Disclaimer: Fate and Persona are owned by different companies, and I hold no ownership and all that jazz.
8/10
The door slammed behind them, and an ear-piercing wail echoed from the entrance of the Palace. Full of sorrow and longing, she felt a twinge of fear.
"What was that!?" Haru was shaken. A glance at the Ofuda on her jacket showed slight damage. Worrying, she hoped it was strong enough to get through this. Whatever that is.
"That was not the Reaper." Makoto was mumbling, a pensive look on the older girl's face.
"I've never felt anything like that…" Hakuno and the group had never seen the Reaper, the only one who had was Morgana, the not-a-cat who had dived many times in Mementos before he joined the Thieves, he mentioned how the Reaper would cling its chains before arriving at any one spot, anytime they have heard its chains they quickly fled to whatever stairway was closest.
But.
This was not the time for their temporary leader to forget herself. Makoto was their …leader when Akira was away, she has to remember that.
"Queen we are awaiting your orders." Her statement caused the crimson-eyed girl to snap to attention. Taking only a moment to focus she nodded.
"Right." Another roar, oh so fami-, "Magus stay right next to Haru in the middle, Mona cover us from behind, and I'll push on. Mona, can you point us toward the main group?"
"Yes Queen!"
Haru was terrified. The guttural roar from the monster outside was horrifying, but these creatures? Seeing them up close was completely different than the Monamobile!
"Avenger Block!" A man in a black cloak appeared before her blasting aside a wave of ice with black flames. Haru felt useless, this was her fault she dragged them into this!
"Freila!" A flash of blue light as the scantily clad demoness turned to smoke. Mako-chan's fist pierced through a smaller red phallic demon. "Mona behind!"
"You got it!" Her hair fluttered as Mona-chan's scimitar spun straight into another demon…
She felt like luggage, why was the world making it so hard to get away from that p̴̺̽͐́̓ė̶͚̜̪̀â̶͇̬̭̌͌̚r̶͍͍͕̿s̴̙͙̳̫͊͌o̸̗̔̍̀̕͜͝n̷̥͇̘̜̏͒. Something in the recesses of her mind tugged, and her eyes grew wide as Avenger's laughter sent chills down her spine as the final demon fled in fear.
"That… should buy us a few minutes… Oracle, do you read us?" Makoto was using one of those gadgets spies use! She seemed frustrated, though, "Magus, any chance that a Shadow could interfere with the communicator?"
Hakuno shrugged slightly, "Possible, not sure." Hakuno always had intense eyes. Ever since crossing into 'The Metaverse' her eyes bore a look she had rarely seen before on the brunette.
Exhaustion.
Perhaps not Exhaustion but something close… she wasn't too sure but she did see that in her eyes. Something about it sent off warning bells in her mind, and she felt it might not be due to how skeevy this place was.
A brothel surely did represent that man's heart. Oh, how she wished she had their powers, she would have stolen this distortion as soon as she found his existence… Her head ached at that thought as Mona handed her a thermos.
"Some Coffee for the Madam?" Where did he store it? Did they all drink coffee? She saw Hakuno and Makoto drinking some as well…
"Sure…" Taking a sip, it was refreshing, and invigorating in a way that was new for Coffee, perhaps it has something to do with this place? She felt the slight amount of fog in her mind clear up. The vileness of this place seemed to even ease up somewhat.
"Joker's coffee is the best…" Ah, Makoto surely did like Akira, didn't she? That calm collected expression showed the love she had… although the brunette didn't seem to fully realize it.
It was certainly better than the typical coffee she had enjoyed, her father may have purchased the 'best' coffee, but the care of brewing it was nowhere near this.
"H̴͈̼͊͗o̸͚̕ẇ̴̝͜ ̷̛͓̕ē̸̩̳ň̷͍̉ṽ̴͓̰͝i̵͕͌̈͜ò̸̼u̴̻̠͆̐s̶̀ͅ." She heard something murmur behind her. She flinched, as she turned around expecting to see some twisted Shadow… but instead, there was nothing but a solid wall of wood entwined with ruby-like veins.
"You ok, Haru?" Hakuno's question stumped her. Did they not hear? She did feel a twinge of warmth on her chest, but that wasn't too strange was it? Hakuno came closer and inspected her chest which caused her cheeks to redden slightly.
"More damage… strange."
His mace came down with a bolt of lightning, he clicked his tongue as the lightning did nothing, his mace barely made the Shadow flinch its rubbery body blunting his attack.
The room was a disaster, seems that these smaller Palace things were a lot flimsier than actual Palace stuff, the bed was destroyed and cracks were spreading from where the Shadow stood as it tossed him back.
"Skull it blocks both Elec and Resists Physical! Switch with Inari!" He preferred it when the Gremlin gave him notice beforehand but they hadn't seen this type of Shadow before, he nodded, his breath hitched slightly as he pushed off with his left leg to dodge a wave of purple energy.
"Got it!" His bro came in and with another new-lookin' Persona dived in to blast it with a bright light giving him a chance to dash past Yusuke as they changed places.
"I'll cut you down!" Fox must've heard too 'cause his blade came swerving towards the dick monster, he could feel the cold air coming off of his sword.
"Why won't you stay still!" Fireball after Fireball came from the blonde in red, the snake gal threw ice just as fast countering each ball, the snake was also throwing out nuclear magic that Ann was just choosin' to dodge the three were moving around a lot…
Huh, did the room get bigger? 'Cause he didn't think there was this much space in the room when they got in here… His gift from Hakuno kicked in as he felt warmth spread along his leg, the ease of movement reminded him of
"Assult Drive!" Seiten Taisei's staff smashed into the very nude lady's snake as it began to throw out another blast of nuclear, the snake was startled as it was hit, causin' its mouth to shut.
While he admits he ain't too smart, firing explosions out of your mouth is insane, even if he could he ain't crazy enough to do somethin' like that in a fight. The magic exploded inside its mouth heavily wounding the snake as its jaw hung loosely, black tar gushing out of the wound.
"Good going Skull!" Ann cracked her whip as Hecate erupted into blinding flames, "Ag-" A heartbroken roar came from somewhere causing everyone to freeze.
"W̶͚̍ḩ̸̠̹̿ä̸͚͔͘t̸̯̄̒͠!̸̠͇͐̌?̴̹̀ͅ"
What the hell was going on out there!?
"Maegia" Cursed flames covered the Incubus, she felt a twinge of disgust as it faded into more black particles. They should be close, the previous group hadn't been in there too long before the line was cut.
Admittedly they had to take a few more breaks, just to make sure that Haru wasn't overextending herself, the mini Palace was seemingly harsher on her stamina being a regular human. That and she didn't have the boost of being a 'Phantom Thief'. The stronger the people thought of them, the stronger they became. At least that's how she believes it works.
The miniature palace did seem to distort the space around it, slowly growing bigger and bigger if the wood beneath her feet hadn't changed texture she wouldn't have caught it. She could still hear the… monster outside screaming its sorrow as it tore into another Shadow…
It was getting closer though, something from deep within Mementos, not the Reaper or Jose, somethi-
"Block" Avenger's claws grabbed onto the ice that screamed towards Haru and shattered it as the Succubus shrugged her shoulders before Makoto's fist went through her chest.
"I think they are above us, I think I can smell them." Morgana muttered, "That thing outside is too loud so I can't rely on the wind..." That… makes a striking amount of sense, Hakuno always had a slight confusion on how Morgana could navigate, but if he could hear through his wind then it makes sense. He scrunched up his nose as he focused on his job.
Hakuno shook her head slightly, they have to focus on getting Haru out of here safely away from that thing. A glance towards the fluffy-haired heiress showed that she had a strange calm look on her face as she took only momentary glances at the…
Provocative paintings that littered the walls.
"This way!" Morgana had picked up their scent or found something, Hakuno nodded, her hand gripping her staff, and she stood up. A quick check on her Od let her nod as she finished her coffee.
After a quick walk down an empty hallway… "Isn't this a dead end?" Makoto mumbled.
Did they take a wrong turn?
"Wait." Haru spoke up, her eyes twinkled slightly, "Umm? Does that board look different?" Hakuno glanced at the board she had pointed at… nothing seemed different to her eyes.
"The texture looks off…" Haru mumbled as Morgana shrugged before shooting the board with his slingshot.
Crack
The board pushed in, she faintly heard the shifting of gears as the wall slid into the floor. Is it starting to develop puzzles? Hopefully, there won't be too many more…
"Good Eye!" Morgana's bobblehead nodded, and Haru's face brightened slightly at the praise.
Futaba's lights scanned the monster, her database of Shadows didn't show anything similar to it, adding the fact it was tearing through each Shadow it came across was terrifying.
The only perk was it seemingly had no ranged attacks, she had Necromonicon focus solely on analyzing the red and black beast. While she focused on the boss fight that was going on.
She chose not to focus on the fact that they had lost communication with Hakuno's group.
They will be fine, worst comes to it She has her Command Seals… If they are anything like what she performed in my Palace…
She focused back on the fight, pulling up status screens for each of the Phantom Thieves in their current party, Akira's vast Persona catalog was on full display as he blocked the Penis monster as it fired Light, Electric, Darkness, and Psionic magic while having a strong physical attack and decent agility.
Its speed was completely outpaced by Inari and Akira working together though.
Yusuke's speed was his strongest point, it even exceeded Akira's, his blade practically danced as it left shallow cuts on its rubbery hide and parried any of its staff strikes that got close to hitting them giving time for Akira to blast it with Elemental Magic.
"Here you go! Power up!"
"Thanks, Oracle!"
"Morgan! Blade of Gold!" The winged goddess descended onto the fleshy dick monster her blade twinkling with stars as it made contact the Palace Ruler was sent slamming into the wall.
"Almighty Magic? Took you long enough to bring out the big guns." She could see the smirk on his face.
"How are we fairing Oracle?"
Status screens appeared in her vision, "Doing good, Necro's almost done analyzing the Mouth outside, lost contact with Queen's group but I'm not picking up any large ripples of Persona usage or Shadows other than outside." While an intruding Shadow was new a Mini-Palace as a concept was as well things gotta be different right?
Admittedly, according to her scans, the Boss should be close to being down. Skull and Panther have Lilith on its last legs and that final hit did a large chunk to the Dick Monster. Glancing at the scanning of the outside Shadow caused Futaba to pause.
Huh.
Necro's never shown that symbol before.
The club lurched, and the ground began to splinter as she felt the world shift.
I was able to help them!
It wasn't too much, she had seen many types of wood typically used in buildings while staring at her feet during her Father's parties. She spent more time pretending to be busy than her suitors did attempting to get to know her!
The sorrow-filled roar echoed from outside once more, a lot closer. "Come on, at least with everyone we should be able to handle whatever's outside."
Haru nodded, as they slowly ascended the stairs Morgana's cute ears twitching at every creak of a board, every gut-wrenching cry.
…
The closer and closer they got to the 'rest of the team' they could hear faint evidence of a fight, the other mon-Shadows had decreased drastically, and only a few of them bothered to engage with their group, Hakuno's Persona(that she hasn't explained how it is different) had only needed a smile to send one running away.
The fewer encounters gave her time to think.
Was this path the correct one? Was it right that she convinced them to go after Sugimura? She hopes/knows that her father can change if given the chance, she fully believes that. Once Sugimura's crimes get proven in the light he will cut off the engagement and listen to her and the board.
But why does it feel like she made a mistake? Her hand brushed against the wooden walls, and she flinched from the touch warm, as if alive. Their brief description of what a Palace was closer to exploring their soul than a living breathing thing.
In a realm that she doesn't know at all, surrounded by her friends(?) that she more or less blackmailed into assisting her… If only her computer would boot up correctly. She had even used her favorite pair of boots! She sighed, she will have to make it up to them…
But from everything she knows about Sugimura, he needs to have his heart stolen a confession to the crimes he has committed. A f̶̥͝i̷͍̿e̷̘͛n̷̘̆d̵̹̏ such as himself needs to be brought to justice…
"N̴͔̆ō̷̦ḃ̸̡l̶̨̐e̵͈͂,̶̛͙ ̵͉̉b̸͓͛ǔ̴̻t̶͖̔ ̴̢͒i̶̺͝s̶̬̔ ̴̄͜t̸̛̫ẖ̴̚a̴̱̒t̷͍͂ ̵͓̔t̸̯̓r̵̹̎u̷̙̽l̶̪̾ȳ̵̞ ̶̪̔ẅ̶͓́ḧ̵͔a̵̯̓t̵͈͋ ̴̬́y̷͕͐ö̶̹́ǘ̷̟ ̷͈͛w̶̛̥ĩ̷̜s̸̳͊ḣ̷̺ ̸͖̄f̴̧́o̸̮̔r̶̢͒?̷̗́"
The club lurched as the wood beneath their feet screamed her eyes went wide and the floor gave way.
"Haru!"
Akira grunted, moving the piece of rubble off his body, seeing the red-tipped tail of Sugimura's Shadow gave him room to sigh. "Oracle? What happened?"
"Ow… give me a sec…" Necronomicon flickered into sight, the UFO's green lights bathed over him "Our… guest seems to have attacked the Palace itself." Attack the Palace? He had tried that once, inside Kamoshida's Palace to cut a wall and his blade had broken. How strong was this thing?
"I have eyes on Sugimura's Shadow," He rolled his shoulders dusting off his coat, "Where's Fox?"
"I am here," Yusuke was helping Ann and Ryuji out of the debris, "My sight let me witness the split second before the floor had fallen although I do admit I was not expecting the first floor of the palace to be destroyed."
"Yeah… Wait… Guys! Get to Magus and them quickly! The intruding Shadow is attacking them!" Hearing that his heart sank.
The wood gave way, and Avenger responded to her call, she fed the Count of Monte Cristo a large chunk of her remaining reserves as a brief flicker of life came out, his cursed flames slashed through the rubble as flames trailed behind him aiming for Haru.
Morgana had him beat, the small not-a-cat's wind cushioned their fall as Avenger's flames pushed back the growling red and black beast.
Its singular large wing snuffed out the cursed flames. Horrendous black corruption was etched onto the being, where once was a sort of normal face was a chelicera fused onto.
Overly large muscles, red spikes jutting out of its knees and wrists most damaged beyond repair as black static covered numerous wounds that it was ignoring and not healing. Eyes so full of confusion and despair.
Hakuno had known this beast before, her Saber had clashed with it as they were forced to flee. An immortal monster that can heal from even a curse that stopped any and all healing. A dozen thoughts quickly flashed through her mind, but only one word came from her mouth.
"Jabberwocky?"
Author's Note: Been a while huh? I'll admit im sort of back, lost job and finding new work in my area is hell ill tell yall. Anyways, an old friend returns! Well sort of! The invincible Jabberwocky, with no vorpal blade in sight and infected by something strange! How will our goofballs get through it this time? Updates will be whenever I can finish one. See ya'll next time!