Sometimes, he pondered the current state of things: of living, and dying.

One would call it monotonous, after a while. Not even the variability of life and human experience were enough to chase the doldrums away.

There were times, however, where he dreamed:

Of that one year, so very long ago, in Tatsumi Port Island;

Of a family living through hard times;

Of a...sister(?)...

How crazy.

Lately, he'd been dreaming of the Velvet Room.

He wondered if he would ever actually step foot into it again...

xxxx

/Room 4, 3rd Floor, Vulcanus Dorms, Hakone Academy/

Minato Arisato lazily opened his eyes. Huh. Guess I dozed off. Sitting up on his bed, he looked over to see that Yu Narukami was still pacing, looking at his phone. "...you okay?"

"Trying to think of how I can assist," murmured Narukami, holding his phone out; he had managed to find some public website showing traffic footage in Nagano Prefecture. One of the cameras set outside of Old Matsumoto showed a clear yellow cloud hovering over Tokyo-2; the fact this was apparently not noteworthy in the least was highly concerning. "No news about Tokyo-2 being unreachable; there's just some minor weather forecasts mentioning heavy fog, and that's it..."

"...this has got you in a bit of a tizzy," he observed.

"I haven't dealt with this sort of phenomenon since my 'first' life," Narukami mused, obviously agitated by something from way back when making an appearance. (Then again, given that Strega was once more a public enemy, it's not like he could complain...) "What possible options could I pursue, though...?"

"...don't you know someone unusual connections?" muttered Minato, quietly leaning back onto the bed. "Some bartender, or something...? I think you mentioned him in your old story..."

Narukami immediately stopped pacing. "...senpai, you're a genius."

"You're just thinking too much," he replied, hiding a yawn behind his hand. (What an odd dichotomy; even though he had lived through far more 'timelines' than Narukami, the leader of the Investigation Team had focused and tried to retain as much as possible...whereas he, a mere remnant of S.E.E.S., had let so much beyond his 'first' life slip away...) "Let me know if anything changes..."

He was once again napping in short order.

xxxx

/The Melon Patch, Downtown Tokyo-3/

Ryoji Kaji had just walked into his bar — having woken up less than an hour ago to come in and do some accounting work for the books — when his cell phone rang. Whipping it up towards his ear, he asked, "Hello?"

"There's an unusual phenomenon happening at the capital. I suggest you try and see if you can find someone to look into it."

And just like that, Yu Narukami hung up. "Huh. How rude." And hilarious: we haven't even been formally introduced in this 'current' life, and that's how he opens up...?

(Last year: the bar had had a much busier night than usual, and their supply of finger foods had run out. Quickly calling a delivery service, it was to his utter surprise that Yu Narukami answered the side door that led from the alley outside into the Melon Patch's storage rooms. "So this is where you work, huh? Good to know." The young man held up multiple bags of edibles. "That'll be ¥20,000.")

"...wonder what's gotten him so agitated...?" Sighing, Kaji quietly trudged towards his office, opening and closing the door behind him. Old cigarette butts littered an ashtray, and empty alcohol containers lined his desk in an elaborate structure; there were also numerous newspapers and old journals related to esoteric topics and eclectic stories from around the world. Anyone stepping into the room would have immediately deemed Kaji as a depressed eccentric...which was not that far off from the truth nowadays. "Anyhow...one way to find out." With old practice, he reached into a desk drawer and pulled out a tin of sardines; with delicate slowness, he peeled the lid open, and the curling of metal echoed surprisingly loudly in his office.

Moments later, a nearby filing cabinet slid open, from which poked the head of a familiar penguin...wearing a sleeping mask. "I was in the middle of a nice dream..." murmured Pen-Pen with an exaggerated yawn.

"I still find this method of 'calling you' to be incredibly...unusual." admitted Kaji.

"The thought process related to opening a can of sardines in the office of an old bar is so weird that it's easy to 'hear' when it happens," explained the unusual penguin. "Anyhow...if you could hand over the snack, mind telling me why you called?"

Kaji answered, "Well, according to a reliable source, something's going down in Tokyo-2."

Taking the offered sardine can in his clawed flippers, Pen-Pen audibly pondered, "...hmm, is that so? Honestly, Tokyo-3 always dominates so much in the narrative that people tend to forget about Tokyo-2..." Sighing, the sapient penguin downed a sardine whole, loosing a satisfied trill. "Mmm...salty."

"Any idea who to send? I haven't felt anything from my Shadow..."

"The power involved to hide an entire city from the public's cognition, even if partially? That's something your Other Self might want to stay away from..." Eating another sardine, Pen-Pen said, "It seems dear Ayanami is almost there...but is it something I need to intervene with...? Probably not; I would hate to use my trump card too early..."

"Trump card?"

"A little something I got from Gaghiel, but that's for another time." Pen-Pen ate a few more sardines, seemingly in deep concentration, before adding, "Okay, I just sent a little 'message' to a few of my compatriots. They should be on their way to at least provide a helping hand to the important players..."

Kaji bitterly smirked. "How nifty."

"It's all about presentation, my dear lad. If you pretend to be a 'deus ex machina' for long enough, people will start to believe it."

"A shame that tactic won't work with our true enemy..."

"Indeed. That being said...it's important for humans to look out for their own. So maybe you should get our ace in the hole involved?"

Kaji sighed. "It seems odd, that he's separate from the others; why wouldn't he work alongside with Narukami and his fellows?"

Pen-Pen's expression evoked a smile. "Because he doesn't work well with others? Besides...the purpose of the ace is to be held back until needed."

"Fair enough..."

"Anyhow, thanks for the snack. I'm out!" Pen-Pen ducked back into the filing cabinet, which slid shut. After a few moments, Kaji slid it open; sure enough, there were only some folders present.

"Freaks me out every time," he murmured with a tired grin. "Well...time to keep the game of phone tag going..."

xxxx

/The Cognitive Protection Center, Tokyo-3, the Metaverse/

Goro Akechi frowned at the message transmitted to his workstation. "Hmm..."

Barkeep: Unknown cognitive anomaly in Tokyo-2. Significant backup needed.

"...odd." Akechi's last contact from Ryoji Kaji had been on the 8th of August, when Mister P had taken advantage of Katsuragi's absence to coordinate and plan for the future. Some of those plans had already come to light.

(Before Phanuel even made an appearance before them, they could hear his voice. "How nostalgic...but we don't have time to waste on pleasantries..." The humanoid Angel was already shrinking down into the familiar form of a deformed anthropomorphic cat, looking far too cartoony for someone with such importance. "...let's be quick about this," said Mona with strange solemnity.)

(August the 18th: it hadn't taken long rumors regarding the Pattern Blue in Nishiawakura to spread, especially when it became known that two A.T. Agents of some renown had died in battle. The fact that the stories spoke of the culprit splitting away to face an Angel had only made the rumors even juicier.)

It was strange, to think of how the damned cat of all people had intentionally made a sacrifice play.

The quiet stranger calmly pondered the state of things. "It's strange, isn't it: how the Angels interact with humanity in different ways."

"Why should it be?"

"You are not aware of what they used to be. Humanity is used to change; their bond with the Sea of Souls has forced change upon those who are supposed to be fixed. Such is anathema, for those born from the Fruit of Life."

"Such flowery language."

"It is the nature of things. It would be a surprise, if those born from the Fruit of Knowledge didn't change."

"That's my point: why would Life and Knowledge be so opposed? Were it not for the intentional biblical parallel chosen, the forced dichotomy would seem unnatural."

"You've done your research. It is an interesting question, admittedly: what terms would be preferable, then? Order versus Chaos? Harmony versus Discord? Essence versus Accident?"

Akechi resisted the urge to roll his eyes, because the owner of the voice in his head was too damned nice at times. (Even as he conversed mentally, he was quietly reviewing mission logs from the Chūbu region, and couldn't help but notice that the number around Nagano Prefecture had decreased significantly over the past two days...why hadn't anyone thought to inquire into this?)

The quiet stranger smiled. "I can't help but wonder...if you would ever choose the path of sacrifice."

Akechi paused. (Where had this odd tangent come from?)

"...I have."

"No: aboard Shido's Ark of Pride, you believed that you had reached the end of the line, choosing to spite your father's cognition of yourself...twice, in fact. Within Maruki's 'Happy World', you believed yourself to be a dead man walking...so what risk was there, to putting on the line a life that no longer was?"

"What are you getting at?"

"The Angels have sacrificed much of themselves, to reach this point. Numerous facets of Humanity have also been sacrificed; and so I ask, what greater sacrifice, than to intentionally lay down one's own life?"

"If you think I'm going to act like an idiot and risk things unnecessarily-"

"Phanuel was willing to reveal himself to our enemy for the sake of ensuring Shinji Ikari survived, knowing the cost would likely be his life...despite knowing that it might not avail anything, in the end."

"..."

"Just understand that a time may come, where some of us may have to throw away everything, just to advance to the endgame. It might be you, or perhaps another...but don't let your analysis of the risks lose sight of that possibility."

"...hmph. I've already thrown my life away before, and now those timelines are forgotten by practically all; what did it gain me in the long run?"

"My attention, for one. Such a fascinating soul, I must say..."

Akechi resisted the urge to snort at the quiet stranger's philosophizing, instead placing a thumb on his badge. "Connect me to Superintendent Iwai," he said aloud. "There's a matter I think we need to look into at the capital..."

xxxx

Amidst the downtown area of Tokyo-2, a number of the Cabinet-level ministries of the Japanese government had their own dedicated facilities, clustered in buildings ranging from squat office complexes to tall corporate towers. The Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare veered toward the latter, standing at twenty-two stories tall.

The tenth floor was devoted entirely to the Equal Employment, Child, and Families Bureau; a particular corner had been partitioned off to serve the needs of the Special Custodial Service.

It was within that section that Sae Niijima had quarantined herself for the past day-and-a-half.

(Working late hours was such a common occurrence for her that she had brought her own futon to work, keeping it tucked away within her private office. She had gone to sleep on the night of the 19th...and had awoken to a city covered in yellow fog.)

Her coworkers had often joked that her workaholic ways were going to send her to an early grave; as of this point, she had no idea if that was going to be true or not.

(Merely looking outside the windows revealed whole scores of dark creatures moving about Tokyo-2, engaging in combat with numerous Persona-users. Such an otherworldly spectacle merited watching...but as masked beasts soared towards her floor, discretion and prudence easily defeated curiosity.)

Sae was not too proud to admit that she had spent a few hours within the nearest restroom, waiting in fearful silence to see if the situation would be resolved.

It hadn't.

And so she had defaulted to being productive.

(Quiet excursions revealed the whole floor to be empty, save for the occasional monstrous moan from the floor below. Swiping food and bottled water from the employee break room, she then locked herself within her office, closing the blinds and trying to keep calm. Thus did she carry on with her duty. So long as she kept working, she wouldn't have time to feel fear.)

Attempts at sending messages to her sister or her superiors had been met with no response; none of her other coworkers had shown up for work (understandably so!), and so she was truly isolated. Browsing the Ministry's intranet had revealed others on different floors, in different departments, communicating with some level of panic: wondering about the lack of response, the lack of official information, and the strange creatures that had suddenly emerged overnight. Out of caution, she had not answered or responded to anyone.

(The last time she had looked, it had been over ten hours since the last person posted; that boded quite poorly for their prospects...and hers.)

Nonetheless, trusting that the situation would be resolved eventually, she had begun compiling all of the Special Custodial Service's records, using what authority she possessed to compile the file of every single child that was within their jurisdiction. Even if the capital was under siege by otherworldly monsters, she would not allow these wards of the state to fall through the cracks.

(She quietly looked at the records of Toji Suzuhara, Mana Kirishima, and now Mayumi Yamagishi; these three, in particular, could not be lost.)

Mere hours after she had put the records onto a thumb drive, the power had gone out.

And so Sae Niijima had been reduced to nothing but...waiting: sitting within her dim office, occasionally peeking out the window at the yellow fog, trying not to wince at the sight of every dark shadow that moved within those mists of lemon shade and goldenrod hue.

(Such helplessness grinded at her, but what was there to do? She knew what her chances would be if she tried to leave, whilst that strange fog was present.)

(You can't help but wonder if anyone will miss you; you've always been stern and severe...)

Weariness had finally forced her to sleep. When she had woken up on the morning of the 21st, it was to see her phone finally losing its charge. (Just as well; she had lost service the previous morning anyway.)

The fog had still been there, looming; the strange shadows were lesser in number, but there had been no resistance to be seen. (Oh, how legion her thoughts had been! Was this a phenomenon affecting the entire world? Had Angel Syndrome morphed into a new variant? Was Tokyo-2 the only place affected? Were the children involved with fighting it? Was Makoto okay?)

She didn't want to resign herself to death. She didn't. She couldn't.

(She was fooling herself.)

(You know you're doomed...accept it. It'll be easier...)

As the hours rolled on, and the analog clock on her office wall ticked into the afternoon...a loud noise roused her from her nap. What...? Woozily rising, her ears twitched at the staccato bark of a handgun firing; it was sharp and easily distinguished from the monstrous roars of the strange beasts. Who's fighting? she wondered, coming to her alertness quickly. An A.T. Agent? A government officer? A Freelancer? Putting the thumb drive into her pocket, Sae stood behind her desk, staring pensively at the door. The sounds are...getting louder.

After several agonizing minutes, she could hear the fighting getting closer...to her office door-!

BAM!

Sae impulsively raised her arms into a judo stance, grimacing at the sight of a cloaked figure crashing onto the floor; she barely caught sight of an orange mask with one eye before the shadowy phantom faded into nothingness. Looking up, the creature's assailant entered with aplomb: a dark-haired figure in a black coat, wearing a stylized domino mask. "Who are you?" (She immediately grimaced at how grody her voice sounded after not being used for over a day.)

The man in black grinned, holstering his handgun and dagger with a flourish. "You can call me Joker." He extended his right hand, the red glove looking so very colorful amidst the dreary atmosphere. "Come with me if you want to live."

The phrase was so jarring — evoking one too many sci-fi thriller movies that Makoto had all but forced her to sit through over the years — that Sae impulsively replied, "did you quote the Exterminator at me?"

The man's smile became just a touch too cheeky for her liking. "Cool, you got the reference."

xx

Of all the people that Joker had expected to run into, Sae Niijima hadn't been one of them. (Of the old Confidants he was aware of, Makoto, Akechi, and Iwai — being members of the A.T. Task Force — would have been the most likely...but then again, Sae was still a government employee, this time around. Why wouldn't she have been in the capital?) Despite being older than he remembered (relative to his current 'baseline' age), she had aged remarkably well. "Why exactly are you in the middle of this place all by your lonesome?" As he spoke, he glanced around the corner of the office door, activating his Third Eye. Still all clear...but for how long? I did tear through quite of those masked monsters on the way here...

"I worked late, slept here, and woke up to find that the world outside had gone to hell," explained Sae; he could hear her rummaging through drawers, gathering some things. "It's been like this since the morning of the 20th at least."

"Was this city like this on the 19th?"

"Not when I went to sleep."

Joker looked back over his shoulder, realizing the Sae — whose silvery hair wasn't done up in a hairstyle like he was used to, hanging down freely — had a rather heavy purse hanging over her shoulder; in her right hand was a long black umbrella of sorts, with a crook handle. (His Third Eye saw a distinct aura around the umbrella, evoking the image of a defensive weapon.) "A tactical umbrella?"

Sae looked at him suspiciously. "How do you-?"

"Lucky guess. Want a buff?"

"...a buff? You mean..." Frowning, Sae poked the umbrella forward, still holding it such that she could thrust it into his gut.

Smirking, Joker reached into his pocket...

(As he stormed through the streets of Tokyo-2 — following the impulses from the bottom of his soul — he ducked underneath the swing of great sword, courtesy of a rocky arm emerging from a void in the ground. With a dexterous backslash, he sliced through the arm at the wrist, reaching for the silver mask embedded on the sword's hilt. Embedding his fingers into the cross-shaped visor, he ripped it away, crunching its essence into a small orb. Disassembling the thoughtbeast into its base components was easier than doing it to an Archetype; it even lacked the solidity to become a Persona, which was doubly useful...)

...and pulled out a black orb, breaking it in his fist. He coated the dust over the umbrella, imbuing it with his intentions and the lingering essence of the sword-arm. "Try it on the wall."

Sae suspiciously pulled her umbrella back, lightly swinging it against the wall...only to balk as it easily cut into the drywall. "What the-?"

"It'll probably fade once we get out of the fog, so you might as well enjoy it while you can."

"...but if empowering weapons were that easy, such a tactic would have become far more widespread..." Looking at him with incredulity, Sae asked, "Who are you?"

"Just a Trickster playing his part," he answered with a grin. Plus, I don't think anyone else could do what I just did, so...

"...that answers nothing."

"True." Turning back to the office door, he withdrew his handgun and dagger. "Stick close."

"Wait, you didn't answer my question-!"

Then a trio of walking hourglasses — girded by a ring-shaped razor — rounded the corner, and there was no time to talk.

Joker found himself taking it a bit slow, because Sae was somewhat weary after being stranded for over a day-and-a-half. Fortunately, adrenaline quickly began to work its magic, and Sae was moving quite quickly for a woman who had to be in her 40s.

Still...he couldn't help but show off. Just a little.

xx

Sae Niijima watched, almost dumbfounded as the masked man used a wrist-mounted grapple hook to wrangle a shackled minotaur; with a swift stab to the neck, the masked beast was defeated. "...where did you learn those kind of acrobatics? I haven't even seen you summon a Persona..."

Adjusting his gloves, Joker said, "Practice. Lots of practice."

"...that still answers nothing."

"That also takes lots of practice."

Sae narrowed her eyes. "I don't think I like you."

"You'll get used to it."

...why does it feel like he's flirting with me?

(It had been a while since anyone had actually flirted with her.)

(Now is not the time.)

xx

By the time they got down to the bottom floor, Joker impulsively held out his hand. "Wait!" His Third Eye saw a proverbial sea of red outside the lobby doors. "...looks like our battles made a bit too much of a ruckus."

Sae grimaced, holding her umbrella at the ready. "Can we take them?"

Not if I wanted to get you through in one piece. He could see a sea of masked shadows crawling about the road; walking about them were multiple minotaurs, hulking wrestlers, armored samurai, and jousting knights sitting atop hovering horses. This...is going to be tricky. "I need you to stay back. I'm going to try and clear them out..."

"Boy, that sounds beary tough!"

Joker and Sae both yelped with surprise, spinning around to see...a blue grizzly bear...in a red and white clown suit...wearing fancy eyeglasses...and a cartoony hand puppet over his left paw. "What the hell are you?!" exclaimed Sae.

The hand puppet looked at her, flapping excitedly. "Oh, I'm so sorry! You can call me Teddie!"

...oh wow, this must be Narukami's comrade that he talked about. "...someone's been wondering about you," he said cautiously. "Someone you might know."

"Hmm...you must be talking about sensei...well, you can be the bearer of good news and tell him that I'm doing something important!" For how excited the hand puppet sounded, the bear's actual face didn't move an inch.

Sae looked downright befuddled by this sudden change of events. "...who are you?! What's going on!?"

The hand puppet sagged. "Aw, do you not like bears...? I said I'm Teddie..." he moaned.

Joker glanced severely at Sae. "Niijima-san...bearggars can't be choosers," he stoically said.

Sae actually flinched from the utter wretchedness of the pun, whilst the blue bear loosed a pleased little grunt. "You're such a nice guy!" exclaimed the hand puppet.

Joker looked back towards the lobby doors, feeling for the orbs of concentrated cognition in his pocket. I think I could prime them to explode...hmm. "Niijima-san...how good are you with a gun?"

The custodian blinked with confusion. "...well, my sister and I like to practice at a range whenever we find time to spend together...and I had a bit of an airsoft enthusiast phase when I was a teenager..."

Huh, so that's a constant, huh? Of all the things to remain the same from one timeline to the next, it was that? How weird. "All right then." He nonchalantly swapped his handgun for her umbrella, wrapping both of her hands around the handle. "You don't have to worry about reloading; it has infinite ammo," he emphasized, staring right into her eyes.

(She had no reason to doubt him. And in a place like this, it would only be...natural.)

(Cognition was a heck of a thing.)

"...right," she muttered, impulsively checking the sight and aiming away from them at a wall. "It's well-balanced."

"That's the point," he said, stuffing the umbrella into the same pocket he kept his dagger in. (A temporary fusion...just as natural as affixing a bayonetta to a rifle, or a blade to a staff to make a spear...!) With a flourish of motion, he withdrew the tactical umbrella and extended it; its tip had seamlessly combined with the hilt of his knife, to the point where one couldn't see where the umbrella ended and his dagger began. "Tell me, Teddie: are you koalafied to be a valiant steed?"

(Sae twitched.)

The hand puppet flailed wildly. "Ab-ursa-lutely!"

(She twitched even harder.)

xx

With sudden force, a blob of consolidated shadow fragments were thrown through the lobby doors, landing on the ground-

BOOM!!

-and exploding with a burst of force, unleashing a pressure wave that cleared an opening amidst the street.

Into this opening roared Teddie, claws at the ready; Joker sat upon his back, wielding the umbrella-dagger in his right hand as though it were a cavalier's polearm, while his left hand was wrapped around Sae's torso. Niijima was sitting sideways across his lap, reaching across his back to grip his shoulder with her right arm; instead of playing the role of the mere damsel, however, she held Joker's handgun in her left hand, ready and willing to fire. "CHARGE!" roared Joker, stabbing his impromptu polearm through the face of a samurai (an Onnen Musha, his Third Eye observed).

Teddie roared, claws flaring with icy particles as he barrelled through the horde of monsters; any who dared get close were peppered from afar by the bullets in Sae's borrowed handgun, which hit vital areas at least eight times out of ten.

They were noisy. They were rambunctious. They were drawing doubtlessly drawing the attention of every Remnant around them.

Joker relished it. "You're not even in our league! BRING IT!"

xxxx

Further south of the downtown area, another fight was going on with a frenzy that could be called desperate.

CLANG!

Tokoyo's dual swords crashed into Tsukiyomi's blazing blade, the force of the impact causing a pressure wave that scattered the shadowy Remnants around them. "Myriad Slashes!" howled the masked swordswoman.

The masked swordsman hissed, "Vorpal Blade!"

Tokoyo's concentrated multi-hit strike crashed into the lines cut by Tsukiyomi; some strikes slipped through on both sides, causing superficial damage; the former had been using Heat Riser to keep ahead of the furious Tsukiyomi, whilst the latter had been abusing numerous Physical Skills thanks to the passive Arms Master Skill.

"Garudyne!" With a gesture of her right index and middle fingers, Tokyo summoned a torrential gale.

Tsukiyomi dodged to the side — crying "Life Drain!" — before stampeding towards Tokoyo.

She swiftly kicked a masked boulder towards Tsukiyomi, letting the Remnant serve as an impromptu sacrifice; Tsukiyomi's grip siphoned the hapless shadow of its energy in an instant, but hardly enough to satisfy the furious Persona. Brandishing her blades, she charged once more into the fray, clashing steel against steel.

Such was the fury with which Misato Katsuragi and Sho Minazuki fought.

"HA!" laughed Sho, lashing with wild swings at Misato. "You're putting up a much better show than those loser kids did!""

Misato snorted, parrying Sho's right katana with her short sword before firing her handgun at his torso; the redhead dodged to the side, "Gee, the experienced Agent is faring better than a bunch of kids, what a SHOCK!" Sho was swinging his left blade, which Misato rolled under; her follow-up stab was parried, but not quick enough to stop her from firing off another shot. As Sho leapt back to avoid the bullet, Misato took the brief window of opportunity to reload: sheathe her sword, eject the magazine, pocket the empty clip, pull out another one (whether it had bullets or not was irrelevant, this foggy realm operated like the Metaverse, so her gun would have more ammo upon reloading regardless), insert the new magazine. This whole sequence took less than three seconds; just quick enough for her to pull out her short sword and block Sho's horizontal slash, using the barrel of her gun to block the other.

Sho seemed delighted at their mutual struggle. "Not bad!"

"You haven't even used your A.T. Field yet, and I know you can," she growled. "What's your angle?!"

"What do I look like, a triangle? Besides, what's the point in stompin' ya in an instant?" Sho lashed out with his foot; she barely blocked it with her knee, but it gave Sho enough space to slice through the masked shadow mech that had been approaching from behind him. "I'm actually enjoying myself! Don't start bein' a bore!"

Misato snarled; her irritation in the back of her mind was matched by Tokoyo's renewed anger in her strikes against Tsukiyomi. I know Mana-chan saw me get blasted away by Minazuki...what's taking her?!

xxxx

Mana's back slammed into the side of a rail car; this time, when she fell to her knees, she did not rise immediately; gasping, she impulsively let go of LABRYS and AIGIS, using her hands to stop her fall. Ragged breaths slipped past her throat, sounding akin to a failing combustion engine. I...can't land a scratch on them...

(The moment her brothers had summoned their Personas, the duo had attacked with dynamic synergy; combined with their own A.T. Fields and their own Angelic abilities on top of it, their Personas had rendered it a battle where victory was impossible.)

...I can't...beat them...! Snarling, Mana raised her head to glare at her brothers...or, more specifically, their Personas.

Phobos and Deimos were both twins of a sort, sharing the same proportionate size that Hamlet had with Ikari, or Tokoyo with Katsuragi; each clad in segmented bronze armor that made them appear more like living robots than people. Lightning wound around Phobos like a living snake from head to toe, culminating in a flowing scarf of electricity; Deimos, meanwhile, bore a chariot's wheel along his back, which evoked a thunderous boom with each turn of the spoke. Each Persona's face was half-hidden by a stoic mask of silver, perfectly molded to fit a human face: Phobos's left side was masked, whilst it was the right side for Deimos. Though equally yellow eyes stared at her from behind the mask, their exposed faces were completely different: the right half of Phobos's face was made of living shadow, contorted into a permanent expression of fear and panic; the left half of Deimos's face, by contrast, seemed to be burning perpetually, stuck into a wretched snarl that evoked dread and terror wherever it looked.

What could she have done, against four at once?

(She had always protected them before; that's what she had sworn to do. But now...?)

(You're too weak to protect them.)

Keita and Musashi both walked towards her.

(You're too weak to save them.)

Scowling, Mana bitterly spat out, "Just finish me off already!" (She was resolved to her fate; what else but death remained, for a weapon not fit for purpose anymore?)

Her brothers did no such thing.

Instead...they both knelt down and embraced her. "We know that this life isn't what you want," murmured Keita. "But if you're not willing to come along...then we won't force you."

"We'll never force you to do anything...but if you stand in Strega's way, then we'll end up fighting again." Musashi gave her one last brotherly squeeze before rising. His eyes seemed truly somber (and who among them could claim to feel otherwise?). "If you ever change your mind...we'll be waiting."

Keita rose, removing his arms from around her battered form. (How pathetic was it that she yearned for that familiar touch, of family taking care of family? How cruel, to remind her of what she had lost!)

(You're too weak to save anyone.)

"...hope the next time we see you will be in better circumstances, neesan." Musashi turned away, showing his back to her. "Let's go."

Keita nodded at her with a small smile. "Take care, Mana-neesan." He too, turned away.

Mana's teeth ground so hard that it felt like they were going to crack; even the mysterious impulses of her sisters' spirits were of no aid, for they only reminded her of how she had failed. Don't...leave...don't...leave me...! She couldn't even muster up the strength to cry out after them, anymore. Don't...go...!

Her brothers vanished into the fog.

(You're...too...weak.)

Inhaling sharply, Mana pounded her fists on the ground; though the words to speak were lost, her misery demanded an outlet regardless. Thus the weapon known as Mana Kirishima — forged from a young girl — wailed and wept; harrowing and sorrowful was her cry...for what else could she do, to face those she had desired to save for so long...only to be rejected so utterly?

Moments after Mana loosed her heartful cry, a column of chaotic colors shot into the sky from the west, piercing the fog. It coincided with the sound of a crashing wave.

xxxx

Misato Katsuragi and Sho Minazuki both turned towards the light, grimacing at the . "What the hell?!" sputtered the former.

Sho snorted. "Well, that looks familiar. Guess playtime is over. Seeya-nara!" Cackling, Sho sheathed his swords, leaping into the sky; Tsukiyomi simultaneously broke away from Tokoyo, clutching onto him as they darted eastward.

"HEY! GET BACK HERE!" roared Misato, her eyes slowly turning back towards the column of light. "What's going on...?"

xxxx

Right as Teddie neared the edge of the fog to the south, he suddenly faltered, coming to a halt.

Joker rolled with it, figuratively and literally; keeping a hold over Sae Niijima's body, he curled over and around her, landing seamlessly on his feet while still keeping her in his arms. "What's wrong?" he said, looking back at the blue bear. At the moment, the column of light erupted from the west. "Never mind, I think I've got it."

(Sae briefly debated whether or not she was fine with letting Joker continue to hold her. Eventually, her sense of propriety won out, as she wriggled out of his grasp and onto her feet.)

The bear pulled out the familiar hand puppet, nervously chirping, "Oh dear; it looks like my job is done! I think I gotta get going...if I stay around, I might end up hibernating...!"

Why so many puns...?

"Well, we can't have that," remarked Joker, flipping his handgun around the trigger finger (wait, when did he grab it-?) before holstering it; with an unseen flourish, he had unmade whatever had bound his knife and umbrella together. "You take care of yourself," remarked Joker, even as he offhandedly tossed Sae's umbrella back to her.

The hand puppet waved enthusiastically. "You'd beartter believe it!" With little aplomb, the hand puppet's 'head' suddenly popped open, revealing a dark void of some kind. The bear poked his snout in...and kept going: like a looney piece of animation, the bear delved deeper into the void of his own hand puppet, until it disappeared with a cartoonish pop.

"...what did I just watch?!" There was no answer; Sae looked around, only to balk at the fact that her mysterious rescuer had up and vanished. "Hey! Where'd you go-?!"

With sudden violence, the yellow fog began to dissipate; it was being sucked in towards the distant pillar of radiance, as though it were a vacuum. Sae grimaced as the haze rushed by her (unseen, inwardly, there was a shift, as the strain in the back of her mind finally relaxed), blinking rapidly as she stood amidst a normal road on the outskirts of Tokyo-2; for the first time in over a day, the blue sky and the sun were visible. "I'm out...?" she murmured aloud. What's going on...?

xx

Joker had barely made it half a klick before the yellow fog suddenly rush by him; the sensation of power and grace and effortless skill left just as quickly.

He was fortunate to have landed in an alley near Murai Station, adjacent to the Shinonoi and Chuo Lines. The fog faded, revealing rail cars to open sunlight. I guess whatever caused that column of light ended the fog...but what caused it all...? Adjusting his shirt collar, Ren put his domino mask back into the depths of his backpack. Now I have to find my way back to the van...this might take a bit.

Once he stepped out into the light, however...that which had been hidden by the fog was shown in the harsh light of day. "Oh gods..."

xxxx

At Matsumoto Castle, the Cognitive Protection Center had manifested as a taller and more ornate version of its real life counterpart.

The arrival of the strange fog had made Shadow Pacification an utmost necessity, to keep the residents from going berserk.

The onslaught of the Remnants from outside had rendered the defenders' task even more difficult.

They had rotated in shifts — Agents, Persona-users who worked directly for the government, and Freelancers all — to try and keep fresh. But supplies were not infinite, and exhaustion eventually rendered cognitive shortcuts useless.

It was this scene that Ryuji Sakamoto had led Toji Suzuhara, Kensuke Aida, and Yuuki Mishima. Though the A.T. Task Force's headquarters had been rendered a tomb, the bulk of the city's cognitive defenders had shored up around Tokyo-2's CPC; and why wouldn't they? It was where almost every single Shadow within the city was held under protection.

While Toji and Aida had gone inside with Mishima (because Morooka's Secretary would carry some weight with the Agents still standing), Ryuji and Seiten Taisei had joined the dozens of defenders still fighting outside.

(For some reason, a winged Shiba Inu could be seen flying in and around, biting and clawing at the Remnants. It wasn't fighting alongside an Agent; was it a Persona, of some kind...?)

It was right after a targeted Maziodyne that a column of prismatic light erupted from south-southwest. "The eff...?" murmured Ryuji, hanging onto Seiten Taisei's leg. "What...?" Looking down, his confusion was shared by the other defenders; a suction effect quickly took hold, pulling the Remnants like dust with a vacuum hose. "What the hell...?!"

"Arf arf!"

Ryuji glanced to his left, looking at the little red-eyed Shiba Inu; the albino dog happily slurped his face before flying away, disappearing into the receding banks of the fog. "...what's going on?!"

xxxx

(To find out what happened...the clock had to be turned back ever so slightly...)

xxxx

/Twenty Minutes Prior/

Camp Matsumoto had been littered with the bodies of soldiers, with A.T. Agents and government officers among them. The entire military base appeared as if a bomb had gone off in several places; the barracks and supply warehouses had been demolished, and shadowy Emanations drifted among the dead like scavengers.

'Carnage' put it mildly.

"One-Shot Kill."

Hirofumi Kurosawa was firing at the bestial shadows that approached them with a stern frown. "The old accessways are buried under a bunch of rubble," he muttered with a scowl.

"Can we dig through the ground?" asked Shinji Ikari, his Persona having switched from Titan to Hamlet. His original Persona was dueling a shadowy samurai of sorts.

All the while, Mayumi Yamagishi was mentally communicating the locations of the Emanations (as Kurosawa had insisted on calling them; Remnants seemed a lot easier to remember...) to them, allowing the two to prioritize and coordinate seamlessly.

"There are failsafe explosives laced underground to render the MAGI facility inaccessible if someone tries to get to them by foul means...which doesn't help us." Kurosawa's Persona Häyhä obliterated a masked tank, of all things. "Once we clear these Emanations, we'll start digging-"

"Yip!"

Shinji and Kurosawa both whirled around, leaking towards the metal corpse of a ruined helicopter; peering out from it was an orange fox, bearing some notable scars; this only made the vibrant red apron hanging from his neck even more notable. Wait, I've seen that fox before...!

"Ooh, hello!" exclaimed Mayumi, leaning forward on Armisael's stone throne. "You feel...unusual...yet surprisingly helpful...?"

"Yip!" barked the fox, turning around with intent. His ears flicked excitedly, while he gestured with his head as though encouraging them to follow.

"...let's follow him," said Shinji.

"Are you sure?" asked Kurosawa.

"Yeah. I don't think he means us any harm." Though I don't know if you'd believe me if I said how I knew...

'...how do you know this fox, Ikari-san?'

Shinji resisted the urge to jump. I keep forgetting you can communicate with me telepathically now...

'Sorry!'

...

'...but how do you know him?'

...through Mister P.

'...somehow, I find that completely believable.'

It was strange, hearing quiet hisses punctuated by the occasional rumble: the sign of pitched combat occurring elsewhere within the foggy expanse of Tokyo-2, between Persona-users and the wretched creatures that had descended upon it.

It was bizarre, seeing the silhouettes of dead men and women; intellectually, he knew that the fallen were dead. Yet...bereft of sight, without clarity of vision, it seemed less real. (Even the images of Sho Minazuki's onslaught at the Olympics had elicited a more visceral reaction.)

The Beast leaned in close.

"Oh? Is that all? Perhaps..."

It whispered into his ear.

"...you've merely come to accept the reality...that this world is merely ephemeral...that death is but a mere afterthought..."

Fortunately, the fox moved dexterously, taking them towards what appeared to be...a mere patch of ground, surrounded by the bodies of numerous soldiers and a combat truck of sorts. The canine poked his snout underneath the carriage, barking intently.

"Ikari, please move the truck," ordered Kurosawa.

He did so, switching back to Titan once more; as the hulking Persona quietly moved the vehicle away — setting it atop the smoldering wreck of another vehicle — Kurosawa knelt onto the gross, feeling for something. "Hmm...hmm?" The man's eyes widened. "Ah..." With his free hand, he reached into the soil, grabbing at something; grimacing, he heaved with surprising force, pulling with all his might. Sure enough, the lid of a hidden hatch began to poke out of the soil. "A hand, if you would!" Shinji immediately knelt down, using his legs to provide extra force; scowling, they both managed to swing the lid upward, tearing through the soil; Kurosawa stuck the barrel of his Persona into the gap, using the extra leverage to pry it open. A hole delved underground; a steel ladder was attached to the underside of the rim. "...a secret entrance. Probably something that the base commander constructed for the sake of redundancy...how fortuitous. What I wonder is how that fox knew..." Kurosawa's voice trailed off; he was looking around him with visible confusion. "Where did it go?"

Shinji and Mayumi both looked around with confusion; the mysterious canine had disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared. "Uh..."

(Little did they know: the tiny fox, pleased with his little bit of assistance offered, dashed away into the murk.)

"...we'll talk about it later." Kurosawa shimmied into the opening, using his free hand to descend the latter. "Come on."

Shinji dismissed Titan; looking over at Mayumi, he watched as the black throne and glowing double helix seemed to seamlessly shift and shrink; the girl daintily touched down on the ground as her Persona transformed such that it looked like a halo, with the black throne reduced to a floating orb of dark stone above her head. "...huh. That's pretty neat..."

"It is, isn't it?" acknowledged Mayumi with a brief smile. "After you, Ikari-san."

Ikari followed Kurosawa down; Mayumi brought the lid back down behind them, taking care not to actually close the latch. After several feet, they found themselves standing on the top of a spiraling stairwell, lit by relatively new emergency lighting. Kurosawa took point, leading them several flights down; at the bottom was a single door, which the agent pushed open quietly. The trio emerged into an open hallway that was filled with fog...but it flowed like a river. "A source?" Kurosawa raised his gun-arm, walking bravely into the murk.

Shinji and Mayumi followed, with the former summoning Fuu-Ki. The mythical oni raised his windmill blade; with the grumble of "Garula", the fog within the hallway was spread about by a burst of wind.

Kurosawa's eyes narrowed as his visibility immediately increased. "The MAGI chamber's open." Without hesitation, he dashed forward to the end of the hall.

Shinji and Mayumi took off after him, slamming into the torrent of fog as though it were a cushioned wall...and when breaking through to the other side, they saw it. "What the...?"

A great eye stared down at them: a yellow eye with a green iris and crimson pupil, bordered by orange flesh. A trio of tendrils descended from the creature, connected to the red-and-white MAGI units like parasites. Tellingly, yellow fog was emanating from both the eye and the MAGI. "So this is the cause," growled Kurosawa, raising his Persona's barrel to take aim.

"This sensation..." murmured Mayumi with wide eyes. "This...this is an Angel!"

"Little surprise, that of all the Lilim to reach me, it would be the cohort of Shinji Ikari," rumbled the Angel, its voice sounding akin to a meteor roaring through the sky. "I am Sahaquiel."

Shinji took a step back out of disbelief. An Angel? But...but it's not even a new moon! The sight of that humongous eye...

Another place. Another time. When the fight for his future still seemed hopeful...before the dark days...

Charging up a hill, far larger than any human; why was he so tall? He towered over the forests. Why was he so fast? The landscaped faded away like the wind.

Sliding to a halt, he heard, saw, tasted the atmosphere become oppressive; a great loomed down, intent on crushing him...!

Howling, he unleashed the Light of his Soul.

...it stirred something deep within. (But what?)

"What is the meaning of this fog?!" roared Kurosawa.

The Angel's great eye lazily drifted towards the man. "A mere accident of history, resurrected by the will of a mere thrall: his designs aim to increase the devastation amongst you Lilim, and so I care not for how it manifests. Once this matter is settled, I shall return to him, to witness his malice once more."

"...who is he talking about...?" wondered Mayumi.

"A human, no doubt; a member of Strega...who else would be working for an Angel?" Scowling, Kurosawa prepared to fire-

A new voice sounded from behind them. "I'm afraid I'll have to correct you..." Shinji, Mayumi, and Kurosawa turned around, watching two silhouettes approach from beyond the foggy wall; they quickly solidified into the shapes of a pale shirtless man with stringy hair, and a bespectacled man wearing a green trench coat. "...because we weren't responsible for this little display," finished the shirtless man.

"Takaya Sakaki and Jin Shirato," muttered Shinji with wide eyes.

Kurosawa immediately turned Häyhä towards them. "One-Shot Kill!"

The gargantuan bullet exploded ineffectually against a barrier of concentric orange octagons; Sakaki and Shirato were unharmed. "Idiot," said Jin with a snort. "This isn't just the Metaverse; reality has had cognition pushed on top of it...so of course A.T. Fields will still be in play."

"After all, breaking the 'rules' is not so easily accomplished for most...right, Third Child?" Takaya looked quietly at him, a sly smile on his face.

(What was he referring to?) "Why are you here?" asked Shinji.

"To put an end to this performance, of course. It's been amusing to see the world go on as though this strange fog doesn't exist...but the world must witness the carnage that humanity has visited upon itself. Time cannot be frozen forever."

Kurosawa, keeping both Sahaquiel and Strega in his field of vision, asked, "Who is the one that caused this?"

(Mayumi, unbeknownst to them all, suddenly looked around. "What is that sound...?" she whispered under her breath.)

"Someone that we attempted to recruit into Strega...someone who, alas, has no love for our ideals. Yet if this is how he wants to act, I see no reason to stop him." Takaya looked up at Sahaquiel's eye, a sickly smile crossing his face. "But if you're going to stop Sahaquiel from consummating this city's demise...that just can't be allowed to stand."

(Jin Shirato quietly narrowed his eyes; what was that strange sensation? "Hmm?")

Kurosawa snarled, his normally stoic visage finally showing a semblance of anger. "All this destruction...so much death...so much chaos...and for what?!"

Takaya chuckled, the blue lines on his torso pulsing with corrupted life. "You fear a mere shadow of something real, nothing more-"

"And so another arrives." Sahaquiel's burning voice distracted them all, enlightening them to what Mayumi and Jin had already quietly sensed. "A third party, bearing the fullness of humanity's malice..."

xxxx

On the surface, amidst the dead of Camp Matsumoto...there was the sound of rattling chains.

The click of a handgun's trigger.

"Megidolaon," spoken with a joyous sneer.

Bang.

Then a flash of power and light.

xxxx

The explosives that worried Kurosawa so much were triggered and vaporized; the ray of concentrated force burst through the walls from an upward angle, leading diagonally towards the surface. Though the MAGI chamber rattled and shook, the presence before them seemed to command everything to go still.

The chains were heard first.

(Takaya shot Shirato a look; with a silent nod, the latter summoned Moros, dulling sensations of their presence, aided by the clouds of fog.)

The outline of the bloody trench coat and the long-barrelled revolvers were seen next.

"The Reaper," murmured Kurosawa with a resigned dread.

Into the open, emerged the creature wearing a mask of sackcloth, looking around with a malicious eye; it focused upon the presence of Sahaquiel, who stared back unblinkingly.

xx

The Angel of the Sky glared at the wrathful fiend.

"ARE YOU HERE TO FIGHT, WRETCHED THING?" rumbled the burning sky.

The Reaper sneered.

"The smell of anger...me like...!"

xx

The Reaper's gaze shifted towards Shinji, Mayumi, and Kurosawa.

Impulsively, Shinji summoned Unit-01; as his familiar bodysuit manifested, the presence of his Evangelion overshadowed the form of Hamlet.

xx

The Beast stared at the Reaper, grinning wickedly.

"We meet again!"

The Reaper cackled with glee.

"The scent of hatred...me want you to DIE...!"

xx

With a childish giggle, the Reaper fired a bullet into the air. "Garudyne."

"IKARI-SAN, BARRIER!" screamed Mayumi, impulsively pulling Kurosawa behind Shinji.

Shinji barely willed his Evangelion's A.T. Field into existence before the sheer force of the gust crashed into them, blasting them into the long hallway connected to the MAGI chamber.

"Time to kill!" squealed the Reaper, floating in pursuit.

xx

As the Reaper departed the MAGI chamber, Takaya and Jin emerged into sight. "...well, that's unexpected," grumbled Shirato, nervously adjusting his glasses.

"Let's not turn down serendipity when it happens." Takaya looked up towards Sahaquiel. "If you would allow me the honor of bringing this place to ruin, I would be most grateful."

Sahaquiel's tendrils disconnected from the MAGI. "So long as this place is destroyed, I care not how. Do as you please." With those words, the great eye winked out of existence; though the trio of MAGI stopped emitting fog, the cognitive overlay would still last...for a time.

By the time anyone else would think to interfere, it would be too late. "Let us begin, Jin."

"Of course."

xx

Mayumi's Persona had already resumed its normal form by the time Shinji and Kurosawa got to their feet. "Give me a moment to analyze-!"

"What's there to analyze?" growled Kurosawa, warily raising his gun-arm. "It's the Reaper!"

The Reaper, mused Shinji with a grimace. The last time he had fought it...had been in America, when rescuing Mana Kirishima. That feels...so long ago...

His Other leaned in.

"Can you face it?"

...there's nowhere to run. Fighting was inevitable.

The Reaper, seemingly sensing their resolve, laughed with the sort of derangement belonging to the insane. "Come on, meatbags! Me want you to SCREAM!"

The fight against the Reaper began in earnest.

'Quick, it's about to use an Electric Skill!' mentally exclaimed Mayumi. Nodding, Shinji forced his mental aspects to change; the silhouette of Unit-01 morphed and grew to conform to the greater bulk of Titan.

Bang. "Ziodyne."

The lightning bolt crashed into Titan, dancing over his form; grimacing, the empowered Persona blustered through the storm, resisting the electricity. Raising his sword, overlaid by an A.T. Field, Titan roared "Skull Cracker!" The sword crashed into the Reaper's head.

The blow made no dent whatsoever; the Reaper seemed amused by the attack. "Hee hee!"

'Now it's going for Ice!' Grimacing, Shinji switched again-

Bang. "Bufudyne."

Sprawling pikes of ice surged towards Shinji's Persona, which had once more shifted; as the giant Titan gave way to the humanoid crocodile in Egyptian garb, Sobek nonchalantly charged forward. The living ice bounced off of Sobek's flesh, crashing into the Reaper's torso; the croc-man followed up with Agi, bringing a bolt of fire against the creature's face. Hissing, the Reaper used its right revolver like a bludgeon, knocking Sobek away before firing the left revolver six times in less than three seconds. Bullets crashed into Sobek, bouncing off of his Evangelion's A.T. Field yet still imparting severe force.

At the edge of the battle, Kurosawa's voice could be heard. "Sukunda!"

The Reaper's movements slowed, ever so slightly.

'Psy Skill incoming!' Sobek gave way to Kuchisake-Onna.

Bang. "Psiodyne."

The colorful burst splashed ineffectually against Kuchisake-Onna; grinning wickedly, the feminine wraith hissed "Hell Smile" before unleashing a bass-boosted bellow of darkness.

The Reaper's head was knocked back violently by the terrible blast, but that only seemed to entertain it. "Keep going! Keep FIGHTING!" Laughing, the Reaper held both arms back, holding the revolvers as though they were swords.

'...oh no, Physical Skill incoming-!'

"Vorpal Blade."

Suddenly, Kurosawa(!) was standing in front of his Persona, holding Häyhä across his body like a shield; the myriad lines of the Reaper's slashes sliced against the older man, seemingly to no effect.

Mayumi seemed surprised. 'Wait, your Persona nullifies Physical Skills-?'

"Less marvelling, more predicting!" roared the agent-!

Bang. "Agidyne."

Shinji barely switched Kuchisake-Onna with Orthrus; the titanic burst of fire was absorbed by the two-headed dog, which panted and barked angrily at the Reaper. (He also couldn't help but notice that Unit-01's silhouette melded so closely to the point where its horned helmet covered both of the canine's heads, how did that work-?)

'Almighty attack incoming!'

Bang. Bang. "Megidola!"

Kurosawa leapt to the right, whilst Shinji hopped atop Orthrus and dodged to the left.

This was the pattern: Mayumi would use Armisael to predict the Reaper's next attack; Shinji would then switch to a Persona that nullified or otherwise resisted said Skill (unless it was something that ignored affinities, such as Almighty abilities), tanking the attack so he and Kurosawa could retaliate in the brief window provided; at times, Kurosawa himself would step in, using Häyhä's affinities to reflect Ice Skills or nullify Physical blows; rinse and repeat.

It was strange, to think of how easy it was to predict the Reaper's moves; was it a function of its seemingly infantile demeanor? Why did such a terrifying figure have such a foolish way of speaking?

His Other quietly dusted off a gravestone.

"What use does a monster have for reason? What need for wit, if all it desires is death and havoc?"

The Beast quietly carved new names into the epitaph.

"A simple and pitiable thing...an empty desire to kill and destroy, devoid of meaning...little wonder, that it's so foolish..."

Grinning madly, the Beast turned its eyes on him.

"...you could certainly teach it a lesson as to what it means to destroy with true hatred, couldn't you?"

Perhaps, more than anything else, it was the memory of Minako that made all the difference.

The Reaper possessed great power, to be sure; they were barely keeping ahead of it. Its durability and strength were without question.

But even its presence paled in comparison to the casual supremacy in battle that that Persona-user had displayed, when she had summoned multiple Personas and attacked with such terrifying ease.

(Even monsters had their own hierarchy, it would seem.)

(You would rather face the Reaper a thousand times than go against her ever again.)

And yet, for all they were hitting the Reaper, it just wouldn't go down! "Giant Slice!" roared Hamlet, swinging his sword against the Reaper's torso.

The Reaper's singular eye gleamed wickedly. "Me getting bored. Show something FRESH." Bang, went the right revolver. "Ice Break."

A sound akin to shattering glass sounded around Kurosawa. "Wait-"

Bang. "Bufudyne."

The man barely dodged in time, yet still got spikes of ice grazing his side.

'It's going faster.' Mayumi's mental tone became more frantic. 'Two attacks at once?!'

Bang. Bang. "Freidyne. Garudyne."

Nuclear radiation soared through the hallway, enhanced by slicing wind; Hamlet crossed his arms, even as the sensations of burning and cutting increased. It's getting through my A.T. Field, Shinji couldn't help but think with a grimace. We have to get to the MAGI-!

Bang. Bang. "Life Leech. Spirit Leech."

And just like that, the fight left Shinji entirely. What...? He had fallen to his knees, staring at the floor. "What just...?"

'Ikari-san, get up!'

The Reaper sneered. "Boring. Me kill you now."

xxxx

From high above, a figure entered the yellow fog surrounding Tokyo-2.

Once entering the fog, their senses immediately expanded, realizing the extent of the situation with but a moment's notice.

The presences of the Reaper and Shinji Ikari were unmistakable; likewise the sensation of Angelic taint near the MAGI.

No.

They moved with desperate swiftness.

xxxx

Bang. "One-Shot Kill."

A shadow broke through the roof, tearing through soil and rock and metal; the sound of explosions and a great blast sounded, but it didn't hit Shinji. What's happening...? Raising his head, he wearily realized who his savior was. "Ayanami-san...?"

Lilith, overshadowed by the form of Unit-00, had endured the massive bullet. Rei Ayanami, clad in her white bodysuit, stood behind her empowered Persona. Gazing over her shoulder, the First Child said, "I made it in time."

"Old meat!" yelled the Reaper, raising its revolvers.

Lilith's hands wrapped around the barrel, which she used as leverage to heave, tossing the Reaper over her shoulders and down the hall.

"EEP!" yelped Mayumi, as Armisael impulsively descended to the floor to dodge the Reaper.

As the Reaper casually hovered in place, Lilith's wings shimmered with light. "Mabufudyne...Spirit Drain...Life Drain...!" As a living wall of ice grew between them and the Reaper — forming a barrier several meters thick — its crystalline structure glimmering with draining light.

Kurosawa frowned. "What did you-?"

"A technique formed from simultaneous Skills can be difficult to pull off...but it is doable," said Rei, kneeling down beside Shinji. "Are you hurt?"

"...was drained...of energy..." he muttered.

Mayumi peered at the glowing ice wall, adjusting her monocle. "Ice with a siphoning effect...?"

xx

On the other side of the wall, the Reaper tilted its head.

Bang. "Agidyne."

The fiery burst was drained of energy before it could even explode; the interweaving spikes lost just a hint of their glow, but not a lot.

The Reaper snorted. "...hmm. Boring." With a nonchalant shrug, it flipped its revolvers over, holding them by the barrels so they could smack at the ice with the thick and heavy handles. Though the ice sucked away at its energy, it wasn't enough to annoy or harm it to any significant degree.

Giggling, the Reaper kept whacking away.

xx

Shinji could see the icy blockage vibrate from the blows. "That's...not good..."

"...at the current rate, it'll break through in less than a minute!" exclaimed Mayumi, looking at them fearfully. "How are we going to stop it?"

"...the Reaper is a distraction. The MAGI are more important," said Kurosawa with a sober tone. "We have to stop Strega. We must stop whatever they're doing."

"Yes," agreed Rei as she helped Shinji to his feet. They turned towards the foggy wall serving as the threshold between the hallway and the MAGI chamber; as the trio of teenagers advanced onward, Kurosawa's footsteps became...quiet.

"Ayanami," the man said.

Shinji felt Rei stop and look over her shoulder. "Yes?"

"...keep Ikari alive, at all costs. One-Shot Kill."

The familiar sound of the massive bullet erupted in the hall; it was immediately by the shattering of masonry and the collapse of metal and ductwork.

"Kurosawa-san!" cried Mayumi. Shinji looked back; the ceiling between themselves and Kurosawa had broken and collapsed, blocking the entrance to the MAGI chamber from the rest of the underground facility. "Kurosawa-san!"

"...what...?" Shinji was confused. "What's...?" What is he doing?!

"...we must not allow his sacrifice to be in vain," murmured Rei, her face shifting towards Lilith. "Let's go."

Shinji realized what was happening with dawning horror. "Wait...we can't just leave him-!"

"We have to go," insisted Rei. "He has his duty; we have ours."

Shinji stared with disbelief as Ayanami pulled him along.

The Beast chuckled.

"Another death...purchased by your weakness."

The smell of rotting flesh crept from its gullet.

"How long will you continue to delude yourself?"

xx

Hirofumi Kurosawa stared stoically at the pile of soil, concrete, metal, and shattered lights. "...not exactly how I expected this to end."

Alas, he had resigned himself to the reality of the situation since entering the fog.

(As they approached Camp Matsumoto, and he conversed with Ikari and Yamagishi, he was idly keeping track of this phenomenon's ramifications; once they entered the military base and saw what remained of the soldiers, he revised his casualty estimates upwards.)

The world born of the human mind...to think the Metaverse could be weaponized by the Angels in such a manner. Turning back towards the icy barrier, he watched stoically as the glow within dimmed more and more. The Reaper's blows became louder, more vociferous. Then again, I suppose we are our worst enemy.

It seemed like every choice made over the past month had been fraught with failure: the disastrous operation to claim Ikari aboard the Ai ferry, unknowingly sabotaged though it had been by Minako; his interactions with the boy's peers and his minders, who didn't mesh well with his personality and mannerisms; all of his reports on the Angel battle during the new moon, about the Ferry Incident, his queries about Yui Ikari's disappearance, the abilities showcased by Minako...all for naught.

His Other, stoic as ever, stared at the looming dark...and spoke for the first time in a long while.

"You did your duty as best as you could. Who could ask more of you?"

...I suppose that's fair, he admitted to himself, bracing his back against the debris. Raising Häyhä, he glared at the growing cracks in the ice. The national government...the Emperor, the Prime Minister, the Diet...all of them may be gone. However...the country would survive...and if not the country of Japan, then the Japanese nation itself would. And the best chance of that lay with Shinji Ikari's survival. Why does so much revolve around that boy...? The cracks in the ice kept growing. Well...I suppose I'll never find out.

All he could do now was provide delaying action. Now...I already used Sukunda. The Reaper has no resistances to Gun Skills, so Gun Break is unnecessary. "Charge." As his rifle-arm vibrated, the ice wall visibly wobbled. "Critical Bullet." The tension in the back of his mind continued to increase, even as the last bit of light faded from the chilly barrier. "One last shot...one bullet left..." Time to make it count.

(If nothing else...he hoped the boy would be strong enough to face whatever came next in this escalating war for survival.)

(No more time to worry: focus on your duty. Your last mission, Hirofumi Kurosawa.)

...one last bullet, he repeated, like a mantra.

(His life wasn't even flashing before his eyes. How...painfully like him.)

(Memories of your past will only distract you. Focus!)

The icy wall shattered, and the Reaper raised its revolvers.

Kurosawa was quicker on the draw. "One-Shot Kill." BANG!

Bang bang! "Riot Gun."

The hallway quivered from the dual exchange.

xx

Right as the trio of teenagers crossed the threshold into the MAGI chamber, Takaya Sakaki turned with a smile. "You're too late." The three MAGI units were now surrounded by spheres of orange light, pulsing with streaks of blue mold. Jin was amidst them, accompanied by his Persona, Moros.

Shinji's eyes widened with recognition. "This...this is just like Atlanta..."

"And with what we learned from that little incident, we decided to tweak the detonation," explained Shirato, adjusting his glasses. "This time, it will be forced outward; the cognitive rupture will spread over the entire city. It'll make the explosion in Atlanta look like nothing."

"Why are you doing this?!" wailed Mayumi, clutching the armrests of her Persona's floating throne in a death grip. "What's the point of so much death?!"

"My dear little girl, we're simply helping mankind achieve the demise it desired so long ago," lightly answered Takaya. "Its consummation has simply...taken longer than expected. But every little bit helps."

Lilith tensed, ready to strike; Shirato immediately interrupted by saying, "Touch the spheres and they'll immediately erupt."

"...but I suppose a test of resolve is only fair. How far are you willing to go for such a diseased species?" Takaya lightly traced his pale fingers over the spiritual barrier surrounding a MAGI unit. "Let's give them...sixty seconds. Time enough to run...or time enough to make a futile attempt at stopping the inevitable? It's your choice." Stepping away, the sickly-looking man flashed an amused smile as he placed his hand on Shirato's shoulder. "Let us be off, Jin."

Jin nodded; his Persona beeped and chirped, after which Moros, Jin, and Takaya waved and vanished. Right as they disappeared, the blue veins surrounding the orange spheres began to pulse, bright light coursing through them at a defined pace. At the current rate, it would take less than a minute for the moldy growths to glow to their fullest.

The enormity of what was before them suddenly dawned upon Shinji. "We can't run...the others are still in Tokyo-2!" Kensuke, Suzuhara, Kirishima, Misato, Sakamoto, and Amamiya...and everyone else...!

"If we're quick about it, we could quickly get everyone else...and live to fight another day," murmured Ayanami, staring stoically at the blue veins.

"But isn't there something that can be done?!" yelled Mayumi, looking at them both with desperation. "There's already been...there's already been too many people dying! I don't want to turn my back on people if we have a chance of saving them!"

Shinji, tired and weary as he was from the tussle with the Reaper, couldn't help but appreciate Yamagishi's impassioned plea. Her parents...Ken Amada, Junpei Iori...and now Kurosawa-san...we're the only ones that can make a difference now.

Another place. Another time. Somewhere that seemed closer than it had once been.

"I'll do it! I'll pilot it!"

That strange yet familiar scene was playing within the empty eye socket of a skull, held within his Other's hand.

"You may lack the willingness to destroy, for fear of what you may become...but are you willing to let yourself be destroyed so that others may live?"

...we have to try. "Ayanami-san...if we can't stop the explosion, can we at least contain it?"

His question elicited a thoughtful hum from the First Child. "...not completely. But redirecting it is possible." Looking at the MAGI units, she added, "We have less than thirty seconds. Arrange your Persona and your Evangelion opposite each other."

Shinji did so; in a matter of seconds, the specter of Shogoki faced Hamlet across the way. Adjacent to them, Lilith stood near Shogoki, whilst Zerogoki stood near Hamlet. Shinji was directed to the point between the two Evangelions, whilst Ayanami stood at the vertex between their Personas. The two trios, combined, the shape of a hexagon. "Will your mind and spirit to contain the surge of thoughts...and force them upward," instructed Ayanami. "Yamagishi-san." When the bespectacled girl blinked, the First Child continued, "if you sense any random bursts or changes in the cognitive storm, tell us immediately."

"...oh." Nodding with determination, Mayumi summoned a book from Armisael, opening its pages. 'Right! I'll do my best!'

The blue veins were now glowing in their entirety; a familiar vacuum suction began, forcing Shinji to root his feet down. "It's happening!"

The mold of Bardiel constricted; its power was unleashed, forcing the trio of MAGI units to collapse upon themselves, narrowing down into points of light.

Then came the deluge.

There was no time for thinking. There was no time to react. There was only the agonizing sensation of wild cognition, burning like a river of fire; he was barely cognizant of his own screams, even as he held out his hands in a sympathetic action that enforced his own will.

The wave spawned by the MAGI's death throes crashed into a figurative wall, forged from the azure fires of Shinji and Ayanami's Personas, reinforced by the A.T. Fields of their Evangelions, and directed by the entirety of their will. All the while, Yamagishi's thoughts — more impressions than commands, really — guided them through the tumult, helping them reinforce weak points on the fly.

Bereft of its desired destination, the power followed the path of least resistance: straight upward. It tore through the ceiling of the MAGI chamber, piercing the foggy murk high above.

(The prismatic column of chaotic light was witnessed by all within Tokyo-2; bereft of the power that had spawned it, the unnatural fog and the Remnants born because of its influence were drawn in by the overwhelming force of the dying MAGI.)

Shinji didn't know how long he screamed for.

All he knew was that, eventually...the overwhelming sensations ceased to be.

When he opened his eyes, he impulsively looked at his hands, which felt raw to the touch. Looking about, all remnants of the fog were gone; they were standing amidst a ruined facility, with the only light coming from the sun, and the blue sky above. Only their Evangelions remained, as Hamlet and Lilith were gone. "We're...back in the real world..." he whispered (and ow ow ow his throat hurt so much!).

"We...did we do it...?" murmured Mayumi, stumbling towards him; he could barely make out red color in her eyes, the sign of a blood vessel or two having burst. "Did...did we save anyone...?"

"...I don't-" And then no more words came, as Unit-01 also faded away.

xx

Rei had already shifted into position to catch both Shinji Ikari and Mayumi Yamagishi before they fell unconscious. With Shinji resting in her left arm and Yamagishi in her right, she felt like a mother carrying two exhausted children...which was an accurate analogy in more ways than one. "...you fools," she fondly (yet sadly) said, kneeling down so as to gently let them lie. "And yet...who am I to interfere with the choices you wish to make...?" Staring solemnly at her Evangelion, Ayanami could only wonder at the full extent of what had happened in the capital. As Unit-00 vanished and her bodysuit gave way to her usual school uniform, she reached for the phone in her skirt pocket. "Now we must pick up the pieces..."

xxxx

With the fog finally gone...everyone began to take stock of the situation.

xxxx

The Reaper paused, looking confusedly about themselves; the yellow fog had faded entirely, giving way to the sepia filter that overlaid everything else, with the occasional flicker of black lines wriggling through the air.

The cognitive world and the physical world had once more become separate.

As such, the Reaper found itself alone in an empty hallway.

"...no fun."

xxxx

Hirofumi Kurosawa blinked confusedly; the seemingly omnipresent fog had finally faded away...and with it, the Reaper. "...did they do it...?" he wondered aloud, curious as to if the kids had stopped the crisis at its source.

He made a move to get off the debris pile, but found himself too exhausted to do so.

It probably had something to do with how his right arm was a shattered and bloody mess, or how his torso was perforated by various bullets. "...ah..." It was getting harder to talk. He should have been in agony, but was too numb to feel it.

Was this how it would end...?

As Ryuji Sakamoto tried to deal with newly born grief over the deaths of Ken Amada and Junpei Iori, Kurosawa found it in himself to offer condolences of a sort. That the sentiment was true made it doubly important. "Amada and Iori...they died in the line of duty. There's nothing shameful about it."

...well, there were worse ways to go. I...I did my duty.

With that thought, Kurosawa leaned back, closed his eyes, and breathed his last.

xxxx

Right after the fog had receded, Sae Niijima had pulled her phone out of her purse, dialing a particular number. Pick up...pick up...

"Sis?"

For the first time since the 19th, Sae allowed herself to relax. "It's...good to hear you, Makoto."

"What's wrong? You sound...worried."

"...have you been watching anything about Tokyo-2?"

"The capital?" she responded with a confused tone. "Only that the weather's been weird, but I haven't had much occasion to think about it."

"You might want to change that. Something...terrible has happened."

xxxx

Ren Amamiya eventually made his way back to the HiAce...but it had taken a while.

(When the fog had cleared, the bodies of countless civilians were finally visible; Murai Station was a scene of hapless wreckage, where other trains on the Shinonoi and Chuo Lines had crashed into each other. With their cognitions muted by the fog, how many had just plowed into the yellow murk, unthinking of the possibility that the rail lines were already occupied? Trains had crashed into other, derailing many times over; on top of those who had fallen prey to the shadowy beasts in the fog, the casualties around Murai Station had been in the hundreds...easily. Perhaps more.)

It was strange to consider, but he didn't have much experience with mass casualty events. Even the bloodiest memory he had — of monstrous bones rising above Tokyo, as the skies rained blood — didn't quite compare, because there was something downright mundane about the carnage. Without the presence of the Metaverse and the monsters spawned by the fog, the sight of so many dead people was...numbing.

By the time he got back to the van, sitting serenely in a convenience store's parking lot, numerous individuals were beginning to pour into the city; now that the dulling effect of the fog was gone, people were finally realizing that something foul was afoot in Japan's capital city. Emergency services from the surrounding city were beginning to stream towards Tokyo-2. Comfortable with the knowledge that everyone would eventually rendezvous, Ren pulled out his phone.

Ace up the sleeve: fog's gone

The responses were fairly immediate.

Mr. Bowl Cut: I noticed. The national news has finally realized something is amiss with Tokyo-2.
Mr. Bowl Cut: our roommate's napping
Mr. Bowl Cut: Can you give me a sitrep?
Ace up the sleeve: I managed to save an old friend from a time long past. Also ran into a bear in a clown suit. Sound familiar?

The fact Narukami didn't respond immediately was telling.

Mr. Bowl Cut: Did he say anything?
Ace up the sleeve: lots of bear puns, for one thing
Mr. Bowl Cut: ...nice.

Ren rolled his eyes.

Ace up the sleeve: I'll be keeping in touch if anything else happens.
Mr. Bowl Cut: Understood. We'll debrief later.
Ace up the sleeve: what are u, a general? -.-
Mr. Bowl Cut: I think I may have been, once. I forget what my highest rank was.
Ace up the sleeve: ...right

Sighing, Ren hopped into the driver's seat and simply leaned back in his chair. What else is going to happen...?

xxxx

Misato Katsuragi moved along the city streets with a grimace, following the signs back towards Minami-Matsumoto Station. Damn Minazuki, separating me from Mana...I hope she's okay.

She studiously ignored corpses as much as possible; the damned fog had concealed so many bodies that it was honestly kind of ridiculous. Then again, the capital had over half a million people in it; Matsumoto's population had more than doubled in the years since Second Impact, what with it becoming the new capital city following Old Tokyo's destruction. And most of them would have been helpless against those monsters, she realized with a grim epiphany. The whole situation was reminding her of the carnage in Tokyo-1 during Second Impact. Focus, Misato; you have a girl you need to find.

Finally, she made her way back to the rail yard, which looked much worse in the harsh light of the August sun; squeezing through gaps in the cars, she finally saw her ward on the ground, weapons lying besides her. "Mana-chan!" The girl was kneeling, bent over with arms curled over her head...and she was sobbing...? "What's wrong?!" she demanded, rushing over towards her side. "Mana-chan?!"

The girl said nothing in response; she simply reached up with a queer sort of helplessness, burying her face into Misato's abdomen. Her weeping continued unabated.

Misato was utterly flummoxed; all she could do was gently hug the girl, and wonder. What the hell happened...?

xxxx

Kensuke Aida and Toji Suzuhara nearly ran into each other within Matsumoto Castle. "Oh sweet, you got out too," muttered Toji.

"Why wouldn't I?" asked Kensuke. "We were both in the real world upon entering the fog, so why wouldn't we return once it faded?"

"I dunno, the A.T. Agent I was fighting beside just up and vanished with the fog!"

"He probably was originally in the Metaverse, so he must have remained there...kind of a way of preserving the initial ontological starting point once the fog's interference ceased-"

"I don't know what any of that means," groused Toji. "I mean, this castle's already smaller than it was in the Metaverse. What if I had spawned back inside a wall?"

Kensuke waved him off. "Eh, you'd be fine. Unless there was a trick wall that opened into a secret space, the local cognition wouldn't allow for empty spaces to overlap with physical barriers in reality...I think."

"Oh, you think?!"

"Hey, instead of complaining at me, maybe we should go find Mishima-san? We got split up when trying to pacify a wild Shadow."

"Tch. Fine."

The two boys moved past beams of old yet finely polished wood, ascending the stairs to the main floor; they barely had a chance to look out open windows before Ryuji Sakamoto entered through the primary doorway, hobbling on his cane. Tired eyes looked in their direction, widening with visible relief. "Good...you kids okay?"

"We're fine, sensei," said Toji, giving him a once over. "What happened?"

"There was a big flash of light; it sucked up the fog and all the Remnants, and then I was back in the real world, along with a bunch of the other defenders. Figure the others who were still standing got left behind in the Metaverse when reality split back apart again." There was a complicated expression on his face. "Though, with the fog gone...it ain't pretty out there."

Kensuke and Toji looked confused. "Really?" wondered the former, walking around Sakamoto to head for the door-

"Don't," snapped Sakamoto. "You don't need to see it."

"But-"

"Do I have to make it an order?" he growled with a strange intensity. "Let it lie."

Kensuke boggled, impulsively looking for the windows; however, this forced him to look around the main floor, where several wounded Agents were treating their own wounds. A few were out cold entirely, exhausted from the battle they had endured in the fog...at least, he hoped they were just unconscious. Before his thoughts could spiral any further (what was outside? What had happened? Was it that gruesome...?), a sure hand clapped onto his shoulder. "Toji...?"

"If Sakamoto-sensei says we don't need to see it, then we don't need to see it," grimly said Toji, his expression taking on a fatalistic shape. "Maybe we should just...cool our jets."

"...I guess that's all we can do for now," muttered Kensuke.

xx

Ryuji was glad that Suzuhara-kun had talked some sense into Aida. The kids had dealt with enough death as of late without seeing...outside. For the streets to have that many bodies...the fog must have manifested incredibly rapidly after Adachi beat Morooka. Just thinking about the Smiling Traitor made him want to hit something, anything!

That's when his phone rang; picking it up, Ryuji recognized the caller ID. "Hello Iwai."

"Sakamoto. I tried calling both the Commissioner and the Superintendent of Chūbu, and got nothing. With that little light show I just saw, I figured you and your band of troublemakers were around."

"That'd be accurate." A 'light show'...so he saw the pillar. "How'd you know to come to Tokyo-2?"

"Got a little tip. Thought the oddities smelled funny, so I redirected a crapload of Agents to Nagano Prefecture. Then once that strange fog disappeared, the sight of the city was enough for us to kick it into high gear. How's the CPC?"

"Still standing," he murmured, gazing down a hallway; Yuuki Mishima approached with trepidation, eyes widening with relief at the sight of him. "Iwai...it's bad. Real bad."

"How bad?"

"Does the term Siberian Sunset mean anything to you?"

"No."

"Then you'll probably find out by tonight...but Morooka's dead." Iwai cursed. "It gets 'better.' You're not gonna believe who offed him..."

xxxx

/Room 4, 3rd Floor, Vulcanus Dorms, Hakone Academy/

Day had given way to the evening, and Minato was finally beginning to stir from his extended nap.

"In other news, more details are coming out of Tokyo-2 after the Fog of Desolation faded from sight earlier today. Initial casualty estimates from first responders indicate that over four hundred and fifty thousand civilians lost their lives because of the cognitive anomaly-"

Click.

"-the Japanese government has effectively ceased to be, with both the head of state and head of government passing away as a result of this incident, along with all members of the Cabinet, the National Diet, and the Supreme Court-"

Click.

"Tragically, the Imperial Family in its entirety was present in Tokyo-2 when the Fog of Desolation struck, having been recalled by the Emperor following the Annihilation of Korea during the last new moon. With this, the Heisei Era, along with the world's oldest hereditary monarchy, has come to a sorrowful end-"

Click.

"-to alleviate the unprecedented havoc that has ensued as a result of the loss of the national government, the forty-seven prefectural governors have declared a constitutional crisis, announcing a preliminary plan to temporarily reorganize the country into a confederation, with each Prefecture being a sovereign entity in its own right. The surviving command staff of the JSSDF have promised a guarantee of mutual security for all Prefectures, requesting that the governors nominate a representative to serve as a de facto and de jure President. Critics are already calling this 'Council of 47' a return to the feudal domains that existed prior to the Meiji Era, but others are saying that circumstances demand social stability and societal continuity first and foremost-"

Click.

All this clicking is getting annoying, mused Minato as he slowly opened his eyes. Sure enough, Yu Narukami was practically glued to both the television and his phone. "Anything new?"

"The fog's gone. Everything else feels like it's going to hell," bluntly said Yu.

"...so, situation normal?"

Yu changed the channel once more.

"-Acting Commissioner Munehisa Iwai, based on testimony from the late Morooka's personal secretary, claimed that the instigator for the Fog of Desolation was an escaped prisoner by the name of Tohru Adachi. Infamously known as the Smiling Traitor, Adachi allegedly was broken out of a top secret Metaverse prison by Strega. If this is true, then this represents yet another escalation in our war against the Angels and their allies-"

Minato winced. "Ah."

"Yeah," murmured Yu with a furrowed brow.

"...so Minazuki and Adachi makes two. With Takaya and Jin, that means we're both two-for-two on the bad guy count."

"...admittedly so."

"Does it make you feel better?"

"Not really."

Minato shrugged. "Eh, I tried."

Yu simply changed the channel once more.

"-initial murmurs from our reporters at the UN indicate the Security Council will allow private companies and individuals to send humanitarian aid if they so wish. However, given Strega's concentration on Japan, it is rumored that they will not allow for any official government aid, lest the current détente between Strega and the rest of the world be broken-"

"Cowards," bitterly said Yu.

"They're just trying to survive as best as they know how," assuaged Minato. "And let's be honest: no other country can stop them. It's up to us."

"...I know. Doesn't mean I have to like it." Click.

"We've just received word that after two rounds of voting, the Council of 47 have elected the Governor of Kyoto, Masayoshi Shido, to be the nominative President of the new prefectural confederation. Governor Shido's office has announced that they will release a new constitution to codify the responsibilities, rights, privileges, and duties of the new government, to be voted on by all of the nation's municipalities..."

"...huh. Wonder how Amamiya's rival feels," wondered Yu.

Minato rolled his eyes. "You know he hates being called Amamiya's rival."

"Don't care, because that's what he is."

xxxx

Meanwhile, at a tiny little apartment elsewhere within Tokyo-3, a glass cup shattered against the television screen. Even though the image was marred, Shido's face on the newscast was still visible.

Goro Akechi snarled at the very sight of him.

For once, the quiet stranger said nothing.

"...there's just no escaping him, is there?" he growled (out of anger; definitely not out of desperation or despair. Definitely not.).

xxxx

Meanwhile, at a ramen restaurant in Takahama, situated on the northern shores of Fukui Prefecture — due north of both Kyoto and Osaka — Tohru Adachi was watching the wall-mounted television in silence, slurping noisily at his noodles. The news that Governor Shido of Kyoto was going to become the nation's de facto President was still making the rounds. "Hoo boy, ain't that a hoot? Wonder if baldy's gonna call himself the Shogun...eh, not my business anyhow."

The Angel of the Sky burned within the back of his mind.

"YOUR MOTIVES ARE BEFUDDLING," roared the sky.

The great eye peered curiously into his soul.

"WHAT DRIVES YOU TO SUCH LENGTHS?"

Why would I need a reason? It's not like any of this matters. He took another sip from his bottle of beer, downing the rest of it one gulp. "Eh, nothing like a drink after a hard day's work..." Looking over at the bartender — whose eyes seemed to widen with dawning recognition, because Adachi's face had been on TV that day — he jovially remarked, "Hey now, I'm not gonna 'cause any trouble. Just gimme another beer and we'll be just fine." It was the quickest bottle of beer he had ever gotten. "Man, the service here isn't a joke..."

Two bowls of ramen and a few more beers later, and Adachi left; he was long gone by the time the local police arrived to investigate.

Thus did the chapter close on one of the most momentous days in the history of Japan.

xxxx

END OF 8/21/2015

xxxx

Author's Note: Well then. Let's recap:

- Through some quick thinking by Yu, reinforcements were sent to Tokyo-2 thanks to Mister P's animal pals and Akechi.
- Joker saved his old Judgement Confidant...with help from some cognitive trickery and a certain pun-loving bear.
- As far as pure Persona/cognitive combat goes, Misato and Sho were actually fighting evenly...
- ...too bad the same couldn't be said for Mana with her brothers. (She needs a hug.)
- An encounter with the Angel of the Sky and Strega is interrupted by the Reaper.
- RIP Kurosawa. You were a stoic and stubborn son of a gun...but you did your duty.
- Through the combined efforts of Shinji, Rei, and Mayumi, a repeat of what happened to Atlanta in July was avoided.
- However, the same couldn't be said for the vast majority of Tokyo-3...including the Imperial Family and practically the entire national government of Japan. Thanks a lot, Adachi.
- oh hey there's Shido doing Shido things