Catch-22: The Sensei Effect
By: M14Mouse
Summary: The shadows are acting strange and Ren is about to find out why.
Disclaimer: Don't own them.
A good teacher is a determined person.- Gilbert Highet
The shadows were acting strange.
Okay, shadows are already strange but stranger than normal.
First off, the only angry or strong shadows would attack them. The other shadows would either run away, give him gifts or talk…a lot.
"LaTe. So LaTe. No GO! SeNseI!," Slime said as it passed them by.
"Who is he?" Ann said.
"I don't know. Someone important, I guess?" He said.
Then they met the pixie…
"You know that isn't how you talk to a lady," Pixie said to Ryuji.
"But you aren't a lady," He said.
He and Ann made a face when the Pixie slapped him.
"OUCH!"
"Don't insult the shadows, Skull," Mona said with a smirk.
The pixie huffed.
"Sensei would never talk to me like that," Pixie said with her hands on her hips.
"Sensei? Who is that?" Ann asked.
"A better man than you lot," Pixie said as she turned and disappeared into the tunnels.
"Sensei? I am curious who that is," Yusuke said.
He closed his eyes for a moment.
Do you guys know who Sensei is?
In his head, he heard silence before Arsene spoke.
None here heard of this name.
He sighed softly. He knew it was because a lot of his new masks came from the latest palace and not Mementos.
I wonder who he is. He seemed to be a nice fellow from what the other shadows said.
I bet that he is a cutie
He shook his head as Nekomata and Angel talked among themselves.
The next shadow that they came across was when they came down the stairs. An Incubus was hovering by the foot of the stairs. He was frowning and staring at the stairs.
"You know that I am not 100% sure if sensei went this way. I wished that Lilim or Black Frost were here. They would know where he is," Incubus said with a huff.
"If it helps, we didn't see him when we were upstairs," Ann said.
"That does help, kid! Thanks! Here." Incubus said as he approached Ann and dropped a piece of candy in her hand.
"Uhh…you're welcome?" Ann said in confusion.
Incubus smiled then turned around. He watched as the shadow disappeared into the tunnels.
"Now, I really want to meet this sensei fellow," Yusuke said.
"Honestly, this is so weird. We should be cautious. We have no idea who this sensei is. For all we know, he could be the man in the black mask," Morgana said.
"I don't know. I don't think that shadows would be so excited to see someone who is trying to kill them," He said.
"It could be a lure!"
"Maybe."
"No reason to hang out here, man. Let's go. We have some requests to finish up," Ryuji said.
"Aww…look at Skull. He is being all serious," Morgana said in a mocking tone.
"Shut up, man!"
"Come on, you two," Ann said in a huff.
"Yes, Lady Ann," Morgana said as he turned into a van.
He shook his head as they boarded onto Morgana. God, that is still so weird.
Ann slipped into the driver's seat and he slipped in the passenger seat. The others moved to the back. Once everyone was on board, Morgana purred softly before starting driving down the dark tunnels.
"You know…Mementoes would make a fine subject for a painting," Yusuke said.
"You would totally go with the weird, man," Ryuji said.
"I think that it is a cool idea," He said.
He saw Yusuke's paintings. It would be cool to see what he came up with.
He opened his mouth to ask a question when he heard a horrible scream.
"Mona!" He shouted.
"On it!"
Morgana twisted down another tunnel and bolted toward the scream. Another scream echoed through the tunnel.
"Turn right! Turn right!" Ann shouted.
"OKAY! OKAY!"
Mona turned right down another tunnel. When the tunnel started to turn, they were greeted by the sight of a white lion-like shadow on top of Incubus. A Lilim was throwing rocks at the white lion shadow nearby but the creature remained unmoved from his spot.
"Get off of him you big meanie!" Lilim shouted as she threw another rock at the lion.
"Please don't eat me or Lilim!" Incubus shouted as he covered his head.
"Hey! Leave him be!" He shouted.
The shadow turned his attention away from Incubus and toward them.
Everyone stumbled out of the van and got into a fighting position. Out of the corner of his eye, Morgana returned to his normal form.
"What the hell is that?!" Ryuji said.
"I sense a powerful shadow. Be careful." Morgana said.
"Okay…everyone spread out. We don't know what we are up against," He ordered.
"I will be back, Incubus!" Lilim shouted before throwing one last rock at the shadow.
Fragile little thing but she has spirit.
"Can you sense anything else, Mona?" He asked.
Mona shook his head.
"No…sorry."
"Okay…Fox, speed us up. Skull, get ready with an attack on my go. Panther, you are the back up. Mona, get ready to heal," He said.
"Gotcha, Joker," Skull said.
Out of the corner of his eye, he watched the others follow his orders. He felt the familiar sensation of the Fox's spell cover his body. He felt his body become lighter.
He drew his blades and rushed toward the shadow. It let out a roar when he cut into its fur then he quickly jumped away.
"Skull now!"
Skull quickly followed him behind with his bat.
The shadow let out another roar then its yellow eyes started to glow.
"Everyone back up!"
The shadow roared again as bursts of fire rushed toward them.
He tumbled to the ground…he felt the heat brush against his jacket. That was close.
"Shit…that fire was strong!" Skull shouted.
As he jumped to his feet, he saw ice form under the shadow's feet.
"HEE HO!"
In mere seconds, the ground was covered in ice. The shadow tried to get away but slipped. He looked from the lion to a shadow that kind of looked like a Jack Frost but black.
"HEE HO!" The strange shadow shouted as he raised his hand in the air. The ice rose from the ground to form a tree around the lion. A second later, the ice shattered around the lion.
The lion collapsed for a moment before it rose to its feet again.
"Shit…that thing isn't going down." Skull said.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something…no, someone rushed toward the shadow. The newcomer was slim and tall. He wore a buttoned-down blue shirt and black pants. Most of all, he had a sword that sliced through the shadow. He couldn't really see the guy's face.
The shadow roared as it finally collapsed to the ground. The stranger put away his sword as the shadow disappeared into a smoke.
"Wow…you are awesome, Sensei!" The Incubus said in awe.
"You should be thanking Black Frost too," The stranger said.
"Thanks, little guy," Incubus said as he got up from the ground. He floated over and gave the Black Frost a high five.
His eyes widened slightly as the guy's face came into view.
"You are the guy from the job board!"
The guy frowned for a moment and stared at him for the longest.
"Oh…you're the guy with the talking cat!" The stranger said with a smile.
"Wait a minute…how…YOU ARE THE MAN IN THE BLACK MASK!" Mona said.
The guy looked away from him to Mona.
Poor guy looked confused.
"How many people have you killed? And you have an army of minions?! It was worse than I thought!"
"Take that back! Sensei would never do such a thing!" Lilim shouted.
"You got it all wrong!" Incubus shouted!
"Hee Ho!"
Black Frost's eyes started to glow.
Crap…this isn't going to end well at all.
He needed to stop this now.
The stranger's voice cut through the fighting like his blade.
"That is enough."
Mona and the shadows stopped fighting and looked over at the stranger.
"What evidence do you have that suggested that I am this man in the black mask?" The stranger asked in curiosity.
"You are down here…and talking to shadows. You are the only one that we have met so far," Mona said in a huff.
The stranger tilted his head for a moment then he turned to Incubus.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
"HEY! I was talking to you!"
"I am fine, Sensei," Incubus said.
The stranger looked over his shoulder to look at Mona. Arsene spoke softly into his head.
He will not heed.
"You accuse me of being something at your convenience. You offer nothing but words with no evidence to back them up. You don't desire truth…you desire lies. Until you wish to learn the truth, I will be on my way," The stranger said before turning back around to look at the trio of shadows.
Damn….He has never seen Mona totally dismissed like that before and judging by Mona's face…neither has he.
"Let's head back. Hopefully, there are snacks left for us."
"Lets!" Lilim said as she clapped her hands.
"Man, they probably got all of the cookies." Incubus said sadly.
"I have an extra box in my bag," The stranger said.
"YAY!"
"HEE HO!"
The stranger and the shadows started walking down the tunnel. Black Frost grabbed the stranger's hand. Before they disappeared into the shadows, Black Frost turned around and stick out his tongue at them.
There was a long silence between the group.
"Well…shit. He told you off," Skull said.
"HEY!" Mona said.
"He is right, you know. You accuse him with no evidence," Fox said.
"That wasn't very nice, Mona. We should hear him out," Panther said.
"But…But…" Mona said.
"I agree. Besides, I don't think that he is the man in the black mask. He was wearing regular clothes and I didn't see him use a persona. Not that he needed one…did you see him with that sword and those shadows jump over themselves to help him. We will probably be in his way. I am curious about how he does it. Half of the time, they barely listen to us," He added.
"Yes, I was wondering that too," Fox said thoughtfully.
"All in favor of talking to the stranger and not pissing him off. Say hell yes," Skull said.
"I agree."
"Me too."
"I am totally in agreement."
"Fine….but I don't like it."
End of The Sensei Effect
Next Chapter: The Conversation
A/N: Few things to keep in mind. This happened before the tv station. So far, they have only seen Yu. Mona is Mona. As much as he grew on me later in the game, he was very much a jerk. Yu doesn't have time for that. Anyway, I want to thank you for the wonderful support. You guys are awesome. Read and review if you wish.