(Takes place between the events of the September Full Moon Operation and the October Full Moon Operation.)
"Minato, Fuuka has detected the Major Shadow - it's infiltrated the first floor!" Mitsuru commanded over the radio. "We'll handle the rest of them up here. You must corner it and end this!"
"Understood," Minato muttered, his voice barely above a whisper despite the calamity of battle around them. The Dark Hour was usually quiet in the absence of a full moon, so nobody would have had any reason to believe that the Shadows would try to break through into their dormitory in a maddened and frenzied tide with just a crescent moon hanging in the sky. However, that was somehow the situation that Minato and the rest of the Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad had found themselves in, with the boys and Koromaru bottlenecking the earthbound Shadows on through the ground floor while the girls handled the airborne Shadows swooping down towards the roof.
Minato heaved his sword from the melting husk of a defeated Shadow and took a moment to make sure the blade hadn't been damaged before catching the reflection of another Shadow charging towards him in the shining metal.
"Yo, I got this!" Junpei announced, rushing forward with his own blade and smashing the foe clean across the room until it collided with the television, creating a centralized explosion of glass shards, electrical sparks and inky goop. "OH YEAH! HOMERUN!"
"Damnit, Junpei, you're paying for that!" Akihiko managed to shout over the sound of crashing thunderbolts that his Persona was raining down on the Shadows trying to rush through the front door. Koromaru stood by his side, with Cerberus unleashing streams of fire to try and plug up the flood of darkness.
"The hell?! I saved the day, didn't I?" Junpei retorted.
Any argument about who was going to pay for the TV was interrupted by the cries of Ken, who had been grabbed by the collar of a Shadow that had wisely thought to barge through the back door. The young boy flailed his spear at the assailant before Shinjiro charged in and carved the Shadow clean in half with his heavy axe. The weapon was practically painted black with the 'blood' of his fallen foes.
"Th-thanks-" Ken began before being forcibly dragged to the (relative) safety of the stairwell by the larger boy.
"You heard Mitsuru-san!" Shinjiro barked, his stern tone cutting through the debacle of thunderbolts, slashes and the occasional fireball. "Let's get the big son of a bitch already!"
Minato nodded, wading through the remaining Shadows and cutting them to ribbons one after the other. Akihiko turned from the front door to see their leader parting the black sea with his sword, and after giving one last crash of electricity to the monsters surrounding the front door, he chased after Minato (with Junpei and Koromaru close behind.)
Ken and Shinjiro guarded the base of the stairs, piercing and sweeping at the Shadows until the others joined them. Together, the Personas of the five boys (and their dog) threw their offensive at the Shadows that seeked to chase them. A wave of scorching, shocking and stunning power washed over the black tide, leaving devastation in its wake. Before the five turned to sprint their way up to the first floor - the boy's floor, of all places - Junpei spotted something in the corner of his eye.
"Hey, Akihiko-san, you broke the couch! Guess that makes us even, huh?"
"You're still paying for the TV, Junpei."
*
The group arrived at the top of the stairs, and Minato clenched the hilt of his blade tighter as he saw what had slithered its way through one of the dormitory windows. Squatting and dribbling in the first floor lounge was another Shadow. The mask on its face was a twisted visage, its features either comically blown out of proportion or so small as to barely be visible. A gurgling noise emerged from the lopsided mouth hole.
"We've got it now!" Ken announced on the radio.
"Please hurry!" The group heard Fuuka respond, no doubt hiding in the command room and observing the situation through Lucia.
The Shadow roared in anger, a chilling wind rushing from its twisted lips. Minato brought his Evoker to his chin and squeezed the trigger as the battle commenced...
*
The Shadow croaked in a pathetic cry as the last barrage of fireballs brought it down to a melting mound on the dormitory floor.
"Heh," Junpei said, hefting his greatsword over his shoulder and brushing his nose. "That was it?"
Akihiko loosened his boxing stance, but his arms stayed up and front. "That was a bit too easy..."
Minato couldn't ignore the feeling of dread burning away in the pit of his stomach - the Shadow had barely left a scratch on them. Even the youngest member of their group, Ken, had managed to practically dance around the 'deadly fiend' with that spear of his.
"Who cares? We won! Da-na-na-naaaaaaaa!" Junpei announced, commemorating their victory with some cheesy 'level up' tune. Shinjiro groaned in response, while Koromaru yelped happily, wagging its tail with pride over its alleged 'level up.'
"Junpei-san is correct," Aegis announced over the radio system once more, her robotic voice clear as always. "Remaining Shadows have begun retreating. Permission to pursue?"
True to her word, the cacophony of battle had died down as the rest of the Dark Hour monsters had fled from their dorm. For all intents and purposes, SEES had won this night.
"Hold that thought, Aegis," Yukari added, breathing heavily yet sounding no worse for wear over their communications. "We really should check the dorm top to bottom first. I'm worried a few of them might have decided to stick around."
"Agreed," Mitsuru said, the sound of footsteps audible in the background - no doubt the girls were all heading downstairs. "Good job, everyone. We'll meet up with you all on the first floor."
"Alright then," Akihiko replied, clicking the device against his ear to respond. "Just don't get your hopes up - we moped the floor with this one."
"W-Wait!" The frail voice of their support, Fuuka, echoed through their radio. "Be careful! There's still an energy reading, and it's building up..!"
Koromaru began to bark angrily at the melted 'corpse' of the 'mighty' Shadow. Minato barely had time to flinch before, in a startling instant, the globule of darkness inflated like a balloon and erupted, ending its 'life' with one final parting gift. The male SEES members felt a wave of something foul and eldritch wash over them, sending them reeling to the floor of the first floor lounge and swallowing them in the darkness of unconsciousness...  | Members who added to this interactive story also contributed to these: |
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