Chapter 8: Going to War

(MA POV)

The Rolls-Royce handled quite smoothly, all things considered. While I wasn't the most experienced driver, I'd had some practice recently, courtesy of Mitsuru.

The redhead was right next to me, on her new bike. Its sleek black paint job with purple lights fit her quite well. Supposedly, it was some sort of combat vehicle Kidd had developed.

As for Kidd, he was in front of us in his new car, ploughing through any obstacles in his way. I held back a laugh at the recent memory of seeing that thing for the first time, and the exchange that followed.

[Earlier]

"Behold!" Kidd pulled a white tarp off of the car, showing off its primer-coated body and dummy symbols on its hubcaps. "This modified 1978 Cadillac Eldorado is designed in every way to be the most advanced mobile weapon ever built."

"That still has yet to be tested…" Espresso muttered under his breath.

"This IS the test, ya wet blanket. Now let's go!"

[Now]

The car could be better described as a battering ram with accessories than a vehicle, at least when he was driving it. Even when a police officer pulled into its path to stop it, the Cadillac just slammed his car aside. Kidd VIII was determined to put an end to this monster, and nothing was gonna stop him.

"M… Mi… Minato…" Yukari groaned from next to me, her face starting to turn a pale green.

I then realised that I had been swerving all over the road absentmindedly for the last few minutes while I was distracted. "Sorry."

"Just keep the car steady and we'll call it even…"

The phone next to the shifter suddenly started ringing. When I picked up, Kidd's voice was heard through the speakers. "Yukari, check the glove box."

She did so, and pulled out a small white bag. "In the bag, not on the leather," he quipped before hanging up.

The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful. Once we made it to the station, we made a plan to split up into multiple teams, with the scout group consisting of Junpei, Akihiko, and Chidori.

Once the scout team found the Endo, they would retreat before it saw them and alert the rest of us to its location. The ambush team, consisting of Yukari, Koromaru, and myself, would then attack the monster and force it into the open, where everyone except Fuuka, who was assigned to her usual role as navigator, would begin a concentrated attack.

At least, that was the plan. Let's just say…

"Damn, he saw us! We're coming your way, be ready for a fight!"

…it didn't go as intended. The creature's heightened senses were able to detect the scouts, and it was bearing down on them FAST.

(WK POV)

"Time to go wild… You guys ready?"

The others nodded, determination in their eyes, before drawing their weapons.

"Alright. Remember, in order to completely destroy this thing, every last scrap of flesh has to be torn apart to a molecular level. Now let's go!"

The moment the Endo made it into the open, we began the assault. As the bloodshed roared on, the disfigured pile of muscle, skin and bone shifted into a monstrous form similar to a massive squid. "Fitting," I taunted. "A pirate against a kraken. Only this time, the pirate's gonna win!"

"It can do that?!" Junpei yelled from next to me.

Minato responded calmly. "If it can mimic other beings, it makes sense that it can use their DNA to expand its own mass. See how everyone else that was here is gone? It must've absorbed them."

"So this thing just killed hundreds of people?!" Yukari asked with a horrified expression.

"Only temporarily," I responded quickly. "Once we do enough damage, the foreign DNA will separate and return those people to normal."

Even if it was outnumbered, the transformed Endo still managed to put up a fight. Each of its colossal tentacles lashed out at the team, forcing them to duck and weave around the battlefield.

Countless wounds littered its body where we had managed to counterattack, but they served as little more than a distraction.

The personas also chipped in, delivering powerful blows to the monster's head in an effort to disorient it. The only ones not joining in on the fight were Isis and Juno, who were providing support with their healing magic and scanning ability respectively.

Minato and I jumped into our cars and unloaded the weapons into the Endo. As the Rolls' machine guns and stinger missiles blasted against it, I focused on taking out its eyes with the Eldorado's 60mm cannon.

Eventually, my aim hit true and the beast threw its head back, screeching in pain. The opening allowed for everyone to pile their attacks onto it and destroy its makeshift form. As it began to decay back to normal, I went in for the kill, Bladesaw drawn.

(YT POV)

"KIDD!" In the last moments before the squid completely dissipated, it slammed its tentacle into him, launching him through the wall. Everyone turned towards it, hoping to hear anything that indicated his survival.

"…" Silence. The only sound from that direction was that of debris falling from the shattered wall.

"No… no, he can't be…" Akihiko said quietly.

Espresso lowered his head and sighed when everyone turned to him. "He always did seem to have impossible luck, but he's still just a man. No one could've made it out of that unscathed. Besides, even if he managed to retain consciousness, the rubble would've crushed him."

The scarf-wearing teen was suddenly interrupted by the Endo's cruel chuckle. "So, the legendary Kidd VIII has finally fallen. Fitting that a man born from science would die to the very thing it was meant to destroy."

"What?" I asked, trying to keep from showing fear, like the others.

"He didn't tell you? Interesting… Oh well, a question you can ask him in the next life, I suppose." With that, it charged, long claws forming on its hands.

Without thinking, I dodged towards the rubble, and grabbed the Bladesaw. It swung around and brought its hand down, not reacting to the Agilao that blasted it in the back.

I threw myself aside again, firing a few rounds at the monster to hold it off, before pulling the cord on the Bladesaw.

The loud roar from the weapon caused the Endo to clutch its ears in pain. I decided to capitalise on the created opening and swung. The moment the chains made contact, they began to glow red as they cut deeper into the monster.

Everyone else backed me up with support skills while Minato came up next to me, slashing his sword at the creature's limbs. Eventually, I managed to cut all the way through. As the two halves collapsed onto the ground, their edges glowing from the heat used to cut into them, we all breathed a sigh of relief. Minato threw a lit match onto the remains to burn and destroy them on a molecular level, while anything left untouched was burned up by a controlled Agi from Junpei's persona.

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough. A piece of the Endo suddenly flew off towards the wreckage of Kidd's death site, and disappeared before we could react.

Espresso fired up the Eldorado's bioscanner, turning up empty-handed. "That settles it." He got up, walked to the edge of the ruins, and crossed himself while muttering a prayer. Afterwards, he turned around and walked towards his own car.

We had won, but at a terrible cost. Without anything else to do, we all went our separate ways, with Minato and I heading back to my house, and Fuuka chasing after Espresso in the Eldorado.

"Minato?" I asked.

He glanced towards me. "What's up?"

"What do you think that thing meant?"

"About what?"

"About Kidd being 'born from science.' Does that mean anything to you?"

"No. It was probably just some trick. Don't think too hard about it."

The rest of the trip continued in silence, but one thing was on everyone's mind.

Kidd VIII was dead.