P3: Fright Night by Wordsworthy
Disclaimer: I obviously do not own The Shin Megami Tensei series since obviously Atlas does. This is, after all, just a fanfiction written for the sole purpose of entertainment and no profit motive whatsoever. So please just enjoy the story and do not sue me for this. If you wish to know more about the series, please support the companies producing them directly and purchase their merchandise if you like.
Chapter 2: Magical Girls
On a certain monorail tram, heading towards a certain school…
"That Junpei… how many times does he need be told that we're still on our way?"
"Maa… we are sort of late…"
"I'm very sorry that it got this late… the clerks in the store were so…"
"Maniacal?"
"I was going to say enthusiastic…"
"Hahaha… maa… at least the end result was somewhat amazing… but…"
The three girls sighed as one quite naturally in a strangely coordinated response. It couldn't be helped since they were running late, but the decision to commute in their costumes had proven itself to be quite painful, in the social sense.
"The staring really gets to you huh…" admitted a flushed Fuuka shyly, as she adjusted her large hat this way and that to see if it would hide her face more.
"This is bad. Our sense of social aptitude would come into question." informs a worried Aigis of her observation.
"It's not like we're the only ones coming late… there're a few zombie kids on the other end of the train too. Why aren't they being stared at as much?" fumed a still simmering Yukari after catching sight of some other stragglers to the party.
"Maybe it's because your doll is so cute."
"Wha- Eh? No but, it came with the costume…"
"Really? I thought that you picked it because of it."
The brunette became flustered at the mention of the adorable silver-haired doll that she had been hugging all this while and tried to hide it behind her back.
"Perhaps it isn't our social aptitude, but the mismatch between a high school student and the child-like demean-"
"Let's stop there Aigis… I think you just criticalled Yukari-san…"
Noticing how the brunette had curled up into a ball in the corner of the carriage, Aigis could only go "Oh…" Before she could say anything to make up for it however, the tram suddenly jerked and lurched forward, almost launching the three girls into the air. Thankfully however, they were able to steady themselves enough to avoid cartwheeling into space by holding onto the nearby support poles.
"Oww… what happened…?" groaned Yukari piteously since she had to make an exaggerated dive for the support pole due to her previous curled up position.
"The tram… stopped?" asked a slightly dizzy Fuuka while she picked herself up.
"Yukari-san, Fuuka-san, stand back."
The grave tone in the blonde android's voice made the two girls realise that something was severely amiss. Namely, there were three such concerns. The first being the familiar sickly green hue that permeated the inside, and the second was sight of various coffin-like fixtures that replaced the majority of the other commuters on it. It was weird, but nothing really new to the girls. However, the third thing was quite the surprise.
"Z-Z-Zombies!" shrieked the two girls at once, and they reflexively hid themselves behind the blonde who was in combat mode already. The three fellow would-be costumers heading to the party had somehow turned into all too realistic, salivating mindless walkers that grunted and growled menacingly at the girls.
"W-Why zombies? What happened to good ol' Shadows?"
"Why is it suddenly the Dark Hour anyway? Oh no... Our evokers are back at the dorm!"
"Questions later. Commencing battle procedures. Activating auxillary guns."
The blonde android took up a combat stance in readiness to fire, but the usual gun barrels did not emerge from her fingertips like before. Surprised, the android raised her hand for closer inspection when a bright flash of light enveloped her arm and gave form gradually to an elongated shape. Upon dying down, the elongated shape revealed itself to be a large calibre three-barrelled Gatling Cannon to the shock of everyone around.
"Aigis! When did you- How did you- I mean, wha-"
"I don't know… but…"
The android turned to the end of the carriage and let fly with the bullets. The zombies were human just a while ago, and her logic circuits did not think it was a good idea to aim directly at them with the mean-looking firearm. Sure enough, the high velocity bullets chewed through the metallic surface easily and forcibly created an opening large enough for them to escape through.
"I'm definitely asking Mitsuru-san for one of these later."
The three female S.E.E.S. members hopped out of the tram and onto the monorail itself with plenty of time to spare. The walker zombies could growl and grunt all they want but they did have the same stereotypical weakness of being so very slow. However, the scenery that greeted the trio unsettled them, for it was the same gigantesque moon and distorted cityscape that they were all too familiar with.
"This really is the Dark Hour huh?"
"B-But it can't be midnight yet… something must be-"
"Fuuka? What's wrong?"
The brunette and the blonde rushed over their friends' side. The petite girl was clutching at her throat and making oddly muted utterances. Concerned, Yukari pulled the girl's fingers from her throat to check if she had been injured without their knowing. However, there was not the case.
"My sensors do not pick up any injuries internally on her either, Yukari-san."
"Fuuka, talk to me…"
The lips of her muted friend moved, but no sound came from her. However, she seemed to have calmed down considerably after the shock of her abrupt loss of voice.
"Fuuka, you can't speak?"
The girl in question shook her head meekly.
Yukari sighed in mild relief. Something weird was going down, but at least Fuuka wasn't physically hurt.
"What the hell is going on…?"
"Erm, we really should get moving. Those zombies are coming."
The brunette checked and true enough, the undead critters were making slow but steady progress towards them. They were already at the hole at the end of the tram. However…
"Move to where? We are in the middle of two stations!"
At that moment, a sweet child-like voice sounded out from behind them with a helpful chirp.
"Why don't you just fly then, Mistress?"
Back to the foyer of a certain high school…
"I can't believe this! This can't be happening!"
A chaotic battle scene was taking place in what should have been the most mundane of places, somewhere most people wouldn't even notice on their daily grinds. Laser beams and fireballs littered the airspace in the wide room while various large objects and debris flew around as make-shift projectiles.
"Your Force is weak Luke!"
"Ugh…"
The makeshift Jedi trio was not faring so well against the Imperial forces. The Sith in the large black helmet had them pinned down with an immense invisible force that the Jedi was having trouble resisting, causing an intense pressure to act down upon all three of them. It was like the gravity around them had increased several times, making it hard for them to act. Furthermore, the supporting laser fire was getting a little too close for comfort.
"Ah, damn it! Why is this happening so early on? This guy is clearly a final boss character! How did the movie go… hey, how was Darth Vader defeated in the Star Wars?"
"Movie? What's a movie?"
"Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with pop culture Wolf-san…"
The werewolf looked at his two companions in disbelief.
Are they for real?
"Skywalker-san, can you resist as much of this weird force as you can? Wolf-san and I will take the chance to counterattack."
"What? Me?" asked the newly minted werewolf with a clawed finger pointing to himself.
"Alright. Here goes everything I have!"
"Now Wolf-san!"
"Wai- Ah geez, whatever!"
The intense pressure lifted sufficiently for a moment, allowing the werewolf and the martial artist to dash out and towards the enemy in a pincer attack. With a fierce cry, the martial artist closed in with a fearsome leap and began revolving in mid-air in a continuously spinning kick.
"Tatsumaki!"
"Awesome!" cried the werewolf reflexively at seeing the famous move up close.
"Fool!"
The spinning kick froze suddenly and the martial artist grunted out in pain and mostly annoyance. It would seem that the mysterious force had gotten the better of him and was currently crushing him in mid-air.
"Tch! Wolf-san! Now!"
"Ah what the hell! Take this!"
Dodging the laser beams, the werewolf closed in from the other side and lunged in. However, the same mysterious force wrapped itself around the lycan and clenched like an unseen glove.
"Argh… damn it… w-wait… w-whoa… hey!"
The Storm Troopers supporting their leader turned their laser rifles on the werewolf, with obviously malignant intentions. Without any hesitations, several beams of light emerged and struck werewolf multiple times, each burning its way through several places on his arms and torso.
"Wolf-san!"
The furred body flew back upon the impact of the laser blasts after being released from Dark Lord's Force, crashing and skidding on the floor after landing on it. In the meanwhile, Junpei had some presence of mind to compose a short soliloquy in his customary pre-death slow-motion moment.
Uggghh! I'm dead. It would be so awkward if they find those porno mags when they clear my room… but oh well… at least I won't get executed when my Onee-san complex gets found out… sigh…
…
Wait…
…
I'm not dead?
…
It didn't really hurt as much either…
A furred claw moved slightly and felt around the areas where he had been clearly struck. The smell of burnt fur was still there, but the holes were gone.
Wait… werewolves… are supposed to be awesome monsters right? If I'm a werewolf, then I must be awesome too! Super strength, super speed, and all that super stuff!
The black furred creature picked himself off the floor and felt himself all over. It seemed like his guess was correct.
"Foo-wee sweetness! I knew it! I am awesome! Whahaha!"
"What?"
"Wolf-san!"
The werewolf laughed to himself and struck a sentai-like pose after making several air punches.
"Get ready for Junpei Wolf mode 2.0!"
The newly revived Junpei really got into his role and made a conspicuously superfluous howl before charging at the enemy. However this time, he seemed to vanish from view as his newly aware super speed came into effect. The difference in velocities was so great that even the laser beams seemed to be in slow motion, allowing the werewolf to weave through them easily and appear in front of the grunts in white helmets.
"Here's Freddy!"
With a loud growl, the werewolf made two swipes with his huge paws and overflowing Halloween spirit, swatting the troopers away like how a proper monster would.
"Know your place you mangy mongrel!"
The Sith lord sent the captive Ryu and Luke Skywalker crashing into the far walls before turning his attention on the lycan.
"Hahaha! Too slow helmet face! You can't catch the awesome me with your unawesome speed- wait- wha- ?!"
The werewolf managed to evade the Sith's telekinetic grasp several times with his so-called super speed, but it seemed that goading the Dark Lord had delayed him enough to be caught.
"This time, I'll crush you thoroughly just to be sure."
"Argh! Crap! This is seriously… Ouch ouch ouch!"
"Hahaha! To think I would have to use the full power of the Force to crush a dog like you!"
"Arghh! Damn it! How did you die in the last movie anyway! Why did they make you so overpowered anyway!? Damn you George Lucas!"
Just as the werewolf's furry head was about to go pop from all the squeezing applied by the telekinetic hand, a large explosion erupted at the front of the school, sending shards of broken glass and debris flying amidst a massive cloud of dust. Before the cloud could settle, over a dozen silvery white orbs of shimmering energy accelerated through it and swerved sharply, veering straight at Darth Vader.
"What?"
The Sith Lord dropped the captive werewolf to the floor in order to focus on the homing projectiles that were assailing him, using his Force to project a round barrier of sorts to counter the incredibly fast orbs that were hitting him from all directions.
"Annoying! You will need to do better than that to defeat my Force!"
"Now Fuuka!"
A large fireball of bluish-white flames emerged from the cover of the dust cloud and crashed into the telekinetic barrier with great force, causing the Sith Lord a great amount of obvious strain as he went to one knee. However, the dozen balls of silvery white energy then spiralled and converged on the Dark Lord as well, causing a reaction that caused the combined might of the attacks to detonate in a blinding flash of light that managed to overwhelm the broken boss character, burying him several inches into a concrete wall. Several lengths of silver white energy appeared after that and bound the man securely like brilliant shimmering shackles.
"Phew… can't believe that worked…"
"…"
"Oww… That voice, is that you Yukarin?"
The dust cloud eventually cleared, revealing two girls dressed in predominantly white costumes. One was dressed like an archetypal wizard in a white and sapphire ensemble consisting of a pointed wizard hat with shoulder-length light turquoise hair spilling out, long flowing robes over a deep blue bodysuit, oversized gloves that flared at the wrists and an elaborate white sceptre with a brilliant azure orb as its centre piece.
The other, a brunette, was wearing a plumped-up white balmoral cap, a white battle jacket with black features over a black and yellow mini-dress, with three pairs of raven-esque feathered wings protruding from her back. A long golden cross staff and an ancient seeming book completed her look, along with a miniature pixie-like girl that was hovering around her.
There was a brief moment of silence when the three S.E.E.S. members finally took in what each other was wearing. Then, one of the usual routines occurred.
"Pfft… whahaha! Aren't you two a little old to be dressing up as mahou shoujos? Especially you, Yukari-chan!"
"Naa! Ah! Shut up Stupei! Don't forget that we just saved your sorry behind!"
"…"
The werewolf keeled over in mad laughter, clutching his stomach as he literally rolled around the floor while the blood rose and coloured the two girls' faces in radiant crimson. Unable to physically voice her thoughts, Fuuka could only grip her sceptre tighter and shifted her weight awkwardly while trying to bear the embarrassment. On the other hand, the twitch on Yukari's brow was growing exponentially in line with her escalating blood pressure.
"I swear, if you don't stop laughing…"
"Hahaha… but it doesn't suit you, that whole sweet moe image thing! I mean, you're just sooo off personality-wise! If anything, you're more like a certain tsundere Biri Biri girl instead!"
"Tsun… Biri Biri…"
"Woah, how did u get that giant cross popping vein to appear in 3d!?"
"Rein, do I have any lightning spells?"
"Hai, Meister Hayate!"
Against any sense of logic or convention in this situation, all the glass around the school's foyer area shattered as flashes of light and static illuminated the otherwise dark hallways repeatedly, along with a certain familiar deathwail.
"Fukou da!"
A/N: Still mixing it up with many references. Hopefully it's all still fun. Next chapter will probably be a little bit more of intro, followed by expo. Reviews will be very welcome impetus to continue of course.