#The Full Moon Paradox - P3 Verse;

[webbedphantom]

"... I'm sorry, she has an arranged WHAT!?!?"

[webbedphantom]

"... I was talking about the franchise-"

To be fair, it's usually called "Like a Dragon." Your western influence is showing by calling it "Yakuza."

"I had literally just mentioned movies, why is that so hard to-??"

"Y'know what? Nevermind."

"Point is, I can your future self in a fight. You minus 10 years of experience ain't got nothing on me."

And it was that fact alone, something he had to remind himself of due to still not fully having accepted the whole time travel thing, that made his bravado real. Present Day Noboru was a challenge, but this guy? A guy who didn't even know all the tricks he had up his sleeve? Piece of cake.

"And for the last time, I'M NOT IN LOVE WITH HER!!"

"Even if I was, I'm a time. traveler! I don't belong here!! If I end up going back home, which as soon as I finish what I came here for is what I'm gonna try to do, there goes that relationship!"

"And I'm not the type to woo a girl and leave her in the dust the next day! I'm a gentleman, not some jock trying to wrack up a body count-!!"

... You know he's going to misunderstand that-

"I don't shocking care, he can think what he wants!!"

"Oh, I know lots of Yakuza. Most of them have the good sense to be terrified of me though. But I'm on a first name basis with some of the heads." Not something he should just say, really.

"Anyway, I can tell you're strong. If you know me in the future, then I'm probably even stronger. Which means that I would be able to fight you without holding back now, right?"

"I assume that this isn't false bravado that you are putting on in order to impress Mitsuru and win her heart?"

[webbedphantom]

Eras in Error

[ @caramialunaestelle continued from here ]

"Your father..."

Oh... shit.

Her Dad hadn't died yet. Maybe he could stop it from happening-? But could he?? He didn't know how he died, only that he did. And that's not even considering that he was in the past, and who knows what sort of chain reaction saving him could cause-

... then again, he'd already changed the past by being here, so either he was in a new branch or he was always meant to go back here, so-

'GOD, time travel is so confusing!'

"It's... complicated. My dad did experiments with spider venom and Metaverse-whosamawhatzits to create a serum that was supposed to allow people to connect with their Personas harmlessly, as a sorta mental health treatment. But it was never finished because it was super deadly, and uhhh-"

And he died... A few months ago if he remembered correctly. It was a little jarring thinking about it now, but around this time he was just a kid, sulking around his aunt's house, moving from day to day like a zombie, wondering if there was anything he could've done to save them.

'... and yet the answer is still no...'

"A-anyways, I snuck into his lab last year got bit by one of the spiders, knocked over some of the serum onto me, and gave myself super powers. So it was... somewhat forced? But more like an accident-"

"The costume is a sort of cognitive defense system, if that makes sense. It protects my identity, helps me resist most forms of mind control, keeps my heart from being distorted by other cognitive beings- basically, just keeps anything from letting me stay me."

"Could be a serum thing, could be a situational thing, I'm not really sure. All I know is I, and everyone else who's been exposed to the serum and lived, gets one when they get their powers. Plus it looks cool as hell, so I'm not complaining."

He didn't think he needed to hide any of the details. He knows he can trust her. He just... wanted to hold off on the whole "time traveler" thing until he'd gotten her trust... and figured out how to even broach the subject without sound insane-

"Okay, my turn... What's up with that... swamp gas tower making the sky all green? Why were you all running around in there like you owned the place??"

"And why in the shock is there an extra hour of the day that replaces everybody with coffins??"

[webbedphantom]

So, since I've been doing some stuff with it recently, I think it's time I gave a vague summary of my new Persona 3 verse. And yes, it does involve time travel.

Some Persona 3 Spoilers ahead, so it's going under the thing

Basically, at some point my AU has its own Infinity War moment, where Aaron's team has to team up with all the previous Persona casts (with a big focus on the P3 cast for reasons that'll be obvious in a sec) to stop Thanos and his Black Order from using the... cognitive mcguffins I haven't fully developed yet, to free Nix from the seal to finish what she started.

They manage to stop Thanos by the skin of their teeth and even manage to free Minato/Kotone (both are canon to this AU, but I haven't decided on which one got sealed yet), but one of his Order, Proxima Midnight, uses the last mcguffin to travel back to 2009 to kill Kotone/Minato to prevent Nix from ever being sealed.

Obviously, they can't allow that. So, everyone works together with the Velvet Room to send Aaron through the Sea of Souls after Proxima to save the timeline. And it's only Aaron, because... reasons I haven't fully settled on yet-

There's a little more to it than that, mainly a big twist saved for the end, but I wanna leave it a surprise for anyone else who wants to write in it. Once that twist has been revealed, I'll make a part two to this explaining everything else I got in mind.

[webbedphantom]

Displaced

[@samayo-tamashi continued from here]

There's a cliche in movies where a person hears something so shocking that the entire world seems to just... stop for a moment. A few seconds stretching on into hours as their brain struggles to process the information.

Some people might naively assume such a thing isn't real, whereas others might think it's real but just assume that it would never happen to them.

Aaron was in a weird middle ground. He'd had this happen three times before, two of which had only occurred within the last year. Yet because of that, he'd assumed he was immune from having to ever experience such a thing again. After all, he'd been through more than his fair share of impossible feats, and there was very little about his past left to surprise him.

Needless to say... finding out he'd somehow been sent over ten years into the past..? That was quite possibly the worst case of it he'd ever experienced-

"2009!?!?"

He froze up, gripping his head tightly as he desperately tries to hold onto his sanity.

It didn't make any sense. He didn't remember anything that could've lead to him being sent back in time, no super powerful villains, no strange dimensional portals; Heck he'd fought nothing but common thugs the last few days, SO HOW THE HELL DID THIS HAPPEN???

And yet he couldn't deny that this wasn't his time. The technology was old, the location unfamiliar, nobody had ever heard of him despite being in the news every other day for the past year, and most damning of all... Mitsuru, the woman whose agency had hunted him down last summer before forcing him into her employ, now looked about his age. He'd brushed it off before, assuming it had something to do with that... Dark Hour stuff, but now...

If he wasn't wearing his costume right now, he'd have fallen into a full blown panic attack, its usual cognitive benefits being all he had to cling to right now.

"That... explains a lot-" he says finally, voice somewhat shaken but doing his best to hide it. He was a superhero after all. He had to keep up appearances, for his own sake if nothing else.

"... Not that it makes much of a difference. Doubt you'd believe me anyway-"

Because seriously, who would? Even he didn't believe it, and he was living it.

[webbedphantom]

"I could say the same to you-" He replied quickly, almost cutting her off but not quite. "I can't exactly let the brains of this troop pass out from blood loss."

But any complaints either of them had of the other's help seemed forgotten as they stared into each others eyes, the world around them faded for a moment as she leaned into him... but that serenity all came crashing back to reality as the fight raged on.

This is hardly the time for this, Aaron- His Persona chastised in his head. He might've been healed and reenergized, but he was hardly back in top form.

'I know.'

He quickly got to his feet, rising to meet her gaze. "Yeah. Always."

Still, if they were going to take this thing down, they'd need a plan. They'd thrown so much at the beast, yet it still seemed unfazed. They'd need something that hit a bit harder. Something like-

He looked behind them and noticed the Reaper's revolver still resting against the wall.

"I think I got an idea-" He said, reaching down to his belt to pull out two curse cartridges (he'd kinda spent most of his energy healing Mitsuru, and he'd need a LOT of webbing for this), before rolling down his sleeves to insert them into his bracelets. "-but it's gonna take some teamwork."

As soon as his spare webs were loaded, he reached back down to his belt to pluck the baseball sized sphere of blue and white energy from its center and placed it gently on the ground.

"Leader, I'm going to borrow Aigis for a sec." He continued, already getting into that flow state he'd used with his own team, or whenever he knew just what to do with a project he was working on. The issue was... letting everyone in on the plan without taking up too much time. "Mitsuru, if you have the stamina for it, I need you freeze that thing solid."

He then moved over to the oversized revolver, pulling out the chamber until he found what he was looking for. An unused bullet.

"We're gonna give that creep a taste of his own medicine~"

It sounded crazy, but so did most things he said. They were just going to have to trust that he knew what he was talking about.

"Don't overwork yourself," She chastised, her voice hoarse from pain. "Just let me do this for you."

She watched as he chugged the tea back, ignoring the ghastly wails from the Reaper as Junpei managed to land a critical hit. She was barely paying much attention to the fight, her focus was solely on Aaron.

And of course it was, her heart skipped a beat every time she looked at him, she felt safe around him, and she considered him her closest friend. Even more so than Akihiko or Shinjiro. And as Aaron pulled her closer, using his own magic to heal her in turn, she gazed into his eyes and realized what exactly this feeling was.

Love.

She leaned into his touch, eyes fluttering shut and lips parting before a shout for help brought her back to reality. A flush of pink rose on her cheeks as she pushed away from the Spider, rising to her feet again to return to battle.

She reached for her evoker again, pulling the trigger and letting Penthesilea blast a wave of ice across the battlefield again. The Reaper managed to take the hit, falling back for a moment.

"Glad to finally have you back," Akihiko called out. "Now can one of you hit this thing where it hurts?!"

Mitsuru turned to look back at Aaron, determination on her features. "Ready for round two?"

[webbedphantom]

"Ah, right-" he replied softly. "Y'know, you'd think I'd know what pairs best with wine by now, after dating you for five years-"

His voice had a hint of a laugh behind it, something he only seemed to ever have with her these days. Despite all his efforts, all his successes with his division of the company, she was about the only thing left that brought him joy anymore.

Everything else was just a means to pass the time.

"The research is coming along fine. It's the development side I'm concerned about-"

He groaned, brushing his hand through his hair as his mind went back to his findings from before... assuming it had ever really left. "Proving something can be done is one thing, making sure it's done right is another."

'If it even should be done at all-'

"But the assistants are doing fine. Heck, I'm not even the one pushing them. The team's just gotten such a reputation over the past few years that they're all just eager to prove themselves. Especially Fujiwara."

He could see why though. Akio Fujiwara was clearly very passionate about his work, and wanted to revolutionize prosthetics worldwide. Project Kairos was basically built for stuff like that. If he could prove his worth here, he'd be able to work directly with the Kirijo Group to achieve his dream on an unparalleled scale.

There was of course, the hiccup that was his inevitable accident in the top levels of ShidoCorp Tower, something he had originally hoped to prevent before... last week.

Now it was all he could do to encourage the poor man to achieve what he could... before he lost his mind.

"You never do stop working, do you?" He teased, finally having gotten to his car and transferring the call to its speakers. "Though I suppose it is my job to make sure my workaholic fiancee takes breaks every now and then. I'll have to pick up the slack."

He began making his way out of the parking garage, setting his GPS to the restaurant she'd mentioned to go pick up their meal.

"Speaking of which, how have you been doing in that department? Have you been taking time to yourself lately? I know running a business and planning a wedding are a lot of work, but like you said, you gotta stoke the fire if you don't want it to burn out."

"Sushi?" She repeated, glancing at the clock on the wall. "No, seafood and red wine don't pair well together. I'll place an order for Waygu steak from that restaurant we went to for Takeba's birthday last year. I'll pay you back when you get here."

Mitsuru leaned back in her seat, tapping a button on the landline phone on her desk and dialling the number for the steakhouse they'd visited the year prior. After a short interaction where she ordered and stated Akira would be picking it up, the call ended and her attention was back to him.

"How is your research coming along, mon amour~?" She asked. "I hope you're not working those assistants of yours too hard." She paused, eyes lighting up as if a lightbulb went off in her head. "Ah, I forgot to add Fujiwara and your other assistants to the guest list! Let me do that now."

She leaned over the notebook she had scribbled a bunch of names and addresses into - a makeshift list of potential guests to invite to the wedding. The only names missing were the aforementioned employees and those involved in the wedding party.

"I'm sorry, I should wait until we're together in person to talk about the wedding."

[webbedphantom]

He stood alone in the command center for a good few minutes, his mind replaying their entire conversation in his head.

Had he already screwed things up? Gone too far with his assumptions and pushed away one of the only friends he had in this time? Sure, he was trying to protect her from going through what Haru did... or will go through in about 10 years (he's really starting to hate time travel), but this was a different time. He can't just assume everyone is on the same page when they're reading from two completely different books.

What's more, she was right! He didn't know her fiancé, he didn't know many people at all around here. Maybe he wasn't as bratty or spoiled as that despicable piece of-

... okay, he should probably avoid working himself back up again. He needed to clear his head, and there was only one solution for that.

Webswinging.

So shortly after she had descended the stairs, he made his way up them, bouncing along the walls up to the roof while barely making a sound.

Though, there was a complication to all this. He preferred not to be seen in costume outside of the dark hour. It was bad enough he'd be roaming around in his usual manner well before people with his abilities were popping up all over the place, but wearing the exact same flashy outfit as he did in present day would probably cause some trouble for him down the line.

So, instead he took off his jacket, replacing it with a more generic black one that he'd been given by the head of their little club (Not like he brought a suitcase with him, after all). For the mask, he used his cognition to remove the red from it and his lenses. Not a huge difference, but from a few stories up and phone cameras not being anywhere near what they would be in a few years, it'd be enough.

Then, with a running start and a leap from the ledge, he was off, swinging through the city skyline for the first time in what felt like ages.

As she walked down the steps to the girl's dorm floor, she felt a tightness in her chest. It was not a feeling she'd ever felt before, but it was paired with the familiar sensation of shame and disappointment. As Mitsuru heard him call after her she hesitated, considering turning around and apologizing for being so harsh on him, but she stood her ground and continued down the steps before rushing to her dorm room and closing the door behind her.

She pressed her back against her dorm room door, a frustrated sigh escaping her as his words replayed repeatedly in her head. Aaron wasn't right! He couldn't be! She wanted this! She wanted to be the perfect daughter, the heiress to the Kirijo Group. She wanted...

To run away from it all.

And she had been feeling that way for a very long time now.

"This is ridiculous," she huffed, pushing away from the door and crossing the room. She scooped up the keys to her motorcycle and turned around, deciding a bike ride would be the best way to clear her head.

[webbedphantom]

He hadn't expected that reaction... Somehow. He'd been so caught up in his rage, his righteous indignation for something he didn't, and couldn't, understand, that he wasn't thinking clearly. So having his bias called out like that was... somewhat eye-opening.

... Didn't change his mind though.

"Well, nothing you've said has given me any confidence in whoever this is! And besides, if those meetings were in public, it hardly counts as any indication of his character! Everyone stays on their best behavior when they've got an audience!"

Her second point gave him pause. Had he really been ordering her around? That's not how he'd meant to come across, but when he was screaming his head off the whole time, it was easy to misunderstand his intentions.

His tone softened in response, fists unclenching at his sides.

"I wasn't... I didn't mean to-" He said softly, so soft it was hard to know if she could've heard it from where she was now.

"I'm not trying to give you orders. I'm just trying to convince you to give this another look! I don't- I don't want you to go along with this and regret it."

He could've followed her, could've fought her on her "punishment," if it could even be called that. He didn't work for her, he wasn't a part of S.E.E.S, he was working alongside them because their goals aligned, because he needed a guide to this unfamiliar time to figure out what he was here to prevent (He still didn't remember that part. Heck he didn't even know if he had a reason to be here. Not definitively), and it's not like anyone could stop him from going out anyway. Not unless she wanted to bench Aigis as well to keep an eye on him.

But he didn't. He didn't want to make things worse, step to far out of line and risk breaking her trust entirely.

Instead he just hung his head low, staying where he was and responding with a simple "Yes ma'am..." as she began walking down the hall.

Still... he needed to try one more time. Not from a place of anger, but of concern.

"Just think about it." He called out after her. "Please..."

From his reaction to her teasing, it was clear she'd hit a nerve of some sort. The flush of pink on his cheeks was quickly hidden away by the mask and he seemed flustered. It was a rather strange reaction for something so small as a little teasing. Perhaps she'd offended him?

Her gaze narrowed as he went on a bit of a tangent about her fiance. Lips pursing, she crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back from him, disappointment in her features as he ranted on. She waited until he was finished before finally standing up and taking a few steps toward the door.

She turned on her heel to look at him again. "Firstly, you don't know him. From the few times I've met him, he seems... polite and respectable. So I would appreciate it if you didn't assume such atrocious qualities about people you don't know. Secondly, I do not take orders from you. Need I remind you that you're under MY command here in SEES? Do not demand anything of me."

She turned away, yanking open the door to the command room and stepping out into the hall. "I'm officially removing you from Tartarus duties for the foreseeable future starting immediately. Until you learn to control your temper, please refrain from joining us when we traverse Tartarus. That is your punishment."

[webbedphantom]

He was passionate about this, but not because he wanted to be able to date her. He was a time traveler, dating someone from the past never goes well. He'd just seen someone he cared about be forced into that and suffer for it, and he wasn't about to watch it again. It didn't get any simpler than that.

... and yet, when she teased him about having a crush on her, something he really should've seen coming after how Noboru went on and on about it, he froze up for a second.

He shouldn't have. He couldn't have feelings for her, he didn't belong here. So every time someone had even suggested the idea, he'd rejected it outright... But this time, he found himself actually considering it-

He replayed the last few seconds in his mind. The look on her face, the way she brushed her hair back and got in close (too close) with that smirk...

She was kinda cute... really cute, actually. Like in a "how in the hell did I not notice this before" kind of way. And the way she carried herself, her confidence, her compassion, her determination to make things right... it was all stuff he respected, yet found himself drawn to in a way he hadn't noticed up until now.

... Did he... was he actually..?

"..."

In an instant his mask appeared back in his face to hide his blush, while internally his mind did everything it could to shut off those feelings before they cemented themselves.

'Don't be stupid, Aaron!! She's out of your league, and you're from out of her time!! You. Cannot. Be. In. love. With. her!!!'

"D-don't be ridiculous! I j-just... find this whole concept backwards and outdated is all-"

"And I... don't want to see you get hurt like that..."

Her response however snapped him right out of his haze, reigniting that fire in his heart.

"Y-you can't be seri-!"

"If the guy can't treat his own wife properly, then do you really think he's going to treat your company any better!?!?"

"Because it is YOUR company, just as much as it is your dad's. He didn't build it, he inherited it same as you will. The only hands it belongs in are YOURS, not some other unrelated asshole's whose only qualification is having a dick! Which likely describes his personality as well!!"

He just couldn't understand. How could she possibly be okay with this?? How brainwashed does someone have to be for a woman like her not to realize how screwed up this all was!?

And how could she be so casual about throwing away her life for the sake of upholding some worthless status quo???

"I will NOT accept this- this bullshit!! I'd sooner die than to watch another friend be degraded into a trophy for some selfish misogynistic pig!!"

His fists clenched at his sides. Tightly. All the while his lenses began to spark and burn from the sheer anger flowing through him.

Sure, he knew nothing about the guy. He could be a right gentleman for all he knew. But there was a chance he wasn't. And as long as there was even the slightest possibility of him being an abusive scumbag, he would not stand down.

No more Kamoshidas. No more Sugimuras. He'd break up this farce himself if he had to.

"You need to reevaluate those terms, pronto. And until you do, don't expect me to drop this! I can just as easily figure out who this guy is, and see for myself if he's trustworthy."

He'd definitely prefer not to, as it'd definitely cause more trouble for them all if he got caught... Or worse, was actually right and lost his temper-

He seemed so passionate about this, and considering the friendship they were developing, she could see why. Akihiko and Shinjiro were rather upset when she broke the news to them in middle school, too. But she had explained that the situation was a tradition in her lineage, and she wasn't about to rebel now. They had reluctantly accepted that and moved on, but Aaron seemed far more determined to get her to change her mind.

"If I didn't know any better I'd think you had feelings for me," she teased, brushing her hair out of her face and leaning in close. She smirked at him.

"I don't know if he'll treat me right. I frankly do not care. So long as my father's company is in good hands, which it will be," She stated. "I'm afraid that's all there is to it. You'll just have to accept it the way I have come to terms with it."

[webbedphantom]

... Yeah, no he's not buying this.

"No, I don't think you did. I'm honestly not sure if you even thought about the fact that you should have a say, out of some misplaced notion of it being your "duty" to "uphold the traditions" set by more old, stick-filled assholes."

"And I don't say this lightly, but fuck tradition. If anything says that someone shouldn't get a choice, that they have no right to choose, then it needs to go. No matter how old it is."

He let out another groan at her "love isn't a requirement" thing. Of course, he disagreed with that notion, but that was beside the point.

"I'm not even talking about love at this point! I'm talking about whether or not your company is forcing you to marry some selfish asshole you've never even met!!"

"Because, no offense, most rich people are selfish assholes!! I'd know. The future's full of them! And they didn't just come out of nowhere in the last ten years, I'll tell you that much."

He sighed, bracing his forehead with his hand. This was getting them nowhere, and being all riled up wasn't helping.

"Look, if this is what you really want, I won't fight you on it. But as your friend, I want you to do something first-"

He swiftly pulled off his mask, determined eyes focused on hers. There was anger in them, but none of it was directed at her. Instead, she'd mostly find... concern.

"I want you to look me dead in the eyes and tell me that you know, for certain, that whoever this guy is will treat you right. That he isn't just going to steal your family's company out from under you once the honeymoon's over."

"Because if you can't, then you clearly haven't thought through this enough. And as someone who's already had to save a friend from their abusive arranged fiance, I can't just stand by and watch you go through the exact same fucking thing because you trusted a bunch of morons in suits over your own damn heart."

"Are you finished? Do you think I do not want this? Do you think I had no say in the matter?"

She hadn't. But she knew her duty as the heiress to the Kirijo Group and she was willing to go along with everything her father and his council asked of her. Including this. Sure, she made the decision to fight with her Persona herself, but this was also her decision. In her mind, this was for the better of the company.

"If my father and mother could make an arranged marriage work, then so can I. I don't believe love is a requirement to make a partnership work. So long as both are aware of their roles and perform them well, then again, I see no issue."

[webbedphantom]

Hearing her laugh, even as pained as it was, felt like it healed him as much as her spells did.

"Same he-" a cough interrupted his words with a sharp pain in his chest accompanying it. He'd definitely cracked a few ribs, though exactly when was hard to say. Adrenaline rush tended to make everything blur together into a haze.

"-here... I- I really thought you were..."

... He didn't really want to finish that sentence. He probably didn't need to either.

As she began to cast her repeated healing spells, he felt his aches and pains begin to fade as his wounds began to put themselves back together, no matter how severe. It was a sensation he was quite used to by this point, but something felt different about it this time. More... meaningful than usual. Though, that soon gave way to concern the more she did it.

"Mitsuru... Mitsuru, you shouldn't-"

He moved to steady her, sitting up a bit to let her lean against him. He'd be returning the favor if he had any energy left, but after how hard he'd fought against the Reaper, he was running on fumes.

"I-I'm okay- I promise." He whispered, trying to ease her worries as best he could. "I've been through worse-"

Not much worse, granted, but still.

"You... You need healing too."

He gave her the most puzzled look when she handed him the thermos, wondering just why she was acting like this. Then he looked into her eyes... and suddenly it made sense. She wasn't just concerned for him as her teammate... She was terrified that she'd almost lost him.

And that feeling was striking a chord with him because... he felt the same way when he looked at her. He might even be doing the same, had he had any energy to spare.

"... thank you."

He didn't spend too long dwelling on that information, instead taking the thermos and chugging it down as fast as he could. And as soon as he felt his energy coming back, he began to cast his own healing spells on her, pulling her close so she could keep leaning on him as he did... Though maybe a little too close-

And it was then, dedicating all his renewed energy to a full body heal, looking into her eyes with one hand moving to cup her cheek as if it had a mind of his own that he realized... just how deeply he cared about her, how much it would've killed him if he'd lost her... and how much he wanted to kiss her right now.

Maybe he would've, but... They weren't quite out of the fight yet.

Because even with the rest of the team working on taking it down... it was not going well.

She felt it in the air before the crack of lightning ripped across the room and struck the Reaper. Akihiko had arrived. Mitsuru let out a sigh of relief as the boxer took over, attacking the grotesque creature with vigor. Ken followed in suit, activating his Persona and hitting the Reaper with a powerful Light spell.

But Mitsuru's focus had shifted to the beaten and battered Spider at her side. She shifted closer, wincing in pain as she pulled herself along the ground and reached over to make sure nothing of his was broken. "H-Hi," she let out a breathy laugh, still very much in pain.

"I'm so happy to know you're alive," she admitted, eyes getting watery. She held her hands over his wounds, a shot of icy magic washing over each and every one to heal it. Casting Dia over and over in her weak condition was hard on her but she powered through, healing as much as she could without passing out.

Yukari would arrive next, alongside Junpei and Minato. She'd be able to heal the whole group with Io. In the meantime, Mitsuru's only concern was giving Aaron the stamina and health he so desperately needed. She wiped away the tears in her eyes with the back of her sleeve and rummaged in the various pouches on her belt to find something that would help.

"Here," She handed him a thermos of tea she'd prepped earlier that night. It'd give him the energy needed to keep fighting. She winced in pain again, desperate to save him before she saved herself.

[webbedphantom]

In spite of how strong he was, he was no match for the Reaper. Especially like this, both of them enraged and lashing out at each other like wild animals. His best shot was when he was able to stay close, leaving the monster unable to fight back effectively, but now that he'd been knocked aside, the Reaper was making sure he couldn't do that again, casting as many spells and firing as many shots as it could to keep him at bay.

To his credit, the Spider was putting up quite a fight, dodging its shots, countering its strikes, and using the debris and rubble around him to keep it on the defensive, slinging it around with his webs like paperweights.

Even still, it was only a matter of time before his adrenaline lapsed, before his injuries and efforts caught up with him and let the Reaper finally land a hit. He knew this, and he knew his attacks weren't doing anything but angering it, but he couldn't bring himself to stop. That beast had killed-

And then he felt a sudden chill in the air, his body tensing slightly and his senses heightening to figure out where it was coming from. And once he had found it, the rage in his heart was quelled instantly at the sight of her Persona, standing tall over Mitsuru as she sent out her attack.

'SHE'S ALIVE!!'

But he wasn't so stunned from that revelation that he was unaware of his surroundings, or rather that he was heading into the spells path-

He quickly fired weblines behind him, yanking himself backwards to avoid the icy wave as it managed to freeze the frenzied beast solid, if only for a moment. It wouldn't hold for long, of course, but it was enough to give him an opening.

With a quick midair twist, he bounced off the wall behind him, snagging another chunk of debris before slamming down on top of its wrist, causing the Reaper to shriek in pain and drop one of its beloved long barreled revolvers which soon slid over towards Mitsuru as Aaron landed between it and the creature to keep it from getting it back.

'Arséne, go make sure she's-'

"uhnt-"

In an instant, a sudden wave of exhaustion washed over him, his whole body aching like he was back under the rubble as he soon fell to his knees.

"No... not now-"

Adrenaline Rush had worn off, leaving him struggling to stand and open for attack. Something the Reaper quickly capitalized on, firing another Megidolaon right at his feet.

"OH NO YOU DON'T-!!"

His Persona immerged from his body, slamming all four legs down in front of them to try and shield him from the blast. But in their current state, that would only work for so long, fizzling out just before the blast ended, sending Aaron and the revolver flying back to where Mitsuru had ended up, and burning his mask.

He tumbled along the ground, before managing to get his hands and feet beneath him and slide the rest of the way... then swiftly collapsing to the floor on his chest.

Thankfully, the cavalry had arrived, drawing the Reaper's attention off the pair for the moment.

He let out a small cough before rolling over onto his back, looking up at her with a soft smile. Even if he didn't have the energy to properly show it, he was just... so happy she was alive.

"... hi."

Mitsuru felt a surge of magic wash over her, Fuuka's buff taking effect in the nick of time. Before the redhead could react, the Reaper's Megidolaon hit her like a truck at 100km/hr. Mitsuru felt nothing as she was thrown back again, her body slamming against the tile floor. She heard a crack and felt a sharp pain in her ribcage, a wheezing breath leaving her as she lay there for a moment.

Thankfully, Fuuka's buff had prevented her from outright dying. Mitsuru's head was spinning and she felt nauseated, her eyes darting around desperately looking for Aaron but her vision was too blurry to tell what the hell was going on.

"Kirijo-senpai, please hold on!!" Fuuka called out to her. "Sanada-senpai and Junpei are on their way!! Yukari and Ken are just behind them!"

Despite the clearly broken rib, Mitsuru was determined to help. Aaron could go berserk all he wanted, but there was no way he'd finish off the Reaper by himself, especially when the Reaper was enraged like this. She pushed against the tiles, crying out in pain as she forced herself off the ground and back on her feet again.

She unlatched the holster on her thigh, practically tearing the elaborately etched Evoker out and holding the barrel to her temple. "Penthesilea," she breathed, her voice raspy and pained. "Help him... Please."

She pulled the trigger and in a burst of icy magic the Persona arose from her inner self, standing proudly before lunging forward toward the Reaper and Aaron. Penthesilea raised one of her blades and slashed at the Reaper, sending a devastating blast of icy air toward the enemy before falling back and retreating into Mtsuru's subconscious again.

[webbedphantom]

If he was anyone else, he would be dead. Taking a direct hit from the Reaper, slamming into a wall and being buried under a ton of concrete rubble? It'd take a miracle to survive that. Or in his case, the proportional strength and resilience of a spider.

Still he was in really rough shape, and though he appreciated her focusing on getting him aid, all he wanted was her to run.

He tried to scream out, to beg her to leave, to warn her about the gun being pointed at her head, but that blow had really knocked the wind of him. He was struggling to breathe, let alone scream, and yet he trapped under so much debris that by the time he freed himself the shot would've already eviscerated her.

He'd try to summon Arséne, but with his head ringing so much he wasn't sure he could manifest him, even under the easier conditions the Dark Hour provided.

There was only one chance, and very little time to take it. So he gathered up all his strength, pushed himself up just enough to free one of his arms and fired a webline towards the tip of the Reaper's gun, pulling with all his might to try and get him to miss.

He didn't pull hard enough. He couldn't pull hard enough.

For the Reaper's shot was an explosive Megidolaon, so even without a direct hit, the blast was large enough to still hit its target, and kicked up enough dust that Aaron couldn't even see that side of the room anymore.

'No...'

But the blast had also managed to shift the debris above him, giving him a bit more leverage. And this, combined with Fuuka's buff flowing through him, plus the sudden mental clarity and rush of adrenaline that came with witnessing what, for all he knew, was her death...

"You..."

Yeah, you all know where this is going-

"YOU MOTHERFUCKER!!!"

He burst from the debris, immediately fusing with Arséne and lunging for the Reaper, who still needed to reload. He landed on its chest, claws and extra legs slashing at it frantically like a wild animal, roaring at the top of his lungs as he beat it back towards the wall.

He was still injured, but he sure wasn't acting like it, too much adrenaline and rage flowing through him for him to care. And he wasn't pacing himself either, throwing all his energy and strength into every move he made.

The Reaper thrashed around violently, trying to pry the Spider off as he clung to its head. Its movements were as furious as they were panicked, smacking Aaron with its guns as they desperately tried to get him off.

Though when it finally managed to succeed, he swiftly recovered, grabbing large concrete chunks from the debris and slamming it into the monster over and over again.

"Kirijo-senpai!!" Fuuka's voice sounded distressed through the communication device. "Something's coming!! I think it's the Reaper!!"

The sound of chains rattling in the distance made Mitsuru's blood run cold. The sound grew louder and more aggressive as if the Reaper was sprinting toward them at Mach speed. She froze in her place, listening carefully to where it was coming from.

Before she could even react, Aaron was shoving her out of the way as the Reaper burst through the wall to the left. A horrible gloom overtook the entire area as she skidded against the floor, ending up a good ten feet away. She would definitely be bruised and a bit battered tomorrow, but overall she'd be fine. If she survived this next battle that is.

Aaron, on the other hand, looked half-dead after one hit. This would not be an easy battle.

She rose to her feet as quickly as she could, head whipping around to look at Aaron. He needed a healing spell. Another hit that intense might kill him. Mitsuru's attention was solely on Aaron, she hardly noticed the barrel of the gun pointed directly at her.

"Yamagishi," Mitsuru commanded over the communicator. "I'd like you to provide Amamiya and me with a buff spell before alerting the others to our location. We're under attack and need as much help as possible."

[webbedphantom]

His fighting style was certainly unique, taking advantage of his agility and his environment to bounce between multiple targets and take them out strategically (and stylishly of course) while avoiding any attacks the enemies might dish out. It didn't work on every foe, but even then he was strong enough to take on shadows twice his size with ease. It was no surprise she was impressed.

... And yet, he still got this oddly giddy feeling in his chest whenever she praised him.

He usually did his best to ignore it, but this time he couldn't help but savor the feeling, if just for a moment.

"Eh, it was nothing." He replied casually, pulling tightly on his glove with his usual flair. "These chumps got nothing on me! I'm barely breaking a sweat."

He did get a lot more confident when the mask was on. Confident and showman-esk. Every move he did had this practiced smoothness to it, every pose as picturesque as it could be, like he was performing for an audience that no one else could see. And that seemed to be extra true when she was around... Though, he wasn't doing so on purpose.

"Yeah, I can keep going. I could probably go all night if it was possible. My patrols back home were way longer than this Dark Hour thing."

Granted, he should probably pace himself. All those flashy moves took a decent chunk of energy, and while his stamina pool was far larger than most, being down to nearly half by this point was pushing it.

Though really, what was there to worry about? The shadows here were hardly a match for him after all the supervillains he'd fought on the regular, and the strongest ones were usually kept on their own floor, where he'd have the whole team backing him up. The likelihood of him exhausting himself completely seemed slimmer than a strand of hair.

But it was as he began following Mitsuru down the hall that he heard a sound that instantly boosted those chances by a country mile. One both familiar and yet unsettlingly new that it took both of them by surprise.

It was the sound of chains, which already would've been odd, since they'd barely been on this floor five minutes, but not the usual rustling of them that acted as a foreboding warning. No, these chains sounded like they were being dragged behind a semi truck gunning it down a highway, and was growing louder at an alarming rate.

"What the- where-!?!?"

He frantically looked down every path he could see, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. The room behind them was empty, and the path ahead only seemed to have one shadow, that looked just as confused as he was.

Thankfully, his eyes weren't the only ones looking.

IT'S COMING THROUGH THE WALL!!!

"... Move! Move NOW!!!"

Aaron barely had time to push her clear before the Reaper burst through the wall to their left like it was made of tissue paper, slamming straight into the Spider and sending him hurtling towards the opposite side of the hallway, leaving a massive crater at the impact before falling to the ground.

"PUGH-!"

He was dazed, his body pulsing with pain and the air completely knocked out of his lungs. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been hit this hard.

His eyes could barely focus on their attacker, though he was still able to tell that something wasn't right. The Reaper was engulfed in this fiery red aura, its movements jerky and sporadic like it was full of energy it didn't know what to do with.

At first it didn't seem to notice them, looking around frantically as it searched for... something. Then its gaze landed on the pair of them, and its anger reached a boiling point, quickly raising its gun as it prepared to fire on Mitsuru.

And Aaron still couldn't get his body to move, not helped in the least by the amount of debris that had landed atop him.

'C'mon, move!! You have to move!!!'

@webbedphantom || Plotted Starter! - Reaper Rage

"Excellent work," Mitsuru praised him as the Shadow they'd been fighting melted away. Aaron was clearly a strong ally, which was why she had allowed him to return to battle so soon after their little spat the other day. She gave the phantom a respectful nod as she carried on, heading further into the twisted halls of Tartarus.

They had decided to split up; Akihiko, Ken and Koromaru had run off together, Minato, Junpei and Yukari went off in another direction, and so Mitsuru and Aaron had decided to work together to explore more of the dark tower. With Fuuka at the entrance, keeping watch over all of them via her Persona, the group was in safe hands. Or so they thought.

"Let's be on our way, Amamiya. I'm quite impressed with your fighting skills so as long as you aren't too tired I'd like to keep exploring," She added, heading further down one hall.

[webbedphantom]

Kirijo Group R&D - Head Office.

He was... so tired.

He had so much going for him, so many opportunities he'd never have had before, so many people he'd saved, and a wonderful fiancée that had given purpose when he needed it most. Yet all he could think about were the failures.

Not technical failures, his official projects were all doing fine. The team here at Project Kairos were some of the smartest minds in the world. No his failures were more... personal.

He had a unique... insight into certain events, certain... tragedies that had yet to occur. He'd always had. And he did everything in his power to stop them. Yet no matter what he did, he'd yet to succeed in preventing a single one. Like some fundamental law of the universe was keeping it from him.

And this last one hit the hardest. A police officer by the name of Jun Niijima had died last week. A hit and run set up by the mob he'd been investigating.

He'd actually gotten to know him a bit before he died, one of the only friends he'd ever had outside of work. He'd hoped that would change things... if anything it made it worse.

And now here he was, sitting at his desk, mourning the loss of his friend, reduced to yet another in a long line of failures, as he stared at the findings in the papers in his hand.

It was something he'd been looking into for a while, a potential new method of not just time travel, but rewriting history. Honestly, he wasn't sure such a thing was even possible, and if it was, he wasn't sure he should act on it. Because the last thing he'd ever want to do is play God.

Yet now he had the answer in his hand. Something that proved his theory held some weight. There was no way to know for sure, obviously, not without going through with it, but still... the ability to change the past, to undo all his mistakes, to finally be free from the guilt he'd been carrying for these past 5 years.

He sat there for about 20 minutes before his phone rang. Or rather vibrated, he wasn't one to leave that on at work. But the pattern of it, a custom one mimicking the soft rhythm of a heartbeat, was one that almost always got his attention.

His future wife was calling.

"I don't think anyone could ever forget you." He replied, a small smile forming on his face. "You tend to leave quite the lasting impression."

It was amazing how much just hearing her voice on the other end soothed him, even if he wasn't the best at showing it anymore. The gathering storm of conflicting emotions caused by the paper in his hand died down with just a single word.

... for the moment, at least.

"Yeah, just got some... interesting results back on our latest experiment. It's mostly theoretical but... with a large enough power source, it could change... everything..."

The only issue was it'd take the power of a supernova to get it working, and his only means of getting power like that was... not ethical to say the least.

His smile got brighter as she mentioned their time in Los Angeles. It almost seemed like a lifetime ago now, when he still had hope he could fix things, when he was so much more passionate about this life they had built together.

When he'd snuck off in the middle of the night to buy her a ring.

Though those memories had a bittersweet taste to them now, now that he'd seen how his efforts had failed... all of his efforts.

"You'll burn yourself out if you work too hard-"

His eyes widened slightly at her words, another reminder of better days, but days he still looked back on fondly. Days when he knew who he was, or at least thought he did, and days where he'd actually managed to accomplish something.

Thawing the Ice Queen's heart.

"... that sounds lovely, Princess." He replied finally, allowing the research in his hand to land softly on his desk. "Just let me pass these notes to Fujiwara, then I'll be on my way."

He quickly gathered his things, putting all of his papers into a drawer in his desk, and gathering the paperwork for one of the more modest projects their newest recruit was working on. Those prosthetics of his could really make an impact.

All the while he kept his phone to his ear, not quite ready to let it go yet... He really missed her.

"So, what's on the menu tonight? I think that sushi place you like is still open at this hour."

@webbedphantom || Plotted Starter (Drabble Cont'd)

She needed to distract herself. Despite having asked him to investigate her ex, Mitsuru wasn't very keen about using Aaron as her personal spy. She'd spent most of her youth as a child soldier, living night after night fighting a fight she didn't fully understand until it was too late. Guilt wracked her brain. Was this how her father must have felt asking her to fight for him?

Aaron and Aigis wouldn't be back to report their finding until morning. Until then she'd work through the paperwork piled high on her desk. Even if it took her all night.

She worked silently, folding papers and stuffing envelopes diligently. It wasn't work a CEO was supposed to do - that was meant for her assistants and secretary - but the more she went about it the more she felt herself reminiscing...

November 26, 2014 - Kirijo Estate

The night was still young, her heart fluttering as she waited for him to pick up the phone. He was probably still in his lab, puttering away at his computer long after his assistants and fellow researchers had left. Mitsuru waited with baited breath and when she finally heard the phone click she sighed in relief.

"I thought you might have forgotten about me," she teased into the receiver. "Are you still at the lab?"

As she spoke with him on the phone she idly thumbed over the pile of wedding invitations on her dining room table. They needed to be sent out soon - the wedding was in June and with such a vast amount of guests she needed RSVPs as soon as possible.

"We haven't had a night to ourselves in a while. Why don't you come over and we can share that bottle of Stag's Leap Artemis Cab Sauv we bought on our trip to Los Angeles last year? We can get take out too. I've got a pile of invitations that need sorting out too..."

There was a small pause, a little sigh leaving her. "You'll burn yourself out if you work too hard, you taught me that."