Author Note: I'm ALIIIIIIIIIIIVE. I know it's been 4 months since last chapter, and this is rather short by my standards, but hey, chapter.
As you may know I'm always busy with all my stuff. I have a job coloring comics, and two comics of my own (Coyote Bison, a western comedy, and Prozaic, a slice of life comedy) both of which can be read in Tapastic. So you can do that while you wait for next chapter :P
Now for real. Thank you all for your continued support. It's been slow, but I've done my best to write this chapter and I really hope you'll like it.
The soft sway of the limousine made Souji feel sick every time he stepped into his Velvet Room, but that would never quite stop him from going there to increase his power. He didn't know much about the place per se. Who drove? What was outside? What was up with all the drinks around? However, he quickly learnt that he was better off not questioning anything he found in that dream-like place, for his sanity would take a toll otherwise.
And yet, sometimes, as much as he tried not to be so, he couldn't avoid being surprised…
"Hey there."
A blond girl of pale skin sat down in front of him as usual, and yet she wasn't his usual assistant. She wore a red translucent suit (which revealed a lot more about her legs than what was decent) riveted with strings of gold, and a white scarf hanging loosely from her neck. She looked rather relaxed as she observed carefully a big book on her knees.
"Hello… Are you a friend of Margaret?" He asked.
"I guess. We've known each other for a long time. I 'asked' her to let me chill out here for a while." Her lie was obvious, and she wouldn't even bother looking at him as she pronounced it, for her eyes were fixed on the book she was perusing.
"Who are you?"
"A friend of a friend of yours." She didn't seem to be lying now… and yet there was something off.
Giving him a quick glance, she sighed. Her eyes were finally away from the pages as she shifted her attention to the label of one of the many bottles in the Velvet Room. He could finally see them clearly, discovering that they were crimson red, much like her clothes. "Say, have you tried these?"
The weird question caught him unprepared. "I'm not old enough yet, I'm afraid… And you don't look old enough either."
"Age is such a pointless thing…" She extended her arm to grab the bottle, and, after a short moment of consideration, took a long sip. She nodded and hummed in approbation. "Before you realize so, you'll be an adult. Then you'll be old. And then it'll be too late. If you're waiting for the 'right time' to do something, you may as well do it now."
Souji stared down at the bottle she held in the air for him under her expectant gaze. "No, thank you. I wouldn't make such a dumb move as getting drunk in this situation." He squinted his eyes at her as she left the bottle back where it was and proceeded to go back to staring at the book. "Now, could I hear the truth about Margaret's whereabouts?"
"Margaret, Margaret, who cares about Igor, am I right?" She laughed, closing the book with a big 'THUMP'. She didn't try at all to conceal it, and yet, he somehow felt like she didn't want him to see what the book was about. "Dear old Maggy must be somewhere out there, running to catch us. I asked a certain brother of hers for a distraction to sneak in here just to have this chance to speak to you." She smirked. "I put on my best clothes to greet you! I mean, look at me, I could pass for an assistant any day if they were blue."
"…What?" He blinked in confusion. Was she flirting? "Why did you want to see me?"
"Well, I heard you're quite the stud, and I just had to see that with my own two eyes." Her tone was mocking and her words were flirtatious, but her eyes had a dangerous glint. "I want to know what kind of people they let into the Velvet Room these days. So let me ask you something," her smile disappeared, "have you ever heard the words 'time loop'?"
"They appear in a lot of fiction." He replied guardedly.
"I swear that I will turn your existence into fiction if you don't stop that right now." 'That', of course, referring to being ambiguous.
"You can lie and act but I'm not allowed to do so?" Truth was, he really didn't want to take his chances with a power he didn't know anything about. "Alright. Two members of the Investigation Team claim to have lived through countless time loops. But you probably already knew that."
"You're a really perceptive fellow. I like that." She leaned towards him. "So, do you believe them? Can you believe something that outlandish?"
"…I do." He admitted in a low voice, grimacing despite trying not to. "Of course I believe Arisato and Aigis, I can see their pain." Memories he didn't want filled his head. "I've lived them as well. Igor had to save me from a few mistakes in the past." He felt compelled to talk to the mysterious woman in front of him like she stared straight into his soul. "And… I have a girlfriend no one knows about as well. I was hoping to see her here."
She stopped leaning forward, her expression changed suddenly. She was the very image of someone who made a mistake. "I'm sorry, Souji. I didn't know that… this isn't the original…" The girl in red began mumbling to herself. Her eyebrows arched downwards as she bit on her lip strongly, her head low. "But I thought that he could finally… And that you were… ugh… I guess that being unprepared is the norm amongst wild cards."
The albino couldn't quite understand the situation nor get even a single coherent sentence out of her. At least he wasn't the only one vexed, for she irradiated an aura of frustration. "Who… ARE you?", he insisted.
"I don't have a name anymore." She looked up slightly, and then tried unsuccessfully to build her composure back. Her eyes glowed slightly as she began to stand up. "I'm a Person—"
A sudden blinding tower of light cast somewhere nearby made him close his eyes, placing his arm over them. A few seconds passed, eventless, and, as he was about to peek, a huge shockwave made the limousine tumble sideward, sending him against the door.
The car was sharply pushed down and the left door flung open, revealing a very, very angry Velvet Room assistant. Margaret was truly raging.
"Where is she? WHERE is that abomination?"
A black haired girl in a white shirt followed her, trying to hold back her amused laughter. The woman in question, however, was nowhere to be found.
Minato stood firmly against the sink, looking at his image in the mirror.
"It's time, Minato." Aigis's voice resounded beside him. "Do not hesitate."
"I know." He balled his hands into a fist strongly. "But I'm afraid. Afraid of how I'll change."
"You have to face yourself, Minato!" Her hand weighed gravely on his shoulder. "Do it!"
"I don't…"
"Do it!"
With a long sigh, and a resolute glance forward, Minato finally… put a razor to his face, moving it down in a slow motion. The shaving cream on his face was divided like the Red Sea, while Aigis stood in awe.
"I just turned 17 again." He mused as he touched his bare chin full of cuts. "Now I just need to cut my hair and I can enroll again in Gekkoukan school."
"Stop." Aigis flicked a finger against his face, surprising Minato with such a human-like gesture. "You aren't allowed to have that kind of thoughts."
"Am I allowed to have some alcohol then?" He rubbed the place where she hit him. Metallic fingers were still metallic fingers, no matter how human she could act.
"Not even for the wounds!"
"Gee, someone's being a bit bossy—"
Minato quickly shut up, seeing her passive aggressive poker face, and limited himself to nodding and drying the blood off his face. Today was going to be a long day.
"Well, team, it's time to get to work!" The bluenet punched the fog as he stood up on his chair, sporting a face full of band-aids and what could be best described as a poor bowl cut. "We are going to face Adachi, and we'll do it together! No more fights or brooding or being lazy and stuff!"
He looked down at the rest of the group, smiling as he did his best impression of Hamuko. He was greeted by the severely unsettled faces of the rest of the Investigation Team.
"God, that's scary." Yosuke muttered.
"I preferred the emo version." Chie agreed, giggling.
"Hug me, Aigis-chan!" Teddie cried.
"Fuc—" Minato took a deep breath, counted to three, and then gave them a forced grin. "That's okay. I know it's a huge change. But I really want to do things right this time. So please, just let me try to be good."
"Yeah, Arisato's right." Kanji, of all people, nodded strongly. "We gotta help him out with helpin' us out!"
"What… what he said." The bluenet pointed hesitantly at Kanji as he sat down again. "First off, before getting to the main point of this meeting, allow me to start being honest, both to you and to myself. I don't care if you don't believe what I'll say, but I'll try."
"Before the loops… before entering the Vision Quest… I was a terrible person. Not because of my intentions, which were always aimed towards achieving a 'greater good', but because of my actions. I always did whatever was easiest, whatever would bring me less complications. I never thought about how the others felt about what I did. I was so terribly selfish that I wanted a world that was my own. But I learnt… oh, I learnt so much from my mistakes… and yet, once my trial was over… I let myself return to those old habits."
He paused slightly, finding Aigis eyes fixed on him. Naoto, on the other hand, was looking away. There was a general atmosphere of attention, at least.
"I'm so self-absorbed that I fell in love with my own shadow, and for the longest time, she was the only thing I loved, much like I could only love myself."
"But if you were a boy, why was she—" Yukiko's question was interrupted by a headshake from Souji. Regardless, Minato wanted to let them in on everything he knew.
"She was a girl because that's just how my shadow managed to manifest. I'd prefer not to go in depth about that, but, I suppose… that it makes sense in a way. She took the shape of the biggest source of grief for two of my dorm mates. I cared so little about them that my shadow wanted them to be happy in any way she could. Anyway… once I finally learnt to love, I discovered how much it hurts to lose. To take everything for granted and believe you're entitled to it, even when it disappears."
"Nao—Shirogane-san." He ducked his head. "I'm sorry. For some reason I can't understand, you were my sister in that world of fantasy, and that was enough for me, I hung onto that hope. And when even that disappeared, I found no reason to continue living. I'm sorry about all of this… but I'm glad at the same time." Minato smiled, looking up once more. "Because… it helped me. It let me heal. My reasons were completely deranged, but I'm truly happy I came here. You're all… a bit crazy for my taste, but I know you're all some great kids. So… thank you all."
Most of the group's eyes were wet, however… "…And I'll admit that Risette's music has sort of grown on me." …This last phrase just sent the idol, Teddie and Kanji into a loud fit of wailing. Naoto just lowered the brim of her cap, saluting him in a way. Even Chie and Yosuke were sobbing a little.
"…What brought about this change of heart, Arisato-san?" Souji asked, sharp as ever.
"…I saw Hamuko in the fog last night." He confessed, making Aigis turn sharply in his direction and terribly worsening the general mood. "She told me that Shadows are going to overcome this world if we don't do something about it."
"So that was why you were crying outside Souji-san's house…" Naoto pondered aloud.
"Minato… Not again, please." Aigis lamented, probably unbelieving. "She CAN'T be—"
"Please, Aigis, believe me for once!" He frowned. "I'm not even chasing dreams now! I'm trying to make her and all her kind leave our world! I want to be the good guy one last time!"
"…But I'm guessing you didn't agree so wholeheartedly to banish her though, did you?" Souji interrupted her, however. That was a bad habit of his, it seemed.
"She's always been pretty persuasive… and she promised to visit me, okay?" Minato shrugged rather angrily. "Look, as I said, I don't care! Let's just go to the TV world and put an end to this madness!"
Following the hesitant whispers of agreement, the group left the food court. Minato decided to stay behind a short while, just to collect his thoughts.
"You've been standing there all along, haven't you?"
He turned his head towards an empty chair besides him, giving it an inquisitive look as he silently prayed no one could see him placing a mean-faced persimmon over it thanks to that thick fog. "Hell, you probably tried to stop that Adachi loon before anyone else, am I wrong? It sounds like something you'd just try, and fail horribly at."
A long glance was cast in the direction of the seat, but the ripe fruit returned no answer.
"That's alright, you don't need to reply. I know better than anyone how amusing playing hard to get is."
Finally, he picked up his lucky charm and headed in the direction the others had left.
"Well, here we are… again." Chie muttered, clearly scared.
"You had been here before, Senpai?" Naoto asked, casting a curious look over them.
"I-it's a long story, and there's no time for that!" Yosuke barked, clearly flustered.
"For once, we agree." Minato smiled rather sardonically. "Let's go."
The door to the flat opened revealing a rather creepy room, stained by blood, what looked like vomit, and… it kind of reeked of urine.
"Well, look who's finally arrived!" Adachi's cackling grabbed their attention. He was sitting calmly on the bed, slouching as he played with a gun. "What took you all so long?"
"Vengeance is a dish best served cold." The boy replied, manifesting his best impression of a tranquil fury as he walked in behind the others.
The crooked detective stood up, smirking at the group of teens before him.
"Arisato," he greeted in return. "You're looking lively. How's the family?"
"Arisato-san, don't fall for his—" Yukiko began, only to find Minato staring at her flatly.
"I'm not so easy to provoke." He paused for a second. "Well, not that easy anymore."
"Regardless…" Naoto frowned ever so slightly, in a tired 'good lord, you're incompetent' face which Minato knew rather well. "We're not here to amuse you. Turn yourself in, Adachi-san."
"Oh, of course. I was just about to do that." The mocking tone in his voice was obvious.
"You killed Saki-senpai, and Ms. Yamano," Yosuke growled at him. "Didn't you?"
"Hm…" Adachi pretended to think. "Yep, guilty as charged on the latter. But the first… was that that high school bitch's name? So hard to remember, as unimportant as she was."
Yosuke snarled and made to lunge forward, only being restrained by the calm hand of Souji on his shoulder.
"See, that's the guy you've got to worry about, he's got a worse temper than Kanji." Minato muttered under his breath.
"Explain yourself, Adachi," Naoto intervened calmly, once more. "Why did you kill those people?"
The culprit just shrugged.
"And why do you care?" He stared at the petite detective with a twisted smile. "Why did those whores deserve to live… to have a normal life? I've done so much for bitches like them, and yet…" He pressed his lips together as his smile broadened. "Or maybe I was just bored… After all, who's gonna sweat one or two less whores in the world, right? Other than you goody-two-shoes punks! I mean, look at you! Looking for anything that can redeem the bad guy!"
Minato squinted his eyes, having a déjà-vu of sorts. Yes, he remembered Hamuko delivering a speech just as deranged.
"… You and I both know you guys are after me more for the thrill of it than any real noble reason. We're very similar in the end, don't you think?"
"We aren't breaking the law, Adachi," Souji retorted, clearly disturbed.
"Oh yeah, vigilantism is looked on so favorably by the justice system," Adachi laughed "You guys are pathetic! Pretending to be 'oh so hurt' by the tragic loss of those two… hell, I bet even that little punk there doesn't really care about the high school bitch being dead. But it's a nice excuse to go chasing criminals and things to kill."
"Just pathetic," he repeated, laughing some more.
Minato was about to intervene, when Rise's voice resonated all over the room.
"Guys!" She said urgently. "This isn't the real Adachi!"
"Oh, give the slut a prize," Adachi said, his laughter dying down to a chuckle. "Sorry I couldn't be here to greet you in person, you had me waiting a really long time, don't you know? But don't worry, I'm having a really good time down where I am. This world seems to have taken a liking to me. And hey, I'm liking it myself. Really can't wait for the fog to overwhelm that shithole up on the other side."
His words made Minato clench his teeth. There had to be a reason why Hamuko wasn't able to do something about him earlier, when this was HER world. HER fog.
"You know about the reason behind the fog spreading outside this world?" Souji asked guardedly, raising an alert flag inside Minato's mind. His tune, noticeably less calm than usual, let Minato know without mistake that he knew something. Something he wasn't sharing.
Adachi, however, just shrugged in response. "I don't give a damn about the reason," he admitted. "But the result? You're gonna love this. The two worlds are g-"
BANG. As the projection of Adachi stopped wavering around the temporary hole covering half of his head, he fixed Kanji with a dry look. "We knew about that already." Kanji said, a hint of pride shining in his voice as he picked up the chair he'd just thrown against him.
"You guys do the dumbest shit," he said flatly. "Didn't the slut just tell you I'm not actually here?"
"Then all the more reason to do this." Aigis leveled her right wrist against his face, as her arm began changing.
"Wait… what are you doing, bitch? What the fuck are you—"
"Fuck you, asshole."
BOOM. The wall behind Adachi blew up, revealing a portal pulsating red and black where it stood. Adachi's projection was nowhere to be found.
"Hah, well, I can tell when I'm not wanted. If you want to catch me, come find me. But hurry up… there isn't much time left for you guys."
"Aigis…" Minato glared at her with the intensity of a thousand suns. "If I catch you speaking like that again I'll wash your mouth with soap!"
"But the quote fit so well!" She complained jokingly. Afterwards, she adopted a more serious look. She knew Minato's words before he spoke them.
"See? Hamuko was right!" …But they hurt all the more for that reason.
"Minato… that could have been Adachi, doing this very same thing. Putting up an illusion of sorts to confuse you." She retorted.
"What?" Minato asked nervously. "What? No no no, Aigis! Don't give me this! I KNOW it was Hamu! See, uh, she never left! Adachi wouldn't be able to copy her... I mean… How can I explain this so it won't sound absolutely nuts…?"
"We should leave while his scent is fresh!" Teddie interrupted his thoughts.
"Right. You know what? That's okay. Don't believe me, I'll show you!" He clenched his fists and screamed "AFTER HIM!" as he charged headfirst through the portal. The others stared at the portal for a moment.
"That was…" Souji trailed off.
"Fearless?" Chie offered.
"Idiotic," substituted Yosuke.
"Hamuko-ish." sentenced Aigis. "So both reckless AND stupid."
"I agree with his plan of action, however," Naoto said. "We have come prepared for battle. We may as well embark to apprehend Adachi once and for all."
"W-wait! It was my plan, Naoto-chan!" Teddie complained.
"…I'll go make sure he's okay then." The android offered as she followed the wayward man.
"Aigis-chan?"
"After Minato it is, then," Souji said, tapping his katana against his shoulder. The group followed after him through the portal.
"G-guys! Wait for me!"
As they crossed the portal, Adachi's world presented itself to them. It resembled nothing more than a war-torn, post-apocalyptic Inaba. Everything was tinted red and crossed with police tape, lying in a ruined mockery of the actual town.
"Jeez, this place is worse than that tower…" Rise muttered softly.
"Oh wow, you all came in after me?" Adachi's voiced echoed mockingly in the air. "Don't you all have actual lives to live? You know, pass your tests, play sports, graduate, get married? I mean, I know Arisato doesn't, but do you all really want to be like him?"
"Tell me we ain't gonna hafta listen to this dumbass all through the dungeon," Kanji grumbled.
"Where is Arisato-san?" Naoto wondered, just as a massive plume of fire shot into the air from behind a nearby building.
Around the crumbling ruins of the building, Minato summoned Orpheus Telos once more to battle the teeming numbers of Shadows that seemed to grow rather than shrink as he defeated more and more.
"Way to go, Hamu!" He yelled excitedly, crushing the Fool Arcana card before him, lighting up the dark crimson skies with fire. Three more Shadows screeched and burned, though that was a number way lower than he expected. "We have to show her that we didn't make any of that up!"
"Minato!"
A rain of missiles and gunfire obliterated the Shadows in front of him, showing a small king cowering in the back of the group, untouched by the fusillade, summoning more of the other Shadows. Minato smiled to himself at Aigis arriving as reliably as ever, then brought forth the card for Orpheus Telos once more.
"Gee, it's like an endless stream of them!" Rise's voice resonated inside their minds.
The rest of the Investigation Team arrived just in time to wince against the blinding light of the lyrist's Morning Star that annihilated the king and stemmed the source of the other Shadows. Souji shook his head, walking forward decisively toward the bluenet, who suddenly stared off into space.
"Arisato." His voice was firm, that of a leader, brooking no discussion.
"Shh."
Minato ignored it magnificently, holding up a single hand. His eyes flicked around randomly, as if following an object moving freely in the air. Souji frowned at him.
"…Arisa—"
"SHH. I've never seen them move like this before…"
He suddenly reached a hand out into the air before him and closed it tight. A card appeared clenched between his thumb and forefinger. Upon it, the image of a mighty man with a sword stood out.
"Siegfried…" Minato mumbled, smiling with some pain at the memories of a young brown-skinned girl he had hurt so badly… how many times had he… Never mind, he couldn't afford to think about that. "Welcome back."
He blinked suddenly, turning around to face Souji, who watched him with some consternation.
"What?"
Souji opened his mouth, then shut it, exhaling in frustration through his nostrils.
"Arisato, we are a team," he stressed. "You may be more experienced than us, but that doesn't mean you can do whatever you please."
"Keep up, I'll clear the way for you" Minato said simply, sticking the card into one of his pockets. "Good to know I won't have to rely solely on her. Now if only I could fuse them…"
A few feet behind him, Souji stood transfixed. Aigis walked towards him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "I will be watching over him, don't worry."
Souji turned slightly towards her, his impassible look showing some obvious hints of frustration. "No, it's just…" He seemed to consider his words for a moment. "I'd been the only one to find cards so far. I… feel that card belongs to me, somehow."
Aigis tensed slightly, but she did her best not to let him know. The albino probably noticed it, however, she silently refused to answer his questions by heading quickly towards Minato.
"Minato," Aigis sighed. "Please do not move so far ahead. I may not always be there to save you when you get over your head."
Minato just shrugged. "You've never failed to save me before, and I know where my power starts and where it ends" he pointed out. "We have a murderer to catch, it's time for me to lead once more!"
"But Minato, I failed at saving you before! I failed so many times…" He could hear her talk to herself, or maybe to him, but he couldn't care less about her thoughts on the matter at the moment. His mind was focused exclusively on the mission.
The world of Magatsu Inaba, and later, Magatsu Mandala, was the hardest the Investigation Team had ever braved. The Shadows were brutal…
"You have to destroy them all at once, Senpai! They'll just keep reviving each other otherwise!"
"The Chariot and Justice Arcanas all over again…"
The traps were treacherous…
"How powerful does the Shadow seem, Rise?"
"It's like… Death itself in that chest…"
"Round two!"
"A-Ai-chan?"
"Um… let's just say The Reaper and Aigis have a beef."
Most difficult of all, however, was the new lack of cohesion. The team had only just gotten used to the additions of Naoto and Aigis, who strove to work well with the other members. Minato, on the other hand…
"Watch it, Arisato!"
"Watch yourself!"
…was less than…
"We need support here!"
"Then I'll kill the damn thing faster!"
…cooperative.
"Must you try to kill every Shadow, Arisato?" Souji inquired, now visibly less than amused.
"Arahabaki… I missed you, too."
"That's quite enough." The boy demanded again. "I need new Personae to become stronger as well."
"Well, what's keeping you from getting them?" Minato asked, cocking an eyebrow. "I'm just stronger, so of course I finish them off, but I can't see the relation here."
"I've been unable to find a single Persona since you arrived, and I've felt weaker than usual at that." The albino replied, trying to keep his usual cool demeanor, but being far more accusative at that.
"I doubt Arisato-san has the power to do such a thing. You lack evidence for your accusation, Senpai, and that's not unusual for you." Naoto intervened, sharing worried looks between both boys.
"Oh, no, no. Maybe he's right, and I HAVE monopolized all of them." The bluenet said rather stingily. "But can you really blame me for being Igor's favorite guest? I mean, I DID save the world, I suppose he's trying to repay me now somehow."
"Sharing is caring, right?" Yukiko mumbled.
"You'll get all of us killed if you continue this nonsense. I am the leader, and I need to be able to face Adachi!"
"Let the strongest lead, Souji." Minato growled back.
"What got you so mad, guys?" Yosuke was the one to speak this time.
"I've seen more than enough to answer that." Aigis walked into the center of the scene, separating both boys. "Minato, doesn't this situation look familiar to you?"
Said boy turned his face away and took a deep breath. "Yes, yes it does. But that has nothing to do with this! There's no death inside me anymore, Aigis, those fights and this one are absolutely different!"
"I've saved you from enough of them to recognize a fight about owning a Persona." Her frown deepened. "Give me those cards, Minato."
"Can we please continue looking for—"
"Why should he give them to you, Aigis?" Souji asked, interrupting Rise's voice. The rest of the team just stared at them utterly confused. Actually, Souji was just as confused as they were.
"Can Arisato even use more than one Persona?" Chie spoke, suddenly bringing some reason into the situation.
"But of course!" He nearly yelled. "Watch this! Come forth, Sigfried!"
He rose a hand in the air for everyone to admire as he spoke. But nothing happened at all.
"Let me guess, it's just an off day?" Yosuke smirked.
"S-SHUT UP!" Minato startled. "I… I feel that I can do this! Sigfried! Arahabaki!"
He kept yelling the names of the cards he'd found once and again to no avail.
"Wait…!" A sudden idea struck him.
Before the horrified faces of everyone else, he lifted the hem of his sweater ever so slightly and produced a gun out of his clothes. Of course, anyone who had looked closely could have easily told that it wasn't a real gun…
"SIGFRIED!"
But of course, things were never so easy.
How curious. As his consciousness faded, Minato could have sworn he saw a familiar face.
Tune in next time for more dosis of Minato failing to be nice. And be sure to tell me your theories in the comment section, I love reading them as I laugh in an evil way :3