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???
In the midst of Munehisa’s awakening, “Miss Okamoto” had become a horrified yet confused mess of a woman– if she wasn’t one already. As the bee-monsters were slain by the strange presence, two of the creatures who hadn’t been attacking had grabbed their teacher and pulled her into the air. She snarled down at the retreating figures as she retreated into the dark. “Do you really think you’ll be leaving here alive?” she growled. “My reinforcements will come for your heads soon! Try all you might, but you’ll never escape!”
As the two retreated, they found more of the same sights they had seen before; several classrooms with closed doors and paths that seemed to wind deeper into the “school” stretched out to their left and right without giving any signs to where they led. After only a couple of minutes of running in their attempt to find some semblance of an exit, they reached a dead end. Two paths stretched out to their left and right sides. On their left was a fairly well-lit corridor, its floors surprisingly clean and void of the sticky honey that might have slowed them down. On the right was another hallway lit up by fancy chandeliers that practically sweltered with blazing embers. Further down the hallway, one could hear murmurs and perhaps even groans…
“Oh, this is such bullshit.” Nagi exhaled as they ran through the halls, only slightly winded from the amount of sprinting they’d done so far. Good thing cardio was part of her workout routine. “Who’d be stupid enough to go down that way?” She waved her hand in the direction of the right path, where all the chandeliers and moaning was.
“We’re going left, right?” She glanced to Mune, giving him a once-over now that she had a brief opportunity. “Like the new drip, by the way. That come standard with the magic and your imaginary friend?”
Munehisa hadn’t even noticed his sudden change in attire, his breathing labored as he was overcome with a dizzy spell. He found it difficult to focus as he fought to stay on his feet, casting a bit of an awry look towards Nagi. “Left? Oh, right,” he muttered before falling to one knee, evidently fatigued. Her mention of his uniform gave reason for the boy to observe the difference in his clothing, astonished with his new wardrobe. “What the hell? What’s up with my clothes?”
The eerie sounds that crept from the right hallway interrupted his amazement as Munehisa struggled to rise. “I dunno what’s even real anymore,” he mustered enough strength to stand, starting towards what was presumably the exit. “Did you hear it, too? Calling itself Persona, or whatever?”
The pair decided to head to the left, and much to their delight, they seemed to be headed in the right direction. As they traveled down the hallway, light seeped in from an unknown source and glinted across what looked like the type of windows they’d see at their school– but when they turned to look at them, they were only met with the sight of the patterned walls.
Despite the fact they seemed to be nearing the exit, something seemed off; it was almost as if they were being watched. The sensation persisted as the hallway opened up into a large room. Rectangular storage units shot up from the floor, though each of the compartments were sealed shut with several layers of sticky film. Multiple sets of doors rested all of the way on the other side of the room, though they seemed unnaturally far away. Hopefully, they wouldn’t be sealed shut. Several pairs of eyes continued to sear into their skin and the air thickened with intent. Whatever was watching them appeared to be waiting for their next move.
“What? No, I didn’t hear shit.” Nagi blinked, helping Mune along as she slung his arm over her shoulder to support him as they ran. “This’s bad, though. If you’re gassed already, we might be screwed if that bitch Okamoto decides she wants another round.”
As they entered the next room, Nagi frowned as she looked around. This was…creepy. Which meant that it was probably bad.
“Ah, crap.” She groaned, still supporting Mune. “Don’t like any of this. What’s the odds we even make it across this fucking room before something bad happens? Looks like a goddamn horror movie in here.”
The sound of fluttering wings reverberated from the hallway they had just traversed. Three smaller bee-like drones emerged from the corridor, though two of them struggled under the weight of carrying the Okamoto look-alike. A smirk played on her lips as the creatures hovered in one corner of the room, drawing another puff from her pipe.
“Trying to leave, are we?” Okamoto hummed. She motioned to the doors all the way on the other side of the room. “Well, you’ve made it this far… so go ahead. The exit’s right there.”
Nagi frowned, glaring up at Okamoto defiantly. The fuck was she playing at now? This was definitely rigged in some way, but…well, they didn’t exactly have a choice. It was either move forward, or be stuck in this shithole.
She started to help Mune across, but murmured into his ear as they did so.
“How good’re you for a fight right now? She’s probably gonna jump us.”
As fatigued as he was, Munehisa felt that he had enough for the last mile, offering Nagi a tired smile. “I got this,” the boy waved a hand off, removing himself from the girl’s assistance. He stood with a slight hunch as his lingering will manifested once more, the stalwart visage of Peter Pan floating at his side and prepared for another battle. “Make a run for the exit while I distract ‘em, and I’ll follow up after.”
“Miss Okamoto” watched with a sneer as the two children carried out their plan right in front of her, with Nagi starting to head towards the entrance and Munehisa turning towards her. A laugh left her lips before she stared at Nagi’s retreating figure. “Why, are you so intrigued with me?” she asked. “I know I’m too beautiful to ignore, but you should probably concentrate on your friend over there.”
At that moment, a large figure dropped from the ceiling and landed between Nagi and the exit. Its form resembled the other wasp monsters that had been tailing them, though it had a small set of wings and multiple limbs that were long and spider-like. Its hands bore four spike-like fingers, and a long, sharp proboscis with an opening at the end. Crimson eyes glimmered above a maw of sharpened yellow teeth.
“Where do you think you’re going?!” the beast roared. One of its legs swept towards Nagi, attempting to slam her against the ground as if she were an insect herself. “Creatures like you have no right to turn your back on Lady Okamoto!”
“Not into other girls,” Nagi shot back as she carefully inched towards the exit. “Tried that in middle school, didn’t work ou-OH SHIT!” She cried out in alarm as the…superwasp dropped down on her. She raised her arms to block just in time, and the creature’s leg slammed into them, sending her skidding backwards along the floor.
“Motherfucker…” She groaned, feeling a sharp throbbing in her arms. Taking that straight to the gut would have been real bad, but even blocking it hurt like an absolute bitch. Years of getting into scraps had her assessing the situation quickly, and a slight amount of panic started to creep in. Mune was dead on his feet already, this big shithead was obviously more of a threat than the little bitch-tier wasps Okamoto was throwing at them before, and she was borderline useless in this situation.
A seething rage started to boil in Nagi’s gut at the thought of her being helpless, and she raised her brass knuckles defiantly, her eyes wild.
“Come on, asshole! I’ll fucking bury you, then Okamoto!”
▂▂▃▃▄▄▅▅!
A faint whisper echoed in Nagi’s head, but it barely registered in her mind as adrenaline coursed through her. They could go down here. They probably would go down here. But she’d make that thing hurt before she did.
“Oh no, you don’t!” Munehisa flinched at the sight of his friend being purposefully targeted with a hefty blow. He rose with a defiant step, placing himself between Nagi and the larger foe that blocked the supposed exit. If I can just divert its attention and get it to move away– better yet, I can just bring it down like the others, no problem. With his heart set on the objective, the boy steeled himself for the encounter. “Outta the way, bug!” he taunted his opponent, sending his Persona in for a direct confrontation. Peter Pan’s knife hand crossed blades with the bee’s spiked fingers, attempting to overpower the enemy enough to push it aside.
The larger bee proved strong enough to not be manhandled, breaking the clash and propelling the Persona back by a few feet. “Break its wings, Peter Pan!” Munehisa chanted in a decisive moment, channeling its powers from the mask as its flute hand rose to fire a double shot. The bullets of energy smacked into the figure of the large bee, but unlike its smaller brethren, it seemed to resist the damage, letting out a mocking chuckle in response.
Dumbfounded by its resistance, Munehisa looked on in horror as the monstrosity twirled in a circle, feeling the wind begin to coalesce around him. A gust of green energy spun around his figure before closing in on him, feeling the cut of the bladestorm far more immensely than his previous injury. It was the greatest pain that he’d ever felt in his life– his scream reverberated across the distorted walls as the boy fell to his back. He was unable to act in the following moment when the larger bee seemed to pick up its stride right after, immediately firing a large projectile from its proboscis towards him.
Too stunned to react, it struck the boy directly with such force that it flipped Munehisa onto his stomach, collapsed by Nagi’s feet. His life force had slipped away into a dangerous threshold, finding himself unable to stand back up as he reached out towards Peter Pan. The image of his Persona was weak, barely maintaining its form as it began to dissipate from the world. “S-shit,” the boy cursed with a shallow breath, his upper body propped up by his right arm. It’s way too strong!
Okamoto’s features wrinkled up in delight as she watched the scene unfold in front of her. A long, bubbling giggle blustered from her lips, and she covered her mouth with a gloved hand. “I told you that you wouldn’t be leaving here alive. Why would I let you two escape? Disgusting insects such as yourselves should be culled on the spot,” she hissed. With a lazy wave of her hand, she added, “Take care of them, dearie.”
“With pleasure,” the beast rumbled again. It reached out to grab Munehisa in its claws, squeezing the boy tight within its spiney fingers before it turned back to Nagi with a hungry growl.
“All you had to do was submit,” Okamoto chimed childishly. “It’s too late to ask for forgiveness, now.”
“Shit! Mune!” Nagi cried out in alarm as he stepped in and started to cover for her, only to be taken down. It all happened quickly enough that she hadn’t been able to maneuver around Mune and Peter Pan to help in time. And then Okamoto opened her mouth again.
“Holy shit, do you ever stop talking?!” Nagi screamed in fury up at her, her mind racing to try to figure out how to handle the situation. If Mune couldn’t take it, what chance did she have? Surrender wasn’t an option. If Nagi had thought Okamoto was sincere in her offer, she might have considered it, if only to bail Mune out. But everyone in the room knew she was just fucking with them.
“You want me to just up and quit? Get the fuck down here and make me.” She hissed defiantly. “You wouldn’t be shit without your stupid goddamn bee fetish.”
Her laughter caught in her throat after Nagi’s reply, which earned her a severely judgemental “ahem” from Okamoto. The bees brought her closer to where Nagi stood, though they remained hovering out of her reach. Okamoto peered down at her through narrowed eyes. “It amazes me that you’re still squealing, worm. Though, I fear that I may be asking too much of you when I tell you to lay down and die quietly… Nakano, wasn’t it? Can you not process such a simple request?” she asked with a lazy shrug. “Not surprising, seeing that you come from a family of filthy-blooded criminals.”
Nagi’s fists clenched reflexively at Okamoto’s insult, and a haze of red started to tinge her vision. This bitch fucking dared to go there? So help her, Nagi almost forgot about the imminent threat to her life as she started to talk back.
“Say that again. My old man rips people off, but he’s still a damn sight better of a person than you’ll ever be. At least he shed blood, sweat, and tears for his place in life. Tell me, you ace your job interview flat on your back, or beneath the principal’s desk?”
“You insolent wretch!” Okamoto’s face morphed with anger at Nagi’s response. “How dare you speak that way to me?! How dare you know anything about what I’ve been through! I have spent years of my life raising children so they can be more than just crude-minded grubs writhing beneath my feet! So that they can be model citizens worthy of good lives!”
She practically burned with rage, continuing her tirade as she bared her fangs down at Nagi. “What does a bitch like you know?! You’re slated for failure anyways. Why, I bet that in a few years from now, you'll be rotting in prison alongside your worthless father!”
