Walking along agricultural fields that would have belonged in Nishiawakura, the Hakone Caravan plus Kurosawa slowly made their way towards the billowy boundary of the fog; the way its edges curled and flowed like clouds, yet remained stationary was...unnerving. "You kids stick close with us, okay?" cautioned Misato.
Everyone nodded.
Kurosawa, Ryuji, and Misato led the way, followed by Mana, Shinji, Kensuke, Toji, Mayumi, and Ren at the rear. They crossed the threshold...(
felt the shift)...and emerged into a warzone.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6jR0vxlRNw
"Holy
geez-!" yelped Toji, enunciating everyone's exact sentiments; through the yellow haze still dominated off in the distance, the outline of Tokyo-2's downtown area could be seen amidst the fog; the red and black sky of the Metaverse could be seen above, as through a glass darkly; most importantly, however, were the shadowy beasts that moved about, snarling and moaning with myriad forms. Their colored masks seemed quite distinctive, standing out amidst the haze; even so, the sounds of combat could be heard from afar, brightening the area with numerous attacks that signified Persona activity. "What the hell is all this?!"
"It's like one gigantic Realm," murmured Misato. "And all these shadows are like the thoughtbeasts that emanate within...the masks look distinctive enough...!"
"This is beyond us," growled Kurosawa. "Back out.
Now."
No one complained, anxiously retreating through the threshold. Once they emerged back into the open air, the adults impulsively reached for their phones...only to pause. "...weren't we about to call someone...?" asked Ryuji aloud.
"Why would we? It's just fog...an unusual weather pattern, but..." Kurosawa trailed off, looked utterly perturbed. "Oh...something
insidious is happening."
"...I'm not sure what it is, but I can't help but agree," murmured Misato, warily slipping her phone back into her pocket.
Shinji leaned in towards Kensuke. "Who were they about to call?"
"I don't know," answered Aida with a shrug.
"...maybe we should head back into the cloud?" suggested Mayumi, looking nervously at the fog.
With nothing better in mind, they all crept back in...and once they passed through, their minds were enlightened. "Oh, that's
mean," murmured Kensuke, looking at the threshold behind them. "Your description of this thing as a 'Not My Problem' Field was pretty spot-on, Yamagishi-san."
"The moment we left the fog, all thoughts of everything within it were reduced to nothing," observed Kurosawa, arms crossed with frustration. "No wonder there's been no serious attempts at trying to warn people that something's happened with the capital; to outsiders, this is just a bit of stubborn fog..."
"So what do we do?" asked Mana, already unleashing LABRYS and AIGIS. "How would we even get rid of this fog?"
"We'll need to head for the city's collection of MAGI," said Kurosawa, gazing off to the north. "They're stationed in a facility underneath the JSSDF base at Camp Matsumoto, about six klicks north-northwest of our position. Any resolution of this anomaly will likely have to be done there."
"...in that case, I'm gonna head to the A.T. Task Force Headquarters," said Ryuji, tapping his cane for emphasis. "The Commissioner will be able to give us a sitrep, because there's no
way he'd have sat any of this out."
"Then I'll head out to Matsumoto Castle. That's where this region's Cognitive Protection Center will be located...and I'll take down any monstrosities along the way." Looking over her shoulder, Misato added, "Mana-chan, you'll be with me. Just rip and tear at anything that's not human."
Mana snorted, a grin impulsively coming to her face. "Fine by me."
"In which case, I'll take Ikari-san and Yamagishi-san with me," said Kurosawa, drawing both teens' attention. "Based on your recollections, Yamagishi-san's Persona has the capacity for insight and observation; it might be necessary. And Ikari-san...you'll be an ace in the hole, in the event of anything unexpected."
...at least he's not that hostile. Shinji would take what he could get. "I guess that means Kensuke and Suzuhara-san will be going with Sakamoto-san?"
"That was the plan," said Ryuji.
"...what about me?" asked Ren, raising his hand.
"You're the civvie. You're walking back outside." Ryuji accompanied his abrupt order with a pointed look.
Ren snorted, seemingly irritated by the command. "Fine. I know when I'm not wanted...I'll just be outside, working on my tan." With an about-face, the high school student disappeared into the threshold of the fog.
"Cocky little sonovagun, ain't he?" mused Misato.
Once everyone who had a Persona summoned theirs, Shinji caught Toji and Kensuke's attention. "Um...I wanna try something. Could you hold out your weapons?"
"...don't see why not," said Kensuke, whilst Toji simply shrugged.
As the former held out his Pearl Phoenix crossbow, and the latter his gnarled staff of black wood, Shinji felt that odd little tingle in the back of his head.
Right...so this is what Mister Igor meant. He touched both weapons...and with a sudden flicker of blue flames, they transformed.
"WHOA!" yelped Kensuke, looking at his crossbow in bewilderment. The metal was now a deep red, and the bow was contorted to evoke the shape of a crescent moon. "What the hey?!"
"I made that from a Sandman," he explained. "I think it goes by the name of
Naptime Bolter." Looking at Toji, he added, "and that
Seven Star Stick was made from a Berith."
"...I guess?" said Toji with a confused blink, looking at his transformed staff with a befuddled expression; it was now a strong yet flexible rod, fit for the art of
baguazhang. Giving it an experiment wiggle, the jock seemed satisfied. "Thanks. I think."
"...I'm sorry, but did I just hear that you made new weapons for their cognitive self-image...using
Archetypes?" spurted Misato.
"Y...Yes?" sheepishly admitted Shinji. "Is that a bad thing?"
Kurosawa seemed
very unamused. "I suppose that's just one more oddity about your powers that will have to be tested. But enough of that for now; we have work to do."
"Stay on your toes, kids!" commanded Ryuji, pumping his fist into the air. "And keep your eyes open!"
Everyone, sans Mana, summoned their Personas; Kurosawa and Mayumi hunkered on Titan's shoulders as Shinji commanded him to walk; Toji and Kensuke stood with Sakamoto on Seiten Taisei's cloud; and Misato, Mana, and Tokoyo simply took off running to the north. Thus did they split up, each with their own mission.
xx
Not even sixty seconds after they left, Ren Amamiya stepped back into view, having hidden within the threshold...but without crossing it. "I know you're trying to keep me out of trouble Ryuji," murmured Ren, knowing that Sakamoto was the only person who had actually seen his cognitive powers in action, "but I've got things to do as well." As it was, he could sense the presence of two old Confidants within Tokyo-2; one was in the direction that Ryuji had gone, so he could leave that one to them...but another was situated in a different part of the downtown area.
So long as they're still alive...I have to take a chance. With a nonchalant motion, Ren pulled out the familiar domino mask of paper mache out of his backpack...and with a theatrical flourish, Joker's path was set.
Time to stage a rescue, he thought with a confident smirk.
Thus did the Phantom Thief take off, disappearing like a bandit into the mist.
