Getting dragged into a Battle Royale

"Those little..." Yukari muttered, rubbing her butt and seething with rage and embarrassment.

"Unforgivable." Mitsuru said, similarly nursing her own abused backside, her tone the ominously soft voice she assumed shortly before commencing an execution.

"Guys, wait a sec. I know this looks bad but we need to-" Minako began.

A new **** of deadly buckets interrupted her pleas as SEES was **** to scatter.

"Yukari!" Mitsuru called, rushing to a stand of bamboo shorts that typically made up the substance of the fence line of a bathhouse (although taken to another world, the asthetics here seemed to be modeled on regular public hot springs).

"On it!" Yukari returned, gathering up two of the buckets that had moments before given her and her team a painful smack.

"Guys!" Minako protested again, gently tackling Fuuka so they both could avoid the renewed volley.

But her team was a stewing cauldron of fury and humiliation and her words became lost to them. Yukari charged forward, dodging incoming missiles. Her specialty was the bow and arrow, of course, but she had enough experience with target practice and judging distance that any improvised projectile could be deadly. Mitsuru was right behind her, pausing only long enough to break off one of the bamboo shoots that looked about the right size to be a passable subsitute for her missing sword. The pair launched themselves at the silhouettes of their enemies, tossing her two buckets left and right, hearing the satisfying yelp and smack of a successfully landed retaliatory buttshot. Her joy was short lived as another bucket made contact with her remaining untouched ass cheek. Mitsuru charged forward, thwacking buckets aside left and right as she closed the distance to her unseen adversary. The way the figure fell into a fighting stance made her deadly certain it was Akihiko, the resident boxer of SEES. Why the figure was so much shorter and slimmer than her old partner was a question she did not have time to ponder in the heat of the moment. She gasped as her first strike was dodged, not by a block from the hand as she assumed but by falling into a crouch beneath her wooden sword and attacking with a sweeper kick that sent Mitsuru tumbling backwards. The Kirijo heir was no amateur in a fight, however, and even as she was thrown off balance she adjusted her sword arm and used the momentum to deliver a hard smack to the opponent's butt before crashing into the water with a large splash.

"Guys! Stop! Stop it!" Minako kept pleading to no avail. "They aren't....sigh. No one is listening to me. And...why is everyone aiming for each other's butts in this fight?"

Behind her she suddenly her the sound of loud splashing, muffled swearing, and a soft roar of fury. She suddenly realized the Investigation Team's attack had been targetting more than just her.

Minako sighed with relief. The Phantom Thieves were here too!

"FIST OF JUSTICE!" Makoto screamed, charging out the steam like a rampaging bull.

....Minako yelped in dismay as her increasingly abused ass received another painful slap, this one sending her sprawling.

Shit. The Phantom Thieves were here too.

"Stop it! Stop it! I don't want to fight!" Minako screeched as she hobbled to her feet. "At least stop hitting me in the ass!"

Suddenly, she felt a painful 'snap' arch out of the mist. For a moment the world was nothing but pain and dancing stars. Then another 'snap' **** her to stumble backwards. A towel. Someone was using a towel of all things like a whip...Ann. Ann was attacking her. Had she just...had Ann just whipped her in the tit?

"THAT WASN'T WHAT I MEANT!" Minako shouted, stumbling back. But already she could hear another battle cry...which would surely be Haru. Minako cringed at the thought of what the sweet but notoriously brutal in combat heiress to the Big Bang franchise would bring against her. Whatever part of her poor anatomy Haru was targetting was unlikely to survive....

"Screw it." Minako sighed, clenching a fist, then pulling her thumb back and index finger forward, Minako brought her right hand up to the side of her head. Yes, she knew from experience these Labyrinths didn't require use of the macabre tool called an Evoker. But, to be frank, she had been battling in the Dark Hour so long that summoning a Persona in a way that didn't involve getting shot in the face just felt WRONG. (Some distant part of her was already weeping for the money she was going to lose on desperately needed therapy later in life).

"PERSONA!" Minako screamed, pulling the "trigger" on the caricature of the gun her hand had become. To her absolute relief she heard the familiar crack of power and burst of azure light that precede the entrance of Orpheus. The long haired, semi mechanical Persona appeared in front of her just in time to block the oncoming strike of a towel clad Haru who was swinging a bench (!!) almost as big as she was with both hands.

"Back off..." Minako said, noticing that the other two Persona Users were moving the flank her. "I said BACK. OFF."

Fire erupted from the mouth of Orpheus, creaking a short lived wall of blazing light. Minako didn't like the idea of using magic against her friends, but if this Labyrinth played by the same basic rules all their abilities were reduced in power here. None of the girls were likely to be seriously hurt, she hoped, and at worst there would be an abundance of healing magic between the three groups to rectify the situation. The hope was that seeing such a display would make them hesitate in attacking her again...and while they were reassessing hopefully they'd notice that she wasn't the target of their ire. Assuming they would remember her like she remembered them. If not...well, plan b was still a work in progress.

She was greeted by a trio of yelps as her opponents jumped back and tossed aside the now blazing towels. Oops. Minako blushed, then glanced down at herself. Her own towel was now hiding somewhere under the bubbling water, knocked loose during the tackle-dodge with Fuuka. Oh well. At least they were even.

To her relief, the loss of their modesty seemed to take some of the fighting spirit out of the girls in favor of hiding their secret places as best they could. Which was not very effective, Minako noticed with appreciation. SEES had no shortage of gorgeous, well endowed girls itself (including her, if she did say so herself!) but the Phantom Thieves were steep competition!...Minako belatedly tried covering herself, more to hide the evidence of her dirty thoughts that was beginning to stiffen on the tips of her breasts and peak out near the top of her sex. Well, this was going to be awkward.

"How did you..." Makoto sputtered in confusion and embarrassment. "Was that a...where did you...when did you come into the...who...wait. Have we...."

The others were also caught in a dance of humiliation, confusion, and dying fury. Adrenaline was still pumping in their veins, but the onslaught of nudity left them all paralyzed. And more than that, they were realizing their supposed opponent was very clearly not one of the guys who had somehow trapped them in this place. And, Minako hoped, there was a memory of her face whispering in the back of their minds.

"Ummm....sorry. Sorry about the fire! I couldn't think of another way to deal with all three of you!" Minako piped. "....So...do you remember? Makoto?... Ann?... Haru?... Do you know who I am?"

She met each of their gazes as she spoke their names, suppressing the urge to laugh or cry or otherwise lose control of her emotions. She was starting to realize that, consciously forgotten or not, these girls had been with her all along. Strangers she'd met on a surreal adventure, turned whole heartedly into dear companions and comrades in arms. Each group fighting their own battles, each hauntingly familiar and yet so distinct from her own struggles. Recently Minako had become vaguely aware of a renewed sense of purpose in Tartarus. Her reasons for fighting hadn't changed, and yet her resolve had grown (along with the less uplifting feeling of a much heavier burden). Now she understood. The Labyrinths could not erase the entire experience from her mind. Her time there was buried deep, yes, but it was still there, pushing her forward. Previously the future was just a vague hope. Her motivations to stop the Fall had always been in the moment- stitched into the web of her heart and empowering her other self with their bonds. Then came the Labyrinth, defying space and time and allowing her to meet tangible proof of a tomorrow. It was their faces, hiding in her **** that had been pushing her harder than ever. Bringing a serial killer to justice, forcing the corrupt to repent for their **** and sins....their battles were now her battles. If she failed to climb the tower...if she failed to end the Fall...their battles would be lost before they ever began.

Minako's eyes flashed. She wasn't going to let that happen. Not in Tartarus. And definitely not in some sick pervert's demented Bath Labyrinth!

"....Minako?" Makoto had finally broken the silence, bringing Minako's attention back around.

"....Hey, guys!" Minako said, trying hard to ignore the awkwardness of the situation. "So your probably wondering what-"

"Minako!" All three naked girls squeeled at once, giving Minako only enough time emit a small eep of her own before finding herself falling backwards with a great splash while being firmly glomped in the arms of three very cute and very naked girls.

The next several moments were a blur of excited laughter, loud expressions of bewilderment, and enough soft bits of female anatomy squishing up against her own to make Minako certain her next life would be a sea slug to balance out all the good karma she was burning through. But alas, before things had a chance to calm down Minako was forcefully reminded that the rest of her team was still fighting.

"ENOUGH OF THIS! I'M GOING TO EXECUTE YOU ALL!"

Minako corrected herself. Her karma was going to balance out just fine in this life. And that was the last thought she was able to have before the onslaught of her senpai's elemental magic turned her world into bitter cold.