Not my first fic before we get started, just new to the site.
So, after almost 200 hours of Persona 5, I decided to write fanfiction about it. It's an ng+ story with my own twists that play with characters, their personalities to a degree, so on, so forth. Hope you all enjoy
Chapter 1- A Trickster Reborn
It wasn't supposed to be like this, they'd been so sure of themselves, Akira and the others. Confident that with the building support from the citizens down below that they could defy this false god and reclaim their world from him, but it didn't happen that way. So full of hope they were that they couldn't see that the battle had not only been taking a toll on them, but on those they needed the most. The hope and light that had filled the people who now saw the horrors around them had been waning, and now it was gone.
"Damnit, Skull buff me!" Joker shouted as he manifested Thor, the hulking Persona stretching its arms in anticipation. Nodding his best friend, the first to experience the Metaverse with him geared up to cast Tarukaja, before Yaldabaoth intervened.
"CAPITAL PUNISHMENT" And with those words, their hearts dropped at once. An earsplitting 'crack', and a flash of light, the sound of a body hitting the ground with a resounding thud. Everyone turned to Skull, only to see him on the ground unmoving.
"Skull, Skull!" Joker was the first to reach him, shaking him, trying to rouse the boy.
"Dominion, Samarecarm." Again his Persona swapped, but the spell wouldn't take.
"Try again!" Once more, nothing. Yaldabaoth watched them silently, letting them suffer as they watched their friend die before them.
"Please, Skull, GET UP!" By then he was gone, no final words, no last declaration to fight till the end, no those words weren't for him. Not more than a second later his body began to fade away like a Shadow, leaving behind only his mask, burnt at the edges and a crack splitting down the middle.
What was left of the fight felt like a blur, taking a sharp turn Yaldabaoth executed each person with terrifying ease. Fox, Noir, Oracle, Panther, Morgana, until only Joker and Queen remained. He seemed so much stronger now, as if he'd been holding back on them, letting them all think they even had a chance to defeat him, now it was clear that they'd been painfully wrong.
"FAREWELL TRICKSTER, IT SEEMS THIS WORLD COULD NOT BE SAVED. A PITY."
The Gun of Execution raised high above his head, and Joker didn't move. He was tired, tired of the death, the fighting, let him die, without strength to move he accepted his fate, figuring he and Queen would die together.
"FAREWELL TRICKSTER. CAPITAL PUNISHMENT." The gun fired, time seemed to slow down for him as he watched the bullets fly.
'This is how it ends huh? I'm sorry I failed you all…' He thought as the bullets ripped through skin, but not his own. Makoto, not Queen, not anyone else but Makoto had taken the shot, a critical hit and It fired again. His eyes widened as she dropped to the ground, her body limp.
"No...no no no no no!" Joker bent to the ground, lifting her head up. He didn't care about the God before them, only the girl dying in his arms.
"Y...You have to win...for sis, for boss, for everyone…" She croaked out, a faint smile on her face as blood trickled from her mouth.
"No...not without you, please Makoto….don't leave! You promised you wouldn't! You're all I have left!" He shouted, meanwhile the God of Control laughed, laughed at how the once proud Thieves had fallen
"I'm so sorry...I...I…" And that was it, she'd been given her time and it was over, the moment passing as the life drained out of her. And soon enough her body faded into nothing, with only a mask to remind the world that she once was there. Silence for only a moment, then a sharp breath, and finally a scream. One that carried all the pent up anger and hatred that Akira felt, a raw, heart wrenching scream that only fell upon deaf ears, the world had already resigned itself to the God of Control.
"You bastard! I'll kill you, tear you apart piece by piece!" He shouted, flying into a rage. It was one thing to him, for the two to die as one he felt, knowing how childish it was, but to watch her die in his arms, it lit a fire under him, and this time it would not go out. Racking his brain as he leapt between attacks, his mind relived the moments before the battle, the curse Lavenza had given him in case of this very thing.
'If your power is not enough, if you're willing to sacrifice that which makes you human, the very light within you, then use this. I pray you never will, Trickster.'
A dagger, very plain, almost something you wouldn't notice unless you were looking for it, the only marking denoting it as something of some value was the symbol that had adorned the guillotines Akira had used to craft his Personas.
"ARE YOU GIVING UP? IS DYING BY YOUR OWN HAND PREFERABLE TO ME?" Yaldabaoth asked, half taunting.
"Without hope, witness, or reward, I shall end you, even if I condemn myself in the process." Raising his hands high, Akira plunged the dagger into his own heart, and then he felt it. A raging inferno, a beast that dwelled within him, waiting for this moment, this very moment to make itself known.
'So, the world has abandoned you and you lack the power to slay the abomination before you? Very well then, if you're willing to throw it all away then I heed your resolve. Now...say it, say it now, SAY IT!' This voice demanded, it spoke as him, but not. That wolfish grin creeped onto his face as his lips moved,
"I am thou, and thou art I
Thou who art willing to commit any Heretical act
For thine own retribution, I condemn thee and I
To release thine own hatred.
Show the strength of thy heart, to seek justice for all
Without hope, and to shatter the chains that bind us
TO RULE OVER HELL ITSELF!"
Inside him, Akira could feel something crack and break, fading away into dust. What took it's place was something else, something that couldn't be described as anything understandable. Just...a placeholder. Ethereal chains wrapped around his wrists, his ankles, the ends leading to a massive figure that seemed to grow closer as the chains reeled it in. Akira's clothes began to change, morphing into almost a sort of uniform, a red sash going from his left shoulder to his right hip. The figure had grown considerably smaller, sinking into Akira's body, but Yaldabaoth hadn't let this turn of events stall him.
"RAYS OF CONTROL." A dark explosion of Almighty energy surrounded the field, before shattering completely. The light died down, and Akira was now fully dressed in what was once the Ultimate Fool's clothing, a dark halo spinning above his head, six jet black wings lazily flapping from his back.
"This is the power that resists Ruin, now bow down to it." He said, pointing his gun up to the God.
"Sinful Shell." Akira let loose a single bullet that grew and grew, gaining speed and power until it ripped through Yaldabaoth, sending him back.
"Begone."
The sky began to clear, as the arms of the God fell limp,
"WHAT POWER...IT SURPASSES MINE OWN...A GOD BORN FROM THE WISH OF THE MASSES...SO THIS...IS THE TRUE TRICKSTER...DAMN THAT IGOR...IT SEEMS HE WASN'T SPOUTING NONSENSE...THOUGH YOU HAVE CONDEMNED YOURSELF...TO A LIFE OF REGRET OVER YOUR FALLEN FRIENDS…"
The God faded from the world, in his place a chalice floated above the ground. The Treasure of Mementos had finally appeared in an attainable state.
"We did it, everyone…"Akira didn't notice the tears that streamed down his face as he took the cup, and as the world faded into white, he failed to notice the masks of his fallen comrades fade away with it.
It was snowing when he returned to the ground, the people of Shibuya walking down the bustling streets. It seemed odd, almost unfair that the world would continue without most of the people who'd saved it. Looking around, he spotted one of the faces he was dreading.
"Congratulations, I can't believe you managed to do it." The older Nijima said, offering him a smile.
"Sae...Makoto-"
"But, there are more pressing matters at hand. The police…" He could barely hear her, trying to talk until finally,
"Your sister is dead!" He shouted, fed up with all the talking. A puzzled expression formed on her face as she spoke words he didn't want to hear,
"Sister? Akira, are you ok? I don't have a sister, I think I'd remember if I did, especially if she died." He couldn't believe it, this couldn't be real. He tried reasoning with her, explaining Makoto, everyone, but all he got in return was more confused looks before she told him what she needed could wait until tomorrow. Akira didn't waste another moment as he took off for LeBlanc, maybe just maybe Sojiro would remember them, he'd been more closely involved than Sae had been. Bursting through the door, Sojiro looked at him oddly, but relieved.
"Kid, I was wondering when you-"
"Futaba! Do you recognize that name?" He asked, not letting him get another word in.
"What are you talking about?"
"Just answer me, please. Do you know who Futaba is?" Once more he received the worst possible answer.
"No, I remember Wakaba saying something about wanting to name her kid that, but she died before she could have one." And that was it, halfheatedly nodding along to what he was told, before shuffling his way up to the attic.
'They're gone...all of them…' He thought, collapsing onto his bed. It wasn't fair, why did he have to remember them when no one else did? Why did he have to be burdened with the memory of those that would not be remembered, as either Phantom Thieves or people.
'Do you wish to start again? As you are now, with this power and your knowledge of what will come?' A voice asked, the same as before.
"Who are you?" Akira asked tiredly, looking around his room though he knew he wouldn't find anything.
'I am you, the new you that dwells within. A human's soul is worth quite a bit of power, and the soul of a Trickster even more so. If that false god could reset the world to stave off the Ruin that would condemn the world, then I can reset it to before his influence had reached such heights, within reason.'
"And if I refuse?"
'Then you let your friends remain dead, and even you will forget them in time.' Silence pervated the room for what felt like hours, before Akira trusted himself to speak.
"Do it, I won't fail them again." Laughter, haunting, dark laughter as the world melted into reds and blacks, eating away at what was left of Akira's consciousness.
"Very well, then let us return, to when this unjust game began, but be warned my dear Fool, not everything is as you remember…"
And then nothing, nothing but the sound of a train rattling as it sped down the rails, while the sun shined on a beautiful April afternoon.