and placement going but I hope it worth it and you enjoyed this.
I couldn't put the entire battle of SEES vs Strega because it was so one sided so glimpses worked. I hoped you enjoyed it and as always, thanks to my co-authors, especially Raidou as he really helped me this time. He wrote some parts and I wrote others, we have a little different styles but I think it blended in well, right?
We love you guys right back! \o/ (love the reviews and feedback more) hahaha we kid... Thank you for the reviews and praise, keep reviewing and showing support and you shall receive. Thanks a ton again. Blood Lust is gonna see the end, I assure you.
See you guys later!