Authors Note:
Reviews Replies
MessyMark: Thank you!
Guest: Minato and Hamuko are connected in some way yep. And he will not give up until he gets his goal, no matter the consequences.
Janson Wu: There will be more to this.
Nightly: Minato's efforts here will make hard work for Makoto and the others in the future. He'll be a very chaotic force here on out.
Black chains rattled, shaping ominous echoes in the darkness. Steadying swaying back and forth, their shadows danced, hanging above hollow cells, worn down by the encroaching passage of time. Locked behind dusty steel bars, cold and flicked to the touch was a sleeping figure, hidden among the growing blackness. His body lying on the jail cell floor, limp as he drew breath, his chest slowly raising up and then down in a rhythmic motion, sound asleep. Blue mist encircled the area around him, enveloping the area, obscuring the truth in a mirage of lies.
Clink
Clink
He opened his eyes, feeling the cold stone floor below him. Inhaling dust mixed with specs of mildew in the air. Picking himself up from the floor, he dragged his foot, noticing a chain had somehow wrapped itself onto his right leg, limiting his movements. Lifting his head, he faced the front of his cell, seeing only a pinhole of light that shone down from above onto a graying man seated in the center.
"Welcome to my Velvet room"
Bulging eyes, bloodshot with hundreds of veins coating their surface, paired with a smile so wide it ripped across his face with hundreds of rows of teeth, the man reached out one gloved hand to him from his cell, an offering of peace, a subtle greeting before the storm. His voice, a low demonic echo, not akin to the monsters in child children's fairy tales.
The long nose man waited for a reply, yet his visitor was silent. Then came a different voice.
SMACK
A steel rod bashed into the side of the cell, "You better answer to our master, inmate!". Stepping out from the blackness, came the figure of a small girl in blue, her face curled in a harsh grimace. Blonde hair tied back in a tight bun, dressed in a well kept warden uniform, she had an oversized eyepatch on the left side of her face.
"It is for your wellbeing that you obey." Emerging from the opposite side, another small girl with an eyepatch on her right, said in a cold voice. Her piercing yellow eyes watched his every move, calculating his every move.
But no reply came. Instead, they were met with an equally bloodcurdling growl as a pale hand gripped onto the bars, bending its shape, followed by an ear splitting thud.
"Nice cell you got there. They used to make them better back in my day…" He spoke, blue eyes lighting up the dark. A certain energy vibrated in the air. Another thud was heard, shaking the entire room, cracking its rocky foundations.
"Did you really think this could keep me out…?" Shattering the bars with his hand, grinding the last of the steel into fine dust, Minato stepped out of the cell, aloof. Hair rose from the back of their necks.
"How dare you soil the will of our master you-!" One of the twins threw her baton, threatening to slam it onto the bluentte's skull, yet he caught her by the throat, slamming her small frame into the side, giving way to a sick crunch, decimating in the cell walls behind them, almost throwing her into the black void that was beyond. Stone flew, cracks formed, until the floor of the Velvet room almost broke apart.
Her sister grasped, raising her clip in an attempt to summon, aiming a shimmering, almighty light at the monster, releasing its deadly, searing strength that evaporated the stone around them, destroying any remaining cells around. She clenched her teeth, hurrying over to her twin when it was all over, yet just as her hand reached her sister, she felt warm blood leak from her body. Looking down, a silver sword dug into her abdomen, her attacker was unnoticeable, untraceable, his movement unseen. As dark crimson pooled under her, she felt paralyzed before a flash of blue appeared in the corner of her eye, knocking her out cold.
Raising his hand, the bluenette formed a similar bright light, blasting the two away into the void, unknown if he had melted both of their bodies into dust.
"Tch, so now it's just you and me huh?" De-summoning the blade, Minato approached the man still seated in the middle, his fingers tapping away at his desk as if nothing was amidst.
"What a vulgar display of violence, such a waste of potential." The man, no creature, sneered raising up.
"Just shut up and reveal yourself, already. You're not the owner of this place." Minato snapped back, "Igor wouldn't be so tactless."
Hearing the mention of the original owner, the creature started to chuckle, that soon turned into a maddenning laugh that reverberated throughout the broken walls. "Wonderful, wonderful. So you knew of that filth that once resided in this abode." He rose from his seat and then the floor, being bathed in the spotlight that shone from the pinhole above, "Yes. I do admit that I am not the owner, nor the creator of the Velvet room. But I have invited you here for a good reason, oh interloper." His lips lingered on the last word, laced with venom, dripping with hidden hostility.
"Is that so? You could have at least put on a better show."
"Let's say I have a proposal, an arrangement perhaps. One where it would require your leave of absence in this game of mine…"
"Oh? And you think I'll take my leave just like that? Tell me, can you grant me what I want in exchange?" Minato eyed the fake, of which the creature stared right back, unblinking in its stone smile.
"And what is it that you desire? Money? Fame? Control? I can grant all as I am the god that presides over all of humanity. Mind and matter, space, and time."
Thinking for a minute, the bluenette smirked, "Simple. In fact, you can have me out of the door this instant. Just remove the desire for death from humanity. Make them apathetic."
Hearing this, the creature's smile dropped for the first time, a wave of shock washed over its veiny eyes. "I'm afraid not even I could grant such a feat. Feeding off the desire of humans is what natures a god's power to maturity-"
"But you're just a shadow."
"What?"
"I said, you're just a big shadow." Icy blue eyes lit up until they were almost silver white, heavy almighty energy flowed throughout the room, "Who said you were a god? I've taken down two others just like you because they couldn't grant my wish." He balled his fist and said in a low whisper to the creature, eye to eye, his breath in his face "And you'll be next if you don't book your ass and get me what I want."
The disrespect from the mortal, a prisoner in his chambers finally melted the smile from the god's face and Minato sensed it too but his posture did not change one bit, confident in his ability to handle whatever tantrum the so-called god was going to unleash. The domain itself trembled in fear of the usurper when the creature harnessed a fraction of its real power and ignited a vortex of red and black energy in an instant.
The desk and its contents went blown away in the direction of the bluenette but Minato saw it coming way before and merely slapped the wooden table to the side, crushing it in half. There was no follow up attack behind the cowardly strike. Instead, he was greeted by a sight that confirmed that the hobbit in the room was definitely not Igor.
"Showed your true face huh?" Minato chuckled and stared up at the god of control wrapped up black and red mist, floating several feet above him. Its body was darkened by a few shades and his veiny eyes were now golden in color but the expression on his face was what Minato relished the most. The thing, whatever the hell it was, was pissed.
"You took over the velvet room, probably incarcerated Igor and got rid of the denizens but I don't care." Minato said and took a small step to show that he was not afraid or worried one bit. "I offer you one final chance, oh puny god. Erase the desire of death from humanity and I will leave your little experiment alone. Refuse, and I will purge you from the sea of souls just like I did the other two."
The thing almost screeched at the insolence of the bluenette and the velvet room trembled again, darkening in response to the master's hatred but Minato did not break his eye contact and returned the glare with a sharp one of his own. Another step forward and he was now within striking distance of the fake Igor.
"Make your choice now!"
"You will not interfere with my magnum opus!" Blackness surged around it, waves upon waves of ichor gathering, filling the entire room until it was a swirling, dark tornade, charging a corrupted ray in its gloved hand with four mechanical gears behind his back, reddish particles pulsating, dancing in the atmosphere at insane speeds.
This was a sign of an ultimate attack, one capable of reducing a city to ash but Minato had not budge an inch and he seemed just as confident as before, perhaps even more so because now he had an idea of what he was dealing with. The smile on his face had grown to an evil grin and suddenly he came up with a brilliant idea that would demonstrate the disparity in power between him and the god.
"Well then, have at it." Minato hissed at the god of control and extended his arms in an offer to the god who was still concentrating, assimilating its very essence to unleash an attack that would reduce the insolent mortal to pieces. "Take your time. Give it your best shot. Do whatever you can but if you don't make it count then it's over for you."
The outburst of evil energy, the tremors shaking the infinite space, the absolute power exuding from the ray of control did not do a damn thing to the almost obsessed persona user and he had not taken his eyes off the fake Igor for a second, had not even blinked. The vortex of almighty energy had grown twice as dense and an explosion was imminent but he stayed in the same spot and the same posture, only slightly on guard because his ultimate persona was whispering to him, assuring him that the god would be no issue for someone like him, someone who had already disposed of two gods all on his own.
Gold and silver eyes met for the final time and neither of the two was ready to give in. Yaldabaoth growled at the lack of fear but no matter, whoever this mortal was meant nothing to him now. His ultimate attack was ready to be unleashed and Yaldabaoth did not waste a second more.
Heat rose, lighting cracked, wind blew, eating away at anything that dared to stand in the way of the true god as he laid down judgment in a blazing glory, smiting the bluenette below in a crescendo of energy, forcing the blackness to tear through his body in mere seconds, until he was obscured in its deadly wrath, mist and smoke and every came to a stop. The velvet room was now deadly silent and filled with smoke and ash, obscuring everything but Yaldabaoth was resolute that he had dealt a cruel lesson of death to the bluenette. The silence persisted and the creature grew even more sure that it was the only presence now in the room, a dark spot where the veteran once stood.
"How unfortunate. However, to be annihilated by a true god must have been at least an honor.." It calmed down, returning to the ground of the destroyed Velvet room. The demonstration of power worked as he knew it would but then he heard a scoff and for the first time, the god felt a surge of fear in its core. The smoke and mist began to fade, revealing the veteran persona user who looked nothing like the corpse that Yaldabaoth was sure he was. Not a scratch or a bruise on him. Only pushed a few steps backwards from his strongest attack but the worst change was his expression. Minato was looking down at him as if he was a pathetic, lowly shadow in the opening floors of Tartarus.
"Pathetic. Was that all you got?" The bluenette said, snapping his finger, blowing up the needles, in concentrated bursts, burning away the creature's limbs, robbing him of all methods of escape. "Since god refused to grant my wish…" His lips thinned, then curled into a sulking frown, "The next time you see me? Guess I have to become god myself."
"No…you wouldn't!"
"Now let me show what a true god is like!"
The sound of breaking glass spread throughout, as Minato roared, throwing the remnants of the Velvet into disarray. It started as a low rumbling, then an earthquake, until the entire structure began to implode in on itself from the weight of the devil being unleashed from the inside. The once blue velvet color now morphing into deadly shades of red, flashing in and out of existence like warning siren, as death threatened to burst from the veteran's body, releasing its malice into ether, breaking space and time, wrapping the very fabric of existence itself until it was no more than a mere joke. It was now that darkness truly descended upon the being known as Yaldaboth, struggling to regain control, fighting a losing battle against, petrified at the true god before him, regrowing its limbs, feeling his soul being sapped away every second he remained bound to the floor.
Roaring once more, an eerie shadow took shape in the form a jawed demon, so foul it caused the false igor to reel, barely holding onto his own existence, his fear of death overtaking his every sense, as every faber in his body told him to run, to escape, to be out of this dreadful place. Walls melted, particles evaporated until this intense pressure, the weight of a thousand, no infinite possibilities all fading with the arrival of death, the fall, and everything in between threatened to disappear. Just as Yaldaboth had reached his limit, he managed to gain back only a sliver of control, using the last of his remaining will to banish this evil from this place.
"Y-you will not infringe upon my game!"
"You really think throwing me out will keep you safe?" Smiling a sick smile, Minato relaxed, enjoying this little struggle, feeling himself being ripped from the Velvet room and into the real world but he still had a few seconds to terrify the already petrified shadow and he fixed a cold stare on him, immediately freezing him.
The imposter shook, attempting to not give in to his fate, he was almost there.
"I can promise you this. First I'll kill your pawns, then I'll track you down and take you for myself, and then…" The bluenette held the most sinister grin, enough to force the god to pale even more, "I'll take humanity for myself, and grant my own wish for myself! "
"I will keep spreading death and misery in this world until I get what I want."
Yaldabaoth was silent, unable to retort with anything, blinded and shocked by the display of power that no mortal should be able to command.
"I will get my hands on you."
A terrible thought crossed his mind. With the difference in power so great, was the bluenette holding himself back from finishing him? Did he exist only due to his mercy?
"And I will save Hamuko!"
The incantation was complete and the veteran persona user finally faded away from the room but he threw one final jab on the way out.
"Oh, and do say hi to Igor for me, will you? Heh, maybe you can ask him who I really am."
And with that, Minato was kicked from the room, waking up in bed in his apartment. He smiled to himself.
Waking up among dark chains, Akira's eyes widened, grabbing the twisted bars that locked him in, captivated by the destruction of the Velvet room. Shattered pieces of wood scattered among cracked stone tiles, mixed in with other broken debris laying from the recent carnage. It was as if a great natural disaster had descended, eating away most of the room. Running his hand up and down the jail bars, he noticed how there were newly minted pieces of steel among the older construction, implying something or someone had broken the cell, further earning his curiosity.
The environment before him was in an incredibly sorry state, yet what disaster did unfold in this place during his absence did worse to its residence than it had to the room itself. As the once proud wardens of his cell appeared to be shells of their former selves with their master stood in the center with a weak smile. Caroline averted her gaze, grasping at her side in pain, while Justine had white bandages wrapped in parts of her body from what appeared to be a brutal assault. Together, neither of them had the heart to greet their prisoner, instead giving him an awkward acknowledgement through their painful, broken eyes.
"W-welcome back inmate…"
Akira raised an eyebrow, inwardly amused at the shift in tone as he heard a high pitched sound break from Justine. The greeting escaped her like a scared puppy, trauma laced her voice. It was devoid of the usual insult or even bravado she usually carried.
"Our master has some words for you…"
This time, Justine said in a low whisper, her voice horse. Just what had occurred in the Velvet room while he was away, Akira wondered. Despite the twins treating him badly, he did feel bad for them, yet he chose not to voice his concern as he knew that would only damage their pride even more. Of course, there was also a part of him that rejoiced at the warden twins finally getting a taste of their own medicine for being absolute brats to him in the past. Hell, maybe they'll be nicer to him now. He couldn't help but smile inwardly, as evil as it was. Then he finally heard the master of the room speak.
"Trickster…" The demiurge clasped his hands together, choosing his words wisely, "it seems we have been dealt a special card by the fates." he stopped. He could see a questioning expression already appearing on the Wild Card's face. He opened his mouth, yet chose not to voice the next few words.
"Special in what way?" Carefully, Akira probed the master for answers, perhaps now would be a good time to inquire about what happened.
"I am sure you are curious as to the current state of this room, although I can assure you that you need not concern yourself." The false god began, holding himself from revealing the truth. If he warned the boy about the bluenette's existence, then this would surely jeopardize his game. "I have you invited here to give a piece of advice. A simple task."
"And what would that be?"
"Heed my warning and progress as far as you can in your rehabilitation in as short a time as possible" An ominous air fell within the jail cell, leading Akira to gulp, no doubt from whatever beast had wrecked the Velvet room, creating the cause for this plight.
"That's it?"
"Just listen to our master inmate…" Caroline said in defeat.
"It is for the best that you grow as fast as possible. He hath given you wise words" Justine followed up.
"Sure, whatever."
Deep down, Akira could care less about this room of idiots. They deserved this from all his mistreatment.
Somewhere else in the world, a man shivered, clasping onto his blade. Wearing a fancy blue suit draped over by a white jacket, his silver hair barely touching his steel colored eyes. Seated among a pile of files, his soul trembled at the recent shockwave that had been unleashed in a certain place between dreams and reality. What was once a calm sea had for a moment, erupted in a deathly energy, sending cold sweats down his brow, as he clasped his head. Leaning back in his seat, brushing his silver hair aside, he steadied himself after a man walked up to him with a full report in hand. His expression is grim.
"Sir Narukami?" the individual greeted, "We have news." Grasping the report tightly, the worker frowned, his boss nodding for him to go on. A familiar sense of dread taking over the two, knowing what could have possibly occurred. Surrounding them was a bustling office full of engineers, operators, and hundreds of screens not similar to a science fiction inspired drama. Yet, all that was drowned by the worker's next words.
"We found him."
"I see."
Handing his boss blurry photos showing a bluenette barely in frame, captured by a camera, they both narrowed their eyes.
"Our observation team noticed him during one of our scouting sessions. However…" The scout choked, "We…lost contact with Eiji in the process."
"Any leads for the search?"
The worker looked away, his boss knowing what it meant. As they had lost many during the years to this monster on the loose.
"We found his body decapitated in a stream this morning."
"Time?"
"Around four in the morning sir."
Yu Narukami held back tears, pain in his chest, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I'm putting you all through this." "He slammed his fist on the desk, landing next to a copy of a pair of files. A young bluenette and red haired girl stared back at the man, guilt eating away at his mind, bags under his eyes.
"I promise, I'll put an end to his carnage. For all the nightmare he caused all of us!"
Authors Note: Yu Narukami enters the ring as the third and final protagonist. And he's out for the hunt. Minato raises the Velvet room so now the Velvet twins got a taste of their own malice and will treat Akira far nicer. This chapter is on the shorter side, but arguably has one of the biggest impacts on the story.