Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters or any content from the Megami Tensei series as a whole. I do not claim to own anything. All contents' right belong to their respectful owners. Once again, I do not claim to own anything.
Okay, no questions to answer at the start so a brief note, this chapter is going to be probably the length of the last one, added the main quest will be on a roll by the end of this. What's in this chapter, two awakenings, securing the police station, and the first instance of my own scene created, at least I think it's the first instance, but not in that particular order. With that aside, welcome to Persona: Be Your True Mind Chapter Six.
Chapter Six: The Police Station
Masao, grabbing and violently shaking the steel bars placed in front of him, began to kick the locked cell door. "Let me out of her, you little shits!"
After the Ukobachs knocked Brown and him out, they'd woke up in the separate holding cells alongside the squad room. Masao proceeded to frantically assault the bars and walls in failed attempts to break out. He too couldn't summon his Persona.
Masao fell to the stank, stone floor of the cell, his impulsive burst of adrenaline and rage drained. "You know, this floor hasn't changed a damn bit. Lieutenant Baldy threw me in here on a weekly basis because of my tags. Old bastards don't know the meaning of artistic expression."
Lieutenant Oda was a close friend to Masao's dad. Since, Mr. Inaba had his business to run, he couldn't keep track of his son twenty-four-seven and Mrs. Inaba was worried her precious boy's actions, specifically his tagging of public or private property, would land him in prison, so Lieutenant Oda would take Masao in, let him roast in the cell for an hour or two, using the time to convince the owners of the home he vandalized that he was just a stupid young punk who didn't know any better. Oda could've lost his shield for it, but he owed a lot to the Inaba's and keeping there son from being sent to juve was the best he could do to repay what he owed. Most of the time, Masao didn't graphette private property, instead he'd go the park or the underpass and spray paint a crown, indicating he was the king. Oda would notice these, pick him up, and forced him to clean them off. With Oda watching his actions, Masao straighten-up a minor amount.
Masao sighed, tugging his hat over his eyes. "Come to think of it? Where is Oda? Old Baldy can't be dead. Can he? Nah, that old bastard, is to stubborn to kill."
Brown ignored Masao's rampage. He pushed his face threw the bars, clanking his rings on them, due to a lack of a tin cup. "I'm too young and handsome for prison! Why is this happening to me?"
Masao sighed, exasperated at Brown's consistent bickering ever since he'd woken up; the screeching and clacking of his cubic zirconium rings irritating his ear drums.
"Brown, shut the hell up before I shove my foot so far up your ass it comes out your mouth!"
"But, why, Masao? Why must the gorgeous be persecuted? Why must the good die young?"
"Brown, may I remind you, you started this whole thing. So, the only person to blame for being in this situation is you. Just had to suggest Persona right?"
"It worked for me when I played!" Brown pleaded, kneeling by the line of iron shafts isolating the two in their own cells. "The Lightning was not included in the results! I dreamt of a butterfly, who told me I'd be important in the future!"
Masao at the word butterfly, opened his ears. "Brown sure doesn't strike me as a strong willed person. That Philemon dude still pisses me off. Why can't he answer my goddamn questions? I'm sick of being in the dark."
"A butterfly? You played the game and dreamt of a butterfly?"
"Yeah, that's what I said."
"Eriko, said something similar to that happened when she played Person. Guess we got the special treatment: indoor lightning."
"Can you help to get us out of her now!"
"Brown, save it. Relax, I can't get us out of here, Nanjo abandoned us, might as well wait it out." Masao folded his arms under the back of his head. "That's how I made it out of this cell before. Wait it out. Don't let the anxiousness take control and we'll make it out of these cages. If we aren't eaten that is. Who knows, maybe the backstabbing asshole Nanjo went for help"
Persona: Be Your True Mind
"Kei, you look like you ran through hell in back." Yukino commented, aiding him to walk.
"I practically did except on the way back, I wasn't granted the convenience of a Persona."
Yukino sat, laying Kei's weight on her shoulder and upper back. "What do you mean? What did you do?"
"First, how is Maki here, Todo?" Kei weakly asked.
"Honestly, Kei, we have no idea. So, why don't you get to explaining." Naoya said in a pissed off tone.
"Masao and I were going to attack S.E.B.E.C. last night, we decided before we left the school, we procure ourselves some firearms and proper weapons. Hidehiko Uesugi, unfortunately, decided to tail us, the irremovable parasite he is. The demons were stirred in a frenzy on the way to the station. We both used our Personas to fight our way there, but these insignificant demons managed to capture them, said they'd lock them in the cells and prepare them to be eaten."
"Masao-kun's in trouble!" Maki exclaimed. "We gotta help him, Nao-kun. This has to do with that girl in black."
Naoya raised his eyebrow then brushed it off.
"He has his Persona." Eriko stated. "He'll be able to break free of the cell easy."
"He can't apparently." Kei interjected.
"What are you talking about?" Naoya asked.
"Apparently, I'm not quite sure on the matter myself, but exhaustion or repeated use of one's Persona will halt the ability to summon it. On the way to the station, Masao and I fought summoning our Personas exactly the same amount of times. Meaning if I can't summon mine, chances are Masao can't summon his."
"Well," Naoya touched his earring. "Yukino, Eriko, and I, and recently Ayase are able to summon our Personas. We'll get Brown and Masao out of the station and head to S.E.B.E.C." Naoya pulled out the fake identification. "Aunt Setsuko used this to escape through a secret passage. We can use this to enter S.E.B.E.C. relatively undetected."
"Wait a minute, Nao-kun!" Maki interrupted. "There is something wrong with you guys, why would Nanjo care about Masao-kun?"
Naoya's sweat dropped. "Maki, yesterday was a long day."
Kei adjusted his glasses. "For the record, I could care less about Uesugi and Masao. I'm merely concerned we'll not have a sufficient amount of forces to fight Kandori with."
"With Masao, it'll be four." Naoya turned to Ayase, crouching by the corner. "Ayase, you can stay her if you want? You too 'Maki.'"
"Oh, no Naoya-kun. If Masao-kun is in trouble, I'll going with you. I'll fight any demon in my way to do it too."
"Maki never is headstrong when it comes to anything else, other than me or Masao. Maybe this "Maki" is Maki." Naoya thought, picking the quiver and bow off the floor.
"You'll need a weapon then. If you are Maki, you should be able to hit the mark no matter what with this." Naoya handed Maki the archery items.
Ayase looked on, her eyes empty, a headache forming. "Don't go, please. I may not understand what's going on, but I, like, don't wanna be alone. Those idiots, like, left me to die back there, but Naoya and the others…" She glanced at Yukino with Ms. Saeko by Kei's side with a deep expression of distress, Eriko eyeing Maki up and down, a hint of jealous in her glare, and lastly at Naoya talking with Maki. "They saved me even though I'm usually a total bitch to them."
"Okay, Kei, are you good to stand?" Naoya asked.
"I can walk." Kei stood, his knees wobbling slightly.
"All right, Ms. Saeko, please block the hole when we leave and thanks for covering for us. I promise, we'll be back, all of us."
Ms. Saeko looked at Naoya. She always though he was one of the quiet, passive aggressive types. A young man who simply spent his earned money in an arcade to drown himself out of reality, but with the day and half that passed, her opinion of him has been altered greatly. He's stood tall from what's she seen and truly took a place as a leader.
"You're good to go. I'll do my best to fool Hanya."
"Thank you, Ms. Saeko." Yukino hugged her homeroom teacher.
"All right, brave leader, shall we leave?" Eriko asked, whipping back her ponytail.
Naoya approached the hole. "Now, when we get out there I want-"
"Like, hold it!" Ayase interrupted. "I wanna go too!"
Ayase had exited the corner, standing up tall, a determined expression on her face.
"Are you sure, Ayase?" Naoya asked. "You don't have to come if you don't want to."
"Totally yes!" Ayase snapped. "I'm not going be alone."
Naoya smiled. "All right, then I want you and Yukino to bring up the rear. Eriko and I will cover the front. Maki and Kei you two are the most vulnerable, so you'll be in the middle. If the demons want to eat ya, they'll have to go through us." The six arranged themselves and exited the school.
"Excuse me, Nao-kun, but I'm not vulnerable! I've fought demons!"
"Eh? Maki what are you talking-"
"Hey, when did we rebuild the gym?" Maki said, pointing to the gym on the west wing of the school.
"It was rebuild six months ago. Back when you were hospitalized." Kei answered.
"I told you guys I wasn't hospitalized. I don't even feel sick!" Maki bright face turned sour. "Come to think of it, Nao-kun, what's a police station?"
Naoya nearly fell over. "Your kidding, right?"
"Nope." she replied innocently.
Eriko found herself slapping her forward at Maki's slight idiocy. "How does someone not know what a police station is?"
"It, by definition, it is the headquarters for police officers for a specific district." Kei answered again.
"Police officers?" Maki appeared confused.
"They a appointed men and women who are to uphold the law." Kei replied.
"So, they, fight the demons?"
Naoya spun around. "Seriously, Maki, what are you talking about?"
Maki twiddled her thumbs, empty-handed, the bow in the quiver. "Um, um…"
Yukino cleared her throat. "Shouldn't we be, uh, heading to save Mark and Brown."
Naoya sighed, waving his hand at Maki. "Forget it." Naoya carried on forward, leading his friends. "She isn't Maki. Maki knows what a friggin police station is, she knows the gym was being rebuild. She shouldn't have fought demons or know about them. I don't know what kind of shit Kandori is pulling, and this has to be his doing, because to the regular person, this Maki may be able to pass as the real Maki, but I'm practically her brother she's had her life and my eyes and heart can't be fooled that easy. Though I'm pretty sure when she starts saying stuff like "I've fought demons before." and is overly zealous anyone can see the hoax."
Naoya fixed his gaze ahead. He and Eriko were the line of defense in the front, he trusted Yukino and Ayase to bring up the rear. He, Kei, and Ayase were weaponless, Maki, Yukino, and Eriko were armed. In this specific formation, one member of the pairs is armed and the other can cover with their Persona, depending on if Kei could summon his yet.
Naoya halted, hearing a shifting in the air, signaling the others to stop with his upright hand. "Listen. I hear a whistling in the wind."
"Up there!" Maki had knocked an arrow and aimed it at the sky. A winged humanoid silhouette circling them in the sky like vultures swarming on a dead carcass. The feathers were a golden, the wings the arms of the humanoid portion. Hinduism armor and headdress on the peaked face. A tribal colored cloth and loan cloth dressed on the upper torso and lower regions. The feet were grasping the air, like a bird roosting on a branch.
"Careful, everyone!" Eriko exclaimed, recognizing the demon. "A Garuda is a mount of the god Vishnu!"
"I can hit it!" Maki released an arrow. It soared through the air and punctured the right wing, causing the Garuda to fall. She knocked another and pierced the second wing.
"GARULA!" The Garuda squawked, flapping his damaged wings. A spiral of powerful and fierce winds surge towards Maki.
Naoya gasped as Maki tried to knock a third arrow. He jumped on her. "Get down!"
Eriko, Ayase, Kei, and Yukino spread preparing to take aim at the Garuda in the air.
Maki saw the Garula skill, slowly descending to strike Naoya who was using his back as a shield. Her hair flurried upwards, the ribbon barely staying tied. A velvet mist rising around her causing Naoya to gasp again with wide eyes. She felt a surge of power and it released, gently tossing Naoya back onto the street and dispersing the Garula skill.
Maki stood the blue mist and energy bursting out of her. Everyone else gasped.
"How can she?" Eriko thought.
"She's played the game of Persona previously?" Kei fell to a knee to weak to stand any longer, the demons on the race back to St. Hermelin damaged him more than he original believed.
"Maki has a Persona?" Naoya thought, realizing on instinct he'd jump on the Maki, he called an imposter in his thoughts, to protect her.
"Like, it wasn't this dramatic when I did it." Ayase thought, pouting that everyone was paying attention to Maki summoning her Persona.
Maki threw her hand in the air, as if beckoning forth something from the clouds. "Help me! PERSONA!"
A woman, dressed in a silk blue wimple, veil, and tunic; a complete blue rendition of a nun's habit. Under the veil was a plain white mask, in contrast to Vesta's this one had slanted eyes painted on it and a hollowed out smile where the mouth portion was.
"Thou art I and I am thou!" Maki's Persona spoke in a innocent, womanly voice. "I am a being that has emerged from the sea of your soul! I shall lend you my power! I am Maso!"
The Garuda screeched, flying cockeyed due to his pierced wings. "GARULA!"
"Maso, Gentle Wave!"
The Persona clapped her hands together in a praying fashion, casting forth a chilling breeze of cold overpowering the medium wind skill. The Garuda squawked in anger and dived at Maki.
"Bufu!"
Her Persona clapped it's hands against, a blanket of frost hitting the Garuda, coated over it's body in midair in ice. The Garuda had become a complete ice sculpture in midair, losing it's flapping wings and the air current it was riding, the weight of the ice forced the beast to plummet to the concrete. The fragile ice structure was reduced to a scatter mass of iced-over body parts.
"See, Nao-kun! Told ya I fought demons before!" She stuck her tongue out at him.
"Everyone, let's get back in formation." Naoya ordered. "Kei are you sure you can make it?"
Kei was sitting, barely able to stand. Maki towered over him in his current state. "Hold on, Nanjo! I think I can fix you right up." Maki threw her hand in the air. "Help me, Maso! Dia!"
Her Persona clapped its hands a third time, casting a green aura around Kei. The little wounds and scraps and tears and the weakness of his body vanished. He stood as light as a feather.
"I feel invigorated. My mind is flawless, my exhaustion has lifted and the damage done by the demons earlier has been neutralized."
"It's a healing skill." Maki explained. "I guess. Never used it before."
"It seems we have a healer, Todo. Our Personas together can be the supportive team." Kei suggested.
"We can discuss the actions for each person when Masao and Brown are safe." Naoya said in a serious voice. "Let's hurry. We wasted enough time!"
Eriko curled her lips, staring at Naoya's contorted face. "Why is he so aggressive? There's a difference between leading and being a tyrant or control freak. He's isn't like his normal self and he isn't like back in the school when he was giving us instructions as a team to fight the oni. With the Garuda, he didn't instruct us. He let Maki do what she pleased, ending with him trying to take the blow instead of tell us the strategy to defeat it. His actions are fluctuating from good to bad. He's not the same as the hours add up. What's going on, Naoya?"
Naoya stomped onward, an undirected anger in each step. "What's going on with me?" He broke out in a nervous sweat, continuing forward. He overlapped his hand on the left side of his face. "Am I myself. I can't tell anymore. As for Maki, she has a Persona. I put myself in the line of the enemy's attack for her. I wasn't thinking. I'm acting like Mark. I've got to concentrate, calm down, and lead. I shouldn't be a jackass. I don't understand were this belligerence came from. Next time I see Philemon he's answering these questions. Now, we have to focus on the matter at hand."
Persona: Be Your True Mind
The police station was a standard-sized building with a ten car parking lot on the side. In bold, bronze letters on the arch over the double doors read "Mikage Police Department." The crime rate of Mikage was low enough to not warrant a huge police force, but for the occasional riot situation, the MKD did have a S.W.A.T. team.
"Eriko, I though you said this place was infested." Naoya said, carefully walking towards the doors.
Kei held his position. "Masao and I managed to create an open path by killing the zombies flocking outside."
Naoya grabbed the handle on the left door. Eriko grabbed the handle on the right.
"And inside, Kei?" Eriko asked.
"We didn't make it that far. I know little imps called Ukobachs are living inside."
"Ukobachs," Eriko drew her rapier. "They're relatively harmless. They won't be trouble."
"Eriko and I lead, you guys stay back until we're in. If the entrance is safe, we head in to locate the holding cells." Naoya informed.
Naoya and Eriko swung the doors inward, a roaring stench of decay flooded out of the police station.
Yukino pinched her nose. "Great, more nostril-burning ranch smell."
They examined the entrance way, a counter with a shield emblazoned with MKD was erected. A few plastic chairs were jumbled all along the floor. Police officers were laying dead, motionless and rotting. There arms were by their sides, killed before they could draw their weapons.
"Be careful, they could be faking." Naoya warned. "Stay at of their arms reach."
"Wow! This place is creepy." Maki stated, gawking at the tasteless unimpressive interior. "Not what I expected."
Ayase hugged herself. "Like, can we speed this up. I hate deserted places." The vacancy made her feel on her own.
"The cells should be in the back." Yukino stated, clenching her nose shut.
"Oh," Maki's glowed. "What are the cells like?"
"Maki, we here to save Masao. This isn't a field trip." Naoya said.
Maki crossed her arms. "Hmph!" She then armed herself with her bow, knocking an arrow. "Naoya is right. I don't have time for sight-seeing. save Masao-kun first and then my main priority is that girl in black."
The six students progressed through several halls leading to the farther back portion of the MKD, miscellaneous zombies strewn about. The halls, like the Hospital, were altered by the effects of the Deva System, turning the straight-forward corridors into a maze. After navigating their way through the twists and turns, they came to a lone steel door. They opened a door, proceeding into a dank room, the two holding cells before them and a open door to the squad room to the right.
Masao scrambled to his feet at the opening of the door. "Finally! Nanjo, you dickweed, what took ya so long, I thought you abandoned us!"
Maki met his face at the bars. "Hey, there you are! You okay, Masao-kun?"
"Maki? What are-"
"Oh, you guys missed me that much to come an rescue me!" Brown exclaimed.
Naoya sighed, sinking his shoulders. "We could care less about him?"
"Oh," Maki said. "Hey, Hidehiko, you're here too?"
Brown's jaw hit the floor, his dreams crushed. "Sonomura…is…alive! My reward, my heart! Oh, why must the young suffer!" Brown begin to whimper, drawing a circle in the ground with his finger.
"Whatever," Masao spat. "Get us out of her."
"We didn't think to obtain a key." Eriko stated.
"Can we vote on saving Brown, Naoya?" Yukino asked.
"That will be no problem." Kei said. "Todo, your Persona has a physical skill, yes?"
Naoya nodded. "Mine does as well. We'll breach the cages simultaneously."
Naoya hovered his hand in front of his face, standing towards Masao's prison. Kei swiping his hand to the right, positioning himself adjacent to Brown's.
"Seimen Kongo! Spin Kick!"
"Aizen Myouou! Fist of Fury!"
Seimen Kongo untwisted it's body, slamming it's tremendous kick against the bars, tearing them out of the ceiling and floor. Aizen Myouou straightened it's stiletto fingers and released a flurry of stabbing thrusts upon the bars, reducing them to hollowed-out chunks.
Brown jumped for joy, but then sank in sorrow. "It doesn't matter if I'm free. I can't get any money if Sonomura isn't missing."
"Hey, Nanjo, why is Hidehiko so depressed?" Maki asked, curious.
"His imaginary quest to rescue the damsel in distress has been crushed into particle-size bits."
Masao after stretching his back, hugged Maki tightly. "I'm glad your safe, Maki."
"Uh, I'm glad your safe too, Masao-kun." Masao hugged her tighter. "Uh, Masao-kun, I can't breathe." He let the lean girl go, sticking his hands in his pockets.
"Masao, where are the Ukobachs?" Kei asked.
"Last time I checked," He pointed his thumb over his shoulder at the squad room. "Back there."
"Good, Todo, Yukino, Kirishima let us wipe them out." Kei instructed.
"Hey, wait, those bastards took my axe, I'm gonna kick their asses."
Naoya grabbed Masao. "Hold up. You still can't use your Persona. Maki heal him like you did to Kei."
"Kay," Maki rose her hand in the air. "Dia!" Maso appeared revitalizing Masao's being.
"Maki has a Persona!" Masao exclaimed, the green aura dissipating.
"Of course I do, Masao-kun."
"But, but, but," Masao started to stammer in his words.
"Trust me, Mark, you're better off not asking questions at this point." Naoya said.
Masao brushed his nose. "Your probably right, Nao. Either way part one of saving Mikage is done."
"How does saving Maki contribute to saving Mikage?" Yukino thought.
Kei cleared his throat. "Todo, if you please, can we proceed to take the police station. It would be in our best interest to arm ourselves before sun down. The demons gather in vast amounts in the moon, as I said."
Naoya pushed passed Kei, taking the lead again. Ayase came to Brown's side. "Come on, like, get up!" She pulled him up by his school blazer. "Or else you're be left for dead, not like anyone would miss you anyways."
Brown kept whining. "My Toadstool appears to be in another castle and my one billion dollars."
"Like, what are you talking about?"
"All you stupid humans are gonna burn and be our stew!" A Ukobach shouted. The moment the teens tried to enter the squad room, the clan of pint-sized gremlins shoved into the room in a row, like an army, five a column, five a row, twenty five in total.
At the rush of the Ukobachs, Naoya, Eriko, Yukino, Kei, and Maki backed up rapidly to the wall were Ayase and Brown were.
"Shit, that's a lot of spoons." Yukino commented as the spoons ignited with fire
Brown fell on his rear, legs to his chest, assuming his cowering position as he always did in scary situations. "Why must life be so cruel? I lose my hooks in the cash cow and now I'm gonna die!" He sniveled. "I don't wanna die!"
"AGI!" All twenty five demons launcher their Agi skills, sending a wall of fireballs at the teenagers backed into the wall.
They prepared to summon their Personas, but the mist appeared in seconds, underneath Brown's feet.
"Huh? What the?" He flitted back and forth in the mist, somewhat frightened.
"Persona," A mature, smooth, woman's voice spoke in Brown's mind.
"Persona," He repeated casually, blowing away the fireballs with a wave of blue energy, his Persona arising.
A woman, wearing red heels, a yellow cocktail dress, with matching arm-length gloves appeared. Two plume feathered, human-sized hawk wings spread out of her back, and her neck-length velvet hair, curling to the sides, covered her faintly pointed ears, which sported crystal earrings and around her neck was a spiked choker.
"Thou art I and I am thou."
"Holy shit!" Brown exclaimed. "Did something just pop out of me to say hello?"
Everyone's sweat dropped. "Of all of the people, Brown has a Persona." Masao thought.
"I am a being that emerged from the sea of your soul! I shall lend you my power! I am Nemain!"
"What does that mean?" Brown questioned. "Zan," He heard in his head. "Zan," he repeated, causing a sparking green energy to appear in Nemain's hand, increasing to the size of a basketball.
The Ukobachs ignited their spoons again, priming the launch of the twenty five Agi spells, but Nemain thrust her hand forward, casting off the ball of energy into the middle of the army. The Zan spell made contact with one Ukobach. The ball exploded, blowing apart the touched gremlin, and reducing several around him to chunks of green flesh.
"Did I just do that?" Brown asked himself. "Mazan," He heard in his head for a third time. Brown caught on quickly. "MAZAN!"
Nemain gathered dozens of Zan spheres in both hands and fired them off into the Ukobachs, splattering their remaining giblets and sticky blood on walls and floor of the holding cell area.
"Yeah, that's right! I'm the coolest!" Brown boasted. "You all wish you could do something that amazing!"
Yukino kicked him hard in the lower back, pushing him back into his broken-into cell. "We can you moron! We should've left you in there!"
Persona: Be Your True Mind
They explained the whole situation to Brown in a matter of fifteen minutes, not wanting to lose much time in the process.
"So, that was my Persona. Pretty awesome isn't it." Brown gloated, flipping his bang over his sunglasses. "Though I don't understand why's it a woman."
"It's official then Hidehiko, in one way or another, you're a pussy." Masao said, chuckling to himself.
Eriko and Ayase giggled at Masao's joke. Yukino and Naoya busted out laughing, knowing Masao's joke to be the truth.
Brown fell back to the ground, drawing circles with his finger again, in dismay.
"Ahem! If we are done with flattening Uesugi self-esteem even lower than it all ready was." Kei implying he wanted to carry-on, hammering his point home again.
Masao stopped his own chuckling. "Oh, the weapons, right? Follow me, I know were they keep the confiscated goods and the S.W.A.T.S. equipment."
"How do you know that, Mark?" Yukino asked.
"My family's friends with the Lieutenant. He's always locked me up or lecture me in the office. With spending most of my time here, I know were everything is. If we can unlock the doors is another story."
"We can break them in as effortlessly as we did the cells." Kei reminded.
They entered the squad room, the detective's desk were rolled over, papers scattered across the room, the garbage spilled out of their containers, and the Ukobachs had apparently made a makeshift cauldron of boiling water out of a one of the garbage can. They had lit a fire under the can, filled with water, with papers, which without nothing left to feed it, died.
Masao lead Kei to a iron door labeled "Confiscated."
"I'm going to get the key from Lieutenant's Oda's office." Masao informed. He pointed down an alcove, out of the room. "Down there, Nanjo, is the S.W.A.T. lockers and equipment. Oda doesn't have the key."
"Don't worry; I'll persuade it to open." Kei entered the alcove.
"Hey, Kei, wait up! I'll go with you!" Yukino ran up beside him.
Masao left the room into Oda's assigned office. Ayase and Brown decided to examine the pot the creatures were cooking in.
"Like, that's disgusting!" Ayase shrieked with disgust.
Brown gulped, trying not to lose his lunch and keep his cool demeanor.
"What are you guys looking at?" Maki ask, sticking her head by the lip of the waist basket, titling her head afterwards.
The Ukobachs had filled their cooking pot with bones and chunks of the human remains. Drifting at the bottom were the remnants of human ribs, spinal columns, internal organs, and Maki could see the final item. A skinned, hairless skull, missing it's lower jaw.
Naoya leaned on a wall, his shaking hand clasping the right side of his face. His nervous spasms were still coming on. Naoya felt his grip on himself slipping away.
"And your suppose to be the leader. That's great. I'm to lead my friends into unknown territory and I'm a wreck. Why do I have this Persona, if I'm scared shitless to use it? Come to think of it, why do we have to do this? Why were we chosen to use these Personas? Philemon granted them to us, but why? What purpose? Maybe, if I understand it, I'm won't be afraid to-"
A warm, gentle hand rested on Naoya's opposite shoulder, while another lightly caressed his back. Eriko had stepped behind him, her sword sheathed, and her kind hands, massaging his tense muscles.
Naoya blushed. "Hey, Eriko, y-y-you don't h-h-have to do that?"
"Don't be silly, Naoya. You look stressed beyond belief. How can I possible sit by and not help? You've looked like this since Maki showed up."
Naoya saw Maki in the corner of his eye, perusing in the desks with Brown and Ayase.
"I've just have a feeling. I mean…" He paused, trying to come up with the words to describe his feeling. "Her appearance is Maki's, but she doesn't act like her. I've known her for years. She wouldn't joke about being in the hospital. She wouldn't be oblivious to the basic concept of a police station. Plus she knows about demons, she has a Persona. Stuff Maki SHOULDN'T even know about in the past day and a half. Yet, with all that against her, I put myself in front of her to protect her back with the Garuda and I don't understand why."
Eriko pursed her lips, running both hand up and down Naoya's back. She put her mouth next to his ear. She whispered as low as possible, almost low enough to were Naoya couldn't hear her. "The same reason, I would put myself in front of you to protect you. You like her, Nao."
The crimson on Naoya's face intensified. He knew Eriko had a crush on him, but this was the first time she legitimately admitted it to him.
Eriko turned away, back-to-back with Naoya, sharing his embarrassment on her own face. "I can't believe I said it."
Masao pulled the middle drawer out of the upturned Lieutenant's desk. A key, with "confiscated goods" written on it was taped under the drawer.
"Baldly is too old school."Masao pocketed the key, heading to the door, noticing his familiar yellow backpack. His spray paints, notepads, and drawing utensils were taken out. He found them, rummaged around behind the filing cabinet, including his axe.
"There you are!" Masao felt reassured with his weapon back. He stuck it back in his backpack after picking up his art supplies.
"No sign of Baldy's corpse is good. He could've escaped before shit got bad, but he's probably hauled up with Ma and Pop down in our Laundromat, chilling, drinking the bad situation away. Or…he could be out looking for me." The importance hit Masao. "He wouldn't go right to his house or our house. He'd make sure, I'd be home so Ma doesn't have a heart attack."
Masao removed his hat, scratching his partially shaven head. He glimpsed at the hat. The cartoonish white skull with the king crown, baring an eye-like symbol on the center of the brim on top of the 2D cranium. His mother bought the hat as a gift for him to wear. He'd marked up the fabric with his personalized tag to make his own style. The hat, in reality, was the only thing his mother bought for him to wear that he actual wore. He still heard his hateful words to her playing back in his head. "Come on, Ma! Who the hell buys a yellow tuque? This thing is freakin ugly!"
"Masao Inaba! You will not talk to me that way and you'll wear that hat! You've worn that raggedy baseball cap for God knows how long! You need a new one!"
"Screw that! Ma, I'm not wearing this. It's seriously cramps my damn style!"
"Then make it your style! I don't care! You are wearing it, end of discussion!"
Masao sighed, shuffling the hat firmly back on his head. "You know, Ma, you can be a real bitch sometimes, but I'm prayin' your okay. You too, Pop."
"Yo, Mark!" Naoya called. "You get the key?"
Masao tossed the key to Naoya, who barely caught it. "Knock yourself out browsing through all that shit, I have my weapon right here." Masao chopped the air with his axe.
Kei and Yukino gathered boxes of ammunition, consisting of Handgun and machinegun magazines, boxes of Shotgun shells, and stacks of rifle rounds. The Ukobachs had melted the iron door inward, apparently biting into most of firearms, but Kei had found nine untouched weapons in a duffel bag.
"You know, why'd those little snots trying eating the guns, but not the ammo?" Yukino asked, hefting the bag up.
Kei too strained himself carrying the bag of weapons. "My assumption is the gunpowder and shell casing didn't sit with there stomach."
"Did Kei just attempt to make a joke? Reality must really have been altered." Yukino thought.
"So, what kinda guns we got, Kei?" She asked while they were returning to the squad room.
"I'm not a gun enthusiast, but what I do know is we have a Springfield M1903 and Remington M700 rifles. One of each."
"Specific model numbers too, huh? And you're not much of a gun enthusiast."
"Yamaoka and I used to go hunting. We had the same types of rifles. I'd use the Springfield M1903 and he'd used the Remington M700."
"Sorry. Didn't mean to bring up Yamaoka."
Kei pushed up his glasses. "No…no…it's fine. You have nothing to apologize for, Yukino."
"Whatever you say. I still feel horrible."
"Okay, Nanjo, what's the score?" Masao asked at his and Yukino's return to the room. Naoya, Ayase, and Brown gathered in the other room, going through the confiscated items. Maki and Eriko were waiting patiently.
"See for yourself."
Masao unzipped the duffel bag, jawing dropping. He pulled out a shotgun. "Awesome! Didn't think they have a Remington M1100 in the S.W.A.T. room." Masao tucked it in his backpack besides his axe to look through the contents of the bag more.
"The Springfield rifle is mine, Masao." Kei said, taking the weapon for himself and securing it on his back with the shoulder strap.
"There's a Remington rifle in her too." Masao stated, pulling it out.
"Oh," Eriko perked up. "I'll use that. My father use to take me hunting when we checked in at ports." Eriko readied and aimed the weapon like a pro, starring down the sights.
"Uh, Masao-kun. Is there something small I can use." Maki asked, holding her bow.
"Yeah, here." He handed Maki a tiny handgun, the size of her hand. "It's a Browning High Power. You see that switch on the side. If you want to fire it, you'll have to switch it off. It's the safety."
"Okay, thank you." Maki put the gun in the back of her uniform's belt.
"Yukino, you'll like this one." Masao tossed her a sawn-off shotgun. She caught it, a wry smile on her face at the not-so-heavy weight of such a powerful weapon. "An Ithaca Model A, can kick your ass if you not careful." He warned.
"I think I can handle it, Mark." Yukino retorted, loading two shells into the barrels.
Ayase's lashed a confiscated weaved whip on the ground, startling and scaring Brown into a corner. "I, like, totally love this!"
Brown crouched by the corner his head hung low. "She might as well take the rest of the fem dom gear she found that thing in with her. God only knows, where that was confiscated from."
"Ayase, stop fooling around. Brown get your ass out of the corner and find a weapon." Naoya order, grasping the scabbard of katana and a broadsword, both of which mostly taken from a pawn shop. They both had note tags attached to the handles saying "Donate to Historical Society."
"Katana is mine. Hopefully, Kei won't mind a two-handed sword. Ayase with a whip is more fitting then I imagined. Now, let's see what Hidehiko grabs."
Brown picked up fork-like ended spear. The staff of it was a lacquered redwood. "I'll use this! Longest weapon is the strongest weapon!"
Naoya rolled his eye, stepping out of the room, Ayase and Brown close behind. "More like longer the weapon, more it compensates for. In Brown's case, that's a lot."
"Okay, Ayase and Brown are armed." Naoya announced. "Kei are you fine with this sword."
Kei shifted the weight of the rifle to place the broadsword under the strap securing it to his back. "I can live with it, Todo. I assume the katana is yours."
"Yep." Naoya put it in his waistband, the entire weapon the length of his leg.
"Good, with weapons set, I got guns and ammo for the rest of you guys." Masao eagerly said, dancing between the three of them, placing a machinegun in Naoya's hands. "A Heckler and Koch MP5. Sorry, Nao, no grenade rounds available for the grenade launcher under the barrel." He moved to Brown after giving Naoya four clips of ammunition. "Brown, you get the TMP." Brown opened his mouth to complain he received the smallest weapon when Masao handed Ayase a black handgun, the real smallest weapon. "A Heckler and Koch VP70, decent handgun, has a nice clip size."
"Why do I have this, Masao?" Brown exclaimed, showing him the TMP. "I'm the best, I should have the best gun!"
"No can do, Brown. You probably can't even handle that. I at least know that Eriko, Naoya, Yukino, and rich boy over there can not end of shooting us even with no experience with firearms. We have a M4 Carbine in there that we're bringing with us, but no one's using purely for the reason it's the most powerful gun here. So, just point the damn thing forward and try not to shoot us in the back."
Persona: Be Your True Mind
Reiji Kido listened intently to the tapping of his shoes on the paved road to S.E.B.E.C.'s doors. His glaring eyes fixated on the rows of windows on the five floored, sky-high building made of gray stone. The chain around his choker, jangled with his motions. His gloved fists clenched tightly and his teeth gritted, exposing his sharp canines. Broad shouldered, tall men, dressed in black suits, ties, and sunglasses, with earwigs in their ears approached him at the check-in for cars. They immediately reached into their jackets.
Reiji bolted, picking up his pace, finding himself in front of the two. "OUT OF THE WAY!" He belted, breaking one of their nose with a powerful right hook.
The second S.P., backing up incredible fast towards the building, drawing his firearm: a Desert Eagle .50 Caliber Action Express. He trained it on Reiji, who was wildly weaving back and forth while sprinting forward like a animal.
"Halt!" He commanded.
"Fuck you!" Reiji charged faster.
The S.P. fired his weapon.
Reiji dodged to the right, the high-powered round narrowly missing his arm. The young wild boy, ducking as he charged, stopped by the S.P.'s feet in a matter of seconds. He leaped up, connecting a burly uppercut under the man's chin, dazing him and knocking him unconscious.
Reiji spat on the ground, hooking his thumbs into his pants pockets. He waltzed passed the man's knocked-out form to the revolving doors. He pushed his way through.
"Your security sucks, Kandori. Two guards at the door aren't gonna stop me. You should've prepared better because I'm about to rip out your heart and crush it in my hands!"
Persona: Be Your True Mind
Done! Sorry it took awhile, been busy as of left as well as taking tiny break. I enjoyed writing this chapter because it mostly strayed away from the exact content, which in my opinion, makes writing monetization a little bit easier. The scene with the weapons gathering was my own. I know that rushed a few things a little bit, Brown's awakening for example, but I overall enjoyed it. Maki being there is confusing I know and so is this mysterious "girl in black" and why Reiji is a badass. Well, possibly not the last one, but this chapter covered a small amount of material and be warned, technically the next chapter is filler, but it has something important in it so, take it as you wish. Either way, I hope you enjoyed Chapter Six of Persona: Be Your True Mind, and I'll see you next time for Chapter Seven: S.E.B.E.C. Building Part 1: Byakko.