Jump 11: Persona - Prelude to the Final Confrontation (Reach Out To Master of Troubled Shadow Snowflakes)

(Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFTbH43n77Q)

December had descended upon Inaba and its inhabitants, with snow coating the ground lightly, and school releasing for the holidays. At the Junes food court, the team and Shock’s siblings were talking over a meal and hot chocolate.

“So how were exams for you all?”

“They weren’t a problem”

“I’m still top of the class”

“Third isn’t the worst place to have.”

“I’m surprised I scored higher than Leo this time.”

“The Lizard was probably slacking off.”

“While your grades are nothing to scoff at, I’m happy being in the top ten.”

“I could stand to improve myself.”

“Come on Bruce, lighten up. It’s not like we scored that low.”

“I scored top of my class as well.”

“Sergei you need to do better, or Mheni will become mom’s favorite.”

“You act like she isn’t already!”

“Mom loves us all the same.  Don’t get into an argument now, it’ll spoil the mood.”

“Anything for my darling little sister. You better thank Mheni for the mercy I’m showing you.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Let’s get to the point of why we came here already.”

“With it becoming more crowded the longer we stay I’m inclined to agree with Alice’s line of thought.”

“So then let’s get started. I’ll give my presents first.”

Leo reached under the table and pulled out a bag filled with items.

“For Karen, a necklace with a pendant shaped like her sword made by Daidara. For Alice, a pair of Jack Frost and Pyro Jack earrings. For Bruce, a handmade headband with a custom emblem. For Shock, a replica Overlord cloak. For Sora, two bracelets with wings. For Psyche, a pair of stylish glasses. And for King, a ring with your emblem, only it’s made of fire.”

Leo passed his gifts to their recipient, with everyone being quite pleased with the thought and effort he put into getting them.

“I want to go next then!”

Shock procured his own bag with the various gifts he got everyone.

“For Karen, I made a mechanical gyara- I mean sea serpent. For Alice, I made a music box. I made a mechanical… fighter for Bruce. For Psyche, it’s a mechanical psychic, humanoid fox. Sora gets a mechanical bird. Leo, a dragon. King gets a ring with a lightning version of his emblem.”

“I suppose I’ll go next. Karen gets a book about various types of blades and one on their maintenance. I got a two books on the supernatural for Alice. For Leo, two books about dragons. Bruce gets two vastly different mixed martial arts books. Shock, two books on robotics. Sora, a book on flying and one about the sky. And for King, a ring with his emblem acting as a brain.”

“It’s my turn to amaze you all now. Mama bear over here gets two; a bear and sea serpent stuffed animals. Everyone chipped in on the bear. Alice gets two as well; one of a red dragon with a trident, and…this cloaked figure. Not really sure what it is.”

With the presenting of these gifts in particular, Alice’s face betrays her emotions, and her eyes tear up for the first time anyone has seen. She hugs the “stuffed animals” close and whispers something about uncless and being happy now. After a brief pause, Sora continues handing out her gifts.

“Umm, Shock gets this cute mouse.  I got Leo a different kind of red dragon, more of a lizard that happens to have wings really. Psyche gets one similar to what Shock made for her. Bruce gets and adorable little fighter. And King gets a ring with a version of his emblem made out of feathers.”

“I suppose it shall fall on myself to go next. I made the acquaintance of a man that used to make model robots for a living. While not as polished as something made by Shock, I made mechanized versions of you all, each with an item unique to you. For King however, I got a ring with a version of his emblem made out of fists.”

Alice was still holding back her tears, so Karen grabbed her bag.

“I guess that means I should go next then. First of all, I’ve written a letter for each of you to read when you go home. I knit something for everyone to wear while the cold still lasts, and whenever you might need it. A red scarf for Leo. A yellow hat for Shock. Purple gloves for Psyche. A brown hat for Bruce. A tan scarf for Sora. And a pair of pink earmuffs for Alice. I got King a ring with his emblem made of water on it. Alice are you feeling better now?”

With a sniffle and a wipe at her eyes, Alice looked more composed.

“Yeah, I’m fine Karen… Here’s what I got you guys. For Leo I got Shock to make a pair of headphones that could share the same playlist that King has access to within range. I got Karen a few cookbooks Psyche helped me pick out. For Bruce, Leo helped me test out wrappings that I…gave something extra to make sure they’d protect your hands. I got Sora some hair accessories that Karen helped me pick out that I’ve…added something to. Bruce helped me find some manga that Shock might like. Sora helped me make magic lessons for Psyche that are beginner friendly. I got King a ring with his emblem being on the center of a book.”

“We’ve already discussed that I’ll give you all your gifts later. So now I believe it’s time to give Electra and Mheni their presents.”

“You all got us something?”

“I expected Sergei to do something, but not all of you. You’ll make us feel bad, we didn’t get you anything.”

“Electra your help has been more than we could ask for. As for Mheni-”

“We all just wanted to do something for you. You’ve been like a little sister to all of us.”

“Don’t worry about getting us a gift. Just keep taking care of your brother and we’ll be happy.”

King reached into his bag and produced a laptop.

“We all pitched in to buy the parts. Psyche and I put it together. It should be at least ten times better than the laptop you have now.”

“Wow. I-I don’t know what to say. You guys are the best.”

“For you Mheni, we thought this would be something you’d like. There’s something from each of us on it.”

King handed her a box. When she opened it, Mheni found a necklace, adorned with small pendants representing each of them.

“This is beautiful. Thank you all, so much.”

“Don’t sweat it. We wanted you to know we’ll always be there for you.”

“I’m sure it won’t take you long to figure out what each of us decided to put on there.”

“I think that covers it for gifts, right? The forecast predicted blizzard like conditions. So we should head out.”

“You’re spending the night with the guys at Leo’s, right Sergei?”

“Yeah. All the girls are going to hang out at Psyche’s place.”

“Would you and Mheni like to join us?”

“I wouldn’t want to intrude…”

“Come on, it’ll be fine. We’re not taking no for an answer.”

Without further consideration, Sora grabbed Mheni and pulled her along.

“I’ll see the rest of you later. Enjoy yourselves.”

The rest of the girls departed, leaving the four guys by themselves.

“I wish we didn’t have to patrol tonight. Can’t these Shadows take a break?”

“It would be nice if we could catch a break for Christmas and New Year’s Day.”

“Unfortunately, I doubt the one responsible for the Shadows would be so kind as to let us have a break.”

“Let’s not dwell on that right now. I thought we were going to have fun the rest of the day.”

“Yeah, you’re right! Let’s party guys.”

“It has been a while since I’ve cut loose.”

“Then it’s time for some good times.”

The guys left Junes and braved the cold that had settled on the outside. The next couple of hours pass by with the two groups enjoying each other’s respective company. Some notable events being when Bruce and Leo got into a heated arm wrestling match, and Alice was forced to admit how much she cared about everyone by the rest of the girls. Electra and Mheni had to leave early to get back home and said their goodbyes to the others. When it came time to meet up for the patrol, none of them had heard from Electra.

(Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQHonpNrMMY)

“Any idea what’s holding her up Shock?”

“Maybe she forgot that you haven’t set up communications on her new laptop.”

“My sister’s not dumb. She wouldn’t make a mistake like that. I’m worried about her.”

“As am I. Alice, take Shock and go check on his house. The rest of us will start our patrol. There’s a strange absence of Shadows tonight that I don’t like.”

“Alright, we’ll go check it out. We’ll get there in five minutes or less. Come on Shock.”

With tasks assigned, they split off to complete them. King looked up at the winter sky, finding the moon obscured by the clouds as he took to searching for Shadows. Within four minutes, Alice and Shock had arrived at Shock’s house. When Shock tried to run inside, he was repelled by some invisible force, and knocked into the ground.

“Something stopped me from getting in.”

“I noticed. This could mean anything though.”

“Maybe we can force our way…”

Shock trailed off as he caught something reflecting the light from a streetlight almost buried in the snow. Shock went over and picked the object up, gasping in horror when he realized what it was.

“What did you find?”

Shock could hold up the item so Alice could get a clear look at it.

“Oh no.”

It was the necklace they had given to Mheni only hours before, with a splash of blood covering some of the pendants. The sense of dread Shock was feeling was written plainly on his face. Alice was at a loss for words herself, and was taken aback by the sudden flash of anger in Shock’s eyes as his persona came out on its own.

Something took her and Electra, and whatever it was probably left this here to taunt us. We’re finding her, and bringing her back.”

Before Alice could respond the two of them heard a pair of haughty laughter coming from further down the street. Without a word from either of them, they set off in the direction it was coming from. They came to a halt in front of the offenders and froze in surprise.

Karen? Sora? What are you guys doing here?”

Shock took a step forward and Alice raised her arm in front of him.

“Hold on there mouse. Something’s not right.”

“You are ever the perceptive one Alice. Our master was right to no longer underestimate you.”

“Great, more humanoid Shadows. If your master stopped underestimating us how come these past couple of months there hasn’t been a Shadow that even the mouse couldn’t defeat?”

The two Shadow copies laughed in unison at Alice’s question. The one using Karen’s image continued to speak.

“While you have no information on our master, he’s been collecting information on all of you this entire time. There is nothing that has been done without proper cause.”

“I don’t care about any of that! Where are my sisters?”

“If all Shadows are defeated on this night, then the path to your siblings shall become open. Although…”

(Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4NHU5Sq-zk)

The Shadows both vanished from sight in an instant. Alice grabbed Shock and pulled him back before they could come crashing down on them from above. The Shadow resembling Karen holding a katana made out of pure darkness, and the one resembling Sora possessing a dark aura around its hands.

“Your chances of defeating us are low.”

Alice glared at the two Shadows, pointed her staff, and fired ice magic arrows at them. Instead of dodging, the Shadows simply stood there and allowed the arrows to reach them. Right before coming into contact with the Shadows, the ice arrows were nullified and shattered harmlessly in front of them.

“What?”

Taking advantage of Alice’s surprise, the Shadows closed in for their next attack.

“Shai!”

Shock stepped in front of Alice and blocked Shadow Karen’s sword with his tonfa, and pushed Shadow Sora back with a wind spell from his Persona. Alice got over her confusion and kicked Shadow Karen in the side to stop the clash between sword and tonfa. The Shadows backed away again and looked at them with smug expressions.

“At least we can still hit them.”

“If my magic is useless I’m stuck at your level. And I don’t even have a weapon.”

“I think it’ll be okay. That thing isn’t anywhere near as strong as Karen. We can take them down.”

Shock manifested a ball of lightning in his hands and threw it at Shadow Karen. The Shadow easily dodged it, but was suddenly struck by a tendril from it and unable to move. Shock managed to use instant movement to close the distance and crouched low in front of the Shadow.

“Lightning Uppercut!”

Channeling his chi into his right tonfa, Shock struck the Shadow with a rising uppercut, fist cackling with electricity. Shadow Karen was sent flying into the air, but righted herself and landed on her feet. Shock pressed his offensive on, clashing with the Shadow.

While this was going on, Alice was eyeing Shadow Sora, waiting for her to make a move. Shadow Sora rushed at Alice and attempted to grab her. Alice dodged the Shadow’s hands and delivered a swift kick to her chest, knocking her back. Looking at her staff dejectedly, Alice threw it in the air and sent it elsewhere. With both hands now free, she was ready to fight unhindered.

*                                                          *                                                          *

“Karen-Style Sword Technique: Coiling Sea Serpent Slash!”

Karen passed Leo, slicing him with her sword. From the cut, a small gyarados emerged and wrapped around him, squeezing and binding him.

“Now talk. What have you done to the others?”

“You should pay more attention to those in front of you.”

“GAHH!”

“Sora!”

Karen turned her head to see Sora on the receiving end of a flurry of attacks from a Shadow Bruce. She had taken a couple of hits directly, but still managed to defend herself.

“Karen watch out behi-”

Sora was cut off by a kick to the back from Shadow Bruce, who had managed to get behind her while her focus was elsewhere, and was knocked into a wall. Shadow Leo had opened his mouth and quickly gathered energy before shooting flames at Karen. She gripped her sword and slashed at the flame, water forming where the sword had passed through the air and countering the fire. The resulting steam obscured everyone from vision, and Karen took the time to grab Sora and move back to reassess the situation.

“Are you alright?”

“I’ll be fine. It may look like Bruce, but it doesn’t pack nearly the same punch he does. I was still caught off guard before, won’t happen again.”

“Even if it isn’t them, it’s hard to attack what look like our friends with full force. I hope the others are ok.”

“If anything they’re probably fighting pairs the same way we are. They did say something about being the first trial of the night.”

“We’ll have to save the theories for later, they’ve found us.”

“Running away will get you nowhere. All it does is waste your time to save the girls.”

“Girls…? Wait, what did you do to Mheni and Electra!?”

“If you defeat us you’ll receive a hint.”

“There’s no way in hell we’ll lose now! Let’s go Karen.”

“Right.”

Sora punched her fists together and Karen readied her sword before the two of them ruched the Shadows to resume the battle.

*                                                          *                                                          *

Claws met dark steel as Leo clashed repeatedly with a Shadow King, his eyes alight with anger. During one such clash, he released a stream of fire from his mouth at the Shadow, but the flames missed their mark as the Shadow disengaged and dodged them.

“If you’re going to look like him then at least have half of his power!”

“Regardless of how much power I possess, the fact that you haven’t beaten me yet speaks volumes.”

Leo glared at the Shadow before continuing his assault. Bruce however, was not in the same position. The Shadow Psyche was keeping him from closing the distance with some form of wind manipulation and shooting more concentrated blasts of wind at him. As Bruce dodged the blasts of wind, he had an idea.

“Leo! Give me some assistance.”

At the sound of Bruce’s request, Leo pushed the Shadow King aside and was next to Bruce before one could blink. Understanding the situation, he grabbed Bruce and threw him high into the air. Then, he breathed a wave of fire towards Shadow Pshche before blocking a strike from Shadow King. With the fire obscuring Bruce from view, he jumped in midair to change his trajectory slightly, before coming down hard on the Shadow with an ax kick. The force of gravity was enough to push him through the barrier of wind and let him land the kick cleanly, leaving a small crater underneath Shadow Psyche, who lay in a crumpled heap on the ground. With one Shadow out of the picture, Bruce ran to give his assistance to Leo.

*                                                          *                                                          *

“Wind Scythe!”

A blade of wind cut through the air and narrowly missed Shadow Alice. She responded by sending a wave of fire towards Psyche, that was intercepted and blocked by King.

“This has gone on long enough. We need to end this quickly, and I think I know how. Summon your Persona and follow my lead.”

Psyche nodded and prepared to summon her Persona.

“Khufu!”

“Hecate!”

The two Personas joined hands and pointed at Shadow Alice, and Shadow Shock.

“Smite of the Gods!”

Two gigantic bolts of lightning came crashing down on the two Shadows from the Sky, completely engulfing them. When the attack was finished, both Personas were recalled. Psyche was lightly panting from the effort, but King looked no worse for wear as he walked towards the remains of the Shadows.

“I know you can still reform. Where are Electra and Mheni?”

“When the eight Shadows fall prey to the light, amidst the snow, towards Junes you’ll find your fight.”

Grey wisps of energy flowed from where the Shadows once were and disappeared into the night.

“I don’t like how it just told us where to go. Something isn’t right about this.”

“If you think it’s a trap of some sort you’re probably not wrong. But we don’t have time to waste with this being our only lead. Mheni and Electra are in danger and it’s our fault. Let’s get to Junes quickly. I doubt the others are going to take long to finish their battles.”

“Right behind you.”

*                                                          *                                                          *

“Of course they tell us where we need to go next. As if we aren’t going to expect something’s up.”

“We don’t have a choice Alice, my sisters lives are at stake. We need to get to Junes.”

“I know, I know. We can’t let your family get hurt any more than they already have. There’s my staff.”

Alice’s staff flew through the air towards her and hovered a bit above the ground once it got to her. The two got on the staff and hurried to Junes.

*                                                          *                                                          *

“Figures they wouldn’t really be defeated. Are we ever going to be able to put an end to these things?”

“We can only hope to find a way soon. For now, we have to regroup with the others at Junes.”

“Yeah, Mheni and Electra are waiting for us to save them. Let’s go Karen.”

The two of them wasted no more time, and ran towards Junes.

*                                                          *                                                          *

“You really think Alice and Shock are going to get here first?”

“I believe they have more of a chance than Karen and Sora. Alice can fly pretty fast on her staff.”

Leo and Bruce were standing at the entrance to Junes, or rather, what was supposed to be. Instead of the normal entrance, there was a big, ominous looking, black door. The first pair to join them was Karen and Sora.

“Leo, Bruce, thank goodness you two are alright.”

“No injuries that need healing? I’ve got plenty of energy to use Sophia still.”

“I’m fine. The Shadows we fought weren’t that strong.”

“I am fine as well. How are you two doing? I suspect we may have had the easiest time.”

“It was a piece of cake. I distracted both of them and Karen sliced them with some super cool sword super move.”

“Technique, Sora. And it wasn’t as easy as she’s letting on. While they may not have our strength, these Shadows know how we fight.”

“Looks like you guys are alright.”

Alice and Shock descended from the sky on her staff. Upon landing, Alice pointed towards the door.

“What the heck is that thing supposed to be?”

“Well it looks like a door, so I’d assume it is one.”

“That’s not what I meant lizard.”

“We tried opening it, but despite our efforts, it would not budge.”

“It’s probably waiting for all of us to get here then.”

“My thoughts exactly Shock. When King and Psyche get here we’ll try again.”

“What’s this about Psyche and me?”

Riding on the wind, King and Psyche floated down next to everyone from the sky.

“You kept us waiting.”

“That’s my fault. I wasn’t the best asset in our battle.”

“It doesn’t matter why you took that long. We’re all here, so we need to press forward.”

“Shock’s right. What’s the status on the door?”

“It wasn’t opening when Bruce and I tried. We assumed it was because we all weren’t gathered yet.”

“Then let’s try now.”

After King said this, there was a flash of light from the door, and eight pedestals appeared in front of it. Each had a symbol of the tarot matching one of their arcana.

“What is this, some sort of RPG dungeon?”

“There’s one for each of us…”

“I don’t like where this is going.”

“Same here.”

“We probably have to go to our respective arcana.”

“It’s definitely not just to open the door.”

“I don’t think there’ll be another way. What do we do King?”

 “We don’t have time to overthink this. Let’s see what these pedestals want from us.”

(Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=idRhQsjc28c)

The eight of them stood in front of the pedestal for their arcana and placed their hands on it. There was a grey glow from the tops and the door slowly began to open with a loud groan. They all tried to remove their hands once it started, but found they were stuck fast to the pedestals as grey wisps of energy began to coil around them.

“What’s going o-AAAHHH!”

Alice began to scream in pain, soon followed by the rest of the group as their Personas were forcibly summoned. They were sucked into the pedestals before everyone fell to the ground. They slowly got on their feet as the door finished opening, and a loud laugh was heard by them all.

“That sounded like-”

Before Shock could finish, Mheni and Electra emerged from the door, cloaked in the same grey energy that the Shadows turn into. They looked down upon the group with contempt as the left the doorway.

“Mheni! Electra!”

Electra turned to face Shock and smiled before pointing her hand at him and shooting an ice shard at him. If he hadn’t found the strength to move, it would have gone through his skull.

“Are they Shadows too?”

“No… look at their eyes.”

Upon close inspection, they could find that Electra and Mheni’s eyes were completely grey, with no trace of their pupils to be found.

“What could have happened to them?”

“Whatever it was, I don’t know if we’re in any shape to deal with it.”

“I don’t think we have a choice.”

Mheni looked at the three and grinned sadistically as they were suddenly forced to the ground, leaving imprints on the concrete.

“Guys! Sophia, come out!”

Sora’s plea seem to fall on deaf ears as Sophia would not come out.

“I guess we can’t use our Personas then. Shock, zap Mheni to stop the gravity spell. Alice watch everything that happens. If there’s any sort of weakness I need you to find it. Karen, take on Electra while I go after Mheni.”

Shock had a pained expression on his face as he sent a bolt of electricity at his younger sister. She directed her attention to him and raised a hand to absorb the lightning, letting Leo, Bruce and Psyche get up with the release of the gravity spell. King and Karen moved in to begin a physical assault on their respective targets, but their movements were clearly sluggish. Electra’s hands were set ablaze before she grabbed Karen’s swinging sword and struck her in the chest, knocking the wind out of her. Following up, Electra hit Karen with a jab to the face and a kick to the stomach. King was having no better luck as he was caught off guard by Mheni’s strength and was grabbed and slammed into the ground.

“Shouldn’t you be a better than this?”

“I thought the leader would be an actual challenge.”

Sora got behind Electra and grabbed her, letting Karen back away and preparing for a suplex. Electra’s hand’s stopped burning and before Sora could perform the suplex, her entire body released electrity, shocking Sora and forcing her to let go and back off herself. Bruce had closed in on Mheni to try and free King from her grasp, but was caught himself and was being choked. Psyche sent a wind scythe at Mheni that she didn’t expect and landed a direct hit. Mheni reeled from the blow, and released both King and Bruce from her grasp.

“I wonder…”

Alice formed three ice magic arrows and sent them at Electra. She countered two with bolts of electricity, but the third hit her from behind and caused her to stumble. She shook the effects of the arrow off in a matter of seconds, but it was all Alice needed to see.

“They’ve taken our Personas powers, but they can only use one at a time and take any weaknesses too. Electra’s gone through Karen, Shock and my Personas. Mheni has Psyche and Leo. King and Shock have the same weakness, so Mheni probably has Khufu. Bruce and Leo’s Personas are pretty similar too, so Electra has to have Bruce’s and Mheni Sora’s if they split them evenly.”

Mheni pointed a hand at Alice and began to say something under her breath.

“That’s Sophia!”

King threw a bold of electricity at Mheni and stopped her from casting a spell on Alice. She turned to him and increased the gravity, but before King was forced to taste the pavement, Bruce hit her with a series of punches and kicks. Forced back, Mheni went to grab Bruce again, but got knocked off of her feet by a blast of wind from Psyche.

Electra formed another shard of ice and threw it at Sora, who dodged it while Leo took the opportunity to breathe fire at Electra. While it was only effective for a moment it was all Alice needed to guess what she’d do and bind her with seven wind arrows. She broke free of the binds and dashed towards Alice before being struck by electricity from Shock and forced to a halt.

“Pitiful worms…Wriggling about in futility to the bitter end.”

“I shall let you worms experience what it’s like to be crushed by a higher being!”

Mheni and Electra both retreated towards the door in front of Junes and joined hands.

“Fear and tremble as you face the power of a god!”

“With these powers combined you stand no chance at achieving victory!”

With those declarations made, the ground began to rumble as the two of them were enveloped by the grey energy surrounding them. It formed a sphere that slowly started to increase in size and didn’t stop until it was almost the size of a small house. The energy cleared and what they saw made almost everyone gasp in shock. What was once just Shock’s siblings was now an amorphous, amalgamation of everyone’s Personas, with the bodies of Electra and Mheni fading in and out of view.

“Now kneel before my might!”

The Shadow glowed with a grey aura and sent a wave of energy out from its body. When it reached everyone, they all clutched their heads in pain. It sent out another wave, the pained expressions on their faces got worse. Another, and another and more on top of that one emanated from its body until they were all on the ground, screaming from the pain.

“With you precious Personas in my possession there’s nothing you can do to stop me! I’ve achieved an overwhelming victory.”

(Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iInOetWAg5s)

Unbeknownst to the Shadow, a blue butterfly flew around each of them before settling in front of King. He looked at it questioningly before it flew away and vanished from view. Something about seeing that butterfly gave King the determination the stand up amidst the pain, and look to the others.

“We’re not done yet guys! Not by a long shot. So grit your teeth… bare the pain… and get up!”

“So the leader of the worms has the strength to stand does he? It doesn’t matter if you can stand, there’s no way your little friends can withstand the mental pressure.”

“Sh…Shut it…”

“We’re not… as weak as you might think…”

“I’m not stopping… until my sisters are safe…”

“I’m not…beaten so easily…”

“It seems…like you’ve miscalculated…”

“It take more than this…to stop us.”

“A dirty trick like this….shows your weakness…”

Everyone else slowly stood up, signs of pain still evident on their faces, but overshadowed by their determination. The Shadow sent out another wave, but they refused to falter, and remained standing.

“So…do we have a plan?”

“Standing up…is all I can do.”

“I can’t…move either.”

“I want…to save them.”

“Can we…do anymore?”

“Surely…we can manage.”

“I can’t…give up.”

Shock was able to take a shaky step forward and channel a bit of his inner electric current, causing sparks to appear around him. Leo blew a puff of smoke from his nostrils and took a step forwards as well. Everyone found the strength for a single step, looking up at the Shadow defiantly.

“You’re less like worms and more like cockroaches. Just stay down and die!”

An arm formed from the Shadow, holding a sword of shadow and swung it down on them. To the Shadows surprise it met with resistance. King, Karen, Leo and Shock all pushed against the sword and kept it from crushing them. The Shadow bellowed in rage and applied more force to the blade, causing the four of them to begin to buckle underneath its weight. Out of the corner of his eye, King spotted Leo’s Persona in the center of the Shadow, no longer fading in and out like the rest.

“Leo! Call out to your Persona!”

“But…he’s gone.”

“Trust me!”

“…Alright”

Leo closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“Odysseus! Come forth!”

(Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJc1Kx0gkPo)

Nothing seemed to happen at first, but the weight of the Shadows sword began to wane. Behind Leo, was Odysseus, pushing against the Shadow’s sword with his own. Together, they all pushed the Shadow’s blade back, Odysseus handling the final push himself.

“You damn pests! I grow tired of your continued struggle. Burn to ash!”

The Shadow formed two more hands and raised them to the sky. A ball of earth was starting to form above it, and it was suddenly set alight with fire.

“Have a taste of Meteor Crush!”

The Shadow launched the meteor down at them, Leo sending Odysseus to hold it off, but clearly fighting a losing battle.

“Hecate! Return to me!”

“Agneyi! Your power is mine!”

Odysseus was soon helped by Agneyi and Hecate, stopping the meteor and sending back at the Shadow.

“Just die!”

The Shadow grew multiple arms and began to rapidly punch at the three liberated Personas.

“Anhur! Return to me!”

Anhur added his spear to the defense, and the four Personas managed to cut down and burn the hands that had sprouted. The Shadow screamed in pain and tried to heal itself in response.

“Sophia! Grant me your wisdom!”

The Shadow’s healing was left incomplete as everyone was showered in a healing light from the newly freed Sophia. In anger the Shadow summoned a torrent of ice shards to rain on them without end. Agneyi kept a wall of fire over the group as Hecate slowed the decent of the shards that reached them.

“Cleopatra! Come back to me!”

The torrent of ice soon came to a stop as Cleopatra took her rightful position behind Karen. The Shadow was desperate and as the winds started shifting Shock didn’t waste any time.

“Shai! It’s time to come back!”

As quickly as they began to stir, the winds died down. The Shadow had lost most of its mass, now no bigger than a van, and displaying Khufu, Electra and Mheni clearly.

“I’ll…I’ll…”

King was about to call his Persona back, when it shot out of the Shadow and was covered in a blinding light. When the light cleared, it was no longer Khufu that was in front of them.

“Narmer, I call upon your power!”

The rings on Kings fingers began to glow, along with Mheni’s necklace that was in Shock;s pocket, as Narmer gathered power, and smote the Shadow with lightning. It slowly dissipated afterwards, leaving Mheni and Electra relatively unharmed on the ground. Like always, wisps of grey energy flowed away as the remnants of the Shadow left the area and the black door faded away.

(Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFTbH43n77Q)

“Mheni! Electra!””

Shock ran towards his siblings, nearly tripping on his way there. He looked them over to find they had no visible injuries besides a few scratches. The rest of the group made their way over to the unconscious siblings at a slower pace.

“Mission accomplished, right guys? Ow my head.”

Sora’s attempt at acting cheerful was cut short by the fact that they had all been through a lot and it caught up to her.

“Let’s save that for after we get these two home.”

“And maybe when we aren’t running on fumes.”

“Fine with me.”

“Who’s carrying them back to Shock’s house? I don’t have any magic left.”

“Leo, Karen, are you two able to carry them?”

“I think I can push out some last reserves of strength.”

“I’ll find it within myself to carry one of them.”

“Allow me to help. It’ll be easier if we work together.”

“So the four of us then? Let’s get going before one of us passes out.”

Leo and King lifted Electra off of the ground with a bit of strain, but didn’t waver under her weight. Bruce and Karen followed suit with Mheni, and the eight of them slowly made their way through the snow. Before they were clear of Junes, one last strand of grey energy flowed through the air and passed by them all, whispering:

“The last battle between us shall come in February. I’ll have all the power I need to deal with you…”

The eight of them couldn’t continue the conversation after hearing that, so the rest of the trek to Shock’s house was made in silence. They managed to sneak into the house unnoticed and laid the two girls in their respective beds. Shock placed Mheni’s necklace on her desk and saw everyone off, opting to stay home and watch his sisters. The rest split into the groups from the parties they had earlier and went to the respective houses they were expected to be at. When the next day arrived, they all slept through most of it and spent the last of Christmas Eve at Shock’s house.

“I still can’t believe we passed out in front of the house. It wasn’t even that late.”

“I told you to just rest for the rest of the day Electra.”

“And miss the pre-Christmas party? You’re crazy. Besides, Mheni’s helping mom make cookies so I’m bored.”

Shock obviously hadn’t divulged what happened to Mheni, but he also chose not to tell Electra as well. Instead, opting to tell both sisters that they just passed out on the way back home due to the weather. Electra really didn’t buy it, but she had no choice but to trust her brother on it.

“What type of cookies are we talking about?”

“Chocolate chip.”

“Those sound like my kind of cookies. I’m gonna go help too.”

“Don’t burn anything while you’re there.”

“How about you come too and make sure I don’t.”

“I’m not really-”

“No arguing. We’re making cookies with Mheni.”

Sora grabbed Karen and dragged her towards the kitchen.

“Those two are quite the pair.”

“Indeed.”

“They need to work on their comedy routine.”

The conversation stayed light and animated throughout the rest of the day, but there was an undeniable air of tension between the eight Persona users. Wondering what the future was holding in store, they did their best to return to their lives as normal to lessen the weight of the anticipation of the final battle.