"Joker? Joker! Guys, Joker's down!" Futaba shrieked, drawing Makoto's attention away from the battle and to Akira.
Her eyes widened at the sight. Akira. "Akira!" His name had left her mouth before she could think, and her legs were moving, carrying her to his side. She summoned Anat without thinking, pumping a Diarahan spell into him.
As she watched, the bloody wound on the back of his head closed itself over, as did numerous other scraps and cuts. He didn't stir, though. He's alive. The wounds wouldn't heal if he wasn't alive! she frantically reminded herself as she dropped to her knees beside him. Taking his head into her lap, she immediately set to work assessing him, pulling open one eyelid to check pupil dilation.
"Persona!"
The unfamiliar shriek that cut across the battlefield drew Makoto's attention. Her eyes widened in surprise. At least ten—more, probably—young men and women had surrounded them. The young woman who had shouted stood at their head, a large persona at her back, dwarfing her.
"Go, Isis!"
In response, the persona shifted, massive wings rising as hurricane-force wings smashed into the Shadow. It staggered back from the force.
Turning her attention back to the persona user, Makoto watched as a grey-haired young man stepped up beside the woman who had attacked, issuing orders as he went.
"Yukiko, Teddie, see to the kids. Yukari, Mitsuru-san, Akihiko, Junpei, and Naoto, draw its attention! Fuuka, get me a full analysis! Rise, I want the surrounding area scanned! We don't need anyone sneaking up on us.
"The rest of you, fall in for backup. I want all entrances and exits to this room secured. Yosuke, with me."
Before Makoto's eyes, the group jumped into action, following their obvious leader's commands. A pretty girl with long, black hair ran over to them, kneeling beside Makoto.
"Is he okay?"
"I...believe so. He got knocked out by a fall," Makoto said, shifting slightly to allow the girl to examine Akira.
"An easy enough fix," the girl said reassuringly. Summoning a card, she used a fan to shatter it, unleashing a beautiful persona that bathed Akira in a healing glow. Within moments, his eyelids were fluttering.
"A—Joker!" Makoto breathed, relieved.
"Thank fuck," Ryuji said, having wandered over. The rest of their team crowded in also. "Freaky seein' you down, Joker."
Akira raised a hand to his head, groaning softly before pushing himself back to his feet. "Sorry to worry you all. We—who's she?"
"Amagi Yukiko," the young woman said, standing also. "The introductions can wait, though. Does anyone else need healing?"
Makoto watched as her exhausted friends quickly took the young woman up on her offer. It had been such a long day, and they all seemed happy to let the strangers handle the battle.
And handle it they did. At a gesture from Akira, Makoto joined him in walking over to where the grey-haired man was giving orders, a brunet man at his side giving quick advice.
"Yukari, find a way to block its magic! We'll never beat it if it keeps healing! Naoto, focus on offence! We need Almighty in here! Chie, give them an attack boost! C'mon guys, I want this over with quickly! If it gets an inch, we'll be here all day!"
"What do you think?"
It took Makoto a moment to process Akira's whispered question, but when she did she found herself frowning contemplatively.
"I...think they arrived just in the nick of time," she said honestly.
"Perhaps, but who are they, and where did they come from?"
"I think we'll find out in a few minutes."
"Guys. Guys, this is crazy!" Futaba cried, rushing over on foot. "Look at them go!"
"I just hope they're on our side," Akira said heavily, "but we don't have a good history with other persona users."
...true, Makoto conceded mentally. The strangers had saved them all, though, so she wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt. Besides, she didn't think they really had any other choice.
"C'mon, Orpheus," the brunette persona user from before yelled, "just try and take me! Isis!"
"Calm down, Yukari! Use your head or I'm gonna have to pull you out of there!" the leader warned angrily. Then, quieter, "Yosuke, go make sure she doesn't get herself, or anyone else, injured. She's too close to this."
"Right, Partner," the young man with them said, running off.
The leader sighed, folding his arms. "What do you do when they lose their heads? I can't very well deny her the right to fight, but she's too reckless."
"Do you have the right to tell her not to fight?" Akira challenged, much to Makoto's surprise.
"I do if I think she'll get herself or someone else killed." The stranger sighed. "But she has a right to be upset."
"Souji, there's an opening!" The group's apparently youngest member had run over while they were talking, and was gesturing frantically to the Shadow.
"Right Ken, let's go guys! All—"
"All-Out Attack!" Yukari yelled, leading the charge at the Shadow.
The leader, Souji, swore and ran after them.
The teenager frowned, stepping up to them. "I know why she's upset—I mean, we all are—but Souji's the leader now. We agreed on that. She needs to learn to listen to him."
"Lucifer!"
At the firm, commanding cry, Makoto turned back to the battle. As she'd thought, the voice was Souji's and his Persona was exactly what she'd expect a leader's to be as it dropped an enormous Megidolaon on the Shadow.
This time, it didn't get up.
"All right! Nice going guys! Let's finish it!" Ryuji yelled running in. Before he'd gone ten paces, a large, well-muscled man in a red shirt tackled him.
Beside Makoto, Akira tensed, reaching for his weapon.
"Knock it off. We aren't going to kill it," the man said, shoving Ryuji away. "You, in the black. You're the leader, right? Call your team off. This isn't their fight anymore."
Akira hesitated for a moment, but much to Makoto's relief, he nodded, calling to the others to back off. They grouped together, watching as the other group—or, rather, groups. Though there was only one obvious leader, there were two distinct teams out there, one wearing red armbands and carrying guns, and the other wearing glasses—surrounded the fallen Shadow.
"What the hell, Joker? Who are those guys?" Ryuji demanded, stomping over.
"Shh," Akira shushed, waving at him for silence. "That goes for all of you."
Makoto followed suit, watching the scene unfold with interest.
"Orpheus, please. We don't have to fight," the brunette girl, Yukari, was saying. "Come back to us. He...he's gone, but we're still here."
The Shadow shifted, gazing at the humans surrounding it.
"She's right," a woman with long, curly, red hair said firmly. "We were teammates once. We should be again."
"...whooooo?" the Shadow droned, speaking for the first time.
"I will, Orpheus," Souji said, stepping forward. "Come with me. There's no reason for us to fight. Not now, not ever."
"Foooooool..."
"I know." Souji's voice dropped to something Makoto couldn't catch, but a moment later, the Shadow transformed into a card and floated over to Souji, who plucked it from the air.
"Thank fuck," a man in a ball cap exclaimed. "I don't think I coulda killed him."
There were a few exclamations of agreement, then the group turned to them.
Akira still had some misgivings about the large group—about fifteen people, according to his count. One person was in a bear suit, though? And he thought he'd seen an android, also. The whole thing was just strange. The group didn't seem hostile towards them, at least, so he walked out to meet them.
A young woman with long, blue hair met them part way.
"Hey, you're—the Detective Prince!" Futaba said, surprised.
"Shirogane Naoto," she said, smiling at them politely.
"Dude, that's Risette!" Ryuji yelped, pointing.
The woman in question smiled and waved. "Kujikawa Rise! It's nice to meet you."
Introductions flew fast after that. Akira had difficulty following them all, but he did his best. Eventually, three of the newcomers pulled him aside. Akira recognised them as the leader, Seta, the detective, Shirogane, and a woman named Kirijo Mitsuru.
"So, you're the Phantom Thieves," Shirogane said, wasting no time. "You're the reason I came to Tokyo in the first place, you know."
Akira frowned. "Oh? Investigating us?"
She smiled faintly. "Exactly. Your MO had a little too much of the supernatural behind it. So, I called up some friends and came to investigate."
Seta nodded. "Once Naoto informed me what was going on, I called up Mitsuru-san and, with her help, we got everyone together and came to investigate."
"Are you here to arrest me?" Akira asked frankly, staring at Shirogane.
"Hardly," she assured. "We're here because we did a bit of digging ourselves and didn't like what we found. We're on the same side in this."
Kirijo nodded. "My group is only here because of the unnatural reading coming out of this place. The moment Fuuka told me what she felt, I knew I had to tell the others."
"Unnatural reading?" Akira asked.
"Yes," Kirijo said, nodding. "At the moment, we can only guess as to the cause. Seta and his friends were nice enough to agree to investigate with us, though."
"So...you guys are two different groups?" Makoto asked, appearing at Akira's shoulder.
"That's right," Shirogane said, nodding. "Myself, Souji, Yosuke, Chie, Yukiko, Rise, Kanji, and Teddie met up back in two thousand-eleven, when we were investigating a series of murders in Inaba."
"And my group, along with three other members who cannot be here today, was formed in two thousand-nine, when the Dark Hour was disrupting Japan."
"Dark Hour?" Makoto prompted.
"I think we have a lot to discuss, but no time right now," Kirijo continued. "Just suffice it to say that we were two groups formed out of necessity, much like you yourselves. I'd be happy to go into more detail later, but for the moment, there is simply too much to do."
"I agree," Seta said. "We need to get moving."
"...wait, but if you formed independently, how did you meet?" Makoto pressed.
"Would you believe time travel was involved?—I didn't think so," Kirijo said. "Long story short, we met up in an alternate dimension, back...before a lot of things happened. We've been working together since two thousand-twelve."
"Time travel?" Akira said, sceptical. How were they supposed to believe that?
"Listen, let's save it for later. Right now...I think we have a friend that needs help," Seta pushed. "Joker, have your group rest for now; my people can take care of the combat."
"We can still fight," Akira said. He was reluctant to display too much weakness to these virtual strangers and their crazy stories.
"Joker," Makoto said calmly, "let's let them handle it. We may be able to fight, but I don't think any of us really want to."
He could never say no to her, could he? Reluctantly, he nodded. "Okay. We'll follow in the van."
"Van?" Seta asked.
"Van. Mona!"
Morgana bounded over, from where he had been chatting with the newcomers. "Yeah, Joker?"
"We need a ride."
"You got it!"
And if he got a little satisfaction out of watching the surprise on their faces...well, who could blame him?
They were finally ready to move again. The whole team had piled into the car, and Akira was getting ready to shut the door when Shirogane stopped him.
"Excuse me. I was wondering if I might join you? We have quite a lot to discuss."
"Sure, come on in!" Ann said, before anyone else could get a word in. "Come on, Noir, move over!"
Shirogane squeezed into the seat beside them, and Akira shut the door, before taking shotgun for himself.
"We ready?" Makoto asked.
"Sure are!" Ryuji assured. "Though it's a bit crowded."
"Well sorry, Skull! Maybe you'd rather walk."
"Shut it, you stupid cat!"
"Would you two knock it off?" Ann demanded. "Naoto-san, right? Sorry for their antics."
"Oh, it doesn't bother me. Reminds me a bit of Yosuke and Teddie. I must say, this van is quite useful."
"I agree," Makoto said. "We should all thank Mona after—that means you too, Skull."
"I take fatty tuna as thanks!"
Akira smiled at the laughter that followed. Unfortunately, however, he found himself compelled to steer the conversation back to more serious territory.
"So, you wanted to discuss something, Shirogane?" he asked.
"Yes, actually. Souji thought it would be a good idea for one of us to ride with you, in case you had any questions."
Or to spy on them, but Akira didn't voice that thought. He didn't really think these people were going to harm them, but it was his job to be wary, just in case.
"I have one," Ryuji said. "The hell did you all come from? Like, I thought we were the only persona users in the world, then bam, you all just show up! And what's with the bear?"
"I think some searching would turn up quite a few more persona users," Shirogane said frankly. "For the past four years, I've been working with Mitsuru-san, Akihiko, and Aigis to investigate Shadow-related events across Japan. We never have any lack of leads to follow—yourselves included."
"Why?" Akira asked.
"I'm sorry?"
"Why do all that?"
"Mitsuru's family is behind an outbreak of Shadows in the real world from nearly two decades ago. Ever since then, her family has made it their goal to investigate and control their population in the real world, as well as find and train persona users. Our main goal is to protect people."
"Is that why you came here? To save us?" Akira pressed.
"I hardly think you and your friends incompetent," Shirogane answered immediately, "so no...there's something else we're looking into."
"Are you going to tell us what?"
This time, Shirogane hesitated. "...I believe you were told that three members are missing from S.E.E.S? One of those members is a dog, whose advanced age made it safest to leave him home. Another of those members...was shot to death in a dispute between their group and another faction of persona users. The third is why we're here—and also why I am speaking to you, instead of a member of their group.
"As I'm certain you've all noticed, we also have a Wild Card in Souji."
Akira glanced back at that.
"...I had wondered. He only displayed one persona, but he...took that Shadow..." Makoto said slowly.
"Orpheus Telos," Shirogane supplied. "Orpheus was a persona of the third and final missing member of their group."
"A persona?" Akira asked calmly. "Was?"
"If we had Souji, and your group has you, Joker, then it stands to reason S.E.E.S also had a Wild Card."
"That makes sense," Haru said softly. "But you said had. Where is he?"
"He passed away on March fifth, two thousand-ten."
Akira's brow furrowed. "So how does he relate to this?"
"That's what we're hoping to find out."
"So, you're here on your own agenda," Akira said firmly.
"I won't deny that. But if it helps you with your goal, this can only be beneficial for all of us."
"I, for one, am glad you came by," Haru said softly. "We were in trouble without you."
"Indeed we were. You appearance was most fortuitous for us," Yusuke agreed.
"Yes, thank you," Ann said, smiling. "You really helped us out there."
Shirogane blushed faintly. "Please, don't mention it. We only did what any decent person would."
"Still," Akira said, "you saved us. Thank you for that." Suspicious or not, that was no reason to forget his manners.
Besides, Shirogane had managed to alleviate most of his concerns. He still had quite a few questions, but for now, he'd respect that perhaps this was a touchy subject for Shirogane and her friends.
"You needn't mention it. I do hope we can all be friends here."
Friends. With adults. As nice as these people were, and for all their similarities...they were still adults. That was one concern of Akira's that no number of words could shed.
"Of course," Haru said. "We're happy to go along with you."
"Let's not forget our own mission," Akira said firmly. "We can travel together, but we still have a Treasure to take."
"Calm down, man," Ryuji grumbled. "This seems like a sweet deal to me."
"Joker's right," Makoto said firmly. "We cannot forget our goal."
Shirogane nodded. "Nobody wants you to. We'll help each other."
Akira hoped that would be the case.
Thanks for all the support so far, guys! I really appreciate it!