Minato barely pushed himself off the ground to avoid the downward fist of Zeus. "Ugh…" he stumbled backwards, flailing his arms to regain his balance. "SHIT!"
Takaya smirked and ordered Zeus to charge up another attack.
Minato clutched his head and stumbled around, trying to fight off the numbness in his skull, along with the numbness and blurry vision. The sucker-punch managed to give him one hell of a concussion.
Still dazed from the monster punch, Minato was struck right in the middle of his chest with a brutal bolt of lightning that sent the blunet soaring in the opposite direction.
Minato crashed back-first into a wall before slowly sliding down while holding onto his throbbing head. "Dammit…." he punched the ground a few times and stood up.
Takaya made his persona disappear and he marched forward with a smirk. "See? I told you. It was only a matter of time…"
"I'm still standing," Minato growled. "This isn't over by a long-shot."
"Not for long," Takaya responded and started chucking more bolts for the dazed persona-user.
Minato saw double due to concussion and was mostly electrocuted by the blasts that were starting to burn his body. Withstanding the punishment, Minato broke into a run for the taller male. Standing at range wasn't going to do anything.
Takaya leaned back to avoid the lunging right that grazed his cheek.
"Ugh," Minato grabbed his throbbing temple and fired off another punch that missed Takaya once again.
"Too slow," Takaya spat and slapped the younger male right across the face.
"…" Minato felt the sting of the slap but the insult was far greater. The irate blunet lost his focus and started firing off several sloppy haymakers to take Takaya's head off.
Takaya smirked and easily weaved his way through the shots before finally replying with his own punch that sent the shorter male stumbling over the place.
Minato rested himself against the wall and let out a deep breath. He was seeing double again. Fighting like that wasn't going to do him any favors but he had no choice.
Standing up once again, Minato widened his eyes at the charging Olympian that was headed straight for him.
Minato scowled and quickly summoned Samael to counter.
The two personae crashed together in the middle of the floor and the massive thunder God easily took the advantage over Minato's personae, reducing the winged serpent to ashes before electrocuting Minato once more.
Minato screamed out loud but it was easily washed away by the insane laugh of the platinum blonde persona-user.
…
"Come on, woman," Sho couldn't help but smirk as Hamuko struggled to stand. "Don't tell me this is the end."
Hamuko cringed due to throbbing pain in her fresh wound. The redhead leaned slightly on her blade but jerked her head over, telling Sho that she wasn't done.
Sho rushed forward and starting the assault with his three swords.
Hamuko looked up and barely avoided the first swing that opened up a cut right next to her eye. She quickly gained distance but Sho closed it within seconds and started firing off more slashes
"Ugh," Hamuko narrowly avoided the blade to her vital organs but the tip of the swords managed to rip through a good chunk of her flesh and the relentless pressure from Sho didn't help at all. The scarred male constantly pressed forward, not giving the female a second to breathe or think.
A foot-thrust from Sho planted Hamuko to the ground and she quickly rolled away to save her neck. Sho followed her and crashed his foot right up her gut, lifting Hamuko off the ground and knocking the breath out of her lungs.
Hamuko pushed herself off the ground and regrouped just a few yards away from Sho who was still smirking.
"See?" Sho shook his head. "Don't see the 'deep' bond helping you from this ass-kicking."
"…"
"In-fact, that deep bond is the reason you are on death doors," Sho spat. "Fool, you turned your back on your enemy just because of him."
Hamuko cleaned her face with her sleeve and took a deep breath to calm down. The gnarly wound on her back already worsened the three scars from earlier but now was not the time to dwell on that.
Minato needed help. Her friends behind her needed help.
Hamuko rolled her shoulders and told Sho to come at her again.
The redhead male obliged and went back to his relentless offense, forcing Hamuko on her back foot.
Hamuko grabbed the hilt with both of her hands and tried to parry the three blades as much as she could but the pace and power was simply too much for her. Even when she managed to block one, the next two managed to cut her and leave her defense open which Sho took advantage of by repeatedly kicking her gut to further sap her energy.
Sho and Hamuko clashed blades and the force sent the female skidding backwards.
Hamuko rushed forward and quickly blocked the next two blades with the third narrowly missing her face. She pulled back and kicked the incoming male in the stomach that forced out a small hiss of pain.
Sho shook the pain away and locked his sight on her legs. Her kicks were annoying to handle and surprisingly powerful.
Hamuko jumped over the blade and ran into a closes fist that knocked her to the ground.
Sho closed in and aimed a thrust for her head.
Hamuko panicked and blocked it by using her bare-hand.
The blade was sent slicing through her hand and the female yelled out in utmost pain with the sword jammed in the middle of her hand.
"Heh…" Sho snorted.
…
Yukari was forced to endure the pain and fight in range without her bow. She was able to keep Tsukio at range with her arrows but without those, Tsukio was easily able to close in and gash her up with knives.
Yukari didn't know how to punch or kick and she surely didn't know how to use a sword like the rest. Not to mention, her one arm was entirely useless and Tsukio repeatedly took advantage of that by stomping and punching the wound.
"Ugh," the brunette looked at Mitsuru from the corner of her eye and groaned. At least she was safe….
A closed fist strike from Tsukio sent Yukari staggering backwards.
"Crap!" Yukari sidestepped the forward dash and clutched her wounded sides.
Tsukio turned around and licked the blood on her knife with a smirk. "I told you. This is the end for you assholes."
Junpei swung wildly with his longsword and each swing missed Jin by a mile.
"You bastard!" Junpei lost his focus and ran ahead upon seeing that infuriating smirk.
Jin chuckled and tossed a grenade that the capped teen deflected with his sword.
Junpei stopped and the color drained away from his face when a familiar cursed circle spawned underneath his feet. He quickly looked back at Ken and jumped out of the zone, only to jump face-first into a metal briefcase.
Junpei yelled and finally clocked the bespectacled male on the face.
"Ugh," Jin replied with another briefcase shot that rocked Junpei.
"Hermes!" Junpei flailed around and summoned his persona in desperation. The messenger of Gods quickly streaked ahead with his metal talons.
Jin sidestepped the charge but the tip managed to gash his side and ignite his body just from the little contact.
Junpei tried to take a rest but another grenade forced him to defend himself. "What the!" he looked ahead and saw his foe standing calmly in the flames, not bothered a bit by the intense heat.
Jin dispelled the flames and sent a torrent back at Junpei who endured the attack but took some damage, unlike his foe.
"This isn't working…." Junpei muttered. Things took a turn for the worst when Fuuka announced that Minato was in trouble and even now, he couldn't help but worry about his leader. What on earth was Takaya was doing to him? That bastard wasn't even human anymore and Minato was fighting him all alone.
Akihiko skidded and came to a halt against the ground. He quickly scampered to avoid the incoming bullets as Aigis kept stalking forward.
Akihiko briefly rubbed the wound on his leg and cursed his luck. That little bullet just had to hit his leg. Movement was important against someone as strong as Aigis because just standing in front of her wasn't going to do shit.
Putting more weight on his busted leg, Akihiko shot ahead.
Aigis blocked the flurry of punches and returned fire with her metallic fist that buckled Akihiko's knees. The boxer quickly moved out of the way of another punch and dug his fist into the android's cheek.
Aigis turned her face against his knuckles and unloaded another bullet from her other hand.
Akihiko grunted as the bullet grazed his shoulder, making him back off. "SHIT!" he yelled and jumped out of the way or more bullets.
Aigis kept her eyes locked on the retreating senior and kept firing bullet after bullet. Akihiko was already starting to slow down due to the wound on his leg and it was only a matter of time.
"Fuck this," Akihiko spat and shot himself with his evoker.
Aigis stopped firing and barely dodged the incoming bolt of electricity.
Akihiko sprinted and clocked her on the face again, sending her staggering but she quickly regained focus and grabbed the male by the throat.
"Ugh," Akihiko grunted and started firing off more uppercuts nonstop to break the hold.
Aigis released the grip due to the building damage.
"Do not stop, you piece of trash!" Jin snapped at her.
"Tch," Akihiko blew on his knuckles. Hell, even punching Aigis was painful.
"Activate Orgia Mode!" Jin ordered.
"Oh shit!" Akihiko cursed and looked back at Aigis to see the familiar glow from inside her body. "Dammit, we need a miracle here…"
…
Minato avoided the blazing fist of Takaya and dug a knee up his gut, drawing out a small grunt of pain. His concussion was fading away little by little but he was still having a hard time trying to find balance.
Takaya wrapped his other fist in thunder and aimed another shot for Minato's already mangled face.
Minato was barely grazed by the fist but the volts easily reached into his body, sending another painful jolt up his system.
Minato shoved Takaya away and switched personae to cancel out the volts. The leader of SEES surged forward before Takaya could think of launching another attack.
Takaya grunted and was forced to defend himself as Minato got in close range. His best option was to keep Minato at range, as much as he hated to admit it, Minato was far stronger physically.
Minato lunged at Takaya and grabbed a hold of his waist before pushing forward and driving the taller male against the wall.
Takaya struggled and starting biting and clawing his skin to break free.
"Ugh," Minato shoved him against the wall and postured up before firing off elbows and punches for his chest and gut.
Takaya took a few shots and shoved him away but Minato came right back and punched his face into a wall.
Takaya kicked his gut and made a run for the other side but Minato caught up and grabbed a hold of his waist again, this time from behind.
The blunet was easily able to manhandle Takaya and suplexed the bastard backwards, making him land head-first on the ground with an echoing thud.
Minato quickly crawled away to avoid the spreading flames that Takaya shot out of desperation. "His magic is insane…" he panted. "He was nothing like this the last time I beat the shit out of him."
Takaya stood up and dispelled the flames. "Surprised, are we?"
"I don't know what you did but you sure are happy, huh?" Minato spat. "You managed to be like me, you can finally summon multiple personae. You did it, congrats but you fucked yourself up in the long run."
"Fucked myself up?" Takaya chuckled. "Need I remind you, I am immortal, outward appearance doesn't matter when I destined to live forever."
"You know that first-hand, Minato," Takaya smirked.
"Fuck that," Minato spat out blood and raised guard. "Come on, a weakling is always a weakling."
Takaya growled.
"You are all alone," Minato spat and drew his evoker again, pressing the device against his forehead.
"I have all that I need!" Takaya laughed and Minato lunged at him again.
The two started to grapple against the wall with Minato easily manhandling and tossing the weaker male around but Takaya was able to stay in the struggle and kept burning, freezing and electrocuting the shorter persona-user at close range.
"Ugh!" the two grunted in pain and punched each other across the face.
Takaya was knocked to the ground with Minato hovering over him.
Minato rubbed the nasty burn on his face and scowled. "You'll pay for that…"
…
Hamuko panted but like usual, Sho responded with relentless pressure and his three swords attack which forced the female to defend and fight with the building exhaustion.
Putting all her weight into her leg, Hamuko jumped over low swipe and kicked Sho hard on the shoulder.
"Little bitch!" Sho spat and chased her around but Hamuko kept moving, stay away from his range. "Stand there and fight!"
Hamuko bobbed her way out another slash and kicked his shoulder again.
"Argh," Sho gave her another cut for her troubles but Hamuko was swift enough to dodge the follow-up. She locked her eyes on the shoulder and hammered the joint with a sharp side-kick that made Sho lessen the grip around his blade.
The scarred male shook his head and surged forward, blasting Hamuko with a sickening head-butt that busted her head open.
Hamuko reeled from the blow and follow up kick buckled her again. She quickly brought her sword forward to block the incoming one. "Ugh!" how on earth was Minato able to keep up with Sho?
Hamuko kicked Sho right on the face but he came right back and grabbed a hold of her ankle.
"Tch," Hamuko kicked him on the face with her other foot.
Sho fought through the pain and smashed her knee brutally against the ground.
Hamuko yelled out once more and kicked his face again, getting a much-needed breather. "…" this was insane. Her body was cut up in various places and her movement was restricted due to the knee injury but still….
"Come on," Hamuko hopped a few times, trying her best to ignore the pain in her knee.
"Are you insane?" Sho rolled his eyes. "Look at yourself woman, you are finished."
"And your boyfriend is probably dead right now," Sho said. "I thought he could beat Takaya but nah, he was still a weakling in the end."
"Minato is not dead," Hamuko replied and smirked. "I can still sense my bond with him…"
Sho frowned in annoyance. That was intentional. "Bonds don't add to your power. They just add to stupidity. Just like Minato, moron rushed into Tartarus all because of his bonds. Pathetic."
"We'll see about that," Hamuko glanced at her other friends. "We're in a pinch but we're going forward because of each other…."
"Silence!" Sho ran for her again.
Hamuko pulled back on her sword and blocked the twin-blades.
"Ugh," the collision pushed her backwards and the third place cut through her shoulder, spilling more of her blood.
"I gotta keep moving," Hamuko whispered and went back to dodging and parrying his three-swords. Every collision rattled her but she held on and fought back, despite getting gashed and kicked repeatedly.
"I gotta finish this…" Hamuko bit her lower lip. "I have to help them…"
Yukari took the punch on her face and gasped. "I have to help them."
Junpei endured another grenade and took a deep breath. "They need my help…"
Akihiko was repeatedly getting clipped by bullets and Aigis was beating him to the punch but the boxer still had one goal in his mind, much like the rest. "They need my help… I have to finish this…"
Mitsuru briefly looked up and saw her team-mates, her friends taking a beating. Strega was doing a number on them but despite getting repeatedly knocked down; they kept getting up again and again.
For each other.
And for her, no doubt.
"I feel so…" Mitsuru murmured, still curled up against the dead body of her parent. Minato was in trouble too, Fuuka had informed everyone but still, she couldn't move under the weight at all.
"So powerless," Mitsuru chewed on her bottom lip as she went over the battles again.
Hamuko was getting beaten.
Yukari was getting beaten.
Junpei was getting burned.
Akihiko was taking punches and bullets.
"Just lying down seems so easy…." Mitsuru breathed out and looked down at her father. "F-Father…. What would you have asked of me…?" she wondered and looked up at the skies again.
Ikutsuki had tricked them. He was with Strega all along.
He tricked them and gave them false hope.
That bastard also took away her father.
And now, Strega was going to take away her friends…
"I can't move…." Mitsuru shivered and hung her head with tears streaming down her face. "Help… Me…"
"Senpai!" Yukari shoved Mitsuru yet again from another knife thrust and sent the redhead skidding away.
Mitsuru heard the follow-up scream from the brunette and broke down again.
She stood mortified in the most crucial hour; it was like she was giving her friends away to Death.
"Curse it all…" Mitsuru sobbed.
…
Minato jumped away from another wind cyclone and broke into a run for the bastard again.
Takaya took a few steps back and unleashed a wave of hell-fire hoping to halt his movements but Minato merely crossed his arms and ran through the wall, not slowing down a bit.
"Just die already," Takaya lost his temper and started hurling more elemental spells for the charging blunet.
Minato took the damage and finally closed the distance. "You first!"
Takaya ran off to avoid his grip and Minato chased after him. "Let me get my hands on you."
Takaya twirled around and fired off more bullets that hit him directly on the chest, infuriating the blue haired demon. Growling, Minato gave him another chase and this time, he finally managed to catch Takaya by his hair.
Takaya was roughly pulled back and ran right into Minato's fist who started kicking and punching his gut, forcing out blood and saliva from his mouth.
Minato shoved him against the wall and started hammering the back of his head against the structure, as hard as he could.
Takaya concentrated and unleashed another powerful whirlpool of almighty energy that crashed into Minato.
"Ugh," Minato remained in the vortex of energy and glared Takaya down.
"How can you…" Takaya widened his eyes. Minato was still standing in the strong vortex of energy even with the wounds spreading all over his body. The pain was evident in his features but he was refusing to run away.
"Fuck. You!" Minato shouted and expelled his own blast of purple energy that collided into the raging maelstrom around him.
The place began to rumble and Takaya started to pant. Minato was still holding him against the wall by his hair and his glare was still piercing his soul, despite everything that was raging around him.
The numerous wounds on his face which was stretched into a devilish glare only made him more terrifying.
"W-What are you…?" Takaya asked.
Minato responded by clocking him on the face as the two attacks finally exploded and ripped into their bodies with brutal force, blowing both of the persona-users away.
"Ugh," Minato collided against the wall and quickly stood up to observe the carnage. "Damn…" the floor was decimated with streams of lava here and there.
Takaya was having trouble getting up and Minato was having trouble getting his breath. Exhaustion was taking over his body and the collision only brought back the symptoms of the concussion.
"Fuuka…" Minato whispered the name.
"Yes, Minato-kun!?" Fuuka nearly shouted into his mind.
"I need your help…" Minato cracked his neck and looked around the floor. He quickly located the steps just a few yards away from his current position.
Fuuka went silent for a few seconds. Minato was openly asking for help, he had never asked for her help before. Heck, he told her to shut up when she offered him help.
"Anything, Minato-kun," Fuuka responded. "Please tell me."
"Is the structure unstable today?" Minato asked.
"Yes it is," Fuuka responded.
"Excellent," Minato looked ahead to see Takaya resting against the wall. Attacking him right now would be easy but then again…. "Guide me, will you?"
"You can count on me," Fuuka responded. "I'll do my best."
"Good," Minato cleared his throat and shouted. "Pick your sorry ass up, you piece of shit."
Takaya scowled and got up using the wall for support. He was fully expecting Minato to charge at him again but instead, Minato merely flipped him the birds and took off running towards the staircase.
The leader of Strega hesitated but eventually gave the blunet chase. There was nothing to worry about, why was he worried? Minato was just a mortal while Takaya was a God who just could not die.
Takaya took a deep breath and followed the blunet up the steps.
Minato stepped onto the floor first and he ran off to wait for the mutant bastard.
Takaya came up next and wearily glanced around the floor to spot the blunet. "Tch, there is no use hiding…"
"Hm…" Minato waited behind the wall, just a few yards behind Takaya.
"Attacking like this…." he mused. "Fuuka, where are the steps?"
"At the far end of the floor," Fuuka responded. "Take the first left and then go straight."
Minato listened to her and rushed past Takaya to slap him on the back of his head.
Takaya stumbled forward and looked ahead to see his retreating frame headed towards the other side of the floor. "So, Minato is finally resorting to hit and run huh?" he was a coward after all.
Minato didn't give a shit about his tactics. Everything was fair in love and war.
He had to kill Takaya to help Hamuko and his friends. There was nothing cowardly about that.
Takaya gave him chase and the two headed up another floor.
Minato stopped when darkness greeted his vision. "Fuuka, tell me of his location as soon as he heads here."
"Of course," Fuuka responded.
Minato summoned a small blaze around his fist and went hiding behind a nearby wall. As soon Takaya arrived, Minato dispelled the flames and waited.
The leader of Strega hissed in annoyance and quickly summoned a small ember into his hand, just like Minato wanted.
"I know where you are…" Minato smirked. "But you don't…"
"The staircase is very nearby," Fuuka informed. "There are no other barriers between you and Takaya."
"Good job," Minato slithered his way forward quietly, his eyes focused on the little bit of light coming from Takaya's fist.
Takaya was finding it hard to breathe amongst the darkness. He was immortal but he was having a hard time telling his heart to calm down. A demented psychopath was hiding in the darkness and he was already pissed as hell at him.
"What is he planning…?" Takaya swallowed the lump in his throat and kept moving forward. Without Chidori, all he could do was guess and-
Minato finally ran into Takaya and dug his sword right up the older male's gut. "Surprise, motherfucker!"
Takaya's scream was blocked by Minato's forearm and he was easily hurled to the ground by the stronger persona-user.
Minato momentarily saw his disgusting face before he started firing off brutal punches from top, breaking his facial muscles and bones and splattering blood all over his body.
Takaya tried to fight back by using his elemental spells but Minato sensed the temperature spiking up and quickly dug his sword into his flesh.
…. God knows where, though.
Takaya started struggling in the darkness and Minato removed the blade from his flesh and stabbing him over and over again, all over his body.
"Ugh!" Takaya released a demonic roar and started expelling various blasts of the elements that ripped into Minato's body but the blunet gritted his teeth and started stabbing him again.
"Shit!" the magic was brutal at such range but he was so close….
Takaya was shivering under his weight and his resistance was wavering.
Stab.
Stab.
Stab.
Minato twisted and streaked the blade through the flesh and finally, after a few minutes, Takaya stopped moving and Minato nearly collapsed on top of his filthy corpse.
Taking a few deep breaths, Minato lit the place up with his flames and looked down to see Takaya.
"Serves you right, bitch," Minato spat on his dead-body and kicked his mangled across. He looked just like Shinjiro did in the tower. Both of his eyes were gouged out just like the late senior's.
Minato eyed the numerous stabs on his neck and kicked his face again. "This still isn't over…." he was immortal after all and even now, Takaya's body was twitching. "Get up, I'll be waiting…"
Minato panted and ran for the steps in the darkness. Takaya was getting up, he was sure of it.
"Thanks Fuuka," Minato whispered and headed up another floor to catch his breath. Exhaustion was washing over him and Takaya was fresh after his last revival which meant the same this time.
"How are the rest doing?" Minato asked as he rested himself against the wall.
"…"
"Speak the damn truth," Minato spat. "Tell me how my team is doing…"
"Not good," Fuuka responded. "They are in trouble…"
"They'll be fine…" Minato said in-between pants. "They aren't weaklings…."
…
Yukari stumbled around after taking another shot on her face and the next one made her collapse to her knees. "Crap…" her head was spinning and all the blood loss earlier was really taking a toll on her senses.
Tsukio kicked the brunette right on her face and finally floored the archer.
Yukari struggled to get up but she was entirely exhausted. She had to fight Tsukio and defend Mitsuru at the same time. She wasn't used to fighting at close range without her bows and with a target to protect.
"I'm sorry, Minato…" Yukari breathed out as Tsukio towered over her with a shit-eating grin. "I failed…"
Tsukio leaned down and stabbed Yukari through the wrist, embedding the knife into the ground and pinning her down.
Yukari shrieked in pain and got another punch in response.
"This is it…" Tsukio said with glee as she lifted her other knife up and directed it for Yukari's neck. "Goodbye you worthless bitch."
"Get off her!"
Tsukio's whipped her head to the side and was smashed right in the middle of her forehead by something hard that caved a little hole on her head. "Fuck!" the raven haired girl cried out in pain as the sucker attack sent her flying off of Yukari who looked ahead to see her savior.
Tsukio rolled a few times and immediately stood up with a venomous scowl. "Who in hell-" standing a few yards away, just in front of Yukari was a certain heiress that was just a spectator in the battle.
But not anymore.
Mitsuru was puffy-eyed and tears were still pouring down her face but the senior had a blood-thirsty look on her face with the rapier in her grip. She was pissed as all hell. The grief stage was long gone and only anger remained.
"You should have just clung onto daddy's corpse," Tsukio spat and rubbed the wound on her forehead.
Mitsuru's temper flared. The heiress quickly pulled out her evoker and summoned her persona.
" Penthesilea !"
Tsukio braced herself for another battle but Mitsuru merely directed her persona towards the other side and ordered the iron-maiden to fire at will.
"Mitsuru-senpai is going to attack," Fuuka whispered into the minds of Akihiko and Junpei who were struggling against their foes.
Mitsuru flicked her wrist and her persona fired a never-ending volley of sharp icicles in the opposite direction.
Jin felt a certain chill and looked back to see several shards of ice heading for him. "M-Moro-" before he could even think of summoning his personae, Junpei wrapped his arms around the neck of the bespectacled male and forced him forward, directly in front of the incoming icicles.
The shards struck him head on, lodging right into his body which caused the vice-leader of Strega to scream out in pain towards the skies.
"Heh," Junpei smirked and tightened the hold around his foe. "Thanks, senpai…"
Aigis stopped moving when Jin was rendered defenseless and she took the frigid attack right on her back while Akihiko summoned his persona and shielded himself.
"Tch," Akihiko channeled a healing spell into the wound on his leg and stood up behind his persona. The ice-shards were damaging him but he felt at peace. Mitsuru was finally into the battle and she had effectively turned the tide in their favor, again.
"I'm sorry, Aigis," Akihiko hung his head and rushed forward to smash the android on the face with an accurate jab that buckled Aigis and sent her reeling.
Akihiko took off his gloves and hopped. It was time to end this!
Mitsuru dismissed her persona and easily sidestepped the forward thrust of the shorter female.
Tsukio rebounded and came rushing back to stab her.
Mitsuru blocked the knife with her rapier and easily shoved the battle-worn persona-user away with little difficulty.
Tsukio ran back with another scowl. Her knuckles were bony white at that point. She just wanted to kill someone but goddamn interferences.
Mitsuru spartan-kicked the raven haired female directly in the chest when she came inches away. The blow forced out more blood from her mouth and Tsukio landed a few feet away from Mitsuru.
"Senpai…" Yukari pulled the knife out of her hand and got on her knees.
"Thank you, Yukari…" Mitsuru's voice cracked slightly but she managed to get those words out. "Leave the rest to me…"
Tsukio cursed both of them and stood up. "I'll kill both of you bitches!"
"The only one who gets to kill is me," Mitsuru scowled and walked forward. "You are going to die a very painful death. I swear on my father!"
Tsukik backed away momentarily. Mitsuru was dead serious and she looked terrifying for some reason. Eventually, she scoffed and broke into a run for the pissed off heiress.
Mitsuru easily blocked her knife to push her back and started swinging her rapier to rip the flesh off her bones.
Junpei lifted Jin off his feet and smashed him head-first into the ground.
The two rolled a few times and Junpei wrestled him down again to rain down punches from above. "Ugh…" the frost from earlier had severely drained his energy and Junpei felt a lot stronger due to some reason.
Jin kept enduring the shots before he finally pushed the capped teen away to get up.
Junpei came forward with a rushing punch that planted Jin on his ass.
Jin quickly got up and was clocked on the head again. He blocked the next shot by his briefcase and Junpei pulled his fist back in pain.
The agi-user blocked the incoming briefcase shot and snatched it away to clock the vice-leader of Strega on the face as hard as he could.
Jin flailed and barely stood on his feet but the follow up shot planted him on the ground again. Junpei quickly stood over him and started beating the shit out of the hacker with his own briefcase.
The briefcase was starting to break apart but Junpei didn't care and kept bashing his face in with the metal with no remorse.
The hacker kicked Junpei in the nads and crawled away to catch his breath.
"You little cheater…" Junpei smashed the briefcase and pulled out a grenade from inside.
Jin hurriedly shot himself and summoned his persona with a storm raging in his eyes. The anger was finally getting to him. "I'll fucking kill you!"
A certain weapon sliced across the air and ended up lodging into Jin's back. The blunet coughed out blood and looked back to see the brat back on his feet.
"R-Ridiculous!" Jin spat and pulled out a remote from his pocket. "Aigis, kill them all!" he ordered before slumping to the ground.
"Not a chance," Akihiko was in his groove after getting his timing and distance. He was easily able to dodge the sloppy punches and breezed past the bullets to hammer Aigis and move away to avoid damage.
Aigis was already damaged by the attack from earlier and without Jin guiding her, the android felt a little lost. The orgia mode earlier was starting to take a toll on her too. "K-Kill them…"
She rushed into Akihiko who quickly circled away and countered her wide punches with sharp and short punches that found their mark on her face.
A sharp left on her chin snapped her head to the side and wobbled Aigis who responded with another volley of bullets.
Akihiko evaded the bullets and hammered on the face and gut with more crosses and jabs, making the mechanical female stumble all around the place.
More punches found their mark on the android that was fading away due to the overload on her processors and the damage from Akihiko's boxing.
"Just stop…" the boxer whispered and rushed back in range.
Tsukio vomited out blood and clutched her throbbing wounds as Mitsuru paced around her like a predator. She had mercilessly slashed her body into a mess. There was no remorse or restrain and from the looks of things, the heiress still had to satiate her blood-lust.
"Tell Minato everything is fine over here," Mitsuru ordered Fuuka. "He will be greeted by a few corpses when he comes out."
"This is the end," Mitsuru wiped her eyes clean and edged the raven haired girl to come forward. "We have won…"
"Never!" Tsukio lost her temper and charged at the taller female.
Mitsuru gauged her timing and ducked underneath the stab of the knife before coming up with vertical slash that spawned a deep gash from Tsukio's abdomen all the way till her throat.
Mitsuru ignored the splatter of blood and simply walked forward as Tsukio slumped to the ground with her eyes widened in horror and pain.
"She's gone…." Yukari breathed out and stood up wearily.
Mitsuru looked back to see Ken and Junpei standing over Jin who was still alive but only barely.
"You little brat…." Jin choked out; trying to reach for Ken but his body simply failed him. "T-That was a cheap-shot."
"Irony," Junpei kicked his face. "I told you, tonight is the end of all the bullshit!"
Akihiko finally countered and sent Aigis crashing to the ground. The light began to leave her eyes but she still got up, as per the command of Jin earlier.
Akihiko dodged the telegraphed strikes and wobbled her with another series of crosses.
"Just stop…" Akihiko pleaded as he weaved in and out to dodge and counter.
Aigis sucked in a deep breath and one final punch right on the nose blackened her vision and knocked her out.
Akihiko hurriedly caught the mechanical maiden, not letting her fall. "It's finally over…."
The team looked over to the gates and saw two redheads locked into a heated struggle.
Hamuko panted and sidestepped the dash to counter with a kick up Sho's gut again. The gray eyed male kicked her in return and the two clashed blades as they parted briefly before each of them stepped in with kicks and slashes.
Sho skidded away and was ready to rush in again but….
"Hamu-tan, catch this!" Junpei's shout reached them and the female quickly turned around to catch the incoming spear in her grip.
"What the…" Sho scowled as the rest of the members quickly came into his view.
"Guys…" Hamuko smiled. They had won.
Sho's eyes darted from one to another and the male braced himself for a battle royal.
"None of them will interfere," Hamuko assured as she twirled the spear around and tightened the hold around her other blade. "I promise…"
The rest quickly formed a circle around the two but Sho paid it no mind. Hamuko was determined and he trusted her. After all, she was hell-bent on pulling him out of the darkness.
"Summon your persona," Sho demanded. "Dammit, this is the end! Give me the thrill! Give me the thrill that Minato gave me!"
"This is indeed the end," Hamuko agreed. "But also, this will be the start of a new beginning for you…"
Sho scoffed. Both of them were injured and both of them had something to prove.
"Kick his ass!" Junpei cheered. "Come on, finish it!"
Hamuko jabbed the spear forward and jerked her head over. "Like I said, after you, I'm- No, we are heading inside to kill that bastard and end this tonight."
"Kill that bastard. Rip him to pieces but don't you dare leave without giving me an answer," Sho bit hard on his third sword again and took his stance for the last battle. This was going to decide it all.
Hamuko took her stance as well. This was the final lesson.
Sho's competitive smirk melted away and a cold expression spawned on his face.
Minazuki sucked in a deep breath. Times were changing, it seemed.
…
Minato waited for Takaya to catch up and used the time to catch his breath. He was sweating and panting like crazy, the battle and damage was a little too much for him but this was his responsibility.
"Minato-kun, the rest are alright, I can send Junpei-kun and Akihiko-senpa-" Fuuka's offer was cut off by the irate leader of SEES.
"Don't you dare," he heard the footsteps and pushed himself off the wall for battle. "This is my battle. I am the leader of SEES."
Takaya came into his view, scowling and hissing at the blunet.
He was fully healed but the scars remained.
"I'm going to hold Takaya to account for every wound he gave to MY team-mates," Minato spat. "What he did to MY comrades. Their safety was ultimately my responsibility. I failed at it before but not anymore…"
"Minato-kun…" Fuuka whispered. Was he really Minato?
Takaya stopped a few yards away and screamed out in hate.
"Did you hear that, you fucking bitch!?" Minato roared back in his distorted, demonic tone. "I'm going to slaughter you for what you did to them!"
Takaya sucked in a breath violently and eyed Minato. "You are done. You can barely stand now."
Minato was thoroughly exhausted but far from done. He was going to dig deep and beat the shit out of the bastard again, just like he did in the battle against Theodore.
Takaya pulled on his hair and the skin on his face started cracking. The numerous entities inside him raged around in his psyche and the leader of Strega coughed out more blood onto the ground.
Minato had killed him.
Killed him twice.
Despite all the plumes, he managed to harm him. Managed to harm a god such as himself…
Minato took a step back as Takaya roared out to the skies again and his entire body caught flames that burned fiercely.
"What the heck is going on!?" Minato wondered as thunder started crackling around his ignited body.
Takaya kept screaming as the fire and thunder spiraled around his frame furiously, catching the razors of wind and forming a cyclone of the four elements around the artificial wild-card.
"I am Zeus…" Takaya's heavy voice came from within the cyclone. "I have come from beyond!"
Minato started to pant again. Just what was going on inside the bastard's body!?
"I am Surt... The blazing runner who tells of this world's demise..." Takaya's voice changed yet again and Minato took another step back.
The cyclone grew denser with green streaks growing prominent.
"I am Norn. The Keeper of Fate... Destiny's guide..."
A blast of wind forced Minato away and sent him crashing into the wall. He quickly looked ahead to see Takaya standing in the middle with a blazing sword in his right hand and a blue spiral sword in his other hand.
Takaya's eyes were pure white and his mouth wide open. The voices were coming from within. That wasn't Takaya….
"We are the one…."the multitude of voices spoke together.
"The Gods…" they spoke in unison once again, making sweat drip down Minato's chin.
Minato felt two tiny hands wrapping around his shoulders and squeezing the spot like someone was trying to reassure him.
"Brother…." Pharos' voice echoed inside his psyche. "You are not alone…"
An evil surge of dark energy rushed up his cord and smashed directly into the skull of the demented blunet, forcing out a haunting laugh from his mouth that made the place rumble violently.
"Hahahahaha!" Minato laughed at Takaya's frame. "Foolish gods huddled together in an empty husk. Pity."
"I promise…" Pharos' voice cracked slightly.
"I am the force of nature that awaits every god and mortal at the end of the beaten path," Minato spat out and a dense cyclone of darkness shrouded the battered blunet.
"I am Death!" Minato's haunting voice was followed by an ungodly screech that forced Takaya to take a step back.
"Death…" the Gods spoke in unison.
Pharos and Minato panted in unison. Time was ticking.
Deep inside his stoned heart, Minato felt a little something stirring.
The blunet briefly went over his life and started to wonder.
"Just who am I….?" he wondered and faced the leader of Strega again for the final battle.
Takaya and Minato locked eyes for the hundredth time that night. 10 minutes to the end of Dark Hour.
Sorry for the wait guys. Group battles are a pain to write -_- but no worries, the next chapter will be far more easier to write because the lesser battles are done and the hyped ones are left. Get ready for a surprise in the next chapter and I ain't talking about Ryoji, dudes.
Badass Mitsuru saves the day. Sorry for the shorter battles between Yukari and Tsukio. Kinda hard to write them. :T plus, the big hype was on Minato and Hamuko battling so I kinda just gave flashes of the other battles but hey, it made sense, didn't it? ... I hope.
The update train won't be as fast because college is a fucking slave-driver but I promise, I will not give up on this. Will finish this if its the last thing I do!
Also, I'm fine, just sick of education. -_- Oh well, hope you guys had fun reading this. Thank you for the support, means a lot. I hope to knock your socks in the next chapter. Brace yourself because it WILL be sad.
Toodles people. Have a good day/night!