Deviation Actions
Literature Text
Wakamono District - Shopping Center
April 30 - 8:40 AM
(OST: Sentimental)
The trio had trouble registering what Narumi had just said to them. She requested that they return to the mirror after they nearly lost their lives in the otherworldly realm. What exactly did she have in store for them now.
"I'm sorry, but I don't want to go back there again," Asuka said quickly. "I think I've had enough near-death experiences for one lifetime."
"What are you talking about?" Kazuya asked in disbelief. "It was your first near death experience."
Asuka glared at him. "Actually, it wasn't. When I was in Mexico, I nearly got caught in the middle of a cartel bust."
The news caught Narumi's interest. "Go on."
"Basically, the cops have been trying to get these guys for years. They supplied illegal drugs and firearms to anyone who had the money for it. Eventually, one of the members came clean about it and that was end of it."
"So, the cartel got brought down by a rat, huh?" Kai chuckled. "Oh, how the mighty have fallen."
"It's not that simple," Asuka said. "The moment the cartel found out, they killed the guy who sold them out. Afterwards, they prepared to escape on a private jet with all of the drugs and guns they planned on selling. The cops knew about this and had the airport on lock down."
"Wait, wait, back up a bit," Kazuya interrupted. "Exactly how did you get caught up in it?"
"I happened to be in the airport that was locked down."
Everyone stared at Asuka. She was at the same airport that was locked down in order to bust a cartel, and she was talking like it was no big deal.
"Wow," Kai said in awe. "You must've been in shock."
Asuka scoffed. "Hell no. When they arrived at the airport, they took a hostage thinking that it would allow them to leave the country scot free."
"And I take it you were that hostage?" Narumi said.
"I was… for about 30 seconds."
"Get out of here," Kai said in disbelief.
"True fact," Asuka said with pride. "Those idiots thought that I was an easy mark just because I'm some delicate rich girl."
"I bet you proved them wrong," Kazuya chuckled.
Asuka crossed her arms and smirked confidently. "You bet your ass I proved them wrong. I paid good money for those self-defense lessons. After I broke the goon's arm, the others just fled to the cops like a herd of antelope fleeing a hungry lion. Best trip I ever had."
"Normally, I'd chew you out for acting so recklessly, but I gotta admit, you've stones for a girl," Narumi praised.
"Yes. But I still stand on not going into the mirror again."
"Oh, come on," Kai pleaded. "If you can handle some lowly gun runner, what's stopping you from exploring another world?"
"We don't know what's in that world," Asuka countered.
"We already know what's there," Kazuya interjected. "Masked freaks and security goons."
Narumi cleared her throat. "Actually, there is one more thing that's in the mirror world."
"Huh? There's something else in there?" Kai asked.
Narumi nodded. "Yeah. You could even say that… that thing was there long before the Puppets or even Oracle discovered the other world."
"Well, what is it?" Asuka asked anxiously.
Narumi took a deep breath before speaking.
"The Shadows."
Giving each other confused looks, the trio started looking around them, seeing various shadows. It was there that Narumi realized that she needed to be more specific.
"Not those kind of shadows. I'm talking about shadows of a whole nother variety."
Kazuya let out a dry chuckle. "What, these Shadows you speak of move like they're alive or something?"
The serious expression on Narumi's face seemed to have answered Kazuya's question, although the latter was in total disbelief.
"You have got to be freakin' kidding me."
"I'm not. In the mirror, Oracle and the Puppets may be formidible, but both group pale in comparison when it comes to Shadows."
"Um, quick question," Kai said, raising his hand. "What exactly is a Shadow?"
Narumi smiled. "Glad to see someone's interested. A Shadow is basically a monster that is born from humans and carry human emotions. Of course, majority of said emotions are negative. Those things have no intelligence and will attack anything that disturbs them."
Kai put a hand under his chin. "You don't say."
"But that's not all," Narumi continued. "While they have no intelligence, Shadows tend to have wills."
"Wait a minute," Asuka interrupted. "How can those monsters have wills and not intelligence?"
Narumi shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine, kid. Anyway, should a Shadow have a strong will, lesser Shadows will start flocking to it like moths to a candle. Guess what would happen if they shoud merge with one another."
"They make one big, powerful Shadow," Kai answered.
Narumi was really impressed with Kai. "Good for you, kid. You're on fire." She turned to Kazuya and Asuka. "You two should take notes from this guy."
"Why, because he took some lucky shots?" Kazuya scoffed.
"You know the old saying, kid: you miss a hundred percent of the shots you don't take."
"Don't expect any good shots from this fool," Asuka snarked. "He tends to misfire a lot."
"Hey, no one asked for your input, you damn exile," Kazuya shot back while glaring at he.
Asuka growled. "You wanna go, you smut hoarder?"
"Ahem."
Everyone turned to Narumi, who had an annoyed look.
"How about we put the petty squabling on the back burner and get back to the topic at hand, okay?"
"I second that," Kai said.
"Good. Now, the reason I want you guys to go through the mirror is simple. There's a data deposit that those Oracle fools left behind as soon as they saw a Persona. I need the three of you to go in there and get it out before they wise up and snatch their property back."
"Uh, Narumi-san," Kazuya said. "As much as I like sticking it to Oracle, what are Asuka and I gonna use to defend ourselves with? We don't have a Persona like Kai here."
"Not a problem," Narumi answered. "I know just the place."
Last Defense
9:04 AM
(OST: Weapon Master [Store BGM])
"First time I've been in a weapon shop," Kazuya said. "And it's the first time I'm gonna buy from one too."
"Don't worry about it, kid," Narumi called out. "I'm paying for whatever catches your eye."
Asuka gasped. "Oh, Narumi-san, we couldn't possibly-"
Narumi raised her hand. "I will hear none of it. I'm paying for whatever weapon you like and that's final. Really, I insist."
Asuka sighed in resignation and decided to look around. The store had quite the selection of weapons. Aside from the typical firearm, there were swords, nunchucks, chakrams and so on.
"I was wondering," Kai said. "Where'd you find a weapon shop like this?"
Narumi shrugged. "Eh, it wasn't that hard to find. The owner and I go way back. Plus, people who buy the weapons only use them for decoration, so the cops don't hang around here."
Kai nodded in understanding. "That's pretty convient, Narumi-san."
"Don't mention it, kid."
Kazuya searched all over the shop to find a weapon that would suit him, but so far, his search bore no results. He walked up to the front desk and rang the bell.
"Yo, is anyone back there?" he called out?
"Just a second," a voice responded.
"If only we had a second," Kazuya muttered under his breath.
Soon enough, the storage door opened, revealing a young woman with dark skin, orange hair tied in a ponytail and brown eyes. She wore a gray long-sleeved shirt with a black vest over it, blue jeans pants and brown boots.
"What can I help you with?" the girl asked.
Kazuya exhaled before speaking. "I'm gonna be straight here. I'm the type of guy that enjoys throwing stuff."
"Uh-huh…"
"But I also like accuracy. It doesn't have to be perfect, but I want it accurate. And I was hoping you could help me find something that suits my tastes."
"Hmm…" The girl thought about this for a moment, then snapped her fingers. "I think I've got just the thing for you. Give a minute."
With that, she rushed back into the storage room. After a few seconds had passed, she came back out carrying a neatly-folded cloth in her hands. Kazuya eyed her suspiciously, wondering if she was messing with him.
"Now, I know what you're thinking," the girl started. "But let me clear things up for you. The cloth itself is not a weapon, but what's in the cloth…"
She unfolded the fabric and Kazuya's eyes widened.
"Is probably what you're pining for."
Kazuya couldn't believe his eyes. On the cloth were eight shuriken, all polished and sharpened.
"Wow," he breathed out. "Where did you get your hands on these?"
The girl let out a light chuckle. "Oh, we had those lying around for quite some time. I wondered if they would ever be purchaced.
Kai walked up to the desk to take a closer look at the shuriken. To say he was impressed was an understatement.
"These look badass, dude," he said to Kazuya. "You should take them."
Kazuya turned towards him with a big grin. "You know what? Maybe I will."
Just then, Asuka walked up to the desk with a frustrated expression.
"I take it you're having trouble selecting a weapon as well?" the girl asked.
"What was your first clue?" Asuka groaned.
"Maybe I can see what else is in there," the girl said as she disappeared into the storage room once more.
"Man, I wonder how much rarities she has in that room," Kai said.
"I'm guessing she's got every antique weapon from all the battles fought throughout history," Kazuya put in.
The girl came out of the room again, only this time, she carried a long stick with a small blade at the top.
"Is that… a polearm?" Asuka asked.
The girl nodded. "That it is, girlfriend. Sadly, this is the only we've got here."
"You mean, you don't have more of those?" Kai asked.
The girl shook her head. "Afraid not."
"What am I going to do with a polearm?" Asuka said, taking the object out of the girl's hands.
"You mean aside from killing Shadows with it?" Kazuya asked dryly.
"Shut it," she muttered. "I guess I could take this out for a test drive. It looks pretty cool."
"I think it looks cool too," Kai said.
Asuka smiled at his interest of the polearm.
"Well," Narumi said, walking up to the desk. If you two are satisfied with your choices, we can move on."
"Where are we going now?" Kazuya asked.
Narumi smirked. "You'll see soon enough." She put the money needed to pay for the weapons on the desk, then walked towards the front door.
"This is shaping up to be quite the trip," Kai said with mock excitement.
"You make it sound like we're going on vacation," Asuka groaned. "Don't you have any fear at all?"
"Nope."
Asuka muttered a few curses before leaving the shop. Kazuya eventually followed her, leaving Kai alone with the girl.
"So, will I see you again?" he asked.
The girl smiled. "Only if you want to."
"Great. Mind if I catch your name?"
"Natsuki Moriyama," the girl said,
"Sweet. See you later then, Nat." Kai finally walked out of the shop, leaving Natsuki alone... and a little annoyed by the nickname he gave her.
"Nat? Was that seriously the best he could come up with?" she groaned.
Nagisa Pharmacy
9:19 AM
(OST: Window Shopper [Store BGM])
The group arrived at a drug store to get supplies for the journey into the mirror. Narumi gave Kai a list of the items needed.
"Let's see here… medicine, medicinal powder, energy drink… what else do we need?" Kai asked, holding a list of items.
"Anything that will help keep you alive in the mirror world," Narumi answered. "The Shadow don't have intelligence, so they'll attack whatever they deem a threat."
"When you put it like that, it really sounds like these Shadows would give Oracle and the Puppets a run for their money," Kazuya said, picking up a bottle of medicine.
"Honestly, I could care less about the Shadows," Asuka huffed. "I just want to put those idiot Puppets in their place for causing my family so much grief.
"Ooh, getting the claws out already, exile? Didn't think you were that thirsty for blood," Kazuya teased.
"Shut it, you two," Narumi interrupted before the argument could escalate. "We need to focus on the topic at hand here. We don't need to fight among ourselves."
"Totally agree on that," Kai whispered.
"Whatever," Asuka said stubbornly. "I just want to get this over with."
"Same here," Kazuya added. "I got some things I need to take care of, and I want to be alive to do them."
As the three walked around the pharmacy, Narumi looked at them and let out a smile grin.
"These kids are such a motley crew of fools," she said to herself.
