The mustiness of the underground military complex feels oppressing under the silent curtain of the Dark Hour, making some of them edgy with stress. Each of their footsteps echoes on the walls around, reverbing back strangely in metallic distortion, and it's quite dusty. As usual, Akihiko is bringing the rear and perhaps because of the darkness, Yukari is hovering between the twins in front of him in discomfort.
I didn't know there was a place like this so close by.
They barely made it past a set of large metallic panels in the depths of the facility when someone slowly claps their hands in congratulation from their back, mocking.
"Oooh, well done."
Akihiko turns around, facing two intruders: an angry teenager with glasses holding a suitcase and a shirtless, skinny man with long hair and a disturbed expression of glee. It's the later that's holding his palms together and brings them to rest at his belt on the grip of a revolver.
Shit… He's got a gun too!
That's not something they are used to deal with and the stress is palpable, he subtly repositions to cover Minako and Yukari since they were all bringing the rear. Minato and Junpei seem to have noticed the firearm as well and are closing in around the girls, weapons half drawn. Fuuka seems shaken, eyes darting around from the center, turning to Minako who touches her shoulder in reassurance.
"I… I didn't sense them at all before now!"
Their leader scowls at the intruders, nose raised in defiance.
"Who the hell are you?"
The smile from the gun wielder is almost oily with some sick pleasure, his eyes narrowed like a predator.
"It's so nice to finally meet you in person my dear. My name is Takaya, and this is Jin. We are known to some as Strega."
Minako raises an eyebrow, sizes him up, clearly unimpressed.
"Now then. We've been keeping an eye on you and your activities for some time. From what we hear, you've undertaken a "righteous" battle to save the world. Unfortunately, we've come here tonight to put an end to that."
Minato takes a step forward to stand near his sister, clearly, he hates the attention directed her way as much as he does.
"The hell you are."
His tone is cold, and his bluish eyes look hard, he's clearly having none of it. Takaya simply smiles again at Minako, keeping a hand on the handle of his gun as he takes stock of their party with a feral look.
"You've gained many new allies in such a short time, no doubt because this land crawls with sin. Ah, Tartarus is towering as beautifully as always…"
She replies, gaze calculating.
"You know about Tartarus?"
Junpei seems emboldened to speak up as well.
"Wait, if you know about it, why the hell would you wanna stop us!?"
Jin, his air smug and superior, looks at him with disdain.
"It ain't rocket science. If Shadows and the Dark Hour disappear, we could lose our power. And that's not something we can abide by, get it?"
Mitsuru sounds shocked at his statement.
"Power… Are you saying you're Persona-users too?"
Jin scoffs at her and doesn't answer, but Takaya turns back to Minako with his teeth bared and a look that makes Akihiko's flesh crawl. He clenches his fists in guard, eyeing the gun and the positions they're all in, just in case.
You are not touching her.
"I implore you to think more carefully. Do you really want to lose your abilities? Not just anyone can wield the power of a Persona. The Dark Hour is a frontier that is ours alone to explore. And the same goes for the Tower of Demise."
Yukari snorts like the guy is insane.
"That's your reason for stopping us? Then you're the ones who need to think! Who knows what might happen if we don't do something?"
Takaya simply chuckles like everything is just too simple for them to comprehend.
"A catastrophe brought on by the Shadows… What difference does it make, really? Disasters will always exist. And humans will always destroy each other, regardless of what the Shadows do. Either way, no one can predict what misfortunes will befall who."
And that sick dirty grin is back on his face as he sizes Minako again, and Akihiko is clenching his jaw, trying to refrain from punching the guy.
"But more importantly, it's time you accepted the truth. Surely you will acknowledge the sense of fulfillment the Dark Hour has given you."
He can hear her nails scrapping the handle of her naginata in frustration.
Can't fault her there.
Yukari scoffs, disgusted.
"You think I like this?"
Sounding surprised, the gun wilder speaks again.
"Is it not so? How about the rest of you? Do you also wish to return to your pathetic, ordinary lives?"
And Takaya eyes them all one by one with a smirk; Akihiko must bite down on his lip to hold a pensive grumble down. Jin laughs spitefully at them when nobody seems to reply except in murmurs.
"Whatever, you all got your own selfish reasons for fighting. That so-called "justice" of yours? Ain't nothing but an excuse. There's nothing righteous about any of ya. You're all just hypocrites. Like hell you chumps are gonna stop us!
That shakes him out of his funk and he snaps his eyes back to the intruders to check for a threat.
"What'd you say!?"
But Jin simply waves at him, grinning evilly, and smacks something with his palm from their side of the doorframe.
"Have fun in there!"
And the huge metal partition they came from shuts down with force. He looks for a way to open them but there's no control panels from their side.
"Dammit, they locked us in!"
Aigis seems completely unbothered by the event, addressing the twins.
"There is no need to panic. Instead of wasting resources, I recommend we prioritize the Shadow first."
Minako takes a breath, straightens her stance, and slips on a mask of cold determination.
"She's right, we're here to do a job, we can find an exit after. Fuuka, can you pick up anything?"
Fuuka summons Lucia, basking in her light for a little while before gasping.
"The Shadow's moving! I think it's noticed us! Down this passage!"
This time he's at the front with Minako while the group navigates the wartime tunnels twisting down. She looks tense and her face is grim with anger as she eyes the relics of conflict past. Akihiko is staying close, following her gaze when she looks down.
"What's this…? It almost looks like tire tracks but…"
She looks at him, unsure.
Is that…
"Threads. Very heavy vehicle, recent too."
She takes a deep breath, brows furrowed.
"Junpei, Min, get over here!"
The other boys oblige quickly, and the twins exchange a long expressive glance and a few quiet words before she turns back to them with a little tense smile.
"Sorry, setting my little demon ducks in a row. You guys take the front with Aigis and stay defensive, we don't know how bad this is. Soften it if you can, I'll back you up."
How does that multiple persona thing work anyway?
Fuuka interrupts, her voice a little panicked.
"Minako, it's moving downward, we have to catch it!"
"Alright team, let's go!"
It's quite dark in the large room filled with debris, but the sound in front of them is unmistakable; heavy machinery.
Junpei gasps in surprise when their enemy charges forward, a weird turret mounted on top of a threaded contraption.
"A motherfucking tank? You have got to be kidding me!"
Ignoring his quips, Akihiko shoots Polydeuces out of his mind to debilitate their target repeatedly while Aigis acts as suppressing fire. Hermes charges, wings aflame, barely leaving a mark, and even the bullets from their robot companion are only doing surface damage.
Minato and Mitsuru are summoning blocks of ice and tornadoes in tandem, covering Takeba who is trying to snipe the turret from afar, with limited success.
What the hell is that thing?
"No weakness, so pace yourselves and stay defensive, there are two of them in there!"
Minako is staying far from the front to give herself some leg room, evoker at the ready, slowly weaving enhancements around all of them with various summons. And this time, he knows she's doing it on purpose when there's haptic feedback in his hair that feels suspiciously like her hands to shield him from harm and augment his attacks.
How is she doing that?
He can't stop to think about it more, aiming at his forehead again to summon lightning and it has barely more effect than the rest of their efforts. The tank is rolling madly, trying to ram them over, but their enhancements keep them sharp on their feet until it tires and pauses.
"Mitsuru-senpai, ice the threads!"
"On it!"
Great columns of ice crash on the tank's mobile straps with much fanfare, backed by Minato's efforts and the vehicle stops completely, but its turret doesn't and shoots a large shell in the midst of the party. The explosion knocks most of them down with various scrapes and burns. Akihiko barely rolls out of the way to limit the damage and it stings on his forearm.
The smoke clears and Minako is on her knees, hair askew and blood leaking from her brow but her eyes are leaking flames with determination.
"Inaba no Shirousagi!"
And it's the cutest white rabbit that actualizes above her to land on her shoulder in a whirl of blue fire, shining like a tiny moon. She strokes its head and the wave of restoration that bursts from her is intense and bright, chasing the pain away.
The hare bounces on the floor at her feet and white comets shoot from her hands to the tank's front panel, denting it slightly. Penthesilea dances forward again to strike in a cold rush and the tank can't seem to shake off the sleet covering it.
"Hack it up, it can't shoot you from point blank!"
Junpei rolls in, slashing in glee in the tough threads with Minato while Akihiko tries to break the supports with thundering pummels that make his shoulders burn. It's denting and the armored Shadow sways, rubber and metal bits dangling from its side. Then the tank whirrs above them and the turret detaches to fly off, the rest of the vehicle folding upward on its back thread tracks.
"It's two Shadows, fall back and dodge!"
He calls Polydeuces again to shock the tank as a distraction and it seems to suddenly connect way better, but that turret is fast, hovering like a hummingbird to shoot at everyone. Palladion charges on the annoying winged Shadow, knocking it off-balance and its latest shot hits the tank itself with a concentrated shaft of light to good effect.
"Yukari, shoot that flyer we can't reach it!"
Assisted by Aigis' bullets, the archer scores a few hits, while the others focus their personas on the tank outside of melee range, since it's charging this way and that again. The flying sharpshooter eventually falls but doesn't disintegrate and simply gets back up after a few seconds, completely unarmed. It reconnects on the tank and shoots another explosive shell at the back.
This time, Yukari goes down in the debris, the wind knocked out of her, and Junpei's not faring much better from the floor, leg bloody. The little rabbit actualizes again, light pulsing from it to keep them afloat. Minato calls a large snake with multiple heads, echoing Mitsuru's summons for ice to prevent the tank from charging and Akihiko repositions between them and the enemy to reapply debilitates.
"Aigis, Orgia Mode!"
The robotic maiden starts glowing, overriding her limiters and going ham on the recombined shadow with all her weaponry, dodging the shells this way and that, causing one of them to explode near them. This time, Akihiko fails to roll far enough away and gets knocked face first in a pile of rubble, smacking the left of his face hard and rattling his jaw painfully. He shakes his head to get the ringing out of it, spitting blood.
"Get ready it's going to separate again!"
Minako throws the bunny his way and it bounces up to his cheek, exploding in a warm shower of light that heals his wounds, but his head is still throbbing fiercely. Mitsuru seems quite winded, focusing her energies to Takeba now that Junpei is back up and throwing fireballs in the fray. Aigis, her overdrive spent, falls down in overheating near Minato, but she greatly damaged the combined shadows and bought them some time.
"Min, help Yukari and cover Aigis!"
Her twin nods, taking position and summoning again. Minako turns to Akihiko and Junpei, wiping blood off her forehead and taking her evoker.
"I'll attract the turret, you guys go in and break that toy will ya?"
Minako wastes no time in running away from them like a little comet, calling down beams of light on the tank to get its attention and the turret follows her like a homing device. Akihiko nods to Junpei and they slide into melee, safe from explosions and going hard on the damaged armor. Minako uses the explosive debris as cover from the incoming turret shells, eyes leaking red to leverage her small persona's moonlight aura to pepper their target with homing meteorites.
The shadows split yet again, but clearly, they are at their limit and the combined efforts of Hermes and Polydeuces on the upright machine is enough to crumple it down. The lone flyer eats two well-placed shots from Yukari in quick succession and follows it down, disintegrating for good.
Minako huffs, tired and caked in grime and blood, then sinks to the floor. The hare dispels in a haze of blue flames after she strokes its ears.
"Thank you little guy."