TO EVERYONE WHO'S WAITING ON ME FOR REVIEWS/REPLIES/THIS UPDATE/ETC., I'M REALLY SORRY! I HAVE A BIT OF AN EXPLANATION BELOW IN THE A/N, SO FEEL FREE TO READ THAT IF YOU'RE CURIOUS
Chapter 19
DH:32 (5 minutes until train collision)
Junpei's hands were shaking.
Trembling even harder than at his first baseball tryout.
Rattling like the last time he saw his Mom.
But for the life of him, he couldn't tell if it was fear, or if it was the adrenaline pumping through him, giving him kinda-sorta the time of his life. Sure, he had mild to severe heat and freeze burns, cuts and bruises, and one hell of a stubbed toe from a kick... but even so! Kicking ass comic-book style?! Hell yeah!
(He ignored that nagging little logical voice in the back of his head telling him Oh, by the way, you might only have minutes to live! Ciao!)
The baseball player flailed his sword back and forth, obliterating any shadow coming within a good five feet, knocking his hat (covered in black gunk like a bad paint job) more askew with each swing. Somewhere in his peripherals, he kept track of his Senpai, punching and flinging squealing shadows across the car despite the wounds surrounding his body.
"Next time," the senior started, lightly panting as he booted a Cowardly Maya into a wall, "maybe we should follow Hamuko. To avoid stuff like this."
"What…'re you talkin' about, Senpai?" Junpei responded in a gasp. "Don't tell me… you're crapping out on me now?"
Even occupied with a Spurious Book dodging his swipes, Junpei couldn't miss the smirk ripping across his Senpai's face. "Don't push your luck! Now, duck!"
The black-haired boy swooped low into a crouch, and the silver-haired boy leapt over him, surprising Junpei's target with a solid haymaker into its book. Pages scattered across the train, and the shadow disintegrated into an uncomfortable-looking puddle on a seat.
"Nice… one!"
"Thanks, but- Hey, look up!"
Junpei's head shot up as a black blob with a pink mask dropped from the ceiling. Its hands sharpened into long talons as gravity threw it downwards, and it swiped at the boy with a shrieking smirk. Yelping, the baseball player ducked under the swipe, holding onto his hat as the claws swept over it.
But Junpei had missed its other hand. The blunt side of the shadow's arm hit him square in the chest, sending him stumbling backwards and collapsing into a chair… and, somehow, landing in a perfectly comfortable sitting position.
"G-hh! That son of a… hey, lookit this!"
"Focus, Junpei! God, how the hell'm I lecturing someone?! Minato!" the boxer called out through the link, leaping over to the hatted boy's side and snapping his leg at the Junpei-attacking blob. "There's a shadow here, like a blob on the floor with a pink mask! What is it?!"
"Merciless Maya," came the terse reply after a moment's hesitation. "Strong against agi… Weak to bufu… and to zio… and to garu."
Akihiko opened his mouth to reply, but the now-identified Maya-type enemy charged forward, sharpened hands forward and at the ready for skewering. Jumping back onto a seat, the boxer whipped out his evoker and fired. Polydeuces popped into the train car with his drill whirling and crackling as a bolt of zio fired onto the shadow, shooting the demon backwards in several pieces.
"Thanks dude!" Junpei replied to Minato as his Senpai caught his breath and patted down his hair (now standing on end). "Er… how are you doing over there?"
"…F-Fine."
"Er, if you say so. Did I hear something else just now?"
"Nope. Focus on the mission."
…So, that's what I get for trying to be nice, huh? "Fine. Later."
"How're you holding up, Senpai?" Junpei asked, turning to the grey-haired boy.
"How'm I holding up? How are you holding up?"
"Hah! You know me, Senpai, nothin' can stop me!"
The senior huffed a laugh as he stuffed his evoker away. "Good. 'Cuz we've gotta move, now."
"You got it! Let's ride!"
The boxer hopped off the chair and walked forward in a slight crouch, motioning for Junpei to do the same as they came to the next doorway. Cautiously, Akihiko slid it backwards-
"Woah!"
Krack!
- only to slam it shut and leap backwards as an ice shard shot forwards, shattering on the now-closed door.
"Enemy on the other side of the door!"
The hatted boy gave his companion a quick look. "Y' think?!"
Akihiko ignored the frantic sarcasm and scratched his chin. "…Okay. When I open the door, shoot an agi into the room, got it?"
Junpei's evoker was ready at light speed. "Thought you'd never ask!"
"Okay… one, two, three!"
"Agi!"
Hermes shattered onto the scene, thrusting his arms and metallic wings outwards as the grey-haired senior slammed the door open. A fireball snapped straight out of the persona's chest, heading into the next train car with a blinding light.
"Senpai!" Junpei yelled, squinting from the glare. "Now!"
Wasting no time, Akihiko (who'd preemptively shut his eyes) charged into the room, evoker drawn and ready. Leaping over the fire and smoldering seats, he landed in a crouch and quickly scanned the area. But there was no sign of the shadow in sight. His brow furrowed.
"Agh! What the hell?!"
The boxer's eyes shot wide open as he snapped his head around, noticing all too well that the shadow was now in the previous train car… and was assaulting Junpei, now armed only with his evoker as the shadow swiped back and forth with the capped boy's stolen broadsword firmly in its grip.
"Hang on!" Akihiko yelled, rising from his crouch as his stomach sunk to his feet. "I'm coming!"
Or so he said. Until the door he was heading towards crashed shut, making him slam into it.
He yanked on the door as hard as he could, but to no avail, with the locking mechanism somehow activated. "What the…?" he muttered, heart pounding out of his chest. "Junpei! Are you okay in there?! Junpei!"
But the younger boy couldn't hear him, if his muffled yells and sounds of exertion (mixed with a hurried conversation with Minato) were any indication.
"Come on…" the boxer muttered, still yanking on the door with more and more emotion. "Come on, please!"
Logically, Akihiko knew this situation was different from… another one. Junpei was far from defenseless now, much different from the one he'd met a few weeks ago. Hell, the younger boy had already saved Akihiko's butt in Tartarus more times than the senior could count (some would say literally). The capped boy was very obviously capable of handling himself, with or without Akihiko.
And yet.
The fire.
The locked door.
The smoke.
The cries of pain.
And that fucking helplessness.
"What is this?!" he growled, fear swelling and pulsating in his stomach.
I won't be too late now… Not again!
Never again!
"Polydeuces!" He screamed, barely aware of the evoker in his hand. "Sonic punch!"
The senior stumbled backwards as the evoker's shot rang out, his chest already feeling the massive bruise swelling on it. But Polydeuces got the message, reeling its drill back and slamming the door hard enough to rattle the windows and knock Akihiko entirely off his feet.
Ignoring an odd, almost discontented noise coming from behind him, the senior looked up as Polydeuces dissipated. The door was completely knocked off its hinges, letting the room's smoke billow out and clearing his vision enough to let him see the activity in the other car.
It wasn't much of an improvement. Scorch stains and ash smeared the younger boy's car, giving it the look of a mini war zone. A window was frozen and shattered, and the wind whistling through it fed the fires in the car into a frenzy.
But the real action was in the center of the room. The shadow and Hermes were locked in a standstill, the demon whacking Junpei's sword against the persona's metal (and now-dented) wings with sparks soaring into the air with each strike. A battered Junpei knelt beneath his persona, fire still in his glare although he was in serious need of a dia.
The grey-haired boy grinned (though he'd never admit how much of that was relief) as he saw the other boy. Good enough for me!
He didn't even bother summoning Polydeuces. With a roar, he charged into the room, dodging the blade and ramming into the shadow with his shoulder, sending it careening off balance onto the floor. Its hand (Er, body? Whatever) slackened, letting the sword fall out of its grip, and allowing the grey-haired senior to leap onto it. Pinned down with a knee on its palm and a hand gripping its abnormal thumb, the shadow could barely twitch as Akihiko started to attack.
Krack! Thwack! Crack!
The senior's punches were unavoidable. Each hit sent a bit of gunk off the shadow, until finally, after giving one last screech of pain (muffled by the carpet), it dissipated onto the floor, leaving just a coffee-stain-like sludge mark on the rug.
The silver-haired boy lay panting for a few moments, before a hand (normal hand, fortunately) clapped on his shoulder.
"Thanks… Senpai…" gasped Junpei, still gripping his dirty and torn hat like a lifeline, "I might've had trouble gettin' outta there by myself."
"No joke," the boxer muttered. "We're never gonna do that again, got it?"
"Yeah."
The only noises in the room were the boys' gasps until Akihiko stood. "Okay, we need to get a real plan figured out. Mitsuru should be able to tell us how to get this train stopped, so let's start there."
"Uh, senpai? Isn't it bad if we stop the train when the girls are on top?"
The boxer froze for a moment, then sagged. "Just another reason to call Mitsuru, I guess. Hey, Mitsuru!" He called. "Can you read me?"
Only the train's rattles and clink-clanks answered him.
"Hey, Mitsuru!" The senior called louder, adrenaline again starting to flow. "I said, can you read me?"
Clink-clank-clink.
"Mitsuru! Are you there?! Can't you hear me?!
Mitsuru!"
DH:33 (4 minutes until train collision)
"A curve?!" Yukari yelped. "What do we hang onto?!"
"I don't know! Just find something, now!"
The archer feebly gripped the surface of the train's roof at Hamuko's command, her hand finding nothing as she slipped towards the side of the train in seemingly slow motion. Pawing at the roof more desperately, she called out. "H-Hey, Hamuko-chan! News flash, there isn't anything to hang on to!"
Hamuko gritted her teeth. "Then we've gotta make one!"
Snatching an arrow from her companion's quiver, the shorter Arisato smashed it into the train's roof, holding it by the arrowhead. The harder tint of the shadow-killing metal scratched the train, but couldn't quite puncture it.
"Come on…" she growled at the roof, ignoring the increasingly alarmed 'eeps' coming from her friend. "You jerk, break already!"
But the silver barrier merely dented at the girl's continued impact, refusing to acknowledge her attempts.
Wham!
Wham!
Wham!
"I said break, you piece of-"
"Hamuko!" Yukari yelled, high-pitched and far away.
The auburn-haired girl whipped her head around, just in time to see her friend, with wide eyes and a silent scream, begin to slip off the roof.
Hamuko was already in motion. The girl's naginata clattered on the roof as she let it go, spinning once in a wide circle before dropping off the other side. Its owner didn't even glance at it, instead focused on letting the train's centripetal force slingshot her towards the flailing brunette. With one hand reaching deep into her undershirt (between the gap in her partially unbuttoned blouse), Hamuko snatched Yukari's arm with her free hand, accidentally propelling both girls straight off the edge.
KRAAAAAANG!
A noise of shrieking metal shorn through the air. Both girls' descents were halted with a harsh jerk on their arms before they hung off the side of the train, tossed about by its clattering bumps. Yukari clung onto her savior's arm, eyes squeezed shut for a moment before she even dared to look up.
How did she-?
Focusing on the auburn haired girl's other arm, the archer just gaped. Stuck in the edge of the train was a curved dagger, barely long enough to puncture the roof's corner.
"Yukari!" came Hamuko's strangled yell. "Grab the window!"
Still thinking about 'Where the hell did that come from?!', the archer took a moment to process that. Window…?
She glanced down. Turns out the strength of Hamuko's arm wasn't the only thing supporting them, as the shorter Arisato's trembling legs were wedged in a windowsill.
"Quickly, please!"
At the urging, the brunette let go of her leader with one arm and reached out, grasping the windowsill tightly. With a little grunt, she yanked upwards, opening the window into a nice, Yukari-sized hole. Allowing herself a weak grin, the archer swung her legs inside and grabbed the window with both hands.
Crack!
At first, Yukari thought she imagined the noise. She turned more on reflex than anything else, not really expecting anything there.
And she certainly didn't expect to see Hamuko falling from the train, her now-broken dagger still clutched in her hand as the green of night beckoned her into the murky abyss below.
In action flicks and comics and all that junk Junpei likes, Yukari knew that 'time slowed down' for people in situations like this one, giving the characters the proper time to think and react.
But Yukari wouldn't say that was the case here. If anything, it was the opposite.
No time for 'I'm useless.' No time for 'I can't do it.'
Just pure reflex.
Faster than a heartbeat, Yukari's hand latched onto Hamuko's arm, hard. The archer held back a cry as the broken dagger cut into her arm, puncturing it further when the auburn haired girl smashed into the train's side. Yukari's legs tensed as she was yanked backwards by the force of carrying Hamuko, with the brunette now dangling half-in and half-out of the train as blood specks from her arm splattered on the shorter Arisato's still-frozen face.
Yukari roared. Ignoring the furious pain from her arm, she pulled her leader up, swinging the girl in front of the window.
…Since when could I do that?
"Grab it! Now!" the brunette yelled.
Hamuko didn't need to be told twice. She clasped the window in her off-hand before removing her dagger hand from Yukari's arm and swinging herself inside. It wasn't long until Yukari felt herself being pulled inside by the legs, fortunately by very human hands.
Yukari panted as her eyes adjusted to the relative brightness of the fluorescent bulbs, oddly turned on in the Dark Hour. After a moment, she looked up, and found her leader already staring back at her.
"Yukari-chan…" The shorter Arisato swallowed, arms shaking a bit, "I-"
An explosion rocked the train, throwing the girls around and tossing the moment out the window.
"We've gotta go." When the brunette next looked at Hamuko, the girl had already pasted her leader-face back on. "Listen, Yukari-chan, thanks for- Hey, your arm! Alp!" The operational leader popped the evoker to her head and fired. A new persona flew out, a near-naked girl with black hair styled like horns and a viper's tail twirling about one leg. With its hands forward in a diving position, the persona flipped about in the air, coming to rest in a lying-down position above the auburn-haired girl's head with a wink at Yukari.
She cringed.
"Dia!"
…Not that the wink stopped her from enjoying a healing spell. The persona snapped her fingers, and a cool light washed over the brunette, suturing her wound tight.
"Okay." Alp disappeared as Hamuko shoved her evoker back into its holster, and turned with a flip of her hair. "We need to get a move on."
"Hold up! What was that dagger?!"
The auburn-haired girl stopped midstride, glancing back at Yukari with one eyebrow up. "What?"
"The dagger. Why haven't I seen it before?" Yukari crossed her arms, eyes squinting a bit. "And why didn't you use it earlier tonight?!"
"It's an heirloom, old and mostly useless. Now come on, we need to get to Akihiko and Junpei. Got it?"
Yukari hesitated, but nodded, deciding to not mention how Hamuko was still gripping the 'mostly useless' weapon with white knuckles.
"Mitsuru-senpai!" Hamuko called out as she opened the next door. "We're moving towards the front of the train. Can you tell us the others' positions?"
Another explosion from a few cars down rattled the train, again sending both girls stumbling as they arrived at the next car. Ruined seats, dark gunk on the carpet, and shattered windows greeted them. The two girls made eye contact.
"On second thought, maybe we can figure it out ourselves," Hamuko muttered. "Mitsuru-senpai, we're moving on ahead, alright?"
She waited for a moment, but no reply was forthcoming.
"…S-Senpai?" Yukari ventured. "Are… you there?"
"Come on, Yukari-chan," Hamuko said, stalking through the carnage and flinging the next door open.
"Hamuko-chan! Mitsuru-senpai's not-"
"I'm aware. That's why we need to catch up with the boys, now! So come on!"
Yukari gulped.
DH:34 (3 minutes until train collision)
Minato was in some dire straights.
He swung the road flare back and forth, keeping the hissing and spitting shadow at bay as he scanned the environment. But nothing stood out from the brick buildings and cracked black of the street. The boy's visible eye jumped to the backpack lying on its side several feet away.
Well. Guess it's improv time, huh?
Both opponents moved at once. With his crutches, Minato threw himself to his backpack, while the magic hand catapulted into the air and landed on the wall of a building with fingers splayed out. Skidding and almost falling on a trail of blood, Minato snatched his backpack, letting his momentum carry him into a leaning position on a nearby car. He dropped his crutch and whipped out a knife, now wielding both it and the road flare in separate hands, and letting the car he was leaning on carry most of his weight instead of his crutch.
'Shreeeee!'
He wasn't given time to contemplate anything as the shadow leapt at him, cracking the building's wall as it took off. Mid-flight, it snapped its fingers together, summoning several chunks of ice floating around it like a halo as it soared through the air.
The taller Arisato blinked. Mabufu?
He had already leapt away with his unbroken leg when the first hunk of ice burst on the ground. Landing in a crouch (with his broken leg extended to the side), he swiped another two rounds out of the air with his knife, but couldn't help his grunt as he accidentally leaned on his cast, tilting him off balance and (ironically) letting him dodge the final shot of bufu, shattering behind him on the street and sending shards through the hood of the nearby car. He turned his head-
"Gkkhh!"
-just as the shadow itself arrived. It slammed into him and wrapped its fingers around his torso, jamming the boy's arms under its grip as it tightened its fingers and crushing him as they lay together on the ground.
An odd chortling sound came from below Minato. Wiggling his arms, the blue-haired boy glanced down until the shadow's 'face' on its wrist twisted upwards, revealing a stretched grin. As both beings' eyes met, the shadow's mouth widened, giving Minato a front row seat to its increasingly visible teeth, all different sizes with very familiar dark gunk dripping off them and down its chin.
Minato could almost feel his pupils dilate. Wait, is it…?
No time to think on that. Finally getting a good grip on the knife, Minato pushed forward, puncturing his foe's side. Its grip loosened as it squeaked in surprise, giving the taller Arisato enough room to pull his arm out and swing the road flare in the monster's face. It leapt off the boy and scampered back, fingers curled on the ground and face turned away.
But when it gathered the courage to take a second look, the blue-haired boy was already scrounging through his backpack. After another moment, he whipped out a certain something from his pack:
The ice pack.
Everything stood still. Even the shadow seemed taken aback, giving Minato a look. 'What, are you gonna kiss my boo-boo too?'
Apparently deciding that crazy prey was still prey, the shadow launched itself forward, moving in hops and jumps on cars and streetlamps to its target. Said target slowly scuttled backwards with his three usable limbs. He paused for a moment to slash open the top of the instant ice pack.
With a scream from the shadow, the two rammed into each other. Crashing just out of reach of a puddle dribbling down from a previously struck car, Minato was pinned down with massive fingers on his chest and arms. Wincing and coughing as air was ejected from him, the blue-haired boy glanced to his side as best he could. The ice pack's contents had scattered on the tar, forming a messy line lapping up the liquid beneath the car as it went from under said vehicle to its final position under one of the shadow's fingers. Letting go of the flare and sending it rolling past the line, the blue-haired boy scrunched his eyes shut and turned away.
The shadow wasn't messing around while this was happening. As soon as the duo hit the deck, the demon summoned another bufu spell above its head, now sharpened like a spear. Growling, it poked its head up with a grin to watch the finale.
It only took an instant.
FOOM!
The entire street lit up as the puddle of gasoline just out of Minato's reach exploded, with the flare lighting the "line" made by the ice pack's contents, igniting the boy's blazer, and catching onto the monster's fingertips. As the demon flung itself off the boy with a shriek, Minato rolled, ignoring the pain from his leg in favor of the one permeating his torso. He tore off his flaming blazer and flung it to the side as he sat up, disregarding the street blood seeping through his pants.
But with that problem solved…
'EEEEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAA!'
…Minato could only watch as the all-too-flammable shadow yowled in pain, stumbling around the street and slamming into walls as the sparks danced and the inferno charged up its fingers. The shrieks only increased in volume as the bonfire consumed its already-monstrous prey.
Transfixed was the word to describe the blue-haired boy. Battered, shattered, and thoroughly exhausted… but transfixed. Because in all his time fighting shadows, his team had always killed them as quickly as possible, trying to avoid attracting other, stronger shadows to their location.
So now, watching one of them whimper and rasp and moan as it violently twitched about…
Minato swallowed.
The Magic Hand's charred thumb gave out and dissolved, bringing the shadow down and drenching it in its own vitals. Its head tilted at the boy. One hollow eye socket, now melting with large drops splattering off it, met the visible grey eye on the boy's face.
It sobbed.
And then the rush of the blaze devoured it whole.
Normally, Minato would've waited a few minutes for the fire to die, but he didn't have that luxury tonight. Dragging his body through the smoldering streets, he stopped at the area where the fire had started, picking up one of his crutches.
Thank you sturdy crutches, he almost muttered, still kneeling as he gave his (technically) workable crutches a once over.
And, He glanced at the flaming debris, thank you old-as-hell ice packs with ammonium nitrate.
A slowly moving stream crept by the boy's knees, snagging his attention. One of the shadow's remnants, a black blob coalescing with the street blood, meandered by harmlessly, aiming for the gutter.
Minato shook his head as he picked up his pack and stood, unsteady. Focus, moron. You don't care about which part of the shadow this came from. Nope, not at all. And certainly not if it came from the part that melted from its mouth, when it made that crying noise.
…Shut the hell up about the damn shadow!
Exhaling as he hopped across the street, the blue-haired boy called out. "Senpai, you there?"
A shadow roar from across town was the only answer he received. Minato's hopping pace accelerated.
"…Senpai?"
Blood fell from a building with a plip, plip, plip, followed by a heavy splash as Minato's crutch stamped into it. But there was no contact from his redheaded Senpai.
"Senpai-!"
With both hands preoccupied, the boy stumbled on a pothole as he yelled, giving his nose a firm introduction with the ground.
Crap.
He lifted his head, ignoring his nosebleed with gritted teeth and a creased brow.
What can I do?
He put one tired hand on the street. It promptly slid underneath him as soon as he put his weight on it.
What can I do!?
He tucked his unbroken leg under him for extra support, but gasped as it cramped up, twitching as he scrunched his eyes shut and put his forehead on the dirty tar.
What can I do…?
DH:31 (6 minutes until train collision)
Arisato is going to be fine. He is a non-persona user in an area outside of Tartarus, so no shadow is going to be attracted to him. He will be fine. Focus!
Or so Mitsuru told herself as she rocketed over the paved streets of Iwatodai, swerving and twisting around the deserted roads. Penthesliea was still firmly attached to her master, fingers spread out over Mitsuru's helmet to keep the link alive.
Focus on the mission. Your mission!
An absolutely insane mission, too, but Mitsuru tried to not think about that.
You are used to pressure. In terms of complexity, this is nothing compared to running a business. It is just one, simple job.
Right. A simple job that could potentially mean saving the lives of four of her kohai.
More thoughts like that warred throughout Mitsuru's mind as she went into autopilot, letting her reflexes drive her around the various dumpsters, parked cars, coffins, and more stuck in her way.
Suddenly, a green sheet of wind burst past her and crashed into a car, shattering both her concentration and the car's back window, bursting glass shards into the air. Although a gasp of surprise was ripped out of her lungs, Mitsuru still leaned hard to veer away from the obviously shadow-based attacks, reflexively letting go of one handle to snatch her evoker for the unknown threats. But-
If I attack, then the link will be broken. The Kirijo heir grimaced. I cannot allow that to happen!
More green blasts showered the area behind her, and one hit her arm, slicing straight through her suit. She cried out, clenching her teeth while the motorcycle swerved dangerously, but years of riding experience let the redhead keep control of her bike with only one hand.
Her pain narrowed her vision. So much so, that, along with the true vision blockage caused by the high sides of her helmet, her line of sight seemed only a few inches wide. So…
The redhead brought her injured arm up to her helmet strap, trembling as blood leaked down and stained her black outfit, before unclipping the strap and flinging the helmet away with a flinch. The helmet spun and clattered against the ground as it slowed to a stop near a dumpster, and Mitsuru's long hair billowed out behind her, oddly colorful in the pale night.
Despite all that, Mitsuru's attention was entirely devoted to the flock of shadows she could now see soaring around her. And "flock" was the right word, too, though not because of the shadows themselves. They were Spurious Books, Mitsuru recognized, jellyfish-like creatures with a book for a head, but they were swarming the Kirijo heir in a pack of 3, all pumping their tentacles in air and keeping pace with the bike.
One hissed at the girl, spinning its book faster before shooting another green slice of wind at her. It clipped the back of her hair, shearing off a lock of red that drifted in the air until other poorly aimed garu's obliterated it. All the demons cried in frustrated harmony, continuing to fire off wind spells, trash their surroundings, and occasionally come close to hitting Mitsuru and her bike.
That was not part of the Kirijo heir's plan. Narrowing her eyes, the girl swerved hard around a lamppost, hitting the accelerator and flying into a narrow alleyway. Screeching, the shadows followed. One of the three turned too late and rammed into a wall, exploding into what looked like particularly black mud without even having the chance to scream.
This did nothing to improve the remaining monsters' moods. Their rate of firing spells somehow increased, turning the alley into a wind tunnel and only missing the Kirijo heir because their own shots bounded off of each other.
Even then, not all of them could miss Mitsuru forever. She burst out of the other side of the alley and caught sight of the train tracks at the end of the road, just before another garu sliced by her head. Popping the clutch, the Kirijo heir spared the time to blow a piece of hair out of her eyes and send a freezing glare at the shadow.
She had assumed that she'd have enough time to change gears before the shadow shot another blast of garu.
Whhisshh!
"AAAAAAAGH!"
She was wrong.
The harsh lance of wind smacked her straight off her cycle, sending it skimming into a curb while she slammed into a wall. Her vision blurred, Penthesilea shattered into glass, and as far as she could tell in the current blur of her vision, two malicious blobs swam towards her. She had just enough sense to roll out of the way as the brick wall that caught her was assaulted by more garu spells.
A few bricks rained onto the sidewalk as Mitsuru's vision slowly cleared, and she stumbled to her nearby cycle, snatching something attached to its side before tumbling behind a car as the shadows continued to attack.
"I apologize, everyone," she muttered to herself as blood leaked down her stomach, dripping onto the black streets, "Please hold on! Mabufu!"
With that, Penthesilea blasted from her summoner's mind, spinning around in a fierce circle before pointing both her blades at the two shadows. The air around them supercooled in a heartbeat, and though one shadow managed to twirl out of the way, the other was trapped in a solid chunk of ice. It fell to the ground with a loud thunk, chipping and tipping onto its side as it slid with a stream of blood towards the gutter… and also towards the redhead, now unraveling the package.
She leapt forward, ignoring the screaming pain from her stomach as the wrapped item finally saw the light of night, revealing a gleaming, pointed sword. The poor frozen shadow couldn't even react as the sharp point of Mitsuru's elegant fleuret pierced and shattered it to pieces. They slid into the drain, leaving only a few chunks of slowly melting ice bricks behind.
But Mitsuru had no time to smirk as the last shadow shrieked in dismay and switched tactics, sharpening two of its many tentacles into spearheads and charging forwards. It was only a few feet away from Mitsuru when-
Clang! Crack!
-its two spears were slapped aside by Mitsuru's sword, whipping back and forth in a near blur. Yet the redhead was not in the mood for a spar.
"Get out of my way," she hissed, visible eye narrowing as she marched forward and snapped her rapier through the air. "You are in my way!"
The shadow cringed as the sword whipped into it, making whistling noises with each pass. But (despite what some claimed) Mitsuru wasn't perfect. One poorly timed swipe reminded the girl of the damage to her stomach, and she froze halfway through a strike, trying not to hurl as the nauseating pain danced on her nerves with spiked boots.
The Spurious Book knew an opportunity when it appeared. Spinning its book faster and grinning, it swooped low, aiming at the girl's face with both sharp tentacles -
Shink!
- only to cut one side of the girl's bangs.
One could have called the shadow's expression dumbfounded as the Kirijo heir turned to the shadow, blood trickling down her temple from the close dodge.
"Who do you think I am?" she murmured, stalking forward.
"I am a Kirijo, damn you! Stay down!"
Even though it saw the attack coming, the shadow wasn't quite fast enough to swoop around the girl's furious sword swipe. But it was completely unprepared for the follow up attack:
CRACK!
A pistol whip.
Although the redhead had to admit it was rather unrefined, it did its job well. The butt of the evoker pounded the shadow straight into the ground, slamming it into the pavement with enough force to make it erupt into a gooey black stain that oozed into the gutter after its companion.
Once again, near silence reigned around the block as the redhead regained her breath for a few seconds. Then, slowly raising the evoker to her head, she fired off a dia, temporarily halting the immediate blood flow before reconnecting everyone to the network.
"I apologize, everyone," she said, still breathless. "I had to deal with a slight… hitch-up on my end. Is everyone alright?"
"We're good!" came Hamuko confirmation.
"Fine," Minato barked.
"Yeah, but Mitsuru!" Akihiko's alarmed voice replied. "You okay?!"
"Yes. Now focus on your mission!" Gritting her teeth, the redhead righted her bike, doing her best to ignore the new scratches on it. "Understood?"
"…Understood."
And with that word, the redhead jumped on and accelerated towards a small building attached to the station.
Please, let me be there in time…!
DH:34 (3 minutes until train collision)
"Okay… I'm not the only one getting a really bad feeling from this, right?"
Junpei's wavering comment outside the shut door to the train's front car wasn't totally without merit. The door wasn't just "shut"; it was frozen shut, with ice sealing every inch of the door to the surrounding walls, floor, and ceiling.
"'Course not," Akihiko muttered, unslinging his evoker. "But we need to go. Mitsuru, the shadow's behind this door?"
"Yes," Mitsuru's voice replied (but tightly, still much too tight and frail for Akihiko's liking).
"I hate to be the, er, voice of reason here," Junpei began, wincing at his new title, "But shouldn't we wait for the girls? To avoid another situation like earlier?"
"Normally, yes. However…"
"There's not enough time," the boxer finished the redhead's thought with narrowed eyes. "Train's gonna crash too soon. We've gotta move."
"Okay, but how-?"
The capped boy cut himself off as his fingers brushed against the door. It immediately began to melt, starting from where he'd touched it and falling apart bit by bit. It dropped off in larger and larger chunks until the door's latch was free. It opened with a light click, but the boys were left totally unprepared for the icy blast of air that ripped the door fully open and blinded them.
"Okay, NOT cool!" Junpei yelled, pulling his cap down to cover his eyes. "Who opened the damn freezer?!"
"This is no time for jokes, Iori! Be careful, there is a huge shadow in there!"
"Yeah, sorta guessed that, Senpai!"
The cold wind suddenly slowed down, and the boys lowered their arms. They gazed into a darker room, unable to see inside.
Akihiko frowned. "Mitsuru, can you see inside?"
"Only briefly, due to… difficulties operating my bike. But…"
Silence filled the gap. Not a disconnection silence, the boys could feel that the redhead was still with them, but… an awkward silence. The duo on the train shared looks.
"Uhh… Senpai?" Junpei asked. "What's it l-look like?"
"…You are about to find out."
"What the hell's that mean?!" The younger boy muttered off-link.
"Doesn't matter. C'mon."
The boys took tentative steps into the room, entering further and further with dull footsteps on the carpeted floor. The silence was suffocating, and Junpei couldn't help but shiver for more reasons than just the cold as they continued.
"Hey, Senpai," the capped boy began, "D' you think-"
The lights flickered on. Fluorescent bulbs on the ceiling shown down on the scene below, crackling and fizzling and revealing the monster that lay inside.
Just in front of the control panel was a massive woman leaning against it, with her ('its,' Junpei reminded himself, 'its') face and scarlet masquerade-mask tilted down. Its body's color was split between black and white down the middle, and similarly white and black "hair" (Though seriously, the capped boy would later insist, It was totally toilet paper) fell over and covered its body. The only exception was one thrumming strand connecting the shadow's head and the control panel behind it. Its arms were slackened on either side of its body, and its legs were spread out and bent up on both sides, with the shadow's lower half partly covered by an embroidered white cloth.
As the lights turned on, the shadow looked up. It cocked its head at the two men, hair lightly yanked along the floor with the movement. Dark lips curled upwards as the shadow's hand slipped onto its knee, dragging it against its outer thigh as the shadow extended its leg. The cloth caught on its hand and lazily hitched it up, revealing slender portions of its leg dangerously close to its hip.
The monster shivered. It slid down the control panel and lightly tossed its head back. Mewling, it slipped lower. Its hair swished to the side and revealed two breasts (with letters B and J pasted on each, "covering" them) loosely resting on its torso and vibrating with the train's motion.
Meanwhile, the boys' faces looked ready to explode.
"Wh-WHAT THE HELL!?" Junpei screeched, taking an involuntary step back.
The grey-haired boy wasn't faring much better. He squinted, valiantly disregarding the bead of sweat marching down his nearly steaming face. "What's it d-doing?! And… B - J? What's that even mean?"
The younger boy gawked at his companion. "Senpai, you don't know what a BJ is?!"
"IORI! AKIHIKO! FOCUS!"
The boys snapped their heads around just as the previously lazy streaks of hair shot at them. Ducking, they narrowly avoided the strikes burying themselves into the walls behind them, shaking the train car and jumpstarting the boys' heart rates.
A heavy chuckle slithered out of the shadow's mouth, snaking it into a smirk. It dragged its arms up to its sides and raised its body back into its original sitting position. Tilting its head like before, but with slanted eyes now accompanying its wider grin, the shadow retracted its two hairs. They shot back to their owner and hovered above it, poised like cobras for another strike.
Mitsuru's voice was frozen solid. "You two must focus on the fight." [Pause.] "I will execute you if you talk of that again. Arisato," the redhead continued, widening the range of communication, "There is a new shadow in the train. It-it appears as a woman with a crimson mask. Do you have any i-information?"
"No."
"Oh, WONDERFUL!" Junpei's voice cracked. "What else is gonna-?!"
A harsh beeping filled the room. One screen, powered by the shadow, blipped on, flashing a bright red [WARNING: APPROACHING STATION – EMERGENCY STOP ACTIVATING IN 10 SECONDS] text again and again.
The shadow turned to it. Flicking its head, the demon tugged on the strand of hair attached to the train's controls. Another harsh beep was cut off, sending the screen to black before turning back on with orange text reading [OVERRIDDEN] flashing once and disappearing.
The junior couldn't move. Couldn't breath, couldn't blink, couldn't even let go of his cap.
Thankfully, the senior next to him wasn't doing quite as bad.
"Mitsuru? We've got an issue."
DH:36 (45 seconds until train collision)
"Mitsuru? We've got an issue."
Oh, she already knew that. The Kirijo Heir was watching the entire damned issue.
With her cycle roaring forward at full blast, the redhead peered in the distance where her kohai's train drunkenly careened forward, smoke pouring out of demolished windows. It tilted back and forth on the tracks as more explosions of various elements lit up the night, staying on course by some miracle.
Or maybe by some blight, as the train shot towards the station already occupied by another train of the same model.
"I know-!"
Mitsuru winced and choked back a cry after she spoke, her previous dia and adrenaline no longer numbing her midriff's pain. Her stomach twisted into a searing knot as more blood seeped between the stained fingers covering her wound. The road blurred before her, and only the white line in the middle remained somewhat visible as her destination loomed closer.
"Mitsuru?!"
"Akihiko, if you do not focus right now, I will - I will execute you twice!"
She could barely spit that statement out as she hit the brakes and swerved into a stop. Her grip was almost weak enough to send her smashing to the ground, but she managed to stumble off her cycle and let it crash to the floor with a whine (but who cares about that right now, who cares?).
The steps leading to the singular room at her destination looked higher than Tartarus. The redhead grasped the frail railing with one tainted hand, scraping her sides along its rusty edges as she dragged herself up. One mistimed footstep kicked her leg out from underneath her. Unthinking, she grabbed the railing with her bloody hand to steady herself.
The Kirijo heir grit her teeth. Slipping and wobbling and barely staying on her feet, she stumbled forward another step.
She looked up. Just three more steps.
A broken step clanged out as the girl stepped on it, surprising her. Her legs wobbled and she fell, her head crashing into a step.
Her arms trembled as she flicked her eyes towards the impending train collision.
I cannot make it. Not in time.
But maybe she didn't have to.
BANG!
Later, she wouldn't remember drawing her silver weapon. Yet, somehow, her evoker's shot rang through the air. Through the redhead's clouded eyes, Penthesliea was only slightly visible through the other side of the door's dirty window, inside the small room of her destination. But there was still no need for a verbal command as the persona turned away from its summoner and floated to the command terminal.
Mitsuru hissed as she tilted her head up to keep watching. Her humanoid persona pushed a lone coffin out of the way, bumping it roughly to the ground, before looking at the scattered array of controls displayed in front of it. The persona reached out with one hand and caught a certain lever with the tip of its un-sheathable dagger.
Ka-chunk!
DH:29 (7 minutes ago/8 minutes until train collision)
["Senpai! I need to ask you a favor…"
"What would that be, Arisato?"
"How much do you know about train systems?"
"I must admit, not particularly much."
"Okay. There's sometimes a building attached to the station where operators can control the train's directions. Do you think you can find it?"
"Yes. I believe I know a building near the tracks like that."
"Good. If that shadow's controlling the train, than it must be controlling the third line and have access over other electrical stuff too. So I'm thinking that the shadow might have accidentally turned on the power to that station. All you need to do is find a green lever and pull it to the left."
"Very well. But Arisato, you have not explained to me what I am doing."
"It's simple: you're changing the tracks."]
DH:36 (5 seconds until train collision)
Yukari was cast to the side as the train car rattled to the left. Her arrow flew far away from its intended target, sinking into a plush seat cushion with a light foomph, while the shadow stumbled with the girl. But it was too busy focusing on the brunette to see a harp-wielding persona float behind it and smash it into the carpet.
"Hamuko-chan? What's happening?!"
The operational leader huffed a shaky laugh and pointed at one side of the train. "I think our back-up plan worked."
DH:36 (5 seconds until train collision)
Penthesliea disappeared from inside the room and settled back into its owner's chest. The redhead barely noticed. Her gaze was fixed upon the train rushing by in the distance, watching it jitter forwards and slightly to the left, disappearing from her view and going beside the other train.
Beside the other train.
Mitsuru's relieved laugh was near hysterical. She was rather glad that no one was there to watch as she shut her eyes tight and covered them with one arm, accidentally setting her nerves alight. Her stomach contracted and vision darkened as her frame tensed for a brief beat.
The evoker fell out of her grasp with a clattering noise, bouncing down the steps one by one until splashing down in a red stream. It lay there, drenched, as drops from the railing pattered down onto it.
The limp form of the Kirijo heir on the building's metal steps didn't move.
DH:37 (0 seconds until train collision)
The brunette just stared at the windows where Hamuko was pointing. The train previously in front of them was now parallel to them, rushing by without moving an inch. The musty wind rebounding from the opposing train rushed into their car as S.E.E.S.' train continued moving. After a moment, the front car of the parallel train whipped by and revealed the landscape behind it.
Yukari should have been too tired to even blink at this point. But as soon as S.E.E.S.' train left the other behind and continued onto the bridge connecting the island and mainland, she couldn't help gaping in shocked concert with her leader.
The lake surrounding Port Island was downright apocalyptic. A shade of crimson far darker than usual tinted the man-made lake, turning especially murky in what the archer could only assume were the deepest parts. In the far distance, a bloody offshore storm swirled around and covered itself with a veil of scarlet mist. Wine-colored waves idly lapped up on artificial shores in the storm's wake, the unnatural liquid mottling perfectly uneven stones in odd, viscous patterns.
In some ways… it was almost pretty.
"Okay, let's go." The shorter Arisato's leader-voice snapped Yukari out of her awe. "We need to get our boys."
"…Right!"
The duo exchanged nods before starting their charge down the hallway, suddenly far too deserted. Nothing greeted them aside from a barren train car and previously caused destruction.
Until the now-familiar sound of an elemental blast erupted from the neighboring car.
"Found 'em," Hamuko muttered.
DH:38 (-1 minute until train collision)
Holy shit.
Akihiko hadn't been hit that hard in a long time.
He was slumped against the wall in a total daze, sharp dregs of ice littering his skin and a massive pressure on his chest still lingering from the surprise bufu. A horribly bruised Junpei and Hermes towered over the boxer. The junior leapt forward as his persona disappeared, the boy's strike impressively wide (a clear home run! if Akihiko ever saw one). Another bufu screaming towards the duo splintered into pieces and scattered as it met the boy's sword with a crash.
The shadow was thoroughly unimpressed. Sighing, it leaned its head back, sending its hairs quivering. Junpei grit his teeth and readied his evoker.
"Cleave!"
The hairs burst forth towards the capped boy, but his persona smashed out of his head at his yell. Its newly repaired wings easily sliced through several of its attacks as the boy took a step back, wiping away his sudden nosebleed. Some of the shadow's hair snuck around the persona and coiled around its metal legs. With another tug of its head, the hairs jolted to each side, ripping the persona in two. The junior jumped in shock, but more hairs flew through the newly made gap, thrusting through the glass scraps and into an unprepared Junpei's stomach. He tumbled backwards and collapsed winded next to his Senpai.
The two made tired eye contact, bleeding on the floor together.
Well, crap.
"Orpheus, Agi!"
"Io, Dia!"
The grey-haired boy had barely registered the single set of doors in the room opening before two familiar personas torpedoed inside, one almost tearing the strings off its harp with its fire spell while the other wheeled about as soon as it entered, leaning back as it fired off a healing spell.
Unlike usual, Akihiko wouldn't compare this dia to a cooling breeze. It was more of an invigorating warmth, a blanket over his shoulders to melt the ice covering his ragged body.
In fact, he was so caught up in the warming light that he also missed the new duo sprinting into the room, a bedraggled Yukari dragging Junpei up (after Io had shot him a dia) while a certain exhausted-looking auburn haired girl reached her hand out to the senior.
"Come on, Senpai," she said, rubbing dirt out of her eye with her free hand. "We're almost there, I can feel it."
"We damn better be," he managed, taking the girl's hand as Orpheus, previously protecting the group, disappeared from view. "I'm feelin' done with tonight."
Hamuko didn't have the time to chuckle at that. "Everyone spread out! Make sure it can't hit all of us with one shot."
S.E.E.S. took a staggered position, standing in a wide horizontal line but a few feet ahead or behind the next closest member. Hamuko continued talking. "Senpai, do you have any information about this shadow? Anything at all?"
"…Er, Hamuko?" Junpei winced as a bufu shattered by his face and he summoned Hermes for a cleave. "Did you mean to say that to Mitsuru-senpai? Like, over the link?"
"I did say that over the link. Senpai? Senpai!?"
"Not again!"
"Mitsuru!" yelled Akihiko, a white-knuckled grip firmly on his evoker. "Mitsuru!"
The operational leader was having none of her teammate's panic, leaping over a swipe of shadow hair and firing off an agi with Orpheus before talking to the senior. "Senpai, calm down. We can't do anything for her right now. We've got to finish our mission!"
"You're just gonna leave her?!"
"We have to! She'll be fine on her own."
"She's not as invincible as you think-"
"But she's not as vulnerable as you'd like!" Hamuko turned a clipped glare on the senior. "So stop pretending that she is! Come on, senpai! I need my team here 100%, so focus." The girl lessened her glare, glancing towards the front of the car. "Please."
"…Yeah, I gotcha." The boxer managed to wrench his gaze back to the shadow, popping his neck as he crouched.
"Alright. Then Akihiko! Yukari! Go!"
The duo looked at each other, then sprinted forward. Skirting to the side of the shadow, the archer drew her arrow while her compatriot lunged forward, both aiming at the Priestess' face.
"Alp! Sukunda!"
Hamuko's bellow resounded with the clatter of her persona's reappearance. A translucent sphere of light flew from Alp's outstretched hands and widened, covering the shadow whole before fading away. But the shadow's movements were clearly slowed, and the thud of Yukari's arrow and crack of Akihiko's fist sounded clearer than normal after hitting the now sluggish target.
"Nice thinkin', Hamuko!"
"The question is why you boys didn't think of it earlier, but whatever. You two, pull back! Junpei, let's go!"
"On it!"
While the attacking duo hastily shuffled back, the two remaining juniors dashed up, one evoker and one broadsword at the ready. Bits of ice from the half-extended finger of the shadow slammed into the girl's shoulder, but she kept running with a stumble as the ice crept along her shoulder. Orpheus flew out of the operational leader's mind as she fired her evoker with a shriek of "Tarunda!", while Junpei yelled his battlecry ("Come at me broooo!").
The attack-decreasing spell did the trick. A second blast of ice approaching the black-haired boy was significantly melted, and its attack on his abdomen only made him wince and gasp instead of sending him flying backwards. He swung at the shadow hard, and the edge of his sword rammed into the Arcana shadow's chest and smashed it back, completely dazing it.
Hamuko almost grinned. This is it!
"Everyone pull back! Ara-Mitama! Agi!" she bellowed, firing her evoker and watching a red persona spin in a blur out of her mind. The persona, shaped like a curved teardrop with a face smashed onto one side, slowed down just enough to blast fire out of its mouth, nailing the arcana shadow in its face. The demon moaned, leaning backwards as it collapsed fully backwards onto the train's front window.
Ara-Mitama disappeared with a smirk. The operational leader lowered her evoker, eyes fixated on the shadow, waiting for it to dissolve. Seconds passed like hours.
Until the shadow let out a breath, steaming the air above its mouth.
Hamuko blinked.
Oh.
Her frame heavy and ragged, the shorter Arisato just watched as the arcana shadow slowly righted itself, brushing burning sparks out of its hair but otherwise looking no worse for the wear.
I've miscalculated.
It was way too late to tell everyone to counterattack; the shadow could easily strike back by the time Hamuko yelled the order. Yet the girl's grip on her evoker tightened anyway, and she opened her mouth to bellow a warning.
Fortunately for Hamuko, she didn't need to tell everyone. The group's lone senior surged by the operational leader, cutting off whatever she was saying with the noise of his charge. He hurtled forwards and sprung up, surprising even the shadow and freezing the spread of ice in the room.
Crack!
The senior slugged the Priestess in the face, slamming its head backwards and straight onto the window. Spiderweb cracks splintered onto it and converged where the monster's head slid down, leaving a trail of dark gore behind.
"Hamuko!" Still mostly stunned, the girl blankly looked at her Senpai, now skittering backwards to the rest of the team's position (though not taking his eyes off the limp shadow).
"Listen! Even if you're in for a knock out punch, always plan a second strike! Now c'mon, get a move on!" He tilted his head to the side, smirking. "I thought you needed the team 100%?"
Hamuko stared at her Senpai for another moment, before wiping the surprise from her face with a sharp nod and a poorly hidden smile. "Got it, Senpai."
"Everyone!" the auburn-haired girl's voice was clear as she stepped forward and widened her stance. "You heard him! One last time!"
She didn't even remember raising her evoker to her head. But she certainly remembered hearing the rest of her team ('her team'!) raise theirs.
The smirk that ripped across her face was decidedly not intentional.
"It's time for an all-out attack!"
Glassy detonations awoke the arcana shadow. It opened its dark eyes with a breathy moan… and froze.
Four personas hovered above their owners, staring down at the arcana shadow. Hermes was positively quivering, flames pulsing across its chest, while Io's hair flowed around its head as its contained wind whipped about. Polydeuces' drill was accelerating, whirling around as electrical sparks flew off it with sharp crackles. And in front of them all, Ara-Mitama grinned as fire burned inside its mouth, overflowing and letting smoke escape from its nose.
"NOW!"
Hermes was the first to move. Rearing back, it launched its fiery payload in a straight shot, detonating on the shadow's chest (though Junpei would later insist he hadn't meant to aim there). Io followed suit, matching her summoner's yell and bombarding the shadow with sharp gusts of wind, tearing its skimpy dress and hair while feeding the fire Hermes started into a gritty inferno. Polydeuces didn't lay about either, firing zio's from the ceiling onto the shadow below and singing both it and the ground black.
Ara-Mitama didn't aim for the shadow. Belching its burning payload downwards, it disappeared as it engulfed itself in flame, searing away all the frost on the ground. Meanwhile, Hamuko shot through the car, gaze locked with the arcana shadow pressed against the window by S.E.E.S.'s tenacity. As she approached, her team's attacks dissipated, and the shadow glared and raised a finger at the girl dashing up.
The shorter Arisato sidestepped as the shadow's mabufu materialized ice shards around its wrist in a circle, letting the ice pieces accelerate in a spin before hurling them away in rapid succession like an odd chain gun. They whizzed by the sprinting girl and burst on the wall behind her as S.E.E.S. scattered away from the impacts.
"Everyone!" the auburn-haired girl shouted. "Stop attacking and hang on to something!"
She raised her evoker. Changing directions erratically, she vaulted over the shadow's foot as she fired and called a familiar name.
"Orpheus! Bash!"
Cringing as a bruise spat onto her face, the operational leader watched from the corner of her eye as her first persona careened into her dimension, soaring in front of the Priestess shadow and swinging its harp over its head with a glare. The shadow raised its arms and caught the harp, putting the supernatural duo in a deadlock.
It couldn't last for long. The shadow let out an exasperated sigh and sent its hair flying off the wall for the persona. Orpheus couldn't even fight as the multitude of hair tendrils wrapped around it, squeezing tighter until the persona dropped its harp and soon after burst into glass.
A triumphant purr snaked out of the shadow's lips. It tilted them into a light smirk as it tilted its head at the girl below it… finally noticing said girl's hand on a red lever labeled manual brake.
The shadow's mouth twitched.
Chunk!
Hamuko hadn't looked up before she threw the lever, instead bracing her legs on the bottom of the train's console. But despite that, and despite her being the one who pulled the lever, not even she was entirely ready for going from full speed to full stop in seconds.
The train might as well have blasted itself to kingdom come. Its brakes screeched louder than any shadow she'd heard to date, and it quaked harder than Vesuvius. Having prepared herself, Hamuko wasn't quite tossed forward at full speed. But her already tired legs gave out under her mid-impact, sending her face crashing into the control panel and nearly knocking her out (while certainly adding a brilliantly purple black eye to her wound resume).
Barely able to hold on, the auburn-haired girl couldn't look behind her. But she still heard the distressed cries of her team as they clung to various parts of the train. No one came skidding by, though, so she assumed the best, focusing on the beast in front of her instead.
The shadow hadn't had the luxury of a forewarning. It couldn't reach its long arms out, fully retract its hair strands from crushing Orpheus, or even let out a final, earthy breath before the girl pulled the lever.
When Hamuko hit the brakes, it flew. The cracked window behind it was obliterated with a shattering crash as the monster soared backwards, with the one strand of its hair connected to the control panel snapping with an audible crack! The shadow went rigid for a brief moment before its previously lazy arms gained slight speed, the magnitude of the situation finally hitting the shadow like a freight train. Arms outstretched, the demon awkwardly bounced on the slim margin of the train tracks over the lake, hair and dress tearing on the rough surface of the bridge.
It only bounced once. There was nothing but a rosy lake beneath it the next time it fell.
Though its chest was pointed at the massive moon above, the shadow's face tilted towards the lake. It gazed with disinterest as the water's welcoming embrace gained size with each moment, getting larger and larger and closer and closer and-
Hamuko's dad once told her (and Minato too) that if you fall from a high enough height, and if you fall at the wrong angle, hitting a body of water is just as bad as hitting hard concrete.
He was right.
Black blood exploded out of the Shadow's chest cavity on impact with the lake, jettisoning into the air with a scream that misaligned Hamuko's heartbeat. The geyser display was over almost as soon as it began, but the shadow thrashed in the frothing water for several seconds after that. Only when it began to sink into the depths below did it finally dissolve, not merging with the water like the other shadows but rising high into the stratosphere, only disappearing from view when the dark gunk soared behind the high green clouds in the sky.
Hamuko turned around when the train finally stopped. Breath ragged, she just looked at her team, all in a state of disarray, wheezing and panting as two of them shot off dias at each other and the remaining one stood awkwardly to the side, fidgeting but clearly unsure of how to help without becoming a nuisance.
Laughter bubbled up from the shorter Arisato, and the rest of her team looked at her like she was crazy. She couldn't quite help it: the sheer ridiculousness and insanity of the situation they'd all just survived truly seemed hilarious to her.
…Though, had they all survived it? The girl's laughter abruptly stopped.
"Guys, we're not done yet. We need to find-"
"Mitsuru!" Akihiko's eyes widened as he cut his leader off, turning away from the fist bump he'd just given to a still-reluctant Yukari. "We've gotta get to her!"
"Exactly. So let's get a move on!"
"…Again?"
"Yes, Junpei, again."
"Less sass next time, Yuka-tan."
"Oh, for the love of-"
"Quit running your mouths and start running your legs! Move it!"
12:06 AM
"…uru! Mitsuru! Dammit all, Mitsuru, can y' hear me?!"
…Well. Only one man would ever have the gusto to curse around the Kirijo Heir, regardless of her condition.
"I can h-hear you, Shoji," she muttered, stuttering as she nearly spat up some blood on the greying doctor. "Do not be so alarmed."
"I'll be as alarmed as I damn well want to be!" Shoji raked a hand through his already thinning hair. "Here you are, thinkin' you can lie around here like some layabout after receivin' what looks like minor ballistic trauma to your stomach! You'd better give a huge 'thanks' to Penthesilea for her defensive capabilities the next time you whip her out, or I'll do it for you!"
Shoji was panting after his tirade, done entirely while he was tightly bandaging Mitsuru's side. "Do y' even think about what it'd do to your Dad if you got hurt? Or worse?"
Mitsuru watched the doctor for another moment.
…Or, apparently, what it would do to you.
"I am sorry, Shoji, but it truly was necessary."
"She's right." An unexpected voice from the ambulance behind the doctor (wait, had that been there the whole time?) tilted Mitsuru's head. Leaning on the closer side of the vehicle was the taller Arisato, blue hair horribly mussed about and wearing only his white undershirt covered in massive-
"Arisato, are those burn marks?" Mitsuru's eye narrowed, masking her rising horror. Though, judging by the boy's unchanging expression, the Kirijo Heir's glare had slightly less effect than usual. "What-"
"Mitsuru!" The all-too familiar voice and bad timing of Mitsuru's longest companion erupted from behind her. Akihiko popped his head over the railing of the train tracks slightly above the redhead, and leapt down and landed in a crouch next to the girl a heartbeat later. "Are you alright?!"
"I am-"
"Not all right. She's got minor ballistic trauma on her stomach; think like a tiny bullet hole, Akihiko. Only reason she's alive is because no damn shadows showed up for a friendly get together while she was conked out."
"Wh-what?!"
"Woah, seriously?!"
This time, Junpei and Yukari's shocked voices sounded the arrival of the rest of S.E.E.S. Meanwhile, Mitsuru glared at the rather grimly satisfied face of the resident doctor staring back at her beside Akihiko's frozen face.
"Don't give me that look, Mitsuru. If this is the only way to stop you from doing somethin' as stupid as this, then dammit all I'll do it. Even if you get mad at me for it."
The redhead gave a light, uncharacteristic humph at the doctor's proclamation. "…Whatever immunity you think you have won't save you from everything, Shoji."
"Yes it will, Mitsu-chan. Oh yes it will."
"Uh, Mina?" the shaky voice of the operational leader brought Mitsuru back to the original problem she'd discovered. "What happened to you?"
The blue-haired boy hesitated for a moment. "A Magic Hand fought me. It also broke the Kirijo Laptop."
The redhead's breathing hitched. "…What?"
"Sorry. I'll pay you back for it. Sometime."
"I-I am not worried about the laptop, Arisato!" The Kirijo Heir all but sputtered. "How did you- no, why did you tell no one about this?!"
"Wouldn't have done anything but distract you." He shrugged, wincing a bit as he moved. "No reason to say anything."
"Minato." Hamuko's voice took on her leader edge. "What on earth made you think you could take on a shadow without a persona? And with a broken leg?!"
The girl's impressive glare was met by an unimpressed look from her brother. "I did, didn't I?"
"That's not the- Mina!" The shorter Arisato threw her hands into her face in exasperation. "How do you not get this?!"
"I know it wasn't smart. But I couldn't do anything else."
Mitsuru could practically see the steam coming from the auburn-haired girl's ears. But she could also see the fear that the boy's sister was hiding.
"Regardless." The rest of the team turned to her. "I believe we have Arisato to thank for Sh- Hashino-san's arrival, do we not? I assume you were the one that made the call, perhaps from a payphone?"
(She ignored the doctor's irritated comment of "Think it's a few minutes too late for goddamn honorifics, Mitsuru!")
The boy brushed a few crispy pieces of his hair away from his forehead before he dipped his head in agreement. "…It was what I could do."
Quiet conquered the air for a few moments, until the operational leader sighed, losing all leader-like posture in favor of folding over the railing like wet paper. "Whatever. We'll be talking later, Mina. And you're not getting out of it!" She wiped some of her hair towards her bun in a way not unlike her brother. "But the point is, we succeeded. We survived. And I think that's all that matters for now."
Junpei and Yukari nodded, with grins and nods of varying enthusiasm. Akihiko was supporting Mitsuru from the ground, but he managed a light smirk at the leader above, while his impromptu redheaded patient closed her eyes and smiled in approval. Even Minato and Shoji shared a quick look, then turned away to look at the auburn haired girl with respectively tiny and crooked smiles.
Ditching her leader personality and adopting her schoolyard one, the shorter Arisato stood up straight with a teasing grin before sweeping low in a mock bow at the audience gazing up at her.
"Thank you for riding Arisato Railways. You've all been terrible customers!"
12:10 AM
Mission: Success
Casualties: 0
AN: Ho-ly crap. That took a while, huh?
So, as if this chapter wasn't long enough, I've got another thesis-worth of author's notes here. If you don't want to read it (and I don't blame you at all if you don't!), here's a quick summary:
- This chapter was pretty experimental in parts, so (if you'd like to) please lemme know what you thought of the weirder parts!
- The reason I haven't been updating recently has been a combination of a) schoolwork/finals, and b) me studying abroad in Australia! B/c I'm studying abroad, I dunno when the next update will be, so sorry about that!
- No Myth Corner/Lateral Files here, and they won't be appearing as often in the future.
- The format of Lateral is changing (Full moon battles will be more often, and between the Full Moon battles will be more several-chapter side-plots instead of one/half-chapter vignettes).
I've got a bunch of notes here, but before I say anything else: This chapter (and the last one, to a lesser extent) was probably the most experimental one I've done to date. So, if you'd like to tell me, I'd love to hear what you thought of it! Was all the scene-changing too confusing/too frequent? Did the chapter feel too long or too convoluted? Was the pre-smut scene to introduce the Arcana Priestess too weird (or did it even make sense)? Etc, etc.
Anyways:
I should've been clearer about this last chapter, but if you couldn't tell from Minato's section in this chapter, the thing he used at the end of last chapter was a road flare, not an agi gem.
Also, despite my joke last chapter with train-related fanfiction tropes… I'm pretty sure about half of the things I did this chapter with the train are 100% impossible. Oh well!
Also again: yes, I know the BJ on the priestess shadow doesn't stand for that.
And last: Vesuvius = volcano that destroyed the Roman city of Pompeii in the year 79 C.E.
Shout-outs to (let me know if I missed anyone's name(s) here!):
romani-ite-domum, VanitasTheFool(point)1, DoshesToDoshes, Marguilde, Souls of the damned, SirTapir, Lybele, vereine, solidthanatos, Scythe-kun, Surgical09, Rosalinda Lancaster Leonhart, 1bitHeart, RockLobster8994, toejam18, Hastermain, NekroJT, Darkkon27, Shippuuryu, Verlorener Engel, JHFTS, ExienFrost290, YumiKage, llat-2, myrielyzie, Neeky-chan, Ventusblade, UnderwaterGasketWeaving, Sterben4, GlassedGamer, nospoon96, 4112519, cresent rain, pinchess07, kdldvs, i suck at naming things, cxzn416, jlink, CEZein, Mikiri's Revenge, T.P.M, jesteroffjords, and SimetratheHunter for following;
VanitasTheFool(point)1, DoshesToDoshes, Marguilde, Black Fuego, kuroXIII, SirTapir, PalaDude234, Surgical09, Rosalinda Lancaster Leonhart, Darkkon27, Shippuuryu, ExienFrost290, YumiKage, Blood-Red White Rose, llat-2, DarkEchoes41, XxlETHEREALlxX, Infinitus Irae, Oblitus-Umbrae, Shadow1001, Shiron21, nospoon96, jlink, Mikiri's Revenge, SimetratheHunter, wingombia, SumGuyOvahDere, and Sterben4 for faving;
And of course, Hawkeye Reticle, emelian65, paradoxjr, ApplePajama, Biscione, gu3st, Yoshikunitsu, crymblade, kuroXIII, Asahar4, Guest, Guest [the second, I guess?], RockLobster8994, fangirl88, llat-2, and Ventusblade for reviewing!
In response to:
Gu3st: Nope! It was actually a road flare, not an agi gem, but I really should've been clearer on that in the last chapter... Thanks for reviewing!
Guest: Haha yeah! I mean, not quite, I won't say what's exactly up with the scar for a while yet, but yeah, it's more or less like Kakashi's. Thanks for reviewing!
Guest: Ohh, that'd be cool! Hahaha yeah, I totally get what you mean, I adore the Minato/Mitsuru pairing. No word on if that pairing's gonna show up in Lateral, though! Thanks for reviewing!
fangirl88: Look, look! I did, I did! :D Thanks for reviewing!
So, as most of you have noticed, I haven't updated for a while, both in my reviews and my PMs and my story (obviously). Schoolwork, and especially freaking finals and final projects are the main reason for that; I've been majorly bogged down by a lot of stuff since April. But the reason that I'm only updating now instead of when school ended (which was a couple weeks ago for me) is because I'm studying abroad! In Australia! I'm super pumped to go, but because it's a long trip (10 weeks!) I really had to focus on getting prepared for that before anything else.
Also because of that, I'm sad to say that I wouldn't expect another update for a while after this one: I love you guys and I love writing, but studying abroad is such a once-in-a-lifetime experience that I want to devote as much time as I can to doing things in the country where I'll be living for the next couple months. So, the earliest I'd expect a new update is sometime in August…though, knowing my schedule, it'll probably be later.
(I should say, though, that because I'm going so far away, the plane trip is really long, so I should be able to catch up on reviews and whatnot while I'm flying! So, expect reviews/replies/etc. from me pretty soon!)
I'm sad to say that there's no myth corner, and no Lateral files this week. To be totally honest though, I'm thinking that there's gonna be less focus on that from now on. They'll still be there from time to time, but I'm finding it hard to have the time to write anymore (if you haven't already noticed), and although I'm so, so happy that I can spread my love of Greek/Roman mythology with you guys… I'd rather have chapters come out sooner without them, rather than much later with them.
I have a couple other things to say about changing the format of Lateral. All these chapters so far (and can you believe it's taken almost 20 chapters for me just to get to the damn priestess battle?!) are essentially the introduction to Lateral. I didn't plan it to be this long, but there were so many things I had to… er, introduce. I needed to show my versions of the characters and their quirks, some simple backstory that you'd need to understand them, my OC, and more (like a bunch of foreshadowing that you won't see for a very long time).
So what does that mean for the story? Well, most of the parts from here on out are gonna be much faster paced. The current plan is to have a full moon battle every 5 chapters or so. In between these battles, I'm not going to be doing as many vignettes (those are the little scenes with a small group of characters that I included in most chapters). Instead, I'm focusing on writing sub-plots between the full moon battles, little character-development bits that'll last longer (and hopefully have more impact) than the little bits I have now. If that doesn't make sense, feel free to let me know, but I think it'll be clearer once I start publishing them.
Last but not least: I've been helping to sort-of beta a friend of mine's work, and I'd like to give a shout out to it! If you've got the time, I'd like to point you guys to user Golden-Black Dragon's story called Leave No Words Unspoken. It's an OC-based Persona 4 fic, and it's pretty far along in the story, with pretty regular updates. It's got a rough start (by the author's own admission), but I swear it gets a lot better later on. So again, if you have the time/inclination to check it out, we'd really appreciate it!
Phew. 34 pages in, and I think I'm finally done.
Thank you all so, so much for waiting on me! As I mentioned earlier, I'd love to hear what you think of this chapter/the fic as a whole/etc. So if you'd like to, feel free to drop a review or send me a PM!
Until next time: thanks once again for being so damn awesome, and I'll see you guys in the next update!