"Lucina? You alright? Who's this gu- WHOA?!" Sonic squeaked as Lucina ran up and pulled him into a hug. "Hey hey! It's alright Lucy, I'm fine. Geez, what's gotten into ya?"
"You've been out for days. I thought you were a goner!" She choked, on the verge of crying. Sonic frowned. Shit, now he felt bad. "I was so scared you weren't gonna wake up."
"Well… I'm up. Don't you worry Lucy, I ain't dying anytime soon." Sonic reassured, hugging the bluenette back. "Can ya let me down though? Everything aches."
"Right, of course." Lucina said, putting down the hedgehog. "You can thank your recovery to Akira." She motioned to Joker, who waved.
"Well nice to meet ya', Akira. Sonic's the name." Sonic greeted with a smile, shaking his hand. "Now where are we anyways? Last thing I remember is Chaos Control."
"I'm not too sure either." Lucina sighed. "I brought you to this church but this whole land is foreign to me. It looked stitched together."
"From what I know, it is." Joker said, scratching his head. "I got no way to confirm this however. But we can figure this all out later, for now we need to find someplace safe. Those doors are done for and we have no good escape methods in here." He scanned the room. 'Windows would be the best option but with an injured person that's way too risky.'
"Right." Lucina nodded, taking a look outside. "I don't see anyone around so if we're leaving we should hurry."
"I'll scout out the area then. I'll find us a place likedy split!" Sonic said, revving his legs in a figure eight motion. With a puff of dust he took off… only to almost immediately hit the floor. "Gah! Everything hurts." He groaned, face planted on the ground.
"Oh! You should be careful. You must not have recovered completely yet." Lucina called, walking over. She picked him up, carrying him bridal style. "I'll carry you for now."
"Wha?! That's embarrassing! I ain't some babe needing to be swept off my feet. It was just a bad take off, I swear." Sonic groaned, though he knew he was in no position to argue and he made no effort to actually leave her arms. Joker laughed. What a duo to be stuck with. Reminds him of Ryuji and Haru.
"Don't worry little guy, you're in good hands." Joker walked past them, patting Sonic's head. The Hedgehog stuck his tongue out at him, huffing closer to Lucina. "Alright, follow my lead."
They crept through the shadows of the overrun town, taking out any lone Shadows they came across for any extra bits of XP they could get. It was still raining and sadly it didn't seem to be letting up anytime soon. That made things much harder for this stealth op. Just like back home, heavy rain made Shadows pop up like a country fair. They packed the streets, forcing the group to stalk through the alleyways. On top of that, Lucina or Sonic weren't that good at stealth. Several times he would need to pull them away from an oncoming Shadow. They might have gotten stronger since first being there (Arsene had reached level five while Freya was level four), but they couldn't take out a whole street of those monsters yet. They'd need to bide their time if they wanted to survive. The night was their saving grace, casting all the alleyways into darkness.
Most of the buildings they passed by wouldn't make for a good base. Either too open, broken, or lacking an escape route. All it would take is for one strong possessed Shadow like the blue haired man from earlier and it could all come crashing down.
"Hey ain't that a gym? Those Shadows seem to be avoiding it." Sonic piped up. It took a moment, but Joker spotted a group of shadows actively avoiding a large building down the street.
"Good eye. How'd you see that?" Joker asked, guiding them through back alleys. The gym was a good eight hundred feet away.
"When you run as fast as I do, you gotta have sharp eyes." Sonic said. "I'd run us to it but I can barely feel my legs."
"It's alright, you just rest." Lucina said, a small reassuring smile on her lips. "We'll handle the footwork till you can move again."
"Man being useless sucks." Sonic huffed, before giving a small small. "But thanks for the help, Lucy."
"Anytime." She hummed.
Sonic looked up at her, an observant stare morphing into a concerned frown. "You good? You look tired."
"Don't worry, that fight just took a bit out of me." Lucina said, but Sonic could see through that.
'She's lying, I can tell.' Sonic thought, watching Lucina try to hide for fatigue. 'What's she been through?'
It took some time, but eventually the group made it to the gym. They picked off a few stragglers, and by the time they made it to the back, both Joker and Lucina were level six. Their Persona's were now around the same level, with Arsene learning Dream Needle.
"There's an open window up there." Lucina whispered, pointing to a second story.
"I'll jump up with Sonic and pull you up afterwards." Joker said, holding out a hand. Lucina handed over Sonic, who quietly complained about being in the arms of a dude.
"Darn, it was at least okay being in a babe's arms. Don't drop me." He muttered, and Joker grinned at him. "What? If I had to be held, I'd want it to be by a hot girl, not you. No offense of course." He explained, before a look of realization set upon his face. "Uh don't tell Lucy I said that about her." He half whispered, half begged. "We got a good friend thing going on and I don't wanna ruin that. It'd make it all awkward."
"Your secret's safe with me." Joker chuckled, grappling up. Once in, he quickly looked around. It was an office of some sorts, a door to the north and a bunch of filing cabinets around. He set Sonic down and tossed his grappling hook through the window. "Grab on, I'll pull you up." Lucina grabbed hold of the line and started climbing as Joker pulled up.
"All these papers are blank." Sonic observed. "What are they for, set dressing or something?"
"Maybe they're leftovers from whatever world this place comes from." Lucina said, climbing in through the window. She walked over and scooped the hedgehog back up.
"Actually, we might want to leave him here." Joker said, looking through a window that was on the door.
"What? Why?" Lucina said nervously. "He'd be safer with us. I implore you to reconsider."
"If a Shadow gets the drop on us, we'd be at an even bigger disadvantage trying to keep him safe. There's only one way up here and I got a bad feeling about whatever's around. It's best we let him hide in here while we clear out the area." Joker explained. 'Man, I'm getting the same tingle in my gut that the Palaces give me. But it's not to that degree I guess.'
"Surely he'd be-" Lucina started, but Sonic butted in.
"As much as I don't like it Lucy, he's right." Sonic sighed, trying to kick his legs, which only drew a silent hiss of pain from behind his clenched teeth. " I'm in no condition to fight and if this guy's used to these things, Shadows was it?" Joker nodded. "Yeah, if he knows these Shadows then we gotta follow his advice. I'll holler if something shows up. You make sure he doesn't get in too deep." Lucina sighed after a moment, placing him in an office chair.
"Alright. Stay safe, okay?" Lucina requested. Sonic gave her a thumbs up and a cocky grin.
"Come on, Lucy, cautious is my middle name." He joked, but upon seeing his friend still concerned, he put on his serious face. "I promise I'll stay put and let you know if something comes up."
"Okay." Lucina smiled, hugging her friend. Sonic hugged back, hoping that that would steal her nerves. "Right, let's head out." Joker nodded, and the two exited the room.
Sonic sat there, tapping his fingers against the desk. "Darnit, I hate being useless. At least Egghead and Shadow aren't here to see me now. Chaos, Knuckles would have a field day with this."
Joker and Lucina stepped out into the hallway. The whole tone of the building seemed to change. The walls were more beat up, multiple holes punched into them. Dumbbells were scattered along the floor. The distant sound of a crowd cheering echoed in the halls.
Lucina flickered in blue flame, suddenly in her Phantom Thief attire.
"Trickster, I'm picking up Shadows in your area. Please proceed with caution." Lavenza warned. Joker nodded, but Lucina looked around, confused.
"Who said that?" She whispered. Joker's eyes widened as he looked back at her.
"Oh my, it appears you can hear me." Lavenza said. "Since you got your Persona, it would only make sense. There is not a lot of time to explain, but my name is Lavenza. I'll be acting as your Navigator for now."
"I… see." Lucina said, clearly bewildered.
"I'll explain later." Joker said. Lucina nodded. They krept down the path, getting the drop on a few shadows when they could. "Got yah." Joker said, pulling the face off of a Puppet. As it faded away, the mist started to glow, changing into the shape of a familiar face.
"I'm Pixie! Nice to meet you!" The small fairy woman cheered, turning into a mask and flying into Joker's face.
"Marvelous! I was afraid the ability to obtain personas was gone as well." Lavenza cheered. "A warning however, I won't be able to bring a gate to your location until you clear out this… No this isn't a Palace. We'll make a name for it later."
"Got it." Joker said, before awkwardly looking back to Lucina, who looked unamused. "Add that to the list too."
They made it downstairs, where a large crowd of Shadows were surrounding a ring, cheering. In the ring, a large Puppet toppled over. A bulky man with a monstrous face roared, basking in the admiration. He was donned in green boxer shorts and gloves.
"Little Mac?" Lucina muttered.
"You know him?" Joker asked, watching as a group of puppets jumped into the ring.
"We didn't talk much, but he was at the tournament as well." Lucina explained. "But he usually doesn't look this monstrous."
"Must be the Shadows. Guess we'll need to knock him out of it." Joker said, walking out to the crowd.
"Are you crazy?!" Lucina whisper yelled, grabbing onto his coat. "There's too many of them. We won't want a chance."
"I've dealt with stuff like this before." Joker said. "Most of these guys are set dressing. Completely useless. That Mac character is the only one we really gotta worry about. Just follow my lead." Lucina was hesitant, but followed nonetheless. As they got closer, a voice echoed from the loudspeakers.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I can't believe it! Giga Mac has completely demolished the competition! Do we have any other challengers!?"
"Excuse me, out the way, coming through." Joker whispered, shoving through the hordes of shadows with Lucina in toe. "Yeah, we wanna fight!"
"It appears we have a new challenger. Go ahead and step into the ring!" The announcer called. Joker and Lucina exchanged a final glance and hopped in, the crowd going absolutely crazy. "Let's give it up for… uh, you two got names?"
"Joker." Akira said. "And this is… shit you need a codename."
"Huh? What for?" Lucina questioned.
"You just do, trust me. Hell, add this to the list too." Joker shrugged. "Uh, Queen won't work, that's taken. How about Princess?"
"No!" Lucina spat. "That's too cute. How about Hero-King?"
"Too long." Joker said. "Though… we could drop the second half. Hero works just fine."
"Okay." Lucina, now 'Hero', nodded.
"Joker and Hero!" Joker called to the crowd. They went wild, cheering their names.
"Let's give it up for Joker and Hero!" The Announcer yelled.
"Hero!" "Joker!" "Gettem, Mac!"
"Can the New Blood take on the reigning Champ?! Or will Mac crush 'em like the rest?! Let's find out! Fighters, to your squares!" The Announcer commanded. Joker and Hero exchange a look, nodding. No turning back now. The duo got into formation. "Let's get ready to rumble!"
DING DING DING!
Mac roared as he leaped forward, swinging at Lucina. She blocked, sliding back as the boxer continued to swing. Joker ran up behind him, slashing at him with his knife.
"Lavenza, can you get a read on this guy?" He asked, dodging out of the way of a swing. Lucina ripped off her mask, summoning Freya and shooting a Bufu at Mac. He huffed through it.
"I'll try my best, Trickster." Lavenza called. "Let's see here… from what I'm reading, his name at the moment is 'Giga Mac'. He has no resistances but he can't be instantly killed with Curse or Bless. I'll keep looking to see what I can find."
"Right." Joker nodded, blocking a hit that sent him back. Giga Mac slammed the ground, the shockwaves smashing into Joker. "Shit." He hissed. "Pixie, Dia!" Pixie appeared, doing a twirl as Joker's wounds healed. He emptied a whole mag into Mac's chest, but while it left visible damage, the boxer did not seem to notice. Joker ducked another punch, slashing him again.
COUNTER!
A fist smashed into Joker's face, sending him flying. He slid across the floor, slamming into the ring corner. His ears rang as stars swirled around his head.
"Ow…" He groaned from the floor. He got onto his knees, trying to ground himself. All he could manage was spitting up some blood. "Ahh yep, something broke. Pixie, Dia." The small fairy woman laughed at him before waving her hand. Akira felt a few of his ribs snap into place, getting to his feet. "Hero! Watch out for direct attacks, he can counter!"
"Right!" Hero called out, jumping to the side to avoid a low blow. She kept a defensive stance, but was sluggish in her blocks. "He's in a berzerk state, we might need to let him tire out." She ducked to the left, going to sweep his legs while Joker fired another mag at giga Mac. After the barrage his gun clicked. Empty
"Great." He sighed, he needed a plan. "Focus on dodging for now, I wanna see his attack patterns!"
"Okay!" Hero called, still dodging Giga Mac's blows. They were fast and hit hard, and with his counter ability, it was almost impossible to know when an opening could actually be taken advantage of. Lucina was struggling to dodge too, getting peppered with punches despite her best efforts.
"Alright, trade off! Get your breath back." Joker said, flipping onto Giga Mac's back. Mac
threw punches up at him, and Joker had to jump back off to make sure he wasn't hit. "Hmm, maybe I could use this." He pondered, dodging the barrage of punches thrown at him. 'This guy is strong, but it seems he lacks focus. My dexterity is something I'll need to rely on.' he jumped up, kicking off Mac and flipping behind him. 'Wonder if I can use his strength against him?' He swerved to the side, lining himself up with the corner of the ring. With a smile he looked back. 'This might work'.
Joker dodges every punch thrown at him, backing up every time. Ducking under a swing, his back was pressed up to the ring corner. Hard metal…
With a smirk, Joker taunted Giga Mac. "Let's see what you got, big guy."
"Raaahhh!" With a scream, Mac rushed him, throwing the hardest punch he could. Joker ducked, causing Mac's fist to slam into the metal bar. The sound of a crunch made the crowd grimace.
"Hero! Now!" Joker yelled, summoning Arsene.
"Right! Freya!" Lucina roared, the Goddess of War springing to life behind her, blade held high. The Gentleman Thief beside her raised a leg, twirling a cane in his hand. In one swift motion, leg and sword dropped onto the boxer, cracking the arena floor. Dust kicked up and covered the arena, the crowd going crazy. As the dust settled, Joker and Hero stood over a knocked out Little Mac, now far smaller.
"I can't believe it folks! The Champion has been dethroned! The winners are Joker and Hero!" The announcer's voice echoed through the hall. The crowd cheered, their bodies slowly becoming mist. They disappeared, leaving Joker and Lucina standing victorious, Lucina reverting to her normal attire. She let out a breath.
"Alright, that went better than expected." Joker said, looking down at Mac. "I'll move him somewhere safer." He looked over to Lucina. She was worse for wear, bags under her eyes and doing her best to suppress a yawn. "Tired?"
"Yeah, it's been a long day. I haven't had a chance to really rest much these past few nights. I had to fend off any of those Shadows like making sure Sonic was okay. I should probably go back and check up on him." Lucina sighed. Joker frowned. It was obvious that Lucina was working herself to the bone and worrying about Sonic was making it much worse for her.
"Hey." Joker began, putting a hand on Lucina's shoulder. "It's pretty late. Why don't you go up to the office and take a nap. With everything you've been through, you deserve it. I'll take care of Mac here and start setting up a base for us."
"...Okay. Sleep sounds good right now." Lucina yawned, struggling to stay on her feet. She turned to walk to the stairs.
"Oh and you shouldn't work yourself to the bone so much, it isn't gonna help you or Sonic." Joker said, watching as Lucina looked over her shoulder at him, grimacing.
"If I don't we could die. If you've been in war like I have, you learn to deal with the fatigue." She groaned. Akira was speechless for a second, before giving her a reassuring smile.
"Well you aren't the only one fighting anymore. I'm here to help." He gave her a thumbs up. "I'll make sure you two are alright. You watch my back, I watch yours."
"That sounds… nice." Lucina smiled, turning back to the stairs and walking off. "Thanks for the help. It means a lot.
"I'm happy to help." Akira said and as Lucina disappeared from sight, a familiar warmth crossed through his head.
"I am thou, thou art I…
Thou hast acquired a new vow,
It shall become the wings of rebellion
That breaketh thy chains of captivity
With the birth of the Strength Persona,
I have obtained the winds of blessing that
shall lead to freedom and new power…"
"Alright." Akira muttered, looking down at the unconscious Mac. "Let's get you somewhere to recover."
Lucina opened the door to the office, gasping as an eraser bounced off her forehead. Sonic sat at the desk, a stapler in hand.
"Oh sh-" He muttered, pushing his chair out. "Sorry Lucy."
"It's no problem." Lucina hummed, closing the door behind her. "How are your legs doing?"
"I'll be real, I can barely feel them anymore." Sonic sighed. He winced as panic spread across his friend's face.
"What?!" In a blink of the eye, she was kneeling beside him, hand on his leg.
"Whoa whoa! Lucy, hold on!" Sonic yelped. Lucina's mind was going a mile a minute. "It's fine. They'll be better in no time." He didn't know if that was true. Hell he doubted it. But he didn't want to see Lucina upset.
"Oh gods, I'm so sorry." Lucina sniffled, tears forming in her eyes. She gripped the desk next to Sonic, covering her mouth with her hand. "This is my fault-"
"Okay now hang on!" Sonic cut in, grabbing her hand in his. Lucina didn't look at him, but he could see tears rolling down her cheeks. "Lucy, look at me." The bluenette turned to him, not even trying to hide her tears. "None of this is your fault."
"But it is!" Lucina cried, kneeling down to be level with him. "If you hadn't tried to save me, your legs would still be working! You can't do your favorite thing because of me!" She sobs into his chest.
Sonic looked down at her, not sure what to do. 'How much did she go through while I was out?' He felt horrible. Him being reckless caused all this. If he had been faster in turning Super Sonic, Lucina wouldn't have had to fend for herself all alone while he was out. Hell, he could have saved his friends too. Chaos, what happened to them?
"Lucy…" He muttered, putting a hand on her cheek. "I would have saved you no matter what. Don't beat yourself up on the what ifs, you'll hate yourself forever if ya do. What's done is done and we're gonna fix this. We're gonna beat whatever did this, got it?"
Lucina looked at him, tears flowing down her cheeks like rivers. She shut them, grunting. She threw her arms around the hedgehog, hugging him tightly.
"Yes. Yes we will." She hiccuped. The crying didn't stop, but Sonic just held her, letting go of all the anguish she had built up over the past few days.
Eventually she calmed down enough to lay down, Sonic giving her a pillow he found in a drawer. They were in for a long fight ahead, both externally and internally.
Sonic sat at the desk in the now dark room, the sound of Lucina's breathing echoing through his head. He felt like shit.
He didn't know what happened, but when that thing attacked his friends, he froze. His brain just couldn't process what was happening. He watched Shulk and Pit, his two closest friends here besides Lucina, bite the dust. It shook him to his core. Watching as Pikachu got enveloped by the beam of light. He failed, failed to save him.
What hurt the most was watching Peach go. She was like a mother to him. She had been there to help him get accustomed to Smash; cooked for him, helped him clean his room. He was only thirteen when they first met, but the four years they've known each other, they were close. She was family. Sonic stared up at the ceiling, closing his eyes after a bit. He'd do what he's always done. Save the world and help his friends… If only his legs would hurry up and get better.