Taking the Lizard's Hoard

The next day, David and Lubbock brainstormed how to get a calling card to Katsuo without it tracing back to them. Making the calling card was the easy part; they had the old magazines and could cut and paste a message from that.

Once the message was ready, they had to do a bit of planning to get the message to him. His private residence was to secure; they'd never sneak the physical copies inside. Same could be said of Arasaka Academy.

Fortunately, they could reach him outside of those places in some of the hangouts he frequents.

Lubbock sighed as he added an extra design to the calling card, adding stylized flames to it. "Ya know, the minute he sees you, he'll connect you to the message right?"

David rolled his eyes. "Tanaka could sneeze on the other side of the city and still blame me for it. No one who knows him will bat an eyelash if he blames me for anything."

"Fair Point." Lubbock admitted. "Still, how are we gonna get the calling card to him?"

"We just need him to see it once, right?" Ejiro asked. David nodded. "Then… what if we just make other students see it and pass the image to him?"

"I thought we wanted it to be passed along quietly." Ryuko pointed out. "If we slip the message to someone else, and they blurt it out to everyone, it'll draw attention to the message. Even as a rumor, people will know."

Lubbock snapped his fingers, realizing something. "Unless we slip the message to one of Katsuo's stooges, someone who will definitely give the message to only Katsuo if we scare him enough."

They listened as Lubbock explained his scheme. Eijiro frowned at it; Ryuko just shrugged and told him to go through with it; David generally said the same, and agreed to help.

They then scouted them for blindspots, planning when and where to slip the cards. Lubbock tracked down several of Katsuo's classmates; their common trecks and classes. With David's Sandy, slipping a message into the right bag was easy.

Next, Came finding the perfect stooge for their scheme.

"Yo, Shinji!" Lubbock called out. 'Stooge located.' It was early in the morning and he managed to find his target before he got into the academy grounds.

Shinji jolted away, annoyed. Shinji Matou was a below average Saka Academy student with blue hair like seaweed and a thin build. He also was a misogynistic sycophant down to his very core… and one of Katsuo's loudest followers. "What is it, you twit? Can't you see I-"

Lubbock cut him off with a slap on the back. "Yeah, yeah, real important stuff I'm sure. But Listen, I got a job for you." he patted his back a few more times, mostly to keep him from noticing the surprise. Out in the street, David easily slipt the message into Shinji's coat pocket. "Show that

Shinji wasn't convinced. "Why would Katsuo-"

"It's a direct order from his father. Need I say more?" Lubbock cut him off. He was going for the hard sell.

Shinji flinched at that, but despite his fear, could tell something was off with that. "...Why would they need a courier for that? And me for that matter?"

"No idea." Lubbock shrugged. "Maybe it's so secret they needed a series of messengers to be delivered off the grid. Maybe it's a senseless prank by someone . Or maybe…" Lubbock leaned in closer. "It's a test of your character to see if Katsuo can trust you. Whatever the case, can you really afford to ignore it? Do you want to explain to either Tanaka why it wasn't delivered?"

Shinji changed his tune at that tidbit of information. He wasn't about to risk the wrath of Tanaka senior for not following through… or his own grandfather for botching up his chances to connect with the Elder Tanaka.

What he didn't know was that Lubbock was bluffing, but he'd find out in due time. For now, Shinji. Once the school day was over, he made a new line for Katsuo.

In truth… Shinij Matou Didn't like the blond, really he didn't… no one would believe him since he spent most days fauning over the blond in public. 'Grandfather would make me suffer if I got in the way of his plans… and getting closer to the Tanakas was a part of his plans.'

Shinij would later find Katsuo with some of his underlings.

Katsuo just scowled at him. "What do you want, Matou?"

Shinji gulped. "I ah, have a message from your father."

Katsuo scoffed at that. "Ridiculous. My father wouldn't trust a gnat like to send anything.

Shinji took out the letter, which Katsuo snatched from him and opened the letter. On it was a message made with cut and pasted letters from old magazines. It read:

To Katsuo Tanaka, the Wimpering Lizard that thinks of himself as an Emperor.

We've seen through your facade. You're nothing more than a delinquent who uses his status to . Any power you have is not yours, and never will be; your Empire stands on sand, and will be blown away by the storm we bring.

Within 24 hours, we will rip those twisted, distorted Desires from your very soul. Do not mourn, Do not weep; this fate cannot be avoided and your end is nigh.

Sincerely, The Hellraiders, Keepers of Souls.

Katsuo frowned, rage building. He didn't know what the hell the senders were getting at with their words but he knew it was an insult against him. He knew it wasn't his father, which meant it could only be a street rat that dared offend him. He knew exactly who.

Unseen, the Shadow of Katsuo scowled. "You want my treasure, you rat? Fine, come and try. I'll crush you and any who side with you like the worthless roaches you are."

Katsuo ripped up the card and made his rage known. "Get rid of this trash, And find me Martinez! I want him beaten, broken and groveling at my feet, begging for mercy! NOW!"

Shinji had already fled, seemingly to avoid Katsuo's anger as well. The stooges around him just nodded and rushed to do as he asked. They didn't know what the message was, only that it pissed him off. they really think David was behind it, but would never tell Katsuo that.

_Lubbock_

"That went better than I thought." Lubbock said as he watched more of Katsuo's sycophants scramble about. He could make out Katsuo and his from another part of the Saka Academy. He hadn't resigned as a student just yet to make sure Katsuo got the calling card.

Lubbock walked with a pep in his step. Using the Matou brat to get the message across was a cakewalk for him.

Lubbock: [ The corporat is panicking, just like I said. ]

David: [ Not bad, O'Brian, not bad at all. Meet us at the Bushido Inn. There's one last thing I wanna mention before we set out. Then, we'll do the raid. ]

Lubbock grinned at that. 'Finally gonna finish him. good.'

The four of them planned to meet up there before heading into the palace. it was fairly secure, given its value to the lady of Westbrook. Wakako was the top Fixer in the region, and likely had her people keeping tabs on the joint.

Entering the establishment, he spotted Eijiro and Ryuko at one of the tables. He joined them. "Hey guys. Where's David?"

Ryuko shrugged. "Dunno. Said he'd be here soon."

Lubbock just sighed and sat down. He just glanced around while the others ate.

From the other side of the inn, he could make out Saeko working, but always glancing at their table. She hadn't approached them, just keeping an eye out.

Lubbock just narrowed his eyes on her. Not because she was easy on the eyes- she was a solid 9 out of 10 no question- but because he could tell she was keeping an eye on them. Or rather… she was keeping an eye out for David.

'And speak of the devil…' He spotted David entering the keep looking slightly haggard but no worse for wear. He took his seat at their table.

"Good to see ya man!" Kirishima said. Lubbock figured he was the most friendly person in their little group. "Although, What took ya so long?"

David slumped into his seat next to Lubbock. "Regalla wanted to get one last lesson in before the raid."

Lubbock hummed at that. David mentioned his trainer before, and how she was a total boss in her own right. And how she enjoyed fighting… and thoroughly beating David in every spar. 'This Regalla chick would probably get along just fine with Saeko.' best send him to deal with her sooner rather than later.

"Before we go, I think you should talk with Saeko." David perked up at that. "She seemed pretty disappointed you lost your match. Maybe you could offer to have a rematch with her. I'm sure you could form another bond that way."

"We don't have time for her though." Ryuko argued. "We gotta deal with it today, so he can't waste time on the samurai wannabe."

"But every bond means stronger Persona's for David." Lubbock countered.

David caught what Lubbock meant. With how his powers worked, the more bonds he had the better. 'At least he hasn't made a friendship joke about it.' he shook the thought away. "We have 24 hours before the effect of the calling card wears off, so I can spare a few minutes to talk with her. But first, we need to set up one last security measure for ourselves."

Lubbock scoffed at that. 'What more could we do now?' "And what would that be-"

"Codenames." David groaned, getting a sullen look all of a sudden. Lubbock blinked at that before his frown morphed into an excited grin. And he wasn't the only one.

"Finally!" Kirishima yelled out. He ended up drawing the attention of everyone in the inn. When he realized that, he just sheepishly waved while sitting back down.

Ryuko groaned at Kiri's over-excitement. "Why?"

David sighed. "Short answer, it's extra protection for us in the metaverse, especially when dealing with palace rulers who know us. Now, any ideas?"

Kirishima spoke first. "For my hero name, just call me… Red Riot."

Lubbock spoke next. "I'll go by Crosshairs. He was a badass from a sci-fi movie I watched."

Kiri just stared at the verdette in awe. Lubbock did the same for him. Then he extended his hand. Lubbock clasped it. Their grins were feverish as they bonded.

Ryuko just groaned at the two of them. "For the record, I still think this is dumb… but fine let's do it. At least Edge's name's pretty cool." Kirishima beamed at that.

"Can we shorten it to just Riot?" David asked. "It's easier to say in a fight." Kiri thought about it, and nodded.

Lubbock chucked. "You haven't thought of one for yourself, fearless leader?"

David waved him off. "I'll just go by Jason. Greek hero and leader of the argonauts, a group of heroes. It seemed fitting enough-"

"Denied." Lubbock and Eijiro said at the same time. Their reasoning being: "He's nothing like you. / you gotta put more heart into your hero name!"

David rolled his eyes. "It's not lazy, it's efficient, and we ain't heroes anyways. A name doesn't need 'heart.' It just needs to be simple enough to call out in a fight."

"In that case, I got the perfect codename for you. Way better than Jason." Lubbock pointed his finger right at David. "While we traverse hell, you'll be… Rex."

David mulled it over. 'Latin for king, huh? I guess it works.' He just shrugged. "Fine. I can work with that."

When the two excited nerds turned to face the only girl of the group, Ryuko just sighed. "Just call me Oni and be done with it."

Lubbock shrugged. "That was gonna be my fourth suggestion. The others were…" Ryuko cut him off by dragging him out of the inn. Kiri chuckled as he followed them out. David sighed as he went over to speak with Saeko.

Sure enough, he formed another Arcana Bond with her: the High Priestess. He agreed to spar with her after he settled some business elsewhere. He missed the intent in her eyes.

Once they met outside, they headed into the metaverse… Unaware that a certain warrior maiden would follow in after them.

_Katsuo's Palace_

David led the others into the Palace, evading every Shadow in their way. Igor mentioned that sending the calling card would put all the shadows on high alert. Either way, they were prepared. It took some time to get through the security, but they made their way to the treasure room in less than an hour.

In the treasure room, they found the final treasure in its true form. Instead of the amorphous cloud from before, it was a golden standard, like the ones Roman armies carried into battle. It was appropriate, given the Palace.

"Riot, you carry it. Oni, stay close to him. Crosshairs and I will scout the path out."

The two held up the standard, bringing it with them. Rex led the way while Crosshairs covered the rear. They made their way to the throneroom before they were then intercepted by Katsuo.

"You worthless peasants have trespassed in my domain for the last time!" Katsuo raged from within his throne room.

Rex scoffed at that. "Damn right! We don't want to deal with you and your petty ego anymore, so why don't you just give that back so we can be on our way? Following orders is what Saka Stooges like you train for isn't it?"

Katsuo glared at him. "I got a better idea…" he then took out a dagger and stabbed himself in the arm. From the wound blood trickled out, only it didn't fall to the ground. Instead, the droplets rose up into the air. The roof opened up to reveal the sky above, darkened by grey clouds.

Katsuo then raised his hands to the sky as the blood formed into an arrow and shot into the sky. "I call upon the patron of my Empire! I call upon the Diety that shines its light upon your dominion. Purge these enemies in your divine fires!"

And that's when fire started raining on them. Rex and Oni others dodged. Crosshairs hid behind Riot, who was able to block the few blasts that hit him. The end result was pillars being knocked down, rubble and debris littering the thronehall, and the open When the shower ended, they noticed the figure descending from the sky.

When the rain of fire ended, a beast emerged from the smoke and fire. It had a long serpentine body, with claws silver. Its crimson and gold scales glowed like gemstones in the light. Antler horns, whiskers, and pitch black eyes with bright green iris in its center. It was an eastern dragon long enough to wrap around a building thrice over. And it was glaring at them.

"So you are the gnats that pillage my dominion? I am Unimpressed." The dragon then inhaled, most likely to attack.

Rex could only think back to Orobas and his attacks. But given it was a far greater monster… he moved on instinct. "Watch out!"

The dragon let loose its fire breath. Compared to Orobas, it was a violent inferno. Rex grabbed Crosshairs, pulling out of the literal line of fire. Oni moved to the side while Riot held his ground. He flinched back from the fires, only slightly burned by them. "I think its breath attacks deal a mix of fire and nuclear!" he warned the others.

While the dragon breathed down flames at Riot, Oni lept into the air to slash. Her scissor blades bounced off the dragon's scales. "Scales are too tough! I can't cut through-"

The dragon twisted about, cutting off her shout and swiping at Oni and knocking. The claw strike knocked her out of the air. Oni was then pinned to the ground by the dragon's claw.

Riot tried to grab hold of its tail, but the dragon was too large to get a grip on. It subsequently lifted its tail and slammed Riot into a pillar.

Rex readied his spear, got closer, and threw it at the dragon's face. The spear bounced off of its snout, before. All it did was draw the dragon's attention towards the lancer.

Crosshairs saw the dragon and wrapped a flash grenade in his threads, making it into a sling. When the dragon dove in to attack Rex, a flash of light made it flinch. Crosshairs hurled the payload, giving him and Rex the moment to hide. Oni and Riot recovered enough to join them.

"Where are you, Vermin?" The great fire breather bellowed as it floated around, searching for the raiders among the ruble. Meanwhile, the raiders regrouped behind one of the fallen pillars. They were hidden for the moment, but they. 'More than that, we need a plan!' Rex turned to his comrades.

Crosshairs groaned against the wall. "Damn it, this bastard's worse than Orobas!"

Riot took out two boosters, one for Crosshairs and one for himself. "I prefer fighting the annoying snowmen compared to this."

Oni healed herself with her own booster. "We're getting nowhere with our attacks. Any idea what it's weak to? Or what persona it is?"

Rex shook his head. "I tried, but no name came up. I don't think it's a normal persona." He glanced to the side, careful to avoid the dragon's sight. He could make out the would be 'emperor' prancing about and laughing.

Shadow Katsuo grinned like a maniac. "Yes… YES! Burn them! Burn them all till there's nothing left! MAKE THEM SUFFER-"

The dragon stopped its search to glare at Katsuo directly. "You dare give me orders, welp?"

Katsuo went from gleeful boasting to frantic groveling, bowing his head. When the dragon inhaled, Katsuo got on his knees. "My deepest apologies. I overstepped my bounds, great one."

Rex heard that exchange and started thinking it through. Igor and Regalla's lessons proved helpful in figuring it out. 'This is Katsuo's Palace, so no shadow could argue against him, no matter how strong… which means the dragon's not a shadow at all. That's why I couldn't see its name.'

'If it's not a Shadow, then it has to be a cognition, but of what? Arasaka…? No that's too broad. Someone more specific from Arasaka, someone Katsuo has ingrained in his psyche, someone who-' then it hit him. It was obvious at that point. 'Yeah. that should have been obvious.' "The dragon is actually a cognition of Tanaka Senior, Katsuo's father."

As he revealed that, a shadow loomed over them. The Tanaka dragon glared down at all four of the trespassers in its dominion. "Found You…" with those words, it let loose its fire once more.

The raiders seperated, rolling to avoid the flames. Rex opened up the comms, even as he and the others avoided the dragon's attacks.

Rex: [ I think I got an idea. ]

Crosshairs: [ Great! What is it? ]

Rex: [ Keep the dragon occupied. I need to get to Katsuo! ]

Crosshairs: [ Are you shitting me!? We can barely slow it down! ]

Rex: [ You don't need to fight him, just stall and survive. ]

Rex could see the annoyance in Crosshair's scowl, but nodded. Rex used his speed to scale one of the still intact pillars.

Regalla had mentioned one method for him to get stronger, to empower his physical movements. She talked about how a person with supernatural power could, for lack of a better term, reinforce parts of them. Fortifying his body gives him extra strength and speed without relying on the Sandevistan. He was saving that for

Rex channeled the energy into his limbs. it wasn't using his mana, but something else provided by his persona. Blue viens like circuits in a machine appeared on his arms and legs.

Meanwhile, Riot and the others were keeping the dragon. "Hey fire newt! Come and get me!" Tanaka unleashed his fire breath right at the red head. Riot did his best to block it. His immunity to fire and resistance to Nuclear allowed him to whether the blast.

Oni ran up one of the pillars. When she was high enough, she lept onto the dragon's back. She tried slicing it with her blades - mantis and scissor blades - but couldn't even scratch his scales. After a few more attempts, the dragon shook her off, and knocked her into Riot.

Crosshairs took out more daggers and threw them at the dragon's head, aiming for its eyes. He remembered that was often one of the … at least in some of the stories he read. Sadly for him, the dozens of daggers he threw did little good. Even the daggers that did hit its eyes bounced off like nothing.

Tanaka glared at the three of them, slumped against the wall. The tyrant dragon realized that one of them was missing. 'Where's the fourth one…'

Unlike the dragon, the emperor had other things in mind. Katsuo regained his vigor and laughed at the downed raiders. "Finally! You rats will burn and break before your betters!"

"You first!" Rex rushed him, impailing his spear into his leg.

"AHHHH! When did you-?"

"RAAAHH!" David roared and kicked Katsuo in the gut with all his might. Between his reinforcement, the sandevistan's speed and his own natural strength, the kick was hard enough to knock the wannabe punk across the field and into his own throne. The act caught the eyes of both his teammates and the dragon… and marked the turning point in the fight.

I'm gonna finish this arc in the next two chapters, then move on to the next. At some point I'll take a break from this work to finish other projects.