[i][b]20 years ago, the Velvet Room[/b][/i]

"Heh heh… Is this the p-path you have chosen, Lin Yao-Yu?" The inhumanly long-nosed old man struggled to speak, barely maintaining his usual unsettling yet courteous grin. "Do you truly… have n-no regrets?"

"Regret is for the weak, Igor, and my weakness has been purged." There was an odd metallic tinge to the Chinese young man's voice. That smooth white butterfly-shaped mask, Igor's most vivid of memories, now covered Yao-Yu's face, warped into an unfamiliar piece of technomagic that existed nowhere else in this world. Yet his eyes were even more unrecognizable, once gentle and thoughtful, now with an almost inhuman gleam that bore through the soul. "Nyarlathotep was right, you know. Philemon too was weak, no wiser than the ignorant masses from which he arose. That's why we will succeed where he did not even try hard enough to fail."

"And for that... you'll destroy anyone else that gets in your way?" Igor barely had the strength to grasp the armored hand that held him by the neck. His immaculate black suit was torn in so many places, some wounds deep enough to give a glimpse of the bloodless false flesh underneath. "What about your friends…? What about all that you've gone through together?"

"That's… That's right, Yao-Yu!" Her voice was always soft and quiet, and now it was little more than a whisper. The Japanese young woman didn't even have the strength to prop herself up into a kneeling position, as she strained her neck to look at those she thought she could call true companions. They're so different from what she's used to, covered from head to toe in austere mechanical exoskeletons, a painfully stark contrast from the extraordinary yet mundane human beings that she until recently laughed and fought alongside with. "Shahzad, Ricci, Ulisses, Ayin… Don't we… mean anything to each other anymore?"

"Save it, Shiori. There's no use reasoning with them." The young man of uncertain European descent, clad in a leather jacket and pants of rich royal blue, managed to remain standing, clinging to a piece of rubble, long platinum blond hair dishevelled but golden eyes sharp as ever as he glared at his former companions. "They're not the friends we know anymore."

"Indeed we're not," said the smooth voice of the inky-skinned androgynous person. "We were forced to overcome our human limitations."

"While you chose to stagnate, like Philemon himself." The Italian woman's tone was cold and unforgiving.

"And unfortunately… You really can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs." The Brazilian young man sounded easygoing still, but there was now this uncrossable gulf between him and the two he once called friends.

"I'm truly sorry, Alphonse… But for the greater good… For the sake of all humanity..." The anguish in the older Arab American man's eyes were plain as day, but everyone present knew that his conviction was more resolute still.

"What if there's another Ngwhi Pandemonium in the future? Or something even worse than the Dragon of Nought?" Yao-Yu shook his head. "We cannot afford to take any chances, and you are a threat to our plans."

"Heh… And what about Saklas?" Igor let out another rueful laugh. "He's still out there. Isn't he the bigger threat to you?"

"Maybe, but we will neutralize the threat in front of us right now." Suddenly, numerous magic circles flashed to life on the pair of large, incredibly elaborate butterfly wings behind the young man's back. "Goodbye, Igor. Humanity no longer needs you."

"[i]AAAAAAAAAAAARGH![/i]" Igor screamed as dozens of beams of intense, searing golden-white light mercilessly pierced him from all angles. As he crumpled to the floor, that perpetual grin on his aged face finally curved downward in a mournful cry. "I'm sorry, Master Philemon… I'm sorry… every… one..."

"Master!" Alphonse shouted, and tried to sprint forward, only to fall to his knees. "Ugh..."

Yao-Yu's chilling gaze turned toward Alphonse and Shiori. "Now, you three..."

"No! Don't you dare touch Sophia!" A sudden burst of strength filled the young woman as she tightly clutched the protective bubble of magic in her arms, the sleeping infant in it only beginning to show the same silvery blond hair as her father's.

"You two are uncooperative no matter what, but her… She has potential." His dispassionate gaze fell upon the baby, completely disregarding her parents' desperation. "We can forge her into the perfect Shadowless."

"You bastard…!" Alphonse growled. "[i]Metatron![/i]"

"[i]K-Kushinadahime![/i]"

As the two squeezed out what little strength they had remaining to rematerialize their Personas, feebly flickering in and out of existence, Yao-Yu sighed. "Very well. I will show you the strength of the Machina I have obtained. [i][b]Come forth, Y-[/b][/i]"

Light engulfed everything, and the Velvet Room was no more.

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[This post contains some things that Persona fans may recognize, but don't worry if you don't recognize anything. Everything will be explained when the time comes.]