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“Hey, Labrys. What are you reading? Yosuke asks his girlfriend, who’s currently reading a large book while the two are being flown to their next Shadow Ops mission. This next mission is taking the Shadow Operatives to the United States, and Mitsuru Kirijo provided her company’s private jet for the group’s travel instead of having to rely on public airlines. This is the first time Yosuke has ever left Japan, though it’s not his first Shadow Ops mission. He had to undergo several missions in Japan before he was deemed ready to be assigned a mission outside the country.
“Oh, it’s a book of fairytales I bought. Aigis took me to a bookstore run by an old couple. Really nice people by the way.” Labrys praises while keeping her eyes glued to the book. Over a few seats ahead of the couple is the aforementioned Aigis with her eyes closed listening to music from a pair of headphones once belonging to someone precious to her. Sitting next to Aigis is Fuuka Yamagishi, who’s currently typing on her laptop. Across from them is Mitsuru Kirijo and her personal maid/childhood friend Kikuno Saikawa.
“Fairytales, huh? Didn’t know you like those kinds of stories.” Yosuke comments as he observes the book’s flowery cover, raising an eyebrow as soon as he reads the title. Grimms’ Fairy Tales: The Complete Edition. Sounds ominous.
“These stories are fascinatin’ read! Have you ever read fairytales, Yosuke?” Labrys excitedly replies, briefly looking up at her boyfriend. Yosuke never read fairytales when he was a kid. He always thought they were for girls and much preferred action thrillers instead.
“I know about the well known ones. Cinderella, Snow White, Rapunzel. All the ones that got made into children's movies.” Yosuke states, and Labrys shoots him an odd look as if he just said something bizarre.
“Really? These stories are kinda morbid. People actually made them into movies for kids to see?” Labrys asks, and this time it's Yosuke who gives her an odd look. Fairytales aren’t morbid. Sure there’s the occasional witch casting a nasty curse or a fiery dragon that has to be slain, but most fairytales are about beautiful princesses getting a happy ending with their prince charming. Right?
“Morbid? What kind of fairytales are you reading, Lab?” Yosuke responds with questions of his own, sounding both confused and a little creeped out.
“Well, those fairytales you just named are in here, but I don’t think they’re the kinda stories to make movies out of for kids. In Cinderella, the evil stepsisters are cuttin’ off their toes to fit in the gold slipper and gettin’ their eyes pecked out by doves. In Show White, the evil Queen is forced to dance in red-hot iron slippers until she dies. In Rapunzel, the prince falls off the tower and gets blinded by thorns.” Labrys explains, and Yosuke becomes more horrified with each story told. How are those fairytales?!
“What the hell?! Since when did fairytales get so messed up?! What happened to stuff like fairy godmothers or true love’s kiss?!” Yosuke exclaims since the fairytales Labrys just told him don’t sound anything like the stories he knows about. Labrys stares back with a confused look.
“True love’s kiss?” Labrys asks, unfamiliar with the term. Yosuke’s face turns red realizing he has to explain the concept of true love’s kiss to his girlfriend.
“Yeah, you know. It’s a classic fairytale trope. Usually an evil witch puts a curse on a princess like putting them to sleep forever, and the only way to wake her up is a true love’s kiss from a handsome prince. Didn't Snow White have that in your book?” Yosuke answers, gesturing a hand towards the large book in Labrys’ possession.
“Nah. One of the prince’s servants carryin’ Snow White tripped, causing the piece of the poison apple to dislodge from her throat.” Labrys replies nonchalantly with a shrug of her shoulders, and Yosuke just stares at his girlfriend dumbfounded.
“That sounds really ridiculous.” Yosuke criticizes with a roll of his eyes, and Labrys gives him a pout.
“Aww, don’t be like that, Yosuke! I think there was one story in his book with that “true love’s kiss” thing you were talkin’ about.” Labrys informs her boyfriend while flipping through the pages of her fairytale book. “Aha! Little Briar Rose! The evil wise woman curses a princess, and she and the kingdom fall asleep for a hundred years after prickin’ her finger on a spindle. Then, a prince finds her in an abandoned castle and kisses her awake.”
“Wait, isn’t that the plot for Sleeping Beauty but with some changes?” Yosuke questions, causing Labrys to tilt her head in confusion.
““Little Briar Rose" is one of the alternative titles for Sleeping Beauty, Hanamura-san. Every fairytale has different variations throughout history, including the movie iterations made for children.” Mitsuru calls out, causing Yosuke to turn red from embarrassment as he realizes his conversation with Labrys must’ve been loud enough for the other Shadow Operatives to overhear.
“R-Right. That actually makes sense, Kirijo-san. He he.” Yosuke nervously chuckles while Labrys still looks at her boyfriend confused. This is Yosuke’s first Shadow Ops mission outside the country, and he feels like he’s already humiliating himself by getting worked up over something so meaningless. So what if the fairytales Labrys is reading are darker than the ones he’s more familiar with. It’s not that big of a deal.
“Hey, Yosuke. Why does true love’s kiss mean that much to ya? I mean, isn’t it creepy bein’ unconscious and havin’ to wake for some stranger to come by and wake ya up?” Labrys points out curiously, and Yosuke admits that his girlfriend does raise a good point.
“In real life, yeah it is. It’s just that in fairytales, true love’s kiss is supposed to show that love conquers all and ensures a happy ending. You know, happy ever after.” Yosuke explains, getting more flustered than ever before. Wouldn’t it make more sense for Yamagishi-san or Kirijo-san to explain this than him? Then again, Labrys did ask him of all people since he was the one who brought it up in the first place.
“Wow, Hanamura-kun! I didn’t know you knew so much about fairytales.” Fuuka responds in amazement, causing Yosuke to become increasingly embarrassed from the praise.
“I-It’s nothing really. I’m no expert or anything. I figured it was common sense. Lots of stories use that trope.” Yosuke downplays as he rubs the back of his head sheepishly. He figures if anyone’s more of an expert on fairytales, it’d be Kanji or Rise. Suddenly, a thought came to Labrys’ mind.
“Y’know, shadows have a lot of attacks similar to curses from these fairytales. If ya get hit with some sort of status ailment, maybe I can heal ya up with true love’s kiss.” Labrys teases Yosuke, causing his face to turn red once more at the thought of getting put to sleep by a shadow only for Labrys to kiss him awake.
“That only works in fairytales! No way it’ll actually work in real life.” Yosuke states, shuddering as he remembers getting hit with his fair share of status ailments from shadows in the past. No doubt Teddie would’ve loved getting a “true love’s kiss” from one of the girls, though Yosuke is confident they would’ve slapped the bear awake instead.
“That’s because no one ever tried it out, but we could be the first. We just need a shadow to hit ya with a sleep spell, and one smooch from me will bring ya right back up!” Labrys declares with a winning grin.
“Why do I have to be the guinea pig?” Yosuke groans in disbelief. Without even looking, he can already feel the amused looks he’s getting from his fellow Shadow Operatives.
“Please don’t do anything reckless on the battlefield.” Mitsuru sighs, shaking her head at her teammates’ antics. The leader of the Shadow Operatives shifts her attention over to Aigis, who had already fallen asleep long before Labrys’ and Yosuke’s conversation had started. Mitsuru smiles softly as she knew that if Makoto was still here, he and Aigis would’ve tested out true love’s kiss.
“Athena! We need your shield!” Aigis commands as she summons one of her ultimate persona into battle, and the Greek goddess of war raises her shield to block an incoming wave of fire. The Shadow Operatives are currently engaging in combat with the source of the shadow activity they detected in the United States. The shadow is taking the appearance of a towering black wyvern with red eyes and an assortment of symbols on its wings.
The Shadow Wyvern was hidden inside a cave system while its shadow underlings were poisoning the nature around it, bringing harm to the plant and animal life within the area. The Shadow Operatives spent the last few days navigating the cave systems while exterminating the shadows inhabiting the nest. The Shadow Wyvern roars furiously at its failed attempt to burn its enemies to ash.
“Its resistances and weaknesses just changed. Fire and ice are useless against it, but it’s weak to wind now!”
Thanks to her ultimate persona Juno, Fuuka relays the information telepathically to the Shadow Operatives. Because Juno is immobie, Fuuka had to stay in a secured remote area near the entrance of the cave systems with Kikuno as her bodyguard. Thankfully, Juno’s powerful range for communication more than makes up for the immobility.
“Let’s go, Takehaya Susano-o! Garudyne!” Yosuke shouts as he smashes a tarot card to summon his ultimate persona to the battlefield. At his user’s command, the Japanese god of storms engulfs the Shadow Wyvern in a powerful whirlwind. The monster cries out in pain before the symbols on its wings glow green and blue. Suddenly, the shadow wyvern breaks free from the whirlwind and fires a tornado of its own directly at Takehaya Susano-o. Luckily, Yosuke’s ultimate persona can absorb the attack harmlessly.
“It traded its fire resistance for wind! Its weakness also changed to physical.”
“Just my luck.” Yosuke mutters to himself in annoyance. The Shadow Wyvern possesses the ability to change its elemental resistances and weaknesses as shown by the symbols on its wings. Only Fuuka and Mitsuru have experience with this type of ability. Back in June 2009 during a Full Moon Operation, S.E.E.S. fought the Arcana Emperor and Arcana Empress shadows, both of whom had the ability to change their elemental weaknesses. The difference is that the Shadow Wyvern has an additional resistance that it can shift.
“Aigis! Bring that monster down! Labrys, get ready to attack!” Mitsuru orders as it’s pretty much the only thing she can do at the moment since the Shadow Wyvern can resist most of Artemesia’s attacks right now. Responding with a nod, Aigis flies towards the Shadow Wyvern while shooting a barrage of bullets and missiles at the monster. The firepower is enough to push back the shadow wyvern as it blindly fires back a beam of ice at Aigis.
“King Frost!” Aigis yells out, and a large jolly snowman dressed in royal clothing manifests between her and the incoming ice attack. The Shadow Wyvern’s ice attack comes to a screeching halt and is immediately absorbed by the royal snowman. Even though he knows Aigis possesses the wild card for years now, it still amazes Yosuke to see someone other than Yu wield multiple personas so efficiently.
“Psyche! Brave Blade!” Aigis calls out, and the Greek goddess embodying the human soul takes King Frost’s place. With a single hand gesture, Psyche slashes the shadow wyvern’s body from all sides with her magic. The Shadow Wyvern roars out in pain as it sustains too much damage to keep itself in the air and falls to the cavern ground with a loud thud.
“Go for it, Labrys!” Yosuke tells his girlfriend, causing her to grin with excitement.
“Ariadne! Weaver’s Art: Beast!” Labrys commands as her persona manifests above her. Ariadne casts her string, which takes the form of a large charging bull. Before the Shadow Wyvern could react, the bull tackles into the monster and sends it crashing into the cavern walls, creating a large cloud of dust as a result.
“Alright! Now that’s what I’m talking about!” Yosuke cheers, grinning at the impact of Ariadne’s attack. Hopefully that was enough to put the shadow down, but past experiences tell him to not get his hopes up too soon. Suddenly, the clouds of dust are immediately blown away by the Shadow Wyvern’s wings as the monster climbs out of the hole in the cavern walls. Afterwards, the symbols on the Shadow Wyvern’s wings begin to glow pink.
“Something’s wrong! Its resistances and weaknesses are still the same. There was no change at all!”
Fuuka’s insight causes the rest of the Shadow Operatives to get into defensive positions. All of them ready their weapons as the Shadow Wyvern lets out a defiant roar that nearly shakes the entire cave system. Yosuke grits his teeth as he’s forced to wait in anticipation of the monster’s next move. The Shadow Wyvern opens its maw and points it directly towards Aigis.
“Aigis! It’s going to attack you!” Mitsuru warns the blonde android. Aigis narrows her eyes at the Shadow Wyvern and looks ready to summon a persona. It makes sense the monster will use its hidden attack on Aigis. Being the strongest member of the Shadow Operatives and having the wild card makes her the biggest threat to the Shadow Wyvern’s existence.
However, at the last second, the Shadow Wyvern suddenly swerves its head around and fires its attack right at Yosuke’s direction. Did the monster change its mind or did actually pull a fake out on them? Regardless of the answer, it was too late for Yosuke to summon his persona.
“YOSUKE!” Labrys’ voice cries out, and Yosuke finds himself knocked aside to the ground and out of the attack’s line of sight. Yosuke looks up and watches in horror as the Shadow Wyvern’s attack hits Labrys instead.
“LABRYS!” Yosuke shouts at the top of his lungs. Mitsuru and Aigis turn around the moment they heard Yosuke scream Labrys’ name. Aigis feels her heart drop as painful memories from the past begin to resurface in her mind while Mitsuru is frozen in shock, unable to issue an order. Neither woman notices the Shadow Wyvern’s toothy grin.
Yosuke scrambles to his feet and rushes over to Labrys’ side. Despite getting hit dead on by the Shadow Wyvern’s attack, Labrys still remains on her feet. Motionless. Labrys is staring at the ground with a blank expression on her face. Yosuke doesn’t try to move her, too afraid that she might fall over.
“Labrys, can you hear me? Speak to me!” Yosuke calls out to his girlfriend, hoping that she can hear him. Unfortunately, Labrys doesn’t respond as she stays motionless on the ground. Yosuke grits his teeth and shakes his head, trying to keep any tears from leaking. He’s not going to give up now. There’s no way he’s going to lose her.
“Hanamura-kun! Don’t go near Labrys!”
“Why can’t I?!” Yosuke angrily shouts back, wondering why Fuuka doesn’t want him to go near his girlfriend. Before Fuuka could respond, Labrys unexpectedly raises her head. At first, Yosuke is happy to see that Labrys is actually. However, he quickly realizes something is wrong the moment he gets a second look at his girlfriend. For some reason, Labrys’ eyes are glowing pink instead of her normal crimson red.
“Labrys? Wait…” Yosuke worries, and Labrys immediately backhands him away, sending the young man flying until he crashlands in front of Aigis and Mitsuru. Yosuke groans in pain as he’s barely able to push himself back up to his feet. While Aigis is speechless by the act, Mitsuru narrows her eyes knowing Labrys would never try to hurt Yosuke.
“Fuuka, what’s going on? What happened to Labrys?” Mitsuru requests while noting the pink glow emanating from Labrys’ eyes, causing the leader of the Shadow Operatives to experience a horrible pit in her stomach.
“The attack that hit her. It was a charm attack, and the Wyvern has Labrys under its control now!”
Yosuke turns pale after hearing the news. This has to be some kind of joke, right? Labrys isn’t being mind controlled, is she? Yet despite his attempts of denial, Yosuke knew he couldn’t ignore the truth. Labrys has been charmed, meaning she’s going to stop them from attacking the shadow wyvern by any means necessary. Yosuke’s mind flashes back to the P-1 Grand Climax when he was forced to fight Labrys twice. The first was when Labrys was still in denial of her true self and wanted to live a lie forever, but the second time was when Sho took control of Labrys’ body like a puppet from outside the TV World and forced her to fight her new friends.
Both times were painful moments in Yosuke’s life. He never liked fighting Labrys, especially when she’s being manipulated by outside parties. And now it’s happening again for a third time. Yosuke turns around and glares at the Shadow Wyvern. This is the monster forcing Labrys to fight them against her will. The Shadow Wyvern lets out an authoritative roar, and Yosuke quickly switches his attention back to his girlfriend.
“As you command, Master.” Labrys obediently states in a monotone voice while pulling up her axe into a battle stance.
“This is bad. The shadow must’ve anticipated Labrys would try to save Hanamura-san since it knows it couldn’t take us down on its own. Now with Labrys under its control, the shadow will be more difficult to destroy.” Mitsuru deduces as she, Aigis, and Yosuke find themselves flanked by the Shadow Wyvern and Labrys.
“I’ll restrain Labrys while you two handle the shadow.” Aigis instructs as she steps forward to face her mind controlled sister. At first, this plan does sound perfect. If there’s anyone who can take down Labrys without injury, it’s Aigis. However, Yosuke soon realizes the flaws in his teammate’s suggestion.
“Wait, let me handle Labrys.” Yosuke counters, surprising his two teammates while he steps forward.
“Hanamura-san, I do not wish to offend you, but you’re no match against my sister at the state she’s in. She can severely harm you.” Aigis objects, and Yosuke couldn’t stop himself from wincing at the thought of Labrys hurting him. Despite that, he stays firm with his decision.
“I know, but I’m not planning to beat Labrys. I just need to keep her occupied long enough for you and Kirijo-san to kill that monster and undo its charm effect on Labrys. You’re the only one who can counter its ability.” Yosuke informs Aigis as he raises his kunai.
“Hanamura-san is correct. As of right now, the Wyvern still has resistances to wind and ice, the two elements specialized by my and Hanamura-san’s personas.” Mitsuru agrees, much to Yosuke’s relief. Aigis looks unsure but quickly relents.
“Very well, Hanamura-san. I’ll entrust my sister’s safety to you once again. In the meantime, Mitsuru-san and I will ensure this shadow’s destruction for its actions against my sister.” Aigis acknowledges with a trusting nod.
“I ain’t lettin’ any of ya hurt master!” Labrys explodes as she leaps at her fellow Shadow Operatives and swings her axe down at Aigis. However, Yosuke is quick to get in between the two robot sisters and blocks the axe with his kunai. Yosuke can feel his muscles already screaming just from one block.
“I’ll hold Labrys off! Go kill that damn monster!” Yosuke shouts to his teammates as he struggles to push back his girlfriend’s axe.
“Understood. Good luck, Hanamura-san!” Aigis responds before she and Mitsuru continue the battle with the Shadow Wyvern. Yosuke rolls out of the way as Labrys drives her axe into the ground. If he had stayed there for a few more seconds, no doubt he would’ve been cut in half. Now that the plan is in action, Yosuke needs to find a way to stay alive until Aigis and Mitsuru destroy the wyvern.
“Come on, Labrys! Snap out of it! Don’t let that monster control you! You’re stronger than that!” Yosuke pleads, but Labrys simply pulls her axe out of the ground and attacks her boyfriend with another swing of her axe. Yosuke swiftly ducks the swing, but Labrys follows up her attack with a brutal shoulder tackle into her boyfriend’s chest. Yosuke feels the wind get knocked out of him as he hits the ground hard.
“Oh god, that’s gonna leave a bruise.” Yosuke mutters to himself and widens his eyes when he sees Labrys swinging her axe down at him. Except this time, the thrusters on her axe activate to give her swing more momentum. Yosuke barely rolls out of the way to avoid his body getting cleaved in two. Labrys charges forward and furiously attacks Yosuke with a flurry of axe swings, but Yosuke barely manages to avoid each and every one of them. His Shadow Ops training is really paying off.
“Ariadne! Weaver’s Art: Sword!” Labrys commands, summon her persona to appear above her. Ariadne casts her string to the ground, and a long sword suddenly shoots up from the ground at Yosuke. While Yosuke manages to avoid getting skewered, the same cannot be said for his jacket as the sword pierced a large hole through it. Muttering a curse to himself, Yosuke cuts his jacket loose with one of his kunai and leaps back to give himself distance from Labrys. Several swords shoot up from the ground from where he once stood, and Yosuke lets out a sigh of relief.
However, that relief only lasts for a short second as Labrys shoots out Chain Knuckle and grabs Yosuke by the leg. Labrys swings her boyfriend high into the air and slams him onto the cavern ground. Yup. That’s a broken rib. Yosuke lets out a few painful coughs as Labrys lets go and reels her Chain Knuckle back in. The sounds of Aigis’ and Mitsuru’s battle with the Shadow Wyvern is heard, and Labrys shifts her attention away from Yosuke. She needs to protect her master. Right as Labrys is about to return to the battle, a kunai flies past her head, cutting a few strands of her hair. Labrys turns around and sees Yosuke barely standing up and clutching his side.
“What? You think one good hit is enough to keep me down? Come on, babe. You know me better than that.” Yosuke chuckles weakly, shooting a grin at his girlfriend while trying not to show the pain he’s under.
“Ariadne! Weaver’s Art: Beast!” Labrys yells out, and the princess of Crete casts her string to create the large bull from before. The bull construct stampedes towards Yosuke with Labrys charging after it with her axe, but Yosuke quickly smashes the tarot card in front of him to summon Takehaya Susano-o.
“Magarudyne!” Yosuke commands, the Japanese god of storms blasts the incoming enemies with a powerful tornado of wind. The bull construct takes the brunt of the attack, getting destroyed in the process. The winds from Takehaya Susano-o’s attack knock Labrys’ axe out of her hands and send the robot girl flying. Yosuke winces as he watches Labrys hit the ground with a loud thud, and he rushes over to check up on her.
“Labrys, are you alright?” Yosuke calls out while cautiously keeping his distance knowing she’s still under Shadow Wyvern’s charm effects. A Chain Knuckle is shot at Yosuke, but he manages to dodge out of the way. However, Yosuke’s eyes widen when he sees Labrys’ disconnected forearm heading straight towards her axe. Wasting no time, Yosuke smashes the tarot card in front of him.
“Takehaya Susano-o!” Yosuke shouts, and the Japanese god of storms manifests in front of Labrys’ axe and kicks the Chain Knuckle away before it could reach it. Labrys stands back up as she reconnects her forearm to the rest of her arm.
“You’re annoyin’.” Labrys growls, clenching her hands into fists.
“Yeah, yeah, I get that all the time from Chie. Seriously, Lab. You gotta- woah!” Yosuke cries out as he narrowly evades a punch thrown by Labrys. He should’ve remembered that even without her axe, Labrys is still a dangerous fighter. Labrys throws a left hook at Yosuke, but he manages to block it with his remaining kunai. Labrys then jumps back and attempts a roundhouse kick at her boyfriend, but Yosuke quickly ducks in time. However, this causes the pain from his broken rib to aggravate.
Labrys attacks with another punch, but Yosuke barely avoids it as well. Yosuke doesn’t know how long he can keep up as the pain from his broken rib is the only thing that’s on his mind. Labrys goes for a knee strike to the gut this time, but Yosuke leaps over the hit before it could connect. However, Yosuke gasps in pain as he lands on the ground and clutches his side. Unfortunately, Yosuke doesn’t have time to recover as Labrys rushes towards him and knocks him down with a devastating lariat.
“Stay down.” Labrys warns Yosuke, who could only respond with a painful groan. Before Labrys could do anything else, she hears the roar of the Shadow Wyvern which catches her attention. Realizing that the Shadow Wyvern is having trouble with Aigis and Mitsuru, Labrys sets her sights on returning to the main battle. As Labrys marches forward to help the wyvern, Yosuke jumps onto Labrys’ back and covers eyes with his hands.
“I didn’t hear no bell.” Yosuke jokes before letting out a few painful coughs. This is his last chance, and he’s not planning on letting go anytime soon.
“Hey! Get offa me!” Labrys demands as she blindly thrashes her arms around in an attempt to grab Yosuke. The android woman stumbles around as she continues, but fails, to grab her boyfriend.
“Sorry but no can do!” Yosuke cheekily taunts as he struggles to stay on. He looks up ahead and sees that Aigis and Mitsuru have already worn down the Shadow Wyvern. All they need is a few more hits to kill it for good. Serves that bastard right. Before Yosuke could get a chance to relish in the Shadow Wyvern’s defeat, he suddenly finds himself grabbed by Labrys and thrown to the ground in a body slam. There goes the rest of his ribs. “Of all the places Aigis took you, why did it have to be those wrestling shows?”
“Enough! I’m gonna silence you forever!” Labrys snarls and gets on top of Yosuke. If Labrys wasn’t mind controlled in a life or death situation, Yosuke would’ve found this hot. With one hand, Labrys pins Yosuke’s shoulder to the ground to keep him from getting up. Labrys then raises her other hand, ready to punch her boyfriend’s face in.
Yosuke begins to worry. He just needs a few more minutes for Aigis and Mitsuru to destroy the Shadow Wyvern and end its curse on Labrys. A look of shock appears on Yosuke’s face the moment he compares the wyvern’s charm effect on Labrys to a curse, and he immediately recalls the conversation about fairytales he had with Labrys during their flight to the United States. True love’s kiss is supposed to show that love conquers all and ensure a happy ending. Those were Yosuke’s words to Labrys during their conversion, and Labrys believes true love’s kiss beats status ailments from a shadow. Will it actually work here?
“Here goes nothing.” Yosuke mutters to himself and closes his eyes. He grabs Labrys’ face and pulls her in for a kiss. The moment their lips connect, Labrys is overtaken by shock. The android woman feels like a heavy fog has been lifted from her mind, and she quickly melts into the kiss. Labrys drops her fist and kisses Yosuke back. After almost a full minute passes, Labrys and Yosuke break the kiss and stare into each other’s eyes. Labrys' eyes are no longer glowing pink.
“Yosuke?” Labrys asks in confusion, curious as to what’s going on. The android woman doesn’t mind making out with Yosuke, but she also remembers that she and her boyfriend were in the middle of a battle with the Shadow Wyvern.
“Labrys, you’re back!” Yosuke bursts with joy as he couldn’t believe it. True love’s kiss actually worked! Yosuke tries to sit up, but pain shoots throughout his body. Yosuke lets out a sharp cry and lies back down.
“Yosuke! You’re hurt!” Labrys gasps and covers her mouth in shock. How did Yosuke get hurt? The last thing Labrys remembers was… The memory of pushing Yosuke out of the way and getting hit by the Shadow Wyvern’s hidden attack flashes in Labrys’ mind. Horrified, Labrys immediately gets off of Yosuke. “Did I… Did I do this to ya?”
“What? No! Well, yes but not really! It wasn’t actually you!” Yosuke prattles as he tries to figure out the best explanation to give. However, Labrys shushes him with a finger to his lips as she gives him a concerned glare. Yosuke goes silent the moment he sees tears in his girlfriend’s eyes.
“Tell me the truth, Yosuke. Did I hurt you?” Labrys asks, trying her best not to break into a sob. Yosuke feels his heart shatter and forces himself to sit up. As he does, Yosuke wipes the tears from Labrys’ eyes.
“You got hit by a charm attack, and I chose to hold you off so Aigis-san and Kirijo-san can fight the shadow uninterrupted. I admit. You did get some good hits on me, but it wasn’t your fault. You weren’t in control of your body, and none of us knew what that attack was gonna do.” Yosuke explains to Labrys as he holds onto her hand. He wanted to add that if she didn’t get hit by the attack, then he would’ve instead. However, Yosuke knew that wouldn’t make her feel better.
“But-” Labrys tries to respond, but Yosuke cuts her off.
“Please don’t blame yourself for this, Labrys. Kirijo-san won’t blame you, Aigis-san certainly won’t blame you, and I will never blame you. You aren’t at fault. I love you, Labrys.” Yosuke firmly states, wanting to make it clear to his girlfriend that everything that just happened wasn’t her fault and that she shouldn’t blame herself for it.
“I love you too, Yosuke.” Labrys responds softly before her expression begins to darken. “I’m gonna kill that shadow.”
“Don’t worry. Your sister already got it covered.” Yosuke chuckles as he points his thumb over to what’s left of the main battle. Mitsuru has the Shadow Wyvern frozen solid thanks to Artemisia casting a Bufudyne, and Aigis has just summoned Metatron at her side.
“God’s Hand!” Aigis commands, and the angelic Voice of God raises his hand upward. Suddenly, the heavens appear above the frozen shadow and a divine fist rains down as it smites the Shadow Wyvern into nothingness in a single strike. The mission is successfully over. However, something about this didn’t make sense to Labrys.
“I don’t get it. How did I get cured if the shadow wasn’t dead yet until just now?” Labrys asks her boyfriend. Usually when it comes to status ailments from shadows, the only way to cure them are either with an item, a spell to counter it, or destroying the shadow that caused the ailment in the first place. The Shadow Operatives already ran out of items for charm effects by the time they reached the Shadow Wyvern, and Takehaya Susano-o doesn’t have any skills that undoes status ailments. And if the Shadow Wyvern was still alive when Labrys got cured, then…
“About that. Remember our talk about fairytales and true love’s kiss? Turns out, true love’s kiss can heal you from a shadow’s status ailment.” Yosuke shyly admits, feeling his cheeks beginning to burn. At first, Labrys’ jaw drops from the reveal. She had completely forgotten about that conversation. However, Labrys recollects the full conversation in her memory bank, and a wide grin appears on her face.
“I told ya! I told ya trues love's kiss would work! And you didn’t believe me at first, but look what happened! It worked!” Labrys gloats, and Yosuke playfully rolls his eyes at his girlfriend. At least she’s happy now.
“Yeah, yeah, but it would’ve been an actual true love’s kiss if you had gotten kissed by a prince instead.” Yosuke replies, and Labrys tilts her head in confusion.
“What'd ya mean? You are a prince.” Labrys states, and this time it’s Yosuke’s turn to be confused.
“The heck? I’m not a prince.” Yosuke disputes, wondering why Labrys would think he’s a prince.
“Are ya sure? Because Chie-chan told me how you used to be called the “Prince of Junes” back in Inaba.” Labrys explains, and Yosuke cringes at the mention of that nickname.
“Oh. That. It’s just a nickname the people of Inaba used to call me because they would always blame me for Junes being the reason why the local business would close down. It’s more of an insult than a genuine title.” Yosuke clarifies while shaking his head. That nickname doesn’t bother Yosuke like it used to back when he was a teenager. Now that he thinks about it, he hasn’t been called “Prince of Junes” in a long time. Labrys frowns when Yosuke mentioned how the nickname was used to insult him.
“Is that so? Well, who cares what they think. You’ll always be my prince, Yosuke.” Labrys confesses, kissing her boyfriend on the cheek. Yosuke blushes from the affection, but he also smiles fondly at Labrys calling him her prince.
“Thank you, Labrys. We should regroup with Aigis-san and Kirijo-san.” Yosuke informs his girlfriend and winces when he attempts to stand back up. Labrys sees this and carefully lifts Yosuke into a bridal carry, causing her boyfriend to blush even harder.
“You helped me break free from that curse. Now it’s my turn to help you.” Labrys proclaims to her prince. Yosuke is about to tell his girlfriend that usually it’s the prince’s job to carry the princess but decides not to after seeing the loving expression on her face.
Afterwards, the prince and his mechanical maiden rejoin their team as the day ends with a job well down. The prince is healed from his injuries and is given a few days of relaxation for good measure. The prince and mechanical maiden turned those extra days into a vacation where the two would enjoy being at each other’s side. Afterwards, it became time for the whole group to return to their home in Japan and continue their mission of helping the world from dangerous shadows. And like with every known fairytale, the prince and his mechanical princess lived happily ever after.
The End.