P3 Eternal Punishment
Old Faces
The team was able to rest for an hour, Chidori's defeat somehow slowing down Nyx' arrival.
"Get up dumbasses," Shinjiro growled as he kicked Minato and Souji awake.
"Let's get moving again, we don't know the outside condition here," Kurosawa stated as he summoned a High Pixie to fully heal everyone's wounds.
"Senpais, Kurosawa-san, look up," Amada pointed upwards as the staircase became continuous, forming a one way route to the top.
"A'right you dipshits," Gig yawned, "seems like my plan worked."
"There was a plan?" Aragaki raised an eyebrow in disbelief.
"Shyadap, Asshat!" the Master of Death frowned, or at least he gave off that impression, "I made a bid for Nyx' power in your world."
"I see," Seta rubbed his chin, glasses reflecting the eerie light of Tartarus, "by devouring Shadows, you're planning on usurping the Night Mother's powers."
"Nyx is the source of those monsters," the child pointed out, "so if they get to her, she'll get stronger, but having them 'eaten' would prevent her from regaining her full power."
"I don't know whether to be impressed or disappointed that the kid here managed to figure this out before the rest of you," the psychopomp sighed as Minato got off his back.
"Let's renovate this Tower's ass!" the bluenette said excitedly as the team began to march forward once more.
-Meanwhile-
Takeharu Kirijo did not expect any more business meetings considering that Port Island was blocked off from the world by a localized distortion in time and space.
"You are-?" the stern man was taken aback by his sudden visitor.
"Kei Nanjo," the man waved, "you have my condolences."
"You've heard about my daughter then?" the one-eyed executive sighed as he lit a cigar, "No time for a father to even mourn."
"Yes, but I'm here for something else entirely," the bespectacled young man answered, "Kido gave me a call while I was in town, my friends and I found a way in, but it only works for us."
"Is that so?" Takeharu tried to hide his shock, "This is bigger than we originally thought."
"We'll be able to buy the others some time and take down those Shadows still around the city," Nanjo added as he took a Velvet colored key from his pocket.
-Tartarus Lobby-
"That all you got bitches!?" Kido swore as he downed four Shadows in one vicious strike.
"You won't be able to stop us!" an unseen assailant announced as a grenade landed near Reiji's feet.
The projectile exploded violently, incinerating a few nearby Shadows.
"Ha, a punk like you shouldn't be playing with sparklers," the first generation Persona user laughed.
"How's this then!?" the mysterious man yelled as he landed on top of a silver briefcase, his eyes glowing red, "Moros!"
Much like the affair with Chidori, the surviving Shadows clustered around the death seeker as he 'boarded' his Persona like a giant mecha.
"Aw, fuck me," the chauffeur sighed as he clenched his fists, before something moved by the corner of his eye, "is that a dog?"
"Arf!" a white Shiba growled as it managed to swipe at the Strega member before he could complete his fusion with his Persona, "Awoo!"
With an eerie wind, black flames burst from around the dog and a three-headed beast emerged from the dark ashes.
"The dog has a Persona!?" Reiji slapped himself to make sure if he wasn't dreaming, "Hey boy, wanna take down that ugly beyblade wannabe?"
The Shiba raised its right paw in approval as it stood side by side with the veteran warrior.
-Back to the Team-
The spiral staircase that appeared did not deter the stronger Shadows from the higher floors from attacking the group. But the difference in strength since the arrival of Skeith was very apparent.
"They can keep up with us," Ken frowned as he parried two Gigas-type Shadows with his spear.
"No shit, kid," Shinji grunted as he flipped a Table over the abyss, "you two got anything that can deal with this?"
"Skeith's keeping us alive!" Minato pointed out as he thrust his blade, impaling a pair of Twins.
"Izanagi and the others are all I have," Souji stated as he used lightning to fry a few of the weaker Shadows, "Margaret even supercharged my powers before we left, said that I'd need to kill a thousand Shadows for it to stick."
"I'm curious though, what did Ikutsuki get from Inaba?" the precocious child inquired.
"Lot's of stuff," Kurosawa answered, "pills, evokers and enough guns to start a small war."
"Damn," Minato came to a halt as an obstacle barred the team from continuing on, "it's her."
The sight of the blonde Anti-Shadow Weapon armed with missile launchers, hip mounted rail guns, machine guns strapped to her shoulders, and many more was enough to bring the group to a screeching halt, her gaze fixed on the field leader as if they were old acquaintances.
*Gaah*
The bluenette felt nauseous as his vision spun around, clear yet disarranged memories flooding his mind.
...The bridge?
...The girl?
...My parents' car?
"Get a hold of yourself man," Shinji knocked the sense back into the young Arisato, "the chick's better armed than a Gundam."
-Minato's Mindscape-
"You felt that, kid?" the pale Master of Death inquired, standing over the huddled form of the boy.
"What the fuck was that!?" the junior cursed, clutching his head in agony.
"Remember when your parents died?" the silverette summoned a mental image of a car crash.
"His parents are dead!?" Asagi yelled in shock before retreating to a far off area of the bluenette's mind, "He is vengeance, he is the night, he is..."
"Okay, that wasn't fucking out of the blue," Gig said sarcastically, "well you do remember, right?"
"..." Minato nodded, unsure where the conversation was headed.
"Well, I kinda remember tearing evil dragon slash the creepy kid a new one before I was put in your head," the psychopomp continued, "that robo-chick, she was there, she's the one that put me in your head. And what the redhead's dad said way back when the shit hit the fan wasn't off, I was the only one sealed in you, but the part of your world's Death that I devoured became that annoying little kid that we messed with at the dorm."
"Why didn't I figure this out sooner?" the sleepy youth countered.
"I sealed your memories so you wouldn't get messed up in the head unless I was the one messing you up," the silverette answered, "could you imagine yourself as a quiet nut who'd listen to his music all day long?"
*BANG*
-Back to the Action-
"You could have dodged that," Kurosawa said with a disappointed tone as a sharp knife-like object embedded itself onto the bluenette's ribcage.
"...What?" Minato stared at his comrades who were busy staring at the blade on his chest, "When the fuck did this happen."
"Retrieving Slash Harken," the blonde said stoically as a thin, barely visible wire pulled the knife, and the bluenette towards the mechanical maiden, "initiating 'Big Impact'."
Aigis pulled her right arm back as the sounds of pistons and motors whirring accompanied the movement, the boy was being pulled closer and closer to the woman from his past, reflexively raising his guard.
*CRACK*
"Arrggh!" the boy screamed as both arms snapped from the sheer force of the punch, "Someone, shoot me!"
"Sissy," Shinji sighed, cracking his knuckles and running for the blonde, "eager for death?"
"No," Minato retorted as he managed to get a few meters away from the mechanical maiden, his shirt soaked in his own blood, "with an Evoker, my arms are broken."
"How strong is she?" Ken gasped for air after being winded by a nearby grenade blast.
"I'd be dead if I didn't block," Minato answered as the air thinned, "watch it, more Shadows on the way!"
The bluenette's senses where as sharp as ever, as creatures of darkness crawled their way from the bottom of the stairway.
"Heads up," Shinji announced as he pulled the trigger, evoker aimed at Minato, "not even sure if it works that way."
"Thanks," the bluenette reeled from the impact, "Skeith, Data DRAIIIN!"
Heeding its master's command, the Terror of Death struck the nearby Shadows with a powerful blast of energy, their vitality restoring the boy's arms to working condition.
"Sore as hell," Minato rubbed the area where the gaping hole in his chest was, "at least no scarring."
"Target has recovered from initial assault," the mechanical maiden stated, "beginning phase two."
"There's still more?" the bluenette complained as he dodged machine gun fire, parrying the missiles that came close to hitting him, missing a few in the process, "Shinji, get down!"
Aragaki ignored the warning, instead, he opted to grab the missile and redirected the missile to the blonde.
"Secondary target possesses great physical strength," the blonde reported, her data feed being returned to Ikutsuki, "course of action decided, reusing tactics for extermination of Akihiko Sanada."
"What did you-!?" the gruff teen was cut off by multiple missiles and machine fire, the feminine machine's rocket propelled blade being launched, "So it was YOU!"
The teen raged as he used Castor to detonate the missiles with physical attacks, stopping most bullets caught in the explosions.
"Aragaki-senpai!" Souji called out as he used Izanagi to electrocute three flying ball Shadows, "Damn, why can't Margaret get thru to us?"
-Outside Tartarus-
Four satellite dishes were placed on the two hundredth floor of Tartarus, possessed by Shadows, these dishes block communications as one goes higher above the Dark Tower.
"So that's what's interfering with the signal," the attendant of Seta's Velvet Room said as she dropped the binoculars.
"That's too high for us to do anything," one Kirijo Group scientist said.
"I'll take care of it," the woman said as she grabbed her Compendium, "in attacking me, the enemy has declared war on my master as well as myself."
"I don't think we have any choppers or planes to get you th-," the scientist cut himself off as he witnessed the woman in blue beginning to float.
"That won't be necessary, I can manage on my own," Margaret replied as she took off for the tower's exterior.
-Back to Tartarus-
Shinji was exhausted from being focused by all of the blonde's attacks head on.
"She can keep up with Senpai," the silverette coughed as he and Kurosawa healed the team of injuries.
"Damn it!" Aragaki cursed as his left hand stopped bleeding, "Those two are going at it and we're running out of time."
Minato punched Aigis in the gut, pushing her back.
"Go down!" the junior growled at the mechanical maiden.
The blonde took advantage of the distance and purged her external weapons, granting her a massive boost in speed, enough to get behind the bluenette and summon Palladion to skewer him at point blank range.
"Arrgh," Minato screamed as he clutched the Persona's blade.
"Minato-senpai can't hold on much longer," Ken winced at the sight.
The rest of the group sans Shinji was preoccupied with the weaker Shadows.
-Flashback-
"Promise me Shinji," a young Akihiko Sanada raised his fist in front of the loner's face.
"What?" the gruff teen cracked his knuckles.
"That we'll get strong," the silverette answered as he stared at the burnt orphanage, "strong enough that what happened to Miki doesn't happen to anyone else!"
"Quit your yelling," the younger Aragaki groaned, "like you need to tell me that."
-End Flashback-
"Hey robo-bitch," Shinji clearly earned Aigis' attention as she recalled her Persona and dropped the field leader to the ground.
"New target acquired," the blonde stated passively as she prepared for close combat, "activating Orgia Mode."
"I''m gonna keep my promise Aki," the teen took a deep breath as power surged around him, "let's do this! ALEXANDER!"
-END-