February 26
Madran was back in the Metaverse with the group. They had gathered in the latest Safe Room, and were discussing what to do next.
"So, there's only this entrance, right?"
"Yeah, I didn't see anything else around."
"Fwoosh?"
"Like, I woulda said something if there was."
"Good point. Well, should we move on?"
Philemon stood up.
"Hey, Philemon?"
"Yes?"
"Why don't you take your claymore in with us? Isn't it better than a dinky Zio?"
"Zio is just fine. People don't tend to target me as much, as well."
"Hmm."
"Maybe, because we're the ones in front?"
"That WOULD make sense..."
Suga got up.
"Well, I'm ready when you are, Fwoosh!"
"Well, let's move! Ready, Beauty?"
Sheila got up from petting Chicory.
"Yep!"
Chicory ran around everyone, barking excitedly.
"Y'know, despite for him being five years old, he still acts like a puppy. In a good way."
"Yep! Ok, let's move!"
Everyone left the Safe Room. Madran began a scan, and picked up a frustratingly familiar signal.
"Hey... it's you again!"
Madran pointed behind her, and Nightingale utilized an Agilao. However, it simply torched the wall.
"Hmm..."
Madran intensified the scan again, and found that their follower, or "Junpei," was well hidden.
"Fwoosh, since they know that we're here and we can see them, wouldn't they have left?"
"Maybe, Plague, but this bitch is persistent. Have you done any research?"
"No, Baofu wasn't able to find anything on Junpei."
"Beauty?"
"Mom's sick, so I stayed home with dad and grammy to care for her."
"...Butter-"
"No."
"-fine."
Madran scanned more, searching for Junpei.
"Hmm... wait! I hear something."
"-hey're onto me. Again."
"Don't follow them as close! You're way too close, and that might endanger you."
A lower female voice was in place of Fuuka, startling Madran.
"Plus, Madran's using her persona to find me right now! Gosh, just the thought of that friend of hers getting near me makes me tremble..."
"Junpei, now's not the time for this. We must figure out how they do this change of heart, and confront them about this. Do you have any idea how this could upset society?"
"They've already done that, really. Have you seen the website, Mitsuru-san?"
Madran filled with elation, knowing that she had yet another name to look up.
"The website?"
"Yeah, they've made quite the following."
"Hey, Nightingale, let's move towards the signal."
"Ooh, sounds great."
Madran began walking slowly to where Junpei's signal was. She motioned for Suga to follow her. They sneaked up to the signal, finding a man in a blue baseball jacket, black sweats, and blue cap hunched by the corner, whispering to himself. Whoever Mitsuru was was apparently also using an analysis persona, or one who could communicate well through large spaces.
"Wait, Junpei..."
"What?"
"Um..."
Suga quickly snuck up right next to him, and leaned in close to his ear.
"AAAAAH!"
Suga screeched in his ear, causing him to jump up, smack his leg into the wall, and turn around to face them. Suga quickly took out her large scalpel and extended it.
"I-it's the girl, a-and Madran! W-what do I do?!"
"Quick! Leave!"
Junpei ran away as quick as he could, but was stopped when Suga bounced after him, using her scalpel like a large staff.
"You aren't going anywhere! Bubonia!"
Bubonia manifested in front of Junpei, trapping him between her and Suga. Then, she got a better look at him, seeing that he had rather pale skin, dark grey hair, a short goatee, and silvery eyes.
"Junpei! Hold her off, before the others arrive!"
"Too late."
Philemon walked up beside Suga, with Sheila, Chicory, and Madran following.
"Crap!"
"Hold on! I'm transporting you out!"
"Hold on, you say..."
"It isn't working?"
"Mitsuru Kirijo, I am a dweller of the cognitive plain. I have as much control as I may need here. Before I let your subject go, I have one request..."
"And that is?"
Philemon looked over to Junpei, who was trembling in his boots.
"Make it so that your subjects will cease this stalking of this girl, destined for her one true goal."
There was some silence.
"I cannot assure this... but, for the time, I will stop."
"There is no in-between. You will either stop, or face the results of such actions."
There was more silence. Then, Mitsuru could be heard shouting something, and a strange frequency shot through the area. Madran held her head, falling to her knees.
"Ow! What the crap?"
"Fwoosh?!"
Philemon ran over to her, and Junpei vanished.
"Damnit! We almost had him..."
"Something tells me that this lady will wait for when we kinda forget about this to, er, 'monitor' us again."
Plague looked back.
"Well, Fwoosh, are you alright?"
Madran got back up and nodded.
"Yep! Um, sorry about that."
"It's fine. Let's, uh, continue."
Madran hopped back up, re-summoning Nightingale and running along the corridors again. The area was now much like a giant warehouse, with various closed containers everywhere. They engaged in random battles with bouncers, which led Madran to be confused as to why there weren't shadows based around workers in here. However, she just assumed that it would take too much mind power, or whatever was used, to make that change.
"So, where are we?"
"In the Metaverse."
"Duh. Where in the palace are we?"
Philemon pulled a map out from under his coat.
"In the warehouse that stores... God knows what."
"I'm not putting too much thought to that either. Um, is the treasure here, Fwoosh?"
"Yeah, but the question is where."
"Somewhere in here."
"Where in here?"
"I dunno, Plague! Have YOU ever had to search an entire warehouse for a potentially very tiny item? He might just stash it in one of these really high-up places, or something!"
"Yikes. Um, where is it leading you to?"
"The very back of the warehouse."
"That makes sense."
"Well, let's just keep walking!"
After Sheila sprinkled a few positive words in, they continued on their trek, engaging in a few more fights and becoming generally bored.
"Gosh, I wish that we were still chasing weird stalkers down hallways."
"Yeah. This is boring."
"Ooh, Safe Room!"
Sheila ran over to the golden doors, flinging them open. Everyone walked in, and sat in various seats once more.
"So, how close are we to the back?"
Philemon studied the map more.
"There seems to be something called "Shiini's secret area." Sounds fishy."
"Is it where the back is?"
"Yes."
"Thank goodness. Well, should we head out again?"
Chicory yawned, and went over to the door, wagging his tail. Madran stood up and stretched.
"Alright. Let's go!"
Everyone filed out after Madran. After what felt like ten minutes of walking, they made it to the back of the warehouse.
"Ok! It needs a password. Great."
Madran stood in front of a door that had a bright yellow coloration to it. A small keypad was in it, and everyone was greatly confused by it.
"Hmm. It says 'what is Shiini's favorite thing?'"
"Well, should we each guess one by one?"
Suga stepped up.
"I'll be first."
Suga typed "puzzles" in, and it didn't work.
"Ok! I'm next."
Sheila walked up, typing "Underage Girls" into it. It didn't work.
"My turn."
Philemon held his fingers at the keyboard for a few seconds, and typed in "Photography." The lock clicked, and the door opened.
"Really? Wow."
"Shiini is a photographer, is he not?"
Philemon looked a Sheila.
"He is! I just didn't guess that it would be so obvious."
Philemon opened the door, walking through it. Madran ran after him, and everyone else entered at the same time. Sheila quickly adjusted the upper part of her dress before carrying on.
"Uh, watch where you put your hand!"
"Y'all went through it at the same time. Anyways, let's walk on."
"Hey, uh, this looks like the place in Strip Clubs where people go to get lap..."
Suga looked to see everyone glaring at her. There were, in fact, a few hallways, with many open rooms along them that had dim lights and sleazy couches situated in them.
"Let's, uh, hurry."
"Gosh! It's way too dark in here!"
"Allow me..."
Yorick jumped in front, using his skull's eyes to light the way. They slowly advanced through the hall, seeing that it ended shortly.
"Ok! Let's go into that last room over there."
Madran pointed at the last room in the hall.
"Oh, by the way, there aren't any shadows, so don't worry."
"Ok! Let's hurry!"
Everyone ran towards the door, and entered it. They were greeted by lights that were much brighter, and many picture frames lining the wall. The door shut behind them, and their eyes slowly adjusted to the light.
"Ow, I can't see..."
Madran blinked, and froze.
"Oh, shit."
She covered her eyes, and Suga did the same. Sheila looked around in shock and horror as she saw every photo of herself that Shiini had forced her to send all lined up around the large room. Philemon stepped back a bit.
"What the..."
Sheila dipped her head down slightly. Madran looked over to her, seeing that she was shaking.
"Um, Beauty? It's ok. This wasn't your fault..."
Madran noticed that none of her words were reaching her.
"I hate you..."
Sheila buried her face in her hands, shaking more and starting to cry. Nefertiti appeared behind her with a very enraged look on her face.
"I HATE YOOOOOOOOU!"
Sheila began screaming at the top of her lungs in what could be seen as intense rage. Nefertiti held her orb up, and the room was quickly consumed by a white light. Madran, Suga, Chicory, and Philemon all looked away from the light, but found that it was the only thing they could see. After a small amount of time, the light died down, and Sheila could be seen repeatedly stabbing a picture with her spear. She seemed to be muttering things about how Shiini was better off dead, all the while destroying any trace of the pictures that existed.
"Holy shit, Beauty, calm down!"
Madran ran over to Sheila, restraining her. Suga helped out, finding out that Sheila wasn't a fan of her conquest for the annihilation of the photos being halted.
"Let go of me!"
"No! Please, listen to me. We're changing this sick fuck's heart, but we aren't killing him. I didn't make this group to kill people, I made it to help them and everyone else."
Sheila dropped her spear and made Nefertiti vanish.
"No, sorry, I just had a moment..."
"It's fine! You shoulda seen Suga when she first awakened."
"Yeah. I feel that my little line I gave was kinda cheesy, though. It was probably the worst pun I've made in my life."
"Yeah, she said something about being blown away or whatever."
Sheila chuckled, and stood up.
"Well..."
Madran looked around at the room. All of the lights had been knocked out, and the original white walls were now scorched grey.
"Let's, uh, keep going!"
Madran hopped up, and went through the other door. It, however, had been melted shut, so she utilized a Headbutt instead.
"Ok! Let's go!"
Madran walked through the door that had recently been forced open, seeing that the area was much like how she remembered Sheila's home looking like. However, they were in the back parts of the house, where Madran remembered her room was.
"Ok, um, we're here?"
Madran checked out the area, seeing that it was like a much better version of her dad's palace, with a better color scheme, better-looking furnishings, and not as many doors all over the place.
"Wait, is this the mansion?"
Sheila looked around in confusion.
"It looks a lot like your home. Maybe, it wasn't lying when it-"
The area crackled and fizzed around them, turning into a space that looked to be like the corruption that treasures produced.
"AH! Where did all of this purple, veiny stuff come from?"
"This means that we're almost at the treasure, if the corruption is this bad."
"Do the treasures cause this?"
"Yes."
"Goodness, it's like my house was squashed by a mall-strip club hybrid, only leaving the back."
Philemon read the map some more.
"From what I see, we need to head to where your room is, and go through what looks to be several shadows. Then, I feel that we're done here, pretty much."
"I have a feeling that fighting Shadow Shiini is kinda inevitable. Like, how are we going to get past all three of these areas?"
"Well, Plague, we made it halfway through Proctora-san's palace before he tried to stop us."
"Also, isn't it a little creepy that his most prized possession is in MY room?"
"Yeah, now that I think of it..."
"Also, what was... y'know, I'm not going to ask."
"What was what?"
"Ok. What was, er, Shadow Proctora's scary form?"
"A giant amalgamation of a bunch of bugs, insects, animals, and stuff. Also, he had a laser cannon inside of his body."
"Ooh. Yikes."
"Well, here's a Safe Room. Let's head back to the normal world, and get some rest."
Philemon walked towards a Safe Room, and entered it. Everyone else did as well, and they left for their normal lives once again.
END OF CHAPTER 31
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That's all for this chapter! The end of this arc is a mere two to three chapters away! I hope that you all enjoyed. I'll see all of you guys next time!