Planeocracy

"So what exactly are we supposed to 'cooperate' with?" Souji asks. He's not giving an answer, or lowering his sword, until he knows this.

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"I will release your world, and you will turn around and leave. Unless, of course, you wish to join our efforts, in which case we can negotiate that first," Aenathia replied.

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"We won't join you..." Minato said. He would die before he put millions of people through what he was going through.

"But we can't let you do this again, either."

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Souji nods in agreement. "We're not going to let you get away with this kind of thing ever again."

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"Disappointing. Perhaps the people of your world are not worth saving. Well, no matter. The consumption is almost complete and soon, your world will be no more. But in the meantime..."

Aenathia withdrew two items, a blue card and a silver gun. Raising her hands, she held the card above her head and the gun to her head, crushing the card at the same time as she shot herself. In an instant, two (http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20090104090157/megamitensei/images/thumb/6/67/P4-Izanagi-no-Okami.jpg/360px-P4-Izanagi-no-Okami.jpg) spirits (http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080701231312/megamitensei/images/thumb/2/22/Messiah.png/200px-Messiah.png) appeared before her.

"Izanagi-no-Okami, Messiah," she said, "Double Megidolaon."

Huge orbs of energy began forming as she gave the command.

Edited Date: 2010-06-05 07:12 am (UTC)

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Needless to say, Aenathia's actions surprise Minato. After all, not only does she seem capable of using an Evoker (Which makes Minato wonder where she could have gotten such a thing), but she also seems to possess the Wild Card ability. For a short amount of time, Minato ponders if this revelation could be connected to his world's disappearance, but he pushes away the thought upon seeing the attacks of the Personae in front of him. Summoning his own Persona would prove difficult without concentration, after all.

Minato swiftly draws his Evoker, forgoing the gun-spinning he's accustomed to and simply letting it rest on his head for a second. In retrospect, it would've been wise to test out his ability before coming here. He wasn't even sure if it worked outside of his world. However, he would be killed if he didn't do anything. With this in mind, Minato pulls the trigger.

"Thanatos!"

Crystal-like fragments erupt from Minato's head, swiftly converging into a being (http://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20081120114057/megamitensei/images/archive/9/94/20090404020309!Thanatos-Concept.jpg) representing his psyche. As the Persona lunges at Aenathia with its blade, Minato braces himself for the impact of her attack.

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Well now she's just trying to make him angry. As Souji focuses his will and prepares to fight, a detached part of his mind - the one he always had sort of associated with Izanagi, ironically - notes that it should have been obvious Aenathia had the power of The World at her command, given that she literally controlled the world now.

He still wasn't going to stand for it, though. "Yoshitsune! (http://megamitensei.wikia.com/wiki/File:P4-Yoshitsune.png)"

Souji holds back and braces for the impact of the attack before unleashing the Persona's swordplay on Aenathia.

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The Double Megidolaon hits Souji and Minato like a ton of bricks as a steely clash echoes throughout the room as Aenathia parries both of the sword attacks with two rapiers of her own, blades that appeared to have materialized out of thin air.

Edited Date: 2010-06-05 05:08 pm (UTC)

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Even though he was prepared for it, Minato feels a great deal of pain from the dual-attack of Aenathia's Personae. He is still standing, though. He would not fall from a single attack at a time like this.

After Thanatos has his attack blocked, he dissipates into thin air, returning to Minato's mind. If Aenathia's powers worked similarly to Minato's, then this would mean he would have a few valuable seconds of time until she summoned a Persona again. Taking this into account, Minato dashes towards the Councilor, now intending to attack her with his own blade. He was not sure if he could defeat her in physical combat (She did block the attacks of two Personae, after all), but if he could disorient her, or perhaps disarm her for a few seconds, then he would probably be able to land a hit with his Persona.

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Souji changes the focus of his mind to the Persona of Ishtar, using her magic to completely heal himself and Minato...for now.

He recognizes this is a bad situation, though. Two Personas...two Personas of that tier, ones even he can't summon at will, in the mind of someone as ruthless as Aenathia spelled trouble. The simple act of using the Persona, though, gives him a little more confidence as he thinks back to one of the people he's fighting for.

Rather than try to rush in after casting a spell, Souji stands back for the moment, trying to get Aenathia talking again. "You're using two Personas. Does that mean you have a split personality?"

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Aenathia's blades swing around and she blocks Minato's attack with one, casually unleashing a quick thrust at his heart with her other sword.

"[Humanity] cares not for limitations, only power. Really, I must thank you both. These were created using your power. I simply created them utterly under my control."

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"Created Personas?" Souji asks, shocked. "Do you even understand what they are?"

Souji's mind changes again, the 6-winged angel of dawn, Helel, appearing as Souji charges mental power for a spell.

"Minato, physical attacks aren't getting us anywhere," he points out.

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Much like Souji, Minato is bothered by Aenathia's statement. A Persona was supposed to be another facet of yourself, so how could it be possible to create one from thin air? This thought is quickly interrupted by the blade now heading towards his chest. He quickly directs his Evoker to his head and shoots, now summoning Trumpeter (http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080816172310/megamitensei/images/thumb/d/d6/TrumpeterP4.jpg/280px-TrumpeterP4.jpg) , who attempts to block and turn Aenathia's own attack against her. Privately, he reminds himself to be more careful. Just because Aenathia had not made use of poison last time did not mean she would hold back on it now.

"...Noted." Minato informs Souji. Taking his advice, he swiftly takes a few steps back and prepares his Evoker once again, hoping Aenathia does not attack before he uses it.

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Aenathia twists out of the way, retreating a bit and bringing her blades to bear. Souji and Minato note that both are utterly black, coated with the soul-killing Phe-lai.

"Throughout the multiverse, many abilities exist, but they are all of the same essence. Power. Persona, like everything else in the multiverse, are no more than a means to gain greater power."

Holding both blades low, Aenathia charges.

Edited Date: 2010-06-06 08:38 am (UTC)

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Souji shakes his head. "And that's how I know you're going to lose. Even if you kill us, you'll lose."

"On three, Minato. One two...PERSONA!"

Helel appears once more and launches a double-power Megidolaon at the charging Aenathia's face, hopefully in concert with Minato's.

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Minato gives Souji a nod, agreeing to his plan. "Worlds do not exist simply so you can get power off them." He pulls the trigger, hoping that his attack will be able to stop Aenathia's charge.

"PERSONA!"

Minato focuses on summoning Lucifer, who sends another Megidolaon at Aenathia, timed so it would strike at the same time as Souji's.

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Aenathia responds by summoning her own Persona, both of whom take the attack for her. As the smoke clears, however, she notes to her dismay that the Persona now have large holes in them. As they begin to dissolve, you can see the edges where the attack hit fraying and evaporating, a clear indication that the spirits are unstable and not likely to survive much more use.

Edited Date: 2010-06-06 07:16 pm (UTC)

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Minato does not waste a single second. Immediately after realizing Aenathia still stands, he raises his Evoker once more, preparing to summon Lucifer again. He looks at Souji and nods, as if confirming another unison attack.

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Souji nods in return, focusing on Helel one more time. He'd felt the resonance with Lucifer, the two Personas' voices echoing within his subconscious that there's only one way to deal with people who'd use the world as a toy or a tool.

Souji visualizes his card one more time, smashing it in unison with Minato's mock gunshot to call down Armageddon on Aenathia and her false gods.

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Aenathia raised her hand, ordering her own Persona to cast a spell, but it was too late. Both attacks hit in unison, obliterating the Persona from existence. It may just be a figment of your imagination, but as they dissipate you both hear them say "thank you."

"Damn," Aenathia hissed. Raising her arm, she snapped her fingers and a huge vortex appeared before her. It hissed with crackling red energy, before stabilizing.

"Well played, Enforcers of Confuto Ordinatio. I will return your world to you, but you will not take me. What you witnessed here was but a mere fraction of [Humanity]'s might, and I will take exquisite pleasure in introducing you to it at a later date."

With that, she hurled herself through the portal and was gone. What appeared within misty veil of the portal was the town of Inaba, a TV flickering with static in the background.

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Minato does not let his guard down just yet. He still finds it hard to believe that they truly won after battling such a fearsome enemy. In fact, it takes a few seconds until he allows himself to lower his Evoker. However, their victory, coupled with Aenathia mentioning their world would be returned (Even if she was not exactly trustworthy), causes him to allow himself a small smile.

There were so many questions going through his mind right now. What was this 'Humanity' Aenathia spoke of? How had she made use of such powerful Personae, and why did one of them feel so familiar to him? Would his world remain intact after such a long disappearance? ...Despite all of these inquiries, Minato decides to ask the only question that currently seems to be ahead of him.

"What's that?" He asks Souji, now gesturing towards the portal's contents. He isn't really expecting an answer, and is merely trying to make sure the other student is seeing the same thing as he is.

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"A quiet town that doesn't need another murderer running around in it," Souji says, expression determined.

He quickly sheates his katana and stows it under his uniform jacket, knowing they're going to be heading into a civilian area. "When we get there, I'm going to look around for her," he says. "She might be well away by now, or she might not. You can head on back to HQ and let everyone know the good news."

Souji's expression softens from his 'leader-mode' mask for a moment as he reaches out a hand to shake Minato's. "Thanks, man," he says simply.

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