The rest of the operation keeps on going sideways, when it rains it pours. As soon as the Dark Hour hits in the gym, Junpei, Minato, Minako and him get separated and thrown to different corners of Tartarus like ragdolls.
The Arqa block's scenery messes with depth and sound, with its flowing walls that distort echoes. The shadows also seem strong, agitated, making any encounter a risk in solo. Hard to know if they are above the levels they reached the other night, since the labyrinth changes every day.
Dusting his pants as he gets up, Akihiko concentrates on the ambient sound to navigate his quiet corner of purplish hell, hoping to hear anyone and regroup. He has no worry for himself, he'll take on anything, but his juniors might not fare so well and if they find Yamagishi unconscious, it will require teamwork to bring her back to the entrance and defend her. Blanketed in silence, he advances with care in the labyrinth, all senses wired.
Junpei is busy holding off two shadows, a cut raining blood down his brow and cheek, a knee seeming weaker than the other. Running to intervene, Akihiko plunges once he is close enough and punch bombs one of their opponents into a sprawl, taking pressure away from Iori. A large swat of blade finishes it off in a cloud of ink.
"Senpai! Good to see you. Did you find the Arisatos?" Junpei sounds relieved and the stress oozes from his voice.
Evoker in hand, poised to strike, he nods in the negative before unleashing a bright flash of thunder on the last shadow in play, then switches to healing to close the gash blinding the junior. Junpei slashes, summons flames, and the fight is done.
"Fingers crossed they are together; this is brutal! I wonder in what shape Yamagishi is in right now…"
Akihiko rolls his shoulder, better not to think about what they could find and keep a straight head.
"Hopefully fine, let's just move quickly, I got your back." Firm, commanding, assertive, just like the old days. While he may be bottling down his dread, he can't show it, now's not the time. They just need to scramble, safely, since all they can get from Mitsuru is some distorted static. They're on their own now, no safety net.
It takes them some time to even come close to another sign of life, shadows are nowhere near after the initial reunion. Junpei reacts instantly once the distinct click of an evoker echoes vaguely in the curved corridors to the right.
"It's them, they're close!" The teen runs on ahead, ambushes be damned, blade getting dragged out of its sheet with a metallic song.
As they both turn the corner, they are indeed reassured by the sigh of the twins, back-to-back, weapons in hand and furiously fighting a large legion of shadows. Naginata and sword are darting on both ends of their stand, the enemies pressing them too much anymore to rely on evokers until the numbers are thinned or they might be knocked off their hands. Junpei jumps into the fray toward them, cleaving full force into a shadow from behind while sidestepping some melting ice.
"Dude, finally! I was wondering when we would find you! Did you spot Yamagishi?"
Minato is breathing hard, but nods, dodging a flailing appendage by the skin of his teeth. He took quite a few hits before they came here, his uniform gashed and burned in several spots.
"We can hear her; she is close but hiding for now. Got to clean up the trash first." Minako talks, voice ragged, glancing at her injured twin with a pained expression. Minato must have shielded her as long as he could, and she wears her guiltiness on her ripped sleeve.
She looks at Akihiko with trust, evoker in hand and he instantly gets the message, eyes narrowing in acceptance. All traces of the previous awkwardness of the night evaporate in the throes of combat and he positions himself with a roll and some footwork between her and her attackers. Jumping into the fray carefully to avoid overreaching, his few quick jabs make the shadows confirm that he is a dangerous opponent to ignore.
A serpentine persona twists and coils around Minako as motes of light engulf the whole party, lifting their spirits and closing wounds. Minato moves toward her, already looking better and letting Junpei take point on his end. Raising his own replica, he calls forth some sort of pumpkin ghost that bathes the floors in flames. Junpei adds more chaos to the fray, throwing a fireball that crumbles a shadow to ash. A column of liquid lightning explodes another that was about to strike at Akihiko, connected to a raised naginata like a grounded rod. White spots dancing in his vision, he punches its neighbor straight through its mask, cracking it with a resounding uppercut, then silence blankets them as the motes of black melt into the floor.
Junpei sighs, somewhat exhausted, then screams bloody murder as a mousy, pale-faced girl makes her way to them on unstable legs. The senior takes in her blueish hair and relaxes, he remembers the class roster picture.
"Are you Fuuka Yamagishi?"
"Y-Yes…"
Fuuka's assertion that danger is at the entrance of Tartarus, his previous obliviousness to the potential timing of the full moons and the larger shadows, on top of the static-filled panic from Mitsuru all contribute to sink this day into the gutter. The gloomy tendrils of dread grip Akihiko tighter as they teleport to the bottom of the tower, running before they even fully materialize.
Takeba and Mitsuru are on the floor, disarmed, battered and bleeding, while two large shadows loom over them, ready to give the finishing blows.
"Sanada-san! We gotta draw the Shadows away!"
"Yeah, I'm on it! Hey! If it's a fight you want, then you've got it!"
Junpei wastes no time in engaging them at his side, they need to distract the menace while Minako tends to the girls' wounds until they can properly regroup.
Knuckles hit flesh but bounce off as if he had struck a brick wall with full force. He falls back, shaking his wrist to chase the numbness. From the corner of his eye, he spots Minato trying to distract the sword-wielding giant by side stepping around it, evoker in hand. Brief flashes of light and flickering figures show that whatever element he is trying to conjure has no effect.
While his sister had healed him previously, he is clearly tired, and it shows. Still, they need to buy themselves some time, but without enough aggression to draw both enemies to them, the large shadows finally turn to the teenager who barged into the lobby and the rescued second year comforting her. Fuuka summons her persona in despair to protect her former bully, throwing the enemies back with the pressure burst of Lucia's actualisation, this is the break they needed.
Takeba tries to get up, balancing her weight with a hand on Minako's shoulder, her gashed leg seems better but she's barely able to stand on it.
"Yamagishi-san?"
The small, calm voice that answers her seems almost confident now, distorted by the bubble around her.
"I can see… I… I can see these monsters' weaknesses…"
This confirms everything their rescue mentioned in Tartarus, about sensing the presences around them when they were trying to find their way back, her warning about the intrusion below. She has a second sight that can support them, and it might just be what's needed to pierce their new opponents' defenses.
"Just as I thought. Mitsuru, let her take your place. We'll handle these guys!"
The boys fan out with him in front of Minako in a rough spread, ready to pounce. She winks at Fuuka as she twirls her naginata energically, clearly communicating with her silently. She nods absently, then looks at Junpei with an excited grin.
"Alright, light this one up!"
They all dart in and out, keeping a defensive profile near their leader until an opportunity appears to destabilize one of the looming giants, exploiting Fuuka's probing as much as possible. With their new navigator's help, they win the fight in short order, a highlight after the previous events. The lobby is covered in small smothering flames, chunks of ice and scorch marks as a testament to the vast array of spells that were flung around.
The junior faints, the blue embrace of her persona dissipating as she crumbles on the floor. It's over.