"Hate's a strong word."

Or so Dad would say whenever he heard you use it in conversation.

There've been more than a few things you thought you hated – the taste of sprouts in otherwise perfectly good food, missing your train, anything involved with learning the English language…

But none of those things compare to the kind of raw, boiling hatred that wells up from the depths of your heart as you approach the lone figure that awaits you at the edge of the sprawling slab of rock. Even from here, there's little doubt that it's him. No one else would be brazen enough to stand there gazing out at the stars with their back turned like that.

Briefly, you entertain the thought of having one of your Personas ambush him from a distance while he's unaware, but that idea is put to rest as Souichiro notices your presence and turns to face you with his arms spread wide.

"Well! How about this!" he says, gesturing broadly at the abyss with a winsome grin. "I have to admit, I had a feeling you wouldn't just sit there and behave, but I never thought you'd try turning Avalon against me. Now whose idea was that?"

Musing aloud to himself, he gives your party a quick once-over.

"Let's see…seems like a few of us are missing…I'm guessing Taishi and Chikara must have the others preoccupied…oh! Don't tell me this was Fukui's doing?"

The derision in his tone pushes your fingernails deep into your palms.

"Really?!" Souichiro hoots, taking your silence as affirmation. "How pathetic. You've done all this just to take a swing at me?"

"You sound nervous," you jab back, hoping to get under his skin. It appears to do the trick.

"Tch. Hardly. 'Confused' would be more accurate. What I'm trying to accomplish would be a net benefit to society as a whole, yourselves included. I just can't wrap my head around why you're so hellbent on destroying Avalon. What's wrong with giving humanity the tools to shed its suffering?"

Strangely, you're glad he asked – it's a question you've been mulling over yourself for quite some time. Now, after everything you've experienced, you have an answer.

"…Nothing."

A look of puzzlement spreads across Souichiro's face.

"Hm?"

"Too many people suffer because of circumstances beyond their control. One thing leads to another, and the next thing you know, your dreams vanish right before your eyes. If Avalon can give those people their dreams back, then they should be free to choose it."

"Then wh-"

"'What's the problem?'" you interrupt, and point straight at him.

"You. If Avalon had been created by almost anyone else, then maybe it could've changed the world. But as long as it's in your hands, that'll never happen. You don't want to make a world where other people can be free from their problems – you just want one where you can be free from yours."

Contempt, bubbling and frenzied, invades your bloodstream as you rebuke the monster standing before you, infecting your entire body with a powerful sense of satisfaction. It feels like you've been waiting to say this for so, so long.

"You only pretend to care about others so they'll put you in control, and once you have it, they can go to hell. Everyone at school voted for you because they thought they could rely on you. Everyone put their hopes and dreams into Avalon because they thought it'd make them come true. But in the end, you're just planning to crush them under your thumb because you think your power gives you the right."

However, all that merely elicits a dismissive shrug.

"Wow, thanks for the summary. But honestly? I don't give a shit. Like I told you before; I've been chosen by the king of Shadows to remake the world. With his unrivaled strength, I have the authority to do as I please. Trash like you can learn your place or die."

Indignation flushes your face, and your fingers wrap tightly around the neck of your guitar in an attempt to keep yourself grounded. However, merely touching the smooth, lacquered wood sends a slew of torturous memories flashing through your mind, and your heartbeat races.

"And what is 'my place'? To stand back and let you do what you want? If that's how you think this is gonna work, then you're more witless than I thought. I didn't come here just to tell you how much of a piece of shit you are. I came here to end you. I'm going to take everything from you."

A haughty, foul sneer creases your enemy's lips.

"Mmhmm. Of course you are. But I wouldn't go around calling others witless when you're the one that hasn't learned anything, Tetsuo."

Souichiro takes a step towards you, and the smooth surface beneath his foot cracks into a web of spidery fractures that ignite into curls of blackish-red fire. The entire island shudders violently as he advances on you, and even the stars waver and dance before your eyes.

"You've gotten yourself all jumped up because you lucked into the power of Persona and killed a couple of Shadows. Do you think that even comes close to making us equals?"

He lifts his arms up high above his head, and the horizon erupts into a wall of howling blood-red flame.

"Your power makes you a nuisance, but mine makes me God! It doesn't matter how strong you get, or even how many others you string along with you. At the end of the day, you just came here to die!"

"Now, witness the strength of a true king's Persona! COME! MORDRED!"

"Launcelot! Get him!" you scream, but to no avail. Just as the tip of your Persona's spear threatens to pierce Souichiro's chest, an enormous, dark hand the size of a city bus drops in front of him, turning the attack aside.

"What the…" gasps Hayate as he and the others skid up beside you, jaws agape at the monstrous shape emerging from the depths below.

A castle wall bearing the word "CAMELOT" daubed over and defaced with scarlet paint breaches the edge of the platform, the steel spires of its towers and keep piercing the sky like swords. The face of a giant, cadaverous in nature but fierce and noble in demeanor, thrusts from the portcullis with faded golden hair hanging lank and damp from its broad scalp. As the Persona rises to its full height, you realize that the castle serves as armor for the being beneath – the walls its breastplate, the towers its gleaming pauldrons. Its eyes fly open, searing you with a fiery gaze.

It flips its hand palm-up, allowing Souichiro to climb on. With one last triumphant glance over his shoulder, he rides it up to the top of the battlements where he becomes little more than a glint of light as his glasses catch the brilliance of a nearby star. His voice, however, booms out as clearly as if he were right next to you.

"Are you starting to appreciate how futile this is? Avalon – the world of dreams – bends itself to me only! Your delusions die here, Tetsuo!"

Souichiro gives a snap of his fingers, and Mordred leans forward to grasp the edges of the platform. Panels slide open along the top of the castle wall to reveal a row of wide nozzles aimed at the ground. Shibutani's eyes go wide.

"Get back! Get back!" he bellows, waving everyone towards the far end of the platform.

Souichiro's cackling reverberates throughout the arena as he watches you and friends scramble away from the impending attack. The sound raises your ire, making you stop in your tracks and turn to face him in defiance. There's a flicker of embers deep in the nozzles' throats, and you seize on an opportunity for an early counterattack.

"Now! Black Frost!"

"That's my cue-ho!"

The imp bursts from your soul just as the nozzles unleash jets of searing fire across the island. The flames tear across the floor, throwing a blast of hot air into your faces, but the spell itself doesn't reach you. Instead, Black Frost draws it into itself, pulling the flames into a tight, star-like ball of raging heat.

"You can hee-have this back, ho!"

With a mischievous flick of its finger, your Persona launches the spell right back at Mordred. The fireball detonates, bathing the colossus in a raging inferno that sets the sky alight and blankets the air in a thick cloud of smoke.

"Ha ha, eat shit, my man!" shouts Hayate. "He had to have felt that, right?"

"Let's take this chance! Hit him with everything we've got!" you cry out.

Razor sharp shards of ice from the tips of Kay's fingers mingle with the horde of souls that Le Fay drags from the chasm below, whipping up a hellish blizzard that screams through the air. You and Shibutani ride straight into the heart of it astride Hell Biker and Bors, loosing off shots of fire and light with as much power as you can muster. You just need to keep Mordred off balance long enough to scale one of his arms, just like you did to Yuya's Shadow. Your fingers twitch as you imagine taking hold of Souichiro's shirt and flinging him bodily off of Mordred's ramparts…

But in the midst of all the howling ice and smoke, two dots of red light flash through the gloom, and a giant gauntlet suddenly materializes out of the darkness right in front of you. Hell Biker and Bors slam into it at full speed and explode into flares of blue, sending you soaring into the air.

Waves of pain explode throughout your chest as you tumble across the floor, and you feel something snap. It takes a tremendous amount of effort not to pass out before you can summon your newest Persona, Kushinada, to work on your cracked ribs. Her healing abilities prove to be much more effective than Principality's, and you're inwardly thankful that you decided to fuse him with Yaksini during your last visit to the Velvet Room.

"Senpai…are you okay?" you croak to Shibutani, who's struggling to pull himself upright. He flips himself onto his rear and wheezes deeply.

"I've had worse. But I fear the situation isn't about to get much better."

A low rumbling fills the air as the smoke clears to reveal Mordred's towering form, unscathed. Souichiro's laughter grows higher and colder, draining the color from your face.

"What's the matter, Tetsuo? Weren't you going to take everything from me? Or were those just the ravings of a pathetic worm?"

Mordred places both palms flat across the surface of the platform, and with a mighty press, creates sheets of ice that radiate outward towards you and friends. Panicked, you attempt to stand and flee, but Kushinada hasn't finished tending to your injuries, and the soreness causes you to stumble. Just as the ice threatens to freeze your limbs to the ground, Shibutani throws his wide frame over yours, and it crystallizes over top of him instead.

"Senpai!"

Shibutani attempts to smile through fiercely chattering teeth.

"I…am your shield…am I not…?"

With whatever strength he has remaining, he jabs his elbow backwards, breaking a hole in the freezing pocket. Hayate's face quickly fills the space. It seems he's been unaffected, thanks to Kay.

"Hang tight, I'll get you guys outta there!"

"Where's Koharu?"

"I-I'm okay, Hayate protected me," comes Koharu's voice from somewhere close by, "but whatever you're gonna do, do it quickly! He's gonna attack again!"

As Kay's thick arms tear chunks off of your frozen cocoon, a low hum fills the air, and the sky above crackles with streaks of brightest blue. Soon, the hole becomes wide enough to squeeze through, and Hayate helps you drag Shibutani's frigid body out after you. Panting from the effort, you turn your gazes upwards. The spires atop Mordred's keep are drawing strands of electricity from the air like jagged, glowing silk, pumping it throughout the Persona's body through a series of conduits in the mortar. The power surges into his fingers, lighting them up like massive Tesla coils, and stray bolts of lightning start arcing around the arena in showers of sparks.

A squeal escapes Koharu's lips as a bolt strikes near her feet, and she glances back at your battered bodies with utter hysteria.

"What do we do? What do we do?! Can you even move?"

Your mind furiously attempts to recall if any of your Personas is capable of dispersing electricity, but the thin tendrils of fear wrapping around your heart are impeding your ability to think rationally. His magic is too overwhelming to keep pace with.

Everything's going wrong.

"Tetsuo! Help me carry senpai!"

Hayate's shout momentarily snaps you back to reality. He reads your expression, and swallows hard.

"I don't know what else to do, either, man! But we gotta try to get him behind one of these pillars or something!"

Each of you pulls one of Shibutani's arms over your shoulders, causing the older boy to wince and groan. Koharu grimaces and shuts her eyes tight, her knees wobbling precariously beneath the folds of her skirt.

"…Let me cover you!" she says at last. "I…I'll try something to stop him!"

"Wait, wait, Koharu, no!" Hayate cries. "You can't take him, idiot!"

The warning falls on deaf ears. Spreading her feet wide and hefting her blade high, she plunges it deep into the stone beneath.

"Le Fay! Take this monster's soul!"

Le Fay raises her spellbook high, and the air fills with the howling of thousands of phantasms, swirling and churning in a mass of ichor until they resolve into the shape of a great bloody scythe. Koharu lifts a thin, trembling arm to draw the blade back -

And Mordred releases his charge.

Almost faster than you can perceive, spears of lightning rip through the spectral scythe, tearing Le Fay into a shower of sapphire sparks and raining down upon your stunned bodies. Devastating voltage courses through your convulsing muscles, delivering a pain so excruciating that you drop like a bag of sand and momentarily black out.

When you come to, your vision is swimming and your extremities are still twitching – even your teeth feel numb. Around you, the others are rolling over and groaning – alive, if only barely. Tears pool at the corners of your eyes as you fight to stand again despite the protests of your battered limbs, sore and wracked as they are by residual electric current.

As you stare up at the pinprick of light that is Souichiro Saito, your fists ball up with impotent fury. This wasn't how things were supposed to go. For the first time in your life, you'd felt like you were strong – strong enough to accept the help and expectations of others, to take a risk and fight for something. After all you've changed, after all you've fought for…how is it fair that someone like him still gets to have his way?

After everything he's done…he's going to win again.

"AaaaaaggggGGGGGHHHHHHHH!"

A tortured scream rips its way out of your throat as you and Launcelot charge towards Mordred, your vision red and your blood roiling with adrenaline and hate. Over and over, you and your Persona whale against the side of his stony torso until splinters of pain course up and down your arms from the impact.

With each blow, space warps around you – BANG – you're outside the school library – BANG – the locker room – BANG – the abandoned classroom -

"God…damn…it…I'll kill you, you son of a bitch!"

You bring your guitar down against Mordred one more time, and suddenly your hands are grasping at air. Your beloved treasure dissolves, collapsing into a shimmering haze before blowing away as if caught by a strong breeze. The sight gives you such a shock that you don't even notice Mordred moving until his finger snaps into your side and he flicks you across the platform.

"Honestly, Tetsuo, this is almost becoming too depressing to enjoy. Did you really think it'd be so simple?"

Weakly, you manage to focus your mind just enough to call upon Kushinada again. Her outline fuzzy and her robes tattered, she looks ready collapse at any moment. Nevertheless, you need just a little more strength, enough to stand up again – you'll drag yourself up Mordred's arm if you have to – enough to lay your hands on Souichiro and silence him once and for all.

However, only the slightest trickle of soothing light enters your body before Mordred crushes Kushinada with a single thumb, grinding her embers into the polished stone like an extinguished cigarette.

"No, no, no. No more of this."

The titan leans down close enough for Souichiro to come back into view, beaming with triumph.

"We can do this as many times as you like, but nothing's going to change. Fate will never love you the way it loves me."

Mordred thrusts a hand towards the heavens. Dark matter swarms, shaping itself into a tremendous sword that hangs pendulously above you. The thick, mottled fingers of Souichiro's Persona grasp the blade around the edges, scoring deep cuts in its flesh – the perverse seal of the Yatabuya. With the last remaining vestiges of your strength, you lurch to your feet.

One last time, you try to summon a Persona. Any of them.

But none of them heed your call. After all, no one can drink from an empty vessel.

Black butterflies swarm the platform, darting gleefully to and fro, morbid heralds of an atrocity about to unfold. Thousands of Shadows hold their breath in anticipation.

"Before you die, I want you to remember that things didn't have to be this way. All I wanted was to share my vision of Avalon with the world. All you had to do was play along. But instead, I'm going to destroy everything you've ever dreamed."

The fist descends. The exposed point of the blade bears down upon your vulnerable flesh, seeking to sever you from existence. Sickened, your face turns upwards as misery numbs your senses like euthanasia. Your eyelids drift shut, squeezing out a few last bitter tears–

And then, someone speaks. The voice is familiar, but refuses to be placed.

"Is this truly how you want it to end?"

Your eyes fly open to find the Cloud bathed in stagnant grey, and that time has ceased its flow, Mordred's fist halted mere meters from your trembling self.

"Does this result satisfy you?"

How could it? Even now, your hands are still trembling from being denied the vindication you deserved. You'd been so certain that you could defeat him, yet he broke you just as easily as ever.

"What else could I have done?!" you shout, the acrid taste of resentment thick on your tongue. "My friends, my Personas…none of it mattered. Nothing was any different this time."

A weighty moment passes.

"I see. Those wounds ran deeper than I thought."

"Even so, if you believe yourself to be powerless, you are sorely mistaken. This world bends itself to your will – not his. The only thing that limits your power is your fear. Cast it aside, it serves no purpose here."

There comes a sound from behind you, and you turn to see Hayate, Koharu, and Shibutani kneeling at your feet, their heads bowed and injuries faded. Their display of fealty kindles an intense heat in your breast that writhes into the dimmed crevices of your heart.

"As you can see, you are not bereft of strength yet. Do not deny them their purpose."

Your hand extends towards your friends of its own volition and you feel something go taut, an invisible connection linking your beings together. Instinctively, you clench your fist, pulling at the strings, and words spring from your lips unbidden.

"Thou art I."

Hayate, Koharu, and Souichiro bound upright in vigorous salute.

"We art thou!" they exclaim in unison, before collapsing into pillars of black smoke.

"Embrace your indignation!" cries the voice, rising to a fever pitch. "Abandon your restraint, lay waste to your foe, and claim your right to Avalon's power!"

At once, your soul ignites. Desire, seething and raw, immolates your consciousness. Power like you've never felt before explodes within, and you double over. Images of your forlorn figure clutching the splintered remains of your guitar flash before your eyes before boundless rage obliterates all rational thought.

• • • • •

In the Velvet Room, Elizabeth's eyes grew wide. She received no visions, no messages, no way to know what had just occurred, yet she felt the weight of it all the same.

Wordlessly, she strode over to the great golden door at the foot of the chamber, and ran a longing hand across the lifeless face of the figure chained to it.

"I fear we may have failed. I'm sorry."

• • • • •

To Souichiro Saito, it appeared as though his opponent had surrendered. Tetsuo stood there with cold, dead eyes, staring unblinkingly at Mordred's blade as it plummeted towards him. The student council president's breath caught in his throat as he looked on, anticipating the moment of impact with delight in much the same way one delights in swatting a bothersome fly.

That moment would never come.

Suddenly, Tetsuo's friends, who had been sprawled across the polished stone floor like puppets with their strings cut, stood up straight. Their heads snapped towards Souichiro, and fixing him with haunting grins, they vanished.

Although he was perfectly safe atop the ramparts of his Persona, the older boy stumbled backwards in alarm at the unsettling sight.

What the hell was that?

The thought had barely formed before something even more distressing arrested his attention. Just as Mordred was about to pulverize him into dust, Tetsuo sprung back to life. He thrust an arm towards the massive fist and delivered a resounding command unto the void.

"Grant me your power! KAY!"

Threads of the thick, ebon smoke that had once been the Sleepwalkers slithered across the stone floor towards Tetsuo, fluidly winding its way up his body and coiling around his right arm, coating it like a second skin. The undulating mass suddenly bulged out, and the boy's arm began rapidly swelling and spasming until it became large enough to receive Mordred's attack and halt it in its tracks.

Souichiro latched on to the edge of a crenellation for balance as his Persona's entire frame shook. For the first time, he felt the chill touch of panic brush against his heart.

"Wh-What are you doing, Mordred?! Crush him already!"

Concentrating all of their strength, he and his Persona leaned into the strike, forcing their opponent to take a step back. In response, more miasma engulfed Tetsuo's left arm, expanding it to tremendous size as well. A harrowing scream ripped its way out of his throat as he pushed back against Mordred with both of his smoking, ghostly claws, eyes burning with sheer loathing.

The force of the blow threw Souichiro onto his back. Enraged and embarrassed, he crawled to the edge of the battlements and peered over the side, only to watch something truly horrifying unfold.

Two more colossal, shadowy appendages burst forth from between Tetsuo's shoulder blades, clamping down upon Mordred's knuckles. Working all four hands into the gap between the behemoth's ring and middle finger, Tetsuo began to pry its fist apart. With his teeth tightly grit together and his phantom limbs straining from the effort, he threw his head back and unleashed an inhuman roar towards the heavens.

Souichiro's agonized howl rent the air as Tetsuo tore Mordred's entire arm cleanly in half, splitting it from knuckle to shoulder blade as cleanly as one would split a sheet of paper. Arcs of crimson painted the air as he gave the mangled arm a yank, separating it from its body and discarding the lumps of muscle and sinew into the abyss below.

Their purpose fulfilled, the extra arms dissolved, and Tetsuo's own arms returned to normal. He stared at them with disbelief and wonder for a moment, then a wicked smile slowly crept across his face.

"YOU!"

Leaning heavily towards its wounded side, Mordred stumbled forward, mimicking its master's movements atop its walls.

"How dare you lay your hands on me, freak! I still have enough strength to grind you into dust, even like this!"

Souichiro's Persona lifted its remaining arm to summon another blade of dark matter, but the act no longer held any menace. Striding forward with confidence, Tetsuo snapped his fingers.

"Le Fay! Take them!"

The sound of wailing rose from deep within the chasm below, faintly at first, then growing in intensity until the air was thick with it. Thousands of ghoulish specters erupted from the gulf, a pillar of tormented souls cleaving space with hellish fury. Souichiro briefly lost his concentration - a fatal mistake.

The phantoms clustered together, taking the form of a monstrous black dragon that dwarfed Mordred in size, each soul a glistening onyx scale on its supple frame. The beast opened its maw wide, emitting a bestial roar, and consumed Mordred's remaining arm whole.

"G-Gahhh!"

The specters writhed and swarmed over every centimeter of the Persona's flesh like piranhas, wringing another round of agonized screaming from Souichiro as he dropped to his knees, frantically scratching and tearing at his right arm as if trying to pull his attackers off. Most would have found the sound utterly abhorrent.

But to Tetsuo, it was music.

Soon, their hunger sated, the phantoms dispersed, leaving naught but bones dangling from Mordred's shoulder. Souichiro's cries faded to soft whimpering, and he limped into view atop the parapets, his arms dangling uselessly at his side and his cheeks streaked with tears.

"M-My Persona…Mordred…look what you've done to him…what you've done to me!"

His lips contorting into an unhinged snarl, he thrust himself towards Tetsuo like a rabid dog.

"I'll wipe that fucking smile right off your face, trash! I'm the king of Shadows! This world exists to serve me! I'll tear you apart for what you've done! And when I'm through, I'll destroy everything you've ever loved, too!"

An anguished cry shook the stars as Mordred opened its jaw wide, bearing rows of jagged, knife-like teeth. In one last, desperate effort, it flung itself headfirst towards Tetsuo. However, the boy made no effort to flee. After all, the battle was all but won.

"I doubt it," he said with a smirk. "Now, Bors! Let's finish this!"

A cloud of black mist rose between him and the slavering titan bearing down upon him, and in a flash of black flames, it became a massive, ornate shield. The entire platform shook as Mordred collided with the slab of metal, gnashing and chomping furiously in a futile effort to reach the figure behind it.

The sight caused Tetsuo's heart to soar. He held out his hand, gathering waves of smoke unto him until they coalesced into the shape of a towering lance. Despite being several times his own height, it felt natural as he hefted it in his palm, like an extension of his own body.

"HHHYYYAAAHHH!"

With one last deafening shout, Tetsuo drove the lance up underneath the shield and into Mordred's heart, sending masonry flying as its tip effortlessly pierced the castle wall. Tetsuo leaned into the thrust, driving the weapon deeper into his enemy, relishing the resistance of the Persona's flesh against him. Then, giving the stock of the lance a twist, it unfurled to reveal the barrel of a cannon.

"Avalon…never belonged to you."

Tetsuo plunged the lance a little further, and fired. A brilliant pillar of radiance exploded from Mordred's spine, racing across the skyline into infinity, detonating stars in its wake and setting off a cascade of supernovas across the horizon as the light faded from the monster's eyes.

The lance dissipated, leaving a gaping hole in Mordred's chest, and the king of Shadows crashed to the ground. It lay there for a moment, conquered and spent, before disintegrating into embers and unceremoniously dumping the body of Souichiro Saito near Tetsuo's feet.

His chest still heaving, Tetsuo approached his former tormentor tentatively. The student council president was reduced to a sniveling wreck, his body and spirit shattered. The dark eyes that had once been so proud and cocksure now stared back at him with deep and utter terror. It was a look Tetsuo knew well, and to see his enemy wear it delighted him to no end.

"H-How…" Souichiro croaked, "I was chosen to rule…how could you…?"

Revolting. The sound of his voice was revolting, his words bitter as bile. Even now, he still thought of Tetsuo as less than human. Anger suffused Tetsuo's thoughts like a drug, and the last bit of control he still possessed snapped.

"Shut up."

Tetsuo leapt upon his nemesis, straddling his chest and wrapping his slender fingers tightly around Souichiro's windpipe.

"Shut up. Shut up. Shut up. Shut up."

Over and over, he repeated it like a prayer as he sunk his nails deeper and deeper into the pliant flesh of the older boy's throat, bloodlust mounting in his eyes as he felt the muscles convulse in his grasp.

"I told you - I'm going to take everything from you. Just like you took everything from me."

Every errant kick, each desperate gasp for breath flooded Tetsuo's senses with dopamine, inviting him to press harder and harder until Souichiro's struggling grew weaker and weaker – and eventually ceased.

It took Tetsuo several minutes before he realized that his foe was dead. Quivering, he removed his hands from Souichiro's limp body and sat there, returning his lifeless gaze. But no matter how hard he looked, there wasn't a shred of catharsis to be found.

There was no joy.

No relief.

His blood still burned, his wounds still stung, and none of it was nearly enough.

"No," he muttered wildly, stumbling to his feet. "You're not getting out of this that easily. We're not done here!"

Then, with a snap of his fingers, he cried out.

"NYNEVE!"

• • • • •

Gin winced as he twisted awkwardly to avoid a punch from Chikara's tree trunk-like arms, the wound in his side still raw and sore. The follow-up likely would have pulverized his skull had Rin not beat her to punch by bludgeoning the creature to the floor with a well-placed crack of her bat. Taishi and Chikara were proving to be more of a handful than they'd expected.

Suddenly, a dazzling flash illuminated the starscape, and the combatants briefly lowered their arms to stop and stare. Far in the distance, a cluster of stars exploded like fireworks, pierced by a spear of light that split the sky in two. Gin tapped the lens inside his mask to take a reading.

"You think that was him?" Yoko asked, coming up beside him.

Gin didn't answer, transfixed by the numbers that kept rising and rising and rising.

"Wh-What the fuck…" he breathed.

But before Yoko could ask what he meant, Rin broke the silence.

"Hey, heads up! We're still fighting here!"

The two Persona users whipped around to see Taishi and Chikara lunging at them, the eyes covering their bodies glowing bright red. However, at the apex of their jump, the air began to glow ablue, accompanied by a loud crackling. A deafening bang rang out, followed by a titanic bolt of lightning that swallowed the Voice and Fists of the Yatabuya, their silhouettes visible for only a fraction of a second before the electricity incinerated them entirely.

Stunned by the swift and sudden demise of their foes, the three members of Nightmare cast about for the source of the fearsome magic and found Mariko standing next to Nisekao's throne, her arm outstretched and spitting sparks like a discharged railgun.

Then, without warning, she vanished, replaced by a little girl in a pink dress that couldn't be much older than six.

"I am thou," she intoned flatly, and crumpled into a cloud of smoke.

Yoko and Rin stood rooted to spot, dumbfounded by what they'd witnessed. Gin didn't understand it any more than they did, but his sixth sense was positively screaming. Between that and the absurd readings he was getting from the heart of the Cloud, it was starting to look like his worst fears were about to be realized.

"…Let's go," he said at last. "We need to find him. And fast."

Rin took him by the shoulder, pulling him back.

"H-Hold on! What are you talking about? What're you planning on doing?"

Not much, he thought, running a hand over his hastily healed injury. Still, he could hardly bring himself to meet his sister's frenzied gaze.

"Whatever needs to be done. If you're really that worried, then get moving."

• • • • •

By the time they reached the heart of the Cloud, Tetsuo had already killed Souichiro half a dozen times. They found him clutching the remains of the student council president's corpse in a fit of deranged giggling.

"Nyneve. Again."

A flash of green light washed over Souichiro's prone body and he sprung back to life, sputtering and coughing. But no sooner had he regained his senses than Tetsuo began laying into him again, throwing punch after punch to the rhythm of his demented laughter.

Rin's hands flew to her mouth as she looked on in horror, scarcely believing her eyes. This demon couldn't be the same person that held her close just last night, that told her not to give in, that assured her that everything would be all right. No matter how much she wanted to, she couldn't look away, and as she watched Tetsuo surrender to his twisted desires, she could feel her heart wither.

"My God," breathes Yoko. "Was this what was wrong this entire time?"

"I dunno," said Gin. "Does that look like someone who's satisfied to you?"

Rin couldn't bear to watch any longer.

"Tetsuo, that's enough!"

Ignoring Gin's cries of protest, she rushed over, pulling Tetsuo away from Souichiro's ruined body and into her arms. She pressed her cheek against his, holding him tightly as she ran her fingers through his hair, shushing him like a dismayed child.

"It's okay, it's okay. You can stop - it's over now."

Gradually, Tetsuo's furor ebbed, and he went slack in her embrace, his laughter giving way to quiet sobbing as Cloud Seven unraveled around them, taking Souichiro's legacy with it.