Persona: Life's Greatest Answer

Chapter 7: One Last Score

December 25th, 2038

12:01AM, Makoto was about to answer yet another knock at his door before he heard the voices. "I told you kids to stay off my lawn!" Makoto said as he yelled at his friends. Everyone stared blankly at him before they saw the smile on his face. They all ended up laughing as Yukari walked to the door laughing. Everyone was having a good time, but fate had one final trick for S.E.E.S. "Persona!" Kakia, a persona that was once used against them all was once again attacking them. The blast threw everyone towards the house. The noise woke up Minato who came running out of the house to see everyone he came to love lying hurt on the ground. Makoto stood to his feet as he saw Minato about to get hit by Matsuyama. "I should have known you would have come back. So where's your posse?" Matsuyama didn't say a word as he was stunned to see Makoto alive, he remembered seeing him die by Takaya's hand. Makoto used part of his power of being the Universe to look within Matsuyama. He saw that Matsuyama thought that because he was a persona users and a decent one at that, he had the power to act like he was tougher than he actually was. He chose to betray everyone he was close to just by pure stupidity.

Makoto stood between himself and Minato as he held up his hand. He sent a finite blast directly at Matsuyama which launched him into a nearby car. As everyone else got to their feet they surrounded Matsuyama but before they could stop him he took off running for his life. None of them chose to pursue him as they walked back to the house. The yard was a little damaged but nothing more. Makoto checked on Minato as he wanted to make sure that his son wasn't harmed in the attack. "I'm alright dad. What was that?" Minato asked his father. Makoto realized the big mistake he just made, he used his power as the Universe right in front of his son. 

"It's called a persona, it's the culmination of your mind. Think of it like a mask you'd put on." Kotone was standing next to Makoto trying to help him explain it. Minato was still a little confused but he understood most of it. Kotone and Makoto walked around and helped everyone out to make sure they were all unharmed. Thankfully for everyone the damage wasn't serious, only minor scrapes and bruises. What surprised Makoto was when he finally took a look at Kotone she was the worst off. She had a fairly large gash on her forehead that was bleeding down he hose. Yukari and Makoto quickly got to patching her up as they bandaged the wound. Akihiko and Mitsuru carried the tired Minato back to his bedroom as they all gathered in the dinning room of Makoto's house to figure out what to do next.

"So Matsuyama has betrayed our trust, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. He acted as though he had a change of heart and acted as our friend only to show his true colors and betray us by stabbing us in the back." Mitsuru started. "That's right. Makoto, Matsuyama had a change of heart temporarily and helped us defeat Jin and the evil Chidori. He joined us in the final battle in defeating Nyx when he vanished and disappeared for a while." 

"That backstabbing bastard's gonna pay for that." Junpei commented with fury in his voice. Not a single member of S.E.E.S. was happy about what happened. For the time being everyone left to go to their homes before they would return to a place they hadn't thought of returning to before. That night Makoto and Yukari stayed up with concern for Minato.

"He's the perfect bundle of joy, isn't he?" Yukari asked. "You said that with Maki as well." Makoto replied. The two of them laughed as they received a knock on their door. Makoto checked the clock as he saw it and read 4:38AM. "Man it's late... Early? Either way why is someone here at this time?" Makoto opened the door as he saw none other than Maki at the door. "Hey dad, I'm home."

The two embraced in a big hug as Yukari walked over and saw her daughter came home, she then joined in the family group hug. "I heard about what happened. Uncle Junpei called us while we were asleep and I just had to rush over here as quickly as I could. Are you guys alright?" Maki asked in a panic. Makoto and Yukari told her everyone was alright, Kotone had gotten a little hurt but they were fine. "So that waste of human life betrayed everyone. I knew I shouldn't have trusted him. Gosh what was I thinking?" Maki started to break down right in front of her parents. "I'm so sorry, if I'd have just gotten rid of his too things wouldn't have turned south. Why couldn't I be strong enough?" She started crying as Makoto knelt down next to her.

"You've got nothing to be ashamed of Maki, you did everything you thought was right. It's not your fault that he chose to turn back to being the bad guy of your story. Cause in the end the good guys always win, right?" Makoto gave Maki another hug as she took a deep breath before thanking her father. "You're right. He's gonna get what's coming to him. And that guy in the Velvet room, Ren. We're gonna stop the last of every bad guy we can. No regrets" Makoto helped Maki to her feet as they all found a new resolve to finish one final battle. Though they've been saying this for years now. The moment would soon face the true final battle. Ren, the original leader of the Phantom Thieves, Matsuyama, the final remaining member of the rogue persona user group Strega. Both of them would soon face their toughest enemies in the form of the entire S.E.E.S. group along with their allies in the Investigation team, and a couple allies they've not seen for several years.