Here we go this arc's final battle. It's about fucking time!

Yes, one last battle so you can get to what you're good at.

What AM I good at?

Wasting time…

Oh, fuck you!

Raze Olympus: Kiss my perfect Wild Card ass, bitch!

After I tear it apart…

Uh…

Pffff….

That sounded better in my head.

Pervert until the end, huh?

omegazero2718: Less of a limiter remover and more of a, "you pissed me off, you sonuva bitch" thing.

Helel The Guardian of Light: Uh… what? Berserk? You mean kick his ass? But… I own his ass.

THE HELL YOU DO!

Remind me who made sweet love to him again? Oh right, me! Who sucked his face? Me again! And who was it that he willing chose between the two of us? Oh yeah, me for the third time.

H-He was going to kill you that one time.

*shrugs* what's love without a little excitement?

Holy shit...

I feel like I need therapy after those mental images.

Nightlyy: The mask… and most of his face.

Good thing I heal him from almost everything.

I wouldn't have done that if you weren't so evil.

EVIL?! YOU LITTLE—

And that's enough of that.

Clevernameeh: I-I still love him…

Good luck saving that thing.

LOVE MAKES ANYTHING POSSIBLE!


Streets

"Hehe… haha… HAHAHAHAHA…!" Death laughed as it saw the look of horror on Kotone's face combined with the sight of SEES in agony as their personas shrieked in pain. There was something cathartic about seeing the life slowly choke out of all of them and Kotone being the only one left.

"So what will you do?" Death whispered as Kotone continued to watch her friends writhe in pain. "Will you try to kill your so-called beloved? Or will you allow us to slay you for the slim chance that we might spare SOME of them?"

Kotone slowly reached for her weapon that had been discarded onto the floor when she went to pull the mask off Makoto—some good that did.

She knew she could not run away from this fight. If she did, her friends were either going to die or share the same fate as the Lost. She had to do something, but what could she do? Was she actually going to have to…?

Makoto took a step forward, summoning his sword in his right hand that reflected some of the green-ish moonlight from the Dark Hour. It was almost impossible to believe that this was the girl that caused him to become so confused about where his loyalties lied, which led to all of this.

He felt something tugging from the back of his mind as he continued to stare emptily at the unfolding events. There was something whispering for him to stop himself, Pharos, everything. But it was hopeless to try and stop him now. He had passed the point of no return the moment he first put the mask on.

Kotone could not stop her knees from shaking as she aimed the tip of her weapon at Makoto. Was this how everything was going to end between them? Was she going to have to kill him in order to save her friends?

Was there really no other choice?

She could not just let herself die. After all, that monster was likely to slaughter all of them like pigs, and that is just if they are lucky.

Yet, at the same time, it is not like she could just kill him either. Even discounting their personal relationship, the only thing he did wrong was be at the wrong place at the wrong time. It was that thing that made him into what he was now.

Unfortunately, she doubted she could just kill it either. Even if she—by some miracle—managed to severely wound Death, it could probably just retreat back into Makoto like the parasite it was. If that was true, then all that would do is leave her completely exhausted, leave Makoto into an even worse fit of feral rage, and/or in the exact same situation that she is in now.

There had to be something she could do about this without anyone dying. If only she could just find a way to weaken that thing enough that her friends would be okay.

Kotone's eyes widened as the memory of Makoto's brief stay at the dorm flashed through her eyes. Whenever Makoto was disoriented from his medicine or unconscious, the most Pharos could do was heal Makoto's wounds and glare at everyone silently.

Kotone's eyes traveled down to the weapon in her hands as she inspected it. The bladed edge has already proven that whatever Igor did to make this thing, it made sure that whatever injuries it inflicted on Makoto were not going to just be shrugged off. When Makoto tried severing this thing into pieces with his sword, it still managed to stay in one piece so the blade's properties likely apply to the rest of the weapon too. If that is the case, maybe the grip could be used like a blunt object and can knock him out with a strong blow to the head? True or not, she was still going to have to use the blade to weaken him enough so that she could even have a chance of doing that.

It was not much to go on, but for now, it was the only hope she had of getting everyone out of this.

I want her in pieces… Death whispered. I want nothing more than to know her the sight of her own blood. Maim her. Ravage her. Leave her begging for death. Make it so that you become one and one thing only to her—Death incarnate.

Taking off at almost inhuman speeds, in almost no time at all Makoto closed the short distance between him and his 'girlfriend.'

Still having the benefit of him being weakened by a Tarunda that had not worn off as of yet, Kotone was able to raise her guard just in time to withstand the vicious assault from the boy.

She could not tell if removing the mask was more of a blessing or a curse, because now she saw just how much of a stranger he had become. His eyes were now an unnatural gold and were purely focused on her like how one would focus on an old and hated enemy.

She made one mistake however.

Makoto may have been feral, but he was not as mindless as he would have her led to believe.

Raising his sword over his head and striking downwards, Makoto allowed Kotone to parry it by raising her naginata just like he hoped.

Using his other hand, Makoto rammed his fist straight into Kotone's stomach as hard as he could with the Tarunda weakening him.

Choking as the air was knocking out of her; Kotone hunched over in pain and gave Makoto just the opportunity he needed.

Makoto quickly wound up his blade to his left, and aimed for her throat as she looked up just in time to see him set his attack into motion. Just one strike to the throat, and this ten year conquest would finally…

Stop it! Stop it! Stop it!

Suddenly, Makoto had completely become frozen as the blade stopped so it was now gently pressing against the side of her neck.

Kotone slowly began to open her eyes and saw him trembling, as if his body and mind were disagreeing with what the correct course of action was. His eyes were now flickering between the bright gold and the bright blue that occasionally showed whenever he summoned his personas without too much of Death's influence.

"Minato…?" She called out weakly as she gently pushed the blade away from her neck and the flickering in his eyes began to increase in intensity.

After a few more seconds, Makoto took a step back and with a loud scream, Kotone felt herself pushed back by an invisible force.

Growling and annoyed at the implications of what had just happened, Death flapped its wings and rushed towards the redhead. Too many times this leaping fish as escaped the cold embrace of death, and now it was time for it all to end.

Lying on her back as she hit the floor, Kotone saw the monster heading towards her and she reached for her Evoker.

"P-Persona…" She whispered as she pulled the trigger, the attack still leaving her trying to catch her breath.

Before Death's blade could reach her, Siegfried intercepted the blade with his own, barely managing to stop the absurd amount of force that the god had put into that swing.

Growling in annoyance, Death sprouted chains from his back that had not been seen since it took the form of Thanatos.

With several chains sprouting from Death's back, Siegfried prepared himself as all of the chains went straight for him.

At first, it was easy to cut through all of the chains that attempted to restrain and/or wrap themselves around him. No matter how many chains tried to attack him, they were easily destroyed by a single strike.

But all that did was make things easier for Death.

With the persona distracted by the chains, Death rushed forwards and caught his head between its jaws. It barely took any effort for it to crush its head, forcing the persona to be recalled to his user.

Despite the burn from her persona's pain, Kotone was able to prepare herself when she saw Makoto running for her again with the same murderous intent he had earlier.

Leaping into the air again, Makoto did his best to suppress the presence tugging at the back of his mind as he prepared to strike again.

Recognizing the threat and the fact Minato was not going to stop him this time, Kotone rolled away mere seconds before Makoto and his strike could land where she had been.

Goddammit, stop! Makoto felt his head pounding as his other-self fought every action he made. Even still, there was no going back now; he was so close, and Makoto was not going to let anyone get in the way anymore—not even her nor his other side.

"Just… end…" Makoto whispered as he refocused on Kotone. "So long… too long… just… end…"

Kotone spat out the little bit of blood in her mouth and gauged his expression. Makoto was currently a madman and had not a semblance of sanity left but this…. This was something different than the usual insanity, his twitches and scowls gave the indication that something or someone was trying to hold him back from the inside.

Seeing the little chance, Kotone gave a short prayer and started running towards the currently dazed persona user, forcing him to focus when her footsteps echoed in the dead of the night. He pulled back just in time to avoid her lunging slash but Kotone immediately pulled her blade back and launched it into his shoulder.

Makoto hissed in pain and drew back, clutching his busted shoulder and launching himself forward to punch her head off but this time, for some reason, he felt…. slower….

Kotone saw the punch coming a lot easier than last time and moved her head to avoid the strike. She swiped his legs from under him and backtracked to gain distance, panting because she was exhausted but finally, his little stumble and sudden slow down gave her some hope.

"Alright." Kotone said to herself as she watched him get back up, visibly slower than the last times he had sprang up in seconds. She glanced at the naginata in her grip and nodded to herself. There was no way in hell she was going to kill him, no chance but… that didn't not mean she couldn't disable him temporarily…

"Sorry Minato." Kotone muttered a small apology and braced herself for a few more minutes of chaotic battle. "I swear, this is just for you."

Makoto winced at the pressure on the back of his head, the voice of Pharos yelling into his mind and Kotone just standing there. He tried to control himself but seconds later, he ended up losing it as he roared out loud in her direction.

"Time to bring you back." Kotone promised and started running in response to his charge.

The two met briefly, blade to blade until Makoto pulled his weight forward and swiftly overpowered Kotone who didn't struggle much, instead she was happy to disengage and pull back just when he lunged in with a slash. The momentum and rush made him stumble and Kotone cracked him on the jaw with a short knee strike which sent him staggering backwards.

FO-CUS, Pharos' voice was cut midway through but Makoto managed to get the gist of it, moving his body to avoid the slash that Kotone launched for his arms. He blocked the blunt end with his forearm and launched his blade towards her throat which Kotone blocked with her naginata.

"Ugh."

"Shit…"

Makoto saw the little opening and threw his fist forward but just like before, as soon as he did, the pressure increased and it threw his aim off. Kotone ducked under the attempt and kicked him hard between the legs with a painful thud sound that echoed in the area followed by Makoto slumping down to his knees.

Kotone attempted another knee strike but was blown away by a small explosion of darkness which gave Makoto enough time to scamper away and try to get his faculties in order. He started this battle fresh and he didn't even suffer much damage but for some reason, he was slowing down, his limbs were freezing in the middle of attacks and Pharos' voice was getting blocked by something else.

What the heck was going on here?

Kotone made up her mind and rushed forward, stopping at a distance just a few feet away and jabbing her blade forward, narrowly missing Makoto who slipped the thrust, almost kicking the naginata out of her hands until she drew back and blocked his sword with the blunt end of her weapon, brushing it to the side and getting a punch in the middle of her nose which sent her stumbling.

Kotone winced due to the damage but at the same time, she dug her knee into his stomach, getting a grunt of pain followed by a pant as if he was out of breath. She drew back to avoid a swing and hopped a few times, she couldn't kick well but at the very least, her knees would be useful at close range.

She could see it now, slowly but surely Makoto was breaking down. She didn't know what the heck was going on but the bluenette was slowing down as his punches lacked the usual power and quickness. She didn't have time to dwell on the reasons and she quickly closed the distance again, stopping and stabbing the blade towards his limbs.

Makoto winced at the first stab, to his right arm and moved back, looking to rush forward and start his attack but the moment he did, Kotone started jabbing the blade towards his throat, forcing him to stop and guard. Kotone saw the chance and crashed her knee against his gut before quickly drawing back to avoid his counter attack, a lunging slash that she ducked under and moved out of the way.

KILL HER!

Kotone gasp and her eyes snapped open when he came running, drawing back on his fist and managing to stun her with a hard straight which sent her stumbling backwards but unlike before, she quickly gathered her senses and dodged the next shot, focusing on his injured arm and slicing open a new wound which drew the ire of the possessed persona user.

Makoto kicked her a good distance away and Kotone landed with a painful grunt. She looked ahead and saw him in position to summon. Upon seeing that, she grabbed her blade and quickly bolted over to him, disrupting his attention and launching a slew of rapid thrusts, mainly towards his two arms.

Makoto fought back and blocked the thrusts, still concerned when she jabbed at his throat only to close in and knee his stomach and every time she did that, Makoto stopped moving, he stopped defending and attacking and tried to not collapse down. Those repeated gut strikes were brutal to endure.

Kotone yelped when the next strike sent her to the ground and Makoto jumped on her, looking to end the fight but the redhead quickly grabbed her blade and swung it, opening a shallow wound just under her eye and then kicking him as hard as she could in the gut, knocking him on his ass.

Kotone got up and charged, slamming her knee into the side of his temple and knocking him back down but as she tried to get out of range, Makoto grabbed his senses and her ankles, almost stabbing the blade into the back of her thigh until she knocked dust into his eyes and ran off.

Makoto grunted and tired getting up, that unknown voice more prominent than the voice of Pharos who was growling as if he too was fighting someone else.

Kotone saw the little flicker of doubt and confusion and immediately moved in, going back to moving forward while still being at range, repeatedly firing her long range weapon to keep him on his toes, exhaust him so she could have an easier time breaking him down.

It hurt. Listening to him growl and wince whenever she sliced his arms or the loud gasp whenever she kneed his gut but this had to be done.

It had to be done.

Kotone was caught off guard by the rushing strike that planted her on the ground. She widened her eyes and ducked underneath the sphere of darkness and a second later, Makoto tackled her, almost stabbing her wrist until she rolled away and got kicked to the side.

"Come forth-"

Kotone yelled and got in his face again, slamming her knee into his chest this time and that completely took the breath out of him, leaving him a daze but the voice of Pharos yelled at him to charge and he did, blindly, missing Kotone who easily saw through his aggressive moment and snapped to the side, closing her eyes, wincing and then plunging the blade into his right arm-

Makoto screamed out in utmost agony and Kotone knocked him back down, remorseful of the fact that she had disabled his right arm but… now she was getting a few ideas about what was going on….

He was in this too.

"Sorry." she said her apologies and kicked him a few feet away. "And thank you."

Makoto got up and screamed back at her, making her bite her own lip because the yell was of agony, like he was in utmost pain but couldn't form the words to describe it. She shook her head and reminded herself of the bigger goal. She was okay with exhausting herself daily to heal him with spells but as long as Pharos was around, Makoto was never going to heal mentally.

Her friends were never getting back up to her feet.

She had to bring Pharos down and to do that…. She had to bring Makoto down as well.

Temporarily, of course….

The two moved at the same time, with Makoto switching the sword into his other hand because the healing was taking time for some goddamn reason and thanks to that, Kotone saw the slashes coming a lot easier, allowing her to time and strike back with knee strikes to his gut and sides.

Makoto channeled a burst of darkness into his mostly damaged arm and the spell exploded against Kotone's stomach, sending the girl back first into a nearby tree. She coughed out blood when he bolted and kneed her in the chest, keeping her still against the tree and holding up his sword for the finishing blow.

But…

The sight of Kotone coughing out blood made him halt, his hearing numb to the voice of Pharos which demanded him to finish the job but…

Makoto started shaking.

Shaking in remorse.

Shaking in defiance.

The force lessened and Kotone freed herself, using the tree for support she jumped up and almost knocked a tooth out when she crashed her knee into his jaw. Makoto got his senses back and launched the long overdue slash which Kotone ducked under and it ended up hitting the tree behind her, giving the possessed persona user a small whiplash and that was enough for Kotone to move and rest.

The girl panted in exhaustion and pain but she could see her enemy was showing worse effects of this long battle. She could almost see a semblance of sanity in his eyes now, she could almost see….

"You…" Kotone whispered in surprise. She was broken out of her thoughts when the male opposite to her gave another scream, forcing her back in action. Now aware of her path to victory, Kotone gave no shits about damage and charged head first at the much stronger persona user.

Makoto was broken out of his summoning when she crashed the blunt end into his chest, moving him backwards. He saw her coming in and started swing the blade with his left arm, leading to a clash of metal several times. The two kept up the same pace, both on the defensive with minimal damage being dealt but eventually…

Makoto looked down and widened his eyes to see that he was moving backwards.

He looked forward…

Kotone was the one pushing forward….

Kotone reversed her weapon and smashed the other end of her naginata to the side of his neck, getting a slice to her shoulder but she brushed it off and dragged him close, slamming her knees nonstop into his gut until Makoto drilled a darkness infused punch into her gut which sent her up in the air, defenseless.

"Get… Lost…." Makoto was just about ready to summon and slice her in two but the other-self assaulted him again and he lost focus, harshly brought back to reality by Kotone's yell.

The redhead chewed on her lip and came back down with a vertical slash that ended up gashing his other arm and caused a gush of the red liquid that stained his clothes. Makoto was rendered dumb by the pain, with his eyes almost bulging out of the sockets because everything was just about ready to reach the breaking point.

"You're there, aren't you?" Kotone swiped the legs from under him and he crashed down, growling and yelling in pain like a wounded animal. She gave a whimper at his senseless cries and stood over him, a part of her yelling to summon a person and heal her goddamn boyfriend who was losing his life but….

Pharos was still there.

But then again…

So was he….

"Hehe…" Kotone managed a smile. There was still hope. Hope to win the battle and hope to bring Minato back….

She avoided the pounce and moved back again, her eyes begging to be close because the long battle had taken a lot out of her. Physically she was dead tired but mentally…. She was sure that her mental state was in far better shape than Makoto's….

The deranged male screamed at her yet again and Kotone was ready for his rush. She had damaged both of his arms and yet he was still trying to cleave her in two. She shook her head at the slow attempt and reversed her weapon and getting into close range, smashing the other end of the naginata and her knee into his stomach again and again and again….

Makoto hacked and coughed out; losing the endurance and his senses with every shot he endured. His battered arms had nowhere near the strength and speed and whenever he even tried to heal, Kotone was onto him, suffocating him with knees and halfhearted slashes meant to drain the stamina out of him.

"Come on." Kotone started talking as she dodged his attacks. She almost kicked the sword out of his grip and Makoto hurled him forward while holding his fist in position to knock her out…

"HIT ME!"

Kotone's yell froze him in place, the other side of his soul finally taking over for a brief moment and ordering her.

"FINISH IT!"

Kotone closed in and sliced open his leg, slamming her knee as hard as she could into his gut one last time and flinging her blade upwards, open a long gash from his chest to his shoulder. The shower of blood nearly made her sob but she listened to him and buffed her right leg with a power charge, pulling it back and launching it forward at full speed and power. Makoto did not see it coming and left open, the kick broke a few of his ribs and finally drained the last bit of stamina out of his system with the force and impact of the kick sending far, far away from the redhead who collapsed to a knee and then down to her hands, exhausted but satisfied that victory was just a step away.

That last attacked had damaged him badly. She even heard the little brat scream in pain because the agony went up to his soul.

Kotone looked up and thanked him for interfering, thanked him for slowing Pharos down because without him… she would have been dead long ago.

"Almost over." she huffed. She was holding in her cries for the past several minutes. As soon as this battle was done, she was prepared to let lose her emotions and heal him no matter what.

"That… was unpleasant." Death growled as he reappeared in front of his injured 'friend.' It was a mistake leaving Makoto to fight her all on his own, a mistake that it fully intended to rectify. By now, she must be exhausted; it will be easy to deliver the killing blow.

Stretching its wings and letting out a loud screech, Death prepared itself to charge at the annoyed redheaded girl. Once she was gone, her team will follow and this long journey will finally reach its conclusion.

Reaching for her Evoker, putting it to her head and firing, Kotone summoned Chernobog again to meet the monster's charge. It might have made more sense to summon Siegfried again, but if she can just get one opening, she knows that she can win this.

The Black God's blade clashed with the God of Death's broadsword. Both sides pushed against the other with all the strength they could muster, seemingly ending in a stalemate.

However, Death was not going to let itself fail so easily.

Grabbing onto the Black God's blade with its bare hand, Death sunk its teeth into his shoulder. Kotone couldn't hold back a scream as she felt her persona's agony. Death applied more pressure with its jaws before ripping the persona's entire limb off its body.

With the persona still screaming in pain and Kotone distracted by the burn, Death merely had to give itself an extra push by flapping its wings to knock the persona a few yards back. And now, Kotone was exposed and too exhausted to run away. Now was the perfect time to strike.

Seeing the monster raise its blade over its head, Kotone closed her eyes as she braced herself for what about to come next. "I tried as hard as I could… sorry, Minato."

"Grgh...!" Kotone opened her eyes as soon as she heard the scream and saw Death clutching its head and continuing to scream in pain. When she looked back at Makoto, he saw him doing the same thing as if mirroring Death—No, Death was reacting to Makoto's pain.

Knowing she had him to thank for this and seeing the chance she needed, Kotone was able to sustain the heavily injured Chernobog to use one last attack.

Writhing around and wildly swinging his blade from the pain, Death was barely able to focus enough to see the particles of blue-ish light quickly beginning to gather into one collective mass.

With the agonizing pain rendering it unable to move, Death had no choice but to take the full brunt of the Megidola, blasting it several feet away and forming a large crater in the street.

"A-Argh… Grgh…" Grunting in pain, Makoto clutched onto his head with both of his hands as he felt so much pressure pressing onto his brain he almost thought he would actually die then and there.

I-I… won't… let you….

Mirroring one another, Death and Makoto both look up at the sky and released one last ear-piercing screech in agony.

And then it was all over.

Death faded away as it was forced to retreat back to its 'home.' Makoto's eyes reverted back to their usual blue-grey, his black hair became a dark blue once again, and his Thanatos-esque garb faded away leaving him in the same clothes he had worn when he left the dorm—only now with several signs of wear and tear from the fighting that had been going on ever since. Almost immediately after, Makoto fell to the ground completely unconscious.

"M-Minato!" Moving as fast as she could, Kotone ran to the boy's side and was relieved to find that was still breathing. Even still, he had several injuries from the fighting tonight and even the ones from the night before were still bleeding.

With Death being forced to retreat and weakened by Makoto's loss of consciousness, everyone in SEES felt the feeling of pure despair finally leave them and their personas stopped screaming in pain and returned to their masters. With them freed from what Death had done to them, they were quick to notice their leader sitting beside the unconscious, bleeding boy.

"W-What happened?" Fuuka was the first to ask, feeling the life slowly ebbing away from him with each passing moment.

"I-I don't know," Kotone shook her head. "We were fighting and then his other started to fight him too, and he just… broke."

"Like… a mental breakdown?" Mitsuru followed up as she surveyed the area, knowing that there was very likely going to be chaos for the next few weeks after all of the damage that occurred so 'suddenly' city throughout the city.

Kotone simply shook her head again, not knowing exactly just what was going on in that fragmented mind of his. No matter what it was, there was no telling what exactly happened until he woke up.

… If he wakes up.

With the thoughts of his injuries returning, Kotone quickly turn to her teammates. "W-We have to get him to a hospital!"

Kotone's mind seemed to go blank as she was overcome with a sense of familiarity to everything. This was so much like what they had just experienced with Shinjiro a few weeks before. Knowing there was still going to be several more minutes until the Dark Hour ended, everyone did what they could to stabilize the boy as best they could. However, they also had to carry and move in to another part of the city, lest they'd be connected to what had happened particularly on this side of the city.

She didn't know exactly how long this went on. Apparently it was long enough for the Dark Hour to end and for them to call an actual ambulance. They were able to make up some story about how some punks decided tonight were a good night to cause some mayhem all over Iwatodai. Luckily, there were a few others who were harmed (but not killed) to make the story a bit more believable.

SEES was just going to have to stay for a few hours or maybe a night or two given their injuries. Minato/Makoto, however, would be forced to stay there until he regained consciousness again.

In the midst of everything, there was one thing Kotone had realized that continued to fester at the back of her mind. After pulling it off and discarding it to the ground… she never did find out what happened to that mask.


Before I say anything, for the first time ever, my anonymous co-author wants to say something in the AN/s! Give it up for Anon everyone!

THANK FUCKING FUCKITY FUCK THIS FUCKING ARC SHIT IS FINALLY OVER! JESUS H CHRIST!

You heard him folks! With that being said, it's finally over. I'm outta school (for now) and I can do whatever. We're finally over this Makoto v. SEES arc. Jesus, this took awhile. Turns out, writing fight scenes is a bitch... especially when the motivation isn't too high.

So, thoughts on that 'brother.'

...

Think he's in a bad mood. Kotone?

...

Traumatized.

Fitting. Anyhow, that ends this long-ass arc. Mask is gone, Makoto is out cold, and SEES got their asses whooped.