There are only a couple of Shadows seated at the bar where Ikkuman's used to be, seated on tall, leather-cushioned stools and sipping garishly colored drinks out of bizarre curly-cued glassware. They don't seem to have been particularly disturbed by the ruckus, likely placated by whatever it is they're drinking. So long as they're not belligerent, though, you figure it ought to be safe enough to take a short break here. However, your nerves are still wound up tight as a spring, and you can't help but steal quick glances over your shoulder every couple of seconds.
You and Mariko take a couple stools down at the very end of the counter, putting as much space between you and the closest Shadow as possible. Her hands still shaking a little, Mariko cracks the seal on her drink and takes a couple deep gulps. Once she's had enough, she caps it back up and sighs deeply.
"OK," she says, whether to you or to herself, you can't tell.
"Feeling better?" You flex the fingers in your right hand as you ask her, testing their strength. The shooting pain is completely gone.
"Yeah. Lots, actually. It's weird, though. Technically, it's past midnight in the real world, but I don't feel tired at all. In fact, I feel really good - like I could go for a run or something."
"That makes one of us," yawns Nisekao. "I feel like I'm gonna conk out any moment now. I wish I had a Persona."
"Tell you what, Nisekao, next time we go out on an expedition, I'll lend you my coffee card. My treat," you offer.
"Oh, you don't need to do that. I mean, I'll be all right."
"It's just coffee, man. Can't have our navigator falling asleep at the helm, right? Just take it. It's what friends do for each other."
"A-All right. Thanks, Tetsuo."
An awkward pause settles between the three of you. Mariko hastily jumps in to change the subject.
"Umm, so…do you wanna get going again? We have to find the Dreamweaver before the party ends, right?"
She shifts uncomfortably in her stool as she says this, and adjusts the strap of her bag as if she's about to get up. You could go back out there too if you wanted to, but you'd like a little more time to collect yourself.
"Hold on a second," you say, putting up your hand. She relaxes back down onto the stool. "We kinda made a huge scene out there, so it wouldn't surprise me if we attracted some unwanted attention. Dunno know about you, but I'm not super eager to run smack dab into the Enforcer the second we leave this bar."
Mariko grimaces. "True, true…OK then, I guess we can stay a little longer."
"Those sound like magic words to me. Can I fix you anything?"
The strange, gruff voice drags you out of your conversation and draws your attention to its source: a paunchy Shadow in a wrinkled, stained shirt. Mariko starts, and you stare at it dumbly. Its use of human language is throwing you for a loop – to this point, the only Shadows that you've been able to comprehend are the Dreamweavers. This one seems harmless enough, but that common thread is enough to make you wary.
"Jeez, don't look at me like that. Gonna make me think I'm ugly or somethin'. Listen, you ain't one of those loiterers, are ya? 'Cause I don't put up with that crap here."
The bartender seems to have a short fuse; it's probably not worth it to argue with it and draw attention to yourselves.
"Uh, then…two…house…specials?" you reply. That sounds like something that might be a drink.
If you could see the bartender's eyebrows (or if he had any – you're unsure what a Shadow would need eyebrows for), you're certain it'd be raising one right now. But it nods and trundles off to fix your order.
Mariko turns to you, visibly disturbed.
"You can understand them?"
"Just that one, apparently. Why, can't you?"
"No! It sounds like all the rest of them – a bunch of grunts and clicks."
"W-Was I making those noises, too?"
"No, you sounded normal," she says, although the tone of her voice seems to indicate that she doesn't think the situation is terribly normal at all.
"Well, that's a relief, I guess."
Mariko still doesn't look convinced, so you add, "For what it's worth, it's kinda freakin' me out, too. But it might end up being useful."
"True," she muses, cradling her chin in the crook of her thumb. "I guess I'd rather meet a Shadow that wants to talk instead of fight anyways. So what did it want?"
"Our drink orders. It thought we were loiterers."
Mariko's eyes go wide and her face flushes visibly in the blue-tinged light. "Tetsuo, I don't think we're old enough to drink!" However, she halts her protest when the bartender returns with a couple of fat, bowl-like glasses topped up with a violently blue substance. He plunks them down on the bar in front of you, and instead of spilling over, their contents sway gently in their spherical containers.
"Can you drink this?" Mariko whispers to you.
"Enjoy," says the bartender, but it makes no move to leave you alone. Instead, it just stands there, expectant. You slide the glass around in your grip a little, watching its contents slosh thickly around the rim.
"Uh, how much for these?" you ask, desperately hoping that's what it wants.
"All the beverages here are complimentary. Nobody should have to pay to have a good time, eh? Now lemme see ya pound those suckers!" it says, giving you a hefty clap on the back that just about takes your breath away. You and Mariko exchange a sideways glance. Hesitantly, you lift the glass to your face.
"Bottoms up."
The "drink" oozes past your lips, and your tongue is awash in a number of sensations. The beverage is pudding-like in texture and consistency - almost gelatinous - and easy to swallow. The taste starts out acrid. If you had to describe it, it'd be "burning electronics"-flavored. But fortunately, it quickly turns sour and candylike, and leaves your mouth and throat slightly numb. Then, a warm tingling shoots from your stomach into your brain, and you become extremely light-headed. The world around you starts to slide in and out of focus, well-defined shapes becoming kaleidoscopic before your eyes.
"Tetsuo, are you all right?" asks the collection of fuzzy lights that used to be Mariko.
You try to tell Mariko not to drink any of hers, but all that drops out of your mouth is "You are a million colors."
She seems to take the point well enough. Pushing her drink to the side, she takes you by the shoulders and gives you a gentle shake. Or at least, that's what you suppose is happening now that the world has stopped lurching like a ship at high seas.
"Give him a second. This part's my favorite," says the bartender.
For a moment, everything falls back into definition. Then, little particles of light - literally every individual photon – begins to ignite one by one before your eyes, tiny stars exploding into shafts of intense light that pierce your retinas, a symphony of stellar life unfolding before your eyes until all you see is an ocean of blinding white. You then begin to accelerate through this searing photoscape, speed manifesting as the deafening roar of wind in your ears, advancing ever faster towards some invisible horizon.
And then, abruptly, the world around you slams back into reality as clear and crisp as it ever was. Your head snaps forward from the absence of a sense of momentum, your breath short and ragged.
"God. Daaaaamn."
"Yeah, most folks stay away from the Special if they know what they're doin'. But you handled it pretty well for a human - I'm impressed. And maybe a little disappointed. I dunno, I kinda figured your head would pop off or something."
This Shadow's kind of a dick.
"How do you feel?" asks Mariko.
"Isn't it obvious?" Your fingers probe your temple in a futile attempt to alleviate the pounding within. "Just…don't drink that. Please."
The bartender chuckles at you.
"You're kind of a funny guy, you know that?" It leans over the counter towards you conspiratorially. "Listen, I know you're not supposed to be here."
"Eh?" you croak. You drank its trippy pudding, what more does it want? You start to plead your case, but the Shadow shakes its head and interrupts.
"Hey, hey, shut it! Just…hear me out, OK? It's obvious there's something fishy goin' on here with you. I mean, I don't see any other fleshy folks like you wandering around, so…y'know?"
You nod your understanding and wait for it to continue.
"Good, good. So long story short, you seem like the kinda guy interesting stuff happens to. Don't ask me why I feel that way, I just do. Me? Not much interesting goin' on with this right now," it says, gesturing to itself.
"Now, I know what you're thinkin': 'You're partyin' all the time, how is that not interesting?' Well, lemme tell you what, once you've seen one guy tear another to bits in a drunken rage, you've seen 'em all. I'm more of a…wanderer type. I wanna get outta here. See the world. You feelin' what I'm sayin' here?"
"Sure," you answer, although there's a persistent ringing in your ears that's making it tough to care about what he's blabbering about.
"Nice. So here's the deal: I'm willing to lend you my power if you're interested."
That catches your attention.
"Your power?"
"That's what I said, isn't it? Those ears aren't just for decoration, are they? You get me – the real me, not this flabby fatsuit. I know it sounds like I'm tryin' to pull one over on ya, but underneath these rolls, I can really light shit up."
You're not entirely sure what "lighting shit up" entails, and usually when someone insists that they're not trying to trick you, they're definitely trying to trick you. Under normal circumstances, you wouldn't trust this thing farther than you could throw it. But the way you see it, even if this Shadow does try something with you, you feel confident enough that between you and Mariko, you could handle it if it came to that. Besides, you're curious to know what it means by "lending you its power." When it said that, something resonated deep within your mind; a sense of connection not dissimilar to the kind you've experienced with your family and friends. For some reason, you also think of the Velvet Room; of the aura of destiny and purpose exuded by its mysterious residents. The similarities are convincing enough to dispel your skepticism.
"It wants to come with me," you tell Mariko. Her incredulous reaction tells you exactly how she feels about that, not that you can blame her for being wary after what she's just been through.
"Just trust me on this one," you say. Shifting your attention back to the bartender, you say, "OK, I'm on board. You wanna tag along, feel free."
The Shadow gives another deep, creepy laugh. "All right, that's what I'm talkin' about!"
Then, it pauses, contemplative.
"…I'll do it for 5000 yen."
"Wait, what? Where'd that come from? You were just begging to go with me not more than a minute ago. Now you want money? What happened to 'complimentary'?"
The Shadow stares off to the side somewhere. "Dunno what you're talkin' about, that don't sound like me. The way I figure, if I'm putting myself out there for you – this is a dangerous place for humans, after all. It's not too strange to ask for a little…compensation, right?"
"What's it saying?" whispers Mariko.
"It wants money now."
She draws back.
"Seriously? No, it's not worth it!"
You sigh. "It's like, the cost of a new pair of jeans. I know you don't like it, but I think it's the right move."
She huffs, but doesn't say anything else, deferring to your judgment. You can kind of understand where she's coming from - she's clearly anxious to be moving again.
With some reluctance, you withdraw a dog-eared 5000 yen note from your wallet and press it into the Shadow's smoky palm. The bill appears to sink into its skin and disappears to wherever it is that Shadows store their cash.
"Hmm...yeah, that's a good start. Now how about a little somethin' to eat while we're at it?"
"I – You – Wha -?"
All this sputtering must make you look like a complete imbecile, but the Shadow's gall is unbelievable.
"I just gave you five thousand yen! Go buy your own food! Actually, better idea – make something yourself, you run a damn bar."
It winces, but quickly draws itself back up again.
"You try doin' this as long as I have and see if you feel like eatin' your own food all the time."
"'As long as you have,' that's gotta be what? All of a couple hours?"
"I'm just in the mood for something home-cooked is all," it says, effectively sidestepping the question. "Smells like you got something in that bag. What's in there? Got enough to share?" The Shadow stalks toward you, pawing at the pouch on your bag with Dad's snacks inside. You yank it back out of its reach.
"You know, there's a saying about cooks who won't eat their own food…" you say dryly.
"Never heard of it. So what's the deal, you gonna hook me up with some comfort food or what? Or do you not want my power after all?"
"It's starting to sound like a bigger waste of time by the minute," you grumble. It's almost to the point where you want to tell the bartender to shove off out of principle. It knows it has you on the hook and you hate it. But, you figure this is one of those times where a man has to swallow his pride– and watch someone else swallow his food.
Making sure to muster as much disdain as you possibly can, you reach into your bag, remove one of the tins octopus weenies, and toss it to the Shadow. It must not have expected you to give in quite so easily, because it nearly drops the thing in surprise. It pries the lid open just a smidge and holds the tin up close to its mask to look inside.
"Oooh!"
Once it's satisfied that you haven't booby trapped the snacks, it flings the lid aside with a clatter and holds up one of the weenies between two fat fingers, squeezing it like a little stress ball.
"Wouldja look at these cute little things! Only a human would think of stuff like this!"
With its thumb, it pops the weenie into the slit in its mask where its mouth would be and starts chewing very loudly and enthusiastically.
"Oh yeah! That's good! Real good! I can taste the love in each meaty little tentacle! Tell you what, I could sit down and eat a hundred of these without even realizin' it!"
"Well, we don't have a hundred. And that's all you're getting."
The Shadow upends the entire tin of weenies into its waiting maw and casts the tin aside, belching loudly. Mariko looks from you to the Shadow with an expression that can't decide whether it wants to be disgust or bewilderment.
"Yeah, yeah, that's okay, I guess."
"So are we satisfied now?" you ask. If the answer's not "Yes," you swear you're going to skewer this thing and be on your way.
The Shadow pretends to be deep in thought, letting out a slew of theatrical "Hmmm"s and "Ehhh"s before finally heaving a shrug.
"I suppose so. I wouldn't mind a little more pocket change, but I'm in a generous mood today, so I'll come with you on the cheap. Alley-oop!"
With a snap of its fingers, the Shadow disappears in a puff of black smoke that engulfs the area around you. A slew of curses escape your lips as you cough and hack on the smog, thinking that it jacked your stuff and ran. But when the smoke clears, something bright and shining hangs in the air before you, emitting a soft, iridescent blue glow. Cautiously, you reach forward and grab it.
As you take it between your thumb and index finger, the light dissipates, and you're left holding a thin card. The side facing you seems somewhat familiar, although you can't immediately say where you've seen it before. There's an image of a mask on it - one half black, one half white – on a deep blue background. On the other side, there's the picture of some kind of imp peering above the rim of an ornate pot. Underneath it is an inscription that reads "Agathion".
You flip the card over again in your hands, and as you do, a memory floats to the surface of your mind. The design on the back of this card is that same as the ones Minato had in the Velvet Room, both the ones he was using to tell your fortune, and the ones with all the different Personas on them. If that's the case, then this must be…
[Hey! So whaddya think? Pretty neat, eh?]
The bartender's sudden voice in your head almost makes you jump with surprise. The idea of talking to a card strikes you as impossibly dumb, but you flip it back over to the side with the picture of "Agathion" and think, [Is that you?]
[Who else would it be? Your mother?] the bartender says, voice dripping with sarcasm.
[You keep my mother out of this.]
[Jeez, it's just a joke, pal. I'm sure she's a very nice lady. Anyhow, anyone ever tell you that you got very nice headspace? Wasn't expecting a roomie, but that ain't a dealbreaker.]
[What?]
[Big guy, armor, doesn't talk much...ring any bells?] it says. Is it talking about Launcelot? If it is, then that must mean that this thing (as loathe as you are to admit it) is another one of your Personas. You decide to ask it.
[I dunno, this whole deal is new to me, too,]it replies. [But it doesn't sound wrong, so what the hey. If you wanna know what to call me, Agathion'll do. Figured that would be pretty obvious, though. I mean, it's on the card, right? Anyhow, you're the boss now, so lemme know when you want somethin' to burn. Or if you want a drink. Your call.]
And with that, Agathion falls silent, and card in your hand vanishes into thin air with a flash of light.
Looking back up, you notice that Mariko has been staring at you quizzically this entire time, looking hopelessly baffled.
"What was that all about? And why'd you give it our snacks, too?"
"Shadows are greedy little assholes. That's all I've got to say. But I got a new Persona out of the deal, so I guess it was worth it."
Mariko's expressions shifts from confusion to curiosity.
"A new Persona? You can do that? Did you really give up Launcelot for that thing?"
"No, no, no," you say, waving your hands about, "Launcelot's still there. In my mind, I mean. They're both there, because they're both my Personas. They're both…parts of me, I guess."
"I'm not an expert, of course, but I thought you could only have one," says Nisekao.
You heave a sigh. There's no time right now to explain everything to them, but it's not like you can just say "I'm a Wild Card and I'm special, so deal with it" either and expect your friends to be satisfied.
"You guys…you trust me, right?" you ask.
"Of course. We wanted you to be our leader, after all," Mariko says. Nisekao adds a quiet "Uh-huh."
"OK. Then I just want you to believe me when I say that it's kinda complicated, and not even I know what it's all about one hundred percent. But I can use more than one Persona."
Mariko opens her mouth, and you can hear an intake of breath over your mic, but you interrupt them before they can say anything.
"I don't know why I can do this, and don't ask me how I know about it either. It's a longer story than I've got time to tell, and it's some pretty out there shit." You pause. "Not that these last couple days haven't been out there, but…it's just hard to explain. It's…part of who I am. Sorry for sounding so sketchy, but that's why I wanted to be sure that you guys trusted me. I promise that when we get the opportunity, I'll give you the whole deal, but right now, we've got bigger things on our plate."
You fall silent to give Mariko and Nisekao some time to digest what you've said. In retrospect, you probably should have said something about the Velvet Room earlier to save yourself the trouble later, but for some reason, it felt like something too intimate and private to share. After all, Mariko's a Persona user, too, and she's never been there before. Or at least, if she has, she's never said anything about it, either. There's also the fact that the idea of a couple ship-dwelling weirdos who can accurately predict the future that you've only met in your dreams is a tough pill to swallow.
Surprisingly, Nisekao breaks the silence first.
"That's okay, Tetsuo. Y-You don't have to say anything if you don't want to. Like Mariko-chan said: you're our leader, and whatever's going on, I…I think you'll make the right decision. You don't have to explain yourself to me."
Mariko gives a short bob of her head.
"I'm with Nisekao-kun. It's not like having more than one Persona is a bad thing, anyways. If anything, it'll probably be pretty useful. Besides…everyone has things that are hard to tell others. If this isn't a good time, then it isn't a good time. I agree that the most important thing we need to do is find Hayate-kun. Anything else can wait until later."
That went better than you'd expected. Inwardly, you're grateful not to have to try and explain the Velvet Room to the others – like Mariko said, it's just not something you're ready to share just yet. You don't like keeping secrets from people you consider your friends, so it puts your mind at ease to know it doesn't bother them.
"Right," you say, refocusing your thoughts on the task at hand. "I think we're plenty rested up by now, so let's get going again. The elevator brought us most of the way, but we're still one floor short. I know it's the last place either of us wanna go back to, but let's check out the elevators again."
When you return to the elevator bank, none of them are there waiting for you. Peering as far out over the railing as you dare, it seems as if all of them have returned to the first floor to await more passengers. The line has reformed, and looks like the bunny girl Shadow has recovered enough to resume her task of verifying "VIPs". With some amusement, you note that the line is much shorter than it was before.
Drawing yourself away from the railing, you notice a Shadow at the bank on the floor below you. Interested in seeing how the elevators work from a different floor, you watch as it presses the call button adjacent to the door and the car races upwards from the first floor. It arrives seconds afterwards with a barely audible ding, and the Shadow strides inside. The elevator returns to the first floor, the Shadow climbs out, and the doors slide closed, ready for the next passenger.
You shift your focus to the call button for the elevator nearest you. What you find isn't encouraging. Where normally there would be buttons to indicate whether you wanted to go up or down, there's only one such button present here. Based on what you just saw, it looks like the only thing you can do with it is return to the first floor.
You relay this information to Mariko and Nisekao.
"Well that sounds pretty stupid," Mariko says. "What's the point of having an elevator that can only go between two floors?"
"I think all of them are like that," says Nisekao. "I've been watching them, too, and it seems like each elevator services a different floor – one for the second, one for the third, and one for the fourth – the one you guys are on now. I haven't seen them stop anywhere else, so I'm at least eighty-five percent sure about this."
"Just eighty-five percent?"
"I like to give myself a wide margin of error…"
"Then how does anyone reach the top floor? That's where we need to go," Mariko says, frustration edging into her voice. "Shadows are rotten architects."
"I don't think it's that so much as it is a way to control where their guests go. It could be that the Dreamweaver doesn't want anyone going to the fifth floor."
"But there's still got to be a way up there," you point out. "It's not as if they can just teleport or something…I think."
"Right, right, I know that…I haven't figured that part out yet is all. Sorry."
"You gotta break that apology habit, man. I know what you mean."
The conversation withers as the three of you delve into quiet contemplation. An idea strikes you.
[Agathion?] you call out inside of your mind.
[Present. You wanna get turned up again already?]
[Yeah, nah. I got a question for you.]
[Shoot,] it says. It's hard to tell, but it sounds significantly less interested.
[How does anyone around here get up to the fifth floor?]
There's a brief pause.
[Well, you gotta be invited, for starters,] it says after a couple beats.
[And how do you get invited?]
Another pause laced with hesitation. Whether it's because of ignorance, or out fear of the Dreamweaver, you can't tell.
[Truth be told, I got no clue. Zip. Zilch. Nada. Most of the time, his pals are of the sexy variety, but it's not like he's exclusively a ladies' man or nothin'. There's no rhyme or reason to it, but there's always someone with him.]
[C'mon, you gotta give me more to work with than that! I don't care if I'm invited or not, I just want to get up there! There has to be something you've noticed!]
[Okay, okay! Just gimme some time to think.]
Mentally, you step back to give Agathion some room to remember, and your mind goes quiet. After a bit, he pipes up again.
[All right, I don't know how helpful this is gonna be, but here goes: every so often, the Host likes to make himself seen up there with whoever he's chilling with at the moment. I dunno why he does it, could be the attention, could be that he wants to show off – not that I blame him, his parties are crazy famous among Shadows. But whatever the reason, I know that everyone he's ever brought up there stops on this floor first. Where they go after that, I don't know.]
[It's a start. Thanks, Agathion.]
"Uhh, Tetsuo?" Mariko waves a hand in front of your face. "Are you still there?"
Her voice snaps you back to reality, and you sheepishly scratch the back of your head.
"Yeah…I just wanted to ask Agathion what he thought."
"Anything useful?" she asks, although the skepticism in her tone suggests that she doesn't think much of whatever Agathion has to offer.
"Kind of. He says that all the Dreamweaver's special guests stop on this floor before they appear up there," you say, pointing up towards the balcony where he was earlier. "Makes sense to me that the way up there has to be hidden somewhere near here."
Mariko's eyes suddenly light up. "You mean…like a secret passage?"
"Umm, I…guess? Whatever the case, it can't be obvious or else I'd have gotten a more direct answer."
"Well then, I guess there's nothing else we can do but look for this secret passage!" Mariko says with a pump of her fist.
"I…I never said there was a secret passage…"
Nevertheless, Mariko ignores you and hops off towards the outer ring in search of secret passages. Heaving a sigh, you take off after her.
You catch up with her outside of a lounge full of thick, impenetrable smoke. Faint wheezing and hacking noises are coming from within. Mariko's caught a lungful of the stuff and is doubled over, clutching her knees and coughing up a lung herself. You come up alongside and guide her towards a nearby bench away from the haze, giving her a couple hearty thumps on the back for good measure.
"C'mon, quit running off like that. What are you, six?"
"Sorry. When it comes to stuff like secret passages and hidden doors, I just can't help myself. Don't they excite you, too, Tetsuo?"
"Not this much."
She scrunches up her face and sticks her tongue out at you. "Booo. Where's your sense of adventure?"
"Jeez, you really are six. Anyways, we should probably put our heads together and figure out a plan to-"
THOOM.
Your train of thought comes to a screeching halt as the deep rumble echoes through the wide hall and into the corners of dim bars, parlors, and lounges.
THOOM.
Another, the beat of some unseen bass drum pounding out a funeral march.
THOOM. THOOM. THOOM. THOOM.
Faster and harder, closer and closer the pounding comes. You feel your heartbeat quicken, your pupils dilate, and your hand has found its way to the neck of your guitar. Your muscles tense in preparation, and then – nothing.
An eerie stillness settles over Cloud Two as the sound disappears. Next to you, Mariko has her hand inside her jacket, her expression now a mask of anxiety and tension. For an excruciating minute, the two of you stand stock still. There's a weight in the back of your throat, a dull leaden thing that's making it hard to breathe normally. Another minute passes uneventful, and cautiously, you release your white-knuckled grip on your guitar.
As if your hand was holding closed the door to a lion's cage, the instant you let go, a tremendous roar rips through the Cloud, a powerful bellow that rattles the glassware hanging in racks above the bars and threatens to tip over tables. A massive, black figure launches from the cloud of smoke in the lounge and skids to a halt in front of you, kicking up bits of shredded tile in your faces.
The Enforcer towers above you, its chest heaving and black, soulless gaze transfixed on yours. It was monstrous enough from a distance, but up close – close enough for you to reach out and touch one of its lean, toned legs – it's positively…there's no other way to describe it but unreal. There's simply no comparison to anything you've ever seen before.
It extends one hand towards you, palm open and fingers outstretched, and places it on your shoulder. Its touch is gentle, but the memory of that Shadow getting torn apart still runs rampant through your mind. Heaving the Enforcer's hand aside as you duck out of its reach, you pull your guitar out of its case and steel yourself for a fight. Beside you, Mariko adopts a shooter's stance and levels her gun at its chest.
The Enforcer draws back and jerks its hands to itself, giving the impression that it's offended that you stopped it from tearing your arm off. Stepping away from you, it throws its head back and lets rip another floor-shaking roar. Then, it draws each one of its four arms back and crouches down low.
"Get ready, it's coming!"
The words are barely out of Nisekao's mouth before the Enforcer lunges at you, palms outstretched and raised high. Without hesitation, you throw yourself down onto your haunches, and its arms whistle harmlessly through the space where your head used to be. Predictably, it draws its right arms back for a follow-up, and your calves tense as you prepare to leap aside. But instead of springing out of the way, a wave of nausea hits you like a punch to the gut, and the world slips out from under you. Fortunately, your stumbling puts you just out of reach, and the Enforcers lodges its fists firmly into the floor. As it struggles to free them, Mariko runs over, pulls you to your feet, and the two of you amble into a nearby restaurant and collapse behind a counter.
"What the…"
All of a sudden, your vision's gone blurry again, and the world wobbles unsteadily before your eyes.
"…The hell is happening to me?" you say, and you're disturbed to hear your voice slurred in your ears.
Mariko clasps her hands to the sides of your head and gives you a concerned look.
"Tetsuo? Tetsuo, what's going on? Oh, c'mon! Don't give out on me, not now!"
She starts to shake you by the shoulders, and it takes a herculean amount of concentration on your part to bring your hands to her wrists so she stops before you vomit all over her.
"No…no, please don't…" you croak. As you say it, Nisekao's voice blares in your ear. He sounds unnaturally loud and grating.
"Umm, this is just my guess, but you look a little…how should I put this…hung over, Tetsuo."
"Guhhh."
Not the most poignant expression of how you feel, but it's all you can muster in response. A hangover? Being underage, you've never had one before, but given how god-awful this feels, it's plausible enough. Agathion had better be one hell of a Persona for all the crap you're dealing with.
A series of crashes ring out behind you in the atrium – sounds like the Enforcer's taking the whole damn floor apart trying to find the two of you. Pretty soon, it's going to run out businesses to trash before it finds you. Your stomach churns at the thought, but you'll have to find a way to suck it up and face it down.
Your fingers scrabble weakly along its smooth surface, but eventually, you're able to get a strong enough hold on the polished surface of the counter to drag yourself upright. The world pitches violently when you attempt to stand up straight, but Mariko positions herself under your arm for support, which stabilizes things somewhat. But your grip on your guitar is still shaky, and your arms remain limp despite your straining to flex some feeling into them. Mariko notices this.
"What are you doing, Tetsuo? You can't fight that thing like this!"
"Do we have a choice?" Your tongue feels alien to your mouth, something thick and fuzzy. "We can't run from it, it knows the place better than we do. Unless you think you can take it on your own, I've at least got to try."
She looks as if she wants to argue that point, but it looks like not even she can convince herself that she'd be a match for the Enforcer by herself. Just then, Nisekao speaks up again.
"You guys' Personas can use magic, right? Can't one of them do something for Tetsuo? Mariko-chan, what about you?"
"Me? I guess I can try."
Mariko turns to you and summons Nyneve. As she does, you hear another hostile bellow, this time disturbingly close by. A spark of panic passes across her face, but she quickly wipes it away, replacing it with one of intense concentration. She closes her eyes, and her lips start to move without speaking. Is she talking to Nyneve?
If so, the conversation doesn't last long. After a couple of tense seconds, her eyelids swipe open. She points to you, and Nyneve floats over, laying one hand on your forehead. You instinctively flinch. The last time she touched you, she lit you up like a power line, but now, her palm is pleasantly cool against your temple. As she holds it there, you can feel the pain in your head ebb away, and your vision rocks back towards clarity. Within seconds, you're able to stand under your own power and your "hangover" feels like little more than a bad memory.
"How do you feel?" Mariko asks tentatively.
"Tons better. Let's get back out there!"
With that, you vault over the counter and dash towards the entrance to the bar with Mariko following closely behind. As you pass through the doorway, you drop into a roll in case the Enforcer is waiting outside to take a cheap swipe. You manage to make it behind a planter unscathed, but from behind you, there's a thud and a stunted squeal.
You snap your head back around just in time to see Mariko soar through the air and hit the floor, her arms and legs whipping loosely about her like a ragdoll's. Framed by the dim, neon light leaking out of the bar is the silhouette of the Enforcer, one of its right arms frozen in the end of a throwing motion.
Initially, your breath catches in your throat as she lies there with no sign of movement. There's no way she'd die just from being tossed. Not so far from your hiding place, the Enforcer slowly brings its throwing arm back to its side, but remains in place. Its gaze is transfixed on Mariko's still form – either it didn't see where you went, or it simply doesn't care.
"I-I think Mariko-chan's okay," Nisekao says. "Her camera feed is moving, so she's still breathing."
A wave of relief breaks over you, but you don't dare answer Nisekao. As long as she has the Enforcer's attention, you don't want to give away your position. It's scummy, using her as bait like this, but it's the best chance you've got at an uncontested strike.
Then, a low groan rises from Mariko's throat, and she slowly begins shuffling onto her hands and knees. Just like you thought, the Enforcer's head snaps up and it launches itself at her, a speeding bullet of animalistic brutality. It moves so quickly that there's barely enough time for you to react.
With surprising agility, you spring from your hiding place with your guitar raised high. A cry escapes your lips, and like you hoped, the Enforcer digs its feet into the ground and slides around to face you. The instant it brings its head around, your guitar comes down on the nape of its neck and drives its mask into the floor with a resounding crack.
Using your guitar like a vaulter's pole, you use the momentum from your jump and swing yourself over the Enforcer's body towards Mariko. You waste no time hoisting her upright, and she quickly levels her gun at the prone form of the Enforcer as if nothing happened. However, even after a couple seconds pass, it remains face down on the floor. Mariko relaxes her aim.
"Whoa. Is it...you know?"
You shake your head. Honestly, you didn't think that would turn out so well. But your last bout with an Enforcer taught you two things: they don't make the same mistakes twice, and that you should never pass up the opportunity for a free attack.
"Hell no, I think I just got a nice cheap shot in on it. Let's go all out while we have the chance!"
Mariko nods, cocking her gun, and you leap back towards the Enforcer for another swipe at the back of its head. You hear her fire at almost the same time that you bring your arm down. But almost as though it were in on the timing as well, one of the Enforcer's arms twists about in a decidedly unnatural way and clamps down over both your wrists, preventing your strike from reaching home. Simultaneously, its head snaps up, and Mariko's bullet ricochets harmlessly off its mask.
The Enforcer pushes itself upright using its free arms, and floor falls out from under your feet. As you dangle in its grasp a good couple feet in the air, you swing your body and kick your feet back and forth. But the more you struggle, the tighter the Enforcer's grip becomes. Beads of sweat start brimming on your forehead in anticipation of what you know is coming next.
As another arm reaches for your ankles, a series of shots ring out, and three bullets rip through the dark flesh of its hand. You breathe a sigh of relief as the Enforcer draws that arm back to its side and snaps its attention to Mariko, smoke rising in twisted wisps from the barrel of her weapon. She flashes you a thumbs-up, although all you can do is grin back.
Something about your cavalier attitudes must trigger something in the creature. An infuriated scream claws its way out of its throat, and you practically swallow your tongue as it forcibly hauls your body over its shoulder like a sack of potatoes and you slam into its back. Next thing you know, you're hurtling through the air headfirst towards Mariko as it heaves you judo-style.
"Nyneve!"
Instead of bowling over your partner like some kind of human cannonball, Nyneve catches you in her arms, absorbing the brunt of the impact. Gently, she sets you down on your feet. You rub your wrists a bit to get the blood flowing again.
"Thanks for that, " you tell Mariko, who's watching the Enforcer intently as she reloads, "I'm getting the feeling taking it head-on isn't the best idea."
"It-It's those arms," says Niseako, "having four of them makes it really easy to counter in close combat. Maybe try keeping your distance and using magic. As long as it can't grab you, it should be fine, right?"
"I'm all for not getting ripped in half. C'mon, Launcelot!"
Launcelot swipes its lance through the air, launching a wide blade of wind hissing towards the Enforcer's legs. The way you figure, it'll be easier to keep your distance if it's not pouncing at you all the damn time - which it's evidently quite good at. The spell works just the way you'd intended it to - it takes the Enforcer's feet right out from under it, and it crashes back down to the ground.
"Mariko-chan! It's...uh...it's your turn!"
Nyneve steps up and extends her sword towards the Enforcer's prone figure. A surge of electricity flows from her wings and into the sword's blade. It gathers there, building up until she releases it in one bolt that splits the air with an impressive crack.
Her magic is dead on, striking the enemy square in the back. The Enforcer thrashes and spasms violently as high voltage magic surges throughout its body, causing the tile underneath your feet to quiver dangerously.
Eventually, the lightning fizzles out until all that's left is an audible hissing and tiny sparks arcing across the Enforcer's singed shirt.
"Hit it again!" you yell. Lightning's been pretty effective so far - there's really no reason why you shouldn't just let Mariko zap this thing into oblivion as far as you're concerned. She nods to Nyneve, who raises her blade for another shot.
Suddenly, a chill sweeps through the air, biting into your skin and creating goose pimples up and down your arms. Mariko gasps sharply. She hastily shoves both her hands firmly in her jacket and up under her armpits. Looking over at Nyneve, you can see why.
Clouds of shimmering crystals swirl up her arms, and her hands are already encased in chunks of solid ice. Shifting your focus back to the Enforcer, you can see that its hands are glowing with a soft, blue aura.
"It's casting some kind of magic! I know what I just said, but you have to disrupt it somehow!" says Nisekao having noticed the same thing you did. It's certainly irksome to have to abandon your strategy so quickly, but the Enforcer's forced your hand.
However, you quickly find that you're completely unable to move from your spot. Your feet feel numb, and when you glance down, you're shocked to see that they've been frozen solid as well! You desperately try to work them free, but in the end, you're helpless to watch as the Enforcer barrels towards you.
It's on the two of you in a flash. With one pair of hands, it backhands Mariko to the floor, and with the other, it wrenches you free from the ice and heaves you into a nearby wall. The impact of your back against the black paneling takes your breath away, but for some reason, you keep on going, right through the wall until you tumble end over end to a halt amidst a pile of rubble.
"Son of a..."
Propping yourself up on one knee, you rub your aching back as you take a look around. You seem to be in the middle of a long hallway that looks to wrap around behind the stores on this floor, and there are a number of doors along the innermost wall to your left and right. However, there's no time to waste on your new discovery - the Enforcer hasn't bothered following you in here, which means it's still out there with Mariko!
As you leap over a pile of busted concrete and twisted paneling, you're greeted by the sight of the Enforcer advancing upon Mariko. Nyneve's nowhere to be found, and she's been frozen from her shoes all the way up to her hips. A look of desperation encroaches on her usually calm facade as she twists and squirms against the advancing shell of ice.
Your mind starts racing. You could try knocking over the Enforcer again, but both it and Mariko are too close to the railing for that to be feasible. If you somehow sent Mariko over the edge with it, you'd never forgive yourself. You could possibly slide between its legs to position yourself between her and it, but it's not like it doesn't have enough hands to dump you both over the edge. Panic begins to gnaw at the edges of your psyche. Both time and your imagination are beginning to run short.
[Gee, if only you had a way to melt that ice! Like, I dunno, a Persona or something that can spit fire, for example. Wouldn't that be swell?]
The voice in your head snaps you out of your dilemma.
[Agathion? Can you-]
[Are you friggin' dense? This why I'm here, isn't it? Just get me out there already!]
"All right, all right. Agathion!"
There's a flash of light, and a waist-height golden pot materializes before your eyes. A tiny blue head pokes itself out from beneath the lid. It takes a glance back at you and flashes a wide, toothy grin before spewing a searing jet of flame towards the Enforcer.
Perhaps it thinks you're dead. Maybe knocked out. Either way, it never sees it coming.
The spell hits its mark and the beast lights up like a torch. Fire roils around its hulking form, setting its shirt and wretched mullet alight. Lurching about in agony, the Enforcer's hands madly attempt to pat out the flames with no success. As it continues its tortured flailing, the few tongues of flame that made it past its wide frame collide with the ice trapping Mariko's legs. A loud hissing adds to the sounds of screaming and crackling fire, and the ice melts away to a puddle of water surrounding her shoes.
Mariko makes to dart to her right, around the Enforcer, but it seems determined not to let her get away. Its entire body shaking with visible effort, it gets into a widened stance and puts itself between the two of you. Its burning outline traces a hellish figure in the dim light of the Cloud. Laboriously, it drops down onto one curled fist. Its muscles tense for one final attack. Mariko's eyes go wide as she recognizes what it's doing.
"Nyneve! Help!"
Time almost appears to slow as the Enforcer hurls its burning body towards Mariko, arms outstretched and ready to take her over the railing with it. But as you watch Mariko lithely somersault underneath it and out of its grasp, you realize that time actually has slowed. Or rather, the rest of the world is moving at normal speed while the Enforcer practically swims through the air as if it were a vat of molasses.
Mariko pops to her feet next to you and watches the Enforcer slowly sail towards the railing with a satisfied look on her face.
"Waaait for it…"
If the universe has a sense of humor, it's never been more evident than it is at this moment. With timing that you can only describe as "cosmic", the Enforcer returns to normal speed as soon as it clears the ledge. The two of you race to the railing just in time to see it tumble to the dance floor below, its limbs waving about like a cartoon character. Seconds later, it hits the ground with an audible and sickening thud. You flinch.
When you decide to open your eyes again, you see that the Enforcer must have taken a serious bounce when it hit the floor, coming to a halt in one of the vacated elevator shafts and leaving behind a splatter of some unidentifiable black substance. Even now, its body is still smoldering.
"Well," Mariko says, "I guess you could say he really-"
"Don't."
"-fell for me."
"Kinda going for the low-hanging fruit there, aren't we?"
"You're just jealous you didn't think of it first."
"Uh, guys? I really don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but…" Nisekao interrupts, dragging your eyes back to the ground floor.
It's unbelievable – despite having fallen what must be over sixty feet, the Enforcer is stirring. It's not going anywhere, but somehow, it's survived.
"You've got to be kidding me, "you snarl. You prepare to summon Launcelot again, but Mariko places a hand on your arm.
"What is it?" you ask. She says nothing and points back down.
Upon closer inspection, the tiny form of the bunny girl Shadow is going absolutely berserk down there. She's tugging and pulling on one of the Enforcer's massive arms, but it's not budging an inch. It seems like a bit of an overreaction, seeing as it's not actually dead and all. But then Mariko's finger starts moving upwards, and you understand.
Above the depression where the Enforcer lies, an elevator is making its way down the shaft to the ground floor. The bunny girl Shadow must have called it down just before the Enforcer fell into the bottom of the shaft, and now she's freaking out. The Enforcer's head lolls back and forth groggily, but it's evident there's only one way this is going to end.
The bunny girl Shadow takes a bit longer to reach that conclusion, but once she does, she takes off without looking back. Having passed the second floor, there isn't much time now before the elevator reaches its final destination. You and Mariko duck beneath the railing, unable to watch.
A few tense seconds pass, and there comes the sound of screeching metal as the elevator encounters resistance. And then-
CRUNCH.
You stand back up just in time to see a geyser of black butterflies surge towards the ceiling, spreading out and swirling about the perimeter of Cloud Two as they shuffle the darkness from their wings. And in the midst of the blue glow they emit hovers the ghostly image of a smirking, four-armed man. Long, golden tresses of hair spill over the golden pauldrons on his shoulders, but the rest of his body is unarmored, clothed instead in a long coat thrown over a ruffled shirt. And then, as quickly as he appears, he's gone like breath in the wind.
Mariko lets out a long sigh of relief.
"Tetsuo, we did it!"
She grabs your shoulders and starts hopping up and down. You're nowhere close to being done here, but you can't repress a smile when she's like this. To be fair, your own heart's thumping pretty quickly, too.
"It looks like your new Persona really paid off, Tetsuo," says Nisekao, and he's not wrong. The little bastard's an enormous blowhard, but at least he wasn't a liar.
"With all the crap I gave him, he'd better be worth it. But you're really the one that finished it off, Mariko. How'd you know your Persona could do that? Slow down the Enforcer the way you did, I mean."
She shrugs. "I dunno. How do you know everything Launcelot can do? After all, she's…me, right? I knew that if I just trusted her that everything would be all right."
"Trust, huh…you guys really are something else. To do what you do in the face of certain death is amazing."
"Don't count yourself out, Nisekao-kun! You were really helpful, too! I trust you just as much as I do my Persona!" Mariko says.
"Hmm. I see…"
You cringe inwardly upon hearing his reaction. Mariko's just being nice, but Nisekao clearly can tell that she's forcing it a little for his sake. In an attempt to steer things in a different direction, you point towards the hole you made in the wall.
"All right, let's refocus. When the Enforcer tossed me through that wall, I found this long hallway back there. There's a chance there might be some stairs or something back there, so I think it's at least worth a look."
"I noticed that, too. I don't go to the mall that much, but aren't those usually for service people? If that's so, then there might be access to the entire Cloud back there." Nisekao adds.
"Right. Let's dust ourselves off and get a move on. Hate to say it, but that might have been the easy part."
AN: So hey, this one was a long one! Thanks to those of you who have been reading and leaving feedback, you guys are rad. Just a couple things I wanted to touch on that I was thinking about as I was writing this one. First off, translating attacks from video games into readable fiction can be a tricky business, or at least for me it feels like it. I'm not big on having characters announce their attacks (yes, I know I kind of did this once already during the first Enforcer battle and I hate myself for it) because it feels kinda hokey.But as a result, sometimes you as the reader end up wondering "Well, what does this action translate to in Persona terminology?" Example from this chapter - Mariko casting Sukunda on the Enforcer to avoid its suicide attack. Like, how do you reasonably narrate what amounts to a decrease in agility? You gotta take some creative liberties, and I hope mine don't end up being too offensive.
Second, no pun intended, second person! All I can say about this is that it's both something of an experiment of mine and that there's also a narrative reason for it that I can't explain given where we are in the story. Thanks for bearing with me on this one.
Third, I won't be exploring all twenty Social Links in this story. If we're going to be real, most Social Links in P3/4 have little bearing on the overall plot and just serve to reinforce the game's overarching theme. So for that reason, I'm keeping the SL interactions to those that are plot relevant.
With that said, thanks again for reading, and I promise not to do too many of these notes!
