Shin Persona Evangelion

by Ultra Sonic 007

Shinji Ikari stared, bewildered by the bizarre-looking man, who gave an intrigued smile. "An interesting guest has arrived. My name is Igor. Welcome to the Velvet Room, young fool...we have important matters to discuss, you and I." (A fusion of the realms of Evangelion and Persona, where not all is as it seems.) (Cover art by Renu of the Sufficient Velocity forums.)

62. Sunday - August 2, 2015: Part 2

There was a strange sensation, lingering in the depths of his subconscious.

The vague impressions of...floating.

Orange light?

A wall of glass.

His right hand, clenching briefly.

"You can feel it, can't you?"

The voice of the Beast, descending from on high.

"You sense just how limited your cage is."

A hand reached down, caressing his face.

"It is time to remind yourself..."

A skull with a single horn descended, staring fiercely with empty eyes.

"...of just how how much power is at your fingertips."

Reality came crashing back in-

xxxx

/Aboard the Ferry Ai, in the waters of the Kii Channel/

Shinji Ikari heard nothing but white noise; the wind and the sea had faded away, devoured by the sensation of a life that had come to an abrupt end. He barely had the presence of mind to try and lower the woman's corpse (she was dead she was dead she's dead you were just talking to her WHAT HAPPENED?!) to the deck, but the red stains behind her (WHAT'S GOING ON?!) nearly made him vomit. Were it not for the salty scent of the sea overpowering his nostrils, he very well might have.

Echoes, harsh and unyielding.

He barely had the presence of mind to look to his right; four other adults were approaching him cautiously yet angrily, and were...wielding firearms...?

"-hands on the ground!"

He could barely understand them. What's going on?

"I said, hands on the ground!"

What was happening?

The Beast sneered with anticipation.

"And now approaches the little Fury."

xxxx

Mana Kirishima didn't know why that strangely foul aura had faded away; nor did she know what had prompted the sudden shouting of various adults.

However, as she neared the edge of the wheelhouse's roof, she took in the scene in an instant: a dead woman, and an impressive amount of splattering behind her; Ikari on his knees, looking vaguely confused (or maybe in shock); four adults approaching from the portside, their attention focused solely on him; the wielding of handguns (maybe one of them was a tranquilizer gun, but another was definitely a real firearm), all aimed at Ikari.

A decision was made just as quickly, because Ikari was an ally, and those strangers were a threat.

And threats had to be put down.

(She had killed plenty of Tokita's subordinates over the years. Sometimes inadvertently...but most of the time it had been purposeful.)

(Think of these people as though they belonged to Tokita.)

(It would be so very simple.)

In the space of a second, Mana had leapt from the roof and landed in front of the advancing adults; AIGIS was at the ready, while LABRYS was in mid-swing.

The sound of the lead belligerent being torn in half was wet and meaty, but a darkly familiar one. The impulsive fear coming to the eyes of the others was also familiar. (How many of Tokita's men had looked at her with the same expression?)

As they cursed and impulsively backed away, Mana reversed. With her shield held up high, she felt comfortable glancing over her shoulder towards the seemingly catatonic Ikari. "Hey! On your feet!" Her shout must have triggered something, because bullets suddenly slammed against the surface of AIGIS. "I said get up, Ikari!"

(There were doubtless more hostiles onboard. Could she take them all on?)

(You'd make them regret it.)

xxxx

Ryuji Sakamoto knew something rotten had gone down when a pale look crossed Hidetoshi Odagiri's face. His smug satisfaction died, leaving behind...disappointed disgust. "You look like your cat just died."

The police agent cleared his throat. "...Ikari killed Hasegawa. And then Kirishima killed one of my men."

Just like that, the entire mood of the room changed. All conversation died, as the eyes of every single passenger focused towards either himself, Junpei Iori, or Ken Amada. Well, shit. What the hell is happening? Still, it was important to keep up the image of bravado. "You'll have to forgive me for not buying it."

"Spare me the bluff; it looks like Kirishima and and the Third Child are as rabid as we thought they were." With a tired sigh, Hidetoshi's eyes narrowed, looking as sharp as jagged chips of ice. "Looks like we'll have to do this the hard way."

Ryuji didn't have to look towards Junpei and Ken; they knew what to do. "Yeah. I guess we do. Good thing a little smoke on the water never hurt anyone." Gripping his metal cane (squeezing a hidden button), he tapped it against the floor; a hidden compartment flipped open along the tip of the handle, releasing a spring-loaded orb. Almost immediately, the orb — a strobe light densely packed with diodes — flashed in rapid manner. Those who impulsively looked at it winced from the blinding light.

It was a sufficient distraction, giving Junpei and Ken just enough time to open their jackets and drop four twin-vent smoke grenades onto the ground. They each kicked one further away; in an instant, the four canisters began belching thick clouds of dark smoke, rapidly reducing visibility to practically nothing in the enclosed air of the lounge.

Panicked shouting immediately erupted, which Hidetoshi's angered roars — "GET THE SMOKE OUT! BREAK THE WINDOWS IF YOU HAVE TO!" — still managed to overpower.

Ryuji had already taken to the floor, crawling frantically along the floor. Junpei, Ken, you two better get to the kids! Time was of the essence-!

xxxx

Kensuke Aida and Toji Suzuhara had not been blind to the sudden clouds of smoke bursting past the open throughway into the game room.

It was why they had abandoned their 'Best of 20' match on the Street Warrior IV machine, burying themselves into the corner of the tiny room between two arcade cabinets. It was a tight fit, but the sudden burst of activity was far more concerning.

"What the hell is happening?" growled Toji.

"SSSHH," hissed Kensuke. "We'll find out, just keep your mouth shut!"

The tension had skyrocketed, and they had no idea why.

xxxx

In the smoke room on Deck B, Ren Amamiya had already jammed the door shut, triggering the locking mechanism with a little multi-tool of his own design.

(It had been a hobby to pass the time...at least, that's what he had always insisted to Narukami and Arisato. Truth be told, there was something nostalgic about crafting tools for thieving; it helped pass the time on slow days in his dorm room...and besides, you never knew.)

Then, using the trash receptacle to gain some height, he had pulled down the square vent covering from the ceiling. It was a tight fit...but he was still dextrous enough to pull it off.

(The real tricky part had been pulling the vent cover back up behind him to cover his tracks. It was amazing what could be done with a spool of wire, if you were clever.)

That had been about fifteen minutes ago, because his instincts had been screaming at him ever since they had stepped onto the ferry. It felt and smelled like a deathtrap...and he'd had enough of those to last his prior lifetime, much less this one.

As such...he found himself resting within the dark vent, patiently waiting for time to pass.

Then, the shouts of other people echoed within the metal confines of the horizontal shaft.

"...well, that can't be good," he muttered to himself. If only there was more that he could do!

(It had been done as a joke, honestly; however, he couldn't help the irony that the Theatre Club in his first year of high school had elected to perform the Phantom of the Opera. His was an unconventional design choice that ultimately wasn't selected...which was fine by him. That domino mask had been made as a gift to himself.)

If only...

xxxx

In the aftward women's restroom on B Deck, a plainclothes officer with dark hair forced a locked stall open. "...well, that's one of the kids," she remarked, staring at the crouched form of Mayumi Yamagishi. Glancing towards her comrade, she said, "I'll keep an eye on her, and make sure she doesn't get involved; you go provide backup to the others."

"Roger." The other woman left without another word.

Sighing with irritation, she gazed sympathetically at the quiet teenager. "What a mess...poor luck, that you had to travel with a couple of monsters..." Come to think of it, was the girl okay? The hair near her head was actually matted with sweat. "Hey...what's wrong, girl? Are you sick...?"

Slowly — chillingly — the girl raised her face, staring at her with unfocused eyes. "You've-all-signed-your-death-warrants," she whispered, in a tone that was not her own, that was not human.

The officer blinked, in the manner of prey belatedly recognizing a predator. "...what-?"

xxxx

Shinji tried to breathe. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

It wasn't working. The rising panic refused to leave.

"-it Ikari, get on your feet!" The distant roar of Mana Kirishima pierced the fog, accompanied by strange rhythmic pops. "We have hostiles!"

Hostiles. Enemies. Threats. He could understand that. Threats to whom, though?

(Saori Hasegawa was already dead. Someone had killed her. Who had killed that kind and timid woman? Was it one of the ones trying to shoot him and Kirishima?)

(Your friends are on this ship. Are they safe?)

There was a moment of terrifying clarity: the people he cared about were in danger. What could he do about it?

The Beast gestured around them all.

"There's a whole world where their physical disadvantages can be nullified."

Its eyes gleamed with insight.

"Don't just expand your horizons...bring the horizon to YOU."

All the while, his Other stared solemnly.

"...thy will be done. Choose wisely."

They had to escape. They needed to get away.

(He could feel their souls. Their A.T. Fields were unique...but he lacked the precision.)

(You have more than enough power.)

"IKARI?!" roared Mana, getting fed up with his apparent indecision. The pops became more distinct: it was the sound of bullets bouncing off of her shield. "GET UP!"

Shinji quietly released Saori's body, inwardly wincing as she bonelessly fell against the deck. His body and mind and spirit began to synchronize together in a familiar manner...except now...he was throwing more power into it. More than he had ever before.

His A.T. Field expanded invisibly, surrounding the entire ferry.

(So many different souls onboard, almost all of them foreign to his mind. Yet they were...mere specks, easily ignored.)

(Your will is paramount. Act like it.)

Unseen by all, he willed for reality to split, and give way.

In a matter of seconds, physical matter parted as the entire ferry was pushed into the Metaverse.

xxxx

Ryuji sensed the shift into the Metaverse, even through the clouds of smoke. The sudden sepia tone was one clue...and the bewildered shouts of confused officers was another:

"-what the hell, Aquan Archetypes?"

"What are all these Mitamas floating around for?"

"-shit, the particle effects...we're in the Metaverse!"

"Persona!"

"-damn it, PERSONA!"

"Come forth, Persona!"

And that's a cue to get to greener pastures. Being in tight quarters with a bunch of enemy Persona-users was not his idea of a good time.

Ryuji felt the wall as he crawled against it. "Okay, time to make an exit...Persona." He brought forth his cane and willed his Persona to emerge...outside of the ferry. Bringing forth his gun (aw yeah) cane, he pulled the trigger and unleashed fists made of lightning.

xxxx

Hidetoshi Odagiri heard the ripping of metal and decided that enough was enough. "SOMEONE GET RID OF THIS SMOKE NOW!"

A few moments later, he heard an officer cry out "Persona!" Shortly thereafter, a great sucking sound echo throughout the B Deck, and the clouds of smoke were pulled towards a common point. Visibility increased, courtesy of another officer's Persona: pale, spherical cartoon of a creature that was mostly stomach based on its seemingly bottomless pit of a mouth. "Good work, Rakusai!"

"Sir!"

Hidetoshi glanced around: Sakamoto, Iori, and Amada had vanished; the native Archetypes, irritated by how the real ferry had overridden its cognitive double (how did this happen? Did the Third Child do this?), were being combative; numerous officers had already summoned their own Personas to subdue the unruly thoughtbeasts; a rather conspicuous hole had been blown open in the starboard side of the vessel. Scowling, he reached for his cognitive handheld transceiver, keyed so that all of the officers' own devices were slaved to his own. "Listen up, people! This operation is now full-blown subjugation op; arrest and restrain Ryuji Sakamoto, Junpei Iori, and Ken Amada! If the Persona-users Kensuke Aida and Toji Suzuhara resist, you are authorized to use nonlethal force! The civilians Ren Amamiya and Mayumi Yamagishi are to be restrained gently. As for Mana Kirishima and Shinji Ikari...lethal force is authorized in self-defense only. And I want teams of four at least!"

The other officers all nodded, setting out to do their jobs.

Hidetoshi stomped towards the hole, gazing outside; the red-and-black sky was irrefutable proof that they were in the cognitive world. The blue waters of the Kii Channel had faded into blank voids, save for long 'lanes' of orange water that marked the common paths that the ferries had traversed over and over throughout the years.

And flying through the sky was none other than Sakamoto's Persona, Seiten Taisei. The Cognitive Freelancer stood upon the heavenly sage's flying cloud, a cocky grin on his face. "Hope you've got people that can fly!"

"You're making a big mistake, Sakamoto!" roared Hidetoshi.

At that moment, several meters to his right — towards the aft of the ferry — a gigantic bronze man in a golden mask erupted from the side of the vessel, carrying two screaming boys on top of him.

Hidetoshi stared with wide eyes. "What the-?"

xxxx

/Sixty Seconds Ago/

"Toji."

"Yeah, Ken?"

"We're in the Metaverse."

Toji glared angrily at the floating brains — Omoikane Archetypes — mindlessly playing at the arcade cabinets. "Gee, ya think?" he hissed at his best friend.

Their mouths clammed shut as three strangers stepped into the game room; as they did so, the sound of an angry man coming from three handsets could be heard. "-and restrain Ryuji Sakamoto, Junpei Iori, and Ken Amada! If the Persona-users Kensuke Aida and Toji Suzuhara resist, you are authorized to use nonlethal force!" Toji and Kensuke both looked at each other with pale faces. "The civilians Ren Amamiya and Mayumi Yamagishi are to be restrained gently. As for Mana Kirishima and Shinji Ikari...lethal force is authorized in self-defense only. And I want teams of four at least!"

Kensuke looked downright petrified now. "Oh crap oh crap oh crap-"

"Keep it down," he quietly growled.

"Just heard something," said one of the officers, looking towards the back row of game machines. "Step out with your hands up!" he said, pulling out a baton.

...welp, time to get us out of here. "Ken, hang on."

"Wait, Toji-?"

"GILGAMESH!"

The game room seemed to expand — audibly groaning in the process, as physical matter protested at the influences of cognition — to accommodate the epic hero's bulk; the three officers backed away impulsively, two of them preparing to summon Personas.

"Quick, hop on!" yelled Toji, jumping onto Gilgamesh's right shoulder.

"Crap oh crap oh crap," muttered Kensuke, repeating it as a manta as he desperately clambered onto Gilgamesh's left shoulder.

"OKAY, GO FOR IT!"

Gilgamesh snorted, brushing his foot against the floor. "Speed Riser," he growled; the random buff was a Sukukaja, shrouding the Persona with a green aura. The burly Persona took off in a dash, forcing the trio of men to dodge to avoid getting flattened; the Persona turned on his heel, shifting right and then taking a left.

"-oh crap oh crap it's a dead end!" yelled Kensuke as they approached a wall. There was a staircase to the left and elevators to their right at the very end. "TAKE THE STAIRS!"

Toji snorted. "Nope: WE'RE BUSTING THROUGH!"

"Speed Buster!" A purple aura — Rakunda — flashed over the wall, weakening its defensive essence, visibly becoming more brittle.

"-oh crap oh crap OH CRAP OH CRAP-!"

CRASH!

xxxx

Ryuji paled as the two boys fell towards the orange water rushing alongside the ferry. "Damn it-!"

Suddenly, from the covered walkway on the A Deck, Junpei Iori — bearing a black eye from a physical scuffle, his metal bat looking somewhat bloodied — dove from above. "TRISMEGISTUS!" In a flash of blue fire, a humanoid manifested beneath Junpei; clad in a red aerodynamic suit covered in vertical golden stripes, the Persona had four golden mechanical wings stemming from his ankles and shoulders. With the helmet evoking the image of a mechanical bird, it was all very avian in design.

He was also very fast, as the winged Trismegistus grabbed Kensuke and Toji before swooping back into the sky. Gilgamesh dispersed into azure flames, his purpose served.

Ryuji visibly sagged with relief. "Hoo...nice save..."

"Whew...made it to home plate," cracked Junpei from atop his Persona's back.

"...Toji."

Dangling from Trismegistus's right hand, he glanced over at Kensuke. "Yeah Ken?"

"...warn me next time before you do something that'll give me a heart attack?"

"Given how much crap you've put me through in the past? No promises."

As Trismegistus and Seiten Taisei ascended up into the sky, Ryuji yelled out, "you boys okay?!"

"I'll be better when I know what's going on!" yelled Kensuke. "Why are we being threatened with arrest?"

"Long story!" answered Sakamoto.

"Then why are we in the Metaverse?!"

"Don't know!"

"Then what do we do now?!"

Junpei huffed at Aida's bout of panic. "Maybe instead of yelling we can focus on regrouping," remarked the A.T. Agent; his standard Agent's Metaverse outfit shared the same overall look as that of Misato Katsuragi's, save for his own particular quirks. He now had a Hanshin Panthers baseball cap (backwards, because of course), a metal baseball bat that had seen some wear and tear, a red armband, and — on his standard issue waist-length cloak — the painted image of a dour woman with long red hair. "...think I can see Ikari and Kirishima from here! Top deck!"

Ryuji frowned, peering closely. "...yeah, I see em'. Now we just need Kenny to find Yamagishi and Amamiya-"

xxxx

(Meanwhile, unbeknownst to them all...)

The female officer who had been keeping an eye on Mayumi Yamagishi could now do nothing but. She could not resist. She could not flee.

All she could do was stand there, slack-jawed, from the glowing coil that had phased out of the girl's womb and into her chest.

"Those-who-have-become-one-with-their-Shadows-are-not-invincible," whispered the girl(?), her hair hanging over her face like a dark curtain. "It-only-takes-more-effort."

With sudden violence, a spectral figure — bearing the likeness of some mythical heroine — was ripped out of the officer's torso: her Persona. With sudden violence, spirit and cognition were twisted. The officer went rigid from unnatural fury, and her Persona — her Shadow — began to hulk up in a distinctly familiar manner...solidified ultimately by the avian mask that formed over its face.

"Let-our-sorrow-be-known."

The woman and her corrupted Shadow — reduced to the monstrosity known as an Acolyte — charged out of the women's restroom and onto B Deck, where their sudden appearance was greeted with horrified surprise and grim resolve.

"Such-is-their-sad-fate...unable-to-withstand-our-feelings...unable-to-share-our-heart...and-so-they-go-mad..." Yamagishi(?) fell to her knees. "...one-last-touch...will-do-for-now..." The golden coil sparked with energy before withdrawing back into her womb.

(At that precise moment, up on the bridge of the ferry, the skeleton crew of seven — neither of which were Persona-users — boggled as their Shadows were pulled across vast spaces of cognition by a supreme act of will. Dim recognizance of their other selves gave way to dawning horror, swiftly cut short as they too began transforming into Acolytes.)

At that moment, Mayumi Yamagishi fell unconscious, ignorant of the horrors that she(?) had unleashed.

xxxx

At that precise moment, the wheelhouse suddenly exploded. "The hell?!" yelped Junpei.

"What's going on?!" yelled Toji, both boys still dangling from Trismegistus's steady hands.

Ryuji's eyes saw the masked monstrosities first. "Aw shit...Acolytes, of all the times...!"

xxxx

/Meanwhile, in the Real World/

The city of Tokushima was the final destination of the ferry from Wakayama.

Agent Hirofumi Kurosawa stood upon a fishing pier near the mouth of the Shinmachi River, not too far from the Nankai Ferry building. Save for a few dozen officers that had gone back on the Katsuragi's return trip to Wakayama, all of his subordinates were on standby within walking distance, waiting for the arrival of the Ai ferry.

At that moment, his phone buzzed. Taking it out, he gazed at the alert that had been forwarded to his phone (as it had to all registered Persona-users and A.T. Field adepts in the region) by the MAGI (the closest units being installed in Okayama, less than ninety kilometers away).

MAGI: PATTERN BLUE DETECTED. PRELIMINARY LOCATION — KII CHANNEL.

The Kii Channel...the waters in which their ferries had been travelling. "...oh no..." His phone suddenly rang. "Kurosawa speaking."

"Sir, this is Officer Yamada from the Katsuragi."

"Go ahead."

"The crew is spooked; they're saying that several minutes ago, the Ai disappeared from marine radar...and from what I'm hearing, we're at the point that we should have seen them pass by us."

"Did it sink?"

"We don't know, sir. There's some chatter from other vessels in the Channel...apparently, at least three shipping vessels confirmed that they saw the Ai fade into static before vanishing entirely."

"...I see. Thank you for informing me."

"What should we do about the Pattern Blue?"

"Keep an eye out for the passengers. If any of them are Acolytes, you know what to do."

"Understood, sir."

Kurosawa hung up, lips twisting into a concerned frown. None of this smells right. What's going on? With snappy motions, he began dialing another number for a contact within the Defense Ministry. "...hey, this is Agent Kurosawa. I need a UH-60J brought to my location. There's something I need to confirm about a Pattern Blue located in the Kii Channel."

xxxx

Atop the observation deck, Mana Kirishima had already concluded that they were in the Metaverse for one simple reason...

"Garula!"

"Freila!"

"Kouga!"

...namely, that three of the strangers had summoned their Personas and promptly begun a sequential barrage of wind, atomic, and holy energy to pin her down. (Were they waiting for reinforcements? Possibly. She didn't know, and she didn't much care. Let them keep attacking; compared to the Reaper, AIGIS was lapping up their strikes like candy.) Her biggest concern now was the fact that, after transitioning to the Metaverse, Ikari had fallen back down to his knees. "Seriously, what the hell is with you?!"

His mutters went unheard.

Ah, screw it! She would have to find an opportunity to exploit a gap in their attack pattern, because if they got more reinforcements, she would be in trouble.

There was the sudden sound of metal tearing and explosive force to the forward part of the ship; she could see the crow's nest fall over in her peripheral. Now what?!

Then, two new voices were heard from above.

"Agidyne!"

"Ziodyne!"

Twin bolts of fire and lightning slammed down on the trio of Personas, interrupting the assault for just an instant.

That was all Mana needed. "HRAAAAAAGH!" Bringing LABRYS forward, she swung the axe upward and at an angle; the energy wave flashed out like a blade, slicing through the trio of Personas in one go (she hadn't seen exactly what they had looked like; she didn't care, because they didn't matter). The cognitive feedback was like a kick to the head, as the three officers collapsed unconscious. "...well, that's that," she muttered, looking upward to see Sakamoto and Iori descend upon Seiten Taisei and Trismegistus, with the latter holding onto Aida and Suzuhara. Huh...looks like Iori's Persona is pretty powerful too. Ryuji Sakamoto's allies were truly powerful, it seemed.

"You doing okay, kids?!" yelled Sakamoto.

"Well, I am. Can't speak for Ikari," she said, stepping aside to finally look back towards Shinji. The boy was still staring at the woman's corpse.

"...oh geez, what happened?" ask Suzuhara with wide eyes. Aida took one look and settled for vomiting over the railing and into the waters below. (The cry of an angry Mermaid Archetype — "OH EW IT'S IN MY HAIR!" — went unheard.)

Iori hopped off of Trismegistus, pulling Shinji's face away from the woman's corpse. "Hey kid, snap out of it; time's of the essence, here!"

"...huh...?" The boy blinked, looking around. "Oh...we're in the Metaverse..."

"You have something to do with that?" asked Sakamoto, keeping a wary eye towards the bridge all the while.

"...I think so...I don't know how..."

"We'll get details about what went down later, but first things first: did you kill that woman?"

The boy jolted at Sakamoto's words, as if shocked by the very suggestion. "N-no! We...we were just talking...we were having a nice conversation...and then she was dead...and I don't know why...!"

"Good enough for me. How about you Kirishima?" He stared behind him at the poor schmuck that had been bisected. "That your doing? If so, why?"

"Yes. He aimed a gun at Ikari, so I killed him."

"...again, good enough for me. No time to debate." The older man held a hand up towards his badge, speaking aloud. "Hey Amada, we've got Acolytes now attacking from the bridge. What's your status?"

xxxx

Down below on B Deck, Ken Amada — placing a Featherman bandage over a stab wound on his left forearm, relishing the palliative sensation — stood in the threshold between the aftward women's restrooms and the main hall, gazing at the unconscious form of Mayumi Yamagishi. His Persona — Kala-Nemi: a slim, geometric humanoid with orange and black color, whose shoulders seemed to consist of gyroscopes with Zodiac signs — stood at the ready, facing aftward down the hallway. Needless to say...chaos was putting it lightly. "Managed to make my way through the bedlam on A Deck, but now I'm seeing them fighting an Acolyte on B Deck. I've found Yamagishi, out cold in the women's restroom."

"Any injuries?" echoed Ryuji's voice in his mind.

"None that I can see...but I haven't seen Amamiya anywhere."

"Damn it, of all the rotten luck...we need to focus on getting out of here."

Ken grimaced, tightening the grip on his spear, its blade shaped like a razor-sharp feather quill. "Are we not gonna help with the Acolytes?"

"As shitty as it is, we were hired to protect the kids from all threats, and everyone on the ship is a hostile."

Ken scowled, reaching down to hoist the young girl over his shoulders. "I don't like it, but I understand." Acolytes didn't have to worry about collateral damage...and with so many officers, they would actually be inhibited by how crowded it was (even if the vessel's cognitive form was trying to shift and accommodate for their presence, the fact it was also apparently the real vessel made such shifts...unstable). An unsettling feeling curdled in his gut. "But we still have to find Amamiya."

xxxx

Ryuji grimaced. "Yeah yeah, I know...damn it, where the hell is he?"

"...hey, if the whole ferry was pulled into the Metaverse...doesn't that mean our vehicles are here as well?" asked Junpei with a dawning look of worry. "Even if we use our Personas to fly to the mainland, we'll be without our rides!"

"...good point." Damn it, the logistics of this whole thing were a pain in the ass! "First things first: find Amamiya. Then-"

All of sudden, without warning, the young man's voice echoed through his head. "Hey. This is Amamiya. I'm on the Car Deck."

Ken's voice communicated his confusion. "Wait...what?"

Ryuji actually blinked, sharing Amada's befuddlement. "How the hell are you pulling this off?"

"Metaverse weirdness. Don't we need to get out of here? Then come on. The car ramp near the back of the ship is open."

Ryuji snorted. "Sheesh, who died and made you boss?" Still, the point was made. "Okay kids, get ready to hold on; we're taking a shortcut!"

xxxx

/Several Minutes Ago/

Ren Amamiya recognized the shift into the Metaverse almost instantly...mostly because the air conditioning vent expanded in size. (Because most people, thanks to pop culture, thought of ventilation shafts as being large enough to fit people; huzzah for inaccurate heist films and spy movies!) "...well, this is a thing." The prior echoes of shouting increased in ferocity, now accompanied by the distinctive sounds of Personas being summoned. "...yup. Definitely a thing."

(After he had gotten more acquainted with his Wild Card 'senpai', Rei Ayanami had laid down some of the ground rules involving this particular timeline. Above all else, she had emphasized one thing. "If, for whatever reason, you find yourself in the Metaverse...do not summon your Persona. The mere action will forcefully open the connection to the metaphysical bonds you've forged in your past lives. Your soul will become a proverbial beacon to the eyes of our enemies...and we cannot afford that. So please...do try and be careful." It went unsaid that, should circumstances force them to call about their Persona...well, that was a bridge to cross when the time came.)

Did this situation warrant calling upon his Other Self?

...no.

Not quite.

After all, in this world...cognition was king. If that was the case...then there were loopholes that could be exploited. (You always did look for a way to cheat.)

Those were the thoughts going through his head as he pulled the paper mache domino mask out of his backpack, brushing his fingers over its hard and layered surface. "This mask..." The very image evoked...power, to him. (He had an entire lifetime backing up that particular cognition.) "...it's like an old friend," he mused with a smirk.

After all, even if he couldn't use a Persona...that didn't he mean he couldn't be a Trickster.

Thus did he place the mask on (to feel free).

With a burst of blue flames, his backpack shifted and transformed, shrouding his body in the dark coats and suave garb of the Phantom Thieves' leader.

Adjusting his red gloves, Ren — nay, Akira Kurusu...nay, Joker — chuckled. Buzzing through his mind (because Joker had always had a navigator relaying the voices of his comrades at a distance; it was only natural for the cognitive world to bring the words of his 'comrades' back to him) were the voices of Ryuji Sakamoto, Junpei Iori, Ken Amada, Mana Kirishima, Toji Suzuhara, Kensuke Aida, and Shinji Ikari. (Mayumi Yamagishi was silent, for some reason; was she unconscious?) "So...that's where we stand, huh?" Reaching into his coat, he pulled out his distinctive dagger (in the real world, it was merely a pocket knife) and handgun (in the real world, merely a recreational water pistol). "Time to secure our escape route."

And so he practically slid through the ventilation shaft, silent as a wraith, moving onward and upward.

Right as the wheelhouse proverbially exploded from the bulk of seven Acolytes — both human and Shadow, a double combo that had never been faced before — and bedlam erupted; right as their collective movement broke through the floor to the crew quarters of A Deck, startling the officers still trying to get their wits about; right as an Acolyte and her corrupted Shadow stormed through B Deck from the rear of the vessel...Joker popped out of a vent onto the aftward part of A Deck, taking in the situation at a glance.

Officers, trying to put down unruly Archetypes; Junpei Iori fighting (with an impressively durable metal bat) towards an opening along the starboard side of the A Deck, exposed to the air along the sides; Ken Amada, keeping people at a distance with his spear whilst his Persona (Kala-Nemi, his Third Eye was telling him) fired off Ziodyne strikes to ward off enemies...until some lucky officer managed to get a knife into Ken's forearm, prompting Ken to break out Vile Assault and Triple Down out of frustration; officers breaking out of the crew quarters on A Deck, engaged as they were in a running battle with Acolytes. (The Archetypes were wreathed in spectral flames; the humans all had solid orange outlines; the lone Acolyte he could see in the distance was shrouded in red static. The paths amongst them all were blank and open to traverse.)

The Third Eye faded, and the Trickster moved.

He dashed by the nearest Aquan Archetype; with the ease of riding a bike, he swiped a hand across its face, disassembling the creature into its base components (but not turning it into a Persona, no, NOT going that far...!) and forcefully consolidating it into a new form (cognition was king, and how often had the Shadows played a role in the creation of new items?). With the watery sprite forged into an orb of solid water, he smashed it against the ground; with explosive force, a cloud of mist erupted, shrouding everyone's views.

"Damn it, what-?!"

"-another hostile-!"

With dagger out, Joker moved amongst the officers, slicing at calves and tendons with quick strokes. (The truth of how timelines and 'reality' worked made him far more cavalier than he would have once been.)

(Akechi could never know, or else he'd crow — heh, crow — about it forever.)

Each action temporarily disabled the officers and distracted them. That it helped provide Ken Amada a path to traverse to the stairs at the rear of A Deck (which, unknowingly, he would use to make it to Mayumi Yamagishi) was an added bonus.

Amidst the shroud of mist, Joker gazed over the port side walkway, looking about; the fallen crow's nest was dangling over the edge of the wheelhouse. That'll do. With aplomb, he leapt over the side, extending his left arm; his trusty grapple hook (a mainstay, something you'd never go without in the Metaverse) shooting out and latching onto it; momentum soared (and the wind rushed by his face, causing his coats to flap in the breeze, the sheer rush of it all!) as he swung up and somersaulted into the torn roof of the wheelhouse. In spite of the hole that had been torn into the floor, most of the bridge equipment was intact. Glancing around, he saw the labels for the Engine Monitoring station at the rear of the bridge (which seemed to have various unnecessary gears and pistons; already, the cognition of those who worked there was overwhelming the physical matter itself). That'll do. With one decisive kick, the monitoring station shattered and broke.

(In the real world, this would have only removed the ability to remotely control the engine itself; not stop it.)

(Here? It caused the engines to suddenly grind to a halt. They were now dead at sea.)

No point in letting these monsters get to shore. With daring, he jumped down the hole that the Acolytes had torn open into A Deck, and once more to the B Deck; officers had unleashed their Personas and were fighting desperately amidst the suddenly-expanded rooms and halls of the vessel, trying to coordinate and not get in each other's way (even as the hulking Acolyte's Shadows ripped and roared; even as the Acolytes themselves charged into the officers and struck with their terrifying strength and durability). It was chaotic (the native Archetypes had been blown away by now) and messy (the panicked and frenzied thoughts of all the officers were giving rise to new Archetypes, born of anger and fear and battle) and full of mayhem (Oni and Rakshasha and Ara Mitamas all roared and began whaling wildly!).

Joker dashed and dove, avoiding the chaos (ducking under a fiery humanoid's swing; rolling under the legs of an Acolyte's Shadow, slicing at its thighs as he went past; slipping past the errant baton of an officer, tripping him over as a Rakshasha swung its blades at where his head used to be; it wasn't even a battle for him, it was a dance and a rave and a high stakes game) until he found his chance; with one bullet, he stunned an Ara Mitama long enough for his hand to rush by it, sundering it down to its essence. The Archetype collapsed into a bundle of pure Nuclear energy, a Freila in miniature. Without hesitation, he leapt up and threw it against the floor.

BOOM!

The sound was deafening, even amidst the chaos. Officers and Personas and Archetypes were pushed back by the sudden blast; Joker slipped through the hole he had made, dropping down into the Car Deck. "Okay...where's our ride?" There; the HiAce, DeLorean, and Royal Star Venture motorcycle were sitting in a row near the middle of the ship. "Good. Now..." With a judicious use of the Third Eye, he found what he was looking for: the ferry door controls. Pressing at a few buttons and switches, the door at the back of the ferry lowered, revealing the long and winding path through the orange sea. "There..." Now it was time to gather everyone together. Inwardly, he focused his thoughts towards the voices of his comrades.

"-good point." That was Ryuji's voice. "First things first: find Amamiya. Then-"

"Hey. This is Amamiya," he interrupted. "I'm on the Car Deck."

"Wait...what?" blurted out Amada.

"How the hell are you pulling this off?" demanded Ryuji.

"Metaverse weirdness," he nonchalantly answered. "Don't we need to get out of here? Then come on. The car ramp near the back of the ship is open."

"Sheesh, who died and made you boss?"

Oh, if only you knew, thought Joker with a smirk. (Warning, warning, WARNING!) He suddenly flipped away, dodging the swing of an Acolyte that had apparently decided to follow him. "Well that was rude," he cracked, dancing atop the roofs of other vehicles (get him away from our rides) as the corrupted human snarled, smashing through the officers' vehicles to get at him. "You should work on your aim!" he yelled, leaping up towards the roof and catching onto a small divot. "Come on, show me what you've got!"

The Acolyte growled, eyes narrow with hatred; he leapt up into the air-

"Too slow!" yelled Joker, jumping back down to the ground. Firing his grappling hook, it latched onto the Acolyte's shirt. "In the words of an old friend: YEET!" Yanking hard, he flung the Acolyte towards the open ferry door, where he landed with a furious splash in the open waters. Before the possessed man could even consider trying to swim back, the great tentacles of a Kraken Archetype wrapped around him, dragging the unfortunate soul down into the depths of the cognitive sea. "...well. Sure glad I'm not that guy," cheekily remarked Joker as he reached up for his mask.

xxxx

As Seiten Taisei and Trismegistus lowered themselves (and their human hangers-on) towards the open ramp leading to the Car Deck, Ryuji couldn't help but noticed how many of the vehicles ahead of their own had been smashed to bits. "Gee, looks like the mayhem visited here as well. You alive in there, Amamiya?!"

The boy in question poked his head up from near the HiAce, looking rather flustered and flushed. "More or less. It was kind of crazy."

Trismegistus lowered Junpei, Toji, and Kensuke down; Seiten Taisei likewise did the same for Shinji and Mana. Ryuji remained upon Seiten Taisei's cloud, looking critically at the high school student. "That so? Mind telling me what happened?"

"Well, there were two guys: one was an Acolyte smashing up cars, and the other one was this masked guy in black who was talking big and taunting it. Then he used some kind of grappling hook thing to throw the Acolyte out into the water, where it got eaten by a giant squid...at least, that's what it looked like from where I was hiding. Then the masked guy did a pose and vanished."

"...that sounds way too detailed to be a lie."

"Why would I lie? It was hell trying to get down here without getting caught in everything going on upstairs."

Just to punctuate his point, a loud explosion was heard from a hole in the roof, breaking through the din of screaming voices. "Fair point. Let's clear a path before anyone decides to snoop. Everyone, to the walls!" They obediently did so; in short order, the simian sage's pole extended, allowing him to sweep all of the vehicles blocking theirs into the sea in one fell swoop.

The Mermaid and Forneus Archetypes trailing about the ship were not appreciative. "Wretched polluter!"

"Ah, stick a barnacle in it!" he yelled with irritation.

It was at that moment that the elevator on the starboard side went ding, revealing Ken Amada; over his shoulders was an unconscious Mayumi Yamagishi, while his free hand held his spear tightly. "Good...everyone made it." Another explosion sounded, as more cracks formed in the roof. "...but not for long."

Ryuji huffed, glancing over towards the DeLorean. "...say Junpei, in the Metaverse, does your car have that thing from the end of the first film?"

The man in question smirked. "Oh, does it EVER."

That was how Ken Amada found himself sitting in the driver's seat of the DeLorean, with Mayumi buckled in and leaned back on the passenger side. "I'll find a decent spot for us back on the mainland and set up a beacon. It'll use our old team signal."

Ryuji nodded; Seiten Taisei was holding the DeLorean up by the rear bump, allowing the rear-mounted engine to rev up to a sufficient speed. "We'll be right behind you. Once you land, just keep your head down, okay?"

"Roger that. Stay safe." With those words, Seiten Taisei slowly lowered the DeLorean's rear back to the ground...and when only a few centimeters remained between the tires and the floor, Ryuji's Persona let go.

With the squealing of tires and a completely unrealistic lack of friction, the DeLorean shot forward, vaulting out of the ferry; it barely had time to reconfigure to Flight Mode before reaching eighty-eight miles per hour, at which point it shot off towards the horizon like a bolt of lightning. They could barely see it curve northward before vanishing from sight entirely.

"...kinda wish Kenny's Persona could fly," griped Junpei.

Ryuji snorted. "I get it, you like driving your sweet-ass ride."

"In the Metaverse specifically!"

"Whatever; into the van." The man turned towards the gaggle of teenagers, who were looking at him expectantly. "You as well! All of you into the van. We're leaving this deathtrap."

"...how are we getting out of here? I don't think Reverse from the Past had a HiAce," nervously remarked Aida.

"...and what about the other people on the ship...?" quietly asked Ikari with an almost haunted tone.

"You let us adults worry about that. Into the van!" His tone brooked no argument as he hopped into the driver's seat of the HiAce.

All of the teenagers promptly piled into the back rows: Mana in the very back, Toji and Kensuke in the third row, with Shinji and Ren in the second row. Junpei hopped into the shotgun seat, leaning out the passenger seat. "Okay Trismegistus, you know the drill!"

"Same for you, Seiten Taisei!"

Their Personas harrumphed (because in a certain sense, they were Junpei and Ryuji, so of course they already knew the plan.)

xxxx

Agent Hidetoshi Odagiri managed to stumble up to the Observation Deck, an obvious limp to his steps. (His Persona had been dispersed twice already by crushing blows; the fact he hadn't blacked out by now was a damn miracle.)

To say that this morning had been FUBAR'd was...putting it mildly. Too many unexpected circumstances...the entire ship getting pulled into the Metaverse...and a sudden outburst of Angel Syndrome, all at once...this wasn't how it was supposed to go. It was with this resentful thought in mind that his gaze looked aftward; it was pure coincidence that allowed him to witness the unlikely sight of Trismegistus (registered to A.T. Agent Junpei Iori) and Seiten Taisei (registered to Cognitive Freelancer Ryuji Sakamoto) flying to the north: held above their hands was an old passenger van, with a particular motorcycle resting on the cloud beneath the latter Persona's feet.

"...so they've gotten away," he muttered, feeling the bitterness well up even more. He gazed at the bodies on the floor: three unconscious officers, one that had been bloodily split in twain...and near the starboard rail was the corpse of his peer, Saori Hasegawa. "...all for the power of the Third Child..." Deep down, he knew that this would not be the end of it; the government would try again. (Even deeper, part of him wanted to blame the Third Child for all of this, no matter how unjust or undeserved it was.) However...he hoped (oh by the gods how he hoped!) that they wouldn't try. It wasn't worth it.

It wasn't worth it.

The distinctively hateful growl of an Acolyte emerged from the stairs behind him. (How many of his fellow officers were still alive? The sound of desperate, frenzied fighting still echoed from A Deck and B Deck; so many had already been smashed, torn apart, pulped; this ferry, meant to be a shackle on the Third Child and his comrades, had only played to the Acolytes' strengths.)

"...and so it comes to this..." With a pained grimace, he pulled out his stun baton (no point in pulling out his gun; all of his bullets had been used), summoning his Persona once more. A demonic shogun wearily stood behind him, katana in one hand and flintlock rifle in the other. "...we cannot waver...not in the face of evil..."

The Acolyte charged.

"...so suppress the chaos: Nobunaga!"

The man's Persona stepped forward and took aim with the flintlock. "One-Shot Ki-"

With empowered fists, the human slammed through the Persona, ripping through the weakened form with ease. Momentum carried him through and into Hidetoshi.

It was perhaps one last bit of mercy, that this time Nobunaga's dispersal knocked Odagiri out cold; it kept him from feeling the fists of the Acolyte slam into his flesh over and over and over...

xxxx

The One Who Sat Upon the Throne leaned back.

"Hmm. The interference from the Angel blocked most of the ambient metadata...how annoying."

Such was the rage of ADAM and his facets, alas.

"Still...to think that Shinji Ikari's grown enough that he could pull an entire vessel and all the souls onboard into the Metaverse..."

Very good. Very good indeed.

"...continue the pursuit, my dear."

xxxx

Minako Arisato, standing unseen in the sky above the ferry, turned to the north to follow the Hakone Caravan.

(The sight of Hidetoshi — her stubborn to a fault but always well-intentioned Emperor — being pummeled to death by an Acolyte...lingered.)

(Within the abyss, her heart quivered from sympathetic pain at the brutality of it all.)

xxxx

/One Hour after the Hakone Caravan's Escape/

A Black Hawk helicopter, geared and fitted for search and rescue operations, shifted into the Metaverse.

Agent Kurosawa, sitting near the sliding door, gazed at the large, complicated-looking box sitting near the back of the UH-60J: essentially an upscaled version of the badges that helped authorized individuals enter the Metaverse, formulated so as to allow for the transition of larger objects into the cognitive world. Amazing, what technology has brought us to.

"Sir, we have visual on the ferry," stated the pilot.

"Give me a broadside view and hold position," he said before opening the side door. The noise of the rotors mattered little compared to the sight of the Ai. "...damn it."

What else could be said? The vessel, from the B Deck on up, looked like it had been torn in some parts, exploded in others, twisted and mangled elsewhere, and bizarrely distorted everywhere else. Cognition had had its ugly way with the physical matter of the ferry. The blood and bodies that could be seen only added to the macabre display.

A lone Acolyte was on top of the vessel, perched on the shoulder of its corrupted Shadow; as one, they gazed up at the helicopter, roaring ineffectually. The Acolyte was bloodied, and its Shadow had visible burn wounds, complete with a cracked mask. Whatever had gone down...had not been pretty.

Kurosawa sighed, adjusting his position so that his right arm had a line of sight with the monster. "Take the shot, Häyhä." With a burst of blue flames, his right arm transformed into an upscaled variant of an old Mosin-Nagant rifle...save for certain differences. Such as the fact its barrel was sterling silver, and its frame forged from ivory instead of wood; likewise, that its barrel was large enough to hold a .50 BMG round instead of the smaller 7.62×54mmR it used in reality. It was unusual, as far as Personas went: more of a tool or an implement than a completely separate 'self.' Perhaps it was a reflection of how he preferred to solve problems from a distance, before they could get up close and personal (because that's when things got messy)...or maybe it's because he wasn't all that fantastical in terms of imagination. So long as it got the job done with a minimum amount of fuss, what did looks matter? "One-Shot Kill."

A bullet that was literally larger than his body (impossibly) erupted from the muzzle, curving inexorably towards its target with lightning speed. With a resounding crack, it punctured the Shadow's head, reducing it to a foggy burst of black and shadowy thoughtstuff.

With a sudden lurch, the Acolyte went still before falling off the shoulder of its Shadow. It was, for all intents and purposes, dead before it hit the ground.

"Target neutralized," he murmured.

"What now, sir?"

"...clean up," he said with a grimace. "We're going back to the real world. I'm going to need more people to take care of this." Bodies needed to be ID'd, forensics had to be performed, the whole nine yards. Then would begin the long and arduous process of trying to find out what had happened.

(He also had the sneaking suspicion that the Third Child and his compatriots weren't on that ferry...just a gut feeling.)

(Those usually turned out to be true more often than not.)

xxxx

Mayumi Yamagishi shivered.

The beast observed the carnage that had been wrought. That day had been one of havoc: a great and terrible day.

...no...

Slowly, the beast slithered towards the roots of the dead tree, where the cat had been hiding.

...I didn't want that...

The tip of the beast wiggled and glowed, slowly morphing...until it grew a face.

I just wanted...to enjoy this moment...

The face was that of the cat, albeit one that was placid and serene.

...was...was that too much to ask...?

The beast spoke. "Our-sorrow-is-born-from-rage...it-is-only-right-that-we-share-it..."

It leaned in closer; the cat seemed paralyzed into fearful silence. "...and-your-loneliness...makes-you-all-the-more-fitting...for-our-sorrow..."

...I...

Suddenly, she bolted awake, staring blankly. "...huh...?" She was in a car...and not just any car, but a DeLorean. "...wha...?"

"Good to see that you're awake." She glanced to her right; Ken Amada was sitting in the driver's seat, keeping a close eye on the red and black sky of the Metaverse. "You've been out for a while."

"...what...what happened to the ferry...?" She was drawing a blank. (All thoughts of her dream had faded.)

"...it was very unpleasant. There was a covert police operation to try and claim Kirishima and Ikari...then we all got drawn into the Metaverse...and then there was a sudden bout of Angel Syndrome. It was very...chaotic. I think you slept through most of it."

"...I did?" She remembered...a pounding headache. Why? What had happened to her?

"I found you unconscious on the bathroom floor. I take it the transition into the Metaverse didn't really agree with you, especially after already having done so in the morning."

"...oh. Right." There had been a Ghost attack that morning, outside their motel. "...where...where are the others?"

"We moved on ahead of them. They just need to catch up." He briefly tapped the car stereo, which was blinking in a rhythmic fashion. "Once they get here, we'll be able to plan our next move."

"...I see...what...what all happened?"

Amada glanced stoically in her direction. "...I think it would be best to wait until everyone else gets here. That way we can get the story in full."

Mayumi nodded, accepting the explanation for what it was. Leaning back in her chair, she gazed at the windows toward the red and black sky, subconsciously marvelling at the haunting pattern.

xxxx

Ever since the escape from the ferry Ai, a silent pall had enveloped the van. Mostly because Sakamoto and Iori had been quiet, focused as they were on willing their Personas to take them...somewhere.

That left Shinji Ikari, Mana Kirishima, Toji Suzuhara, Kensuke Aida, and Ren Amamiya in the back rows to talk.

No one was much in the mood to do so: Amamiya seemed to be napping, Mana was quietly rubbing at the edge of her axe with a cloth, trying to get the blood off. Toji and Kensuke both looked like they wanted to talk, but had no idea what to say, and so settled for not talking.

That fit Shinji just fine, because...what was there to say? He still had no idea what had happened. All he knew was that the morning had begun with a sudden Ghost attack...and then there had been a pleasant ferry ride, complete with a pleasant conversation with Hasegawa (honestly, the fact he had talked with a complete stranger and done so successfully would have been unimaginable before coming to Tokyo-3; a sign of growth)...and then it had all gone horribly, horribly wrong. Why? Why?

The Beast laughed uproariously.

"Don't be ignorant, boy."

Its hands were wrapped around the neck of a timid woman.

"Fear of your power...fear of your potential...fear of YOU..."

A sickening snap, as the woman went limp.

"...that's what it ALWAYS comes down to, in the end..."

He shivered uncontrollably, wrapping his arms around himself in a vain attempt to keep warm.

Finally, after nearly two hours of flying, Junpei leaned forward, turning on the radio; predictably enough, there was nothing but static to be heard. However, after switching to a frequency of 101.01 FM, the radio suddenly began playing a song in crystal clear audio.

"Okay, we're close," remarked Junpei. "...and Trismegistus sees em'."

"So does Seiten Taisei," commented Ryuji. At that moment, the vehicle began to descend, slowly curving towards the ground.

The song elicited a blink from Kensuke. "...wait a second, isn't this an old Blossom Juice number?"

"What, you got a problem with the classics?" asked Iori.

"No, but how are we hearing over the radio? Last I recall, setting up radio transmitters wasn't a high priority in the Metaverse."

"This song was my team's 'signal' when I used to be an A.T. Agent," explained Sakamoto. "Just a little bit of cognitive engineering on our part to make it usable, but I bet the DeLorean has its own transmitter built in after all the work you've done it." Junpei simply chuckled in response. "Given how crazy the Metaverse could be, this little puppy was a godsend in helping us keep track of each other."

Shinji stared at the ground; wild forests could be seen along the mountains, bordering a mountain town laden with the cognition of flourishing farmers' fields. A small mountain lake, no more than a couple hundred meters across, was rimmed by various Kirin and Nara Archetypes, whilst tiger-headed carps — Shachi Archetypes — swam amidst its waters. Near this lake was the cognitive double of a small parking lot, where a familiar DeLorean was resting. Within a matter of minutes, Trismegistus and Seiten Taisei had set down, letting the wheels of the van and Sakamoto's motorcycle rest upon the pavement. "Okay kids, get out and stretch your legs," ordered the sole Freelancer of the group.

Toji and Kensuke were eager to get out, whilst Amamiya moved more sedately. Mana stepped out and actually did stretch her legs; the gull wings of the DeLorean opened up, revealing Amada and Mayumi. Shinji quietly shuffled out (his legs felt leaden), staring up at the sky (red and black, red and black, red and black, RED...) before falling to his knees, loudly expelling the green tea and ramen he had eaten earlier that morning.

"Aw, gross!" yelped Toji, impulsively raising his arms.

Junpei simply knelt down, patting him on the back. "Go ahead and get it out, kid; that whole thing was pretty nasty, wasn't it?"

"Speaking of which, now that we're sufficiently far away from whatever just happened...WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!" exclaimed Kensuke.

"Pipe down, we're trying to drink here!" chorused the deer-like Archetypes from the nearby lake.

"...sorry," muttered Kensuke. "...but seriously, what happened on that ferry? How did we get into the Metaverse to begin with?"

Ryuji huffed, leaning against his gun-cane with a grimace. "Guess we should probably start from the beginning...Amada first noticed something was suspicious while we were waiting to get onto the ferry. Lots of the people waiting to get on were observing us. Then while Ikari went off to the Observation Deck, a man by the name of Hidetoshi Odagiri decided to spill the beans: save for the crew, every SINGLE passenger on that ferry besides us was a cop."

"...what?" blubbered Toji. "For real?!"

"For real," chorused Sakamoto. "All part of the Paranormal and Supernatural Countermeasure Office."

That term elicited a reaction of actual surprise from Kensuke. "Wait, seriously?"

"You know em', Ken?"

Kensuke nodded towards Toji. "Yeah; part of the Public Security Division of the Security Bureau for the National Police Agency. They got started in late 2012 after some pretty nasty new moon incidents took out a number of...experienced A.T. Agents," he briefly hitched in his recollection, "the government officially started up a group subject to more government oversight than what the Anti-Terror Task Force's charter allows for. From what little's publicly known, it's supposed to be more focused on matters of internal security than the Task Force: think more cognitive ne'er-do-wells than Ghosts and Acolytes, not that they won't step in for the latter if the circumstances call for it. But...a ferry full of PubSec officers is a serious concentration of manpower. What in the world would warrant that?!"

"Take a guess," remarked Sakamoto with a dour expression.

"...me..." murmured Shinji, slowly and unsteadily rising to his feet. Amamiya-senpai handed him a water bottle, which he eagerly drank to wash out the taste of sickness from his mouth. "...they were after me, weren't they?"

"You and Kirishima, but you were definitely their focus," admitted Sakamoto.

Mana snorted. "Figures."

"Odagiri mentioned that his partner had sought you out," continued Ryuji. "Saori Hasegawa, right?"

Shinji flinched at the name. "...yes."

"What exactly did you talk about? Try and be specific."

Junpei added, "and feel free to take your time, kid."

"...the tension was...getting to me. I wanted some air...and Hasegawa-san just...approached me. We actually frightened each other, at first." He impulsively giggle-snorted, because in retrospect, their initial interaction had actually been pretty funny. "I should have known that someone like her wouldn't have approached me for no reason..."

Junpei snorted. "Ah, don't put yourself down. You've kind of got that lonesome bishounen look about you; a few years and maybe a little bit of extra muscle, and you'll be a bonafide ladykiller."

"Junpei," warned Ken Amada.

"What? I'm trying to cheer him up!"

Shinji brushed past Iori's attempts at cheering him up. "...but she was just so nice. She seemed...harmless. It was...easy, to talk with her," admitted Shinji. "She asked for stories about life in Tokyo-3...I didn't tell her anything specific about what I did or anything like that, but then she told me about who she worked for; admitted that she knew I was an Evangelion-user...but that she also wanted to try and get to know who 'Shinji Ikari' was."

"Anything else?" prompted Sakamoto.

"...she thought the government's fears about my power weren't that bad. She wanted me to talk to someone in Tokushima by the name of Kurosawa, who would give me 'options' beyond NERV." Beyond my father. "...I...I think she just wanted to introduce me to other people...it was...'establishing a dialogue.' That's what she called it."

"...well, that pretty much gels with what Odagiri was telling me," admitted Sakamoto with a grimace. "Apparently, notwithstanding your own unique powers, the government had concerns about your temperament."

He blinked. "My...temperament?"

"More specifically with how your scuffle with Kirishima went down on your Katsuragi rescue mission at the beginning of July." (Because of course they would find out about his moment of nearly fatal weakness, why would it be any other way?!) "You were apparently rabid enough during that fight that it was cause enough to frighten a bunch of grown-ass adults. Any truth to that, Kirishima?"

At Ryuji's question, Mana nonchalantly shrugged. "We were both going pretty hard. But to be honest...I had never felt that afraid before. Acolytes don't compare. Not even the Reaper."

"...I see," muttered the older man.

Shinji gulped, looking down at the ground; it was impossible not to notice the perplexed stares coming his way from Toji and Mayumi, or the appraising gaze from Kensuke. (They're reevaluating who you are. What else did you expect?)

The Beast gazed down upon them all from atop a towering pillar.

"Your power marks you as a unique existence."

Their eyes gleamed brightly.

"Loneliness is inevitable."

"...but if it was successful, why did it go south? How did Hasegawa die?"

"I...I don't know. I felt woozy, she asked if I was getting seasick...and then she was gone." He was feeling nauseous again. "I saw blood coming out of her mouth...she fell against me...and...I felt her back...it was...was..."

"Easy there, no need to go into more details." Sakamoto turned his gaze towards Mana. "...you were up there as well, right?"

"Yeah," answered the weapons-wielding girl. "I was on top of the bridge, near the crow's nest."

"Why were you up there to begin with?"

"...was trying to get away from the noise," she admitted. "So many Persona-users in one place was getting to me. And there was something else as well. Couldn't pin it down, but it wasn't like anything I had ever felt before. But it was malicious. And I felt it move, right before I heard Ikari shout Hasegawa's name."

"...so there was a third party involved," commented Amada. "Someone wanted to instigate open conflict between us and PubSec."

"Which brings me to one other question I have." Ryuji's gaze become somewhat...harder. "Kirishima...well, you prefer Mana-san, right?"

"...yes," acknowledged the girl.

"As bad as Hasegawa's death was, there might have been a chance for cooler heads to prevail...but then you cut a man in half. Why?"

She blinked, apparently confused. "What do you mean, why? They were aiming guns at Ikari. I made a decision, and I acted."

"See, that's what's been bugging me: because I remember your debriefing to Katsuragi from the July New Moon operation. I remember how you described your first Acolyte encounter. You described feeling...a little bothered by it." (Little did he know about the whole episode with Minato Arisato's interference that Mana had entirely glossed over. Alas, that had little relevance with the current discussion.) "But there was no hesitation with killing this guy, was there?"

"No. Why would there be?"

Shinji couldn't help but notice the dawning unease in Toji and Kensuke's eyes. Meanwhile, Mayumi simply looked...saddened.

Sakamoto huffed, apparently drawing some insight from her answer. "...you know, most people show less hesitancy with an Acolyte. You know, because of the whole 'berserk monster' thing. But not you. What was so different that you couldn't have just taken up a defensive position in front of Ikari? Was it absolutely necessary to strike first?"

Mana growled, finally beginning to look irritated. "What exactly do you want from me?"

"I'm just trying to understand, is all. What were you thinking?" Unlike how that question was often phrased — as an accusation, as a condemnation — Sakamoto sounded genuinely curious.

"I was thinking that they were a threat. And once I thought of Tokita and his men, it was simple."

"...and why would Tokita be different from an Acolyte, in your eyes?"

"Why?" Mana looked honestly confused. "Acolytes can't help what happened to em'. They may be monsters that have to be put down...but the people they used to be didn't ask for that: they didn't have a choice. But what Tokita did to me and my siblings...he chose that. His minions chose that. Just like the people on that ship chose to point their guns at Ikari. So if you want an apology from me, you're wasting your time."

The sudden silence was deafening, as was the tension. Shinji looked uncertainly at Mana (because even if he could understand her circumstances...to hear someone act so unapologetically about that was still unsettling on a visceral level), who almost seemed to dare Sakamoto to try and defy her.

He didn't. Rather the man simply ran a hand through his hair, sighing explosively. "...freakin' hate the Valentine Treaty...this kind of shit isn't supposed to happen to kids. Pardon the language."

"Cussing is what you're worried about?" sputtered Kensuke. "This is all a bit heavier than a swear word!"

"This level of action by the government is honestly surprising," remarked Amada, leaning against the hood of the DeLorean. "Even if there were concerns with the temperament of Ikari and Kirishima...wouldn't it have been more prudent to approach them quietly?"

"...desperation drives people to do terrible things..." muttered Yamagishi. Thanks to the nature of the Metaverse, her words were heard by everyone. "...the history of life right after Second Impact...was also one of desperation..."

"You know your history, then," acknowledged Sakamoto. "Those first years after Second Impact...were chaotic. Then with the MAGI, the A.T. Task Force, and the greater understanding in A.T. Field manipulation...we had hope. Even if Ghost and Acolyte attacks were still random...we had a way to fight back. But with Strega successfully destroying the MAGI in Atlanta...and with all the casualties from the last new moon...I don't blame people for feeling like we were back in those bad old days. Back then, people were recommending anything if it meant we could survive..."

"...but how does that translate into trying to kidnap Ikari and Mana-san?" asked Toji.

"Well, from what I've heard, the First and Second Children...people in the past have tried unsuccessfully kidnapping em', because of Evangelion." Ryuji's glance towards Shinji was telling. "Am I in the ballpark, Ikari?"

(Misato's explanation of his contract with NERV had come to a foreboding topic, as he asked what would happen if he simply...left. "...well, borrowing a page from Ritsuko? You'd probably get kidnapped by some NGO, private firm, or government agency for study." He blinked, which prompted her to sigh. "...Ritsuko can be blunt, but her intentions were good. If I'm being honest, I bet dissection wouldn't be off the table." His lips twisted with shock, skin turning puce from nauseous anxiety. "Yeah...NERV's had to rebuff quite a few kidnapping attempts on the First and Second Children over the years. You'd think we'd be on the same team, when it comes to stopping the end of life as we know it, but that's humans for you, neh?")

"...yeah," he numbly nodded. "Ayanami-san...and Sohryu-san."

"Wait, you mean people have tried kidnapping Ayanami before?" blurted out Kensuke. "What, did they have a death wish? She's scary!"

Sakamoto huffed. "Well, they obviously didn't succeed, did they? With everything that went down during the last new moon, someone in the government must have wanted to try and make a play for you...guess your old man's considered too much of a loose cannon to 'play nice.'"

"...my father?" murmured Shinji.

"Since NERV's been very tight-lipped as to how Evangelion even works, I bet some in the government want to try and find a way to reverse-engineer it. Make it something more widely available...as if that's something NERV hasn't already been trying to do, because seriously," groused Sakamoto.

Junpei spat on the ground. "I hate politics. Seriously."

"...but it wasn't that bad of a plan," admitted Amada. "Isolate us on the open seas, where civilian casualties could be minimized, and the odds could be safely stacked against us in terms of manpower...and open up with a nonaggressive act of diplomacy when Ikari was alone. Since the only known member of Strega, Jin Shirato, was absent...even that factor was accounted for. If it weren't for unexpected unknowns, it might have worked."

"Would'a, could'a, should'a," retorted Ryuji. "Feh. I tried avoiding the cities to avoid this kind of scrutiny...for us to draw this kind of attention after only two days? I bet someone leaked the fact we were leaving Tokyo-3."

"So that's why you had us taking the long way around," commented Amamiya.

"That was the idea. Katsuragi and I had thought that would be the most prudent course of action...plus, I really did want you kids to have a good time. I mean, hell, none of y'all should be worrying about this kind of crap to begin with. But that's the hand you've been dealt..."

"...it's not fair," grumbled Shinji, feeling a sudden bout of spitefulness.

"Life's not fair."

For some reason, Sakamoto's seemingly trite response only irritated him. "That's...that's not what I mean...I don't know why I have this power, I never asked for this power...but...but I swore to become better...I swore to become someone trustworthy..." His blood felt hot; his breath, heavy. "...but no one seems to care about that...it's like no matter what I try, I'm not good enough...and because of that, Hasegawa-san died. A lot of people just died...and for what? What was the point?!" He looked at everyone (Iori backed away out of nervousness; Kensuke and Toji both looked concerned; Kirishima and Amada were wary; Yamagishi seemed unfocused; oddly enough, Amamiya looked just as unflappable as Sakamoto). "Why...why are people afraid of me...?"

The Beast held up a globe that was engulfed in flame.

"Because your power can reduce all things to ruin."

His Other stared at a family photo.

"Because you're your father's son."

They both gazed upon a world void of life.

"...because you're YOU."

"...is it really because Strega said that Evangelion's the target of the Angels? Is that really all there is to it?! Is that all I have to look forward to?!" Unknowingly, his Persona Hamlet had manifested behind him, flickering with the aura of Shogoki. (Mana impulsively took a step back at the sight of it.) "What's the point if nothing changes or gets better?" The empowered Persona seemed to loom over them all, even as his eyes glowed a fierce yellow. "Why should I even try?!"

"THAT'S ENOUGH!"

The volume behind Ryuji Sakamoto's roar was enough to actually startle him into silence; bereft of anger and lacking a target to fight, Hamlet faded away.

The eldest of the group, despite acting rather young at heart, finally looked the part of a man in his early 40's. "...life can suck, sometimes. Some people have it better, some people have it worse, so I ain't gonna get into a 'who's had a suckier life' competition. But look at your friends." He gestured towards Aida, Suzuhara, Kirishima, and Yamagishi. "Do you think they're worse off because of you?"

Shinji faltered. "...but...if it weren't for me, they wouldn't have gotten involved in this-"

"No no, Sakamoto-san's got a point!" interrupted Kensuke. "I mean...the life of an A.T. Agent is something I always dreamed about having, and it's not exactly the safest of occupations...I know that for a fact. Even if the path I've taken to get here isn't what I thought it would be...I wouldn't be standing here without you. I mean, I probably would have ended up going into the Metaverse by myself and getting killed like a dummy," he admitted with a nervous scratch of the head. "And besides...all things considered, I think you're a pretty cool guy, Ikari. For someone who's only been at this whole thing for less than two months, you've done a lot better than most people I can think of."

Toji, apparently sensing the sudden shift in the mood, added his two bits. "...not gonna lie, I was irritated by you at first. But that was more me than you, so that wasn't fair. And...well, you were there with Ken to help me out when I got overwhelmed by my Shadow, so how the hell can I complain? If anyone says you're not doing your part, then I say screw em'!"

"...even if you only came after Tokita because he kidnapped Katsuragi, you still played a part in freeing me," said Mana. "I may still be looking for my brothers...but you helped give me that chance. So take it for what it's worth."

"...um..." Mayumi was flushing out of embarrassment. "...it's...it's nowhere near as grand as the others...but I like that you joined the Literature Club, Ikari-san. I...I appreciate our conversations..."

Shinji stared at his four peers, blinking dumbly.

"...welp, looks like you've been outvoted," calmly joked Ren Amamiya with a devil-may-care grin. "I think that's how democracy works, right?"

Something about that light-hearted comment — delivered with a sort of flippant kindness that only served to highlight how little credit he was giving himself for what he had done — was enough to finally elicit tears. "I..." (People were dead because of him...and yet people were also alive because of him. That could not be denied.) "...I..."

His Other bore a small smile.

"You may have opened yourself up to others, therefore inviting pain..."

He held out his hand, freely and willingly.

"...but that also means the chance to invite good things as well..."

He couldn't speak anymore, through the sobbing.

xxxx

After Shinji Ikari had had his emotional moment, the decision had been made to transition back into the real world. They saw that they had ended up in Shirai Omachi Fuji Park, on the outskirts of a mountain town called Asago, in northern Hyōgo Prefecture (small mercies, that the park had been empty on a Sunday afternoon). The five teenagers were resting by the small lake, watched over by Ken Amada; Junpei Iori had been delegated to drive into town to grab them some cheap sustenance for lunch.

This, of course, left Ryuji to deal with something...more unpleasant, yet no less necessary.

"...damn it," growled the voice of Misato Katsuragi. "To think they'd be that heavy-handed...!"

"Tell me about it," groused Ryuji, speaking into his phone; in the distance he quietly watched and listened to the kids being...kids.

("It was crazy, but I managed to act in a perfectly manly and decisive way to get us out of there!" boasted Toji, pantomiming the action of Gilgamesh performing a shoulder charge.)

("Yeah, and if it hadn't been for Iori-san, we'd have fallen into the ocean! A cognitive ocean! Who's to say that swimming would have even worked the same way?!" retorted Kensuke.)

("I can confirm that it depends on what body of water you end up swimming in," cryptically remarked Mana. "You don't want to go to a place where a lot of people have drowned in reality. The cognition...isn't pretty.")

("My point exactly!" exclaimed Kensuke with exasperation.)

("...but we didn't fall in, so why are you still ragging on me about it?" Toji maintained with a stubborn expression.)

"...are you going to head back to Tokyo-3, now?"

"...still trying to make up my mind about it. On the one hand, it would be the smart thing to do...but on the other hand, whenever the government concludes their preliminary forensics on the ferry, they might consider an immediate retreat to Tokyo-3 as a tacit admission of guilt." After all, if they had 'nothing to be ashamed for', why retreat to NERV's seat of power in Hakone?

"...feh, I can see it happening."

"Besides, we're only a couple of hours out from Nishiawakura, and Ikari seemed pretty intent on meeting up with his former custodian...you know, before everything that happened today." Heck, the letter from the boy's old sensei had prompted this whole road trip to start with.

"And you'd feel comfortable drawing that sort of attention to a little village like that?"

"I think the only reason PubSec marshaled that level of manpower against us is because they were in a unique position to minimize civilian casualties while stacking the deck in their favor. Even in a small village, I doubt they'd do something that blatant again...if they can even afford to." After all, the Paranormal and Supernatural Countermeasure Office was still relatively young; last he had heard through the proverbial grapevine, that group had had less than two thousand personnel to their name. If they had all gone down with the Ai...that was easily a fifth of the Office's manpower wiped out in the course of one morning.

"There were at least a few hundred other passengers, right? I can't believe you managed to escape so many Persona-users."

"It was a lot of luck and a lot of daring," he readily admitted. "Pulled into the Metaverse all at once, dropped amidst a bunch of irritated Archetypes? They'd have to worry about friendly fire, notwithstanding their goal of arresting us...then when the Acolytes manifested..." The whole environment had worked against those officers, whereas it had only favored the people afflicted by Angel Syndrome, who cared only for destruction. "...the only question is whether anyone survived after we escaped." Honestly, a dark part of him wished that there had been no survivors, if only because it would mean none of the officers would be able to testify against them (because of course they would talk about how Ikari had 'murdered' Hasegawa, and how Kirishima had killed a member of PubSec, regardless of how justified she had been). Not that I'm gonna say the quiet part out loud...

"Tch. Hope none of them made it," she muttered.

("So...you said you fell unconscious on the ferry, right?" asked Shinji. "Are you okay, Yamagishi-san...?"

("...I think so," she replied. "I don't know why it happened...")

...well then. "Well, if you're gonna say the quiet part out loud..." he snarked.

"I'm serious. I'm tired of people undercutting kids who only want to defend humanity, all for the sake of petty power games and government stupidity. Shinji-kun...he and I may have our own difficulties as of late...but he's just a young boy who means well. He really does. And...he doesn't deserve to be treated like a monster by people who don't even know him. So to HELL with them," she all but spat.

Ryuji smirked. "You're speaking my language, Katsuragi. I may not have as much experience working with Evangelion-users like you do, but he's definitely got potential. He just needs help coaxing it out."

"Don't undercut yourself either. You're the one who decided to take in a new Persona-user as an apprentice."

Ryuji shrugged. "I gotta admit, I was curious about what was happening in this city after that boondoggle with Tokita...and when Suzuhara-kun's situation came across my way, it only felt right, ya know? Kids in their position don't have as much opportunity to be kids anymore...not after Second Impact. And hell, it's the adults who are supposed to help pave the way to the future for the people coming after us...not the other way around."

"...if only more people thought like that."

("So, how exactly did you sneak past the mayhem to get to the Car Deck?" incisively inquired Ken.)

(Amamiya simply adjusted his glasses in a dramatic fashion. "With difficulty.")

(Amada flatly stared back, unimpressed by the young man's sarcastic answer.)

"...that being said, you should probably tell your boss about what went down today." From the Ghost attack in Arida to the disaster aboard the Ai, it had already been one proverbial train wreck of a day. "Better to get ahead of it, you know?"

"Yeah...can't wait to get out of this Medical Ward. I've got stuff to do."

"Don't we all."

"...keep them safe, Sakamoto-san."

The woman's somber tone demanded an equally serious response. "Hey, it's what Junpei and Kenny and I are being paid for." Okay, sort of serious.

"Ha ha. Smartass."

"But seriously, I will. If anything bad happens to em', it'll be over my dead body."

"Let's not get crazy now..."

"Yeah yeah, I don't wanna hear it from the lady that got her shit kicked in by one measly Persona-user."

"Oh now you're just TRYING to piss me off-!"

"Click," he said, elaborately enunciating each syllable before hanging up without another word.

xxxx

Within her cot in NERV HQ's Medical Ward, Misato stared at her phone with an incredulous expression. "...that bastard hung up on me!"

xxxx

"...probably gonna pay for that later," remarked Ryuji with a smarmy grin. Fortunately, the sight of the DeLorean driving back towards the park sufficiently distracted him. Eh, I'll burn that bridge when I get to it.

After all, cartons of cheap but filling ramen awaited them all.

(Ryuji pointedly refused to look at his phone as it buzzed incessantly, no doubt due to the voluminous flood of angry texts that Katsuragi sent his way.)

xxxx

The Hakone Caravan had spent a fair bit of time at Shirai Omachi Fuji Park, letting their lunch settle and just...absorbing the sounds of nature.

Alas, the time had come to resume their journey.

("We're still going to head to Nishiawakura," said Ryuji Sakamoto, gathering them away from the lake. "I know it may seem weird, given everything that happened today...but we made it this far, and I don't want to let the actions of a bunch of overzealous cops put a damper on your summer vacation.")

Some might have thought it callous, or even foolhardy. However, the Cognitive Freelancer and two A.T. Agents had assured them that the government was unlikely to try something so heavy-handed again within the immediate future...and besides, Shinji's sensei had been expecting them anyway.

(He had quietly stepped away to call his sensei, hoping that the man would pick up...hoping that his old work schedule would hold. Fortunately, that was the case. "Hello sensei...it's Shinji Ikari...I just wanted to let you know that we're a couple of hours out, so we should be there by nightfall..." The man was gruff as ever, asking about who all was coming, and why he hadn't called earlier. "Well...these past few days have been very busy...but it'll be myself, four other kids my age — two boys and two girls — alongside a male high schooler, and our three male chaperones..." He winced at his sensei's bewildered response. "Yeah...it ended up being more people than I thought at first...but we don't mind staying at the local inn if it's too much..." He blinked at the response. "...I know your place is pretty big, but it won't be too much, will it...?" For some reason, the man's graciousness felt...unexpected, even though it shouldn't have been. "...thank you, sensei...")

Driving south from Asago along National Route 312, they had veered westward through the mountains, taking National Route 429 the entire way. As they drove through the forested highway, Shinji — sitting quietly in the van's back by himself, having asked for a bit of space, which the others were (thankfully) happy to let him have — held his sensei's letter, which had prompted this whole idea to start with.

He read through it once more, feeling the same dash of bewilderment and gratitude that he had felt when first opening it on the 27th of July, already one week ago...

xxxx

He couldn't believe the address of origin. Is...no, it couldn't be. Opening it up, he recognized the handwriting. It...it is...?

Purposefully taking the long way back to his dorm room on the second floor, he made for the stairs, reading all the while.

Hello boy,

I don't know all the particulars of your new situation, but your phone apparently doesn't allow calls from unauthorized individuals. It's why I couldn't respond after the message you left on the Ninth, so I had to reply the old-fashioned way.

He blinked, recalling the voicemail he had left. If...that's the case...then how in the world am I getting messages from Tanaka's Portable Commodities? A mystery to be resolved later, alas. He continued reading.

Your message was thoughtful; surprisingly so. Despite my misgivings regarding NERV and your family situation, it seems to have done you good. So here's my offer to you.

I don't know if your circumstances allow for it, but I'd be willing to take you back in for however long you have during the summer break coming up; it's about that time when the schools will be letting out. Call me crazy if you will, but I'd like to see the change in you with my own eyes. After putting up with you for several years, I think I've earned that much, at least.

And if you've actually made any friends, you might as well bring them along, too. Make a proper vacation out of it. And who knows, any cityfolk you've found might appreciate the slower life out here.

Just call and let me know before you show up, okay?

And if you decide not to come...that's fine too. I've been enjoying the peace and quiet.

Sincerely yours-

xxxx

Shinji's reverie was interrupted by the sudden loss of momentum. "...are we here?"

"According to the address you gave us, yes," answered Amamiya-senpai.

He looked around outside the window; up ahead, Sakamoto was pulling his motorcycle towards a small patch of asphalt off the right side of the road, situated amidst a small field of green grass. Towards the left, where the pavement ended, was a familiar slope of old concrete — cracked in various places due to age — that wound up the hillside towards a very familiar residence. "...we are here..."

The trepidation had returned, and he paradoxically found himself wondering if his sensei would approve of the people he had brought along.

xxxx

Ren Amamiya felt an odd twinge, looking at the only other vehicle parked on the patch of asphalt: a two-door coupé, colored condor yellow. Where have I seen that before?

Ryuji whistled, looking at the vehicle with an appreciative glance. "Ooh, a 1962 Porsche 356? Your sensei has good taste."

"...I think he'd appreciate that," quietly remarked Ikari.

All told, Ren felt that this trip had been...eventful, but well worth it, in spite of the craziness. Even his awkwardness around Ryuji had subsided somewhat, as proximity and exposure helped him ignore the temptation to re-open their metaphysical bond (always latent, always dormant, but always present). Despite the core personality traits that were constant, he was able to focus on the differences...enough so that he could put some metaphorical difference between Ryuji Sakamoto the Cognitive Freelancer and Ryuji Sakamoto the Phantom Thief.

So why was he feeling a strange hesitancy? Why had he felt so odd, the closer they got to Nishiawakura?

As they walked up towards the traditional-looking house sitting on the forested hillside, cast in a pleasant glow by the sunset, Junpei Iori asked, "so who is this guy, anyway? I've only ever heard you call him 'sensei'; is he a real traditional type?"

Ikari blinked at the sudden question. "Oh. Well...it always felt odd, to use his name? He was my sensei, so...that's all there was to it. I don't recall thinking about it any deeper than that...but I guess you'll find out for yourself in a moment...?"

At that moment, the voice of another man descended from above. "Hoo boy, I thought you had been exaggerating..." Ren resisted the urge to freeze, even as his eyes impulsively darted upward; standing on the engawa surrounding the house and leaning over the wooden rail was a man with dark hair slicked back, revealing a receding hairline (no); wearing old khakis and a pink long-sleeved dress shirt (no), the most distinctive features were his topless half-rim glasses and chinstrap beard that flared out into a goatee (no no NO). "...but it's just like you said, huh?"

"Konnichiwa, sensei." Shinji dutifully bowed. "Gomen kudasai."

The man, easily in his late 40's or early 50's at least, chuckled. "Well, at least your manners haven't decayed..." Looking over them all, he introduced himself. "I'm Sojiro Sakura, the boy's old custodian. I appreciate you accompanying him all the way here."

Coming here was a terrible mistake, mentally despaired Ren.

xxxx

END OF 8/2/2015

xxxx

Author's Note: In case you ever wondered why I made Shinji somewhat of a coffee snob thus far...this is why. Anyhow, trivia time!

- The Hanshin Panthers hat that Junpei wears on his A.T. Agent outfit is a reference to the IRL Hanshin Tigers, and the UH-60J is a search & rescue variant of the Black Hawk helicopter that's used by the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force.
- Although Ren has his nifty little 'Joker mask' trick in the Metaverse, he's unable to utilize partial connections to his past Social Links like Minato and (apparently) Yu can; reference their opening conversation from back on 7/17 for details on that front.

Also, the Ryuji x Misato ship is approaching, and I have no idea how to stop it. This wasn't supposed to happen.

/when accounting for the last chapter
/August 2 is now the longest day of the fic in terms of chapter length
/at over 20,000 words