[IC] The Host of Balance (Digimon, Pokemon, and Shin Megami Tensei Crossover.)

[Letter Bee]

((Retconned Out))

[Letter Bee]

Mt. Coronet

Brendan (Braize), and Alexander Wright had been summoned to the Mon Alliance's main headquarters, the Templum Domini, an underground complex underneath Mount Coronet, which, with Arceus' blessing, had been turned into a fortress. Being taken by an underground tram to the network of bunkers, the two operatives would be given a brief security check, before being led to the Operations Room, a large graphene-walled chamber with multiple oval tables with holographic projectors at the centre. At the largest table at the centre of the room, Osamu Akiyama, Osamu the Second, presided with a smile on his face, wearing a new white labcoat.

"Braize, Alex, I'm glad you two managed to answer my summons," his face then pursed.

"As you know, Nanashi, in his plans for Omnicide of the Human species across the Multiverse, has increased his power exponentially, absorbing the souls taken by his own forces to slowly transform himself into an entity that can destroy all three sections of the Multiverse. Already, Atanasoff and ENIAC have told me that if this fransformation is completed, we might be looking at a repeat of the ZeedMilleniumon crisis. A crisis only dealt by my father because of Zeed's...complex motivations. But enough history lessons," Osamu then brought up a hologram, a hologram of a blue-haired young man, seventeen years old, dressed in a black school uniform with a loose black bow tie.

"Minato Arisato, or was it Makoto Yuuki?" the exposition continued. "Either way, this person is the hero of the world of Personas/Personae, having, after several adventures, used the power of his universe itself to form a seal between the embodiment of Humanity's despair, Erebus, and the personification of Death, Nyx. The sacrifice was his life; his soul is now used to keep the seal together. This was a tragic sacrifice, even more so as Minato was a hero that needed his due, and never got it, with his efforts being unrecognized...until now." Osamu would then pull out a small disk from his lab coat.

"This disk, despite its modest apperance, contains an entire Yggdrassil unit encoded in data, and as you know, a Yggdrassil unit is a godlike force, but as it isn't dependent on human emotions, much more easily killed permanently."

"Your jobs are to accompany me as I go to Aigis, where we will use technology and magic in order to 'install' Yggdrassil into the fabric of the Persona universe, and so create a new Digital World there, an entire dimension that will serve as its own 'Great Seal' that can divide Nyx and Erebus from each other, thus replacing Minato and allowing him to be rescued to serve as a member of the Host of Balance." Osamu II would then look at the two members.

"Also, Aigis wants to introduce a new agent to us, Dangle, who has an...interesting backstory. Either way, let's get some food, water, documentation and money, and then we can be off." Osamu would then walk to the quartermaster's office, gesturing for the other two to follow him.

-------

A few hours later, the two and Osamu were in the teleportation room, with several small, elevator-sized teleporters standing in a circle around a large, truck-sized one, one that wouldn't be used. It seemed they wouldn't use portals today. Either way, the group went inside a teleporter, and, after a few seconds -

- would appear in an alleyway in Tokyo just behind a University dorm, where two people, one a young-looking woman with short blond hair wearing a black school uniform, another a tall, well-muscled man in his late teens or early twenties with white hair, also cut shorort, almost military-like, although his bearing showed that although he knew how to fight, he had never been part of a true military force.

Dangle was also there, hidden in the shadows...

"Osamu," Aigis said, "I'm glad you've come."

@Ryougu@thewizardguy@Liquidjeff@DarkwolfX37

[Ryougu]

"Oh? What have we here, a little tea party?" Dangle said as she stepped from the shadows, being blinded by the light and almost tripping up, removing any credibility she might have had. Regardless, she continued "Hmm, you're weak" she said pointing at Osamu and Alexander "You three however...Yes, you've seen it... and you two've even fought it...Death." looking at Brendan, then Aigis and the military-cut man, she cheered. "Yay! You seem interesting enough, I think I'll hang around for a bit."

After a few moments of silence and looks of disbelief Dangle sighed. "Oh come on, you were having a tea party. Don't mind me, continue."

[Liquidjeff]

Brendan shoots an annoyed and confused look at the unknown girl, after a few moments of sheer confusion he turned back to the others with a sigh and says "okay guys lets just ignore her for now and get to the point, just standing around will get us nowhere, why are we here" while waiting for an answer he looked around to identify where he was

[thewizardguy]

- Alexander & Ryudamon -

Spotless steel hallways, large computer screens, advanced technology, armed guards. Voices talking over speakers, organised mass movement, transport of people and objects, portals to... gods know where. The whole place smelled like a hospital, and looked like a cross between the digital world he knew and some kind of weird sci-fi movie. It was a large, moving machine, and to Alexander it felt like the whole thing was moving far beyond his comprehension. He'd only been 'recruited' a few days ago, and the knowledge that there were other universes out there was still kind of sinking in. And although he was all for fighting the good fight he certainly felt out of place amidst these well cared for uniforms and advanced sciences, discussing advanced matters covering multiple universes as if it were a simply day trip. While usually rather confident and straightforward, emboldened by his many successful battles, here he felt like a small boy in a room full of adults, in way over his head. The very fact that this Osamu treated Ygdrasil, a godlike entity with control over the entire digital universe, as some kind of plug to stop some other creature he'd never even HEARD of before was... astounding. Not for the first time he wondered just how great this strange man's resources were, and what the hell he was doing here if they were as extensive as they felt. If he had been his more confident self he would have probably objected to his plan, based on his own experience with Ygdrassil. It seemed too likely that the megalomanic AI would decide to unleash the entity, or perhaps worse, somehow harness it. The Ygdrassil in Alexander's universe had finally learned to accept humans, but that didn't mean he wanted to put it in charge of what sounded like something very dangerous.

Alexander stood in the spotlight, with a slightly unsure smile hiding his bewilderment. By his side was Ryudamon, the small digital creature affectionately nuzzling Alexander's hand. In order to distract himself from what he experienced as a foreign and oppressive atmosphere, Alexander instead turned to the other people in the room. People, individually, he could understand. As team leader in his own digital universe he was a fairly good judge of character, and trusted his gut when it came to people. And even a casual glance around the room told him that he was certainly looking at a diverse cast of characters. Diverse being the nicest word that came to mind.

Osamu himself was... eccentric. Exotic. Although appearing relatively young he talked as if he understood what was going on here, which to Alexander indicated great intellect. He appeared to be the mind behind all of this, including many of the technological elements, certainly indicating a prodigy of some sort. But there was also something slightly... off, about him. Alexander couldn't read him. He was always moving, always talking, always looking, always observing. He never seemed to stand still, or take things in. Something about that irked Alexander, and although he thought Osamu trustworthy, he wasn't sure if he was entirely... there. Then again, he had worked with far stranger entities before, so who was he to judge?

The other person in the room was another young man, introduced by Osamu as Braize. This fellow looked more like someone Alexander would know, with the casual ready stance he'd seen before in experienced digidestined. Perhaps this guy was a digidestined like him, although he didn't see any digimon partner. Not that all digimon partners were permanently manifested. Of course he'd also heard of other types of digidestined, individuals who partnered up with all sorts of odd beings, and even formed teams of digimon-like entities. Maybe this Braize was from another universe with different rules, which would certainly make working with him interesting. Regardless Alexander felt he could trust this fellow, and looked forward to talking to him later.

---

Breathing heavily, Alexander stood with one hand against a wall, as Ryudamon poked around curiously while making 'hmm' sounds. The transportation had left him feeling a little queasy, although Rydamon seemed unaffected. Looking up he noticed that there were two new people, although it took him a moment to focus on them. It looked like they were in a city, which wasn't what he'd been expecting. If there had been some climatic battle, wouldn't it have taken place in the digital world? The idea of entities like Ygdrassil and Nyx being in a city like this made him uneasy. If anything went wrong, even if he and his new allies were able to contain the threat, the death toll would be immense. And that's assuming that they were able to contain two immensely powerful entities, something which Alexander doubted severely. He looked questioningly in Osamu's direction, but the eccentric scientist at least LOOKED like he had everything under control, and Alexander hoped for everyone's sake his confidence was more than just an act.

Walking over, he took a closer look at the newcomers. Two girls, a short one and a weird one. Great. More strange people. Putting on an affable smile and running a hand through his hair to ensure it maintained it's seemingly constantly state of slightly-ruffled he approached them. Only to, then, be immediately dismissed. A slight look of disbelief crossed his face for a moment as the girl called him weak, only to then completely ignore him. Certainly he'd been underestimated before, but even Ygdrassil had at least acknowledged him. With his pride slightly hurt he waved a hand at her. "Now now, no need to call people that." Looking around, it didn't seem like anyone recognised the weird girl, although the short girl appeared to have been expecting Osamu & co. "So who are you? And also you." He pointed to both of the girls, attempting to sound slightly less confused than he felt. Although he was glad to be out of the... facility, he still felt rather swept away by things. "And most importantly, why are we in a city?"

[Letter Bee]

"I get that a lot," Osamu responded to Dangle, before turning to the rest of the group. "Anyway, the young lady here - the one who's not calling us weak - is Aigis, and her bodyguard is Akihiko Sanada; despite his lack of formal training, he is a very good fighter. As for why we are in a city? Well, that's because the Persona World is similar to your world in that it is composed of an 'Earth' and a few other overlapping planes of existence, although in this case, this Earth is more conductive to supernatural happenings than even yours' and mine." "

Anyway," Osamu turned to Aigis once more, "perhaps it is time for you to guide us to a more...secure place?" A nod from the woman in a schoogirl's outfit, who would say to Dangle:

"Follow us as well," before the group would then depart for a small building behind the dorms that appeared to be a newly-built research lab. Once they entered, Aigis would seem to interface with one of the walls with her hand - an indication that she was not normal as well - and open a trapdoor on the floor. This trapdoor would open to a more...elaborate underground base, walled with reinforced concrete. The most striking feature of this base was that, close to the entrance, there was a large, circular room with fluffy, brightly colored cushions whose rubberized skin made them stain-resistant, several TVs and gaming consoles, and a sound system. But Osamu would pass that by, and move deeper into the base, where a set of laboratories waited.

"An explanation of how Personae originated in this world," Osamu Akiyama said as he entered a room containing a projector-table, a human-sized portal large enough to fit a grown-up, and most ominously, several latex space-suits, such as were being developed on Alexander's Earth. Osamu would then start the projector-table, causing an image of the Earth and Moon to appear, and begin a lecture:

"Nyx the personifciation of Death, was once a being that existed from outside reality known as the Star-Eater, which, a few billion years ago, collided with the Earth, then drifted away, entering the planet's orbit and becoming its moon. However, its collision left an imprint of its psyche on Earth, and when life on the planet evolved - the explanations I was given say that life already existed on the surface, but how that would be possible is beyond even me - it was in direct contradiction to the magical psychological imprint. Basically, the imprint was anathema to the nascent living beings."

"So," Aigis would then continue from Osamu's lead, "life on Earth developed a collective subconcious to lock away Nyx's psyche with their own thoughts - a version of what Demon Summoners call 'Observation. Gods and Demons emerged from this collective subconsious, as a way of defending humans' psyche from Nyx, whose physical body, the Moon, entered a healing process that finished a decade or more ago. The Fall is the process by which Nyx's psyche enters the Moon, giving Nyx back its original form and a physical body, creating a paradox for life on Earth, and the end of the world. Or rather, it would have, if not for a friend's sacrifice, which formed a seal between Nyx and another entity, Erebus."

"You see, Nyx could have kept sleeping forever despite her healing, but she was awakened by Humanity's despair, sorrow, and apathy, manifested in Erebus," the hologram would then show an entity of pitch-black fur, with two goat's-heads at the front and rear ends that glowed with red eyes. "'Erebus, as I do not doubt Osamu told you before, is an entity that is made manifest by people wishing for collective suicide. Our former leader, Minato Arisato, became a seal that would divide Erebus and Nyx and prevent the fall, and I have made it my life's goal to change the world to get him back." Aigis then looked at Osamu.

"If you think that your 'Yggdrassil Plan' will work, put on your spacesuits; you know I can survive in vacuum." A turn towards the rest of the party, including Dangle if she came. "We're going to the Moon."

@Ryougu@thewizardguy@Liquidjeff@DarkwolfX37

[Ryougu]

One of the boys she had just called weak -Alexander- asked Dangle for her name. Not bothering to hide her discontent she replied "Has your mother never taught you any matters? You're supposed to introduce yourself before asking someone's name. I go by Dangle, for what it's worth." Next, she turned to Osamu "And you, have you no backbone? What was that even supposed to mean? Anyway, yes, I will accompany you. I do believe to already have stated this was my intention, though."

---

In the base, Dangle quickly found herself growing bored. She turned to Alexander, who seemed to be intrigued by everything Osamu had said. Dangle inquired about his "pet", and remarked its little suit of armor was in a way adorable.

As she was talking to Alexander, the only words she had really heard Osamu say were "The moon is bad" and "We're going to the moon". Slightly confused about how this all fit together, she asked "If you have a problem with the moon, can't you just make it explode? And what's this about alter egos* and the moon already having crashed?"

*With 'alter egos' dangle refers to personae.

[DarkwolfX37]

Sitting on the railing of an abandoned bridge over the Tamagawa River, in a calm and cloudy Tokyo where the breeze was just enough to keep away the heat was a young girl with white hair. A small orange cat was all that kept her company, laying on her folded-up trademark coat and watching her as she waited for her fishing line to move. Maribel Hotsuin had once again gone off to be by herself, wanting to get away from the tedium of her uncle's work. Her mother was off in America on some business involving a recent rebellion, not normally of her concern but the fact that it had heavily involved demons forced her hand, so the mostly defenseless girl was left behind where she could be protected. With no real close friends to speak of, she wound up here several hours and several fish ago.

She sighed to herself as she looked toward one side of the river. A battle of some sort had started and several demon tamers were attacking wild demons. "Poor things, those people are probably harassing them for macca."

She was about to look back at the cat when she felt a pull on her fishing line. Quickly pulling it in, she brought the fish up the twenty feet from the water to where she was sitting. "Got one!" she exclaimed, quickly putting it in the bucket of water she had hung over the railing with the other large fish she had caught. "Now, how to do this..."

She quickly but carefully turned around towards the now excited feline and jumped down onto the bridge. Nearby was a pile of sticks and two metal skewers, which she gently placed against the railing before piling the sticks and kneeling next to them. "Alright, Jungo." she said, looking towards the cat as she picked up a stick. "Don't tell anyone about this. I've been practicing." She took a deep breath. "Mazio." Several strands of electricity ran along the stick in her hands and met at the top, causing the end to burst into flames. She gently placed it in the center of the pile, quickly creating a small bonfire.

Maribel stood up and took the skewers from the railing as she walked over to the fish bucket, Jungo the cat meowing and rubbing against her legs as she did, causing her to giggle. Standing over the bucket, she gave a short apology to the fish and thanked them for their sacrifice before sending an arc of lightning into the bucket with a single "Zio." The fish both floated to the top of the bucket and she ran a skewer through both of them, taking them over to the fire and setting them against it to cook. She sat next to it and began to pet the complaining Jungo, waiting for the fish to finish.

Finally, after making sure they were well cooked, she doused the fire with the bucket of water and carefully picked up the skewers. She began to set one of them down when she suddenly pulled back, realizing something. "Oh no! These are probably too hot for you, huh, Jungo?" Jungo replied, though his message was lost on Maribel. "Hmm... Oh, I have an idea! She carefully removed one of her white leather gloves that she wore despite the lack of her coat, revealing a blue medical glove underneath. With her now ungloved hand, she carefully reached into her pocket and brought out her phone, booting the demon management app and selecting "spells." She scrolled down a few spaces and aimed her phone just above the two fish, flat on their sides, before pressing the enter button. [Bufu] A freezing force appeared where she aimed, drawing in the nearby heat and cooling her and Jungo's meal. "There we go." she said as she placed her phone carefully back in her pocket. She placed her white glove back on with the utmost care and tested a fish against her teeth. "All done!" she told Jungo as he complained at the wait, removing the fish she tested from its skewer and handing it to the cat who immediately grabbed it in its mouth and ran back over to Maribel's coat to eat. Maribel laughed at her small friend's actions before setting to work cleaning and gutting the fish, cutting the good parts into pieces on a towel from her backpack. Finished, she placed all the parts she didn't intend to eat next to Jungo and brought out a pair of disposable chopsticks, enjoying the meal with the only friend she had total recollection of.