Nightfall

Chapter 10

"Yo, where'd you going?" Sojiro pointed out as Ren grabbed a yellow umbrella off the rack.
"Florist."
"Be careful, come back before it gets too late. And say, where did your little friend went?"
Enju perked and turned around from her usual chores.
"Who?" Ren darted out of the door before either of them pressed on. Walking down the street with his head down, he turned a corner and down an alley. Weaving through the sombre crowd wandering the silent streets to a shop in their minds, he quickly spotted a patrol stopping shoppers on random-
"Let me go you nitwits!" an elderly man flustered, thrusting his hands around, while the green men held on to his belongings. Clutching on to him tightly, they dragged him into an awaiting grey van, which zoomed off into the distance.
People walking past this scene did not seem to even notice. Most likely having experienced all this in the first few days of the new rule in Japan.
"I placed the calling cards. It should be anytime now..."

  "This just in, members of the Shido administration just received a calling card by the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. It appears that finally after a long wait, they have decided to show themselves once more to act as heroes of the day. Police and the military warns that those who have relations with the infamous Phantom Thieves of Hearts will be arrested and face state punishment. Failure to report all actions of the Phantom Thieves will result in state punishment as well."

"Let's go." Ren fired his metaverse navigator. Instantly, the surroundings shrouded itself in complete darkness.
"W-what?" Ann stuttered.
"Impossible! They just went full hardcore on us!" Ryuji shouted as he faced the now darkened palace in front of them.
"All the better! Let's go!" Morgana exclaimed and scurried off. Following closely in his footsteps, they parkoured over deliberate traps set up to stop any intruders.
"AH!" Haru screamed as her foot got stuck in an animal trap.
"GO ON WITHOUT ME! WE CAN WASTE ANY TIME!" For the first time, Haru shouted like a real beast in pain.
"Noir." Morgana saluted and the remaining ran forth.
"Goddamit!" Yuseke, Ann and Makoto were trapped to the floor by clear glue, which were hard to spot if one wasn't paying attention to the floor.
"Not you guys too..."
"Joker, we need to go on." Akechi gestured down the long hallway of death.
Sighing, he jumped up, grabbing Ryuji, Akechi and Morgana along with him, Futaba floated along with them as they ascended through the never ending levels of traps laid out for them.
"Ahhhhh goodbyeeeeeeeeeee..." Ryuji's voice grew faint as a wrecking ball rolled over him and he was barely trying to maintain his balance on the fast moving object.
Morgana sighed, patted himself and pointed at three men that stood before them. Grinning evil.
"Heh heh..." The man with a black, half moon spectacles chuckled as he looked at the remaining 4 members. "I am Junta, if you havent realised."
Ren nodded.
Kamoshida stood once more before them. This time, grinning from ear to ear. And definitely more ladies than the other time.
"I'm gonna puke." Futaba clutched her mouth.
"So, have you made up your mind?" Maruki stood in his white lab coat.
"Definitely." Ren remained cautious, his eyes looking out for potential threats.
"And I presume it is...?"
"A no."
"Cool. I can't wait to get into battle. Sumire, come forth." Maruki closed his eyes as a trance like Sumire Yoshizawa stepped out from behind him.
"Sumire!" Ren called out.
"I am Kasumi. Not Sumire." The girl spoke in a raspy voice.
"Bring it on." Akechi got into position.
"I think there's someone else I want you to meet." Junta laughed maliciously.
A blonde haired girl in dark overalls stepped out from the darkness.
"A-Akari?" Futaba stammered.
"Thanks to her, I have inside information as to your fighting formations. We have began preparations once she fed us information about your relentlessness to give in."
Ren thought he might have caught Akari with a sense of guilt in her eyes, but he dismissed it.
"And since I see we defeated most of your friends early game, I'm dying to see your 'formations' now." Junta rubbed his hands.
A flashbang and a figure jumped off.
"What?"
"I have enough of this." Akari had disappeared. In return, her voice echoed off the high ceiling. "They don't call me a sniper for no reason."
A bullet fire appeared out of no where, but Kamoshida's suprisingly fast reflexes grabbed the bullet in mid-air.
"I saw that coming." Junta commented.
"No, you never." Ren said, before lashing out his first attack on the trio.
Akechi swiftly followed, accompanied by Futaba's leech attack, and Morgana's persona.
"Pathetic." Junta's transformed, firing huge forms of artillery and explosives at them, sending them diving in all directions.
"Gold medal attack!" Kamoshida fired a round of balls that rained heavily on their sore bodies.
"Go." Kasumi's persona Cendrillion gave them a good punching of their lives, before regaining health lost to Ren by absorbing nearby shadow minions.
Akechi panted heavily, eyes full of hate. "Ren."
Ren nodded. Catching his eyes, he blasted his grappling hook, swinging from pillar to pillar, before landing on Junta from the top, catching him on surprise. Just as Ren moved out of the way, Akechi gave his battle cry and chopped up Junta into minced meat.
A shot fired from the top, and Junta collapsed on to the floor, waving a white flag.
Kamoshida saw the scene unfold before his eyes and retaliated more, aiming close to perfect shots on the team.
Kasumi did the same moves once more, and regained health.
"I..." Ren panted and fell face flat on the floor.
"This..." Akechi bent down.
"Ack." Morgana laid down on the floor.
"Guys, I'll regen you!" Futaba punched a number of keys, but no result came out.
"Sumire." Ren whispered at the red haired girl standing before him. He swore he saw tears dropping out of her trance-like eyes.
"Here comes another shot!" Kamoshida grinned and prepared to throw a series of balls.
Ren closed his eyes, bracing for the worse. 

But it never came.
When he slowly opened his eyes, the red-haired girl stood before him. Holding out her hands, she smiled. "Ren-senpai, you taught Sumire never to gave up. So don't." 
Tears welling up in his eyes, he caught Sumire just as she collapsed on to the floor.
"Sumire!"
"No good, she seems to be in critical condition. Zoro! Finish off this brute for the second time in history!"
A resounding bang or two, and it was out.