Chapter 19: Azrael, Will Thee Ring The Evening Bell?

Ω • Ω • Ω

•Akira•

"Holy…"

"Shit…"

Ann didn't say anything, instead staring silently alongside himself and Ryuji at the distorted underground subway station.

After they had first arrived in Central Station Morgana had had Ryuji pull out his phone and look for more targets. After locating a woman's request which had the name of a target, a stalker who had been following her by the name of Natsuhiko Nakanohara, Morgana had Ryuji input the location name of 'Mementos,' causing the world around them to distort.

When it stopped, every civilian around them was gone, and it felt like they were more agile, as if they were in a Palace. However, they didn't have their costumes on, and Morgana was still in cat form. That changed when they descended into the subway.

Halfway down the stairs, their Thief Attire flared to life with blue flames, and Morgana shifted into his humanoid form. The station itself was also different, the lights in the ceiling shining with a dim red glow, black vine-like growths creeping up pillars, and the screens showing black and white static.

"So, if we're in uniform, the Shadows know we're here?"

"Since the moment we stepped down here," Morgana… or, he supposed Mona, considering they were now in costume, confirmed.

"You should have told us!"

"We're still safe on this level, Skull. I've come here to investigate a number of times, and Shadows never come up this far. It's a different story when you descend from here, though. The place is teeming with Shadows down there."

Panther interrupted, crossing her arms. "More importantly, what is this place?"

"Mementos is… everyone's Palace."

"Eh? Whaddya mean, 'everyone's'?"

"A Palace as grand as the previous castle only forms when a person's wishes are extremely distorted. So, instead of many individual Palaces, the general public has one gigantic shared Palace. And that… is Mementos."

"Wait, so shared means a buncha strangers are all put together?"

"You can think of it as the collective unconscious."

Skull and Panther gained blank looks, while he tilted his head. "You mean there's some merit to Carl Jung's theory?" The two other humans snapped their heads towards him, and he rolled his eyes. "It's a theory that states the deepest part of the human unconscious is genetically inherited, which is why many humans share similar aspects, even though they may be wildly different. An innate fear of the dark, life and death instincts… Though, fear of the dark could simply be the instincts we had before we were at the top of the food chain in early human history…"

"Alright, alright, enough with the science crap!"

Ann grimaced and nodded. "Yeah, I feel like my brain is starting to hurt."

"These are basic psychological—"

"No, I think you're just weird, Joker." Mona rubbed the back of his head and chuckled. "No normal teenager is going to study theories like that and know them so well." He just huffed in response.

"Whatever."

"Anyway, being here means that we can change the hearts of everyone who doesn't have a Palace! The steps are a bit different, though."

"If this place is modeled after the subway, how're we gonna get around? Hop on a train?"

Mona perked up and giddily rubbed his paws together while Panther hummed. "Maybe we should bring a few bikes down here?"

"I am not riding a bike along the train tracks," he shot down.

"Mwehehe… the time has finally come! They all turned to look at Mona, who'd run to an open space on the platform, and began posing. "Morgana… TRANSFOOOOORM!"

The not-cat suddenly jumped into the air and was covered in a cloud of thick smoke. When it had cleared, Mona was no longer there, and instead, a large black van crashed down. It had a yellow stripe going down the center, the same color as Mona's neck bandana, two protrusions extending from the top like cat ears, and its headlights were colored the same blue as his eyes.

Everyone was silent before he threw his hands forward in absolute confusion. "What kind of Studio Ghibli bullshit is this?!"

"Mwehehe, ladies first!"

"Mona, what just happened?!"

"Dude, he freakin' turned into a car!"

Mona purred, the bus jumping slightly. "Remember, this is a world based on cognition. I don't really get it, but apparently, a lot of people have the idea that cats can turn into buses! With some extra training by me, and voila! It's similar to how you guys transform!"

"This ain't similar at all!"

He rubbed his face in annoyance at that logic, "alright, whatever, at least we have reliable transportation through the underground." Skull walked up to the side of Mona, opening a sliding door, and looked inside.

"Hey— Skull, let Panther in first!"

"Yeah, I want to check this out!" Panther grabbed Skull's shoulders and tried to get in first, while he just rolled his eyes at the both of them.

When they all finally managed to crawl inside they found several seats, and they planted themselves in the middle row, waiting for Mona to begin driving. Several seconds awkwardly passed, before Skull banged his hand on the door of the car. Cat? Bus? "Uh, why ain't you drivin'?"

"Uh, I'm a car, remember? I can't drive myself!"

Panther looked at him and Skull, "Uh, can you guys drive? I don't know how…"

"I don't know either."

Skull and Panther looked towards him, and he sighed before his eyes glowed and he pulled his gloves tight. "Time to bust my moves." Everyone looked at each other nervously as he got out and sat in the driver's seat, Panther wincing slightly.

"Um, safety first, alright?"

"Please don't crash me…" Skull hopped over the seat and sat on the passenger side, while he looked around the dashboard.

"Where're the keys?"

"Why would you need a key?! Just flick the switch next to the steering wheel to start the engine!"

"Down here?" he flicked a knob and the cat-car began rumbling. Or purring?

"That's the one… hah, that feels good…"

"Please never speak again," he groaned.

"Man, what a creepy-ass car…"

"Don't underestimate my meowtary engine! Let's go full throttle, it's time to fly!"

"What'd I just say about not speaking?!"

Ω • Ω • Ω

The area below the platform transitioned from somewhat similar to an actual subway station to wildly different. The walls had more and more black vines, and a cold, disturbing wind blew through the area. What looked like small tombstones appeared at some dead ends, and crawling around the area were massive black creatures, easily around eight feet tall, and covered in white masks with roman numerals on them.

What most drew his attention had been his phone, as when they'd descended the Metaverse Navigator had rung quietly, as its screen lit up, with several words on it. "New area discovered: Path of Qimranut. Please travel safely."

He was sure he'd seen the name, or word, Qimranut somewhere, but he wasn't sure… "Just something else to study," he hummed happily.

"Ugh, can we not talk about studyin' and focus on bustin' Shadows?!"

"I'll bust your ass if you keep talking so disrespectfully to your leader," he shot back with a smirk.

"Psh!" Skull just grinned and kicked his feet up, laying them on the dashboard.

"Hey! Get your feet off me!"

"They're gonna be on you anyway, what's the difference?!" Panther just buried her face in her hands behind them, while he turned the wheel and slammed on the accelerator.

"Oh look, Shadows." He rammed Mona's face into the body of one, cutting off the argument. The Shadow flew back several feet, transforming into several Slimes, while Mona vanished in a puff of smoke and turned back into his humanoid form. The result of which was Skull, Panther, and himself falling to the ground, but they managed to catch themselves and bring out their weapons.

"Berith, ravage them!" The twenty-eighth demon of the Ars Goetia twirled his spear before his horse charged forward and struck down a slime.

"Dance, Carmen!" flames shot past him, burning up the creatures and causing them to squeal in pain until one that had managed to avoid the attack tried to lunge towards them. Panther dodged it gracefully and Skull jumped forward to kick it in the face, before stuffing his shotgun into its mouth and blasting it to goo.

"Mona, finish them off!"

"Roger, Joker! Show our might, Zorro!" The muscular Persona appeared behind its master, before launching whipping winds forward that caused Carmen's flames to flare up even brighter, turning the remaining Slimes to ash. "Ha! Now that was too easy!"

"Alright, let's keep moving everyone."

Mona prepared to transform back into bus form but stopped when his ears twitched and he began looking around. "Wait, we're near our target!"

"Sweet!"

"Alright, let's beat this dude!" Mona led them around a corner and pointed towards a dead-end. Only, instead of a normal wall, there was a massive red and black portal, swirling around and around. The train tracks along the ground lifted up, twisting around each other and moving through the odd wormhole. "Whoa."

"Through here is Nakanohara. Is everyone ready? He won't be as strong as a Palace Ruler, but he'll be tougher than regular Shadows."

"Yeah! We can't let this guy keep stalking the poster!" He nodded at Panther's enthusiasm, before motioning everyone forward. He stuck his hand through the portal and found that there was no resistance at all. After a moment of hesitation, he jumped through and found himself in a small hallway-like area.

Red tubes along the walls pulsed every few seconds, and standing right in front of an abyss was what seemed to be their target, a man wearing a suit, glasses, and had a bob-cut for a hairdo. "So, this guy is some stalker, who works as a front desk dude at City Hall?"

"I don't know how much evil he's done, but we need to do something if he's bothering other people!"

"Let's talk to him. It'll likely come to a fight, but let's see if we can change him first."

The Shadow of Nakanohara was mumbling to himself as they walked up before he noticed them and began glaring with his golden eyes. "Who're you?!"

It's voice didn't seem as distorted as Kamoshida's, likely because it wasn't a Palace Ruler just yet, but there was still some distortion in it. Panther immediately began glaring back, stomping her boot. "You're the stalker, right?! Haven't you ever stopped to consider how your ex feels?"

Nakanohara scoffed, shaking his head. "She's my property! I can do whatever I want with her! It's not like she didn't treat me like a plaything! What's wrong with me doing the same?!"

"You can't treat someone like shit just 'cause they did it to you! What a load of crap… we're gonna change the hearts of all the bastards like you!"

Snarling at Skull's words, Nakanohara began twitching slightly. "There are millions of people far worse than me! What about Madarame?! He stole everything from me, but you're letting him off the hook?!"

"Madarame? The hell are you goin' on about?" Before he could get a response, Nakanohara suddenly erupted into goo, which swirled together and revealed a small, red-colored devil with a bob-cut and large paws. "Oh shit!"

"Alright everyone, let's go!" Nakanohara jumped at him, but a quick summon of Berith and a twirl of his spear threw the Shadow aside. He bounced along the ground, but easily got back and charged at them again, throwing his fists wildly.

He dodged back, and the Shadow switched to targeting Mona, the small Magician jumping around the Shadow and slashing at his back with a cutlass. It whirled and suddenly punched Mona hard, causing him to bounce along the ground until Skull caught him. "Damn, you got bodied!"

"Shut it, numbskull!"

"Dia!" Carmen quickly healed Mona, before Skull dropped him and charged forward.

"Alright, batters up!" He swung at the Shadow, only for Nakanohara to duck under the blow, and Headbutt him in the stomach. "Ack!"

"Slime, Evil Touch!" The Fear inducing spell washed over Nakanohara's Shadow, but it ignored it and continued wailing on Skull. "Alright, then Tarunda!" This time it had an effect, the Shadow's attacks visibly weakening.

"Alright you little shit, how do you like this?!" Skull blocked the next attack, before roaring and smashing his mace against Nakanohara's stomach. He bent over the weapon for a brief moment, before getting launched away by Skull's strength. "Whip 'em, CAPTAIN KIDD!" The pirate manifested and unleashed a blast of lightning, causing Nakanohara to screech as he was electrocuted.

"He looks like he's weak to electricity!"

"Alright, Skull, give them everything!"

"You got it! Captain Kidd, full power!" Zio energy swirled around Captain Kidd's cannon, before launching bolt after bolt at Nakanohara. Upon being shocked so thoroughly, the Shadow's body seized up from the attack.

"Whoa, we can get him now!"

"You heard her, let's get this done! All-Out Attack!"

"All right, time for some pain!" Everyone jumped forward and began beating up the downed Shadow… which, thanks to being paralyzed from the lightning, resulted in all four of them just kicking the shadow in the ribs over and over again. "Hah!"

"Ya!"

"Hoh!"

"Hya-ta!"

This is just brutal. Give the dude a break.

He kicked Nakanohara one last time, causing him to bounce along the ground. The Shadow tried to get back up but fell back to the ground after struggling for a moment. He began growing until he was back in human form and whimpered as he tried to crawl away. "I-I'm sorry, please forgive me…"

"As long as you know what you've done is wrong," he sighed. "Are you?"

"Yes… I-I couldn't stop obsessing, N-Not after the person I trusted used me and then disposed of me."

"You shouldn't blame others for your own actions. You may have been wronged in the past, but your actions are your responsibility."

"I understand…"

Skull scratched the back of his head, feeling a bit awkward about the heartfelt conversation after kicking the man's ribs in just a few seconds earlier. "So, uh, were you talkin' about the guy you mentioned earlier? Madarame?"

"Yeah… I was afraid of being thrown away like some worthless thing."

Panther looked at him sympathetically, folding her arms. "So some selfish bastard was making you suffer too. Still, you shouldn't have dragged an unrelated woman into your mess."

"Yes, I realize that now. I'll put an end to my love for her." He stood up, his golden eyes losing their brightness and becoming more amber colored. "Hey… you guys can change people's hearts, right?"

"Well, that is what we just did to you," Mona pointed out.

"In that case, won't you change Madarame's heart?! Before more people fall victim to him…"

"We'll look into him."

"Thank you…" He vanished in a swirl of white light, which then coalesced into an opaque orb.

"Change Madarame's heart?"

He shrugged at Panther. "This could be a lead to a new target. Let's keep that name in mind. Anyway, what's that object?"

"That's the bud of a Treasure. If we'd left it be, it could very well have blossomed into a full-blown Palace. Well, this'll be the perfect reward!"

He grabbed the orb from the air, and the light vanished and revealed a milky-white pearl. "And that's that."

"So, Nakanohara had a change of heart, huh?"

Mona nodded at Skull's words, "most likely."

"But how are we supposed to know we succeeded?"

"Well, the lady posted the dude's name online, if he changes she'll prolly comment again."

"Good point."

"Either way, trainin' against Shadows down here's the best! It's great prep for our next target!"

"It's also nice to be able to give courage to the people who post their problems online."

"On top of that, we can sell whatever treasure we get for cold hard cash!"

"Alright, then let's spend some more time here getting experience fighting. Perhaps we'll also find more treasures." It was almost surprising how many items and how much money they'd found in the short hour they'd been within Mementos. Most of the items were junk he would sell to Iwai, but some were invaluable. Odd candies Mona called Chewing Souls that could restore their energy or Life Stones that would heal them… even some kind of Revival Bead that could, apparently, restart someone's heart which hopefully wouldn't be necessary, and another type of Bead that would heal them completely.

"Before we do that, there's something else I want you all to see. It'll involve going down a level, so we'll have to find the platform down…"

Skull rubbed the back of his head as they left the area Nakanohara's Shadow had taken residence in, with Mona transforming back into bus form. "Eh? If you want to show us this thing, don't you know how to find it? I mean, you've been here before."

"Not exactly. The layout of Mementos changes every time you enter. Even going down or up a floor has the previous layer swiftly change."

"Wait, so our path changes too?!"

Mona couldn't nod, so he flicked his tail in answer to Panther's question. "This place is the fused cognition of the masses. It's constantly shifting."

"Well, at least we'll get to fight some more Shadows in the time it takes us to find it." He sat behind the wheel and strapped in, before turning on Mona's engine and beginning to drive. Almost immediately they spotted a Shadow wandering the halls ahead of them, and Skull pointed at it with a feral grin.

"RUN THAT BASTARD DOWN!"

He slammed the accelerator and whooped, smashing their vehicle directly into it and splattering it across the walls. "FUCK YEAAAAAAAH!"

Ann just groaned from her seat, trying to keep her balance and watching as he and Ryuji cheered in excitement. "Boys…"

Ω • Ω • Ω

What Morgana had led them to was what first seemed like a dead end, before the wall opened up and revealed escalators leading further downward. After explaining that the door wouldn't open previously and that now that people were believing in them it would respond and open for them, they descended downwards and began exploring further.

The Metaverse Navigator identified it as the Path of Aiyatsbus, and it had a slightly different look, the ominous lights in the ceiling changing from blood red to light blue, but the tracks were as dark and dreary as Quimranut.

Some new Shadows roamed the halls as well, small paper-like creatures that were identified as Kodama's after he negotiated with and got one to become his mask, and more of the Shadows that Nakanohara had transformed into, though he hadn't managed to befriend any of those yet.

They had explored downwards for quite a few hours, taking their time on each level, and quickly reached a Rest Area a few floors into Aiyatsbus, which was simply a train platform with a few benches they could sit on. After arriving at the station, and realizing how late it was getting, they began climbing back up to the surface. And of course, along the way, kept exploring for treasure and experience.

"Cait Sith, ravage them! Agi!" He manifested his Scottish Persona onto his arm, letting the creature wave his sword and launch several fireballs at an Andras, a menacing humanoid slash owl-like Shadow. It screeched in pain, flapping its wings and trying to retreat, only for Mona's slingshot to shoot it down.

"Lemme at 'em, Joker!"

"All yours!" Skull grinned and ran forward, winding up his swing, before smashing his mace directly into the Shadow's face, tearing its head from its shoulders. A fountain of black blood shot into the air as its body stayed standing for several moments before it collapsed and disappeared into ash and dust.

Panther sighed and stretched, letting her whip vanish into… wherever the hell her, Mona, and Skull's weapons vanished to when they weren't using them. "I'm starting to feel pretty drained…"

"That so? What about you two?"

"I can keep goin'!" Skull grinned and flexed, before wincing and holding his side. "Uh, on second thought, I did take a pretty bad hit in that last battle."

"Well, I'm running out of energy to heal everyone. I suggest we start heading back up, Joker."

"Alright, let's finish exploring this floor, then begin heading up." They gathered back inside of the Mona Mobile, as Skull had taken to calling it, and continued driving. Another hour passed as they made their way back to the surface, taking much less time to climb up thanks to not wasting their time on exploring each floor thoroughly, and instead only driving around until they found the exit to the next level up.

When they were one level below the exit onto the surface, they stopped for a moment to open a treasure chest they had spotted along the way, and he grinned as he found a new dagger. He grabbed it out of the treasure chest and flipped it into the air, easily catching it as it fell. The blade was a light blue, with wisps of fog drifting from it, while the handle was black and wrapped tightly with leather. "Now this looks useful."

"It seems like it'll freeze anything it touches," Mona guessed, waving a paw at the blue blade.

"For real?" Skull tapped the blunt side of the blade with a finger and yelped.

Panther recoiled at the yell, glaring at Skull. "You idiot! Don't just touch the blade like that! Are you alright?!"

"Ow, ow, ow!" Skull began sucking on his finger and winced. "Man, that shit's so cold it felt like it burned!"

"Oh, I'm definitely keeping this then. Though I do fear what'll happen when I bring it back to the real world…"

He shoved the dagger into his bigger-on-the-inside pockets, before motioning for Mona to transform into bus form. The not-cat posed, beginning his shout of "Morgana transfo—!" He stopped suddenly, cutting himself off. They all looked at him in confusion as his hackles raised, his tail shot straight out, and his ears lifted. His irises contracted, and he began looking around wildly, the fear he felt exuding from his body. "Oh no…"

For a moment, he thought he could hear chains rattling.

"Mona?"

"Joker, we have to go! RIGHT NOW!"

"Calm down, what's wrong, dude?"

"We don't know what's freaking you out so much."

Mona just shook his head wildly at Skull and Panther, transforming into the Mona Mobile and bouncing anxiously. "There's something in Mementos that I forgot to tell you all about. It's a powerful Shadow, very powerful! If we stick around too long it appears and tries to chase intruders off! I think it's some kind of representation of the Collective Unconscious' security system, so we have to LEAVE!"

"I dunno, Joker, why don't we try fighting it?" Skull grinned and pounded his fists together. "It sounds tough!"

"NO! This thing is a hundred times stronger than Kamoshida was, and we barely beat him at full strength! The Shadow is probably going to be tougher than every other Palace Ruler we ever face as well! We cannot risk it!"

He frowned and nodded, getting in and strapping in. "As much as I want to fight this thing too, we're exhausted right now. Let's go." Skull and Panther nodded, getting and putting on their seatbelts while he revved the engine.

In the distance, he definitely heard the sound of chains.

"JOKER!"

"I know, I know!" He spun the wheel and pressed down on the accelerator, causing them to burst forward and speed through the tunnels, attempting to find the exit as soon as possible. They screeched around a corner and he grimaced at the whiplash, before refocusing. The chains were getting louder and closer, and Mona's worried whispers weren't making him feel any better.

'Arsène, what are our chances of winning against… whatever this thing is? If it catches us?'

Likely not very high. Mona is not one to exaggerate when it comes to safety. Were it simply an incredibly tough opponent he'd brag that we could defeat it with his help, but his fear suggests this is far beyond our abilities.

"Joker, watch out!" He looked to the side and his eyes widened before he slammed on the brakes. Just in time, as what sounded like a cannon fired, and then a bullet the size of a 0.950 rifle round flew right past the Mona Mobile's face, with his Third Eye being the sole reason he could even see it. When the bullet slammed into the tunnel wall next to them, it exploded in a massive blaze of energy. Had he not stopped the car in time, that bullet would have crashed into the side of the bus, and likely injured them all too much to fight back.

"Oh shit." Floating along the ground closer towards them was the creature that Mona had been so afraid of. It wore a black cloak over the entirety of its tall body, which was at least three meters in height, with a white bag over its head, a hole for a bulging eyeball to stare out of on the left side. Across its chest were two chains that clanged with every movement it made, and in both hands were twin revolvers, with the barrels so long that they were several feet in length.

"The Reaper…" Mona whispered, trembling in place.

"BOOK IT, JOKER!" Thrown into action by Panther, he pressed the gas as hard as he could, causing Mona to jerk forward and began retreating from the Reaper. Two more gunshots rang out, and he spun the wheel while pulling the emergency brake, causing the bus to drift around a corner and two bullets flew past, exploding against the wall of a tunnel.

"Dude, that was badass!"

"Not the goddamn time! Does anyone remember which of these tunnels we haven't tried driving down yet?!"

"Uh, I think that one was a dead end!"

"That one, we haven't tried that one yet!" He followed Mona's instructions and drove down the corridor, finding a chained-up door.

"Ram it!" Mona leaped into the air and smashed into the chains, causing the door to slide open. However, that one moment where they lost their momentum to open the way was enough for the Reaper to take aim and fire again.

"TRANSFORM!" Mona turned back from bus to humanoid-cat and caused everyone to fall to the ground, saving their lives. The bullet flew overhead and destroyed a wall, and the Reaper cocked its second gun and prepared to fire.

"Saki Mitama, Rakukaja!" The teardrop Persona appeared and raised his defense… but it barely did anything when the bullet tore clean through his shoulder, creating a gaping hole. The sheer force of the bullet threw him back, and after a moment to process what the hell had happened, the pain slammed into him and he screamed.

"Joker!" Skull turned and roared at the Reaper, summoning Captain Kidd. "You bastard! I'll kill ya!" Captain Kidd unleashed blast after blast of lightning, but the Reaper didn't look bothered at all, instead taking aim again. The barrels of the revolver spun and glowed green, but before it could fire, Mona shoved Skull out of the way.

The green bullet slammed into Mona, and while it did throw him across the corridor, it didn't tear a hole through him. "Watch out, that thing… can fire elemental bullets too! Watch for the colors on its barrels!"

"Shit, that woulda killed me…"

"Chew on this!" Panther cracked her whip and launched a dozen fireballs towards the Reaper, which it simply ignored and launched back several bullets in return. She narrowly dodged back, pulling out her submachine gun and firing wildly to keep it distracted.

"Dia!" He felt warmth wash over his shoulder and felt the wound begin to close thanks to Zorro. Of course, given the fact that Dia could barely handle deep cuts, a hole straight through from one side of his body to the other was way above the spell's paygrade. At the very least, it dulled the pain, and he managed to get up. He tore his sleeve off, using the strip of cloth to bind and put pressure on the gushing wound, while Saki Mitama used Dias of her own on him.

"Mona, forget about continuing to heal me… W-We'll finish doing that at the surface! Panther, Skull, pull back! Don't get caught up in fighting!"

"Wish we could, but this bastard ain't gonna let us!" Skull dove to the side and barely dodged a wind-powered bullet, while Panther gracefully dodged an ice-covered one. "Ain't we got some way to stun the bastard?!"

"I've got an idea! Tarunda!" Panther cracked her whip, and Carmen blew a cloud of smoke from her cigar, covering the Reaper and weakening its attack. It floated through the cloud, continuing to fire, and he stepped forward, pulling off his mask.

"Succubus! Marin Karin!" The devil blew a kiss, but the Reaper simply ignored it, launching a bullet infused with holy power at him. He dove to the side, clenching his teeth as he rolled and agitated the hole in his arm, all while hearing the sound of Mona transforming behind him and resummoning Mitama to heal himself further.

"Everyone, let's go!" Panther dodged another bullet, sprinting towards the bus, as did Skull and himself. He heard the sound of the Reaper's barrels spinning, and looked back to see one of the guns exuding a black, ominous aura.

"LOOK OUT!" It fired once more, only this time a bullet didn't exit the barrel. A doll manifested in his path, and he slid to a stop, looking at it with wide eyes. Three pins appeared, one pierced the neck,

Ding,

the second pierced the head,

Ding,

and the third began to fall towards the doll's heart before Skull shoved him to the side. "JOKER!"

Ding.

The pin pierced the doll's heart, and Skull jerked, clutching his chest. He stumbled forward, his eyes rolling back and drool dripping from his mouth before falling flat on his face. "SKULL!" He grabbed his friend, shaking him. "Fuck! Wake up!" Nothing happened, so he picked him up and grimaced. "Shit, shit, shit!"

The Reaper aimed at him again, only Mona to crash directly into the Shadow. Even with its toughness, the full mass of a car slamming into it was enough to stun it for a moment and caused its shot to go wide. Mona drove towards him, and he saw Panther behind the wheel as the door opened to let him in. He grabbed the handle and pulled himself in as they drove past, crashing onto a seat. "Drive!"

"O-Okay!" As they shot through the corridor he checked Ryuji, seeing that he was still completely out of it. "What's wrong with him?!"

"I don't know!" He checked his neck and his eyes widened when he couldn't find a heartbeat. "His heart's stopped! And he's not breathing!"

"That was a Mudo spell," Mona explained, "it's an instant kill ability that stops the heart of its target if it works!"

"S-Shit!"

The Revival Bead!

Quickly, Starr, there is still time before the lack of blood pumping causes his body to break down! He heeded Arsène and Angel's words, reaching into his pockets and grabbing it.

"W-What do I do?!"

"Crush it over him!" He did so, smashing it to dust with his grip, and the ashes quickly drifted down onto Ryuji. A moment passed in which his heart thumped in panic, before Skull took a massive gasp for air, his eyes regaining their color. "Skull!"

"Wha—" he broke down in a coughing fit, wheezing for a moment. "The hell happened?"

"I'll explain later, Panther, are we near the exit?!"

"I see it up ahead!"

Skull struggled to sit up, pointing out the window on the bus's back door. "I-It's closing… ack… in!"

"I'll hold it off! Get us to that platform, Panther, Mona!" He jumped over the seats and kicked open the back door, kneeling down and pulling out his gun. He fired all eight bullets perfectly, each aimed at the Reaper's singular eye.

The Reaper didn't even flinch, instead aiming its own guns at him. They glowed black and launched twin curse-infused bullets, and he changed Personas to Succubus. Thanks to her nullification of curse, the bullets slammed into his body but were completely ignored. "Shit…"

He holstered his gun and summoned Succubus into the world, commanding her to launch Agis towards the Reaper. The fireballs bounced off the Reaper as if he'd just thrown some water balloons, and the Reaper responded with a bullet loaded with lightning energy. "Swerve left!" Panther spun the wheel and the bullet passed by, and the Reaper prepared another bullet. "Right!"

The bullet slammed into the wall of the station, exploding and throwing rubble. "Once we park we've got to run, quickly!" Panther called back to him.

"Got it!"

"Wha… Joker, I can feel some kind of energy buildup! Something big is coming!" He spun to look back at the Reaper as Mona warned him, and saw pure white energy coalescing around the barrels of the revolvers.

"Shit…" He could feel that. He didn't need the senses that Mona apparently had, the amount of power was something that could kill them all. He had nothing that could withstand, or even push that power back… and besides that, he had no energy left. A few low-level spells were all he could manage at this point. There was nothing he could…

No!

"I vowed that I wouldn't just stand and do nothing anymore!" He stood up, ignoring the pain in his shoulder and grasping the frame of the door, glaring at the Reaper as Succubus reformed into his mask. "If any of you can do anything, let me know!"

Lad, a wullnae be muckle hulp 'ere...

Unfortunately, I will be of no assistance…

Me can no help, sorry.

Sire, my skills will be of no use…

I might be able to assist… however…

"What?! However what?!" He snapped at Angel.

I will need to combine my power with this devil.

Aw, I love you too, Angel!

"If your little rivalry is going to prevent you from saving us all—!"

It is not simply that… Starr, to use both our powers as one… incredible agony would befall you.

"Better than dying! Get ready!" His other hand reached up to his mask as he focused on pushing both Angel and Succubus to the forefront of his mind. Personas didn't occupy a physical space, so it was odd trying to force their 'energy' into position, but he brute-forced it, and he felt something click into place…

Alongside a deluge of agonizing pain.

"AGHHHHHH! AHHH!"

"Joker?!"

"FOCUS ON DRIVING!" He snarled, grabbing his mask and tearing it from his face. The only time that ripping their masks off caused them to bleed was the very first time they Awakened, however, the strain from summoning two at once caused his mask to almost refuse to leave his face, as though it couldn't handle channeling two Personas through it at once. "HRAAAAAAAAAAAAGHHH!"

A fountain of blood gushed from his face as it came free before the white bird mask disappeared into blue flames and he threw his arms wide. Succubus and Angel appeared in front of him, staring down the Reaper as it got ready to fire its attack, readying their Fusion Spell. "FALLEN ANGEL!" The two scantily clad women clasped hands together, holy and curse energy mixing together before they spun in a circle, extended their hands towards the enemy, and unleashed a blast of gray energy that rushed down the tracks towards the Reaper.

The Reaper fired, and the white light and gray energy collided, mixing together and detonating, causing the tunnels to collapse and prevented the Reaper from continuing to chase them. He grinned, collapsing back against the seats as his Personas vanished. "Joker! Are you okay?!" With the Reaper unable to reach them, Panther was able to park the car and climb over the backseat, shaking his and Skull's shoulders. "Skull?!"

"I'm fine… what about you, Joker?"

"Hah… haha… I've got a massive migraine…" Panther pulled them both off of Mona and onto the platform, before Mona transformed back into battle form, bouncing over to check on them. Everyone was silent for a minute or two before Skull began chuckling. That led to him beginning to laugh as well, which caused Mona and Panther to join them, the tension and fear from moments earlier overwhelming them.

"Hehe… we should… start heading up… Come on, I want to get the hell out of here…" Panther helped him and Skull to their feet, and they staggered towards the escalators towards the Mementos Entrance. Upon reaching the safe layer just below the surface of Tokyo they stopped and breathed a sigh of relief, leaning against a pillar and pulling out several Life Stones they'd found over the journey through Mementos.

He crushed one near his shoulder after unwrapping the wound and winced as flesh and bone regrew. "That's nasty as hell," Skull grimaced, looking away.

"It's nastier feeling it happen."

"Skull, are you sure you're alright?" Panther looked at the faux-blond with a worried expression, "your heart had stopped for a few seconds."

"Ah, don't worry about it." He grinned and rubbed the back of his head, "I'm kinda sore, but that's all. Joker's the one who took a bullet to the shoulder."

"Not just any bullet… that shit was massive… fuck…" His bones finished mending, but his flesh wasn't fully healed, a bloody laceration along the skin. "I don't want to waste another Life Stone on this, do either of you have enough energy for a Dia?"

Mona shook his head and Panther responded with "no, sorry. But you should at least have some medicine right?"

"I completely forgot to buy medicine the last time I visited the doctor I get it from…" He sighed and shook his head, rewrapping his laceration. "I'll just have to be careful with this arm, until the next time we enter the Metaverse and fully heal it. It'll be a lesson, don't spend too much time on a single floor, and the second we hear chains book it for the next level."

"Yeah. Let's just rest here for a little bit. You shouldn't agitate your wound any further."

"Well, other than that, I think everythin' went fine!" Skull grinned brightly, as Mona facepalmed.

"Two of us almost died, Numbskull."

"Yeah, 'is why I said 'almost'! And stop callin' me that!"

"Oh, are you the ones who caused that whole commotion?" Everyone spun around at the new voice, Skull pulling out his shotgun, Panther her Sterlidge machine gun, and Mona his slingshot. He tried to grab his Deagle but his arm flared in pain, causing him to yelp and fall lamely onto his side.

"Who the hell're you?!"

"Ah, human customs usually involve introducing yourself before asking others questions… my mistake!" The boy didn't look at all scared to have three weapons pointed at him, though that could have been from how… inhuman he looked. If you just glanced at him he seemed like a normal child, but the glowing golden eyes, small, stick-like nose, and hair so smooth it seemed more like a helmet made him look just off-enough to have him question it. "My name is Jose! I'm looking for flowers!"

"Uh…" He blinked in shock, not sure how to respond to that.

"It's pretty surprising to see normal humans wandering around here in Mementos. You were the ones that challenged the Reaper, right?"

Everyone exchanged nervous glances, before slowly lowering the weapons as he nodded at Jose. "I would say less challenged, and more tried to survive."

"Yeah, it can be pretty tough for newcomers to beat." He frowned at Jose's words. The way he said that almost made it seem like Jose didn't find the Reaper threatening. Or, as though the Reaper wasn't as strong as… But no, Jose looked like a child, that couldn't be possible. "Anyway, I didn't know normal humans could come in here."

Yeah, this kid definitely wasn't human. Panther, meanwhile, tilted her head. "Hey, what were you saying before about flowers? I haven't seen any flowers down here…"

"Good question, pretty lady! Normal humans won't be able to see them! They're pretty much human emotions bundled up into a weak physical form, I'm collecting them and drinking them to try and understand humans!"

"Uh, you study humans by drinkin' flower juice?"

"Yup!"

"Uh… 'kay. Noooot gunna question that…"

"Hm… I was going to ask if you guys could help by collecting flowers for me, but if you can't see the flowers…"

"Say that we could help, would you give us anything in return?"

"Sure! I find tons of stuff down here. I'd happily trade some for flowers!"

His eyes glowed as he activated his Third Eye, and he saw what looked like golden flowers floating in a bubble next to Jose. He reached out and popped the bubble, grabbing their stems. "Well, looks like we can help out."

He handed the flowers to Jose, while Skull looked at him skeptically. "You sure we should, Joker?"

"I, surprisingly, agree with Skull. We should be cautious with this guy."

"Oh come on, he doesn't seem that bad! Let's give him a hand! What's the harm in picking some flowers?"

"Okay, any other reasons?"

"Hehe…" Panther blushed happily and let her arms swing by her side lazily. "He called me pretty lady."

He snorted as Mona whined, shaking his head in amusement. "You have the meow-meow here to compliment you all you want later. Alright, Jose, you have a deal."

"Thanks!"

"Wait, wait! Come on, guys! We still have no idea who this guy is! Don't you go thanking us yet, bub!"

Jose looked at Mona sadly, reaching out to pet him. "Aw, are you tired, kitty? You seem grumpy."

"I am NOT a CAT! And I'm not grumpy either!"

"Could have fooled me," he muttered to Skull.

"Oh, okay then… are you hungry? I learned hunger can make a person turn grumpy." He pulled out a cookie from his coat and held it out. "Here!"

"Ah, thanks, but I'll pass…"

Skull rolled his eyes, "You're makin' the kid worry 'bout you even more. Just take the damn cookie."

After handing it over, Jose hopped into his car… which he honestly hadn't noticed was there, after Jose's surprise entrance distracted them. It was a small blue vehicle, loaded down with dozens of odd objects, along with star-shaped balloons tied to the back. "Well, I'll be looking around for flowers on the upper level for now! Stop by and say hi if you see me! Although just collecting flowers would get boring for a while, so I'll come up with some new games for you!"

"Sounds good. See you around, Jose."

"Oh, I just remembered something humans say to each other! Good job!" He honked his horn, before driving back down into Mementos.

They were all silent before Skull turned to them. "Who in the hell was that?!"

"Hey, if he's studying humans, does that mean he isn't one? I mean, he just seemed like a nice kid…"

"You all just realized that now?"

Mona shook his head, "Well, he didn't feel like a Shadow… I wouldn't say he's dangerous. For now, at least."

"Unless feeding him dozens of flowers suddenly turns him into a Super-Boss, it should be fine. Come on, let's get out of here." Panther grabbed his uninjured arm and helped him to the entrance, before Jose's horn stopped them.

"I almost forgot!" They turned to see the car screech to a halt, and Jose hopped out to run over. "Here, a present! To show you I can get you a lot of cool stuff if you get me flowers!" Jose handed him what looked like a glittering star, colored light blue and green.

"What is it?"

"I don't know! I just found it lying around in Mementos the other day! I call it a star though since that's what it looks like!"

"How creative," Mona snarked.

"Um, so what about it made you want to show it to us?"

"Humans make wishes on stars, right? That's so interesting. Stars granting wishes… so, this star is going to grant your wishes."

"What?!"

"Or, it would be nice to think that." Everyone deflated, the idea of a wish-granting star hyping them all up. As unrealistic as it sounded, they were in a world that changed based on cognition. Wish granting probably wasn't too far-fetched. "Here, take it. It's sparkly and beautiful, and can be a sign of our friendship! Well, see ya!"

"Uh…" He caught the star as Jose tossed it to him before the child jumped into his car and drove away.

"Hey! Wait!"

"And there he goes… So, a star, huh? Too bad it can't actually grant wishes or anythin'."

"Even in Mementos, that seems a bit unrealistic… we could try, though."

Panther pumped her fists and jumped. "Okay, then I wish for an all-you-can-eat buffet of parfaits! With zero calories!"

Skull immediately joined in at the thought of food, "An extra-large beef bowl! With pork soup on the side!"

"This thing isn't a waiter, you know." Sure enough, the star didn't flash or change color… or do anything, really.

"Was Skull's wish too petty?"

"You're one to talk!"

"Well, I guess it won't be that easy."

"Let's keep it," he suggested, "we can't just throw away a gift, after all. Now come on, I've had enough of this place for today."

I really wanted to give the Reaper a presence and sense of dread that comes with being Death itself. Well, not Death itself, I mean, there's Thanatos and Nyx in the Persona universe, but that's spoilers for P3. And yes, the chapter title is a reference to The Old Man Of The Mountain's Noble Phantasm, Azrael.

Awesome game, Fate/Grand Order, even for a gacha phone game. Though, I accidentally played it before watching Fate/Stay Night: Unlimited Blade Works, or any other Fate media, so a lot of shit was spoiled for me. Rectified that by actually watching F/Zero, F/UBW, and all that after, but the biggest plot twist of the series had already been revealed to me by then considering my very first 10 roll got me a certain 4-star Archer.

Anyway, I kinda winged it with the Mudo spell. It causes instant death, but how does that work? How can a Revival Bead bring someone back to life? Since I didn't know either of those things, I just made it so that Mudo and Hama spells stop the target's heart, and Revival Beads are capable of restarting a heart or reviving someone. Ignoring that, it makes sense why Instant Kill spells never work on Palace Bosses. The Phantom Thieves don't want to kill them, just change their hearts.

Fusion Spells! Loved 'em in 3, missed 'em in 4+5. Though, narratively I do get why they aren't in the games. The Persona 3 Protag is the strongest Wild Card of the modern Persona games for a very good reason and did have a reason that he could use two Personas at once. Since Akira has PSI in this story, however, I can substitute that for his ability. If anyone wants to suggest a Fusion Spell that they think would be cool, feel free to, but of course if I use it depends on if Akira has those two specific Personas in his party at once.

But anyway, leave a review on everything you liked in the chapter or just a 'nice.' Both are always great to read. See y'all next time!