Disclaimer, I do not own any characters or places in this story except for the original characters. This story is written for fun and may contain spoilers.
Chapter 21
The Dark Hour
Lucas and the others exited the ship and looked out into the dark city, they made their way out of the building they had crashed into and began to walk through the forest of large black coffins. Blood was all over the floor and dripped down from the cracks in the walls. In the darkness of this world a lone tower stood with the moon shining down on the earth.
"What the hell is this" said Shelke
"This is the Dark Hour" said Aigis.
"The Dark Hour?" questioned Lyner.
"An hour hidden between one day and the next, it used to happen every night at midnight, during this time any ordinary person is transformed into a coffin and is oblivious to all that happens around them" said Aigis.
"You know a lot about this Dark Hour, so this must be your world" said Pan.
"But I thought your world was that island" said Amu.
"I was only there for a vacation but it is odd, last time I saw the Dark Hour was when me and my friends destroyed it" said Aigis.
"So something must have brought it back" said Maria.
"Hey you there" said a voice.
The group turned round to see a group of teenagers running up to them, one of them was dressed in an odd blue bear costume and each of them were carrying weapons of some kind. Such as one was carrying a chair while the other was carrying some Kunai.
"Hey, you have any idea what's going on here?" asked a male teenager.
"Sort of, you're the first people we have seen here though" said Flynn.
"Same here, we we're just walking down a street when suddenly boom we ended up in this weird place" said a female teenager.
"How late was it?" asked Lucas.
"Nearly midnight" said the male teen.
"Seems we were right" said Mir.
"Huh?" questioned the female teen.
Lucas and the others then told the teenagers about what they had learned from Aigis about the Dark Hour, oddly they didn't laugh at them of even say anything against it, and they seemed to believe every word.
"Hey Teddie, is that possible?" asked the male teen.
"It's not impossible" said the teen in the bear costume.
"Alright, then I suppose for now we'll believe you" said the male teen.
"Good, now it looks like we're going t have to work together to figure this all out, I'm Lucas it's nice to meet you" he said as he held out his hand.
"I'm Yosuke Hanamura and these are my friends Chie, Teddie, Rise, Yukiko and Kanji" said the teenager as the two briefly shook hands.
"Nice to meet you" said Rise.
"Same here" said Amu.
Aigis then gently tapped Lucas on the shoulder and looked at him as if something was wrong.
"What's up?" asked Lucas.
"All people who enter the Dark Hour are able to summon a Persona, I'm not sure about most of us but I think they are all Persona users" whispered Aigis.
"Really" said Lucas.
"Something wrong?" asked Yukiko.
"No, just trying to come up with a strategy on how to get out of this mess" said Lucas.
They were so busy talking that they didn't notice something moving in the dark. At the last second Lucas saw it out of the corner of his eye, he pushed Yosuke out of the way as a sword held by a black skinned creature stabbed him in his arm. It seemed to take everyone by surprise and Lucas screamed in pain as the creature pressed down on the sword trying to tear his arm in two. Syaoran wasted no time and cut of the arm of the creature. The arm fell to the ground and disappeared, the creature then revealed itself completely, it was this weird creature made out of multiple arms and carrying a mask.
"What the hell is that?" asked Mir.
"It's a Shadow" said Aigis.
"Damn it, how come I didn't notice it until now, did it somehow manage to mask it's presence from my gauntlet" thought Lucas as he pulled the sword out of his arm.
Lucas said Maria as she ran over to him.
"It's just a scratch" said Lucas.
"No need to act so cool, it caused a lot of damage to your arm, it did take you by surprise after all" said Shelke.
"It was after Yosuke, I pushed him out of the way and received the blow to my arm in his place, anyway focus on that thing, it's a powerful enemy" said Lucas.
"What is a Shadow doing here?" asked Teddie.
"You know them?" questioned Aigis.
"Watch out, here it comes" said Flynn.
The creature charged at them and they all jumped out of the way, Flynn attacked it with his sword but each of it's many arms then produced swords of their own and managed to block Flynn's attack. Mir then appeared and proceeded to charge a powerful spell, the creature tried to attack her but Syaoran managed to block it's attacks.
"Hurry, this thing is strong" said Syaoran.
"Okay, go Deathly Deathlene" said Mir.
She sung a weird song to which Lucas could not understand and a weird girl holding a scythe and riding a skull appeared, it attacked the creature with strikes from it's scythe and then with the skull created a large explosion that engulfed the creature.
"It's all over now" said Mir.
The creature then jumped out of the blaze relatively unharmed and started to strangle Mir with it's black hands. Maria cut it's hand off and released Mir from it's grip, Train shot at it and forced it back however it soon became apparent that they were barely able to stop it's attack let alone defeat it.
"Impossible" said Mir.
"Damn it, we're never going to win like this" said Snow.
"Quit your moaning, we just need to smack it around until it gives in" said Etna.
The creature let out a howl and then smaller looking versions appeared around the, there were hundreds of them, too many to count, defeat seemed to be a close now.
"It called it's friends" said Mint.
"Damn it, we can't handle them all" said Syaoran.
"Someone help" said Sakura.
Suddenly several creatures were attacked by an unknown force, the creatures seemed to die almost straight away from the attacks and soon a voice spoke that seemed very familiar.
"Well look what we have here" said the voice.
They looked past the smoke to see another group approaching them, with them was their old comrade, Akihiko Sanada, the person who they had met on the island with Aigis.
"You" said Lucas.
"How unexpected" said Mir.
"Akihiko, everyone it here" said Aigis.
"It's been a while Aigis" said one of the girls.
"Is this the group you told us about Akihiko?" asked the red head girl.
"Yes, we met just one time but I know we can trust them" said Akihiko.
"Understood, everyone protect the group from the Shadows" said the red head girl.
All of the new arrivals placed a strange looking gun to their heads and got ready to pull the trigger.
"What the hell are you doing" said Syaoran.
"PERSONA!" shouted all of them.
Several large creatures then appeared, Personas just like Aigis' however the way they summoned them was a bit drastic and extreme. The Personas quickly dealt with most of the Shadows however even for them they proved to many in number. Lucas and the others joined in on the fight and had summoned their summons to help out, Aigis' had called her Persona but it wasn't helping much, the original Shadow, the one that first appeared continued on retreating to somewhere safe and called more Shadows to aid it in battle.
"Damn it, they won't stop coming" said Akihiko.
"If they can use their Personas then maybe so can we, everyone give it a try" said Youske,.
"Okay, now Suzuka Gongen" said Chie
"Susanoo" said Youske .
"Amaterasu" said Yukiko.
"Rokuten-Maō" said Kanji.
"Kanzeon" said Rise.
"Kamui" said Teddie.
To everyone's surprise Youske and his friends managed to create some card out of thin air, when they smashed them Personas emerged and took on the enemy greatly decreasing their numbers.
"What the...they're all Persona users" said Syaoran.
"They didn't need an Evoker to summon their Persona" said the red head girl.
"Leave that for later, focus on the enemy" said Lucas.
"We need to take out the leader, after that we'll be in the clear" said Aigis.
"We've wounded it greatly, if I got close I could probably finish it with a single strike but it has all of these guys to defend it and it keeps jumping around" said Lucas.
"I can tell you it's patterns of movement" said Rise.
"So can I, we'll both help in navigating you to the enemy" said the blue haired girl.
"Okay then the rest of us will act as decoys, we'll move that thing into a corner and take out all of these other Shadows and cover your back" said the red head girl.
"All fighters know that the only way to win is with a good strategy" said Akihiko.
"Then we're agreed" said Lucas.
"Let's put it into action" said Syaoran.
The group moved in and put their plan into action, Lucas chased after the original Shadow while the others kept the other Shadows out of his way. The creature called more to aid it but Syaoran and Akihiko cut them down. Rise and the other girl informed him of it's movements and so was able to block it's attacks and react accordingly to it's movements. It was nearing the end of the creature now, Lucas had managed to back it into a corner and prepared to deal the finishing blow. However Lucas and all of the others soon fell for a trap, Lucas nearly hit it but at the last second they all sensed an incoming attack. The Shadow had been hiding this attack and unleashed it at the moment, it unleashed from the ground these large waves of energy. Lucas blocked the first one but the others managed to hit him causing him further injury, he had not seen this attack coming. Slowly the Shadow crept over to him and prepared to finish him however it was stopped. Lucas looked at the person who had stopped it, it was a boy who held back the creature like it was nothing but a mere toy.
"I just can't leave you alone for one second can I, Lucas" said Ikuto.
"You, why are you here?" asked Lucas.
"Is that anyway to talk to someone who has saved your life" said Ikuto.
He then ripped off the arm of the Shadow with his bare hand, the creature moved back afraid as Ikuto grew a large grin across his face
"So your one of them, well I'm sorry but you don't even compare to me" said Ikuto.
Ikuto then amazingly appeared behind the creature and with his claw cut the creature in two, the Shadow screamed as it faded away into the darkness.
"Such a weakling, I'm surprised you had trouble with one of them Lucas" said Ikuto.
Dante, Rita, Rika, Renamon, Mana, Husky and Makie then appeared and help deal with the last of the Shadows, it didn't take long and with their help they managed to finish the battle in a few strikes. After which everyone tended to Lucas' injuries, both Rita and Sakura tried to heal the injury but it only made the wound slightly close up. It hurt less and Lucas could move his arm much more faster now but the wound was still there and it seemed that not a single spell would work on it.
"Now that is odd, a wound like this should heal instantly" said Sakura.
"We'll just have to bandage it up and let it heal like a normal wound, we've stopped the bleeding at least" said Rita.
"So Lucas is alright?" asked Makie.
"Why so concerned, he's fine, even if the wound had not been healed and he had lost his arm there was no danger to his life as far as I can see" said Rita.
"More importantly, Akihiko, I didn't expect to run into you again" said Lucas.
"Same here, so I take it you had something to do with that weird island that appeared in the sky?" asked Akihiko.
"Oh that, it was the resting place of Pandora so yeah" said Pan.
"So did you get the guy you were after?" asked Akihiko.
"No, we thought we destroyed him but it turned out to be nothing more then a mere copy, he is still out there" said Lyner.
"Well keep at it, if anyone can beat him it's you" said Akihiko.
"Hey Senpai, do you plan to introduce us" said a girl with a pink shirt.
"Oh, these are my friends, first is Yukari, then we have Fuuka, Mitsuru, Ken, Junpei and finally Koromaru" said Akihiko.
"It's a pleasure to meet you" said Mitsuru.
"Same, so care to tell us what the hell is going on" said Syaoran.
"Certainly but here is not the place to talk, if you follow us we'll take you to a place where we can speak freely without the worry of being attacked" said Mitsuru.
"Not like we have a freaking choice" said Youske.
"So where are we going?" asked Lucas.
"The Dorm, it's the large building over there" said Yukari pointing at the building they had crashed on.
"That's the building we crashed on, I thought it was familiar" said Aigis.
"You crashed your ship again, we leave you alone for five minutes and you crash the ship again" said Rita.
"It was Project H's fault" said Sakura.
"How is she a part of this?" asked Makie.
"We'll explain when it is safe" said Mint.
The group followed Akihiko and his friends and entered the building, it had not been used for some time, it looked abandoned and was closed down. They all then sat around and on the sofas and chairs, Lucas was forced by his friends to lay down on a sofa due to his injury.
"So Aigis, you used to live here right?" asked Mir.
"Yes why?" asked Aigis.
"No reason, it's just a bit of a dump" said Mir.
"HAVE YOU NO MANNERS!" shouted Amu.
"Nope" said Mir.
"Behave yourselves" said Train.
"Anyway you know about Persona by now I take it" said Mitsuru.
"Yeah, I doubt there is a person in this room who doesn't know about it" said Lucas.
"Well that's good, saves us explaining some stuff" said Junpei.
"Those creatures out there, we call them Shadows, they are suppressed human psyche given form or so we believe and they are targeting humans who wonder into the Dark Hour" said Fuuka.
"The Dark Hour, can you explain it a little more?" questioned Yukiko.
"The Dark Hour is what you see now, it is the hidden hour that appears every night at midnight, during this time all electrical equipment ceases and normal humans are turned into those black coffins" said Mitsuru.
"That would explain why I had trouble with the ship" said Mint.
"Wait, normal people, so what does that make us?" asked Kanji.
"A rare case, only those who can use a Persona or have the potential to wield a Persona can enter the Dark Hour, it is rare to find those who can" said Mitsuru.
"And so to combat the crisis of the Dark Hour SEES was formed, a group of Persona users created to combat the Dark Hour and Tartarus, the Shadow nest that appears in the Dark Hour" said Ken.
"After the sacrifice of many we managed to achieve our goal, the Dark Hour vanished and we believed to have stopped it and it's purpose" said Mitsuru.
"But it's back so you must of screwed up somehow, so what was the purpose of the Dark Hour anyhow?" asked Etna.
"The Dark Hour and Tartarus, the giant tower you must have seen all serve to call Nyx to this world" said Akihiko.
"Nyx?" questioned Rise.
"The mother of Shadows and death incarnate, if Nyx were to descend then all life would end on this planet" said Mitsuru.
"What, what jack ass would call that thing" said Youske.
"Apparently everyone, everyone wonders about Death and so they are uncontentiously calling Nyx here, to the people who it believes are wishing for death" said Fuuka.
"Like hell, there is no way in hell I wanna die" said Kanji.
"So you beat this thing right?" asked Shelke.
"We fought it's avatar but Nyx is apparently impossible to beat, seeing as it death but that didn't stop us from trying, only one of us managed to stand back up from Nyx's attack, he flew off into the eye of the storm and then...he sacrificed his life for ours and sealed away Nyx" said Yukari.
"We sill haven't gotten over the loss but we made a promise to him to keep on living" said Aigis.
"So the most likely cause for the Dark Hour is that Nyx is coming back for round two" said Flynn.
"Most likely but it couldn't have come back on it's own, someone needed to have helped it, but who?" wondered Akihiko.
"I've got a good idea who" said Lucas.
"So can things like Rocket launchers or nuclear missiles hurt it?" asked Snow.
"No, they're useless against Nyx" said Ken.
"We're are so Mega Screwed" said Etna.
"Your kidding right, Akhiko-Sempai said you could help" said Yukari.
"Of course, we may not be Persona Users but we are Gauntlet Users, we'll smack that thing into a bloody pulp and then tattoo the message across it's ugly face" said Lucas.
"So we're going to help out them, sound good to me" said Maria.
"You more likely to get us all killed, but what the hell we all got to die someday" said Etna.
"Speaking of which how did you get your Personas?" asked Mitsuru.
"You know the Inaba Murders?" asked Youske.
"Yeah, a little" said Fuuka.
"Well there was this guy, we got caught up in the investigation and hunted down the Murder in this TV world, something happened and we wound up getting Personas" said Chie.
"I wonder what he is up to now, he left on a train and we haven't seen him since" said Yukiko.
"Sounds like a cool guy" said Yukari.
"Yeah he was" said Rise.
"Enough lolly gagging, just take us to where Nyx it going to be so we can smack the crap out of him" said Mir.
"Okay, let's go" said Mitsuru.
Meanwhile on top of Tartarus.
"Soon, Nyx shall appear from the heavens" said Takaya.
A portal then opened up behind him and Light Yagami, Wesker and Eric stepped out.
"I knew that we would find you here, you're wasting our time, can't this wait" said Eric.
"You lot, can't you leave me in peace, I have waited long for this, I can not wait any longer" said Takaya.
"Fine but know that if you do not give us promising result then who knows what accidents might happen" said Wesker.
"I have been given the duty of clearing up after you, remember Takaya that we are all expendable" said Light.
"Ha ha, are you threatening me Yagami" said Takaya.
"Believe me, you will know when I am threatening you Sakaki" said Light.
"Don't get over confident with that little note book of yours, not even the famous Death Note could kill a Gauntlet user" said Takaya.
"So says the guy who called an undefeated god only to have him defeated, I look forward to laughing in your face when it happens again" said Light.
"Go back to school nerd" said Takaya.
"Both of you behave, if I wanted you to fight I would have ordered it, we shall take our leave now but you have been warned Takaya Sakaki" said Eric.
The three of them then disappeared leaving Takaya alone on top of Tartarus.
"Finally they are gone, it's not long now, hurry SEES, hurry Gauntlet Users, I would not want you to miss this" said Takaya.
Aftermath
hello and welcome to the aftermath, I'm Joy
And I'm Project H
What an interesting chapter huh
"Yes, very interesting" said Takaya.
What the hell, who invited this nut
I did, I thought it might be interesting to have a villain for once
"Welcome Nyx, bring down death to the world" said Takaya.
On your own head, if he goes mad I'm putting him down
Anyway time for the usual
"Right, the answer to the riddle was a Soda Pop" said Takaya.
Your kidding right
"Next time Lucas and the others brave the Tower of Demise in order to face their death at the hands of Nyx" said Takaya.
Great
"Now this chapter's riddle, if a tree falls in the forest and your not there does it make a sound, goodbye "said Takaya.
Aren't you going to do the whole profile thing
"No, apparently the author has been strapped for time and will only do them when he has the time" said Takaya.
That lazy git, well that's it, see ya next time