Chapter 27
DH:45 (45 Minutes into the dark hour)
For a moment after Icarus was summoned, the universe paused. Everything stopped and stared at the newest addition to the S.E.E.S. Persona roster, hovering above its summoner. Human and Persona basked in the moment, but after a few seconds passed, Minato lowered his evoker, took a deep breath...
And bravely ran away as fast as possible.
Well, that wasn't entirely true. Technically, he was aiming to run right past the Emperor. But he was retreating, which wasn't quite the heroic entrance he'd hoped for after summoning his new Persona. However, if Yukari's injury had reminded him of anything, it was that having a Persona does not make you invincible.
Minato dashed forwards, leaping past the ruined car that had almost protected Junpei, and ran right by the Emperor's legs. Icarus followed above him, hovering in case it was needed to block a sword strike. Minato hadn't looked up at it yet, his thoughts focused on two other things.
One: running with a saber in one hand, and an evoker in the other. Not the safest move, but given that time was of the essence, he didn't exactly have the seconds needed to sheathe either.
Two: His sudden annoyance with a certain realization.
Icarus was right. The Gods are unjust.
He mentally blew out an annoyed sigh as he sprinted beneath the Emperor, the titanic monster looking down as he passed by.
'Show them your power' my ass.
What am I supposed to do with a dia and a sukunda?!
It didn't register with Minato until he started running, but as soon as he had summoned Icarus, he could feel the spells available to him… and his Persona was not a powerhouse. The only spells he currently had available were a dia spell for healing, and a sukunda for lowering an enemy's hit and evasion rate.
A whopping two spells. And not even one for attacking.
Well, isn't that helpful.
As he left the Emperor's melee range, Minato took a moment to glance up at his new Persona, hovering above him as he ran. It was humanoid, a simple human figure dressed only in a long, semi-fitted pair of pants. It was also upside down, white hair hanging straight down as it seemed to fall from the sky. It lacked the decency to wear a shirt, allowing room for by far its most striking feature: wings, attached to its outstretched arms, extending a few feet beyond its hands. Unfortunately, they were also falling apart, a snapshot of Icarus' moment of defeat, the wax that held them together melting away. The melted wax covered its chest and most of its face, solidly coating its eyes and ears, with only its nose and mouth exposed.
So, to recap: Minato's new Persona was a mythical human forever captured in the moment of his failure, falling to its doom with a failing adhesive covering its body.
Minato gave a mental hum. Maybe it's time to see a psychologist.
It was also time for Minato to stop screwing around, as he looked at the situation confronting him: the other group about to be assaulted by two Spurious Books. Or, that's what would have happened… if it weren't for Mitsuru and Akihiko.
They had frozen earlier, in the face of an injury as horrific as Yukari's, and Minato didn't blame them. He was sure that the first time he had seen an injury like that, he had been paralyzed too. But despite that, the Seniors were still Persona veterans. And while Minato had no doubt they were still terrified, now they were also pissed.
The Spurious Book that had run into Hamuko was still facing Minato, but it startled when a shattering noise burst from directly behind it. It turned just in time to see Polydeuces appear from the ether, rising up behind the monster like a reaper ready for the harvest.
It gave a quick squeak of dismay before Polydeuces called a zio down upon it. The bolt struck it dead on, smashing the Shadow to the ground, where it bounced once before rolling to a stop. After a moment, it reached out with one tentacle to try and raise itself up.
And then Mitsuru arrived. The other Spurious Book had been alerted to the danger from the other one's cries, and was soaring forward to assist, tentacles streaming behind it. Mitsuru intercepted it, snapping her evoker to her head and firing, not breaking stride from her run while she extended Hamuko's naginata to the side.
"Bufu!"
The approaching Shadow didn't react in time, attempting to dance away only to realize that its body was being encased in ice. Its yelp of alarm was quickly muffled by the encroaching ice, and once it was fully covered, the Shadow fell from its hovering position, the ice block around it chipping as it hit the ground and tilted over on its wider side, slowly sliding forward.
Mitsuru kept moving. The naginata gripped tightly in her hand, she leapt onto the first, unfrozen Spurious Book, stabbing down and leaving the weapon embedded within, before drawing her fleuret in one elegant motion and slashing at it in a brutal swipe. Pages scattered as the Shadow writhed, one dying gurgle emerging as it evaporated, its pages dissolving into dark muck that stuck to the streets, slowly running towards a nearby gutter.
Minato almost whistled, but decided that would be out of character for him and for the general mood.
He glanced back to see that the Emperor had also turned. Given its proximity to the hydrant (which, yes, was still gushing blood), it was no longer pristine. Just like Minato, the Shadow was covered in blood, but it didn't pay any mind to it. Instead, it stalked forward with gore dripping down from its lanky arms, broad chest, and sword, the false blood of the dark hour's water now indistinguishable from Yukari's very real blood mixing with it on the blade.
Minato turned back around to focus on making it back to the rest of the group. "Mitsuru!" he barked as he got into shouting range, finally remembering to sheathe his evoker as he adjusted his grip on the saber in his right hand. Mitsuru flipped her head around, blowing an errant strand of crimson hair away from her face, evaporating black gunk streaked across it like modern art.
Minato pointed at the still-frozen Spurious Book with his saber. "Come with me! You strike first!"
At her nod, Minato flipped his attention back to the frozen Shadow (and away from Akihiko, whose expression was gobsmacked as Mitsuru actually listened). As they approached, Mitsuru and Minato drew side-by-side, pounding across the pavement towards their target.
The Spurious Book burst from its icy prison moments before they arrived. Minato slowed down, allowing Mitsuru to take the lead, as the Shadow raised its tentacles, slowed by the remaining ice that cracked and snapped along their length as they extended. Mitsuru's blade suffered no such impediment, and she easily swiped across the feeble Shadow's defenses, still-thawing tentacles shattering as Mitsuru's blade sliced through them.
It squealed and floated backwards, reeling, as its tentacle count was drastically reduced. Then, Minato's hand shot in from the side and grasped the Shadow's crown (as expected, it was icy cold), firmly holding on as the monster started to twist and turn away from him. He slashed his weapon sideways across the creature, the strike slicing it in two.
As the creature screamed, Minato dropped its upper half and turned away from it (doing his damndest to not look down at it, or watch as its tentacles quivered towards him pleadingly as it shuddered and murmured its dying breath, dissolving into muck), instead facing the Shadow he had no sympathy for:
The Emperor.
During the fight, it had slowly made its way towards the group, already getting a bit too close for comfort.
Minato tilted his head to look at his companion. "Mitsuru!" He shouted and tilted his head towards the Emperor while she turned to face him. "Let's regroup with the others. I've got a potential plan to deal with this one."
Nodding, Mitsuru followed him as he jogged his way back over to the others (finally able to sheath his saber after he quickly wiped it off on his shirt), now all inside the broken shop. As he approached, Minato could see both remaining active S.E.E.S. members, Akihiko having recovered from his shock and now focusing on Junpei, while Hamuko…
...Oh.
Maybe he should be leader for today, after all.
Hamuko was an absolute wreck. Her normally slightly-messy but generally well-kempt hair was all over the place, making her bed-head look pristine. The hair pins always neatly tucked into place on her head were severely disheveled, with one missing entirely (now, her hair pins just read a slanted "XXI"), and her limbs were a quivering mess. She wasn't motionless, and was gripping her evoker tightly, but she was moving very slowly and deliberately, like she had to talk herself through every action (and as Minato got closer, he also noticed Akihiko glancing up to check on Hamuko rather frequently).
"Hamu," he called as he approached… and then mentally slapped himself as he used his leader-voice, making his sister flinch and cry out as she dropped her evoker on her knee, bonking it on the way down. She turned and looked up at Minato, eyes red and squinched as she rubbed her knee.
Clambering through the window, he jogged up next to her and leaned over slightly, bringing himself to her slumped-over height. He brushed an excess strand of hair away from her face and behind her ear, swallowing as he watched his sister sniff, rubbing her nose with a bloody, snot-covered hand. "Hamu… I think I should take over your leader responsibilities for today."
She stared at him for a brief moment, then choked out a laugh, tossing her head slightly back in a gurgling chuckle. "God, M-mina, obviously," she murmured. "I mean… You're the real leader here anyways."
Minato quickly looked back at the Emperor (Now 20 steps away from sword-striking range), then looked back and raised an eyebrow at Hamuko. With a slight tilt of her head, Hamuko sniffed again, wiping a tear away with her trembling, crimson-stained hand.
"I k-kinda thought it was obvious." She shook her head and looked down, while the strand of hair he'd tucked away fell back into its unkempt place.
"Everything I do as leader, I'm t-trying to be like you. I mean… m-my personality totally flips when I'm in soldier mode, and just th-think, who's my total opposite?"
She hesitated. The Emperor thudded 17 steps away.
"My whole 'soldier mode' thing... it's just imitating you. That's all it's ever been. Mina, I'm not like you… I can't really stay… stay c-calm under pressure, or act the most rationally, o-o-or... Mina, you were a-always the real leader."
"Hamu, look at me."
She hesitated, but after a hiccup did look at her brother, peering up while a solitary tear drew its track through the grime smearing her face.
Blood from the hydrant dripped off Minato and onto the floor with a light plip, plip, plip as he leaned further forward, his eyes drilling into Hamuko's. He raised his hand and again drew the same persistent strand of Hamuko's sweaty, dirt-matted hair to the side.
"I think you need a break today, so I'll take over. But you're right."
"Heh." She chuckled, glancing back down. "Y-yeah, I kinda know-"
"You're not like me…" he interrupted. "You're better." A smile ghosted upon his face as he shushed his sister's immediate rebuttal with a finger to her lips when she jerked her head back up. "And you are the true leader… because you are the one they follow first."
He stood, looking to the Emperor, 9 steps away. "Remember what I promised at the dorm? Today and a month ago?"
Hamuko cocked her head. "Wh-what?"
"Just warning you. I need everyone's help, but I'm about to do something crazy."
"N-not without me."
Minato flicked his gaze at his sister, whose trembling visage had gained a spark of her usual stubbornness as she continued. "I may not be able to lead… but I-I can try to fight. And I w-want to fight with you."
...If only I had a sister who would actually listen if I told her to stay put.
Minato blew out another sigh.
"...Alright then. Everyone!" He called to the group as a whole. "Listen up! We're all about to do something crazy."
Outside the shop, the Emperor continued to move forwards.
It slogged its way towards S.E.E.S. with deliberate steps, crunching closer and closer. It could see through the empty window and into the shop where the team ran about, seemingly not paying attention to the approaching Shadow...
Until Minato and Hamuko jumped out from the shattered window. The Emperor stopped at their appearance, narrowing its focus on the duo and watching steadfastly as they approached, faces colored by matching shades of determination.
The Emperor continued moving forward.
"Hamu!" Minato barked. "Grab your weapon, and stick close. No need to surround it now. Regardless of which of us it targets, we'll both need to wait until Mitsuru scans it to counter."
"A-alright." Hamuko jogged the short distance over to retrieve her weapon from where Mitsuru left it, before returning to Minato's side.
"Just you and m-me, huh, Mina?" She gave a short laugh, rubbing her eyes before placing both hands on her naginata and twirling it into position. "So nostalgic."
"Get focused," her brother ordered, though with a light smile on his face. "Step one is to get this thing further from the shop if possible. I let it get far too close. Be ready to dodge!"
The Emperor had, at long last, reached its targets. It raised its sword upwards, preparing its set of three strikes, when-
"Icarus! Sukunda!"
-Minato tore his evoker from its holster, ramming it against his temple and firing as the Emperor raised its sword. The newly awakened Persona arose from the boy's head, extending its wings outward while its mouth twisted, and the air around the Emperor began to shimmer, as if distorted by heat waves.
In its vision, the Emperor's prey grew slightly blurred, and its limbs became harder to control, like puppet strings had been attached to its limbs and were gently, carefully countering the Shadow's movements. But it wasn't enough to wholly stop the Emperor.
Fighting back against the spell, the Emperor pounded the street with its sword. Minato and Hamuko scattered, too small to be hit precisely with the large blade. After the third strike, the Emperor rested for a moment, allowing its right arm to recover from the attack, before it hefted its sword up from the pavement, focusing once again on the two blurry targets on the ground.
Then came a voice from inside the shop- faint, but still audible.
"I have its weakness! It is currently weak to wind attacks!"
The Emperor slowly turned to look at the source of the noise. Inside the shop, Mitsuru was crouched in a corner, her Persona hovering above her, intense concentration on her face. After she spoke, Akihiko nodded from his position: crouched over his two incapacitated teammates near the back of the shop, evoker already drawn and at the ready.
The Shadow began to twist its torso in the direction of the shop, but-
"Hit it from the back! Make it fall backwards!"
"Alright… angel! Garu!"
-pain blossomed from the Emperor's calf as a shattering sound emanated from Hamuko's head, and a blast of wind slammed into its leg from behind. The Shadow's foot was flung forward, and its world tilted as its remaining foot couldn't handle its weight. The Emperor fell backwards, leg buckling, before the monster crashed down onto its back, crushing the pavement beneath. Black ichor and red blood from the hydrant splattered from the Shadow onto the ground, mixing together into dark brown sludge.
Another shattering sound burst from in front of the Emperor, and a Persona hovered into its view, above it. The humanoid Persona was a female- naked, but bound by multiple, strategically placed silver straps, including one covering its eyes. Its restraints didn't seem to stop its movements, and it appeared to inhale as wind whipped about it in a swirling, rhythmic motion.
It exhaled, and a green burst shot from the Persona and slashed into the Emperor's face, sending more gore flying from the impact. The Emperor lay stunned for a moment, while the Persona fired another wind spell, gouging yet another gash into the Shadow.
As the Persona tried to summon a third spell, the Emperor clenched its fists together.
Concentric circles wavered into existence in front of it, slowly stirring into motion as the Emperor relaxed its hands and planted them behind its back, its palms pushing deeper into the ground as it pushed itself up.
"Hamu-"
"I know, I-I know. Senpai! Please scan it again!"
"Understood."
The Persona disappeared as the Emperor got to its feet, movements achingly slow. It approached its full, towering height, and turned its head towards its new primary target, looking over Minato and Hamuko.
"...Damn. Hamu, don't attack it, preserve mana for when it counts, but slow it down!"
"What do yo-"
"Mitsuru and Akihiko, get ready. It's going after you!"
Akihiko sat on his haunches, throttling his evoker with one hand. Beneath and behind him lay Junpei and Yukari. The two seemed as frail as porcelain, with raspy breaths dragging in and out of Junpei, and Yukari's chest barely moving.
But as soon as he heard Minato's cry, he leapt into action.
"Mitsuru and Akihiko, get ready. It's going after you! Mitsuru, keep scanning. Akihiko, can you-"
"Build some cover?" He smirked as he leapt up and ran, spinning around the end of a wide display case and closing his fists around its edges on one of its narrow sides. "Way ahead of you."
(In reality, that was not what Minato was going to say. He was going to say "help us," or maybe "slow down this Kirijo-damned abomination," but building cover for the injured was a good idea, so Minato let him continue.)
After a quick inhale, Akihiko heaved. The heavy display screeched against the ground as he dragged it backwards towards the window, spilling miscellaneous items (DVDs, candies, a Soma, and a Kirijo-emblazoned teddy bear. By now, Akihiko had learned it was best not to question some things). He strained against it, yanking as hard as he could while out of the corner of his eye the Emperor gained ground quickly. The Shadow didn't notice the two Arisatos pushing at its leg, and easily ignored the efforts of their two Personas to stop it. Orpheus and Icarus simply weren't strong enough to be anything other than a slight hindrance.
Fortunately, that was barely enough time for Akihiko.
The display case wasn't as tall as the window, but it covered a solid two-thirds of its height. Just enough room was visible at the top for Akihiko to look up at the Emperor's face, now just next to the building.
It reared back.
"It's attacking horizontally! Get down in there!"
At Minato's yell, Akihiko pivoted on a dime, sprinting back to where his injured teammates lay. Snapping his evoker to his head as he ran, he fired and summoned Polydeuces behind him, the Persona facing their enemy and hopefully covering Mitsuru.
KRSSSHHHHHH!
Behind him, the display shattered as the Emperor's sword tore it to shreds… or, specifically, two halves. It cut straight through, sending store goods scattering across the floor, with Polydeuces managing to intercept most of the debris (including a Soma that had burst, spraying its sugary contents onto the Persona. Thankfully, the drink was far enough removed from water that it was actually soda and not just blood, but with the sugary drink dripping down its face, Polydeuces' expression was as close as a Persona could come to unamused).
The upper half of the display clanged to the floor, revealing most of the scene outside. Still unable to attack directly, Hamuko and Minato had continued to try unorthodox strategies. The two Personas were now gone, but the twins had both grasped the Emperor's right leg and were pulling it as hard as they could, attempting to topple the Emperor. But while the Emperor's legs were the weakest part, the twins still didn't have as much energy between them as a Garu spell targeting the Shadow's weakness. Not to mention Akihiko could make out Minato's bad leg quivering as he pulled, and saw both twins struggling to get a good grip as the Shadow was still coated in slimy blood from the hydrant.
But as the Emperor leaned down, beginning to reach into the shop with its left hand, Minato changed tactics. "Hamu, keep it up!" He ordered, reaching down to grab his evoker, raise it, and fire it in a smooth movement. Icarus materialized into the world next to the Emperor, but did nothing, just waited as Minato ran up to it and stowed his evoker away.
He jumped onto Icarus' left wing (careful to use his good leg), using it as a platform to leap onto the Emperor's right side, grasping its shoulder as he collided into its arm. As Icarus dissipated below him, Minato pulled himself up, finally ending his move crouched on the Emperor's shoulder and hanging on to it with one hand.
It was one of the most hare-brained things Akihiko had ever seen, and he couldn't decide whether to raise his eyebrows in surprise or furrow them in confusion. The Emperor agreed, as it momentarily froze to turn its head at the human now perched on its shoulder and removing his blazer, one sleeve at a time to ensure he could hold on. Minato looked up for a brief moment at the Emperor when his blazer was off.
"Hi," he said. Like he was meeting up for coffee.
Then, he threw his blazer over the Emperor's head, quickly tying it around the other side, effectively covering its face. And just when he finished-
"The new weakness is electric! Zio attacks will… Arisato, wh-what are you doing?!"
"My job!" Minato yelled back. He leapt off the Emperor backwards, drawing and firing his evoker in mid-air before reaching back to grab the newly-summoned Icarus' arm with his other hand. The Persona hovered about 2-3 meters above the ground, letting Minato hang for a moment before he let go and dropped the rest of the distance with a yell. "Akihiko, Hamu, go!"
Akihiko was almost too distracted by Minato's showmanship to move. The kid was a damned Persona savant.
(He let it slide that as soon as Minato hit the ground, his bad leg buckled, and he fell on his butt, chagrin blossoming hotly on his face.)
Polydeuces, still corporeal (and unamused), stood watching the Shadow until Akihiko yelled "Zio!", taking out his evoker to prepare for another summon. He heard Polydeuces' drill start spinning as he sprinted forward, leaping through the window just as the strike of lightning struck the Shadow. It faltered, having reached its left arm up to yank away Minato's blazer, leaning heavily to one side.
"Omiokane! Zio!"
And then, Hamuko summoned one of the most revolting Personas Akihiko had ever seen.
Looking to Hamuko's side, he gazed at the monstrosity appearing from her mind. Omiokane was a large, hovering brain, about the size of a beach ball, with two eyes stuck to what was apparently its front. Long strands of tentacles drooped from its vaguely pulsating face, nearly touching the floor, while other more sturdy tentacles reached around from the back, some appearing as expected, while others had… more eyes.
What aspect of Hamuko's personality did this symbolize?!
Regardless of its appearance (and Akihiko's revulsion), the Persona let loose its spell. It tilted back slightly, sparks zipping between its various tentacles, before a loud crackle of electricity heralded the strike of a zio on its target.
CRACK!
The Emperor careened to its side with the strike, slowly falling… before it once again slammed against the street, its head cratering into a gutter, and assuredly ruining Minato's blazer for life.
"Again! Come on, again!"
Minato's roar spurred Hamuko into firing another round, but Akihiko was already a step ahead of them. Polydeuces exploded out of Akihiko just as Minato bellowed, calling down another zio with its trademark thunderous strike, ricocheting the Emperor's head against the gutter as it collided.
"Zio!"
Hamuko answered in kind, screaming another spell out with a shattering of an evoker fire. And another strike came down on the Emperor, bashing against its chest, sending sparks flying into the street.
And then, Akihiko saw the Emperor began to clench its fists once more.
"Hell no! Zio!"
"No you don't, you son of a bitch! Zio!"
Akihiko yelled out another spell to catch the Emperor before it changed its weaknesses, but was surprised when the petite girl to his side spat out a curse of her own at the monster (who knew she had that vulgarity in her?), firing off yet another spell just as rapidly. The two zios hit the Emperor at nearly the same spot on its right breastplate, electricity coursing through it and even shooting down through the Emperor's sword, sparking and crackling while its owner's head jittered from the shock. After a moment, it grew still… and then its half-clenched fingers relaxed.
Hamuko and Akihiko stood with evokers at the ready, prepared to fire them once more to summon their respective zio-based Personas… but thankfully, for once, it was unneeded.
Like a bad dream, the Emperor began to fade away.
The sword was the first to go, pieces of metal dissolving and rising upwards towards the full moon. The dematerialization spread into its right arm, while it slightly raised its head to watch, the blinding blazer now singed free of its face. Its feet and legs wafted away simultaneously, flickering up like ashes from a campfire, the disintegration crawling up to its body and rapidly approaching its face.
All S.E.E.S. members present (and awake) watched with growing relief (Minato's shoulders lowered a fraction, Akihiko leaned on one hip and shoved his evoker away with a smirk, Hamuko looked up to the sky and let out a small cry of relief, and Mitsuru just closed her eyes and briefly smiled) as the monster they had been struggling against slowly, quietly, rose into the night and disappeared from view.
Finally, the immediate danger had passed.
After the last wisps of the Emperor had wafted into the night, Minato checked his analog watch, showing a time of 12:58 (so, actually DH:58). He turned back, walking into the shop, his shoes crunching over the broken glass by the window. As he walked, Mitsuru rose from the back of the shop, giving him a smile.
"I do believe I was correct in my analysis, Arisato. You were a wonderful leader."
Minato looked at her and the smudge of dirt smeared on the left side of her cheek, a tiny replica of her smile on his lips. "Is that your way of saying 'I told you so'?"
She chuckled, looking up and to the side. "Perhaps. But regardless, thank you. Now all we must do is wait for the dark hour to end so we can reach the hospital and call Hashino-san."
Minato followed her gaze from outside, looking at a security camera within the shop, motionless in the absence of its electronic control system.
His smile slackened as something clicked in his mind.
...Oh, crap.
"Everyone," he yelled, going back into his leader-voice and startling the remaining S.E.E.S. members. "Take off your S.E.E.S. armbands, and hide your weapons. Mitsuru, keep your head down."
Everyone looked at him blankly (except Yukari, but even Junpei opened one pained eye, jamming as much confusion into his expression as he could).
After a moment, Hamuko responded, "...What do you mean?"
"We're not safe yet." Minato tore his armband off and shoved it in his pocket, leaping through the window and running past Mitsuru to tear the S.E.E.S. armband off Junpei, also ripping a sleeve off him. "In a second, the electricity will come back on and people will wake up. The damage from this fight will be more noticeable than the last one, and we're at the epicenter. The last thing we need is for the public to think a bunch of high schoolers sponsored by Kirijo are going around at night breaking into-"
At this point, Minato had hopped up on a countertop to tie Junpei's ripped sleeve around the camera. As soon as he finished, another thought abruptly popped into his head, and he whipped back around to look out the window (and, frustratedly, also noticed the rest of the team still staring at him. He really needed to talk to them about getting their butts in gear quicker).
"Broadsword!" he yelled, pointing past Hamuko, who turned to follow his finger, indicating Junpei's broadsword, still all the way across the street. "Hamu, get Junpei's-"
BRRRRRRRRREEEEEEEEEEE!
Minato knew, intellectually, that there's no warning when the dark hour ends. But he still wasn't prepared for the sensory onslaught.
The entire team nearly leapt out of their skin as an avalanche of noise pierced their ears and a light like the sun shot through their eyes from somewhere above. Minato actually stumbled backwards, falling from the countertop and crashing onto his back next to Junpei (thankfully not hurting himself any worse than a slight bruise) as his senses were overloaded with sound and sight.
Too late for preparation. They were out of time.
12:01 AM
As soon as the world's color palette had snapped back to its regular hues, electricity began coursing through the city, and utter pandemonium ensued.
Noise exploded from all directions, and the sudden return of the entire color spectrum briefly blinded Minato. After he sat up from his fall, Minato's gaze darted to the side, squinting to see past the glaring brightness and look outside the shop.
Light streamed down from the streetlamps that survived the fight, the contrast between the fluorescent bulbs and the dark hour's moon making them look bright as stage lights to Minato, casting a bright spotlight on the damage caused by the team and the Shadows. The streets were now practically unusable, with deep gouges scarring the road from the Emperor's sword and craters caused by the Empress (both by its spells and its falls on the ground). Multiple car alarms started blaring (unsurprisingly, excluding the car that had been sheared in two by the Empress' spells), headlights flashing on and off in rapid, out-of-sync succession, displaying abstract shadows on the damaged walls of the surrounding buildings. The shop that the team had holed themselves up in also burst into a shrieking siren, the shrill bell-ring of an intruder alarm nearly overpowering the noise from the cars, while the emergency lights switched on and blinded S.E.E.S.
Then came the people.
No one from S.E.E.S. could hear their voices, but a small crowd began to swarm the street. They rapidly grew in numbers as more people flooded in from the surrounding buildings and roads, gawking at the damage to the street, gesturing at the various damage done to the buildings and surrounding areas, frantically pointing at the still-rushing fire hydrant (including the motorcycle embedded into it) and the discarded broadsword… and after a moment, noticing the teenagers inside the shop.
Dammit.
Minato whipped out his phone, hitting speed dial 9.
After two rings, the person on the other end picked up. "What the hell's that racket, kid?"
"Shoji. Get to the intersection of 5th and Sumire near Gekkoukan with an ambulance. Huge Shadow, serious injuries."
"Shit. Be there in five."
Shoji hung up, leaving the dial tone in Minato's ears. He flipped his phone shut.
Minato took a deep breath and got up from his position next to Junpei, walking over to his sister before gently reaching down to take hold of her arm (thankfully, she had already put her naginata behind cover and removed her S.E.E.S. armband). She turned to look at him, eyes wide as she tried to take in everything that was happening.
"Hamu, act scared."
A vaguely hysterical laugh squeaked out of Hamuko. "N-no acting required."
Minato walked forward with her, stumbling ungracefully (and were the situation any different, he would've started cursing up a storm, with that being the billionth time he'd tripped today. It was starting to really piss him off) into Hamuko as they exited the shop.
"Taking this acting thing seriously, h-huh?" Hamuko murmured as she stabilized him, placing her hands on his shoulder to right him.
"...I wish my stumbling was just acting."
But after that point, any time for further replies was gone. A couple in their mid-to-late thirties had approached the team, worry and fear brimming their eyes, and a touch of wariness in their demeanor.
"A-are you kids alright?" The woman asked with a shiver in her voice, clutching her partner's hand. "We're not quite sure what's happened, but- ohmygod."
A gasp ripped out of her as she laid eyes on Yukari inside the shop, leaning back while she grasped the man's hand tighter. Following her gaze, the man also reeled back, horror encroaching on his face as he came to a conclusion.
"Good god… she needs help."
Minato just stared. He wasn't used to feeling such exasperation outside of Junpei.
Did you need a PhD for that hypothesis, or does such brilliance come naturally?
(Ok, in the back of his head, Minato knew that comment was probably breaking the snark-o-meter. But it had been a damn stressful night).
Thankfully, before he could reply, Hamuko stepped up to the plate. "We know, th-there's an ambulance coming. J-just please stay back, ok? I-I don't want to crowd her."
"Alright… alright." The couple had to exert serious effort to take their eyes off Yukari, but eventually they managed to take in their other surroundings… and replacing their horror with simultaneous looks of confusion. "What… what happened here?"
...Just what I was hoping to avoid.
"We're… I'm not sure how to describe it." Minato stowed his hands in his pockets, taking his usual slouched posture. "It was like…"
He hesitated. But Hamuko's quiet voice poked into the conversation.
"...It was like hell had broken loose." She said, a murmur flitting through her lips. For once, her own posture was far too much like Minato's, staring at the ground with her back curved and shoulders hunched. She fiddled with the hem of her shirt as she spoke, picking off the dried blood, which gently fell to the ground and dissolved with the water now soaking the street. "W-we didn't see it happen either, but th-there was a huge explosion, and a whole lot of sh-shrapnel. That's how our friend got…h-h-hurt. A-after we saw the damage, we hid in the sh-shop, so we could lay our friend down, and… and I d-dunno what happened, but I'm… really scared."
She grew quiet, and the adults looked at each other. Minato raised his arm and laid a hand on Hamuko's shoulder, gently squeezing as her eyes squeezed shut again.
"Can you let us be, please?" Minato asked, not looking at the couple as they again glanced in his direction. "We'll be alright once the ambulance arrives."
"...Ok." The man spoke after a quick consultation glance with (and a brief nod from) his partner. "But be sure to say the word if you need anything."
"...Sure. Thanks."
Minato kept his eyes stuck to his sister as they left, both adults sneaking poorly hidden glances over their shoulders. In the background, the people finally began to get the situation under control (as much as it could be), with the owners of the cars shutting off the alarms, and the erratic flashes of headlights cutting out and returning the street to semi-darkness. There was one poor young adult catatonic with shock as he stared at the ruins of his car, that being (of course) the now-infamous car that the Empress had shredded. The hydrant was simply avoided. Chatter still resounded across the block, though far less alarmed, now simply shocked and intrigued, as people inspected the damage from closer up. The alarm in the shop had also thankfully shut off (Minato assumed it was on a timer, and would probably turn back on momentarily), though the emergency light's blinding rays still caught the remaining S.E.E.S. members inside.
After the couple got out of earshot, Minato drew closer to Hamuko, facing her and gently placing both his hands on her shoulders. "You alright?"
Instead of responding aloud, Hamuko just took a step forward, bumping Minato's hands from a gentle grasp into a light hug, pressing her face into his shoulder.
"Don't make me do that again," she murmured as he secured his grip around her.
"What?" he replied.
"Lie."
Minato raised an eyebrow as she continued. "I mean lying for myself. Not lying to help someone, not lying to make Yukari eat more or make someone feel better… just lying to save my ass. I hate that."
"...You were helping us. You saved all our asses."
A short, light burst of a chuckle escaped Hamuko. "Yeah, sure. But I still don't want to do it again, so…"
She trailed off as the distinctive wail of a siren approached, the ultimate sign of the end of the fight: the final hurdle, overcome.
The Arisatos withdrew from each other and looked in the direction of the klaxon, watching red lights spinning on buildings' walls as it approached, gyrating up and down erratically as the vehicle traversed the streets' now-uneven terrain.
Within a few moments, it shot out from behind a corner, bouncing madly and testing the limits of its suspension. It flew into the center of the street, before turning hard and going straight for Minato and Hamuko. Thankfully, it stopped before squishing them.
As it braked, a man jumped out from the passenger side. Lab coat flapping behind him, and greying hair tossed back by the wind, he immediately strode over to the twins with a look bordering bemused and exasperated. "What th' hell did you do this time, Minato."
"That was not five minutes, Shoji."
Shoji snorted. "Whatever, punk. It took longer because of whatever the hell you did to the goddamn streets, so…"
He trailed off as his eyes landed on Yukari and Junpei inside the shop. There was a beat of silence.
Now, Minato thought that his "leader voice" was impressive. And in his defense, based on S.E.E.S.' reactions when he used it, it was. But in this moment, Minato realized that he had never heard Shoji get serious.
"Everyone at attention, now. Hamuko and Akihiko, get two stretchers from the ambulance, bring one to Yukari and one to Junpei. Mitsuru, stay with me. Minato, help me carry Yukari. Move!"
Minato may have had plenty of experience in difficult combat situations… but he had to marvel at the authority exuded by a fully grown military doctor rearing up from his usual slouch to his full height (which Minato now realized was a solid foot above his own), commanding S.E.E.S. with the expectation of compliance and an unyielding demand for attention.
It was all underlined by an unspoken promise: Listen to me, and we'll all get out alive.
And Minato completely believed him.
All uninjured S.E.E.S. members moved at the same time (well, except Hamuko, who Minato tapped on the shoulder as he passed to get her into motion), going in different directions. Minato didn't pay much attention to the others aside from Shoji, who dashed inside the shop, leaping through the window and kneeling beside Yukari.
Shoji's eyes roved around the immediate area, rapidly scanning her body for damage assessment and (presumably) the best method for transport. "Mitsuru. What happened?"
"Takeba sustained heavy damage on her shoulder from a Shadow's large blade." She paused, composing herself before continuing. "Her arm was raised to summon her Persona, so the blade struck her forearm and continued through to her shoulder, where she was… struck down. Arisato carried her out, but the transport was hasty given the Shadow's proximity, so more damage may have been sustained."
Minato was rather impressed with the calm summary given by this Universe's Mitsuru. Despite knowing how rational and calm under pressure his Mitsuru was, watching a much less experienced version of Mitsuru give a perfectly good analysis when under these conditions was still remarkable.
(This was especially true given the squinting of her eyes and the jaw muscles pulled tight along the side of her face. Her words may have been clear and articulate as ever, but her expression showed her stress bright as a non-dark-hour moon.)
By now, Hamuko had brought a stretcher over to Yukari's side. Shoji immediately took the device from her limp hands and laid it on the ground, carefully transferring Yukari on top of it. "Understood, I'll ask for more details later. Akihiko! Get Junpei on that stretcher. Mitsuru, do whatever he tells you."
By the time that Akihiko called out an affirmative, Shoji had already gotten into position to raise the stretcher. He glanced up. "Minato. Grab the stretcher by her feet. Do not make any unnecessary movements."
Minato nodded, throwing on his backpack (which, miraculously, had still been undisturbed in the shop's corner) before following Shoji's directives. He grasped the handles at Yukari's feet, clenching his teeth as he saw the blood that hadn't disappeared with the dark hour running down her legs, ruining her tights, and even staining her brown shoes, painting them a dark, gory shade of red-brown.
After a few seconds of staring, he focused on walking instead, while Shoji began moving rapidly (although he made a point to slow down enough that Minato could keep up). Meanwhile, Akihiko had gotten Junpei on the stretcher and was carrying the boy to the ambulance with Mitsuru.
People had noticed the ambulance a while ago, and were now pointing and staring, murmurs rising as they saw the two teenagers being carried in on stretchers. They disappeared from Minato's view as he carried Yukari's stretcher inside the ambulance, laying it down carefully before Shoji began snapping restraints on to keep Yukari in place for the ride.
Minato stepped back as Hamuko entered the vehicle, clutching her Naginata like a deadly security blanket. He looked back in the shop as Akihiko and Mitsuru entered with Junpei, noticing the bow and quiver of arrows left inside, scattered and very noticeable.
"...Shoji, we didn't have a chance to gather all our weapons."
The man grunted as he moved to Junpei's stretcher, snapping on his restraints faster than Yukari's. "It's fine. That's the last thing you kids should worry about. I'll take it from here."
All injured teenagers secured, Shoji turned, moving to the front of the vehicle and whipping out a phone, hitting a speed dial number that Minato saw through a flash of the screen was dialing Kirijo Cleanup Services. He put the phone to his ear, slapping the back of the driver's seat and barking, "drive!"
Minato held onto a seat as the ambulance leapt forward, only his anchoring arm jerking with the acceleration. With his other hand, he caught a startled Hamuko, who had tumbled backwards with a "meep!"
Minato waited until the other S.E.E.S. members had all sat down before he lowered himself, kneeling next to a side window, but looking inside the vehicle. As the car churned forwards, the lights of Port Island rushed past in bursts of blurred color, the kaleidoscope of bouncing hues reflecting onto his expression:
Brow creased, teeth clenched, and visible eye scrunched, as he stared at Yukari's limp, still-bleeding arm.
...Damn.
12:12 AM
Mission: Success
Casualties: TBD
...
...
...
(Update on 10-20-18 - updating the links to my beta's site, and references to his username)
AN: (Emperor: "I don't feel so good, Ms. Nyx…")
At long last, the finale of the fight!
As always, a HUGE thank you to my beta, DisasterNoj, for helping me out with my many inconsistencies, weird phrasings, and other things that come with the territory of being an oddball writer. I can't stress how much of a help he is for improving my writing technique, and just general readability. You can find his work at:
www(point)disasternoj(point)tumblr(point)com
www(point)archiveofourown(point)org/users/Disasternoj
Also, thank you everyone (as always) for being so patient with me here! Work got busy, and I was finding it hard to get time to write/edit.
However: for once, I'm not in a rush to get this published in the morning, so I can actually blab to you all for a bit. Hooray!
This was quite a long fight, longer than I intended. I originally wanted chapters 25 and 26 to be together, but I thought the end of 25 was too good a cliffhanger to not use as the end of the chapter. Not to mention combining chapter 25 and 26 would've been monstrously long… although, that hasn't stopped me before. But y'know.
I briefly mentioned it in the end of last chapter, but yes, I really did have the idea for the Minato/Icarus summoning aaalll the way back when I first started writing this story. However, the actual implementation of it in ch. 26 differed from how I first imagined it. When I first envisioned my version of the Emperor/Empress fight, Minato actually wasn't in it the whole time!
I wanted him to come up at the last moment on a bike (or something that he could operate in the dark hour), jumping off it, dodging a few attacks, and standing between the downed S.E.E.S. team and the Shadows, yelling something like "I won't let you touch them!" or something else very cool (read: cheesy). After I started writing the scene, that idea obviously couldn't happen since Minato was already there, but regardless I'm quite happy about how it happened in the published story. (Plus, as you all know, I can't have Minato be too badass at any one time, and that probably would've crossed the line for me.)
Alright, I could keep talking about myself for a while, but I'll be rambling on about myself and this story soon enough (it'll be in "chapter 29," which won't be a real chapter… but you'll see what I mean when I post it). For now, here are the shout-outs!
Shout-outs to:
Twinblade 77, Scribe for the Lonely, Rome182, M0dERN, Kaleidoscope89, Itsacanary, Danzee, alejandro-dot-cisterna-dot-16, The One True Nobody, Krios530, Fujiwara Yoshitoki, lightningcore, kirigayakazuki99, 0lcra, Depthcharge2030, quillquate, seekerskull8692, Voysis, Expresso Patronum (Accio Venti!), Striking Eagle, DiLost, Sup Poki, writeusernamehere55, Server lock, The Final Faux, Anime-Niakz, and frakenbordo for fav'ing;
Shadow1001, Scribe for the Lonely, Kaleidoscope89, Tahkaullus01, Shikiola, Rome182, EmD23, Danzee, Allen Ux Ultor, alejandro-dot-cisterna-dot-16, The One True Nobody, Shifting Aura, Fujiwara Yoshitoki, skrubboi, lightningcore, kirigayakazuki99, berwin888, Depthcharge2030, quillquate, Verdin Grey, Kuuthana, Voysis, SomebodyLost, NaotoTainaka, Asdr, yaselius, Balmumon1, Expresso Patronum, camilaanahi2002, nice ping, Striking Eagle, Sup Poki, writeusernamehere55, Server lock, bezerker928, ZXP, The Final Faux, Anime-Niakz, frakenbordo, and Noxiles for following;
And crymblade, Shadow1001, KageFuego4, DustTilDawn, 0lcra, mikaerusan, Pharos666, MagatsuIza, adislt, SomebodyLost, P3ForFaggot (OH MAN MY FIRST FLAME, EVERYONE I'M VERY EXCITED ABOUT THIS!), and The Final Faux for reviewing!
In response to:
The Final Faux – Thanks, I appreciate that! And thanks for reviewing!
Okay everyone, there's one more chapter before the end of season 2! I'm several pages into writing it, however like this one, I'm not going to put any timeline on when it'll be out. But I'm working on it!
On a serious note – again, thank you all for sticking with me during my long writing periods, I really do appreciate that you're all willing to wait for me and my genuinely awful wait times.
Alright then, that's all for now. As always, thank you for reading Lateral, and I'll see you in the next update!