(These 'interludes' have been showing up every other chapter, but I'll continue calling them that. Also: quick thank you to all anonymous/unregistered reviewers - I can't answer you directly on here, but I appreciate your feedback.)
Story so far: Trying to escape a Reaper, Kanji and Naoto took a multi-floor fall that ended in a fractured leg, a major concussion, and a consequent inability to find their way out.
In this part: Electrifying plans and not-so-well-kept secrets.
She couldn't remember the fall. She barely recalled the Reaper. For Naoto – whose mastery of detail was the essence of her abilities – this was deeply unsettling. So was everything else.
The room was cold and dusty, and in the darkness the vague outlines of rubble took on the shapes of Shadows. She knew it was the concussion at work, same as the ringing in her ears, the intense pressure in her head, her inability to hold onto her thoughts – yet that was no consolation. The fog might be receding from the television world, but Naoto felt swallowed by it.
"So. Any ideas?"
She blinked. Kanji, of course. He'd said – something, a short while ago. Something she should have answered. "I - I'm sorry. Ideas about what?"
"What we do next." He shifted beside her with a hiss of pain. His arm was still around her back; Naoto hadn't thought to move away. "How to get out of here, call for help, whatever. I've been listening for Rise...but she ain't saying anything." He chuckled, though it sounded halfhearted and breathless. "First time in her life, right?"
How would they get out of here? Naoto tried to focus, to push past the dizziness, the pain in her head, the swirling nausea in her stomach and throat, but her concentration shattered each time. The tiredness was bone deep, and if she just let her eyes drift shut...
No. It was vital she stay awake. She remembered that much.
Focus. They couldn't move. Even if they could, she was unable to navigate. Going in circles, never realizing it, and she'd felt so stunned and stupid when—
"Naoto? You there?"
Kanji's voice again. Naoto snapped back to attention. "Y-Yes. Just a moment."
They needed help from the others. The hours she'd spent strategizing with Souji had made his priorities clear; if he'd evaded the Reaper, he'd be racing up the building to Adachi. The last either she or Kanji had heard from Rise was her panicked transmission about the Reaper. If she and the senpai had defeated it, they might be able to help - but then why had Rise been silent since?
Too many questions. The room was spinning, the bloodstained walls moving in and out of focus. Naoto turned her head, wincing at the burst of pain, and looked up at Kanji. "Evoke," she told him. "Keep doing it. Try to get Rise's attention. I – " She paused, racking her mind for some trace of Sukuna-Hikona. Nothing. She bit her lip. "I-I can't."
"Okay. I c'n do that." His card flashed into his upturned palm. He crushed it an instant later, his fist enveloped by the blue glow, and with a rush of dusty air Take-Mikazuchi burst into existence in front of them. The room was tall, much taller than the tunnels, but the Persona's broad shoulders still rose past the gap in the floor above. He peered down at Kanji, as if waiting for instructions.
"Nothin' fancy. Just need you to show up on Rise's radar, yeah?" The shake in Kanji's voice was hard to notice, but once Naoto had, it became unmissable. "Make sure she hears you."
In the most human-like gesture Naoto had seen the Persona demonstrate, Take-Mikazuchi gave a slow, stiff nod. He'd started to flicker, though, much like he had in the earlier fight, and around five seconds later he sputtered out completely.
"Sorry," Kanji muttered, then grunted with pain. "Can't call him for all that long. Sorta – distracted, y'know?"
It wasn't Kanji's fault. If Naoto were the one suffering a potential closed fracture, she would be equally hard pushed to concentrate. As it was, her own injury had left her unable to do something as simple and instinctive as call her Persona. He'd been dormant since the fog set in, hard to contact, but he'd still been there, tucked away at the back of her mind. Now, everything was jumbled: vague shadows of memories and threads of thought that led nowhere. It felt like part of her was missing, and the absence was even more painful than the throbbing in her head.
She swallowed hard. "No, I should apologize. I...should be able to summon Sukuna-Hikona."
Kanji squeezed her shoulder. "Don't worry. S'probably because you hit your head. Your connection with the little guy must be scrambled." He flexed the fingers of his other hand. "Gonna call Take-Mikazuchi again in a bit."
"It hurts," Naoto blurted without thinking. "I – I can't hear him and my head – it's so hard to think, Kanji-kun, and if I can't think I don't know what I can do to get us out of—" She grit her teeth, forcing herself to stop, and took a deep breath. She was being over-emotional. A symptom of concussion, she vaguely remembered it from her mental list, but she should still be able to control—
"Hey, hey. We gotta keep it together," Kanji soothed. "And I - kinda know what you mean, I think." He let out a slow, unsteady breath. "I wanna kick myself for being such a dead weight right now."
"Y-You can't." Naoto had closed her eyes at some point, her head tipped back against the rubble behind them. "Your leg's broken."
Kanji made an unusual sound at that: something halfway between a laugh and a sigh. "Yeah. I'd noticed. Shit, feels like the thing's on fire."
"Do you have any healing items?"
That, for some reason, prompted another sigh. "No. They broke. I-I told you that." A pause. "Anyway...I got nothin'."
Dizziness rolled over Naoto, seeming to tip the room at sharp angles. Kanji was saying something else, now, and she opened her eyes to orientate herself. It didn't work. Her vision dissolved in a slick, swirling wash of red and black – blurring, warping, then plunging to darkness.
Naoto woke with her head pounding and her skin cool and damp. There were arms wrapped around her from behind, gripping tight. Someone was talking; their voice was low, hoarse, and oddly comforting.
"...keep callin' Take-Mikazuchi, been tryin' to think of something else I can do - but I got nothing. Bonehead, right?"
Kanji. Kanji was holding her.
The flash of indignation flared out in an instant. Too tired. Even opening her eyes was impossible. But when had she fallen asleep? Where had she fallen asleep? The air smelled like dust and blood; her mouth seemed to taste of it. Her head was spinning and her body felt light enough to follow, as if only Kanji's grip tethered her to the ground. Naoto tried to relax into his hold, swallowing down a sudden rush of nausea.
Dust. Blood. Where were they?
"Tried t'carry you, but my leg's hosed." A sigh. Held so tightly, she could feel the movement. "We pretty much collapsed. That's why I'm – y'know. Why I've got hold of you. I wasn't being weird or anythin'," he added, all in a rush. "Just...thought it'd be pretty crappy leaving you on the floor. Y'didn't even wake up, though. Hope I didn't bang your head up worse."
His leg. He'd been injured. The thought connected briefly, a small spark in the fog – Kanji telling her to leave him behind, the instant, visceral frustration and exasperation she'd felt at the suggestion – then faltered. How and why. Naoto knew neither.
"...last night. What I said." Kanji was still talking. She'd been trying to listen, but her mind kept drifting. "Ranting over you and Souji-senpai. Shit, I railed at you for thinking I was dumb an' now I can't even figure out how t'get us outta here. Rise ain't answering and I got no clue what happened to Senpai."
...They were somewhere he didn't want to be. Somewhere dangerous? She needed to get him to safety, just as she'd helped him before, just as she would again and again, but her limbs felt like lead. They would have to wait for help from the others – help Naoto was increasingly convinced would never arrive. Racking her fractured memories, she recalled Senpai had been focused on something – someone? – at the top of this place, while Rise had been fighting something else outside it, and might have already fled.
They'd all left her behind – and Naoto knew, with more certainty than she'd ever felt, that Kanji would be next.
"D-Don't go." She hadn't planned on speaking. Her voice sounded strange to her ears: small, desperate, and far too much like her Shadow. "Everyone always...please don't..."
"I-I'm not going anywhere, man, I can barely frickin' move." Then quieter, gentler: "Just - calm down, yeah?" Her ears were still ringing, so Naoto didn't quite catch what he mumbled next – something about not realizing she was awake? – but after that, she felt him hold her against him a little more tightly. The angle of his grip was awkward, making it slightly uncomfortable, but she found herself too tired to object. He hadn't left. Not yet. That was what mattered.
"No way would I leave you, even if could," he said, quietly. "You were too damn stubborn t'leave me behind, least I can do is repay the favour."
His breathing sounded labored, as if he were hissing through clenched teeth. Static, white noise - a television flickering at midnight as the rain rattled against the windows. They were here because of that, weren't they? Here to stop someone. Here to stop – who?
"Souji-senpai ain't abandoned us either, and Rise'll hear us eventually," Kanji was saying, the shake in his voice still audible. Something brushed against the back of her head, but the sensation disappeared a moment later. "We've...just gotta keep trying."
Naoto had too many questions - why they'd ended up here, where here was, who they were supposed to stop - but her lips refused to form around the words. It might've panicked her, normally, but the world felt airless and sluggish; as if she were slowly sinking into deep water.
"—out again, ain't you." Another, heavier sigh. "Naoto – I can't promise we'll be okay, but I can promise I ain't leaving you. You – y-you're...important to me. Really important." He paused. "Figure I might as well say that, if we're gonna—well, yeah."
Important? Why was she—
She would've dwelt on the statement longer, but Kanji was already talking again, words bubbling under the ocean. Naoto tried to listen, but found herself sinking deeper and deeper until his voice was too faint to hear.
She might have passed out again. Unlikely, since her head was still throbbing, but it was hard to be sure of anything in this odd half-state, aware only of pain and discomfort. At some point, she could sense Kanji's arms around her, too – but it wasn't until an indeterminate period of time later that, as if being hauled back through the water's surface, she was suddenly able to hear his voice.
"—evoking a bunch, like you told me. Bet the big guy's pissed off I keep calling him up for nothin'. Have to let him take it out on Adachi later, Ziodyne that bastard into the ground."
Adachi.
Naoto's eyes flew open. The room blurred in and out of focus; rubble and debris sharpening into view in the dim red light, then dissolving back into the darkness. "Adachi, we - we have to stop him, Kanji, we don't –" – the end of the year, Shadows pouring into Inaba, Naoto could see it, so clearly that she wondered if it had already happened - "—we don't have much time. We don't – I-I don't understand, why aren't we—"
"Whoa, take it easy," Kanji eased. "You back with it?"
Nothing made sense. Adachi was here, wasn't he? Why hadn't they stopped him? Had he been the one to injure Kanji? Why couldn't she remember? She tried to tilt back her head – it hurt, why did it hurt? – and blinked up at Kanji's face, reversed. "I-I don't know," she managed, through what felt like a coating of gravel in her mouth.
"Quit falling asleep, alright?" He pulled her slightly closer, careful to keep her away from his injured leg. "Keep talking to me instead. Gonna get lonely otherwise."
"K-Kanji-kun, what happened? Where are we?"
"You've asked me that twice already, man." Kanji took a deep, shuddering breath. "We're in Adachi's part of the TV world. A Reaper blew the floor out from under us an' we fell. Souji-senpai's still up there somewhere with Ted...an' Rise and the other senpai are prob'ly fighting the same Reaper. And like I said, when we find Adachi I'm gonna Ziod—" He stopped short, then added, sounding almost curious, "Hold on."
An instant later, something glowed blue in Naoto's peripheral vision. The light made her head hurt even more, so she closed her eyes – just in time to guard against a sudden blast of dust. When she cracked her eyes open, Take-Mikazuchi was back in the room, still towering beyond the ceiling.
"Different drill this time, big guy," Kanji told him. "See the gap in the floor above you? Toss a Maziodyne through it."
Fogged as her mind was, it struck Naoto that Kanji didn't need to talk out loud to Take-Mikazuchi. He might be doing it as a way to focus, or as some source of comfort. Considering the latter, she wished more than ever that she could still hear Sukuna-Hikona. She closed her eyes in an attempt to scour her mind for some sign of his presence. Again, nothing. The lightheadedness made it too taxing to concentrate for more than a few moments – and when Take-Mikazuchi fired off his first bolt of lightning, she screwed her eyes shut.
"If this don't get someone's attention, nothin' will," Kanji said. "Gonna keep firing them off till Rise or Ted hear us. Senpai'll just have to stump up to that money-grabbing fox."
Naoto wasn't sure exactly how many electricity spells Take-Mikazuchi used. She thought she counted three, maybe four separate searing bursts of light through her closed eyes, before a voice came from high above. A familiar, very indignant voice.
"Ack! Hold it off, Kanji-chan!"
"Kanji-chan?" Kanji muttered, then lifted his head. "Shit, Ted! You up there?"
"Yep." Souji's voice, distant but characteristically calming. "Despite almost taking a Maziodyne to the face, we're both here."
Kanji had started saying something else – speaking to Naoto rather than Souji, from what she could make out – but she'd begun to drift back out again and managed only a meaningless murmur in response. There were more voices, back and forth and bubbling for what felt like hours, even days; it was impossible to tell. The next thing she was aware of, some uncertain length of time later, was a sensation of being lifted upward – not just into someone's arms, but higher, up an entire floor.
Her eyes flickered open. Head still throbbing, it took several moments for her to realize she was cupped in Take-Mikazuchi's hands. The Persona seemed solid now, though static occasionally crackled along his fingers.
"Naoto?" Souji said, somewhere higher up. "If you're awake, grab Izanagi's spear, all right? If not...I guess we'll think of something."
Izanagi spiraled into the air above her a moment later, the red-tinged light glinting off his metal mask. He held out his naginata toward her, handle first – and being just conscious enough to obey instructions, if not understand why they'd been given, Naoto latched on. She worried dimly that the naginata would slip from her grasp, but the wrappings around the handle were coarse enough for her to gain purchase.
She still hadn't understood what the two Personas and their owners were trying to do until Izanagi raised the naginata. It swung up through the jagged hole in the floor above, Naoto moving with it – but her arms were tired, she'd had to close her eyes to stop everything swirling and shaking, and she couldn't keep hold of-
"Now, Ted!"
A pair of arms grabbed her from behind and pulled her off the naginata. "Got you!"
"Remember, Ted," Souji said, somewhere nearby, "Naoto-kun might be a little out of it, but she'll still know exactly what you did and where your hands went."
"Teddie's a gentleman, Sensei. Gentlebear. Bear-y gentle." True to his word, Teddie was carefully carrying her away from the gap, or so Naoto presumed. "C'mon, Nao-chan. Kanji-chan's next and I don't know how I'm going to lift him."
Once Teddie had placed her on the floor, Naoto quickly drifted out again. She was aware of voices, this time: Souji shouting instructions to Kanji, Kanji cursing with pain, Teddie asking Kanji exactly how much he'd eaten lately, but it was hard to pay attention for long. Exhaustion gnawed at her, making it impossible to open her eyes. Some time later, she heard Teddie's voice, now much closer - "Everything'll be fine, Nao-chan, just hold still a second!" – and a cool wave crested over her. It seemed to wash the fog from her head, the bone-deep tiredness with it, and her eyes opened onto Teddie's grinning face.
"Great! You're awake!" he said. "I've got to help Kanji-chan now, but take it easy, okay?" With that he disappeared from her view, only to be replaced by Souji. Naoto quickly sat up, and immediately wished she hadn't.
Souji crouched down beside her and eyed her carefully. "How are you feeling?"
About to be violently ill was the most appropriate answer. Naoto opted for silence, at least until the room stopped tipping and tilting.
"Thought so," Souji said. "Just relax. From what Kanji said, you must've taken one hell of a blow to the head."
"I – I think so," Naoto managed. "It's – difficult to remember."
"No wonder. I'm just glad you were awake enough to grab the naginata. My only other idea was to poke it through your jacket and haul you up," Souji joked. He scrubbed at his face, and Naoto noticed his shoulders were slumped with tiredness.
"Are you alright?" she asked.
He paused, then smiled. It looked feeble at best. "Yeah. That summon just took it out of me. It's – really hard to hold on to Izanagi for long now, particularly without him flickering out. I don't know how Kanji handled that and a bust leg."
Kanji. Naoto turned her head and saw both him and Teddie on the other side of the room. Kanji was propped up on his elbows, face visibly tensed against the pain, while Teddie studied his leg with a look of intense concentration. Kamui was behind them, the blue glow of his healing magic enveloping all three. She only watched for a few seconds, but it was long enough for Kanji to glance over, catch her eye, and immediately look away again.
She turned back to Souji. "He didn't leave," she blurted. "You didn't either."
Souji looked at her, grey eyes intent. "I couldn't."
Though her thoughts were clearer, her head still pulsated with pain. Naoto kneaded her knuckles against her forehead – unwittingly catching Souji's attention as she did.
"Our healing magic still isn't working as well as it should, is it." It didn't sound like a question. "I'm not convinced a Diaharan will completely cure a concussion, even at the best of times." He glanced over at Kanji. "Or a potential fracture, for that matter."
"I'll be fine," Naoto said. She stood slowly, in an effort to calm the nausea still itching at her throat. "What about Rise? And the other senpai?"
"Before we went searching for you and Kanji, we took a look outside. No sign of them - but I did briefly make contact with Rise. I just couldn't make anything out. I don't know where they are," Souji explained, his voice rising slightly on the last sentence. "We've got to track them down as soon as you and Kanji are fit to move. Speaking of which..."
Across the room, Kamui had vanished, and Teddie was trying unsuccessfully to pull Kanji up from the floor. In the end, Kanji pushed himself up – though gingerly, and without putting much weight on his injured leg. Though he was clearly attempting to hide his limp, his walk toward Naoto and Souji was more of a hobble. In his left hand, he was clasping her very dusty-looking cap.
He clapped Souji on the shoulder. "Thanks for helping us out, Senpai. You really saved our asses."
Souji shrugged. "Hey, it was your idea to use our Personas like that. You deserve the credit."
Kanji's cheeks tinged pink, and his hand moved to the back of his neck. It wasn't surprising, Naoto thought. Praise seemed to hold so much more meaning when given by Senpai.
"Did you defeat the Reaper?" she asked, though the prospect seemed unlikely.
"Never came after us," Souji said, expression darkening. "I'm guessing it blew a hole in the side of the building and went outside after the others."
Kanji's brow furrowed. "Huh. Then why'd you take so long to find us?"
It was a question even blunter than Naoto might've managed. Souji's expression shifted to a troubled, discomfited frown. "I –" he started, then paused and shook his head. "I was...going to confront Adachi. I dragged Ted all the way to the top of the building. But when I got there, I...realized I couldn't."
"Couldn't abandon us," Naoto asked, keeping her voice as neutral as she could, "or couldn't defeat him alone?"
The answer was instantaneous. "Both."
Naoto wanted to believe that was true. Looking at Souji now – gaze steady and intense, shoulders set firm - she felt it really could be. She'd thought she had reason to doubt Senpai, cause to believe he might no longer value the team's companionship and abilities, but had that really been fair given all he'd been through over the past month?
There was a beat of silence before Kanji finally spoke. "Well, s'good you didn't bail out on us."
"Sensei's better than that!" Teddie had most likely been going for confident affirmation, but ended up sounding flush with relief.
"Thanks, Ted – but I didn't know if I was," Souji said in a low voice. "Remember I said I wished I could do all this alone? A big part of that was selfishness, not wanting to have to think about all of you. Being able to do what I wanted." He closed his eyes for a moment, eyebrows angled in a slight frown. "But...I also don't want anyone else dragged into something I should be able to do myself. Something I have to do myself."
Kanji grabbed his shoulder, more roughly this time. "No, you don't. Remember that, Senpai. It's important. Ted, Naoto, back me up here."
"Of course," Naoto said absently, her mind turning cautious circles around the word 'important'. Hadn't Kanji said something else was important earlier? No, it'd been someone. No, it'd been—
Oh.
"You've gone even paler, Nao-chan," Teddie piped up. "Want me to catch you if you pass out?"
"Ain't you manhandled her enough today?" Kanji snapped.
"Bearhandled, Kanji-chan."
"I-I'm fine," Naoto stammered, quickly taking her cap from Kanji and swiping off the worst of the dust. "I, um, think we should find Rise and the others. Quickly."
"Agreed." Souji tipped his head toward a set of double-doors at the far end of the room. "Let's head out."
He and Teddie had located Kanji and Naoto through the hole in the ground floor, making it easy for the group to find their way out of the hospital. It was a little slower than normal, owing to the after effects of Kanji's leg injury, but eventually they left through the blood-stained lobby doors. Outside the building, Rise and the senpai were, as Souji had said, nowhere to be found. Instead there was a single, black and red portal in the hospital wall, slightly to the right of the entrance.
"Whassat?" Kanji asked.
"A Goho-M, but I'll explain later," Souji said. "We need to find the others."
At Senpai's instruction they began walking back through the shopping district, carefully listening for Rise at each step. It wasn't until they were outside the remains of Aiya that any of them finally heard her voice.
"Everyone, I – can hear this – left from the garage – house – Reaper is nearby! We need –"
The Reaper must have found them again. Souji visibly paled. "...We have to help them," he muttered, and started running.
Teddie took off after him, and Naoto followed. She'd made it as far as Daidara's when she realized Kanji was trailing behind. Should she slow her pace?
...No. Rise and the senpai were in dire need of assistance. Besides, Kanji would only take the gesture as pity. Naoto increased her speed, soon passing Teddie and quickly catching up to Souji. They made a sharp left turn at the ruins of the Moel garage, into a barren, unfinished-looking landscape: nothing more than dirt and red rocks. They'd been running several minutes – Naoto beginning to wonder if they'd interpreted Rise's message correctly – when a set of low buildings finally came into view. As they ran closer, she recognized the ruined shells as houses, similar to many across Inaba's residential districts.
Then she spotted a flash of movement between the buildings.
Naoto, Souji, and Teddie all skidded to a halt ten metres short of the cluster of houses. As she scanned for signs of motion, she glanced at Souji, who was staring at the middle half-wrecked building. Confused, she followed his gaze. Where the interiors of the other houses were identical, with plain white walls and no discernible rooms, this one was intricately detailed – and horribly familiar. Naoto had spent enough time in the real-world counterpart to recognize the layout of the living room and the style of the kitchen fittings; if she were closer, she knew she'd spot the ash burns on the sofa from Dojima's cigarettes.
"Why would—" Souji began, little more than a whisper, then shook his head. "Come on. The others have to be—"
A blast blew through the remaining wall of one of the other houses. Splintered wood and plaster showered down, the building's roof collapsing with it, and behind the wreckage the Reaper came into view.
Souji had already evoked, Izanagi materializing into the air - flickering slightly, but with his naginata held at the ready. The Reaper fired off another shot that missed Izanagi completely and blasted another house apart instead. Looking closely, the Shadow seemed to be shimmering itself, as if on the verge of dissolving into static, and trails of thick black liquid were oozing down from the single eye-hole in its blood-stained mask. Chie and the others must have already dealt it significant damage, Naoto realized – meaning the rest of them were in with a chance.
Up ahead, Izanagi made his first attack – a wide swing that knocked one of the Reaper's long-barreled revolvers out of its hand. It slammed the side of its remaining gun against the Persona's head, metal ringing against metal. The attack knocked Izanagi aside, but Take-Mikazuchi was close behind, lunging forward and grabbing the revolver's barrel. Kanji had caught up to them.
Naoto tossed her card into the air and fired a bullet through. "Sukuna-Hikona!"
Sukuna-Hikona flashed into existence and launched directly into a Vorpal Blade: zipping side to side, carving a dozen wide slashes across the Reaper's back. It was a punishing skill to use and left Naoto breathless, but did nothing to stop the grappling match over the revolver, which little by little the Reaper seemed to be winning. Take-Mikazuchi was being tugged side to side, his grip on the gun barrel gradually loosening. Naoto tried a second Vorpal Blade, this one driving her to her knees – but midway through the attack, the Reaper finally wrenched the gun from Take-Mikazuchi's grasp. It lurched backward and fired two blasts in quick succession: one hitting Take-Mikazuchi square in the chest, the other catching Sukuna-Hikona as he darted to the Shadow's left.
Izanagi must have been hit too; on her hands and knees in the dirt, Naoto dimly registered Souji yelling in pain a moment after Kanji. She felt a rush of freezing cold above her – Kamui, firing off a hail of ice shards. The Reaper recoiled, but recovered before any of them could seize the opening, gliding forward with its remaining revolver pointed at the group.
She stared up at the barrel, jaw clenched, and closed her eyes.
"Amaterasu!"
Instead of icy cold, Naoto now felt raw heat sear over her head – and opened her eyes to see a wave of fire strike the Reaper dead on. Suzuka Gongen dove in an instant later and drove her spear through the Reaper's chest, then swung it up and over her head in a wide semi-circle, slamming the Shadow into the ground. Jiraiya was there before it could stand up, flickering and static-y but still able to blast out a powerful Garudyne.
Unfortunately, the wind billowed under the Reaper's robe and helped to lift it upright. Yosuke's loud and unrepeatable response was almost immediately lost in a second roar of flame. Amaterasu - as solid and strong as Suzuka Gongen and Kamui - swept in from behind, the blades on her wings fanned out, and launched another Agidyne spear at the Reaper's head. As the fire sizzled through its cloth mask, it howled with what sounded like pain – and Take-Mikazuchi appeared from nowhere, grappling for the gun a second time.
Naoto evoked even before bothering to stand. Sukuna-Hikona rocketed through the air toward Shadow and Persona, curved around Take-Mikazuchi's back, and impaled his glowing sword straight into the Reaper's single visible eye.
This time, the howl was closer to a high-pitched scream. With blood and dark slime streaming from its eye, the Reaper lost its grip on the revolver and collapsed backward. Suzuka Gongen was at its side before it could hit the ground, grabbing the chains wrapped around its torso and swinging it into the wreckage of a nearby house. The Reaper crashed through the scorched wood and plaster, slammed into the dirt– and didn't move.
Izanagi fired off a final, seemingly superfluous Ziodyne. Electricity crackled over the Reaper's prone form, but there was neither any movement nor sound of pain. Moments later, the Shadow began to melt into a broad, bubbling puddle of black ooze that coated the plain white walls of the ruined house and spread across the ground.
A stunned, exhausted silence fell. Fortunately, it wasn't long before Kanji broke it. "...Holy crap."
"I'll say!" Chie shook her head. "You wouldn't believe what it took to outrun that thing! We had to hide out in Souji's house - or this copy of his house, or whatever."
"Where's Rise?" Souji cut in.
"...Right here, Senpai." Rise was stumbling out of the shell of the Dojima residence, one arm slung over Yukiko's shoulders. Looking closely, her school shirt was stained dark and torn across the stomach. "I – kinda took a hit from that Reaper."
"More than that," Yukiko said, quietly. "And our healing magic doesn't—"
"Work as well as it should. I know." Souji stepped toward Rise, and slid in to take Yukiko's place as her support. "What happened?"
Rise managed a weak, breathless chuckle. "I guess I can't run as fast as the senpai. I'll have to put more effort into gym class."
"Then Hanamura was clumsy enough to get zapped helping her up," Chie said, with a pointed glare at Yosuke. "Yukiko and me were able to deal that Reaper thing a few heavy hits, but in the end we had to haul both of those two over here and hide."
"We were worried that using Diaharan would get the Reaper's attention again," Yukiko added, "but we didn't really have a choice. Especially not with Rise."
Rise shrugged, though the motion was awkward and stiff. "Like I said before, I watch you guys get hurt all the time. I figure it's my turn."
"And I told you, don't say that," Souji scolded. "That's not how it works."
"So, anyway, where were you guys?" asked Yosuke. "Did you find Adachi?"
"Yes and no." Souji reached across and absently brushed a lock of Rise's hair from her face. "Ted and I found him at the top of the hospital, we think, but we didn't approach."
Kanji grumbled under his breath, rolling his shoulders. "Guess we've gotta work our way back up that creepy damn building."
"Your fearless leader isn't completely stupid." Souji gave a small, half-smile. "I used a Goho-M, but didn't enter the portal. The entrance is right outside the hospital."
"Will that work here?" Naoto asked. Adachi had previously proved able to control their ability to teleport, to the extent that Teddie hadn't been able to make a portal directly back to the main lot. A Goho-M employed teleportation within the same place, true, but if they stepped inside that portal near the hospital, who knew where Adachi might send them?
"It's worth a try - especially if the alternative is finding another Reaper." Souji glanced at Chie and Yukiko in turn. "And thanks, you two. You as well, Yosuke. We wouldn't have been able to take down that first Reaper without your help."
"I just helped the stupid thing stand up," Yosuke grumbled. "All that effort calling Jiraiya, too."
Chie's brow furrowed with confusion. "Huh. It was pretty easy to summon Suzuka Gongen."
"I had no problems with Amaterasu either," Yukiko said.
The common factor was obvious. "Your Personas recently evolved," Naoto pointed out. "The limited evidence available suggests that the disruption afflicting the rest of our Personas does not apply to yours. Teddie, was Kamui equally easy for you to summon?"
"Yep. He's louder now, too. I can hear him way clearer than I could Kintoki-Douji."
Yosuke sighed, blowing his fringe from his forehead. "Okay...fancy new Personas are the way to go. So why don't the rest of us have them?"
At that, Souji visibly tensed. "It's complicated," he eventually said. "I'll – try to explain later." He lifted his head, and looked at each of the team in turn. "Right now, we need to decide whether to tackle Adachi, or go back out."
"What do you want to do?" Yosuke asked, simply.
There was a beat of silence before Souji spoke. He sounded apologetic yet resigned, a strange tone to hear in his voice. "...I want to go get the bastard."
Yosuke gave a single, firm nod. "Then I'm following."
"A Sensei needs his Teddie!" Teddie chimed in. "I'll be right at your side, okay?"
Naoto took a deep breath. "The Goho-M will expire by the time we return," she said, preferring to select one of her more logical reasons. "I will therefore accompany you."
"Are you sure? You were badly hurt earlier. I'd understand if you'd rather go back," Souji told her, clearly trying to look like he would. "Same goes for you, Rise and Kanji. I know this is risky, and I don't want to push any of you into it."
Rise carefully pushed herself away from Souji (looking a little regretful as she did). "I'm with you, Senpai."
"Ditto," added Kanji. "Remember what I said before? You ain't doing this alone."
Important. Kanji had said that before, too. Naoto tugged down the brim of her cap, hoping that and the dim light would hide the flush she could feel creeping over her face.
...He'd been 'important' enough for her to jump in a television to pursue. Something Naoto had been trying very hard not to think about, along with—
"And if the rest of you are all going, no way am I gonna miss it!" Chie punched a fist into her palm, and Yukiko nodded beside her. "We'll pummel that big jerk!"
This time, the silence stretched out far longer: all of them looking expectantly to Souji, as his gaze traveled over each of them in turn. It was too long, to the point where even Naoto, accustomed to quiet, wanted to break it – and Souji's expression was strange too. More tranquil than she'd seen in weeks, yet slightly wide-eyed with it, as if he'd reached some final realization. At last, he straightened his back, shrugged his shoulders, and said, softly, "Thanks, guys."
"Aw, isn't that touching?"
The team glanced up as one. Adachi stood in the wreckage of the Dojimas' house, empty-eyed and wearing a grin so wide it threatened to split his face in two.
"Don't listen to him," Rise said. "He's not really here."
Souji gave a slow nod. "A fake. Just like this house, just like the hospital." He leveled Adachi with an icy glare. "Just like you."
"Oh, don't sulk. What else am I meant to do while I wait for you guys?" Adachi said, rolling his shoulders in an elaborate shrug that grated against Naoto's nerves. It looked helpless, humorous; too much like something the old Adachi would've done, back when he was just a bumbling junior detective. "I thought you'd like that Reaper, but I didn't expect you'd spend so long letting it kick your asses."
"Don't worry, asshole," Yosuke spat. "We'll be right up there."
Adachi's expression shifted, then - from the grin that verged on a sneer to something harder to read: an odd mix of impatience and resignation. "Then hurry up, kids. I don't have forever. Neither does Inaba."
He vanished on the final word. The team stood in silence, even after the echo of his voice had faded, until Souji turned away from the wrecked houses.
He glanced at the group over his shoulder. "Everyone heal up, best you can. It's time to give him what he wants."