Disclaimer: I do not own Persona or Fate or anything in the nasuverse, any resemblance to any other Persona 4/Fate fan fiction is coincidental and plagiarism is not intended. No flames please, constructive criticism only.

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[Control Room, Chaldea Security Organisation, Antarctica]

Lev Lainur found himself running to the control room as red lights flashed and the emergency alarms blared throughout Chaldea. The automatic door opened and he came to a stop. Marsbury was already there; he looked and saw that the light of civilisation upon CHALDEAS had vanished leaving the reproduction of the worlds soul blank, save for the landmasses upon it.

"What's going on?" Lev inquired both aloud and wondering to himself, as it was too early for the Incineration of Humanity to begin.

"CHALDEAS is no longer able to observe humanities future." An employee stated with a panicked voice.

"Do we know the cause?" Marsbury asked stoically.

"SHEBA is providing data now." Rapid tapping at the keyboard continued, as the alarms were silenced. "Got it, the source of this is in present-day Japan."

"Japan?" Lev echoed rubbing his chin.

"Yes, there's a distortion occurring, a small rural town called Inaba is the source."

"Inaba, that's where Olga's fiancé is currently residing," Marsbury stated with some concern in his voice. "Can you get a feed on the area?"

A holographic screen appeared, showing the small town, but it was near impossible to see anything aside from the silhouettes of people and the buildings near the screen, anything further away was obscured by the fog.

"What on earth..." Lev said with confusion. "Is it a bounded field?"

"Negative, mana density is much too high for a bounded field, the fog is spreading faster than natural fog, not only that but the mana density is still increasing at an alarming rate." A control room employee stated. "If it continues to increase at this rate then the town will be uninhabitable within days."

"Then what is it exactly?" Marsbury demanded, glaring at the image.

"It appears...my god." The employee gasped at the readings with others who saw the data becoming similarly shocked.

"What is it?" Lev demanded also impatient.

"It appears...that the fog is similar in nature to a Reality Marble except...that it appears to be overwriting the texture of The World itself." The employee yelled with shock "And there's no sign of Counter Force resistance from Gaia or Alaya."

"How is that possible?" Lev asked clenching his fist. "To pull off such a feat with no counter force resistance?"
"It can't be a human causing this or a heroic spirit," Marsbury stated. "Whatever is happening here, the cause must be very old and powerful, maybe something the World doesn't see as a threat. What effects has this...Reality Marble for lack of a better term, had on the town itself?"

"No signs of any change aside from the fog, I don't think, the manifestation has completed yet, the distortion in the texture of the World isn't hostile to human life but this might be just a beginning stage, the fog is spreading though, and the local leylines are showing signs of corruption too, but no concrete data on that yet."

"Wait," Lev suddenly recalled "Isn't Romani still there? Can we get in contact with him?"

"Negative" Slyvia reported typing away at her keyboard "The fog seems to be blocking the signal, we did briefly get a communication form him but it cut out pretty much instantly."
"We can only watch," Marsbury stated after a few moments of silence. "Any Mage sent to try and contain it would be killed."

"Right, there are Persona Users in the town, meaning the Grand Servant remains there." Lev sighed. "Maybe this has to do with the Grail War currently occurring there. The one the Wizard Marshal warned us about."

Marsbury grimaced something only Lev noticed, he was still embarrassed at having ignored Zelretch's warning about not going to the town, only for the heads of the people he sent to wind up on Olga's desk. Now the Wizard Marshal had used his political power, which he rarely exercised, to forbid any mage from entering the town, something which all now paid attention too and obeyed.

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"Finally." Adachi's Saber growled as Gawain they locked swords. "I've been waiting to destroy you for months."

"Who are you?" Gawain demanded trying to push against them and gain ground to no avail.

"You can't tell?" The Saber asked mockingly, Gawain didn't need to see their face to know Saber was grinning.

Gawain growled and flames enveloped Excalibur Galatine. "You look like a knight but conceal yourself like a coward."

"Who cares!" Saber yelled as red lightning began arcing over the blade."Honour, Pride, Loyalty, Chivalry who cares about any of that crap? All that matters IS THE THE ONE WHO'S ALIVE AT THE END!" Saber's sword suddenly erupted causing an explosion which forced Gawian back, that momentary opening was all Saber needed as a Gawain was forced to return to Yu's mind as Sabers sword went through his gut.

Yu's flinched as he felt the pain of being stabbed. He reacted quickly though as Saber had leapt into the air only to be blasted away by a bolt of lightning form Tesla who Yu had summoned. As Saber crashed to the ground Yu changed Tesla for Cú Chulainn who quickly leapt into the air himself and unleashed his Noble Phantasm.

"GAE BOLG!" The spear shot downward into the fog straight for the heart of its prey.

A loud boom came from within the fog, only seconds later for something to shoot from it. Yu feel to his knees clutching his chest, as Gae Bolg impaled Cú Chulainn.

"Impossible." The lancer coughed out as he to vanished.

"No way, it's that fog." Rise yelled out as she looked at the results her mirror showed her. "It can conceal Saber even from the law of Cause and Effect. How is that possible? There's no Noble Phantasm or skill like that no human could have something so overpowered."

"There you go again relying on it..." Adachi grumbled scratching his head with his gun. "The power of that thing called a bond!"

Saber rushed out of the fog charging for Yu.

"Nursery Rhyme!" The book-themed Heroic Spirit appeared and narrowed her eyes, The Jabberwocky appeared catching Saber's blade between its hands before using the leverage to slam them into the ground.

"Effort, Love, Hope, not mention bonds." Adachi laughed from his position on the sofa, "It's like a morality textbook."

"What's wrong with all that?" Yu asked as Saber got back up brutally carved the Jaberwocky into the pieces.

"It's shallow that's what!" Adachi replied standing up. "Alright then, tell me, what's a bond?"

"To believe, in the person at your side. In your friends." Yu answered without hesitation.

He crushed the Arcana, changing Nursery Rhyme out for Nero who ignited her sword and sent waved of fire at Saber who deflected them all before sending red lightning blasts directly at Yu. They impacted and kicked up smoke. Adachi smirked only to flinch as Saber was smashed with a lance by Astolfo on his hippogriff with Yu safely aboard sending the Persona of the Sword crashing into a broken wall.

Astolfo flew back into the air his eyes narrowed on where Saber had been.

"You don't get it, do you?" Adachi asked looking firmly at Yu walking closer to the ground beneath him and Astolfo. "That's why you're such a loser, the word 'believe' is a curse which crushed people. There's no way you can read someone else's mind is there?" Kept talking as Astolfo landed, unconcerned by the Persona who glared at him. "What you can believe in is your own selfish ideal of how you want a certain person to be – nothing more."

"That's not true!" Yu denied angrily summoning Siegfried who blocked Saber's first attack who back off and kicked up smoke with a lightning blast. "You're the one who forced that on me." Adachi continued "And now you're thinking that I betrayed you? WHAT ARE YOU A MORON?!"

Siegfried barely had time to react as Saber struck him in the back where the armour of Fafnir did not protect him, causing him to vanish.

"Shut up!" Yu yelled summoning Jeanne d'Arc.

"But lucky you, I don't think your friends will ever turn on you." Adachi kept talking with that smirk on his face. "You've seen each other's ugly sides, how pathetic can you be. But your like oh that's ok, pretending to be generous, smiling."

Jeanne d'Arc, had barely any time to act as Saber came flying towards her and ran her through with the sword, but she did not give up and impaled herself further onto the blade as to get closer to Saber.

"That's so creepy. As if you could actually like someone's ugly side! MORON!" Adachi screamed angrily.

Jeanne grasped her flag tight and swung it at Saber who blocked it with their arm, Jeane swung, again and again, the arm blocking it each time.

"Trying so hard not to hurt others because you don't want to get hurt yourself! Do you know what we call that?" Adachi asked as Saber made to finish Jeanne "LICKING EACH OTHER's WOUNDS! THAT'S WHAT THIS 'BOND' THING OF YOURS IS ALL ABOUT!"

Then Alter appeared from behind brought her blackened flag crashing down onto Saber's helmet stopping the finishing blow and causing Adachi to stumble grasping his head as Saber stumbled, pulling her sword out of Jeanne trying to regain balance and taking a clumsy swing which Alter easily deflect before several black spears appeared before Alter.

"That can't possibly be true." Yu denied Adachi once again. "We've always accepted who we really are! Even if we got hurt, we've come all this way search of the truth!"

The spears shot at Saber smashing them into a wall again. With that, the two vanished replaced by Iskandar in his chariot. Who forced Saber back as they got up and tried to attack again. Adachi was started to gasp for breath now. It was plain to see, Alter had done damage as cracks were all over Sabers helmet.

"See, that's just more whitewashing." Adachi gasped with frustration as Saber went back to his side. You guys...REALLY PISS ME OFF!"

Saber charged but instead of Iskandar, was blocked by Sakata Kintoki. Golden Lightning sparked across his axe. An explosion erupted throwing Yu backwards and causing him to land in the living room of the replica of the Dojima household. The cracks in the helmet became more numerous as pieces began to fall away, just one more push would do it.

Yu barely noticed Adachi's gun fall somewhere behind him and got up again.

"So what if it is whitewashing?" Yu demanded as Gawain appeared again and brought his sword crashing down upon Saber's head the forced completely shattering the helmet and exposing blonde hair and green eyes with a dull glazed over look in them.

The sword still hit again forcing Gawain to vanish again.

"You are exposed at last Sir Mordred," Gawain said as he vanished.

Sir Mordred, Adachi's Persona was Mordred, the infamous Knight of treachery who had betrayed King Arthur, landing the killing blow upon the legendary king and brought Camelot crashing down.

"And so what?" Mordred yelled approaching Yu. "What good does knowing my identity do you?" She lifted Yu by the throat and hefted him into the and began shaking him. "I know that he's in there." She slammed him down through the coffee table and began to stomp Yu. "Bring. Out. My. Father!" Each worse was emphasised with an increasing vicious stomp, however, the last one was stopped as a blast of air forced Mordred back.

She looked and saw her father; King Arturia Pendragon had finally come to battle, her holy sword in hand standing between Mordred and her summoner.

"Finally, FATHER!" Mordred leapt at Arturia and locked swords.

"What has happened to you, Sir Mordred?" Arturia asked as she traded blows with Mordred getting a feel for her combat style. "Why follow a criminal like this? Even you have enough pride to not want the Grail so desperately as to follow someone like this."

"FATHER FAAAAAAATTTTHHEEEERRRRR!" Mordred screamed furiously as she viciously swung her blade at Arturia.

"So Mordred was a woman too?" Rise mumbled before widening her eyes and as results began to appear on her mirror. "Hey, with that helmet gone I can scan her."

"I'm not a woman-GAH!" Arturia took advantage of Mordred's distraction and used Invisible Air to boost herself and smash Mordred through the wall of the replication of the Dojima household and out into the street.

Class: Saber

Arcana: Hunger

True Name: Mordred

Parameters

Strength: B+

Endurance: A

Agility: B

Mana: B

Luck: D

NP: A

Class skills

Magic Resistance: B

Riding: B

Personal skills

Instinct: B

Mana Burst: A

Battle Continuation: B

Charisma: C-

Blessing of the Fog of Deceit: C- (weakened)

"Huh, what's this?" Rise asked aloud as the battle raged on.

"Hmm..." Tamamo peered over her shoulder at the mirror and placed a hand on it causing the last skill to become bigger. "It looks like this skill has been grafted onto her spirit origin. It was what helped her stop Gae Bolg but with the helmet destroyed it's been greatly weakened but it's still active. It seems that whatever it's doing is limited to affecting only her now."

"You want the truth?" Yu and Rise both looked to Adachi who had recovered from the transmitted pain and was now lounging on a chair playing with his gun. "The only reason I joined the police was so I could carry a gun around all day," Adachi confessed with a smirk twirling the gun around like a cowboy in an old western movie would.

"But man was that a major letdown, everyone around me was such an idiot." Arturia and Mordred clashed nearby. The latter backflipped onto the trunk of a ruined car before kicking it at Arturia who easily sliced it in two before being forced to defend against Mordred who had quickly lunged hoped to take advantage of the momentary opening.

"You guys don't know when to quit do ya?" Adachi asked as Mordred was able to get leverage on Arturia and flip her onto the ground before proceeding to slam Clarent onto Excalibur trying to force Arturia's guard to break. "What is it you guys want so badly that you're willing to risk your lives for it? Do you think you'll find some sense of justice?"

Each blow Mordred struck with became stronger and stronger, speaking to her seemed to be do nothing. Arturia noticed her former knights' eyes were clouded over and a barely sane smile on her face as she repeated 'father' over and over again with each attempted smash.

"I know, you just wanted to add some spice to your boring high school lives, you know you're not that different from criminals who get their kicks by murdering people. There you are loitering around Junes playing guessing games!"

Mordred slammed her sword against Excalibur again, but this time she also used her foot and viciously stomped on Arturia's stomach causing Yu to fall to the ground as he too felt the pain.

"Did you ever stop to think about what you were going to do with the truth once you actually found it?" With Arturia's guard broken Mordred stomped again causing Yu to convulse.

Rise saw the problem, Yu's mana was low and because of it Arturia wasn't able t fight with her full strength, she made to transfer some to him but Adachi shot at her, the bullet ricocheted off her mirror and was forced to take cover.

"Ah, ah, no third players. Nobody cares about the truth. Namatame was the serial killer, case closed." Adachi wandered over to a lawn chair, stood it upright and sat in it. "That's the truth the rest of the world see's." Adachi looked around at Yu. "Let's pretend for a second that you can catch me, what do you think would happen?" Mordred lifted Arturia by her head and held her up. "The answer is simple, for a brief moment the point f view would shift. But nothing would change because people don't care who the real killer is. That is the truth you've been looking for." Mordred promptly stabbed Arturia through the chest causing Yu to scream out in pain and then let her father drop to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. "Like it or not."

Adachi sighed began examining his gun again before Yu spoke up again.

"You're wrong." Adachi looked towards Yu who had turned onto his front and was struggling to stand up again. "That isn't the truth."

"You know that's what makes you kids so annoying." Adachi stated standing up and walking over to Yu before crouching down and pushing his revolver into Yu's cheek."A grown-up goes and tells you the truth and all you do is ignore it."

"I'm tired of playing games, you don't have what it takes to shoot me and you know it!"

"Really?" Adachi asked getting ready to pull the trigger.

"No matter what you say." Yu pulled himself up and put his hand on Adachi's gun and forced it down. "You won't get away with this, and that is the Truth!"

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With Naoto and Kanji, the former of whom was leaning the shoulder of the latter. They watched as Archer deflected a pistol whip from the Reaper who was then had its counter shot at Archer tanked by Berserker.

"What you're spouting isn't logic it's just the egotistical rants of a lunatic," Naoto yelled as Berserker tossed it up into the air and proceeded to use Nine lives as to hit it over and over again. "Humans need each other to survive if you cut all ties with society of course life becomes difficult."

Archer then fired Hrunting at the helpless Reaper destroying it.

"You're just kids WHAT THE HELL DO YOU KNOW?!" Adachi yelled angrily as his copy began to fizzle with static.

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"No, you're the child," Yukiko yelled as Rider dodged a shot from the Reaper who was kicked away by Assassin. "You hate your miserable life but you don't want to die?" Rider took some shots at the Reaper after which Assassin hit the monster with his Noble Phantasm damaging to the point of rendering it immobile.

"You're not a grown man taking control of things, you're a child throwing a tantrum!" Yukiko finished

"SHUT UP!" Adachi demanded that copy of him also fizzling with static.

BY now Rider had summoned her fleet and bombarded the weakened Reaper with canon fire over and over again utterly obliterating it."

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"I'm gonna put this bluntly," Yosuke said as Diarmuid knocked the Reaper away from Angra Mainyu who was through beaten and bloody, and also smiling like a lunatic. "You're not special at all."

"You did this to yourself asshole." Avenger laughed madly.

"The only thing you are is a worthless criminal," Yosuke yelled.

"Shut up, Shut up, SHUT THE HELL UP!" Adachi demanded of him.

"VERG AVESTA!" Angra yelled activating his Noble Phantasm which took the form a humanoid wolf which enveloped the Reaper, it then was distracted as it felt the pain of all the wound it had inflicted on the weakest heroic spirit.

"GAE BUIDHE!" That was all Diarmuid needed to use his yellow spear to impale the Reaper through the head finishing it off.

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"I'll kill you, I'll kill you." A now thoroughly agitated Adachi declared covering his face with one hand and his gun raised in the other. Mordred found her finishing blow blocked by Excalibur once again as Rise had taken her chance and transferred mana to Yu which in turn brought Arturia's strength up to where it ought to be, golden motes of light began to gather around the holy sword. "I'LL KILL YOU JUST LIKE I DID EVERYONE ELSE!"

"That's not the way its gonna happen." Yu declared as the light around Excalibur brightened to the point where Mordred was forced to cover her eyes. Arturia took the initiative and shoved Mordred off her and jumped to her feet.

"SHUT UUUUUP!" Adachi screamed as Mordred blindly and clumsily tried to attack her father who easily deflected the blow.

"You will pay for your crimes," Yu stated as Arturia slashed Mordred with Excalibur leaving a large golden streak across the knight of treachery whose eyes widened.

'Father' Images of the past flashed through her mind before the slash exploded swallowing her in a pillar of golden light, utterly destroying her physical form.

"AAAAAAAHHH!" Adachi screamed as the pain was completely transferred to him he thrashed about for a few moments before gasping and reaching out. "INSTALL!"

Adachi said he'd been watching them, so it was no surprise that he'd seen this and figured he'd been able to do it as well. Black liquid erupted from the Arcana and covered Adachi before materialising into a black version of Mordred own armour with bloody streaks going down it.

"You're a strain on the earth you little brat," Adachi yelled clutching Clarent tightly, Yu gave Arturia a nod and she vanished returning to his soul. Yu knew now what to do, he readied himself as arcs of red lightning danced across Clarents blade. "Shut up and die already! You can't just deny everything I said STOP IGNORING THE TRUTH AND JUST DIE"!"

The red lightning was released and struck Yu's position with massive force, multiple bolts hitting it over and over kicking up smoke and dust. After a few moments passed and Adachi saw no movement he laughed victoriously.

"You had that coming." Adachi's laughter was cut short as he suddenly flew backwards and crashed onto his backside, the helmet which had now had a fist-shaped dent in before it suddenly shattered to pieces. "WHAT!?"

"We've accepted the truth." Yu's voice said coming not from the smoke but from behind Adachi himself. He looked and standing there was Yu dressed in a large green overcoat, trousers and boots complete with a hat, his normally silver hair now a had a green tinge to it, black flames seemed to lick at his form. "To get here we've come face to face with things we never wanted to see."

"Cut the tough guy act, you pampered high school brats don't know shit about suffering" Adachi spat at him raising his voice again as he stood up. "YOU CAN'T BEGIN TO KNOW WHAT I'VE BEEN THROUGH!" He slashed at Yu only for his sword to pass right through him and for Yu to just vanish.

"You think you're the only one who's had it rough that's naive," Yu said now standing atop a light pole.

"Woah, how'd he do that?" Yosuke asked as he and the rest of the gang all arrived and stood near Rise.

"Did he teleport?" Chie speculated.

"No, it's not teleportation." Rise denied shaking her head as he mirror continued its scan. "It's more like ultra-fast movement, way faster than even light."

"But that's impossible." Naoto gasped as the scientific implications ran through her mind.

"I got it. It's an Avenger Class Persona." Rise told them, "The true name is-"

She was cut off by laughter as the persona appeared behind Yu, his back to Yu's own. The laughter was not like that from a villain from a TV or manga.

"I am the King of the Cavern." The Persona revealed turning his head to look at them over Yu's shoulder as black flames danced around him and Yu. "The Count of Monte Cristo. At last, you have embraced your inner demons, now my accomplice burn him with the flames of vengeance and send his desires CRASHING DOWN INTO THE PITS OF HELL!"

"No more playing around, it's time to die BECAUSE THERE'S NO WAY IN HELL THAT I'M LOSING TO YOU!" Adachi stated furiously as regained his bearings and began charging power into Clarent before aiming at Yu's friends instead of him. "CLARENT BLOOD ARTHUR!"

Thanks to the Avenger's powers, moving into its path was easy, now he just had to block it. But how?

"You know how." The Count stated standing behind Yu, his arms crossed, "Now follow a path beyond love and hate! And Enter-"

Black flames gathered between Yu's hands and were unleashed upon the red beam stopping mere inches away from Yu.

"Too late kid, I've put everything I've got into this attack and you're running empty, so much your bonds!" Adachi laughed maniacally

"Château d'If!" Yu and Avenger incanted together.

Adachi's self-assured confidence wavered as he saw another Yu appear in the air him, then another and another and another, multiplying until there was twenty-two of them. They all unleashed black flames from their cupped hands joining with the originals own. Adachi's confidence completely gave way to shock as his beam was pushed back further and further until they were evenly matched. Neither attack wanted to give, a white ball of power gather where the two met and then it exploded, Adachi faintly heard a loud boom as his sight faded into the whiteness.

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When his sight came back, Yu was no longer in the TV world, but rather he was in a police station. Not the Inaba police station but a larger more modern looking one. The station was silent with officers all watching the scene just mere feet away from Yu.
A young-looking Adachi was being berated by an older stern-looking officer with a much younger smug-looking cop standing next to him. Smirking at Adachi.

"-mpletly screwed this up!" The older officer yelled angrily. "You went the wrong way if it wasn't for Nakamura following his tracks in the grass and finding where he was hiding he could have gotten away!"

'It was a mistake, a small one.' Yu heard Adachi's voice...no his thoughts. This was one of Adachi's memories, an important one.

'I followed all the procedures, remembered my training, did everything right and still it wasn't enough.'

"Sir I-"
"Save it!" The man cut Adachi off and scoffed. "People said you worked hard, but frankly your 'hard work' is nothing compared to Nakamura's natural talent." He motioned to the smug younger officer "He's getting your promotion, and you're going to be transferred to Inaba out in the boonies, you can't possibly screw up there."

'Transferred to the boonies, a nice way of dead-ending my career, I worked my ass off, but talent always wins in the end. This world is shit.'

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

When the light died down, the team rubbed their eyes and saw both Yu and Adachi lying on the ground. Next to each other. Adachi's install had faded away but Yu's had not, both men were gasping and bruised but Adachi it seemed had taken the worst of it. Now back in his suit while Yu was still wearing the Counts long overcoat.

"You saw it didn't you?" Adachi asked already knowing the answer.

"Yeah, and you saw mine as well," Yu stated also knowing the answer.

"Yeah, we both had shit parents, who gave only a crap when they wanted something, the only difference, is how we ended up I guess." Adachi was silent for a moment before continuing. "Do you think if I made even one friend back then, that I'd have ended up like you instead?"

A short distance away the rest of the team finally opened their eyes. Rho Aias had taken barely any damage thanks to Heracles tanking the damage. They saw both their friend and Adachi lying next to each, both awake and talking to each other.

"W-what happened?" Yosuke asked.

"That blast didn't seem normal," Naoto said before looking to Rise who had Caster standing next to her. "Rise, do you have any idea what happened? If it was just their Noble Phantasms colliding then the blast would have happened a lot quicker."

"That's because more than that happened," Tamamo stated while looking at the scene.

"What do you mean?" Yukiko asked with confusion.

"Narukami is blessed with the Wild Card ability." Tamamo began explaining. "For Persona users with it bonds are the source of their power, even one strong bond under the normal system could give them the power to destroy an army." She sighed remembering something from long ago. "If I had to guess, then, the power of their Noble Phantasms created a bridge between their souls using their bond as a base. Because of that, they were able to see into each other's hearts even if it was just for a moment."

"So, are you done yet?" Yu asked turning his head to look at Adachi, it was the only part of his body which didn't hurt at the moment.

Adachi let out a sigh at the question. "You are such a pain in the ass." The cop reached for something Yu could not see but was stopped as he suddenly flew into the air and was covered in some sort of black mass.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

Back at Chaldea, the alarms had stopped and the chaos died down.

"Sir the fog's progression has halted." An employee stated perplexed as she typed away at her keyboard. "As in completely stopped."

"And the mana density?"Lev asked.

"Holding steady." The man typed away at his keyboard, the image showing the town still shrouded in fog, a small bar was on the right side of the screen indicating mana density.

Hundreds of dots of light returned to CHALDEAS, as SHEBA was able to observe humanities future once again. Lev internally sighed, as things seemed to be back on track, only for the alarms to began blaring again and for the lights of civilisation to vanish once more.

"Now what?" He growled with frustration.

"There's some sort of powerful anomalous signature coming from Inaba." The woman said.

"Not only that but the fog is spreading exponentially fast." A man said, "Way too fast!"

"Explain," Marsbury ordered calmly.

A screen appeared showing dots over locations of major cities around the world.

"The fog seems to be using the leylines like a shortcut and has begun manifesting around the globe." The man said with panic, "London, Rome, Beijing, Berlin, Paris, Washington DC. And the rate of mana density increase and spread the whole planet will be uninhabitable for modern humans within a month."

"Sirs the anomalous signature has been analyzed successfully by TRISMEGISTUS." The woman informed them with disbelief. "It says..."

"What is it?" Marsbury demanded.

"It says that the signature is divine, a divine spirit origin." The woman informed him gulped nervously.

"A God! Impossible, gods can't interact with the world in this era," Lev yelled with confusion and frustration.

"It must be the fog." Marsbury speculated, "It must have properties to allow it."

"But no mage could create such a thing alone, how is a god doing this?"

"We can only wait and see."

With that, both men fell silent watching the situation unfold before them. Olga finally ran into the room having been kept busy doing the paperwork her father 'forgot' to do, she looked to her father for an explanation but was ignored, so Lev kindly gave her brief rundown of the situation. She gulped fearfully upon hearing it and stared at the screens.

[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]-[-]

"Wh-what the hell!?" Chie cried as Adachi's body hovered in the air.

"All humans will become shadows." The figure stated in an eerie deep almost machine-like voice intertwined with Adachi's own. "And I shall descend upon the world...as the master of order."

"Descend...Order? What's with this guy all of a sudden." Yosuke asked glaring at Adachi.

"What's happening!?" Kanji yelled.

"Guys...This isn't Adachi! It's someone completely different!" Rise informed them looking up from her mirror.

"Both this world and yours will soon be enclosed in a fog that never lifts. It will be the peaceful world that mankind has longed for..." The entity possessing Adachi stated.

"Who are you!?" Naoto demanded

"I am Ameno-Sagiri." It introduced itself. "One who rules the fog. One awakened by man's desires. Do what you will, but your world's erosion cannot be stopped. It is an inevitability. You played your part well, stirring up the will of the masses into madness. But that will soon come to an end...Mankind will soon become Shadows and live on in the darkness of the fog, oblivious of their reality..."

"What the hell are you!?" Yosuke demanded, "Why are you doing this?!"

"I am the one that shepherds humans to their true desires. Though their hearts longed for peace, it could never be attained...So they tore down the wall between image and reality. Indeed, this is the outcome desired by mankind. And mankind's desires are my desires. That is why I decided to expand this world..."

"Y-You're sayin' you're the one who created this nasty-ass world!?"

"This place is part of the Sea of Souls which exists within human hearts." Ameno Sagiri replied. "A hollow forest born from bloated desire and false imagery. Humans view things as they see fit. They wish not for truth, but rather prefer the undesirables be hidden in fog...Still, humans fear what they cannot see. That brief yearning for truth becomes a ray of light which breaks the fog and torments the Shadows..."

"That's why they attack and kill whoever's nearby at that time...A hollow forest..." Yukiko trailed off before continuing. "Then...this place isn't simply affected by people's hearts...It exists inside them?"

"Mankind abandoned its pursuit of truth, placing itself in the depth of chaos and falsehood. Thus, my strength has grown, and the fog will not lift. Your world will be engulfed by the hollow forest."

"Just shu- Narukami?" Chie was cut off by Yu holding out his arm for her to be quiet.

"If you could do this on your own, then why did you need Adachi to get the Holy Grail in the first place?" Yu asked of it.

"Simple," Ameno Sagiri rumbled. "While the Holy Grail has the power to make this reality, I had to account for the possibility of his defeat, so when that happened I intervened more directly. The fog now spreads throughout your world much more quickly. However, for humans to become shadows the Holy Grail is required to shut off the defences of the human order. In other words the Counter Force."

"Of course," Archer grumbled shaking his head.

"Archer?" Naoto looked to her persona.

"Even if this thing turned humanity into shadows or tried to the Counter Force would intervene and unleash its power to stop it, but if the Holy Grail was used to shut it down until the process was complete then there's nothing it could do. Shadows are technically human or part of them anyway; it would be powerless if all of humanity were turned into shadows and would just have to adapt to the situation."

"That is correct. So now the remaining question is, am I wise to put my trust in this new aspect of humanity?" Ameno Sagiri wondered before light gathered multiple cannon like barrels which appeared all of his body. "The only way to know for certain is if I put it to the test."

The light became blinding and the ground beneath the team erupted and roaring boom deafened them. Their Personas couldn't shield them that time due to the blasts omnidirectional nature. Yu was the only one who managed to stand up as the others had been knocked unconscious by the attack. The install of Avenger had been shut down by the blast reverting him to his normal clothing.

"I will turn everyone into shadows and start this world anew." Ameno Sagiri declared his voice booming through the remaining smoke kicked up by the attack. "Humans will have to prove they want the truth."

"Not while...I'm still around you won't," Yu stated as he turned around to summon a Persona, only to be cut off by black masses which formed a translucent dark orb and lifted him into the air closer to Ameno Sagiri.

"Why do you oppose this so fiercely?" Ameno Sagiri asked. "A single person cannot defeat me."

"Maybe I can't but I'm not alone," Yu told him as a black mass began to crawl up his limbs and envelop him.

"Human bonds simply do not last." Ameno Sagiri stated disdainfully. "You are foolish to place your trust in them. Bear in mind that this disingenuous world of desires was created by people running away from reality. They prefer the lies."

"No that isn't...the truth." Yu gasped out as the black mass began covering more of his body spreading up his arms and creeping up his chest, his lower half mostly consumed. "They don't want to embrace the lies. Human bonds are what make us strong, my friends have proved that to me. If I'm with them...then I can overcome anything...we will never...give...up." The black mass-finished creeping up his chest and neck, and with the last word, they covered his face completely. It was then that Yosuke regained consciousness.

"YU!" he called out his friends name as he pulled himself back up along with the others.

One by one they all stood up and called out to their leader. It was then that the Arcana appeared in their hands. But without the class's on them merely the Arcana. None of them thought merely followed instinct and crushed the cards, sending beams of light up and crashing into Ameno Sagiri who groaned in pain as the cracks in the body began to widen and join up with each other.

Suddenly Yu's eyes snapped open and a burst of blue flames freed him from Ameno Sagiri's grasp. He re-installed Avenger and gathered every bit of power into a flame upon his fist and then he punched Ameno Sagiri. The flames spread leaping into the cracks, spreading like lighting throughout them all.

When he first materialised into this place called the 'TV World' Ameno-Sagiri had expected some resistance, but nothing like this. Even with the power of Heroic Spirits, their power was far below his own, even if he was a fragment of divinity. Yet with this new power humans of this modern age had overwhelmed him. He felt the cursed flames ravaging his body and soul. His power was spent and his Spirit Origin was at its limit and had begun to crumble. Ameno-Sagiri knew that he had been defeated.

The flames burst and Ameno Sagiri exploded into a large black fireball which cleared away the fog creating a hole in the sky through which sunlight shone. Yu lowered himself to the ground with Avengers power and released the install.

When the smoke cleared all that remained of Ameno Sagiri was his cracked eye looking down at them.

"I see...Your powers are strong." He rumbled through his weak state was clear. "Power comes from the heart...You have proven to me human potential...Very well. I will lift the fog from the place where you will return to. Mankind's desires are my desires. I shall return should the human race call upon me. I am always at your side, watching." The eye began to close and fade away. "Time will tell the path humanity will take. Farewell, children of this new potential."

With that Ameno, Sagiri was gone. They spotted Adachi leaning against a broken street light. The killer was beaten and completely exhausted. They had no reason to fear him, he was completely out of energy and couldn't fight anymore even if he wanted too.

"So that's it huh?" Adachi sighed weakly. "Heh...Get outta here...The Shadows will finish me off...Just leave me be...You came to kill me in the first place...didn't you...?"
"No, dumbass." Kanji denied looking down at him.

"If we leave you here dying...and a dead body eventually appears, then what?" Yosuke snorted at him. "What's that accomplish for anyone...? Your stupid game's over. We're taking you back. Live and face your punishment, that's how it works in the real world."

"...Right."

"I'm sure that's the outcome Dojima-san wishes for as well," Naoto said.

Yu walked over and knelt beside Adachi. "WE have the same power, but things turned out so differently for us." The murderer coughed

"It's because I had my friends," Yu told him causing the former cop to get a disgusted look on his face.

"Friends, huh...? Haha, that's the last thing I want to hear about right now. But...maybe if I had been more like you, things wouldn't have gone this way." Adachi sighed wistfully.

"Hey!" The team jumped and saw Mordred standing a little ways away.

"But how he's out of mana." Rise cried.

"Dunno how your here but we're gonna kick your-"

"WAIT!" Mordred yelled holding her hands up as she cut across Kanji. "I ain't here to fight. I'm quitting."

"Quitting?" Yu parroted as everyone looked at the knight of treachery in surprise

"Yeah. I may have rebelled against my father and destroyed Camelot. But I still have my pride as a knight. And part of the contract for getting my wish is that I have to remain as his Persona until he dies." Mordred growled. "And with that fog crap outta my brain, there ain't no way I'm letting him keep my powers. So I'm breaking the contract and going back to the Throne. You'll go back to being a normal human."

Suddenly there was the sound of glass shattering. Adachi's Arcana appeared floating in mid-air. The Saber Image melted away from the card leaving just the normal Arcana image in its place before returning to Adachi. Mordred in those few seconds already had begun to fade away into motes of light. She looked at Yu.

"It's a shame I wish I had you as a master. You seem like a decent enough guy, I think we'd get along somehow." Mordred told him before waving and completely vanishing.

"Well, that's take's care of that." Naoto sighed in relief. "He won't be breaking out of prison now."

"Hey look." Yosuke pointed to Adachi hand, where his mark vanished and reappeared on Yu's hand joining the other two, making the image of a sword. "So that means we can get to the Holy Grail now right?"

"Yeah, we just have to find it first," Chie said.

"But we don't have to look for it right away do we?" Yukiko asked exhausted.

"Yeah, we can do that in the new year." Kanji agreed. "We deserve some time off."

Yu took Adachi's arm and placed it around his own and hoisted him up, Kanji helped by taking the weight of his other arm. Together they hauled him back outside where the police and an ambulance was waiting for him.