Jump 11: Persona - Signs of Mass Destruction

Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3svHw7cD5I

The location: the roof of the school. The time: lunch. The team of newly awakened persona users had all gathered together, save for their leader.

“So he’s still out Shock?”

“Yeah. He’s gotten up to eat and stuff, but can’t stay awake for more than an hour even if he pushes himself.”

 “This is the third day he hasn’t been able to come to school. Maybe we should all go to see him after class.”

“I don’t know how good of an idea that is. A bunch of loud, obnoxious people is the last thing I’d want if it were me.”

“I wouldn’t call us obnoxious. We’re definitely loud though.”

‘As much as I hate to admit it, you do have a point Sora.”

“Even so, I think it would be wise for us to have a meeting about what we plan to do next.”

“What did you have in mind?”

“To start off, we should probably focus our efforts on saving the abducted people before they’re found dead.”

“Yeah, a kid from me and Shock’s class has gone missing as of yesterday. The police better start that curfew soon.”

“It’s safe to say that we’ll need to plan patrol routes for when the sun goes down.”

“It was hard enough for me sneaking out at midnight though. And what do we do when it rains all day?”

“Things like this are pretty particular. Even if the sky is dark, if those shadow things only come out at night, then we shouldn’t have to worry about rainy days changing that.”

“As we go on, we’ll also need to start figuring out what the cause of this is.”

“Right. If we can’t stop this before the school year is over there’s no telling what will happen to Inaba.”

“The time for lunch is ending. We should get back to class before it’s too late. I assume we’re all going to Shock’s home after school.”

“I guess we’ve got no choice, really.”

“Can’t have him forget about us right?”

“It doesn’t really matter, but I’ll go.”

“I really want to make sure he’s ok.”

“I hope the intrusion on your home won’t be too unwelcome.”

“It shouldn’t be a problem. My parents and sisters already know about you guys.”

“Wait, you have sisters?”

“Yeah, I thought I told you guys about them. One older, one younger. My parents run a secondhand electronics shop, and my older sister helps manage things like online sales. My little sister goes to the junior high. I could have sworn I told most of you”

“Nope.”

“Never.”

“I don’t believe so.”

“This is the first I’ve heard of it.”

“I wouldn’t have known regardless.”

“Oh, sorry about that. I guess I forgot that I’m the only one here with an actual blood related family.”

“Don’t worry about it. It isn’t a big deal.”

The sound of the warning bell disrupt the conversation.

“That’s that then. See you guys after school.”

The rest of the school day progressed normally for the seven persona users. They all quickly gathered their belongings and met up at the school’s entrance. They went to Shock’s house, partaking in idle conversation to pass the time. When they arrived, everyone was shocked at the size of Shock’s house.

“So this is why you said it would be fine if we came over.”

“I didn’t even know there were houses this big in Inaba.”

“Screw Junes, we should just meet here instead.”

“Come on guys, it’s not that big. Let’s go inside.”

“He’s right you know. You guys are just overreacting.”

The seven of them went inside the house, finding it to be spacious, and modestly furnished.

“Mom, Electra, I’m home. I brought my friends over.”

The sounds of footsteps came from the nearby stairs and a woman in her late 30’s or early 40’s was soon seen by them all. He hair blonde like Shock’s, and her eyes the same bright blue. She was wearing a light blue dress and smiled at everyone.

“Welcome home Sergei, and hello to all of you. I’m Sergei’s mother. It’s a pleasure to meet all of you. I hope you’ll continue to take care of him.”

“Come on mom, that’s embarrassing.”

“Well maybe if you had introduced them to me earlier I wouldn’t have to embarrass you.”

The others watched the exchange with slight expressions of disbelief, and maybe a tinge of jealousy. Bruce was the first to get past this, and offered Shock’s mother a handshake.

“It is an honor to meet with you. Thank you for allowing us to stay for a while. My name is Bruce.”

This prompted the others to commence their introductions as well.

“I’m Leo. It’s great to meet you.”

“Alice.”

“I’m Sora. This is a nice place you’ve got here.”

“My name is Psyche. It is a pleasure to meet for me as well.”

“I’m Karen. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Bruce, Leo, Alice, Sora, Psyche and Karen. Okay, I’ve got all of your names and faces memorized.”

“Mom, how’s King doing?”

“Oh, right. You actually came home with perfect timing. He’s actually woken up and is feeling better. You should have told me he was so polite and considerate. Go and up and see him before I end up asking him to marry your younger sister.”

“Mom!”

“Just kidding honey. If you need anything let me know ok. Electra is redesigning the store’s website, so let her know you’re home a little later. Have fun you all.”

With a smile and a wave, Shock’s mother made her way to the kitchen, leaving the group to their own devices again.

“Sergei, really? I didn’t know you were a Russian mouse.”

“I didn’t choose to be called that. Shock ended up becoming my last name and I guess Sergei sounds close enough to sergeant.”

“Which name would you prefer to be called by?”

“Just stick with Shock, we’re all used to it.”

“Sora, how come you never knew his name? Aren’t the two of you in the same class?”

“Last year Shock was the only one of us in a class by himself. He must have gotten everyone to just use his last name so the teacher this year just stuck with it.”

“Won’t it sound strange to your family if we keep using your last name though?”

“Oh yeah. Forgot about that.”

“Looks like it’s ‘Sergei’ until we leave. Try and remember guys.”

“None of this is even important, let’s go see him already”

Shock let them to the guest room where King had been resting. When he saw his companions, his face brightened and he looked happy to see them.

“It’s good to see you everyone. I didn’t worry you all too much did I?”

Karen walked over to him and pulled him out of the bed he was sitting on into a tight hug.

“Please don’t do that to us again.”

As King returned the embrace, everyone else crowded around and turned it into a group hug. Although, Alice had to be forced by Karen.

“I’m sorry about what’s been happening with me. It took all of this for me to see how much you guys are there for me.”

The group hug broke off, and everyone took a seat, King the bed and the others on the floor or a chair that had been in the room. King asked for an update on the things he missed while recovering, and signed learning that there had been more people reported missing.

“At this rate the whole town is going to become filled with panic. We’ve got to do something”

“It’ll be fine now that you’re better. We can actually go out and do stuff.”

“Karen and I will keep our eyes on the police records so we don’t miss when someone has gone missing. The real question is how will we go about searching for them?”

“Isn’t it obvious? We split of into four groups of two and just wander around until we find something.”

“That method of investigation could get some of us killed.”

“But it’s the most efficient method of finding the missing people without leaving ourselves too vulnerable.”

“I’m inclined to agree as well. We can cover the most ground and potentially find multiple people at once.”

“So would we just handle any situation on our own?”

“Our phones still work, and the cameras can let us see what the others are going through.”

“When should we start going out to do this then? The missing people are still in danger even now.”

King looked at his companions and grinned.

“When else? We’re starting tonight.”

Before anyone could respond, the door to the room was suddenly opened. In the doorway stood a woman younger than Shock’s mother, but with the same blonde hair color and eyes.

“You come home and you can’t even let your older sister know?”

Shock’s sister walked over to him and punched his head lightly.

“Ow. What gives Electra?”

“I heard you all talking about doing something dangerous. Why else would I barge in? I’m not rude.”

They all looked at Electra with shocked expressions as she turned to face King.

“So you’re the leader right? Care to explain why you want to put yourselves in danger?”

King simply stared back at her, trying to figure out her motives. Before he could respond, Alice interjected.

“Where do you get off thinking that you can just start questioning us?”

“Oh? What do we have here? Is someone getting a bit defensive over him?”

“That’s crazy! Why would I be defensive of him? I’m upset that you’re trying to stick your nose where it doesn’t belong.”

Electra looked Alice directly in the eyes and smirked.

“Then you wouldn’t mind if I got to know him better, would you? After all, he is pretty cute I’d have to say.”

Electra sauntered over to the bed and proceeded to sit on King’s lap. Everyone stared at her incredulously as she pulled his face close to her chest and forced him to look into her eyes. Alice was shaking with rage, Sora had her fists clenched in anger, but Karen’s visage began to look more like the silhouette of a demon. Everyone else was just surprised at the turn things were taking.

“I suggest you stop before one of these three unintentionally hurts you. We’ll explain a little about what we intend to do.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I know you’re only doing this because you’re worried about your brother, but if you don’t stop things will go too far to fix.”

“I’ll freeze this bitch to death…”

“I’m going to suplex her through the floor…”

“………..”

“I think I see your point. Fine, you win.”

Electra released King, who breathed a sigh of relief once she left the bed and walked over to stand by the wall opposite the bed. King explained that they knew the cause of the disappearances and murders that had been taking place. Due to the circumstances, they are the only ones that can prevent any more victims from being claimed.

“That’s some pretty vague information. But I think I get the gist of things.”

“So if you understand then you should promise to keep this a secret and leave us be.”

Electra went over and pinched Shock’s cheek.

“No way. I’m not just going to let my little brother do something this dangerous. I don’t care who you’re with. You’re not doing it without my help.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m sure you heard me, but I’ll say it again if you weren’t paying attention because you were staring at King. I’m helping you guys, whether you like it or not.”

“Now why would you want to help? This is dangerous work ordinary people can’t handle.”

“The why is simple. It’s because you guys are like superheroes.”

They all stared blankly at Electra, the disbelief evident on their faces. Electra started blushing fiercely.

“Stop staring at me like that. Didn’t any of you want to be superheroes while you were growing up? I know I can’t fight, but I want to do something to help protect Inaba. I’ll worry about Sergei otherwise, so please let me support you all in some way.”

“Electra…”

“Well, if it’s because she’s worried about her brother I guess it can’t be helped… Even though I wish it could be,,,”

“I think we’ve found the solution to our communication problem. Sho-, Sergei and I could probably modify her laptop to receive the signals from the cameras and communicate to us through them. It would have to be voice only though.”

“Alright! I knew I liked you…. Um, what’s your name? I forgot we haven’t introduced ourselves.”

Introductions were a bit strained, but went by without any further anger being incited. When they were over a knock was heard on the door.

“Hey big bro, mom wants to know if you and your friends want lemonade.”

“Tell her to bring some up Mheni.”

“Hey, she was asking me not you.”

“Alright. I’ll let her know. Are your friends staying over for dinner? There’s not enough food in the house for twelve people”

“We’ll be getting out of your hair before then.”

“Only King is staying for dinner. Everyone else is going to go home before then.”

“Give mom some warning next time you do this. She looked like she was going to cry because she felt like a poor host. Take some responsibility next time.”

They heard Mheni walk off and all eyes were on Shock.

“Why are you all looking at me like that? Come on, cut it out guys?”

“Mheni’s really mature for her age. She’s a member of the student council at her school and is generally more reliable around the house than Sergei.”

“Man, I feel sorry your parents have to deal with such a disappointing son.”

“Grow up a little man.”

“You really shouldn’t trouble your parents.”

“Why is everyone ganging up on me now?”

Leo and Bruce both gave Shock a pat on the shoulder.

“Just accept it and apologize.”

“This is a battle that not even we can help you through.”

“Getting back to on topic, are you certain that you want to support us? I can guarantee you’ll see things that will weigh heavily on your conscious. If we choose to rely on you, then our lives could very well be in your hands. Do you understand this?”

“I’ll be ready for anything. I told you before, as his older sister I can’t let Sergei do this without making sure he’s ok.”

“If this is what you truly desire, I see no reason to deny your request. Sho-, I mean, Sergei, how much time would you need to make preperations for your sister to assist us?”

“I can have it done by sundown.”

“You work way too fast.”

I’ve been considering something like this for a while. I just wasn’t sure if we could have someone be an operator, so there wasn’t a point in doing anything more than writing the idea down.”

“Your forethought is impressive. You’ve come a long way.”

“Though he’s still my good for nothing little brother. Come on Sergei, you’re going to need my computer right?”

“Yeah…”

“What are we supposed to do without our host?”

“Mheni will keep you company.”

A knock on the door signaled the return of the youngest Shock.

“Come in Mheni.”

The door opened to reveal a middle schooler still in her uniform. Straight, black hair, hazel eyes, and a pair of squarish glasses made her stand out from her siblings. Holding a tray with nine glasses of lemonade she stepped inside the room.

“Go ahead and take Sergei’s drink Mheni, there’s some things I need him to do for me.”

“Why don’t I get a drink?”

“Keep his friends company until they leave to go home please.”

“If you really need me to…”

“Thanks Mheni, you’re the best.”

Flashing her sister a smile, Electra dragged Shock out of the room, grabbing her drink before leaving and closing the door. Everyone besides King went and got their drink. Mheni went to the bed and handed King his drink herself.

“Mind if I sit here?”

“Not at all.”

Mheni took a seat on the bed and took out her phone.

“I don’t want to intrude on your conversation, so don’t mind me. I’ll just do some studying from my phone.”

“That sounds boring as hell kid. At least let us introduce ourselves.”

“Ah, you’re right. Where are my manners? I’m Mheni, Electra and Sergei’s little sister.”

Everyone else introduced themselves in turn.

“I heard Electra say you’re a part of your school’s student council. What’s your position?”

“I-I’m the president.”

“The president? Man that sounds like a hassle.”

“It can be tough at times…but I like it all the same.”

“Those sound like the words spoken by one suited to lead.”

“It kind of reminds you of a certain someone doesn’t it?”

“…”

“Mheni, do you want to help us out with something?”

“What would that be?”

“Before you got here we were trying to figure out how to best split into groups of two for an event coming up at our school. We need all the pairs to have the best chance at success.”

“So you’d like me to help you find the best pairings?”

“That’s exactly it. Even though you’ve just met us, an outside perspective might be what we need. Be sure to include your brother when you think of them.”

“Umm, ok. I’ll give it my best shot.”

While Mheni deliberated the issue of the best pairs, the rest of them talked amongst themselves.

“Why are you having her think about this Psyche? We could have come up with pairs easily.”

“I merely wished to include her in the conversation. I’d feel bad if she were left out.”

“I didn’t know you could be so kind. Are you secretly good with kids too?”

“I-I wouldn’t know. I haven’t been with any children for a long enough span of time to accurately judge.”

“How do you think she’ll do?”

“My hopes aren’t high since she hardly knows us.”

“I think she may surprise us.”

Mheni showed no signs that she was listening to the conversation being had about her. Still lost in thought until she suddenly straightened her posture.

“I think I’ve got it.”

“Well let’s hear it then.”

“Um… I think you guys would have the best chance across the teams if you had King pair with Psyche, Alice pair with my brother, Karen pair with Sora and Leo pair with Bruce.”

“Why am I stuck with your brother? He’d be better off with Psyche.”

“They’re both too similar. You cover my brothers weaknesses and he should cover the points you aren’t as strong in.”

“She’s got a point Alice. I don’t think there’s a better set of pairings honestly.”

“Then why are the two muscle heads together?”

“They seem like they push each other to be better. Pairing them up puts the two in a situation where they would want to show the other their maximum potential.”

“I wouldn’t have thought of it that way…”

“And why put the two delinquents together?”

“Alice…I thought I asked you not to mention that….”

Everyone in the room, including Alice, felt a chill go down their spines at the way Karen said those words. Alice chose to ignore her and wait for Mheni’s answer.

“Alice and Karen look like they have the most synergy out of you all. They know how each other think and can work together in any situation. At least… that’s the feel I get from them.”

“That’s three for three Alice. I don’t think we really need an explanation on the last pair at this point.”

“Hmpf.”

“Thank you for the assistance. I don’t think our group can be beaten now. Don’t you agree King?”

“Yes, these teams should give us the most optimal way of dealing with the event. Thank you Mheni.”

Everyone else gave Mheni their thanks besides Alice, causing the girl to blush. King checked the time on his phone and addressed the group.

“I think it’s time you guys head home. I’ll stay here one more night and be back at school tomorrow for sure. Mheni if you could see them out please.”

“No problem.”

Everyone said their goodbyes to King before allowing Mheni to see them out.

“You’re pretty cool for a middle schooler. We should totally hang out sometime.”

“Sora, she has responsibilities to take care of.”

“No, it’s fine. I couldn’t during the week, but maybe on some weekends? I can see why Sergei likes you all so much, and I think I like you guys too.”

“You think?”

“We did only just meet. Not everyone is quick to form an opinion Alice.”

“Shut up Leo, I know that.”

“Be careful on your way home everyone.”

They said their goodbyes and left Shock’s house. The sun would be setting soon, and they all had to make preparations to sneak out of their own homes. Alice reached into her bag and pulled out some paper cut into the shape of a human.

“Aren’t those-”

“Yeah, they are. If you guys write your names on here it’ll make a clone of you that can do basic tasks like sleep in your place. I’m only giving you each one so don’t mess up.”

“I guess you do care after all.”

“Maybe I shouldn’t give you one…”

With some arguing between Sora and Alice, everyone received a slip of paper. They all parted ways and let their day end normally, checking the position of the sun with anxious eyes. When there could be no argument made for it not to be night, everyone gathered their belongings, placed a clone in their bed, and left to meet up at the bus stop in the shopping district. Without much time passing, they were all together again.

“We all remember the team assignments, correct?”

“Like I’d forget.”

“Yep.”

“I do.”

“Affirmative”

“Indeed.”

“Of course.”

“No doubt.”

“That makes things easy then. You guys know what we need to do. I’m going to check out the shrine. Unless I say otherwise, that’s where we’ll put the people we save. Don’t do anything reckless. Electra is watching and listening, so if you need help just have her relay the message.”

“Don’t forget I’m watching. I don’t know what you all are capable of, so say something if you need backup.”

“As you all heard, Shock got everything ready for tonight. The range of what the cameras can and will pick up is fairly large, so even a whisper can be heard by her.”

“You’ve outdone yourself Shock. You’ll have to show me what you did sometime.”

“Sure thing.”

(Music change: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6peD5RnatZA

Before King could send them all off, a wave of flame washed over the group, catching them all off guard. King and Karen dodged fire, and the rest took negligible damage.

“Umm, guys..”

“I think we noticed!”

Coming from all directions were Shadows. None of them were as human like as King’s and looked like black blobs for the most part. The occasional one looking like a demon.

“Looks like we were noticed. Good think I’m fire resistant.”

“I feel like now’s not the time for jokes Leo.”

“When we split up stay safe everyone. Sora, let’s go!”

Karen unsheathed her sword and mowed down countless Shadows in her way, with Sora following closely behind.

“I’m not about to be showed up by her. Let’s go mouse! Quinquaginta spiritus glaciales, coeuntes inimicum concidant. Sagitta Magica, series glacialis. (Gather, 50 spirits of ice, cut apart my enemy. Magic Arrows, Series of 50 Ice Arrows.)”

“Why are you calling me a mouse again?”

With a wave of her staff, Alice let loose a volley of ice arrows to clear her own path. Jumping on it, she flew through the opening in the throngs of Shadows with Shock running behind her.

“Looks like everyone’s fired up!”

“Is now truly when you start making puns?”

Leo and Bruce were soon lost within the crowd of Shadows, attacking through them with ferocity and the occasional blast of fire.

“I’m glad they’re enjoying this…”

“It’s a new experience. I’m looking forward to the challenges that await myself.”

“You really want to test out the new power we all got don’t you?”

“You’re as aware as ever. Come out, Kufu!”

“I don’t want you leaving me behind now. I summon thee, Hecate!”

Emerging from their bodies came their Personas, looking like ghostly apparitions.

“Let’s see what you can do.”

The two remaining members of the group charged at the mass of Shadows with their destination being the Shrine. The Shadows were severely outmatched, even with their superior numbers, and fell easily to King and Psyche’s combined assault. It wasn’t long before they reached the shrine. There was a fox standing in front of the entryway, as if guarding it.

“Now why is this fox here?”

Psyche approached the fox carefully, but it showed no hints at moving away from where it stood. King placed a barrier around the entrance and made his way over as well.

“It seems like it’s protecting something. But what would a fox have to protect here?”

As if it understood the question, the fox turned and walked over to a spot hidden from sight by bushes. King and Psyche followed it to find three young foxes sleeping there.

“So it’s standing guard to protect its children. If it’s come to this I don’t think the shrine is normally safe from the Shadows then.”

“If that’s the case Alice and I will have to make barriers around here every day. I guess the Shadows have been ignoring it to go after people. But if we start bringing people here they’re sure to start targeting the place.”

The fox looked at them curiously, then procured two leaves from near its children and placed them by their feet. King picked them up and brought them to his face to better examine them. Catching a whiff of what they smell like, his eyes widened in surprise.

“The scent from this leaf…. it’s as if it cleared my mind. I feel mentally rejuvenated. Is this your way of letting us use the shrine?”

The fox seemed to nod its head at King’s question, then went back to its young.

“Let’s take that as a yes. We should get moving.”

King bowed to the fox, then turned and ran out of the shrine’s area with Psyche close behind. Meanwhile, while everyone else fought through the Shadows in the streets, Karen and Sora had come across something strange in a residential area.

“Is…is that what I think it is?”

“Yeah, I think it is. Electra are you seeing this?”

“If by seeing “this”, you mean looking at a portal where someone’s house should be, the yes.”

“I think we should go in.”

“Is that even a safe thing to do?”

“But what if someone wandered in there? What if the family that lives here is actually trapped right now?”

“You don’t even know if you can get back out once you go in. Wait a bit while I-”

Before Electra could finish, a large Shadow emerged from the portal and roared loudly.

“Looks like we got a loud one…”

“What are you talking about, I didn’t hear anything.”

“But it was so loud and-”

Sora was suddenly five feet away from where she was standing, and where one of the Shadow’s hands now rested after slamming it down there. Karen was holding onto her, glaring at the Shadow.

“We can worry about why she didn’t hear it later. We need to beat that thing and go inside the portal.”

“You got it Karen. That Shadow is going to wish it didn’t have to tangle with Inaba’s Delinquent Demon Duo.”

“That’s a terrible name for us.”

Karen took hold of Sora and jumped at the Shadow’s face, a blue mask with circles for eyes and a mouth.

“Let’s go Sophia!”

“Cleopatra, lend me your strength!”

The two of them summoned their Personas as the Shadow went to smash the two between its hands. Before the hands could come together, they were encased in ice by Cleopatra’s magic. Karen and Sophia separated and each picked a hand to stand on. With a quick nod to each other, they each set about taking out a hand. Sora clenched her fists and punched the one she chose five times before it shattered. Karen slashed at the other once and cut it off cleanly, causing it to fall to the ground and shatter. The girls ran along the now handless arms, but the Shadow wasn’t without ways to defend itself. Smaller Shadows sprouted along its arms and surrounded the two of them, but it was only a minor setback. While Sora simply punched through the ones blocking her, Karen displayed masterful swordsmanship and cut down the ones attacking her.

Making it to the Shadow’s head, Karen leapt into the air above it, seeming to pause in the sky as she channeled her chi. Numerous Shadows spawned from the giant one and took off to intercept her, but Sora was ready for it. Using the one’s still close to her as stepping stones, she took to the air and grabbed any Shadow she could get her hands on, throwing them into the ones out of her reach and sending them crashing to the ground to dissipate.

Karen’s sword was glowing a vibrant shade of blue, and water started to coil and spiral around it. The beginning of the swirling water took the form of a Gyarados’s head and Karen quickly began to descend towards the giant Shadow’s head.

“Karen Style Sword Technique: Wrath of the Water Serpent Slash!”

The water Gyarados took on the size of an actual one and surged from Karen’s sword and through the Shadow, enveloping it in water. Cleopatra used her ice magic to freeze the entire Shadow before Karen was upon it, turning it into a giant icicle. Karen slashed straight through it, shattering it to pieces. Jumping on the falling pieces of ice, Sora soon joined Karen on the ground to admire their work.

“That was way more fun than the tournament place or the lockdown. I didn’t know you could freeze things.”

“The freezing isn’t a part of the technique… I think Cleopatra is the reason that happened.”

“Whatever the case you need to show me how to do stuff like that too! Then we can be Inaba’s Demon Gods of Water and Wind.”

Karen laughed at Sora’s enthusiasm.

“You really can’t come up with a good name, can you.”

“That was amazing you two! You took on that giant thing like it was child’s play.”

“Often times, the bigger opponents aren’t the ones that hold the most threat.”

The portal started to become unstable and collapsed in on itself with a flash mere moments after Karen made that statement. When sight came back, the missing houses had returned, and there were several unconscious people lying where pieces of he giant Shadow had been.

“Wait, that thing was made out of people?”

“Maybe that’s why it was so big. It had to house all of these captured people.”

“Should I call the others? That’s a lot of people to carry between the two of you.”

“Nah, we’ve got this. Karen’s not our mama bear for nothing.”

“I’d appreciate it if you refrained from calling me that.”

The two of them somehow managed to carry seven people and made their way back to the Shrine.

“Where’d all the Shadows go?”

“After you took out that big one, they all vanished. I told everyone else to meet at the shrine if they couldn’t find any more of them.”

“Good call.”

When they arrived, everyone was already at the shrine waiting.

“Looks like they got the first rescue.”

“Well done, you two.”

“I could have done it in half the time, I’m sure.”

“Most impressive.”

“I can’t wait to see the recording of the battle.”

“Good work.”

“You guys are going to flip when you see what Karen did to that thing. Well, maybe not Alice, but the rest of you are going to be amazed.”

“It wasn’t all the special. Against a stronger opponent, I wouldn’t have been able to charge as long.”

Karen and Sora set the unconscious people down and everyone took a close look at them.

“Those are definitely most of the people that were reported missing.”

“How do you know?”

“I hacked into the police database earlier. Their security sucks.”

“I placed a barrier around the shrine, so we can leave these people here. We need to see if all the Shadows are really gone for tonight. We’ll combine into teams of four for the rest of the night. Alice and Shock are with Karen and Sora. Let’s all go home at three if we don’t find anything.”

Everyone nodded in agreement and the two teams split up to cover different halves of Inaba. The rest of the night was uneventful, as there really were no more Shadows left to fight. Come 3:00 am they all split off to go home and get some sleep for school.

The next day during lunch, it was raining, but Alice covered them in a barrier to keep them dry as they ate on the roof.

“If last night is anything to go by, they’ll be at least one focal point that the Shadows are coming from, and maybe even one Shadow they all spawn from. We should anticipate for them to only get stronger now that we’re actively taking them out.”

“As we still don’t have any clues as to what’s causing this, I recommend we use our free time wisely. While we still need to have a school life, if something really powerful emerges we need to be prepared.”

“I say everyone should take lessons from Karen. I wanna learn instant movement and how to make my own super moves.”

“They aren’t super moves…they’re my original sword techniques. And King is much better at instant movement than I am, so I’m sure he can teach you all better than I can.”

“I think you should train everyone too. While I might be better, teaching has never been my strong suit. I’d love to learn some of your sword techniques too.”

“Then it’s settled! We’ll all get to train under Karen.”

Karen looked like she was about to protest, but then sighed and resigned herself.

“Won’t you need a sword to use? Karen can’t give you all hers.”

“I think my vampire claws are enough for me, but Sora and Shock don’t really have a signature weapon.”

“Not a problem. I can make some. In the meantime, Sora can use the Seven Star Sword and Shock can have my tonfa.”

There was more conversation about the logistics of things and scheduling conflicts, but it was all figured out before the bell rang. The day passed normally for everyone and they went about their day before their nighttime patrol. They would go through similar routines for the next two months, with King joining the band and soccer team. They kept anymore victims from being claimed and saved anyone that went missing. But…they were no closer to uncovering the mystery than they were before.