Same day 11:44 AM
"Chie! We're here!" Yukiko announces loudly, moving past an older detective by his car towards the open maw of the outcropping where the female sleuth is. The houses and poles on either side of the street weren't disturbed in the slightest by the eruption of this new object.
The woman, Chie, is wearing a black suit, skirt and dark green boots. Her eyes are brown and shoulder length brown hair is styled in a bob cut, turns at the call, "I wasn't expecting you guys at all for a few minutes or the newbies with Labrys." Yukiko had texted her about three minutes prior telling her about Labrys being in town.
"We were lucky that we were together already." Kanji answers, scrutinizing the outcropping, trying to figure it out, "So give us the run down already. Who was this kidnapper you're after?"
"You won't even believe who it is, it shouldn't even be possible. Even Detective Dojima didn't believe it at first." Chie begins, her tone of voice filled with confusion and hesitation, "T…The kidnapper is Mr. Morooka! My head hurts just thinking about it."
"What?!" Kanji, Teddie and Yukiko exclaim as shock crosses their faces. There was no way it could be him. Even Labrys is a bit spooked by this news.
The three teens look at each other in confusion at the reaction of the adults. Yamato speaks up tentatively to fill the small hole of silence, "So…what's the problem then?"
The older man, Detective Dojima, who is in his mid fifties with graying hair, gray eyes and full suit, leans up against the side of the car, speaks up, not batting an eye at these kids here with his nephew's friends, "Kinshiro Morooka is dead. He's been dead for almost fourteen years. I worked on that case kid, I even dealt with the body as it was taken down from a water tower. We saw his grave marker today and it along with two others had been split apart. We even chased him from the cemetery to here when that thing popped up."
"The victim isn't from Inaba, but their mother is and was a student of Mr. Morooka, having graduated from Yasogami in 2006. She is a fifteen year old Orimasu high school student from Ainoska named Towa Usagi who…"
"HE!" The four Orimasu students shout in unison, respecting the identity their friend has chosen.
Chie closes the notebook, nodding, "He needs our help in whatever this thing is. You can fill me in on whatever this is as we go." She marches right into the maw of the outcropping, disappearing from view.
The remaining Persona users all file in after her, all with looks of determination.
The walls of the Dread Burrow aren't that of slimy stonewalls, but banks of thirty inch TVs from ceiling to floor. Faces flicker across the screens, the first is of a man in a bad suit with black hair in a rather terrible looking haircut and hazel eyes, the second is of a teenage girl with brown wavy hair and brown eyes, while the third is of a woman with short black hair and brown eyes.
The final face is of a man with short unkempt black hair and hazel eyes with a smug expression on his face. The TVs light up the entire Burrow in a sickening ghostly yellow glow. The floor is of red tile with grainy looking sand between the cracks.
"This is creepy, not only is Morooka on these TVs, but so are Ms. Yamano, Saki Konishi and Adachi!" Chie recoils at the sight of the TVs as the others join her.
"The faces aren't the only thing that's creepy about this place." Izumi whispers to her friends, Leiko and Yamato nodding in agreement.
Kanji unsettlingly glares at one of the screens, placing his hand on it, with nothing happening, "Looks like we can't get into TV-World from here. Shame we won't be able to…" He's interrupted when a red and black bodied, golden helmeted Persona with flame painted arms, legs and knees, carrying a sword appears. "Alright!" The man exclaims, punching his right fist into his open hand. "I'm so ready to go, being able to use my Persona again. It's good to see you again, Rokuten Maou."
Teddie sneezes once, rubbing his nose, "This place is distorted like the TV-World was and like when the town was covered by that Red Fog in 2012. I just want to know why Adachy-baby is on these TV's! Come on out, Kamui!" His Bearson flares to life, which is a silver colored ball that has clawed hands and normal legs of black and red. Its face has a yellow nose at its center, a fully blue face with its mouth visible below it, a red ring circling the blue. The Persona is also wearing a long red cape. A large rocket extends from the backside of it.
Brandishing her fan to block the faces on the TVs, Yukiko twirls gracefully as Amaterasu, a golden featureless bodied Persona with silver blade-like wings, twin silver swords and silver flower shields springs to life. "To think, another phenomenon like that of the TV-World would be in a place like this." She looks over to Chie, "When we get out of here, I'd like you to teach me how to summon my Persona like you do."
"Of course I will." She answers in her attempt to take her mind off the screens, "Well, let's get a move on."
"Right! I'll lead the way." Kanji crows, walking past Chie, stopping only when he is shoulder to shoulder with Leiko, "Mizaki, you're the Navigator for your group right? Stay behind us a fair distance and give us updates with Persona Comms on what's ahead."
"I guess you can call my analytical Persona abilities something like being a navigator, but I uh…can't." Leiko answers with a gloomy sigh, her eyes darting away from the banks of TVs. Even after one lesson with Fuuka, she hadn't learned a thing about how to use Persona Communication.
Kenji raises an eyebrow at her, "Can't do what? Spit it out Mizaki."
"I can't use Persona Communication." Leiko utters, looking embarrassed as she hangs her head.
"How can you not use such a simple skill!? It should be second nature to you! With Fuuka I'm sure it was, even Teddie can use it and he's barely able to detect anything now with that nose of his after he developed an ego!" Kanji roars, his eyes filled with anger.
"I don't understand how to! I'm not a fucking natural when it comes to this! I'M NOT FUUKA YOU KNOW!" The girl shouts, angry hot tears slowly leaking from her eyes. "It's w…"
"You ain't Rise Kujikawa either kid!" Kanji screams back at her, cutting her off, not caring if he made Leiko cry even more. "If you can't use Persona Comms with your other abilities, what good are you to anyone? Even Teddie is of more use than you." With one last dirty look, he walks on ahead.
"Damn fucking asshole!" Leiko growls, her fists shaking, "I…I am doing my best to learn these skills and can only do what I know I can do! I…I can't be perfect like Fuuka or this Rise, I am me and that's all I can be!" She wipes the tears away, trying to calm herself.
Chie snorts in aggravation, "He's living up to his old Moronji nickname Rise gave him."
"Leiko," Izumi gently places a hand on her shoulder, "Show him the workaround that you and Fuuka cooked up and that he can't define you based on what he's seen so far."
The pink haired girl nods, quickly drawing a pink wireless earpiece device from her bag, having Izumi help tuck it behind her left ear, hiding it behind a sheet of hair after. "Thanks Zumi. I'm not going to let him get me down."
"Yeah! Just got to stay positive!" Izumi bubbly cheers, shaking her arms in front of her in support, as she and the others begin walking after Kanji.
Leiko drops several paces behind until only the silhouettes of her friends and compassions are barely visible, "Mic test, can you guys hear me?"
"I can…you, thought a word…two was lost." Labrys answers, one of the forms ahead raising their arm as extra confirmation.
"You…say that it…going to be perfect." Yamato's voice crackles over the earpiece.
The device was imperfect and that is fine for now. At least it's working. Leiko blares in her mind, joining the others as they continue on, while also scanning the tunnel ahead.
The TV-clad corridor slowly widens as the group proceeds, Kanji coming into view as the path diverges. "About time you all got here. Thought I would be twiddling my thumbs for a while. So what's the game plan?"
"We split up. If we get into a fight we won't get in each other's way." Chie reasons looking down the left path.
Labrys' eyes shine with a sudden idea, "Chie, I'll go with Kanji, Teddie and Yukiko. You can go with Leiko, Izumi and Yamato. Get to know them, like a responsible student council president."
"She w…" Kanji starts, getting an elbow to the gut and Yukiko placing her index finger to her lips to shhh him.
"And show the newbies what a real police detective can do." Chie answers, giving the android a quick knowing wink. "Are you all cool coming with me?"
"I think going with her would be a good idea." Yamato answers, giving Labrys a bit of a questioning look due to what she had said. No student council president had gotten to know him in the past.
With a momentary thoughtful look on her face, Izumi gives a nod, "Of course I'll go, chatting and fighting alongside Chie sounds like a blast. Can you three make sure that Labby doesn't become any more injured than she already is."
"I'll be sure she stays in tip top shape!" Teddie enthusiastically salutes.
The silver haired girl smiles, giving Teddie a pat to the head.
Leiko bites her cheek as she ends her scan, pondering her words. "Not going with Chie would be to ignore the heart and power of bonds. So count me in on going with you Senpai." She projects as determination blazes in her lilac eyes, adding on. "There are a fair number of Shadows on each path ahead, but one may be shorter, I couldn't get a clear view."
"Listen to this kid talking about bonds like she's Yu-senpai when she can barely do anything with her Persona." Kanji mutters so only Yukiko could really hear him.
Yukiko shakes her head, disappointed in the man's behavior, "She's at least trying to make up for her weakness, Kanji. You could think about cutting her some slack."
The man snorts, tersely answering, "I'll think about it alright." A part of him felt bad about going after the kid like that. He let himself slip back into being impulsive and didn't try to understand Leiko at all. It was the reverse of his situation where had to get people to understand him back in 2011.
The two groups nod to each other, heading down their respective paths.
"Take this!" Chie roundhouse kicks a Mermaid looking Persona into a wall, cracking the TV behind it. Izumi follows up with a large smack to its midsection, dissolving it to nothingness.
"So where was I in expl…right I remember." Chie remarks, watching Yamato slice through a floating blue robed figure with a pumpkin head. "So after we befriended Labrys, we were about to leave the TV world, but someone hacked her. She was forced into a fight with Yosuke and Aigis, but Fuuka shut down the hacking with Juno. So that's the event of how our deep bond with Labrys and the rest of the Shadow Operatives were formed."
"Did you guys ever figure out who or wheat was behind it all?" Yamato questions as he is smacked in the side by a snowman looking monster wearing a blue jester's hat and collar. It begins to giggle, turning around smacking its butt tauntingly. "You're not really funny ice bro." Yamato comments sourly as Iwaka dumps a small fireball on it, vaporizing the beast.
"We did the very next day. It was an entity known as Kagutsuchi that wanted to destroy everything, along with an unwitting pawn, Sho." The detective answers, "If it wasn't for meeting my master then, I would never be the detective I am now."
"So I guess that confirms that the Rise that was mentioned earlier is really Risette. What would Burgette's Persona be then?" Izumi dumbfoundedly states, her mind blown by this realization.
Chie gives her a pat on the shoulder, while also looking a tad worried, "I think I broke your friend. How do we fix her?"
"Talk about Inaba's town lore. She loves all sorts of lore." Leiko answers with a smile, knowing that would do the trick. She wasn't sure Izumi's other hobbies would spark the same interest.
Chie crosses her arms to think as the group quickens their pace. "Well the fog the town was known for is big lore. It was actually controlled by a crazy goddess that my friends and I fought. Also one part of that goddess who fused with the other three parts is our local weather woman Marie."
The dark brown haired teen shakes her head slightly, snapping herself back to reality, "That's…some rather intense lore. I wonder if she would be willing to speak to me about it."
"If we tell her about you, she might. She can be a bit of a tsundere." Chie answers, her tone of voice rather unsure, "But I do have to ask you since it was brought up, what is Burgette?"
"Burgette is a joke Izumi and I have had since we were kids of a hamburger dressed as Risette doing silly things. I did a photoshop of one recently." Yamato explains with a chuckle, "We commissioned Leiko to draw a silly little emoticon for our text chats of Burgette."
Chie chuckles at the image she has in her mind, "When we're out of here, Can I have you send it to me." She wondered if Rise would get a kick out of it.
The blue haired boy nods, just a bit surprised by that request, "Uh…Sure. I don't see the harm in showing you Ms. Detective. Are you fine with sharing Burgette with another person, Izumi?"
"We already shared it with Leiko and Labby, so I don't see the harm in…someone…what is that thing?" Izumi interrupts herself, pointing to a weird floating shadow coming towards them. The shadow itself is of an oval forest green mask, feathers surround its side like a frill and upon its foreheads is the symbol of the roman numeral three.
"Fuck! Where is Yosuke when you need him?" Chie exclaims through gritted teeth, glancing at the newbies with a side eye "I thought these things only showed up in crappy weather. Izumi, do you have any wind abilities? If not we either blitz past it or retreat back from where we came."
The young shrine miko shakes her head, psyching herself out to rush under this thing, "Hathor has electricity." She looks pleadingly at Leiko, "Please tell me that one of those other Personas you have has a wind ability or that psionics will work too."
The mouth of the mask ahead glows as a blue mass forms, readying its attack.
"I doubt Psi will work, but I did acquire something with a wind ability earlier. I'm…just not sure it will be enough to beat that thing, so be prepared to run. Angel, use Garu on the Shadow and hurry! Please?!" She commands urgently, watching the blue mass grow in size.
A white winged blonde haired woman with leather straps around her body, a chain around her neck and a blindfold with an eye on it, materializes above Leiko. With a snap of its fingers, blades of wind burst forth with a flap of its wings, just as the Shadow loses its blue ball of energy at the group. The wind blades and blue orb collide, throwing up a cloud of dust into the air.
"Now's our chance! Move move!" Chie shouts as she and the three teens blitz through the smoke, ignoring the stunned Shadow with part of its mask cracked hanging in the air.
The group runs down the hall for over a solid minute past several Shadows, slowing down slightly to catch their breaths once past the danger.
"Leiko we're…to the end of…way. Are you…near…" Labrys' voice issues from the earpiece.
"We're almost to the end of our branch, Labrys. We'll be there soon." Leiko acknowledged, committing to a quick scan to double check their position.
Izumi matches strides with Chie handing her a bottle of water, dropping back to repeat her actions with Yamato and Leiko. "Thanks Izumi." With a smile, the adult downs half the drink and speaks once she is able, "I'll make this quick, for newbie Persona users, you all did fine. Be it if you have a single Persona or multiple Personas, train to protect what you care most about. Now come on, we've got a friend that you need to save!"
The group rushes forward, heading for the corridor's end.
Chie and the teens transition through the converging corridors and over the threshold into a dark room with brown wooden tiles and what look like small lockers against the walls. The light of a TV shines down onto a figure with jet black hair and broken glasses in a chair. Standing to their side is a man with black hair and a terrible bowl haircut in a blue suit.
"Now listen to me girl." The man utters harshly to Towa, with an unnerving smile, "Why do you think your writing is any good? It's dreck and has no value, I've seen better writing from former students like Satonaka over there. Writing news stories isn't about uncovering truths, it's about selling papers, pointless articles and ad space. Even that reporter Ohya you look up to doesn't give a damn about truth or about that delinquent she helped release from jail ten years ago. There is no future for a loser like you in that industry. The only truth you need…"
"Get away from him, Morooka!" Chie snarls as rage lights in her eyes, with Izumi and Yamato standing on either side of her shoulder to shoulder with them looking equally angry.
The man turns, the same smile still on his face as he snaps his fingers and loud footfalls echo from the darkness beyond.
"Personas out! Suzuka Gongen, serve and protect!" Chie shouts, as her Persona clad in silver and black armor and wielding a dual saber appears alongside Iwaka and Hathor, with Badb behind them as Leiko enters analytics mode.
Two forms exit the darkness at extreme speeds, one with wavy brown hair looking like a teen in a Yasogami uniform, while the other is a woman in a white shirt and black skirt with black hair.
Suzuka charges at the brown haired girl, swinging her blade, but the girl dodges, focusing an attack to Chie's midsection. The detective counterattacks, her foot striking the teen square in the shoulder, yet Chie feels a sudden sensation the same shoulder she just hit on her foe. Stumbling back Chie grunts with a slight look of pain in her eyes. The teen girl jumps backward with the same kind of grin on her face that Morooka has.
"Shit! Do not physically attack them! It will just bounce back to you! Blocking should be fine." Chie extrudes quickly, her eyes fixed on the teen known as Saki Konishi.
The woman dives at Yamato, kicking him several times. The boy takes two strikes to the shoulder, before she too jumps back. "Iwaka, present the lady with a flambé. Izumi, can you reach Towa?" The Persona tosses an Agi ability at the woman as she lands, but the flames don't do very much to her aside just making her hair smolder.
"If someone can distract this Morooka guy I can. Lei, got anything on what these things are or if they have some kind of vulnerability?" Izumi calls out dodging away from said teacher's strike.
Leiko's eyes are scrunched shut as she focuses, "Give me some time, I can't pull off a weakness scan right away. All I can tell you right now is that these Shadows are doing something to prevent me from seeing their real forms and that they seem pretty damn fire resistant, along with that weirdness with what Chie said!"
"It's not any kind of weirdness! Some Shadows just reflect back what's dished at them." Chie corrects the teen as she begins to move, following the movements for Shadow Saki, "Fuuka or Labrys need to teach you guys all this before you do anything else! Diamond Dust the Morooka wannabe Suzuka!"
A ball of howling snow builds in front of Morooka, exploding within seconds creating a cage like web of ice crystals. The ice roots the man's feet to the ground, but the cracks on the skin from frost damage is minimal.
"Izumi, it's your time to shine!" Screams Yamato, blocking another of the older woman's attacks, pushing her backwards with all his might. "Chie, are these two supposed to be like that Doppelganger of that Morooka character?"
The brown haired miko sprints past the frozen man and over to Towa, who is bound to the chair. "Towa! Can you please say something to me?!" She asks worriedly, fumbling with the rope knotted around the boy's wrists.
"I'm useless Izumi-senpai. Shiomi was right." The boy croaks as his eyes open, revealing how red and swollen they are, "Why am I doing something I have no talent for? What can I even do with my future when I don't even have one? Maybe I should just do a job no one ever has to see or even hear me."
Shadow Saki and Chie continue to circle each other, each glaring intently at each other, "Both were killed by Shadows fourteen years ago. I'll explain in detail later!" The two women slowly stop their circling, staring each other down for a moment, only to lurch towards with the Shadow striking at Chie, while the detective deflects what she can. Doppel Saki's smile widens as she blasts Chie in the chest with a ball of wind with enough force to cause the detective to slide backwards across the tile.
"I gotcha!" Kanji roars, intercepting Chie mid slide, pushing his hands against her shoulders to slow her momentum so she can't hit the wall. "Rokuten Maou, use Wild Thunder on these fakes!"
Electricity crashes down upon each of the Doppelgangers, but the three Shadows aren't even phased by it. Being freed from the ice by the attack, Doppel Morooka laughs, "Was that supposed to hurt? That actually tickled. How about I show you just what real pain looks like." The shadow belches out a gale of wind at Leiko, but Kamui swoops in taking the blast, tanking through the majority of it though the Persona's cape is tattered after.
"That wasn't beary nice!" Teddie shouts as he bounds up next to the pink haired girl rather enthusiastically. "How much more time do you need, Lei-chan?!"
"I just need a minute more." Leiko shouts feeling the build up of energy inside herself and Badb. "Buy as much time as you can and don't hit them out right with your weapons! Just use their own force against them!"
"Amaterasu, curse these foul beings!" Yukiko commands as she opens her fan to direct the ability of Maeigaon at her foes. Dark energy bubbles up under her foes, erupting in a pillar of twisted faces in agony. The three Shadows waltz out of the pillars, not even a scratch from the skill on them.
Chie grips her aching side, as Kanji releases his hold on her shoulders, "Thanks for the save, but how are you going to fight these things, you can't brawl like you want." While nothing was broken, she'd need a bit of time to recover to fully get back in this fight.
"I might not be able to fight like I want to Chie-senpai, but I can sure act as a distraction to just do that! Stay there while I handle this. Masukunda Rokuten!" Kanji snarks as waves of energy pass over the doppelgangers. "Let's see you hit something now with your time being altered." The man drops into a combat stance, ready to tussle with that fake Morooka.
Shadow Morooka launches a punch at Kanji, "Damn delinquent! You should have been expelled!"
"Well you ain't actually Morooka so what you say really doesn't matter to me." Kanji retorts, taking the hit from the Shadow and grabbing its arm, tossing it over his shoulder.
Flying over to Yamato, Labrys slams her axe deep into the tile on her right to protect her arm, standing back to back with her comrade. "You holdin up alright there? I got your back. Ariadne, use your strings as a wall to protect Chie!"
The machine Persona creates a thin barrier of red string around the detective, eyeing the Shadow doppelgangers ahead of her.
"I've been better." He grunts in an annoyed tone as he, Labrys and Iwaka parry an onslaught of attacks from the Shadow doppelganger of Yamano, who finds an opening and kicks Yamato's Persona into the wall at the front.
Shadow Saki launches into a combo against Yukiko, who dodges two of the blows while taking the third to the midsection, knocking her onto her ass.
"Kimiko is never right!" Izumi answers angrily, finally untying the rope knotted around Towa's hands. "Whatever that fake King Moron teacher said to try and influence you is a steaming load of crap. Yamato and I have seen how hard you worked for the school paper in secondary school and in high school just this year. The two of us have seen how your skills have improved over the years. Your writing has a heart and soul to it with the truths you bring with it, because you spend the time looking for the information and care about people, transparency and integrity. You are the master of your own future Towa. It has value that only you can put on it! Do not let anyone like that Shadow teacher, Shimoi, or anyone take away your identity or your agency! As Leiko said to me when I was going through something similar about what I wanted, the decision is yours."
The words echo around Towa's mind, feelings of confusion ebbs away to ones of understanding. Their future wasn't something to be dictated or influenced by others. It could only be arrived at through the dedication of the hard work he put into it like they always did. They also could feel the validation of his two senpais who had supported him for so long. Tears of joy and anger of what he has been put through pour down his face. Throbbing deep in his head, Towa can feel something wanting to burst worth.
"I art thou and thou art I. You who would secure your future from influence, say the words that are your hope." Rings a female voice deep in his mind.
Towa pants as he gazes at the chaotic combat in front of him, "I'm weak, I don't have much of a backbone and I get intimidated so easily by those with forceful personalities. I can't let that stop me from reaching the future that I'm grasping my hand out for. I renew the resolve I have to find the truth of what's in front of me and won't let dread take my agency away again! That strength to push ahead is within me to find and I will let that truth blaze! PER…SONA!" With his eyes glowing yellow and a blue light surrounding him, a woman with short gray hair and dark eyes forms materializes from the ether wearing a decorated paper mask of blues and reds on her head, while also donning a gray robe with a book and quill in hand.
At the same exact moment that Towa's Persona appears, a green pulse from Leiko spreads out across the room, allowing her to see the truth of these Shadows, "Hit them with Bless and Nuke."
"Kawakami Gozen, use our ability Makouha." Towa squeaks meekly, looking to Izumi who gives him a nod of affirmation.
Chie groans loudly, wanting to give herself a face palm, "I had an ability this entire time that was Bless! I'm getting rusty at this. Use it Suzuka!"
"Show them the power that we finally understand. Use Ferila Ariadne!" Labrys screams as she dives to cover Yukiko from getting stomped on by Shadow Saki, taking six blows to her back.
Suzuka and Kawakami fly high above the room, with Ariadne joining them as white spheres explode and blue energy rains down on the three Doppelgangers.
The three Shadow copies fall to their knees, their bodies flickering as flecks of darkness start to dissolve from them. Shadow Saki's smile never wavers as it speaks for the first time, "Even with our failure, this outcome won't change anything. That soul will spread its dread along the..thre..."
As the three Shadows disappear, their unnerving smiles are the last thing to evaporate as the three essences travel into the dark, which suddenly alights with all the TV's above. The room beyond is actually quadruple the size of a normal classroom and at the very back is a twelve foot high sphere with an eye at its center and criss-crossing lines all over it with small pole-like nodes at line intersections.
"So…so what do we do now?" Towa gasps as he feels his energy suddenly drop and he tilts to his side, Izumi quickly catching him.
"You've got to rest, Towa. Using a Persona the first time is pretty draining." Izumi coos in a soothing voice, "The same thing happened to me after I got Hathor." The only response she gets is a soft snore.
Yamato sprints over to Labrys and Yukiko, holding out both his hands to them, "Are you both alright?"
"Yeah, I should be alright." The android answers as she rolls onto her back to Yukiko's left, slowly pulling herself upright right with Yamato's help.
Yukiko takes the young man's other hand, pulling herself to her feet, "Thank you Yamato, I've been better. So what do we do now? We beat those shadows, do we just leave?"
"We've got the anchor to deal with, which is probably that big eyeball thing over there." Yamato half turns, pointing to the spherical statue, "The lair will disappear and we'll be outside like it never existed."
"That eyeball statue is of Ameno-Sagiri, one of the gods we fought when we were your age." Chie answers as she slowly walks over to inspect it, halting her movements upon stepping onto something. Bending down, the woman tugs an odd ten point star like object from beneath her boot, pocketing it and moving right along. "Suzuka, slice this fucker to bits."
The Persona obliges as it dices up the anchor.
The group of nine reappears on the street, with little to no fanfare from Detective Dojima, who clears his throat. "So how are you reporting this one, Satonaka? It's another of those TV-like cases from over a decade ago."
"Three people using masks to look like that of murder victims from fourteen years ago kidnapped this boy. They also broke the gravestones to make it appear that they had risen from the grave." Chie answers firmly, planning to call her master so he'd pass on what happened to get this entire thing officially dealt with.
The man closes his eyes, nodding to her, "I'll take Usagi back to his grandparents, while you make sure these kids are taken care of. Get them and yourself a meal or something, you all look exhausted."
The woman nods, opening the vehicle's door for Izumi and helping her get Towa situated inside. "I think I know the perfect place to take them sir. Just leave everything to me."
"You got the rest of the day off, so make it count." Detective Dojima ducks into the driver's side and slowly takes off.
Once the detective was out of sight, Chie waves the group over to her, "We'll be going to the Junes food court. It's close by and the food is really good. You kids will enjoy it. Now come on." She marches off down the road with the others following.
With the sun now beginning to sink in the sky, Leiko, Yamato, Izumi and Labrys return to the rear of Tatsuhime shrine with Chie and her friends.
"Just being back here is giving me some memories of when we were solving the murder mystery and talking to Rise." Chie leans against the back of the shrine, her eyes focused on the weird set of stairs. "So you'll just retrace your steps through that Unstitched halls place and be back in Ainoska just like that?"
"If we're right then it shouldn't take more than ten minutes." Labrys answers, setting down a Junes bag full of new clothes, "We didn't even get very far checking it out, but there will be other days to explore more."
"Don't be afraid to give us a call or text us if you need anything." Yukiko smiles gently at the three teens, knowing she'd like to make a stronger bond with them.
"And the same thing goes for any of you needing help from us. We'll come as soon as we can." Leiko answers as she exchanges hand shakes with Yukiko and Chie. She casts a glance at Kanji, snorting slightly at him. She really wasn't in the right headspace to want to deal with him.
Izumi's eyes light up remembering something, opening her phone to hastily send Chie what they had talked about earlier, "I'm sure you'll get a kick out of it Chie."
Checking her phone, Chie snickers at the image of the burger dressed as an idol, with pigtails and a mic. "I love it. This has certainly made my day." Just seeing this motivates her to send it to Rise in a little while.
"Senpais, it was great meeting you all. I hope we can learn more from you." Yamato bows to the four elder Persona users, "But crumb visit us in Ainoska with this tunnel. Only fair to do an exchange of where we each live."
"Ha ha ha snrr." Yukiko breaks into uncontrollable laughter for thirty seconds, before reigning it back in as Chie elbows her in the ribs.
"I'll be sure to visit Ainoska to see you and these three! We'll have a ton of fun there." Teddie calls out, giddy with excitement to travel someplace new.
Kanji rolls his eyes at Teddie, knowing he or Yosuke would probably have to go to play babysitter. "Sounds like a fun time to go with you Teddie." He turns his attention to Leiko, scrutinizing her for a moment before turning away. He had no idea how to apologize to her for what he said, but she probably wouldn't accept it til she was ready.
"Let's head home guys. I could use a nice soak in the bath." Leiko utters as she and her friends descend the stairs back into the halls. Today had been an experience, one showing just how much they had to learn.
The three adults and the bear all wave their goodbyes until the four people are out of sight. "I think we need to have a meeting tomorrow afternoon over at Junes. I'll call the others to see if they're available, but I need to go call Akihiko-senpai for my case." She also had another reason to call her master, which is to of course tell him about what happened with the three kids and how they might be way in over their heads.
Kanji, Yukiko and Teddie all nod in agreement as they follow Chie away from the stairs. It was time to reform the Investigation Team.
A/N: I know there has been a lot going on thus far in the story and thing are going rather quick. I very much hope I'm nailing the canon characters correctly as much as I can with them being adults. Thirteen to fourteen years can change characters slightly, so I'm trying make them feel more adult while not changing them fully. I do hope you've all been enjoying the read thus far.