Ann stood proud and tall, her eyes fixed on Shadow Kamoshida.
"Looks like it's time to bust loose, eh Skull?" Ren said with a chuckle as he adjusted his gloves.
"You know me oh so well Joker." Skull grinned, tapping his mace on his shoulder.
The team stood proudly beside Ann. Shiho, glanced at Ann in pride before looking forward towards the cowering Shadow Kamoshida.
"I'm so proud of you SweetTreat" She smiled as she leveled her spear.
"She'll need a new code-name after this!" Morgana spoke up. "But first…"
"Tch, I don't care anymore, just kill them." Shadow Kamoshida grunted in annoyance before spinning on his heel to leave.
"You're not going anywhere!!!" Ann yelled, aiming her gun at the escaping king.
A huge guard appeared and deflected the shots from the gun with its shield. Its voice boomed with anger and finality.
"Imma kill you! Imma kill you cause King Kamoshida told me to!"
Suddenly it whipped its head up and spread out its arms before dispersing into a black mist and reforming into..
"Gross!"
"What the eff?"
"Really?"
The shadow had taken the form of a giant red demon posed in a lazy thinking posture, sitting upon a massive toilet. Suddenly the scent of rot and decay filled the room before the demon made a strained face and tensed its body, raising its hand forward.
"Wait is it?!" Morgana gagged violently as the demon declared,
"Magaru!"
A vortex of cutting wind tore through the area. Shiho braced herself with her spear, Ren pulled Ann down by the shoulder as Morgana rebuffed the spell with his own. Unfortunately, Ryuji took most of it across the chest.
"Son of a-!"
"Pixie!" Ren called out, "Dia!"
As Ren healed the recovering Ryuji, Morgana's slingshot had already been drawn.
"Why the hell does that hurt so much?!" Ryuji complained as he and the Captain attacked the toilet demon in unison.
"Elemental weaknesses!" Morgana managed, before being struck by a stray attack. He rebounded off of the wall, calling Zorro forth. "Watch! Garu!"
The spell barely caused a flinch from the demon. It acted as if it was just a breeze and not a gust of wind.
The demon hunched on his porcelain throne, his enormous belly shaking as he laughed. "Nyeheheh. King says kill. So I kill. Easy job."
Ann didn't listen, her eyes were locked on the disgusting shadow. "Grrr. Carmen! Agi!"
She vaulted over a fallen pedestal, snapping her whip in a wide arc creating a loud cracking noise. Suddenly her persona appeared behind her. Carmen appeared as a very tall woman with fuchsia colored skin. She was wearing a long flowing red ballgown, black gloves, and black-red boots. Her dress was mostly light red with alternating black and gold trim along its many layers. The dress had a black corset with red heart designs and shows a generous amount of cleavage. Her gloves and boots share the same color and heart designs as the corset. Several roses are seen growing out of the base of the corset.
"We will always be free!" Carmen declared as she pointed forward suggestively, a ball of fire erupting from in front of her.
Ann felt the energy leave her body rapidly. But she didn't mind, as Carmen had put it, She will always be free! She would rather die than be under the will of another. Never again!
A ball of flame erupted from in front of them. The demon's eyes went wide and he shrieked, an absurdly high-pitched noise from such a massive body, and falling partially off his throne. The porcelain cracked. The smell of singed rotting flesh joined the existing room ambiance and somehow made it worse.
'He's scared of the whip, and of our fire,' Carmen purred. 'Imagine. A man who lectures women about their place, and a leather whip makes him cower.'
"OH MY GOD," Morgana coughed "OH GOD, IT'S WORSE-"
"Stay focused everyone!" Ren yelled. "It's down for now! Light 'em up!"
Ryuji and Shiho responded with toothy grins, a bolt of lightning descended from the sky, causing a loud cracking noise. Shiho was already moving, a streak of white and red along the demon's left flank, Scáthach spectral and silent at her side. Her spear punched up through the meat of the demon's arm and stuck there. She wrenched it free with a grunt and rolled clear before he could swing.
The demon was still alive, albeit barely after the team's impressive combo.
"Mean! Mean! I want to go home! King they're mean!" The demon cried
"Oh, NOW we're talking about mean?!" Ann growled in anger before casting agi once more.
The demon once again slumped forward and sideways on his throne.
"Let's go everyone!" Morgana shouted.
"Mona is right, All out Attack!" Ren responded
Suddenly the lights dimmed slightly as the group turned into dark streaks, continually striking the demon.
Gracefully landing, Ann spun in place before striking a confident pose.
"A beautiful rose has its thorns!" She declared as the toilet mounted demon exploded into mist.
---
Thankfully, the castle was silent and deserted on their way towards the nearest safe room. The eerie quiet wasn't very soothing, but instead made the trek more stressful. Piling into the safe room the group gave a sigh of relief.
"How are you feeling Ann?" Ryuji asked with a grin
"Code-names!" Morgana snapped.
"Oh yeah…Sweet something right?" Ryuji muttered.
"I want a new name!" Ann exclaimed. Her adrenaline had faded and she was still in an excited alert mood.
"How did she not collapse yet?" Ren wondered aloud.
"I'm built different!" Ann puffed up her chest with pride.
The group was ready to applaud when Ann suddenly dramatically fell into her chair and exhaled loudly.
"I feel SOOOOO much better." Ann muttered with a smile as Shiho sat down, laying her head on Ann's shoulder.
"Told ya that you're strong."
Suddenly, Arsene appeared from behind Ren. His mask covered his face but the group could tell he had a massive grin. Soon after, Carmen appeared behind Ann, before glancing at each member of the group before her eyes landed on Arsene.
"Ah, une femme fatale. Bonjour, beauté." Arsene bowed
"Hm?" Carmen said with interest and a slight grin. "Have we learned nothing? Why would I not crush you beneath my heel, male?"
Suddenly Arsene took off his hat, and removed a rose from within.
"For the lady-" He began before his hat was sliced in half.
"Not the time." Scáthach had appeared and commanded with a glare before vanishing.
"uhhh. Were the personas just flirting?" Ryuji asked in shock.
"Nope" Ann, Ren and Shiho answered simultaneously with flushed faces.
[FEATURE ADDED]
Luckily a synthetic female voice broke the awkward atmosphere. Ren quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. Trying his best to avoid the awkward glances from Ann and Shiho, and the angry glare from Morgana.
"Hm? Feature? Is this really some kinda game?" Ryuji knit his brows. "Did we unlock something from beating a boss?"
Ren had been silent, looking at his phone, before placing it on the table in the center of the room.
On the screen a map displayed the areas they had explored, along with a list of the two safe rooms and a button labeled "Entrance".
"It started mapping for us?" Morgana asked in shock.
"This is good right?" Ann looked at the phone
"It should be…" Ren said. "I don't think it would announce a new feature if this was it though."
"RPG remember?!" Ryuji suddenly yelled in excitement. "I bet…..Look!"
He tapped the button labeled entrance. The world froze for a fraction of a second, before everything felt liquid and viscous. There was a sensation of suction pulling the group upward and dispersing outward. This feeling lasted long enough for the team to feel the sensations, before it ended. They were back at the entrance.
"Urk." Ren gagged.
Morgana collapsed with spirals in his eyes nearby. Shiho and Ann leaning on each other with sick looking faces.
"I was right! Fast travel! HAHAHA!" Ryuji burst out laughing.
"Ugh, I didn't know I got motion sickness." Ren groaned as he checked on his team.
As his eyes scanned the group and the area, he caught sight of an ethereal blue doorway. A familiar white haired eyepatched girl standing in front of it holding a clipboard. Her nearly identical twin sitting atop the door frame glaring at Ren while tapping a baton against her palm.
---