Chapter Text
April 13th, 6:15 pm
Fort Kaz, Testing Observation Deck
Facing off against us is what seems to be a more dangerous variation of a King Frost shadow, whose intimidating height and large bulk are easy to recognize as a sizable threat. More concerningly, this one is the same color scheme as a Black Frost. Black Frost are already more deadly than any of their Frost-family counterparts, so we may be in for a tough fight.
"The game isn't over until we take the opponent's king," Samurai smirks and closes his eyes, and then shakes his head at the Black King Frost with snobbish disdain, "But at this rate, the end result is inevitable."
---Music: Miles Edgeworth ~ Objection! 2009 ---
Samurai's appearance has changed, seemingly while none of us were looking. His outfit is still the same color scheme, as he looks to be in the same burgundy red suit. However, he is now covered in plated armor in various places like a traditional samurai--sangu on his arms and legs, dō on his chest. He looks like with this outfit, he'll be well protected while still maintaining a high range of movement as the rest of his clothes are still fabric.
The lower half of his face from his nose down had been covered by a menpō which seems to be as sleek and silver as steel. In addition, a fairly normal pair of rectangular glasses appeared as well, with an upper black frame and without a lower frame.
Rather interesting combination. The two of them together must be his "mask" within the Metaverse, given that he took off both of them together. With the facial armor in one hand and the glasses in the other, he extends his arms slightly to the sides while holding his palms upwards, striking an almost condescendingly smug pose that I've seen him make before when he feels confident.
And now that he has taken off that mask, there's only one thing that can happen next…
"HELL yeah!" Skull fist pumps, "Let's see what you can do, lawyer bro!"
"What gives?" Panther questions, "Awakening a Persona for the first time usually involves like… screaming, and ripping off a bloody mask, and stuff. Are you feeling ok, Samurai?"
"I feel just fine, thank you. But I'll be feeling better when we rescue Knight and Ghost," he speaks with strong conviction.
---Music: Confrontation ~ Moderato 2011 ---
I turn my attention to the newly formed Persona which has appeared behind Samurai. The main outfit is a ruffled white button up shirt, with formal black suit pants and black shoes. Unsurprisingly, the Persona has a cravat just like the one its user has. Over the shirt is a shiny silk vest, similar in color to Samurai's suit of course. It has extremely regal designs on it etched in gold. The Persona has a lengthy cape… or, a cloak I suppose. It's the same shade of red, of course. It wears white gloves, and holds the decorated tip of a walking cane.
The head seems to be a mostly featureless black mass of mist flowing uneasily. The only thing containing it seems to be the wine-red chapeau hat on its head. The hat style would normally dictate feathers on the side as a design accent, but instead there is a tube of wrapping similar to a tall samurai topknot. Instead of black hair at the tip, it's simply a vent for more of the black mist to seep out of.
Lastly, it has glowing white eyes without any particular emotional expression, which too seem to be leaking out mist ambiently like a smoke machine. The whole composition feels volatile, as if the Persona is having a bit of difficulty maintaining a steady form.
Samurai crosses his arms across his chest. He slightly turns his head towards his shoulder to speak with it, still keeping his eyes trained on the enemy. "What do I call you?"
The Persona has a dignified voice, though not as deep in pitch as Arsene's. It has a fluid, aristocratic cadence. "Do you not know my name in the depths of your heart…?"
Samurai squints his eyes to think deeply. "I might… perhaps, I might… but I can't fully grasp the feeling."
"How curious," the Persona comments. "If that is the case, then there is still work to be done. For now, 'Sinbad' shall suffice."
"I, for one, think Sinbad is lookin' pretty cool!" Mona cheers.
---Music: Confrontation ~ Allegro 2011 ---
"Hee ho! That's a fancy looking suit! You must b'hee' pretending to be rich or something, ho!" our opponent comments with its high pitched voice, distorted like most shadow voices are. "But even nobles n'hee'd to bow before r'ho'yalty!"
"Why does he keep saying 'hee ho?'" Hawkshaw asks.
"Hee ho," it answers bluntly. If you can call that an answer.
"They just do that," Fox answers.
Ninja seems to think a bit before speaking. "It s'hee'ms kind 'ho'f fun…! Hmm… that one didn't sound good. Hee 'ho'ld on, let me try another one..."
---(Music End)---
The Black King Frost angrily stabs the bottom of his scepter against the ground with a crash.
---Music: Quest Battle - Persona 2: Innocent Sin (PSP) ---
The King Frost scowls intensely, and a flurry of icy winds begin howling around the room with the king's scepter as the focal point. "Are you all mocking me? M'HEE?' The KING?! 'HO'NACCEPTABLE!!"
"Be careful," Oracle warns us, "This one may be a dork, but I can tell he's packing a serious wallop! This fight won't be easy!"
Samurai nods his head in understanding, but he stands his ground. "Even so. I'd rather learn through experience what this new ally of mine can do. What are you capable of, Sinbad? Do you have a specific elemental affinity? Are you partial to any particular combat styles?"
“All wisdom is contained in these two words: 'wait,' and 'hope,'” Sinbad answers cryptically. "Buy me time, and I will buy you victory."
Well, as much as I respect Samurai's sharp mind, I'm not about to let a rookie take on a foe this strong on his own. I step forward to stand at his side.
Time to lay down a game plan. "That broadcasted message about the lockdown disengage is surely going to send the whole base into a frenzy, if it hasn't already," I announce to the others. "There's not a lot of space in this room, and we'll all end up getting hurt in the chaos if all of us go crazy in here. Mona, Queen, you're with us."
The two of them leap into the air and land into formation along with Samurai and myself. "Mreheeheeheemreow!" Morgana giggles with enthusiasm, "Let's see what new firepower the Phantom Thieves have to work with. Don't worry, Samurai, Zorro and I will back you up!"
"Same here," Queen agrees, "Let's do this!"
"The rest of you," I turn my attention to, "Escort Notacon to where he needs to go. Move as fast as you can. Oracle, keep glued to the radar and avoid any ambushes. My team will meet back up with you as soon as we can."
"Show 'em what you've got, Mr. Samurai," Jackpot cheers with dynamic zeal, "But still… be careful, pals!"
"We'll be waiting for you guys to catch up!" Ninja cheers us on.
Oracle seems to be doing something near the computer control panels nearby. "Hang on just a second... ok, I'm ready to go!"
The rest of the group rush back down the stairs we came from, while the four of us stand our ground, ready to face off against this thing.
Fast as a comet across the sky, Queen launches at the King Frost, her fist coiled back like the hammer of a gun. Even though she uses revolvers as her ranged weapon, I think her fists are probably more dangerous, to be honest.
… Which makes it all the more concerning that the impact of her brass knuckles seems to do nothing. She even lets loose a barrage of a few more rapid fire punches, but they do little more than clang against the thing's armor.
Queen disengages with a back-handspring. "I didn't expect that to do much, but… yikes. He's even tougher than he looks."
"We'll see how tough he is against a Garudyne! " Mona adds, sending a typhoon of green wind at the foe. It seems to stumble the enemy, but barely.
Queen bites her lip. "Assuming this shadow has similar characteristics to a standard Black Frost, be careful using any skills against it. You'd have a hard time finding an element that it doesn't block, absorb, or reflect right back at you. We might have to beat this thing down the old fashioned way."
The foe laughs boisterously. "It's 'hee'larious, that you c'ho'mmoners think that you can def'hee't me, the king! Ho!"
Samurai sighs. "Has the novelty of this verbal tic worn off for anyone else, yet?"
"A little," Queen admits.
"You're all wide 'ho'pen!" it shouts, almost catching us off guard. We manage to all avoid a few icicle blasts, and I'm impressed to see Samurai move with the same rapid movements that all of the other Phantom Thieves and myself are capable of. He's certainly adapting well to this new awakening.
The Black King Frost begins commanding winds of ice as they swirl around and strike at us with fluid motion but from troublesome angles. Soon, it's an all out brawl in the room.
Every time we fight a large, stationary foe, it always ends up being a raging tornado of us jumping around, dodging, and returning attacks while the huge shadows inevitably end up soaking up a ton of attacks like a damn sponge. However, whereas the rest of us are taking swings at the foe when able, Samurai doesn't seem to be doing anything other than moving and watching. The attacks cease for a bit, and give us a time to regroup.
Mona is hopping up and down excitedly. "So, Samurai, what weapon materialized when you awoke to your powers?! A katana? A bazooka? A--"
We all look to see that Samurai is still holding the same, completely-normal shovel that Jackpot gave him.
Mona blinks. "... Oh. Right."
The giant Frost snickers quietly. "Quite a weapon you've got there, Mr. Gardener. What are you going to come at me with next? A rake? A hee hoe?"
Samurai grips the shovel and looks down at it with a bit of apprehension. "Though, in truth, I'm starting to wonder if such a tool would r'hee'lly do much good-- oh, bloody hee ho hell, now the blasted thing has me saying it."
In frustration, he begins charging at the enemy. Sinbad moves in tandem, but… instead, maneuvers around Samurai to block him with an outstretched arm. "Not yet," Sinbad explains, "Random attacks will get you nowhere. You need to make it count. Give me more time."
"Time isn't exactly a luxury right now, Sinbad," Samurai returns with disdain.
The giant shadow laughs at us. "If any of you actually had any luxur'hee,' you wouldn't kn'ho' what to do with it anyway! Hee ho! You little plebeians are ador'hee'ble..."
I hear Arsene's voice in my head. "Akira, stall for a bit more time. I sense that Sinbad shall show us something most interesting, should he find the opening he is looking for…"
I raise my voice to get the shadow's attention. "You sure talk big. Is being a king the only thing that matters to you? What happens if I bullseye that gaudy crown right off of your head? That'd just make you a sad, probably-bald shadow."
Queen, Mona, and Samurai all look at me with utter confusion. I subtly tilt my head towards the King Frost to try and gesture to my team to give them a sense that I have a purpose to this.
Queen is the first to get the picture. She nods.
"You know you aren't actually a king, right?" Queen adds, "You aren't even the one in charge of this Facade. So give it a rest."
"Bruh!" the Frost shouts, seemingly legitimately offended, and showing a few cracks in the kingly personality he wants us to think he has.
Mona jumps and shakes his paws to get the Frost's attention. "She's right, you know. You're just playing pretend," he snickers. "How's it feel, being a faker?"
"Faker?! I think YOU'RE the fake… what are you, some kind of cat?" the Frost second guesses, "Well, an'hee'way, I'm as king as they come!"
"You will b'hee' when we blast you to 'kingdom come,'" Queen retorts.
"I would enjoy seeing you try, tiny little hee human!" the shadow challenges back.
"Then let's light up the night, Johanna! " Queen shouts. She pulls off her mask, and from directly behind her, her Persona appears in a blaze. She jumps enough so that she slides right across the front and into the driver's seat of the bike, which carries her forward at full speed towards our enemy. Performing a wheelie on Johanna, she crashes into the Black King Frost, setting off a neon-blue explosion which she backflips away from.
When the nuclear energy fizzles out and our eyes adjust from the absence of the bright flash, we can see that the Frost blocked the attack completely.
"S'hee?' I t'ho'ld you," the King Frost laughs. "You can't hee 'ho'pe to scratch me!"
"Don't worry, Queen," Mona encourages, "We'll just have to keep the checklist going until we find something he's weak against."
"Black King Frost has no weaknesses!" the shadow taunts us condescendingly, "And do you call yourself a qu'hee'n? Even after making fun of MY kingliness?! Talk about a hyp'ho'crite! You're no queen, you're just a craz'hee'-ass ho… ho!"
Oh hell no. No one talks to Makoto like that. By the time I regain my senses... I realize I've just emptied the entire clip of my pistol at the Frost.
Queen runs to my side and shakes me a few times. "Joker, joker, it's ok! Just let it go. Sticks and stones."
"And you call yourself a joker, is that right?" the King Frost comments. "That's good! As a king, I've n'hee'ded a c'ho'urt jester!"
---(Music Fade Out)---
I… feel like my feet are bolted to the floor. I look down, and I see that… my boots have frozen solid!
---Music: Tension (Persona 5) ---
I look and see that he got Queen, and Mona too. Damn it, I lost my cool and he caught us all off guard.
The Black King Frost clicks his tongue with disappointment. "Don't blame yourselves, it's imposs'hee'ble to beat me. N'ho' one can defeat the king! Now, by my royal decr'hee,' I banish all of you!"
He cycles his wand a few times and progressively forms a larger and larger block of ice, until making a huge cube big enough to crush all of us. I don't know if I can dodge this, being stuck in-place like this! " Arsene! " I call out, prepared to use his black flames to try and meet this attack head on. This will really be down to the wire…!!
---(Music End)---
The world goes completely silent, and I can feel sweat trickle down my forehead. I… don't know how this is going to end.
But, from the absolute silence, I hear… Samurai's voice?
Out of the corner of my eye, I see Sinbad dash in front of us, holding the shovel. He gives it a mighty swing, and the silence is absolutely pierced by the loud clang of the metal shovel, followed by a crystalline shattering noise as the entire ice block is reduced to shards.
Samurai isn't far behind his Persona, and it looks like he wasn't caught by the freezing, floor earlier. He's been hanging on the edge of the battle field all along, so the King Frost possibly forgot to target him as well.
Samurai, closing one eye, taps his finger against his forehead with a patronizing smirk. "The only court jester I see here is you," he taunts. "In fact, you aren't just a clown. You're the hee w'ho'le circus."
---Music: Pursuit ~ Wanting to Find the Truth - GaMetal Remix ---
Sinbad returns the shovel to Samurai, who brandishes it with clear intent.
"Time to set our plot in motion," Sinbad mentions. "You know what to do."
Samurai dashes with extreme speed towards the King Frost and swings his shovel like a baseball bat, smashing right into the giant lock on the Black King Frost's chest.
The King Frost frowns. "What plan? Didn't you hear? I'm unbreakable! Ho!" he shouts, sending more icy winds at Samurai, who evades them gracefully.
"Is that so?" Samurai humors, "Such an obstacle as an unbreakable shield is trivial for one who pursues the truth."
A few more motions of evasion allow Samurai another opening for a strike, placed in the exact same spot on the lock.
Samurai dueling with the Frost one-on-one is going to buy us time to free ourselves from the ice freezing us in place. As we work to break free, I keep my eyes and ears trained on the battle playing out. Samurai seems to take every chance he can to wail on that lock with his shovel. Was this the plan he and Sinbad came up with…?
"In fact…" Samurai chuckles, doing a side flip and a leap to dodge two more rapid projectiles, "The very origin of the Chinese word for 'contradiction' involves testing the theory of an unbreakable shield. Are you aware of that ancient tale?"
"Me? Oh, uh… sure! Everyone hee kn'ho'ws that! Why don't you tell it though… for, uh, that cat thing's sake."
" I'm not a cat!!! " Mona shrieks.
"I'll provide you with the short version," Samurai explains with perfect composure, not even out of breath despite the continued acrobatics. "In the ancient kingdom of Chu, an arms merchant approached a king offering two items. One was a spear, which the merchant claimed would pierce any shield or armor. The second item was a shield, supposedly strong enough to withstand any weapon."
The King Frost is so immersed in the story, the fighting even stops, which allows Samurai to simply stand and dust off his shoulder. "Wait…" the Frost thinks... "Wouldn't that m'hee'an…! Did the king recognize that those two objects…?!"
"Perhaps you aren't unlike a king after all," Samurai smiles. "When the king of Chu pointed out that an invincible spear, 'máo,' and an unbreakable shield, 'dùn,' cannot coexist, the Chinese word for 'contradiction' was born: máodùn. The end of this story was that the king's observation simply left the arms merchant speechless. However, for a prosecutor like myself, the story doesn't end there. It is within the nature of my profession, as well as who I am, to pursue these contradictions to their conclusion. Whatever is at the end of the story, no matter what--that is inevitably the 'truth.'"
Samurai slowly and casually walks up to the King Frost, and then sends one final swing at the lock, which simply results in the head of his shovel snapping off, leaving his weapon broken and ineffective…
"W'hee'll well well! It seems this st'ho'ry will end quite differently, hee ho!" the King Frost laughs. "Looks like I'm unbreakable after all!"
Samurai turns around and faces his back to the foe and begins walking away. "I wouldn't say that with confidence until you've been faced with an invincible spear."
"Well, I don't s'hee' ho-one anywhere--" the King Frost tries to comment, but stops and focuses on the broken stick in Samurai's hands, which is starting to glow.
Without any warning, the Frost tries to finish the fight, shooting a massive barrage of icicle spikes at Samurai's back! Samurai simply disappears with such speed that the icicles pass through a shadowy after-image of where he once stood, smashing into the ground and battering the landscape.
Things quiet down as the Frost starts looking back and forth frantically, trying to find his target. Suddenly… the lock on his chest cracks, breaks, and falls to the ground, exposing a small opening in the armor around the King Frost's sternum.
As if teleporting, Samurai appear directly in front of him, and the broken shovel staff flashes in a bright light as he spins it around like a helicopter blade. He stops spinning it just long enough to reveal that it has transformed into a magnificent steel spear, which he has poised to strike.
"Waitwaitwaitwaitwait--" the King Frost begins blathering in a panic
"I, however, am far from speechless," Samurai smirks with confidence, "And I'd like to test which item is stronger."
He thrusts the spear with strength and speed that cause a veritable sonic boom of air to burst.
---(Music Stop)---
Samurai stops what must be a few centimeters from striking the finishing blow on the Black King Frost, who is sweating bullets. Seems the king is the only one left speechless by this.
"Checkmate," Samurai smiles, spinning his spear with a flourish and taking a more peaceful stance.
---Music: Tricks and Gimmicks (Ace Attorney Investigations)---
"Are… you not going to… kill m'hee'…?!" the King Frost can hardly believe.
"The literal motion of taking the king is not a requisite for victory in chess," Samurai explains, "The game ends as soon as checkmate is reached."
"But…" the shadow reasons, "Was your plan not to… find a weak spot in order to defeat me?"
Samurai shakes his head, "We are playing a bigger, and more deadly, game right now. So we've yet to reach the truth at the end of this story."
"In part," Sinbad begins to elaborate. "But our issues are more grand than this battle, so our schemes must be grander still. And as for you, as your fate would have it… we may have a grand order for you."
Samurai nods, and turns to us. "I've gained a bit of insight towards the intuition and nature of 'Sinbad,'" he tells us, "His unique intuition and perception are much to my liking, and he happens to be a master of weaving strategies, almost separately from my own mental faculties despite us somewhat understanding one another's thoughts. I believe with enough time to focus, he may find a weakness or opening within any foe if I cannot myself. But even beyond that, his scope expands to the bigger picture, so to speak."
---Music: Trick and Baroque (Ace Attorney Investigations)---
"My thanks to each of you for holding out in this battle," Sinbad tips his hat. "Through observing this fight, I plan to offer you the victory I spoke of-- in the form of a contingency plan."
"What do you mean?" Mona asks with a raised eyebrow.
Sinbad taps the brim of his hat with his finger, similar to how Samurai does. "Suppose this 'Notacon's' design flaw isn't enough to turn the tables? We need plans upon plans. And you've all helped me to plot one."
Sinbad turns to face our enemy, who is now seemingly docile. "Do you wish to truly be a king, 'your majesty?' If so, I can most certainly offer you that esteemed position, in return for a favor."
The Black King Frost is certainly interested. "Hee hold the phone, are you serious? You can make me a r'hee'al king?"
"It's a simple matter," Sinbad tells him. "The 'ruler' of a Palace--or in this case, a Facade--is the king, in plain terms. So your favor to us will be to help us defeat the shadow of Mizusawa, to put an end to this Facade."
Our former foe isn't convinced. "Can that be done? Isn't he building an insane monster mach'hee'ne?"
"A machine that is loaded with guns and nuclear armaments, yes," Sinbad confirms.
*!*
*!*
*!*
Our eyes widen, and Queen makes the connection first. "Which this Black King Frost… is immune to!"
A wide, toothy grin appears in the black mist beneath Sinbad's glowing white eyes, which start to burn yellow. "So, tell me, King Frost," Sinbad asks the shadow, "What will happen when an unstoppable war machine is faced against an unbreakable shield?"
The King Frost blinks. "Hee hey… you're right! Good point, ho ho ho! What do I have to fear from that?!"
"Precisely," Sinbad agrees. "Show the king of this Facade who the real king of this town is. Help us to put an end to this. Then, you can roam free back in Mementos and be whichever type of king you so choose to be."
"Hmm… you all s'hee'm like… decent enough f'ho'lks," the Black King Frost contemplates. It takes a few more tense moments of thought, but he makes a decision, and he flexes his biceps like a bodybuilder. "Alright. Time for the king to lay down the law, hee hooooo!!"
Sinbad's eyes return to normal and his smile subsides. He crosses his arm over his chest diagonally and takes a very formal bow. "My thanks, 'your majesty.' This will be fun… ha ha ha... "
---(Music Fade Out)---
With that, Sinbad evaporates into mist, and the glasses and mask appear back upon Samura's face with a small puff of blue flames.
"Now, I believe the others are likely waiting for us," Samurai says. "Let's move quickly."
"I'm… not the fastest at movement," the Black King Frost sighs, "I'm kind of hee ho… slow, to be hee 'ho'nest…"
This is where I come in. "Become my mask, and a part of me," I offer, "You can tag along with us that way, and I will call upon your power when the time is right."
"I… feel like you are right. Hee 'ho'kay!" The Black King Frost nods, and he transforms into an identical copy of my mask, and then flies into the mask on my face to become one with it. It's been a while since I've used the power of the Wild Card to take on a new Persona… I forgot this feeling. It's a good feeling.
"Alright. Let's move," I state, and the four of us make a break for it. However, Queen grabs my wrist to stop me as Mona and Samurai go on.
"Hey," Queen says to me, and she playfully taps my face with her palm as if to pantomime slapping me.
---Music: Life Goes On (Persona 5) ---
"I know, I know… I'm sorry. I lost my cool back there," I admit with shame, "I just… didn't like hearing someone talk so disrespectfully to you, you know?"
Her smile is warm, so I know she means well and isn't truly that upset. "Try not to get us all caught off guard for my sake, ok?"
"You know… it's been a long time since we've, well. You know. Gone on a date," I comment. God damn, that was an awkward approach. Did I lose some charm over these last few years? Some debonair ladies man I am…
"We'll absolutely change that," she smiles brightly, looking me in the eyes with compassion. "But, let's get this mess solved first."
She surprises me with a kiss on the cheek, and then runs to catch up with the others, leaving me standing on my own for a brief few moments as I feel my face flushing red.
I feel and see Arsene's head behind me from over my shoulder. "What's the hee 'ho'ld up? The others are leaving you behind..." he facetiously speaks, clearly relishing the opportunity to say something so out of character, before laughing and fading away. "A ha ha ha…"
To be continued...
---(Music End)---
---Music: Victory---
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