Chapter 2
"Mitsuru-san…don't you think that we have imprisoned him long enough…I mean, we have had two whole years to digest the fact that Minato left us to become the great seal. Ryan has had twenty minutes of awakened time to digest this. What he needs is time, otherwise he will still be angry, no matter when you reactivate him." Fuuka Yamagishi said as talked with Mitsuru and Aigis about a week after Ryan's anger meltdown, which Fuuka blames on grief, Aigis blames on anger, and Mitsuru blames on his hate of her.
"I am petty sure he blames me for his death." Mitsuru said sullenly, "So he could be a danger, to you, to me, and to himself. So, I say we keep him locked up."
Aigis, surprisingly, remained silent.
But, what has he done wrong? Acted on his grief, If I remember, so did Yukari and you if I remember. Let him out. Let have time to think…even if is just for an hour…"
Mitsuru didn't want to let Ryan out, as he did just insult her entire family…but Yamagishi did have a point. "Fine, then Yamagishi, let him out, maybe another friendly face will help." Mitsuru consented.
Fuuka went down to the area where Ryan was being held and noticed something else. "Mitsuru, Look up fifth Generation Anti-Shadow weapon Labyrs…"
Persona 4 Arena: Life Beyond Metal
Chapter 2: Retribution
The P-1 grand prix was in full swing. Yu was power driving through most of his friends towards the end of the competition. "Madam President huh? She was not foreseen. Most unusual." Said a voice from a figure leaning against a wall of a tower overlooking the Stadium. However, sheer distance made it hard to see.
"This does not change the plans regardless, We must have the persona users life force in order to use the sacrifice…in fact, if I remember correctly, the plume of dusk contains just the right amount of energy required to finish the rite…Catch her, she will no doubt be exhausted after the fight. Use any means at your disposal, failure is not an option. Get me that Plume of dusk. Kill any who resist, and if she does, I just need her heart, not the shell." The figure that gave the orders turned around and turned out to be Ryan with feral red eyes.
The figure popped off the walls and nodded, his face obscured by the mask with the English number 5 on it, replacing on the mask where a roman numeral would be. The mask was Dark red and had claw marks on it. "Should I take Icarus with me commander?"
"Yes, as I said, use any force you have."
"As you command, Ichoran, the bloodied middle."
"Exactly, now get me my prize Daedalus."
The figure named Daedalus placed his left to his chest and bowed slightly before turning on his heel. Ryan laughed before he seemed to morph, Ichoran, the bloodied middle child of the Ichor family, stood to the world. Ichoran seem to stretch, then speak, "I hate that accursed human form. That form makes me feel so uncomfortable posing as the race I am going to gleefully wipe out soon." Ichoran walked towards a table where a bloodied Ryan, whose robotic parts were seemingly taken out, chained to the table. "I am afraid you have no choice in the matter. You will die. And I will destroy the world. Do not be afraid of the pain." Ichoran placed his hand on top of Ryan's head," We will be separated, and it will be all over soon. It will quick and painless. Least I can do for making me powerful enough to end the world." Ichoran left the table, laughing manically. The bloodied Ichoran stood on the edge of the tower. Ichoran stared at the stadium, completely unaware that his prisoner that he placed in prison far below the tower was escaping, now to allow his master to die so easily…
Yu was tired, very tired. Fighting Labrys after she was hacked, by Mitsuru's own group no less. The ASW now lay down, shut down after her hacking. Mitsuru gathered herself and started to politely tell the investigation team to stay out of it. The investigation argued against it. "Did you hear that?" Naoto asked everyone as she pulled out her revolver. She walked slowly to where she thought she heard the noise. Two figures dropped down from the rafters and simply beat Naoto to the group, then took her gun and kicked halfway back to the group. "If she is part of their group, just the mindless should take of them." One with a green pointy mask with the English number 4 on it said as he twirled Naoto's gun around in his hand.
Kanji charged blindly at Daedalus, swinging his chair. Daedalus stepped away, grabbed kanji and slammed him to the floor and beat him with his own chair until he was as unconscious as Naoto. Daedalus dropped the chair as Aigis stood near Mitsuru as she drew her Rapier. Daedalus stepped forward, a group of shadows around ten big behind him as well as the figure known as Icarus. Icarus went towards Labrys as Yu and Yukiko stood in front of the tired Labrys. Daedalus sighed and said in an evil voice, "I have no quarrel with you insignificant beings, I am here for the object my Maser requires and to be on my way. Step aside!" Daedalus commanded before a wall of wind below Yu and Yukiko back a couple feet, but did not injure them. Icarus smirked and fired a round from Naoto's gun at Chie, have with Yusuke grabbed her and moved her out of the way. That's when the shadows attacked like zombies, clawing and biting at the group as they tried to devour the group or something of the like. Icarus scooped up Labrys and walked towards the way they came.
Daedalus looked over his shoulder and saw that most of the minions had perished under the teamwork of the group of the investigation team and the remainder of SEES. The man simply laughed and yelled, "Lord Ichoran sends his regards!" Mitsuru looked shocked as well as Akihiko, but Aigis looked confused. Yu caught on rather quickly, "Who the hell's…Ichoran?" Yu said the Ichoran's name after taking a ragged breath, due to the fact he was beyond tired. Yukiko healed the group, and then fell beside her boyfriend to make sure he was okay.
Mitsuru suggested that they all take a break, due to the obvious exhaustion of the group, if only to get some food. The group nodded, as they could go in right after. The group realized that they were in no position to go after another threat in the same day, or at least back-to-back.
Mitsuru sat on the bench as Yusuke and Yu got the food for the group. It was getting late in the evening. Mitsuru was about to eat the food bought from the food court for her when her phone rang.
"Mitsuru speaking, what is it?"
"Mitsuru-san, I understand you wanted to know if any information turned up in the disappearances and there is a call on the line from someone claiming to have information."
"Patch him through, but scramble the location."
"Done ma'am."
"Mitsuru Kirijo, I presume?" An American voice speaking Japanese spoke.
"Yes, what information do you have for us?"
"Well, I currently have information regarding the danger that one of the disappeared persons may be in. The name of the individual is Ryan Solara. Ryan Solara is a blood persona user as you know, but what… okay that man is gone. I apologize for the deceit but I was under watch until recently, My name is Sapporo, I have been charged with apparently finding two individuals, now three that have gone missing, Ryan, Codename Daedalus, and Codename Icarus. I know they al disappeared in that general area something within the last several days when there searching for Ryan and to stop the rite."
"Icarus and Daedalus just attacked us I think, they were wearing masks I think. One was green with a number 4 and one was dark red with the number 5 on it."
"Damn, that means they are now part of the rite, shit. The masks signify with tower they were assigned to. Icarus was the envy tower and Daedalus was stationed at the tower of wrath. They are the fourth and fifth towers we discovered respectively. Damn it! The rite has to have entered its final stage! I am sorry, but if you want any hope of anyone there surviving except a crazed Ichoran hell-bent on destroying the world, you have officially 24 from the time he obtains a power source; the source will be destroyed after 18 hours. I watched one of my friends go through the rite, then we had to put him down as well…don't let Ryan die…please." The phone hung up.
-One Night's sleep later-
After the combination of Rise and Fuuka discovered the source was coming from a castle tower not far off from the front gate of the "School," the group wasted no time in getting over to the tower itself to attempt to destroy the rite before it took place. However, the exploration rules applied, Yu, lead a team and every one followed through the tower through the cleared path. The team was usually Chie, Yu, Kanji, and Naoto…but Naoto had lost her gun, so Aigis filled in. But like some of the dungeons before them, the person there said things to them. They did not however, say it from the trapped point of view.
"It was all so harmless at first, they had herded us together as a "Government Research Project." We were the test group in the experiment, and it all started with blood tests, and some odd test they called the potentiality test, stupidest test in the world in my opinion. Very few of us passed the test: Alexi, Cody, Derek, Justine, Kevin, and Me. That and that Takaya fellow…I don't like him…"
The group stopped, "Who said that?" Chie asked.
"That was Ryan…is he reliving the BLOOD Project?" Akihiko asked.
"I hope not…" Fuuka responded.
The group continued on, pressing through the many cannon fodder enemies that usually inhabited these places. After the group entered the third floor, it started again, "The tests continued, like it was some kind of military training program. We are twelve and thirteen for goodness sakes…but our numbers are fewer now, any one who didn't pass the potentiality test was escorted out of the building, the Alexi went missing. And the rest of us haven't eaten in days. I just want to go home…but I still don't know where I am." The voice stopped again.
"Well hello there. I didn't expect to ever see you again." A familiar voice called out to them.
Naoto immediately got angry when she saw her revolver holstered to the side of a figure in a black cloak with a pointed green mask.
"Icarus…" Mitsuru spoke.
"OH, you do know my name." The figure laughed, "Then you know what to scream once you die!"
Icarus raised a different gun, an M9 Berretta Naoto noted, and shot himself in the head, scaring the heck out of the group due to the fact that it was not an evoker, but an actual gun. Ryan even shot himself in the shoulder, not the head. Icarus then laughed as a figure with fire wings and a sun instead of a halo. "Icarus. Fire wall." The figure spread it's wings and a wall of fire separated Yu's group from the res of the group. Rise communicated a message immediately, "Senpai! I am reading two different entities off of the enemy. One spreads across the entire body and the other is localized in the mask." The figure looked at the group that was Naoto, Yu, Kanji, and Chie. "Catch." The figure threw Naoto back her gun. "I don't kill harmless individuals. Now you can try to hurt me." The figure kept laughing.
The fight was about to commence on the third floor as another figure with a mask of black with red claw masks watched on, "You have served you purpose Icarus. Now kill them so that the rite may proceed…" The figure walked away.
