186Black glass flew around me as Orpheus materialised.
"THOU ART I!"
The Black glass rushed around the Persona, strengthening it according to my will.
"AND I AM THOU!"
I was beyond angry. I was here to slaughter.
"FROM THE BRINK OF DESPAIR I SUMMON THEE!"
The glass moulded around Orpheus, creating black, beetle like armour.
The armour extended down the forearm, making the entire elbow downwards an enormous spike.
"THOU ART HOLLOW!" I roared. "I MAKE THEE WHOLE!"
I roared with Orpheus as the black mask rose to cover his face.
His rage was my rage, his bloodlust my bloodlust, his eyes were my eyes.
My fist was his spike.
I lunged forward with the right spike, but the Lovers swooped left to dodge. I stabbed the ground next to Junpei then dragged him aside as I stabbed the roof above where he was, making a hole in the ceiling.
"Uh.. wha… What The Hell!" Good, Junpei's awake. I stabbed into the falling rubble, but I missed the Shadow yet again.
"Dude, what the hell's going on?"
~ Minato-kun's Projecting! You need to stop him! ~
"Projecting?" Junpei looked scared, "Shinjiro-senpai didn't say anything about this!"
I ignored him as I stabbed forward again, trying to find the Shadow. ~ I don't know what the black substance is, but Minato-kun thinks that he's Orpheus now! ~
Thinks?
I AM ORPHEUS AND HE IS I.
I looked up. There's the son of a bitch. I lifted my spikes into the air.
"Ragnarok" I said, casting the spell for the first time in an age.
The flames were immense: A pillar of flames stabbed straight through the Shadow, making it scream.
Oh, it deserved to suffer.
I strode forward out of the hotel, bringing down any wall that dared get in my way. Jumping down to street level, I saw the Lovers hit the ground. I ran for it.
"MINATO! STOP!"
WOAH, hold it. About to run off a bridge ledge there. "Thanks Yukari." I said, then jumped.
"MINATO!"
I landed in a roll and a brothel got its front wall knocked down. Orpheus got back up in time to block a huge Holy Arrow, parrying it to stab into the roasted Shadow. Come to think of it, I thinking from the complete glimpse I saw before re-entering Orpheus, he looked a lot like Zearth from Bokurano.
If that's the case…
I rested one spike against each wing, pinning the Shadow in place, and I rammed my knee into it. WHAM! WHAM! WHAM! It was full of liquid so it didn't take much damage, but the lovely couple had lost the mood by now. Good. I headbutted the Shadow.
"SCREEEE!" Hey, I have a horn now. Pink Slime gushed out of the wound, the two lovers scrambled to stop themselves from washing from the deflating sides of the Shadow by the stream. I rammed Orpheus's knee into the now half emptied sack of flesh that wasn't so tough now, was it? The man and the woman were thrown around inside of the Lovers womb, helpless against my power.
Then a huge spike came from the bottom of the heart shaped Shadow, emptying its insides of the Shadow's and whatever fluid remained. The spike dug deeper and deeper, widening like a tree trunk.
Wait, isn't the Lovers represented by a tree?
SMACK! One of the two Shadows smashed Minato's face, bringing me back into my own body. I span back and squished its skull in a single punch, and I caught my reflection in a shop window.
A white mask was forming over my face as I continued to fuse with Orpheus. Good, this'll make me stronger-WHAT?
My left hand had grabbed the mask, and the mask was growing over my fingers. I tried to move my hand, but it wouldn't do what I wanted.
Then the dark blue lines crept up my hand, sliding over my fingers. The mask immediately fell away, and the lines started growing up my face.
I do not trust these lines. They looked similar to the tattoo Elizabeth gave me…
Which was now gone. I looked back at myself, and my eyes flashed, now turning gold.
Wait…
…My primal desires?
This is…
…I want pain?
So that's what happened?
… Let me return you to that bliss...
My own Shadow, the one inside my head, is self-aware and can control my body.
I saw both of the two lovebirds come at me from behind in the reflections. Without even looking behind me, I backhanded smashed them, Man in the right hand and Woman with the left. Both melted and did not get back up.
Seems my Shadow likes kicking ass just as much as I do.
"The hell is this!"
I turned around.
Shinji? "What are you doing here?" I asked.
"What are you doing smashing up a street?"
I didn't get to answer, since I was busy dodging a big spike aimed for my head. "That thing started it." I said, pointing.
"Right." he nodded. "And what's with the warpaint?"
"No idea, but I'm rolling with it." Second part was true.
"Tch." he grunted. "Where's Aki?"
"Inside, unconscious." I shrugged.
"That idiot!" Shinji hissed, a disappointed look on his face as he lazily dodged an attack. "This thing do it?"
"Sorta." I said. "It likes to mind control."
"So who's left?" he asked. Good, he missed the implication.
"You and me, but I can handle it."
Suddenly, a whole field of Shadow people rose from the ground. These ones had features though, but since so many of them were naked, half undressed, or in fetish wear, I'm guessing that they're the local Lost.
"You sure?" Shinji asked.
I shrugged. "Well, might be tough if one more shows up."
"Tch." Shinji grinned. "Then that'll be the one I take care of."
"Wait, you're fighting too?" I asked as he sized up a stop sign.
He snapped the pole in one stamp. "I ain't gonna watch and let my friend die zombie food." He said, picking it up and swung it. "You ready?"
"Fuuka! Count us in!" Pharos whispered something before leaving. "And keep count of who kills the most!"
I opened my hands into claws, and black flames exploded onto them.
"Tch." Shinji grunted, hiding his smile. "Whatever, runt."
~ Um… On the count of three? ~ Fuuka hesitantly suggested.
"THREE!" we both shouted, charging into the horde.
Bodies hit the floor. I sliced through them like burning hands through something melty, while Shinji smashed his way through like a guy swinging a stop sign.
Both very accurate metaphors.
~ You're half way through them! ~
"Yeah, but who's winning?" I shouted, tearing a Shadow's head off.
~ Uh, what? ~
Sigh, "Fine." I decided. "Whoever kills that sunovabitch gets a bajillion points."
"Tch." Shinji grunted. "Like I care."
He said that, but I could see the flicker of a smile on his face.
I knew it. He lived for this, he just needed someone to kick his head in so he could realise it.
I got back to the goal in hand. The tree started glowing with pink spikes. ~ It's going to summon more Shadows! ~
"Kid. You got a thunder Persona?" Shinji asked.
"Uh, Yeah, Take-Mikazuchi, why?"
"Summon it." he ordered. "We're doing a Mix Raid."
That when two people work together to make a fusion summon?
Okay, then… the fire died as I switched Persona.
"TAKE-MIKAZUCHI!"
"CASTOR!"
BL-BLAM
Thunder stabbed into the tree from the Thunder god's sword. The very same instant, Castor rode his uni-unicorn's horn into the very same hole, causing it to spark again or something because Zionga should not have shot out of every single pink glowy orifice that tree had. We were surrounded by screams as the Shadow zombies collapsed into nothingness, and the Lovers into a Mask.
"You want it?" Shinji asked.
"Hold on." I said, grabbing it and running back over to the hotel. The hole on the top floor was pretty massive. I ran up the side of the wall for a few steps then clambered up the side.
Once I climbed through the hole, the tattoos began fading. Everyone was conscious, but too wounded to heal each other. I put the Evoker to my head. "Cadenza!"
BLAM
Orpheus came out of my head, alone. However, I whistled the other part of the duet. Everyone started to get their energy back, and I fell to my knees.
"I'm sorry…" I told everyone. "I… I know I was being controlled, but, still…"
"It's cool." Akihiko laughed. "Charmed you is a Douche."
I smiled. "Was I really that bad?"
"Dude, you were freaking torturing us!" Junpei laughed.
I will fucking kill that Shadow when I get my hands on it.
"I'm sorry…" I said. "Hey, I brought it back alive." I threw the Lovers mask onto the floor. "Thought you guys might want to take your vengeance on that first before kicking my arse."
A brown boot crushed it before anyone could step forward.
"Shinji?" Akihiko asked in disbelief. "Wha-what are you doing here?"
"Cleaning up your mess, as usual." He said, looking at everyone. "Emo Git messed you all up pretty bad, huh?" So he did get the implication.
"Um, I'm sorry everyone!" Fuuka shouted as she ran into the room. "He, he just came in and, I thought that since he helped us, then…"
"It's alright Yamagishi." Mitsuru explained. "This is Shinjiro Aragaki. He is… was a member of S.E.E.S."
"WHAT?"
Oh, right, Fuuka and Yukari didn't know. Those things do tend to slip the mind...
"Thanks Shinji…" Akihiko said with relief. "I owe you one."
"Tch…" Shinji leant against the wall. "Is my old room still available?"
Oh, yeah, I told you so.
"Wait, you… you want to come back?" Mitsuru asked in shock.
"I needed time to think, and I thought about it." Shinji grunted. "There a problem with that?"
Akihiko laughed slightly "No, no not at all." He grabbed Shinji's wrist. "Good to have you back."
You might be wondering what we did to cover our mess back at the hotel. Let's just say it involved a minor gas leak and a broken wire to safely destroy the evidence. When the electricity comes back on as soon as the dark hour ends, the spark will activate the gas: destroying that room and shaking all of the others. The shockwaves would also affect some of the other buildings, so we covered all of our tracks.
I am a genius at doing that.
How did we celebrate our victory? With Thai food, of course. I footed the bill this time, which would have been a punishment if I wasn't… you know.
And I gotta say, doing a full assault like we did tonight against the Hierophant and the zombie army? So much fun. We're gonna do that again sometime.
Shinji moved right back into the dorm that night, said that he'd grab his stuff from his standard student dormitory the next day. Mitsuru said that he had to start coming back to classes though, if he was rejoining S.E.E.S., to which he said "Tch." Shinji likes that word. Tch.
I like it too.
Kinda like "Meh", only much more badass.
There's just one more thing left to take care of before I sleep well tonight.
I stood in the wet and windy moors of my mind, and then I found him.
There's the bastard.
He looks just like me, only a little taller. He has black hair cut to short-back-and-sides, and he's in a suit.
"You." I snarled.
He stood up, looking at me with those yellow eyes of his.
"Stay the hell out of my body." I warned him, bringing up the dark flames around my hand. "Or I will kill you."
He looked at me, then smirked, raising a hand.
White particles formed around him, creating a massive gun-
That's a Bolter from Warhammer.
"You do realise that I am you, right?" my Shadow told me. "I am Minato Arisoto."
"Whatever, just keep watching me like you do." I warned it. "And if you ever, ever, interfere with my actions again, I will end you."
The bastard nodded.
"Kill for the living and kill for the dead, right?" It asked, and I left.
-}+{-
Gasp. Shocker.
Oh yes. Those who read the original Fairly English Story will find this much more interesting now.
Rebuild, just to Tear It Apart. Then I Rebuild.
Admit it. I am awesome.
Know what else is awesome?
Minato means port. So does Marina.
And now, for the Situation.
I'm ending it here.
I've got my point across, all that needs to be learnt for the moment has been learnt.
See For Every Soul to continue learning more.
