These days, the dome beneath Nahul is a myth that many of its inhabitants believe never existed. There is a dilapidated lot in the city's slums where I believe the dome once stood, and it is one of the most miserable places to live that I have ever laid eyes on.
It is also the natural environment for something called meat trees. To answer your question they taste terrible, even if the locals insist that they're good for you.
At the centre of this settlement is a small tower, beneath which is a passage leading even deeper below the city. I explored this place myself as I researched the Exile, and found that it led to what I initially interpreted as an arena.
Turns out it was actually an elevator: it was one-way, and that way was down.
Way down.
Huan Strongarm: A Bartfort Folktale, by Lufas Maphaahl
The wolfdog and the knight stepped slowly through the shimmering wall of fog, depositing them on the lowest level of the tower.
It turned out to be the only level, as the entire tower was hollow; the inner walls were covered in a thin wire mesh, which extended up to a ceiling rendered invisible by the darkness. The only light came from Sir Onemore's sword, which illuminated a circular room that reminded Leon of an arena.
In other words, a boss room.
In the centre of the room was a bizarre statue, resembling a puppet monster from Lies of P. It had a chromed blue torso with white limbs, connected by balled joints. While it had functioning hands, its legs ended in useless nubs; they reminded Leon of the Shura Elder's Armour. It had a speaker on its chest, a large harp on its back and a red scarf around its neck, partially concealing its dark face. Its hair was bone white, and its eyes gleamed red.
"Huh," muttered Leon. "It looks just like Orpheus from Persona 3."
"Is it dangerous?"
"Not usually. Keep an eye on it to be sure."
Countless bodies littered the floor. Many were skeletons, and the few with flesh were mummified by age. Leon gave them a curious sniff, remembering Kwanchi's words that many Kombatants had entered the tower.
He found a small metal mask with a red robotic eye still attached, four different hook swords, a suit of red armour, a cybernetic heart, an elegant pair of daggers and a heavily rusted machete. "Find anything?"
"Maybe." Leon wagged his tail anxiously. "Either the Red Dragon organisation was a lot friendlier with the Black Dragon in this universe or they never split to begin with; either way, at least seven of these people were in the same group. They all died."
Moz used his glowing sword to scan the dark corners of the room. "From what?"
Itadori chose this moment to come crashing through the Fog Wall, scaring the life out of them as they both screamed in fright. "Sorry," he blurted. "I just… Your egg hatched!"
They finally noticed the bizarre quadruped, who was snuffling curiously at the ground. "Is that a Type: Null?" Leon blinked. "From Pokemon?"
"Oh yeah!" Itadori slapped his forehead with a friendly grin. "You guys can't talk! That means I should be the one to name it!"
"Boss…"
"Let him. This thing's probably going to grow into a new Keo anyway: if he hates it he can change it himself.
Itadori hooked his hands under the creature's armpits and lifted it up, which it patiently endured. "I'm going to call you… Little Silly!"
"And what's to stop him from killing us for not putting a stop to this madness while we had the chance?"
"The fact that any Elder Dragon stops being the scariest thing in the room the minute it's in a room with me."
The room lit up as floating balls of flame appeared along the walls, acting as a split second's warning before a floating figure appeared in the air above them. The man (because they knew he was a man the minute he began talking) wore a black robe that concealed his feet from view, covering his hands with built in gloves that were fastened tight by gold bracers. Over the robe was a crimson cloak that fluttered dramatically, the hood raised to shroud his face in shadow with a length of red cloth that hung down his chest.
"Greetings, challengers!" He raised his arms as though milking a giant cow, his voice deep, booming and bombastic. "I am the Magician! Welcome to the Neuro Tower!"
Leon, Moz and Itadori assumed combat ready positions, while Little Silly struggled free and began playing with something on the ground. "Challengers?" Itadori piped up. "Are you expecting us to fight you?"
The Magician laughed. "Of course not! You must defeat the 3 Fools first!"
The cloaked man chanted in an arcane tongue that would have sounded very mysterious if the wolfdog's weird physiology didn't automatically translate everything he said; he was apparently summoning something called Popo Bawa, which Leon thought was a stupid name for a demon.
There was a burst of orange light as the creature appeared; its hide was the same red as the Magician's cloak, and it sort of looked like a giant bat. Its huge wings and an enormous mouth that bristled with pointy teeth, while its crimson eyes were made far less intimidating by its large floppy ears and pig-like snout. Its bloody ribs literally protruded out of its body, and it had a purple and gold scarf fastened around its neck by a red jewel.
The Popo Bawa briefly landed on the statue's shoulder, causing it to shudder to life; Orpheus floated into the air and hovered at the demon's side, glaring coldly at the trio.
"He said there were three of them," observed Onemore. "One of them is missing."
The Magician cackled as he vanished in a blur of blue light. A low snarl drew their eyes upward, where they saw an enormous figure appear from the darkness as it crawled down the wire mesh; the monster was essentially a giant mutant sloth, with long claws it used to navigate the walls and a thick coat of grimy brown fur.
"Well that's not something you see every day!" Leon laughed incredulously. "Dibs!"
He launched himself at the sloth, growing to immense size in midair; the monster roared as he tackled it off the wall, the other occupants of the arena scattering as they crashed into the ground. The poor sloth didn't stand a chance, and was torn limb from limb in a matter of seconds.
"Ha!" Leon gloated. "Who's the… THE FUCK?"
As soon as the monster died its body had disintegrated, transforming into a writhing mass of creatures that threatened to consume him like a tide. The wolfdog's knee jerk reaction was to attack them, but his fangs phased through them as though they weren't there; despite this, the creatures had no issue with attacking him back. Soon Leon was forced to shrink down and get some breathing room, finally getting a decent look at what was kicking his ass.
The things were unspeakably bizarre, like living shower heads attached to rusty drains by metal spines. At the end of each shower head was an actual, tiny bald head with a blank expression, encased in a large bubble; these bubbles were connected to other bubbles in a way that mimicked human shape.
"Bubblebuddy?"
Leon yelped as they began relentlessly pelting him with bubbles, which they manifested in their hands before spiking them like volleyballs. "Need help?" Moz shouted; he was hiding behind his shield, weathering a hail of fireballs that Orpheus was shooting out of his harp.
"I can't hurt them!" Leon managed to scream. "Kill the other two! See if it helps!"
Sir Onemore glared resentfully at his mechanical opponent. "Easy for you to say. I'm stuck over here with a civilian-"
Without warning, Itadori drop kicked Orpheus out of the air, somehow twisting into a rapid series of punches in midair. The living statue was blown away, crashing hard into the mesh wall.
"Goddamn!" Moz laughed in surprise. "Where did you even find this guy, boss?"
Leon didn't reply, as he had disappeared under the tide of bubbles.
A glowing green glyph exploded in the air, blasting Itadori away and buying Orpheus room to recover. Popo Bawa cackled, flapping its wings as it created more and more glyphs like aerial landmines; Moz threw himself in the way as they detonated, taking the brunt of the blast with his shields.
"They're like landmines!" Itadori coughed. "They explode whenever we get too close… What is that?"
Every time one of the glyphs exploded they left behind a pale green mist, hovering in small clouds rather than naturally dissipating; they both came to the silent decision that it was probably dangerous.
"I'm killing the demon next," decided the Comet General. "It's not like I need to breathe." He lunged in close, but Orpheus ducked between them and blocked the blow with his harp. Moz cursed, tossing his sword to the surprised cook. "Finish him! I'll get you some room!"
Naturally, the ordinary human didn't hear a word.
As Sir Onemore used his shield to push Popo Bawa away, Itadori slashed at Orpheus with the borrowed weapon; he scored a lucky hit, the glowing blade carving a sparking rent in his opponent's chest.
"Ha! Get some!"
The statue's eyes flashed as a strange, blue skinned woman danced into existence; she, Orpheus and even Popo Bawa glowed as their wounds healed. As a side effect of whatever she had done, both of the surviving Fools had become oddly swift; the statue was now matching Itadori's speed, while Moz was barely able to keep the demon contained.
Luckily, by this point he had already forced the creature into a corner. "Die, hellspawn!" Popo Bawa squawked as he squished it against the wall, popping it like a zit; a swarm of the bizarre bubble monsters erupted from the foul smelling viscera, quickly overwhelming the surprised knight. "Great Scott!"
It was then - as Moz was knocked flat by the tide - that Little Silly arrived; the odd monster began to eat them in droves, sucking them into its muzzle Kirby style. The Comet General staggered to his feet to find them utterly wiped out; the infant dragon looked up at him and wagged his fish tail, clearly expecting to be praised.
"Thank you, Twin Pupils!" He scooped the beast up and ran to the wolfdog's side and began using Little Silly as a vacuum cleaner, sucking up the Bubblebuddies until none were left. As soon as he was free, Leon gave the Pokemon an incredulous look.
"How is he doing that without a mouth?"
"Don't question it! Kill the bad guy!"
Leon tackled Orpheus at top speed, smashing him into bits and unleashing a final wave of Bubblebuddies for Little Silly to devour; the blue skinned dancer simply disappeared, but not without a final curtsy.
"Good boy!" Itadori gushed, hunkering down and petting the Type: Null enthusiastically. "Who's a good boy? Who's a good-"
He jerked away as Little Silly began to glow, his muzzle rattling as a shimmering white aura hung over his body like a cloak. Sand poured out of the walls and floor, coalescing into a new entity made of burnished steel. Its powerful forelegs were connected by red and blue wires and ended in canine paws, and instead of hind legs it had a pair of wheels. Its face resembled a tribal mask with a mane of feathers and a fanged beak, while a pair of metal plates on its chest indicated either pectorals or boobs.
"No fucking way," whispered Leon.
"You had the same reaction when we met Grandmaster Meio," sighed Sir Onemore. "Is it friendly?"
"Could be. It's a Stand."
"A what?"
Itadori stared at the creature cautiously. "Little Silly," he said nervously. "Maybe… Maybe you should come over here." The Type: Null padded obediently to his side, the sand monster growling as it followed close behind. "Stop!"
Immediately, the Stand obeyed. The cook gave it a curious look; it began to scrape back and forth across the ground as Itadori's smile grew.
"I can control it," he whispered. "Guys, I can control it!" The Stand rumbled up to him so he could pet it. "Silly must have made it from those… those things that came out of the 3 Fools!" He grinned as Leon cursed inwardly, quietly praying that they didn't run into DIO and the Pillar Men while they were there. "That's what I'll call you. The Fool."
"Why the hell is it obeying him?" Moz demanded. Leon huffed in amusement.
"Probably because he was there when it hatched."
The Comet General shook his fists at the ceiling in impotent rage. "GODDAMMIT! IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN ME!"
The ground shook beneath their feet, and it wasn't until the walls began to move that they realised the boss room was a giant elevator. As they were carried deeper and deeper, the walls of the elevator suddenly gave way to enormous windows.
An enormous city sprawled before them, overrun with moss, vines and other greenery. It was surrounded on all sides by a gorgeous wilderness, which in turn was surrounded by a massive chasm; four colossal metal giants rose from the chasm at its cardinal points, supporting the roof and possibly Nahul itself on their shoulders. The ceiling and possibly the far walls were composed of great computer screens, displaying an image of a cloudy sky that became more convincing the farther they descended and the further they got.
Finally the elevator came to a stop, allowing Leon, Moz, Itadori, Little Silly and the Fool to step out onto the streets; although the city crumbled and decayed around them it still thrummed with life, with countless people attending street stalls filled with odd trinkets. They were all chattering happily, often just to the empty street.
Leon craned his neck; the elevator they had just exited stretched all the way to the artificial sky, creating a truly awe inspiring sight. "Wow…" he whispered. "This is… I can't even… Wow."
"Woah!" Itadori had tried touching one of the shopkeepers, only for his hand to pass straight through; the man glitched out in a haze of multicoloured static before returning to normal. "They aren't real! None of these people… None of them are real!"
"Holograms," muttered Leon. He elaborated when Moz shot him a questioning look. "Illusions, only made with technology rather than magic."
"Why are there so many?"
The wolfdog growled as he reached out with his senses. "My guess? Set dressing for the challengers."
As though they had summoned him, the Magician reappeared in the air above them. "Greetings, challengers!" Everyone adopted combat positions. "Please observe the ground beneath your feet!"
They looked down; poking through the grass was a huge metal carving in the shape of an equal-sided diamond. It had a pink diamond at its centre and red diamond shaped lights in each of its four corners, none of which were lit. Outside of each corner was a small white platform, all of them inscribed with arrows pointing in the cardinal directions.
"At the centre is your way out," the Magician proclaimed. "But it is locked. To the north, south, east and west are certain nodes: find them, and you will unlock your escape route. But be warned, you shall face twenty two adversaries on your path, each more terrible than the last. I advise you to place much thought into which node you unlock first."
"Wait, what!" Itadori blurted out. "You're saying everything that went down in there… that was just group number one?"
The Magician laughed cruelly. "Of course not," he snorted. "That was Level Zero. This is Level One."
He raised his hands and chanted, much as he did when he summoned Popo Bawa; the first creature was a writhing mass of arms that grew from the melded shadows about the square. All but seven of the arms were used as feet; one held a blue mask that acted as the monster's face, while the other six held long, sharp swords.
The second creature was humanoid, with most of its body covered in ivory armour plating. Its right shin, left calf, right forearm and left upper arm were exposed, revealing pink, skinless muscle. The armour over its face resembled a porcelain mask with long ears, goat-like horns and a scar over its left eye, while each hand had only three long, clawed fingers.
"Dibs!" Leon immediately leapt on the Shadow Magician and savaged it, causing it to erupt with odd creatures: this time they resembled large, floating playing cards with the upper bodies of Jokers growing from the face, all of them wearing harlequin masks while their bodies were red and green.
They tried teleporting around the wolfdog and stabbing him with sharp knives, but this time Moz was ready: he ran in with Little Silly held out in front of him, allowing him to suck up the jokers with ease.
"How?" The Magician suddenly sounded a lot less composed. "How are you able to destroy the Meta-Beings? They should be indestructible until they reform into a new Magician!"
"Meta-Beings?" Leon said mildly. "Is that what they're called?" He lunged at the robed man with a terrifying snarl, but he teleported away at the last moment. The Red Magician began attacking the wolfdog with blasts of fire and ice from his palms, while the White Magician joined in with a rapid stream of fireballs.
Leon tanked the attacks with ease, but was unable to catch either of them as they began randomly teleporting about the city. Moz and Itadori were forced to maintain their distance as the fight grew more destructive, devastating what remained of the city. The wolfdog found he was actually pretty good at detecting their positions and figuring out where they were going next; the problem was that both Magicians were very, very good at staying out of his range.
"We can't just stand here and do nothing!" Itadori raged. He turned grimly to his new Stand. "Fool! Go after the red one first! Try and lock him in place!" The Fool barked, dissolving into sand as it surged towards the Red Magician; the attempt failed miserably as he absentmindedly blasted it away. "More sand, Fool! More sand!"
Across the entire city, specks of dust began to gather; at first they formed small clouds, then larger dervishes, growing bigger and bigger until an enormous, localised sandstorm was devastating the battlefield.
"Dammit, Itadori!" Leon cursed, sneezing violently through all the crap flying up his nose. "This is why Megumi and Nobara talk shit about you behind your back!"
"Cursed interlopers!" The Red Magician began firing wildly into the maelstrom, as did his ally. He teleported back and forth through the storm, stumbling across Itadori mostly by accident. "You! This is your-"
A glowing sword erupted from his chest as he was shanked from behind. "I don't think so," growled Moz. He was holding Little Silly in his free hand, and as the Magician dissolved into stabby playing cards he slurped them up before they could teleport away.
The White Magician went absolutely nuts, shooting fireballs in every direction. When that achieved nothing he fired them straight upward, where they hovered in the sky as they began to rapidly expand in size; by the time they came back down they had become full-fledged meteors, blasting away the sand and leaving the good guys exposed.
"It's too late!"
The creature spoke in a voice that reminded Leon of Metal Sonic, raising his three-fingered hands as he prepared a second salvo.
"Boss?" Moz panicked. "We really should-"
"Give it a minute."
The wolfdog waited patiently as the meteors were primed, the reflections in his eyes growing huge as they plummeted towards him. At just the right moment he barked, causing them to explode prematurely; Leon had timed it so that the meteors detonated as close to the Magician as possible, blasting him with enough force that he crashed through several skyscrapers before coming to a stop.
The White Magician glared with its crimson eyes, still able to the wolfdog through the gaping holes he had left in his wake.
"You haven't seen anything yet!"
His body erupted with energy, obliterating everything around him. The melted remains of the landscape reformed into metal panels that formed a platform in the air, giving the Magician something's to stand on as he displayed his new form.
His body was now completely black, the armour replaced by thick, leathery skin. Spikes protruded from his back in a twisted imitation of wings, and a huge, beating heart now sat in the centre of his chest. His clawed hands now had four digits instead of three, and his exposed face now looked eerily human. The ashen skin of his face contrasted with his dark lips, his left eye had gone from red to green.
The Black Magician said two words, because they were all he needed to say.
"Die, humans."
"Actually I identify as a-"
Feathered wings erupted from the Magician's back as he took flight, crashing into Leon like a missile. The building behind him crumbled as the massive hound stumbled into it, forcing him to shrink down to combat the smaller foe.
The Black Magician began firing blue energy blasts that formed a line of destruction, chasing the wolfdog down as he fled through the streets. When Leon ducked into a building he switched to a concentrated death ray, annihilating the structure and burning it to the ground.
Leon leapt at him through the smoke, sinking his fangs into the monstrosity's shoulder; the Magician roared, jabbing his claws into both of the wolfdog's sides and violently electrocuting him. Leon was forced to let go from the pain, and the fight ensued once more.
The city was rapidly being destroyed as the fight continued, neither side able to gain an advantage. "I have an idea," said Itadori. "Make sure Little Silly is at the ready."
Sand flowed onto the Fool's back, creating a pair of wings that spread out like a glider. The Stand took off through the air, and the Magician was so distracted by the battle that he was caught completely off guard when it tackled him in the back. The Fool exploded on contact, wrapping around the monster and binding its arms and wings with flowing sand.
"Leon!" Itadori screamed. "Now's your chance!"
The wolfdog lunged, growing to full size and snapping up the monstrosity in his jaws; the Black Magician broke his bonds at the last moment, bracing himself against being chewed up by placing his feet on Leon's lower jaw and his hands on the roof of his mouth.
Leon screamed as the Magician's claws crackled, channeling ungodly amounts of electricity directly into his gums. This time he bore the pain better, but the monster was too durable to be outlasted. If he did nothing it would escape, and this time it would probably go after Itadori.
So he tilted his head back and howled, the Magician still trapped in his mouth. The creature screamed in rage and anguish, helpless to escape as it was obliterated by the point blank sonic cannon. Its body disintegrated into a shower of playing card monsters, who fluttered slowly to the ground.
Up above, Kwanchi looked up from his desk as he heard the howl in the distance. A rain shower of dust fell from his ceiling. "Woah."
"Oh god," croaked Leon, his head still tilted upward. "Those weren't there earlier."
Huge cracks had appeared in the artificial sky, almost certainly caused by his final howl. "Holy crap," remarked Onemore, dropping the Type: Null on its feet so it could hunt the surviving Meta-Beings in peace. "You know it wouldn't just be the dome on the line if you brought all that down, right? All of Nahul would come crashing down on our heads. I mean, you and I would be fine, but a whole lot of innocent people would probably die."
"Yeah…" Leon was actually shaking slightly as he shrank to the size of a regular dog. "Maybe… Maybe I should tone down the howling while we're down here."
"A wise choice."
Itadori squealed excitedly, drawing their attention to Little Silly; he must have devoured the last of the Meta-Beings, as he was clearly spawning a new Stand. This time his aura turned red, igniting into flames and spawning a shirtless, red skinned man with the head of a bird.
The Fool waited patiently at the cook's side; Leon found it interesting that he now had two Stands, unable to decide whether it was a good thing or not. It would be useful, certainly, but do you know who else had two Stands? Diavolo, that's who.
"You must be the Magician Stand," grinned Itadori. "But the word Magician is a lot longer than Fool…" He lapsed into deep thought as he pondered the conundrum. "Magician… Magician's… Red! Magician's Red, or Red for short!"
The new Stand squawked happily, then began flinging fireballs in all directions as Itadori experimented with its powers. This was so distracting that only Moz noticed what was happening to the city all around them. "Guys? Are you seeing this?"
Thousands of mechanical drones were flying overhead, scanning the ruined city for damages. Other robots scooped up the rubble, while weird little UFOs built new buildings like flying 3D-Printers. They even came already ruined; apparently it was a design choice.
Leon noticed guiltily that the cracks in the artificial sky were still there.
What followed was a contest between the drones and Magician's Red; Itadori continued to fling fire around as the robots fought to contain the damage, the race quickly becoming neck and neck. "Should we put a stop to that?" Moz asked curiously. Leon just huffed through his snout.
"Why? What's he gonna do, hit us?"
Red chose that moment to do just that; Sir Onemore didn't react as the fireball exploded harmlessly against his armour, while Leon's fur caught ablaze and forced him to drop and roll with long suffering annoyance.
"Don't look at me like that. We're both mostly invincible anyway."
"Fine." Moz looked up at the colossal elevator; it truly was an awe inspiring sight. "So, four nodes to unlock the way out: which one do we go after first?"
"That depends: which way is the kid going?"
"FIRE IS MY FAVOURITE ELEMENT!" Itadori screamed, dancing away down the street with Magician's Red at his shoulder. He continued to take advantage of the helpful drones as caused chaos and devastation, Silly and the Fool following like bored cats.
"It looks like he's going north."
"North is fine."
Boss: Fools and Magicians
Summary: the Fool represents the number zero, while the Magician represents the number 1.
As mentioned by Leon, Orpheus is the starting Persona of the Fool Arcana from Persona 3 (and by extension the first Persona of the entire game) while the woman he summons is Apsaras, with whom he shares the Fusion Spell Cadenza. The giant sloth is The Fool from House of the Dead 3, while the creatures that erupt from its body are called Cocteauheads; they are Meta-Beings from Baroque, and appear on Floors 24 to 27.
Popo Bawa is the first boss from Dire Vengeance; the guys who made that game released an actual Tarot deck explaining what represented each Arcana, and for some reason the Fool just got a funny face that doesn't actually show up ingame. Popo Bawa was summoned by the Magician, so he made the cut.
Speaking of which: the robed dude is called the Magician, and is the second boss of Dire Vengeance. The arm creature is the first of the Greater Shadows to appear in Persona 3 and is dealt with in a cutscene, while the last Magician is the final boss of the original House of the Dead and the Black Magician is the final boss of Zombie Revenge. The Meta-Beings summoned after their deaths are unimaginatively referred to as Magicians, and appear on Floors 20 to 26.
Persona 3 is the only Persona game I've ever played, and I've never actually finished. I'm going to be playing along as I write, which may slow down the rate at which I post. After Leon fights the Death Arcana (who will obviously get their own chapter) the Persona elements will be pretty much phased out, so expect things to return to usual after that.
The city is from Hyper Light Drifter; unlocking the four nodes and finding what's inside is basically the entire game. The Neuro Tower is the name of the main dungeon from Baroque, where all the Meta-Beings are located.
As stated by Leon, Type: Null is from Pokemon. Way back in Chapter 17 I stated that I would never have a Pokemon appear in this story; due to certain story decisions made during the course of Chapter 33 this rule has been removed, and due to spoilers I can't explain why. If this causes you to abandon this story: fair enough. Personally I would have given up after Leon turned into a dog.
It should be obvious, but Null here is not a trained attack dog like Pikachu or Charizard: his main role is as a supporter, given his ability to devour Meta-Beings and generate Stands. Speaking of: the Fool is the Stand used by Iggy in Stardust Crusaders, while Magician's Red is used by Muhammad Avdol. If you have any clever ways to use any of the Arcana Stands from Part 3 then feel free to leave a suggestion; if they have the Hory Sheeet Factor of Araki's work then I may include them, along with an honourable mention at the end.
Remember that guy from Chapter 33 who now has the Ceadeus on his family's coat of arms? That could be you.
You are now asking yourself: so how many Stands is this thing going to crank out. This is the wrong question. What you should be asking is: what happens when Null evolves?