So, how was your day?
I'm dead, you scatterbrained ass.
Right, speaking of death...
They threaten Minato... I'll kill all of them. I'll gut them like pigs and hang their innards around the school, he he he.
...
What.
The.
Fucking.
Hell?!
Nightlyy : This is your influence, damn you! As for who made the request *censored*
God, I thought you hated censorship.
I do. But it's too much fun to stop.
RAX : Er... I hate to break it to you, but 0 multiplied by anything is still 0.
Math... FAIL!
Anyway, as for if Makoto's thoughts are serious... Well, if Pharos is anything to go by..
He he he, then I'll flay their little tiny pinkie fingers too all the while they still feel everything...
Okay, what the fuck?
This is seriously creepy. I'M saying that this is creepy!
On another note : You spelled realize as "realise." Are you British? Australian? Irish? Reason I'm asking is because "realize" is the american spelling, so...
nobodyreallyimportant : Congratulations!
Here, have a biscuit.
Streets
"So, you're the infamous assassins that go after people once their names had been filed on a revenge site." Makoto put the pieces of the puzzle together as he looked at the members.
Takaya's weapon of choice was obviously a gun and he seemed to have a sort of leadership role. Either he was the strongest, or he was charismatic enough to make the other 2 follow him, or quite possibly both. Strangely, unlike the rest of them, he didn't carry an Evoker anywhere. Did that mean he could summon without one, too?
Jin seemed to prefer handling grenades surprisingly enough. The way he seemed attached to Takaya's hip meant that he was completely devoted to him and/or was a sort of second in command. If that's the case, then he's likely somewhere around Takaya's power level at least, and Makoto could sense the his persona could repel fire which was Orpheus' main element.
Behind them was Chidori who seemed to be hiding and ax attached to a chain. Given the way she seemed to always behind the other 2 and never says a word, she's likely a sort of third-wheel of this group. She didn't have any obvious tells in terms of her power though, but if they kept her around and her status as a third-wheel was correct then she must have some sort of unique abilities, one of which was the ability to absorb fire.
"Indeed, we are." Takaya confirmed as he pulled back the hammer of his revolver and took aim "Any last words?"
"Yeah..." Makoto smirked as he looked at Takaya's unnatural yellow eyes "Anyone ever tell you that you look like an aborted fetus of two deformed crack addicts?"
Takaya just looked at him with a blank face, not even wanting to even justify that with a response. Not even bothering to say anything, Makoto watched as he pulled the trigger.
Just as the pale man was pulling trigger, Makoto jumped to the left as he pulled out his Evoker and pulled the trigger "Orpheus!"
Lo and behold, the muscian with the Death arcana appeared and fired an Agi between Makoto and Strega which clouded the area in smoke.
Time to go. Makoto thought as he ran as fast as he could. While Orpheus was a persona unique only to him and was amplified by Pharos, his weaknesses without any worthwhile resistances to compensate.
After running a fair distance, Makoto hid behind a dumpster in a nearby alley, he may not have been able to use any persona other than Orpheus but he didn't need them to have Pharos disguise his presence. He didn't need to incapacitate them, he just had to wait until the Dark Hour ended.
"They're coming." Pharos warned as footsteps approached closer and closer to where Makoto's current location was.
Without saying a word, Makoto nodded in acknowledgment as the footsteps came closer and closer before halting abruptly.
Huh? Makoto thought in confusion. Why'd they suddenly stop?
Suddenly, Makoto saw a small round object land right next to him.
He barely had enough time to let out "Oh shit." before the grenade went off.
Makoto didn't even have time to scream as he was pushed back into a brick wall as several bones shattered and pieces of shrapnel pierced his flesh in several areas. The boy wasn't even able to cough due to one of the pieces severing his windpipe.
Needless to say, Pharos got to work immediately healing the boy ; Fusing all the bones in their proper places, returning the flesh to its former state while pushing all of the foreign bodies out.
Once he was able to move, Makoto reached into his left eye and pulled out a piece of debris that had been lodged there as Strega approached him again.
"I must say, your regenerative abilities are quite fascinating." Takaya seemed genuinely impressed that the bluenette was still alive "It's such a shame it must end like this"
Pharos stood next to Makoto as he silently glared at the three persona users. Had it not been Makoto's desire to keep him a secret, he'd make all of them pay in a heart beat for hurting his friend.
Chidori seemed distracted by something as she looked at Makoto. No, that wasn't right, she wasn't looking at him.
"Huh?" Pharos tilted his head and looked off to the side and away from Makoto, and her head followed as if she was a hawk tracking her prey.
S-She can see him?! Makoto screamed in his head. How was that possible? Not even Fuuka nor Mitsuru, both of whom were able to both sense and scan opponents.
"What're you looking at, Chidori?" Jin asked, noticing the girl's distraction
"I don't know..." Chidori replied, her voice was extremely soft almost to the point of it being unnatural "There's a feeling of emptiness around him, but I don't know why."
Makoto's eyes widened as a feeling of panic began to set in. That's how they found him! Her sensory abilities must've been different somehow, and now he had to get her away from Pharos before anything else could happen.
"Stay away from him!" Makoto screamed, his protective instincts completely overriding any logic as Orpheus reappeared without him firing his Evoker and slammed his lyre down at Chidori's location. To hell with keeping them alive, no one threatens Pharos and gets away with it.
Caught by surprise, Chidori was almost killed right then and there by the mechanical musician, and managed to dodge the lyre by less than an inch, but the fissures the lyre caused still knocked the girl down.
With Takaya distracted, Makoto took the moment to immediately get on his feet and ran to the gunman as one sword materialized in each of his hands. While he preferred single bladed combat, he was far from untrained when it came to duel wielding.
The boy attacked with both blades at once attempting to slash the man's flesh until it was nothing more than a red mush at most.
When the pale man took a step back and narrowly avoided the blades' edges, Makoto took the opportunity to use his nigh-inhuman agility to its full advantage by leaping into the air and slashing his swords beneath his feet as he jumped over him.
Unfortunately for Makoto, Takaya managed to duck just in time to avoid the attack as the bluenette landed on the ground.
Rather than focus on Takaya, Makoto turned his attention to his fellow bluenette with glasses.
Not even giving him a chance to pull the pin off any of his grenades, Makoto ran to Jin and performed a rush down strategy by getting as close to the boy as he could followed immediately by him attacking his swords with a flurry of blinding strikes.
Blood scattered all over the alleyway as Makoto performed his rush down on the bluenette before using his persona-augmented strength to knock Jin a few feet into the air.
Jin's ascent was immediately followed by Makoto jumping into the air with him and positioned himself just behind the boy with glasses.
"Die, damn you!" Makoto yelled as he struck Jin's back which caused his body to launch towards and then on Takaya.
As soon as he landed on the ground, Makoto felt the flesh on his left shoulder tear open as an ax attached to a chain passed by him.
However, the momentum of the axe and chain hadn't stopped quite yet. Makoto took the opportunity to attack the chain itself which easily shattered in just a single strike.
Chidori gasped as she realized that she was left almost defenseless as her persona was less battle-oriented than typical persona users.
Makoto took a brief moment to glare at her before smirking, almost as if she was taunting her by saying that she was next.
Orpheus then reappeared and slammed his lyre down again in an attempt to crush the girl. With her being able to absorb fire-based attacks, this was the best that persona could do.
Naturally, Chidori moved as fast as she could out of the way and took out an Evoker of her own.
Dammit. Makoto thought as the grip on his swords tightened. It'd be nice if Orpheus was able to use Sukukaja or Sukunda to either speed one of them up or down.
"Medea!" Chidori called to her persona as she fired her own Evoker.
"Tarunda." Makoto muttered as Orpheus played his lyre and the boy charged at the female persona user. He may not be able to slow her down, but he was able to weaken whatever blows her persona could give.
"Mudoon." Chidori whispered as a dark purplish ring began to circle Makoto as he ran to her.
Ah, crap... Makoto thought as he suddenly felt every muscle in his body scream in pain as his legs gave out mid-sprint which caused him to fall and roll on the floor. Mudoon was unfortunately one of the two main weaknesses that Orpheus had.
"Nrgh..." Makoto grunted as the sword in his right hand transformed into a knife. While he had a strong preference for swords, his personas provided him with a large variety of weapons to choose from.
Die, die, die! Makoto chanted mentally as he threw the knife at Chidori as hard as he could which managed to hit the girl on the right side of her chest.
Makoto might've even chuckled at her screams in pain, but his attack was immediately followed by the electricity of a Ziodyne hit him from above.
The boy screamed in pain as he was hit with his persona's second weakness before he felt the wind of a Garu spell knock him into a wall again.
"Goddammit..." He muttered to himself as he got back on his feet as his various injuries healed.
He was getting absolutely nowhere with this. If he screwed up and one of them lived to see him wield a different persona, he'd be screwed later on.
"You fight is admirable, but futile." Takaya announced as he walked towards the boy again "Accept your death with grace! It is the only true means of deliverance from this tainted world."
"Oh, god... heh... hehe... Ha ha ha ha" Makoto suddenly started laughing as if he'd been told the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard "Oh, I get it now. You're like me and can see this piece of shit world for what it is, but you think dying is going to miraculously save you?"
Makoto looked like he was going to fall into another laughing fit "You're pathetic."
"Enough!" Takaya took aim again, this time being sure to aim for the boy's head "I did not home here to discuss philosophies!"
Makoto looked out the corner of his eye and saw some of the blood-like liquid that covered their surroundings was beginning to retreat.
He smirked as he looked back at Strega "You talk too much."
Suddenly, Orpheus appeared in front of his master to absorbed the bullet that Takaya fired.
Then, utilizing the speaker built into his stomach, the persona blasted a sound wave powerful enough that all three Strega member were forced to cover their ears at the risk of losing their hearing.
Taking advantage of their distraction, Makoto bolted away from the alley and gained a fair amount of distance before stopping and staring back with a cocky look on his face.
Strega approached again with Takaya having his gun aimed at him the whole time.
Makoto chuckled as he raised a finger and waved it in the air "Uh-Uh."
Suddenly, all the green that covered the area disappeared as all the electronics began to function once again, the sounds of vehicles being used could be heard, and everyone who was in a coffin began to become free again.
Makoto looked at Strega, still donning his cocky smile. If they fired, the police would be here in a moments notice.
Takaya seemed to look both displeased at his failure, but impressed at Makoto's ability to survive.
Now not being able to act discreetly anymore, Strega walked away as they faded into the shadows.
With Strega gone, Makoto turned his attention to someone much more important.
The boy crouched down and looked at Pharos with far more concern than he ever gave anything else in his life "Are you okay? Did anything happen?"
Pharos shook his head "Nothing happened." he assured before looking at where Strega once was "She was able to sense me... How?"
"I was hoping you'd know that." Makoto said before looking at the moon which was currently in its waxing gibbous phase. Only a few more days until the next full moon.
"Who do you think filed the request against us?" The little boy asked, wanting to know who sentenced his friend to die.
"I don't know." Makoto shrugged as he began to walk back gome "Whoever it was, he won't be showing up any time soon."
"Are you... feeling better now?" Pharos asked, secretly hoping that Makoto had recovered from his tantrum.
"Not as good as I'll be when i rip their hearts out..." He answered as his eyes were unsuppressed and finally reacted to his emotional state.
Regardless of what had happened tonight, Strega and whoever filed the request could wait. If he knew the pattern correctly, next up should be Arcana Hierophant
Who knows? Maybe even Lovers will show itself.
Moral of the story : Threaten Pharos, he'll go crazy.
Just like if you threaten our favorite blue-haired boy...
No, no, no... Then I should go for the toes. The toes are more sensitive.
... that.
Anyhow, yes, Chidori can sense Pharos (faintly). Why? As Fuuka put it, Chidori's persona "emits" life while Pharos is inverse death which is the destruction of life. Hiding works well against those who detect life (Fuuka and Mitsuru), but not so well against those that emit it (Chidori).
On another note, the July operation is next eh?
Go ahead. Squeal like school girls (and I know for a fact that 1 of you do that) or whatever.
Aren't you in school right now?
Clubs. They don't ask me to do anything so I just did this.
