A/N Not much to say here except that the next chapter will come next Friday. It's a bit of a shorter one, though I'm sure you can guess why by the end.
Disclaimer: I do not own Persona, or any of its characters, and I make no money off of this
Chapter 22
August 1st — Metaverse, Central Shinjuku
Naoto stood in silence, her razor-sharp gaze staring intently at a nearby cluster of buildings covered in the characteristic 'MINE' graffiti. After some time, she hit an end to the stop watch she'd been running on her phone, jotting down the end result in a notebook she kept handy.
"Still no movement," she thought aloud. Her scowl deepened. "It's impossible to say what triggers it, or how fast it moves even if it begins to."
"True, but at least this trip wasn't a total waste," Yu muttered.
The blue-haired young woman cracked a slight smile. "True enough. With this, we've at least managed to map out which sections of the city are fully taken over by the distortion."
"That's the spirit. Come on, we should—"
Further inside the concrete jungle, they heard bullets being actively fired. Given the apparent distance, they didn't panic, but naturally their attention had been fully captured.
They knew from the start they would be going in to check out the source of the sound, and as such they wasted no time in confirming with one another. Rather, they moved forward in unison, taking a page out of the Phantom Thieves' book and doing so with style and stealth. Eventually, they came upon a streetway where fighting had clearly broken out, and they quickly took notice of one of the parties—a large group of Succubae. Surpassingly, however, the group they were fighting was none other than a small contingent of White Masks.
"Weapons free! Shoot them down!"
The small squad moved forward and let loose a hailstorm of bullets at the flying demonesses. Though brave, the grunts were heavily outnumbered, and clearly outmatched. Within seconds, the Succubae had swooped in and sliced them into pieces.
One of them scoffed, staring in discontent at her left wing. "One of those assholes actually clipped me! Ugh, my beautiful wing!"
"Why are we taking these stragglers out anyway?" another complained.
"Because those muscle-headed idiots can't do their jobs."
"And that's our problem why?"
"Quit complaining," a Succubus stated evenly. "Let's continue our sweep. No sign of anything interesting with this group."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah…"
With the Shadows having departed, the hidden duo of Persona users began to make their way out of hostile territory and back towards the center of the city, though they did so with numerous questions plaguing their minds.
"Well, that certainly wasn't something I was expecting," Yu remarked.
"Me neither," agreed Naoto. "Though this at least confirms our suspicions that the White Masks had nothing to do with whatever's happening right in Shinjuku."
"True. I got the vibe that those Succubae were hunting them down."
"Most likely, yes. However, we have greater concerns at the moment."
"Agreed."
The pair remained focused on reaching an exit point. In the meantime, Yu set out a message to the others, calling them together for a meeting later on to discuss what little they'd managed to find thus far.
Yongen-Jaya: Café Leblanc, Early Evening
"So, if our reconnaissance has been accurate thus far…" Naoto began.
She traced a series of red zones along a map of Shinjuku that was spread out on the booth tables. Each of said red zones indicated an area within the Metaverse where the imprints of the word 'MINE' coated the buildings while those that were unmarked had yet to be corrupted.
Conveniently, there was an easily-identifiable trend that could be observed.
"Some of this is speculation, but it was clear to us that the city's center seemed like it's so far been unharmed," Yu noted. "The red areas surround the outskirts of the city. However, if I were a betting man, my money would be on that not staying the case for very long."
"I was thinking the same thing," Sae admitted, frowning as her eyes glanced over the map. "Though we don't know that for certain, and even if we did, we don't know the pace of the advance or how exactly it's happening."
"I'm more concerned about the fight you saw between Shadows," Makoto cut in.
"True," uttered Ren in contemplation. "I can't ever recall seeing Shadows fight one another before."
"Me neither. In fact, it's kinda hard to picture…" Ann thought aloud.
"Same here," said Rise.
Amidst the discussion, Yu felt his phone buzz. Upon seeing that it was the illustrious Detective Tetsuo Jirikishi, he politely excused himself as the conversation and moved outside the shop.
"Hey," greeted Yu. "What's up?"
"I've got something that might be of interest to you," Jirikishi replied. "I've been having some of our officers survey those locations Shun gave over to us. One of the reports in particular caught my attention."
"In what way?" Yu asked.
"In the hocus-pocus kinda way. And I do mean that literally," Jirikishi replied in a deadpanned tone. "The officers I assigned to stake out the place told me they've seen a few people go into the building, but haven't left even after twenty-four hours. Might not be too weird, but seeing as how this is a spa that locks up at 8:00PM everyday…"
"Got it," Yu said.
"As for the location, it's the Shangri La Spa on the far end of eastern Shinjuku. I take it you'll be investigating immediately?" Jirikishi reasoned.
"That's a safe bet, yeah," Yu replied, glancing back at the café over his shoulder. "Naoto and I will keep you posted if we find anything."
"Of course, though I'd appreciate it if you could at least try to keep it within the limits of what I can understand," Jirikishi stated jokingly.
"That's a tall order, but I'll see what I can do," Yu answered, sporting a smirk that likely mirrored that of his colleague on the other side of the phoneline.
"Oh, and if you are going through with this tonight, I'll have a unit on standby in case the need arises."
"Thanks, that's a big help," Yu replied.
"It's what I'm here for. Anyway, good luck," Jirikishi said.
The two hung up, allowing the silver-haired Wild Card to return to his friends and appraise them of the situation. With any luck, they'd be another step closer to unravelling their latest mystery and solving the crisis in Shinjuku by the night's end.
Metaverse: Eastern Shinjuku, Some Time Later…
Out of an abundance of caution, the team of Persona users had opted to enter the world where Shadows reign in the nearest area that was not marked by the ever-noticeable 'MINE' graffiti. Though that put their initial entry point quite a ways away from their destination, Morgana was more than happy to provide transportation through the city with Queen at the wheel.
Eventually, the spacing of the buildings grew further and further apart and a greener view of trees and grass started to come into the picture.
"We should be getting close now," Queen announced.
"It would seem so. Pull over just up ahead, I believe it best that we proceed on foot from here," Naoto suggested. She turned back to the others, "As always, stay on guard. This is hostile territory, and it's likely to be well-guarded."
"Don't have to tell me twice," Kanji replied, sporting a battle-hungry grin as he cracked his knuckles. "I'm more than ready for a fight if these asshats wanna throw down."
"Couldn't have said it better myself," Skull said in agreement.
"I just hope there's gonna be enough butt for all of us to kick," Chie added.
"Enthusiasm is good, but I agree with Naoto-san," Avenger chimed in. "If this is anything like the White Masks compound we raided, it's likely to be stacked to the brim with Shadows."
"Agreed," said Yu. He adopted a cheeky grin before adding, "Which means you've got nothing to worry about, Chie."
The joke earned a bit of laughter as the Mona-mobile parked while Sae just rolled her eyes from her seat across Yu, albeit with a small but telling smile.
Once everyone had exited, Morgana transformed back to his feline self, thus enabling the group to move in tandem towards a good vantage point from which they could get a good look at their target. After cautiously making their way through a short distance mainly consisting of sparsely-scattered trees and grassland, they arrived at just such a location.
Before them was most certainly an unnaturally placed building to be sure. Much like the White Mask compounds they were familiar with, the building in their sights was certainly not a copy of its real-world equivalent. It was a massive, sprawling structure akin to a bathhouse surrounded by edo-style castle walls.
Strangely, it didn't appear dark and twisted in nature. It was extravagant, yes, but certainly not abnormal.
"Hmm, that's not quite what I was picturing in my head," Yukiko thought aloud.
"I must confess the same," said Yusuke. "It's opulence and placement aside, it appears rather ordinary."
Both Futaba and Rise were fast at work sensing the area and feeling out what they could, obviously finding the need to investigate further lest the harmless appearance be a feint.
"Well, even if it looks ordinary, I'm getting the same feeling I got from the White Mask compound we raided when Avenger first awakened to her Persona," Rise concluded.
"I'm seeing the same," Oracle confirmed. "And are you sensing what I'm sensing, Rise?"
"The lack of enemies?"
"Yeah, it's weird, right? I was hoping your range would pick up something more than I am, but it seems you're not."
"So, uh… you sayin' there ain't any Shadows in there?" Kanji asked, scratching the back of his head as if puzzled. "Cuz' if you are, ain't that a good thing?"
"Normally I'd agree, but given everything we've encountered up until now, it kinda feels like a trap…" Oracle stated.
"It's not like there's no Shadows at all though," Rise added, sounding oddly confused herself. "There's just a lot fewer than you'd think. They're also not patrolling or anything, either."
Several of the members of the team started to glance around the area outlining the actual building itself, as well as the front gate.
"There don't seem to be any guards on the outside either," Yukiko mused.
"Maybe it's abandoned…?" Chie wondered aloud. "Either that, or like Oracle was saying, it's a trap."
"Well, only one way to find out," mused Joker.
"Took the words right out of my mouth," Yu said in agreement. "Let's get going."
The team made their way towards the gates, at first having a sense of caution. However, upon crossing its threshold and as they neared the entrance to the large, red, edo-period building, said sense of caution disappeared.
Quite literally nothing happened, noir was there a sign of anything even about to happen. No trap doors, no rolling boulders, not even so much as a random puzzle to pose a minor inconvenience.
"Perhaps no one's home after all," Noir mused. She soon added in jest, "Should we knock?"
"I'm gonna say no," Joker chuckled.
The two Wild Cards shared a nod before opening the front door in tandem. Yet again, all was quiet. They were greeted to the sight of a remarkable long hallway leading towards an open arch at its end, which they approached given they had no other recourse.
"…okay, I know I shouldn't say this, but is anyone else weirded out that literally nothing is happening?" Chie said.
It was almost as if everyone was waiting for the jinx to take effect and for something cataclysmic to happen as a result of Chie saying what she had.
Yet again, all was quiet.
"Damn, if a jinx didn't do the trick, maybe this place really is abandoned," Yosuke reasoned.
"But what could make something like that happen in the first place?" Panther wondered aloud.
"Hell if I know, but I ain't complainin'," said Skull.
"You'll start complaining when our search turns up empty," Queen chided.
"Oh, uh… right," Skull muttered. "Probably nothin' useful here if it's actually abandoned, huh?"
Once they'd passed through the archway, the Persona users arrived in an incredibly large room with classical Japanese furnishings, from tatami mats to tea tables. Interestingly however, there were no visible exits other than the one they'd just come in from, effectively making the room more of a box than anything else.
"Obviously, this isn't the full extent of the spa," Sae thought aloud.
"Correct," said Oracle. "In fact, I'm seeing a big open courtyard beyond the wall right over there."
"Same here," Rise stated. Her eyes narrowed analytically from behind Kanzeon's vizor. "I'm not seeing any activity in it, but there should be a way through to it from this room if its design is anything to go by."
"Oooh, another secret entrance?" Chie uttered excitedly. "Maybe with a hidden switch?"
"Which, friendly reminder, you should not touch all over without thinking," Yosuke remarked, his eyes narrowed.
The brunette just huffed in response and averted her gaze, knowing she didn't have a good comeback for that.
"Let's split up and search for it," Naoto stated. "Any objections?"
As none were raised, the group naturally splintered off. Those that went over to the rightmost section, being Rise, Yu, the Nijima sisters, Haru, and Yukiko were fast at work examining the nearby walls.
"By the way, Yu," began Sae, getting said young man's attention. "Mak—I mean Queen has told me that by the Phantom Thieves' standards, what's happening right now with the city-wide distortion is extremely unnatural. Is it the same in your experience as well?"
"Pretty much, yeah," Yu replied. "To be honest, the only beings we've encountered that are capable of stuff like this have been gods created from human cognition. But…"
"That wouldn't explain why it's being used for such mundane criminal purposes, right?" Sae said, finishing her former underclassman's thought. She smirked, not even needing to hear an answer. "Unsurprisingly, we're of the same mind in that regard."
"How does that saying go? Great minds think alike," Yu replied.
"So, I'm a great mind now? That's a new one," uttered Sae, almost playfully.
"Oh, have I never mentioned that before?"
"Even if so, I could stand to hear it more often."
"I'll make a note of it," he laughed.
A nearby Rise Kujikawa's eyes quickly fixed in a glare, though she made a point of not directing it at anyone. She just kept herself preoccupied by continuing on in her search. The reason was obvious—to conceal a jealousy so intense that even her remarkable acting abilities couldn't cover it up.
'Just get a room already,' Rise thought.
For a moment she forgot about their banter on account of something catching her eye, though sadly it was a bit out of her reach. She climbed up a nearby shelf in an attempt to reach it, but sadly her hunch turned out to be just that. With a sigh, she proceeded to climb back down.
"W-Woooah!" Rise exclaimed, feeling her footing slip on the shelf.
She fell backwards, though she did so into Yu's open arms, who managed to catch the redhead with ample time to spare before she'd have hit the ground. Though she was relieved to have been spared a nasty fall, it was essentially the last thing on her mind. The first thing was, of course, how she was currently being held by Yu in a classical princess carry, all the while he appeared as effortlessly charming as he always did.
The moment had clearly robbed her of her ability to speak.
'He smells so nice…' Rise thought in a trance.
"You okay?" Yu finally asked.
"U-Um, yes, totally fine," Rise replied quietly, a clear sense of awe in her voice. Her cheeks began to heat up as she maintained eye contact with her savior. "I, um… I slipped."
"I can see that," Yu chuckled.
He helped the songstress to her feet, his hands lingering for a brief second to ensure that she was perfectly capable of standing.
"Thanks, by the way. I'd have landed flat on my ass just then if you hadn't been there," Rise said, having regained a majority of her composure.
"I'll always be there to catch you if I can help it," he replied good-naturedly.
She was quick to pounce, cozying up to his arm and rubbing her finger on his chest in what could only be seen as a flirtatious manner.
"If you plan on doing it like that every time, I may have to plan a few more falls while we're here," Rise said half-jokingly.
In a reversal of roles, Sae was now the one searching with her eyes in a reflexive glare. Queen in turn wasn't sure as to whether she should say something to her clearly annoyed sister or not broach the subject. She settled on standing awkwardly in a corner and remaining silent.
Elsewhere on the northern front, the rather typical trio of Skull, Joker, and Panther were hard at work shifting through the shelves and tables nearby. Well, two of them were at work, at least. Skull seemed intent on doing his best starfish impression laying with his back flat against the floor.
"Nope, nothing over here…" Panther sighed.
"Bummer," remarked Skull.
Predictably, the blonde turned to give him a death stare. Though this likely would have raised the alert level for most men, Ryuji had been on the receiving end of it so many times that he was numb to it.
"Do you plan on just lying there and being useless?" Panther growled.
"What?" uttered Skull defensively. "We both know Joker's just gonna find the stupid secret button in like another minute anyway."
"That's not—"
"Found it," Joker announced in a deadpanned voice.
What could only be described as a shit-eating grin soon took its place on the thuggish Persona user's face.
"See?" Skull uttered cheekily.
"How did you even find it so fast? Do you have a sixth sense or something?!" Panther exclaimed.
"Actually, yeah," Joker replied.
"Of course you do," the blonde sighed, her shoulder slumped. She quickly recovered, adding, "But you couldn't have waited another two minutes just so that you didn't end up encouraging that moron?"
Though Joker didn't answer, there was a bit of a mischievous grin gracing his features. It quickly piqued Ann's curiosity, though she still didn't understand why he was giving her the look.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever…" spoke Skull as he got up from his starfish position. He stretched his shoulders and arms, an eager grin spread from ear to ear as he walked over to his teammates. "Let's deal with this switch or whatever you found, Joker."
"It's right over there," he replied.
The black-clad Wild Card gestured towards a shelf he'd moved, revealing a lone button embedded in the floor. An impatient Ryuji was quick to move in to press it.
"You sure that's a good idea?" Joker cautioned. "We should probably take a closer look before we—"
"Man, relax," Skull said, his tone and demeanor as lackadaisical as they came. "I got this. Just watch."
Joker immediately held a hand out and guided both he and Ann backwards a few steps, much to said blonde's surprise. It became obvious a moment later why he'd done that, as when Ryuji finally did press the button, a moderate and invisible concussive blast sent him backwards into the air. He landed on his back, yet again finding himself sprawled out like a starfish.
A willfully-still Ryuji glared at the ceiling as he heard both Ren and Ann approach. He knew what was coming, and he also knew he was powerless to stop it.
"Don't say it," Skull uttered in a deadpanned tone.
"I did tell you not to do that," Joker replied.
"Aaaaand there you are, saying it," Skull groaned. "By the way, did you know that was gonna happen?"
"Pretty much, yeah," Joker answered. He looked to Ann, a cheeky grin showing on his features. "Satisfied?"
"Plenty," replied Panther, clearly content.
"Oh come on, seriously?!" Skull exclaimed. "Bro, how can you betray me like that? Ain't you ever heard of bros before ho—"
"Consider my stopping you from finishing that sentence as proof I care about you," Joker quickly cut in, foreseeing what would occur had he not. He extended his hand. "Come on, time to get up."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" Skull uttered, taking the hand offered to him with a smile.
When the thuggish Persona user was off the ground the group went over to the button yet again. This time, all three of them were taking the cautious approach.
"Okay, sooo… what now?" Panther wondered aloud.
"Why don't you try pressin' it this time?" Skull chimed in with a shrug.
"Why?" asked Panther confusedly.
"Mostly because I think it'd be funny," Skull replied, laughing at the mental image even as he received a glare. "Oooh, wait, I should get Mona to do it instead."
"As fun as it would be to listen to the fight that would cause…" Joker began, taking out his knife. "I've got a better idea."
The button had been surrounded by a metal casing that acted as the top of a compartment embedded within the floor. Joker propped up said casing with the end of his knife, revealing yet another button hidden directly below the one that Ryuji had oh-so-gracefully pressed moments ago.
"…who hides a button under a button?" Skull uttered in disbelief.
"Hopefully we get to find out soon enough," said Joker.
"My thoughts exactly," Panther said in agreement.
With that out of the way, Ren then activated the hidden mechanism and caused a section of the wall to sink back into the ground. A pathway to the courtyard that Rise and Futaba had referred to previously could be seen as a result, which was of course eye-catching enough that everyone stopped searching elsewhere and rallied around the freshly-created opening.
"Nice work," Yu stated as he and several others arrived.
"I try," said Joker in his traditional oh-so-humble manner. "Come on, let's check it out."
As the courtyard appeared barren, there wasn't exactly a sense of panic or apprehension as the group made its way down towards its center. They paused once they'd done so, taking a look around every which way to get a better sense of their bearings.
"Still nothin'," Yosuke remarked.
"Rise, Oracle, are you picking up anything?" Yu questioned.
"Well, actually…" Rise began, her brows furrowed. "I think I'm seeing a Shadow approaching from a nearby area."
"Me too!" Oracle exclaimed. "But from what I can see, it's… walking almost casually, like it's out for a stroll or something. It's headed our way, but I don't think it knows we're here."
"I trust everyone's on the same page as to our course of action?" Naoto reasoned.
Without the need for further discussion, the Persona users dispersed and remained hidden from sight, awaiting the Shadows arrival.
Said Shadow arrived shortly thereafter, humming away without a care in the world as it walked through the courtyard. Just as Rise and Futaba had said, it appeared as if it were out for a leisurely stroll.
"Hmhmhmhmhm~ hmhm~."
It's carefree nature quickly vanished when in an instant, a practical army of Persona users jumped out into the open and surrounded him with their weapons drawn and poised to strike. The Shadow, understandably, nearly jumped out of its demonic skin, its crown lifting into the air a good few inches before falling back down onto its head.
That moment had been the first good look that they'd all gotten to take of the Shadow. As for its appearance, it was a slightly taller than normal King complete with robe, crown and all. It did have one unique addition, that being the presence of a pink jewel at the top of its scepter.
"Aw man, not another one of these guys!" Chie grimaced.
The noticeable pain in her voice raised several curious eyebrows.
"Don't ask," Rise simply stated.
"W-Who are you? What are you all doing here?!" the King exclaimed in a panic.
"Well, at least it actually talks instead of doing that annoying sound again and again…" Panther muttered.
"I'd have murdered it already if it did," said Chie. "Also, we're the ones asking the questions here, buddy."
"And on that note, mind explaining what this place is?" Yu prodded.
The King proceeded to vanish in a literal flash of light, teleporting himself a short distance away, albeit as a result he was no longer surrounded by the Persona users.
"I would caution you not to underestimate me!" the Shadow bellowed. "The Mistress tasked me with defending this location while she is away, and I'll not fail her!"
As the King raised its scepter, a number of the sliding doors receded into the ground, giving way to a fairly sizeable hoard of Shadows that poured forth from multiple directions.
The initial speed with which their enemies attacked had resulted in the group being divided off into different sections of the courtyard. In spite of this, the immediate chaos was short-lived on account of the rather low power levels of the Shadows themselves. Consisting mainly of Eagles and Halberies, the demons could do little more than act as a temporary nuisance, regardless of how fast-paced their entrance may have been.
"Astrea!" Sae exclaimed, ripping the mask off of her face in a blur of flame.
Her Persona quickly appeared, stabbing its blades into the ground and causing a sphere of black and red to erupt around her in a wide area. The masked creatures around her vanished from existence without so much as making a sound, and elsewhere, most were having the same experience.
"Hyaa!" roared Chie,
The brunette sent a kick straight through the torso of a diving Eagle, nearly punting the Shadow out of existence with her armored greave. She eyed the result confusedly, wondering if perhaps she'd put in more force than she'd intended.
"Is it me, or are these guys way weaker than normal?" Chie wondered aloud.
"You're very right, but I believe it best to wait on any discussion until after we've dealt with them fully," said Fox.
Yusuke readied to call forth his Persona to deal with another group of Shadows nearby, only for a wave of fire to wipe them all out in an instant before he could even bring his hand up to his mask.
He could only blink awkwardly at the empty space where the Shadows previously occupied.
"Oh, I'm sorry," Yukiko said. "Were those yours?"
"No, it's perfectly alright," he chuckled. "I'm sure I can find others just as easily."
"Focus, Inari! On your right!" Oracle exclaimed from overhead.
The blue-haired teen ripped his sword from its sheathe and cut through the Halberie that was a split-second away from taking a bite out of his arm. As the abomination dissipated into thin air, he turned to the skies to give his appreciation.
"My apologies, Oracle, and you have my thanks," Fox stated humbly.
"Less talking, more cutting!" Oracle replied.
An aura of red engulfed a large number of the fighters on the battlefield, courtesy of the younger of the two navigators.
"I always love feelin' stronger without having to buff myself up," Skull said, cramming his mace through another enemy all the while.
"I know what ya mean," Yosuke stated in agreement.
As the pair set about slashing and zapping their way through any Shadow that came within eyesight, Skull spotted something from the corner of his eye. Behind a wall of enemies, they could see the King fleeing for one of the exists.
"Dammit! Looks like the King is makin' a break for it!" Skull shouted urgently.
"Then let's get after him," Yosuke said, his voice full of confidence. "Hey, Kanji, wanna go for the triple threat?"
"Well, we gotta try it out sometime, right?" Kanji mused.
The trio shared an eager look with each other before sprinting off in the direction the King was running. Naturally, there was still the swarm of Shadows barring their way, but they more than had a plan to deal with them.
"Captain Kidd!"
"Jiraya!"
"Take-Mikazuchi!"
The foremost of the three summoned Personas started to circle both Ryuji and Yosuke at a high speed as they charged forwards, meanwhile Jiraya let loose its twin throwing stars, charging each with wind and willing them to follow Captain Kidd as it continued to encircle them. Lastly, Take-Mikazuchi raised its thunder bolt high into the air, striking down towards the forming winds with a massive blast of electricity.
Thereafter, Captain Kidd acted as a lightning rod, absorbing the incoming energy and encasing its entire body in it all the while continuing to circle faster and faster. The end result was for a fast-moving twister of lighting and wind rampaging across the battlefield, eviscerating any Shadows that were sucked into its path while Yosuke and Ryuji stayed perfect safe within its center and continued to move forward.
"Lightning Wind Cyclone!" the trio exclaimed in unison.
A hole was quickly carved in the enemy lines, leaving both Skull and Yosuke with an open path to the King. Though the spectacle that was their unison attack had dissipated, they'd clearly gained the Shadows attention.
"I admit, that was quite the show. I'm almost impressed," the King proclaimed.
"Hopefully you're still sayin' that when we kick your ass," Kanji shot back.
"Unless you'd like to give up now. It'll make things a lot easier for us," Skull added cockily.
"Wha… the nerve!" said the Shadow in indignation. "Seldom have I ever—"
Twin bursts of lighting soon shot towards the King, forcing it to flip backwards into the air in its typical cartoonish manner to evade the blasts. It appeared to glare back at its attackers moments later.
"I shall ensure that you—"
"Arsène!"
"Izanagi!"
The two Personas synonymous with their respective Wild Card wielders crashed down on the King, slashing across its body and landing a clean hit. Buckling in pain, the King hopped backwards, clearly alive but far from uninjured.
Both Yu and Joker took their positions next to Ryuji and Yosuke, each of whom could only smirk at the display.
"Nice hit, partner," complimented Yosuke. "Same to you, Joker."
"Thanks for distracting him," said Yu.
"Our pleasure," Skull replied with a grin. "C'mon, let's finish 'im."
Clearly having overheard the conversation, the King's grayish skin turned a bright crimson. Steam quite literally came out of its ears, a testament to the rage that had boiled over inside of him.
"Such insolence and disrespect shall not go unpunished!" the King shouted angrily.
The Shadow extended its scepter, willing a colossal wave of bright-pink light to spiral forth. Given the near-nonexistent charge up time on the attack, its speed and scope caught both Ryuji and Kanji entirely by surprise. They buckled, preparing to tank the blast head on, though both of their respective best friends stepped directly in front of them and performed that duty on their behalf.
No explosion sounded off as instead the light merely crashed into the two Wild Cards and unsuspectingly shrouded the area in a smokescreen.
"Jiraya!" Yosuke exclaimed, slashing a tarot card with one of his kunai.
Said Persona cleared away enough of the smoke with a curt gust of wind such that they could get a good look at where the King had been standing. In spite of the fact that he was no longer there, they did get a view of one of the sliding doors closing in the distance.
"Shit, looks like he got away," Skull swore under his breath.
"There's worse things in the world," Yosuke replied.
In the following moments, the remainder of their comrades filed in, clearly having dealt with the other Shadows in the area.
"Yosuke-san! Skull!" an approaching Queen exclaimed. "Are you alright? We saw that attack and assumed—"
"Relax," Skull replied, sporting a reassuring smile. "We're totally fine. We didn't even get hit by that attack, actually. Joker and Yu-san had it all covered."
"And they're probably a hundred percent fine," Yosuke replied.
"And they would be where, exactly?" Chie asked, her eyes narrowed.
"We're right here," said Joker.
"And we're both fine," Yu added.
Relief seemed to wash over most present when the duo's silhouettes were visible as they made their way through what was left of the smokescreen that still lingered on the battlefield.
"See?" Yosuke stated, giving Chie a knowing yet taunting look. "I told you they were… they were…"
Yosuke trailed off in his sentence, the words dying in his throat as his eyes took in the appearance of their team's leaders. His jaw slacked and his eyes became the size of mere dots, drawing looks of clear-cut concern from those around him who at first didn't understand his reaction.
"Why are you…" Skull began.
The blond-haired teen halted mid-sentence in just the same way and was soon mirroring his expression of utter shock. If anything, his jaw dropped even more so.
Little by little, everyone realized what both Yosuke and Ryuji already had, each fated to have the exact same reaction. In the end, not a single one of them, be they the unbreakable Sae Nijima, the unshakable Naoto Shirogane, or anyone else, were spared the unparalleled shock they felt at the sight before their very eyes.
They saw Ren Amamiya and Yu Narukami in name only. Their ample breasts, luscious lips, and longer hair were proof enough of that fact. The Wild Cards now stood not as men, but as women.
"What?" Joker and Yu asked in unison.
A/N Yep, that's where we're ending it. Bit of a tease, but you can forgive me because the next chapter comes next week.