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[b][color=darkred]Level 2[/color][/b] - (14/20) EXP
[b][color=darkred]Location:[/color][/b] Scrapyard, End
[b][color=darkred]Word Count:[/color][/b] 2,145

[sub][b][color=darkred]Revolver[/color][/b][/sub][/center]
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[color=darkred][i]'This girl... She's so weird...'[/i][/color]
As fate would have it, Minako, in spite of herself, started to laugh. Not as hearty or geeky as she used to, but it was laughter nonetheless, something even she herself never expected of herself. Maybe it was the blood loss, but something about Linkle's compliments just felt funny. No way she accounted for six armies worth of opponents, defeating Bastion alone was hard enough! 
She'd calmed down enough as her newfound 'friend' came to her aid, helping her walk. Having learned to take help when needed already after a rather painful Tartarus expedition, Minako was more than welcome to accept the help. Though she was cautious of Tora helping out, his rounded, furry body helped cushion the pain her bloodied arm might otherwise feel, however staining him in the process. Two friends in one day? Must've been her lucky day.

[color=darkred]"Sorry, I just thought it was funny how you considered me so strong. I'm nothing without help."[/color] She kept her explanation brief, knowing full well that the blonde had something on her mind and didn't want to keep her waiting. Essentially she sounded like she needed a strategist or a tactician, a role Minako could certainly fill. She wasn't shy of experiences back in Tartarus where she had to think in place of her allies, particularly her senior Mitsuru, who kept thinking charm spells were more important than healing for the longest time. If it meant she could help guide Linkle through a battle, carving a path of destruction, all the better. [color=darkred]"Unfortunately as I am, my smarts are all I have. I'll do my best to get back to strength as fast as I can. Being this physically weak is horrible."[/color]

As always, Tora was a comforting bundle of support, giving an apology for his lack of help in the fight. To be honest, she was just thankful he wasn't dead, all things considered. [color=darkred]"Worry about yourself, Tora, that was a lot of bullets... I know it wasn't your fault or anything so there's no need to apologise. You did well enough just keeping alive."[/color] As he smiled at her it warmed her heart, with the redhead offering her own in return. Despite the strain she was obviously a victim of, the radiant smile she returned him was strong enough, as though acting in place of her own constitution. Arriving at Blazermate, she couldn't help but wince as she was set down. That one shot near her hip was aching quite spectacularly, as evidenced by her gritted teeth sharing a choice word or two. Yet it didn't take long at all before that familiar sensation of otherworldly healing overtook her, helping her relax. Blazermate's beam was quick to act, patching up anything and everything, including her stamina. Before long she was sitting upright beside her and Tora, and shortly thereafter was able to get on her feet. 

Although, of course, the Courier would begin getting really upset with Geno shortly after, making her want to move. However her lazy bones stuck with Tora, opting on not to listen as she got out her MP3 and headphones and started looking through her songs, playing one track early. She was so immersed in her MP3, in fact, that she completely missed the house crashing into Peach's moat as well the tsunami which came rolling as a result, somewhat drenching her. Turning to see what was going on lead to surprise, for not only had a kid with a top hat under Galeem's influence appeared, but so had... a giant Bowser? It felt weird to look at him, however his aura wasn't exactly something she hadn't felt before. She was used to oppressive auras, so there was no fear as she looked up at him. However, that fear manifested itself in another such way: the Courier. 

As he began his speech she thought it to be entertaining at the very least, and admittedly was going well. But that changed quickly as the Courier raised his 44. Magnum into a demonstration pose, like an offering to the great and terrible overlord. It had Minako frozen immediately. She just stared at him, eyes wide, unable to think or react to anything properly. That type of gun was the absolute biggest thing she feared most: revolvers. And to any standing nearby, it wouldn't exactly be hard to tell, either - her body seemingly rooted to the ground. Her body shook almost violently, clearly giving away the fact that she was not, by any means, OK.

The only thing that could pry her gaze from the Courier was the blinding lights coming from the Master Hand. He looked like a weird Persona, but then again just about everything in this world did. The light was so blinding that she had to look away for a moment, covering her eyes...

... But as she turned back to face the figures, the Fool dropped to her knees...
[color=darkred]"Jun... pei..."[/color]
A choked gasp escaped her throat, eyes immediately beginning to water. She had to cover her mouth to stop herself from crying. He was... alive! It felt rather unreal after waking up in this Hell, that she would meet the person she cared about so much so soon. And yet, that ominous dark aura, his unflinching stance... It was obvious, by this point, that he wasn't himself. The Junpei that she cared for, who she... loved; he wasn't there, looking back at her. No smiles or funny jokes or handshakes or dumb questions or food or curses or even a wink. Not a single sign that he was Junpei, other than his body. Not one.

She listened to the hand's words very carefully, paying absolute attention to him. The choice was murdering the one you loved, Paradise, or death? Of the three, death actually sounded the most promising. Sure, Paradise sounded lovely if it weren't for the apparent destruction that it would cause, and killing Junpei was out of the question. Her naginata slipped from her hands and clattered uselessly to the ground.
There was absolutely no way she could [i]ever[/i] kill her friends. Fighting them was just asking too much...

She noted that Ratchet had made his choice, running forward into an embrace that allowed Clank and himself to be happy. The two of them looked so overjoyed, it made the temptation of Paradise clearer in Minako's mind. After all, she didn't ask for this, right...? If she was given this opportunity to relive her life with the person she loved, then nothing else mattered. These people she were with she didn't even know, didn't even particularly like - some scared her and others annoyed her, so what was the point in not giving in to the light?

[color=dodgerblue][i]'There's always a point.'[/i][/color]

Of course that kid would come back to haunt her. A ghost of her past she didn't know nor care to know. Why did he have to show up in a situation such as this? Life was tormenting her enough as-is, what was the point in added-
[color=dodgerblue][i]'You really don't remember anything, do you...? You're completely ignoring what I [b]just[/b] told you, as well... Are you really so forgetful that you aren't aware this is a mere trick? An illusion? A farce? You [b]know[/b] what it was like to be like him, don't you?'[/i][/color]

[color=darkred]"And you're expecting me to kill him?!"[/color] Her sudden outburst might be a surprise to some, but it wasn't exactly uncalled for given the situation. [color=darkred]"I can't! I can't, I can't, I just can not!"[/color]
She was in tears now, unable to keep a hold on her own emotions. Stupid things. They never acted up in the past. Why her? Why now? Why?

[color=dodgerblue][i]'You don't have to kill anyone if you don't want to. And even if you do, this world is an illusion anyway.'[/i][/color]
Those words caught her attention.
[color=dodgerblue][i]'You already know it's not your world. And everyone you know here knows it, as well. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if you could see those people again, from different types of the same world. There's more than one Junpei here if there's more than one Bowser.'[/i][/color]
He made a surprising amount of sense. But even so, how could she be OK with killing-
[color=dodgerblue][i]'And nobody has to die, either.[/i][/color]

Tora was close by when he summoned the heart-shaped object. Her gaze was transfixed on it, watching the heart glide in the air, finding a place inside the child's body. Her red eyes... they disappeared. Those red eyes... she remembered how she felt being under [i]it's[/i] influence. Horrible. Painful. Whatever mental torture she was suffering at the time would no doubt occur again, if she accepted Paradise. And in death, there was no way of knowing if death would even be the end of it, because for all she knew, death was how she arrived here. Without notice, the shaking and the crying stopped, as the teen's fingers crawled around her naginata with a newfound sense of self. Minako knew that her willpower was hardly that of her former self, and that she had no idea what she was doing. But for some reason, likely entirely due to luck, she had found a new sense of resolve within herself. It was tiny. A small spark of a fire, which she huddled around to keep herself alive against the unrelenting cold, but that was what hope was for. Those were the basic ingredients for triumph.

But there was also something else. A feeling which hung over her like a heavy weight, filling her body with pain. Not physical pain, mind, but a raw, emotional type of pain. The kind of weight that drives people to do stupid things in spite of themselves and others; a kind of weight that is almost entirely destructive. It was hard to describe accurately with many words, but you could sum it up with just one:
Rage. Minako was feeling the effects of boiling rage that she had only ever felt once in her life. The kind of rage that makes you go out into the night, on the Day of Apocalypse, and hunt down the very thing that is about to end all of humanity. While the Master Hand was no Nyx, his lies and deceit pissed her off to no end. She had been through more than enough bullshit to have to deal with this tease of a hand. 

The encouraging words from Tora didn't quite lessen the impact of her emotional state, but it helped clear her mind a little. With the Master Hand's disappearance, they would have to focus on their opponents now, those that mattered most to many of those present. If she had to fight Junpei to get through to him, so what? The puppet had brought back a midget through knocking him out, and Minako was sure she could do the same. Not that Junpei was anything less than capable, of course, but he bore a lot of similarities to Thanatos' brute strength: slower, deliberate attacks of high power, swinging his longsword around like a baseball bat. With that in mind, she was certain that there was a way to do this. She would prove to him, once and for all, just why she was the leader of the Special Extracurricular Execution Squad, and would rub it in his stupid face when he was back...

[color=darkred]"That hand is a liar."[/color] Obviously jaded, the redhead's voice was course and determined. She was staring directly at Junpei, gripping the polearm in her hand so tightly one would worry it might splinter. [color=darkred]"That 'Paradise' of his is in no way a guarantee you'll end up ever seeing those you care about again! And don't any of you think for a second that dying is an option, either! The only thing we know we can do is win, and use whatever means we can to keep the people we love alive."[/color] In all honesty, she was mostly speaking to herself, to reaffirm her own action and ideals. Was it the right action? Maybe. All she knew was that this way, there was at least a chance of things going their way. Giving up, no matter how tempting, meant a definitive loss, for all they knew. Trust the words of an enemy, or use the powers they knew they had?

Minako chose the second option, but even then, giving in was extremely tempting. Either way, she had picked her battle. The outcome of which would come down to her, and Junpei.

[color=darkred]"I'm sorry, Junpei..."[/color] Minako got into a defensive stance with her naginata, hoping he would take a battle of blades over Personas. [color=darkred]"But I need to do this. I think. I hope it's the right choice... I hope I can save you, like Chidori could..."[/color]

She shoved her MP3 into her blazer pocket, and pressed play.