Well, next chapter is up. I know, crazy, crazy, but right now I wanna get one chapter from this story in-between two from Anything OOO. Each chapter from this story will constitute one month of in-game time, so bear that in mind. Disclaimer: I don't own Persona, Akiba's Trip, or Danganronpa.
Chapter 1: April
April 9
Nana Kasugano sighed. Sometimes, her keen eye for detail could be a burden to her. Right now she was on a train headed for some relatives who lived in Tokyo. But apparently, she had originally been selected for something more prestigious. It was a few weeks ago when she saw a news report. A jewel thief being pursued by a costumed hero somehow had the mailman's motorbike he stole go out of control and crash. The bike had exploded and an entire mailbag went up in flames. Nana had seen the report and noticed one of the letters had the address for MOGRA, the cafe she was staying at, and the sigil of Hope's Peak Academy.
Now Nana was good, but there was nothing that truly qualified her as an Ultimate, which meant she had been selected due to the rumored lottery held every year to select an Ultimate Lucky Student. And since her acceptance letter had been lost, now some other lucky student had been selected in her place. She decided to ignore the academy's forum, knowing it would only bring her heartbreak. Still, she couldn't complain. Shujin Academy, the high school she was know going to attend, was known to be just as prestigious.
Right next to her, a young man her own age woke with a start, then looked around as the announcement came to transfer lines. "You doing okay there?," Nana asked. The young man, Akira Kurusu, looked at her and nodded. "Yeah, just flashbacks to a terrible incident I got involved in." 'Like getting falsely accused of assault,' he thought to himself. 'Can't be worse than the Synthister incident,' Nana thought. She then noticed Akira was wearing a uniform similar to hers. "Oh, you going to Shujin Academy?" Akira nodded. "Recently transferred." "Ah," Nana said, "That explains the second-year badge. I'm only in first year. My name's Nana Kasugano by the way." "Akira Kurusu," Akira replied as they shook hands.
As the two students got off the train and entered Shibuya, Akira checked his phone and noticed that a new app had somehow been downloaded. The app had an eye symbol which expanded and covered the screen. Akira tapped on it, trying to remove it and then noticed that time around him somehow stopped for everyone but him. As he looked around, he saw just ahead of him something manifesting in a crowd of people. It was a mass of flame that took the form of winged humanoid. The strange phenomenon looked at Akira with sinister eyes and a wicked grin, yet he got the impression it did not mean anything malicious towards him or anyone else at the moment.
As the flame seemed to manifest his own face, but with bright yellow eyes, the entire scene flashed white. When it faded, Akira noticed that everything around him had started moving again, as if it had never stopped. He looked at his phone and saw the app had shrunk down. Without a thought, he quickly dragged it to his phone's trash bin. "Hey Akira," Nana said, waving her hand in front of Akira's face, "Move away from the light there pal, we need to get going." Akira gasped and nodded. "Right."
Akira soon found his way to the cafe owned by Sojiro Sakura in Yongen-Jaya, the Cafe Leblanc. As he entered, the public TV was broadcasting a news report about a public transit bus driving down an opposing lane, an elderly couple gossiping about it before paying for their meal and leaving. Standing just in front of the bar, reading a newspaper, was the cafe's owner, Sojiro. "Hmm," he muttered, "A five letter word for a shellfish used to farm pearls..." "I believe the word you're looking for is oyster," Akira said, causing Sojiro to look toward him.
"Ah, you must be Akira," Sojiro said, "I was told to expect you. One of my regulars is a friends of your parents." "Yeah they mentioned as much," Akira noted, "After the court ruling, they agreed the best way to get me a clean slate was to send me as far away from the incident as possible. Hence why my probation is being held here." Sojiro nodded. "Indeed. Anyway, I've set you up in the attic of the cafe. It's a bit cluttered, but I was able to find you a bed to sleep in."
He led the way up the stairs. Sure enough, the entire room was rather messy. "Well, a bit of a fixer-upper," Akira noted, "But I'm sure I can clean the place up and make it livable." Sojiro smiled. "I hope so. Just make sure to get some sleep after your done. Tomorrow we're heading for your new school to get you situated. And don't feel too pressured by your record. Don't forget you're allowed to do whatever you want while on probation, as long as its within the law. Speaking of which... Why did you go out of your way to help someone? Especially since it got you in trouble."
"It's not my fault the guy had the police in his pocket," Akira defended, "I just saw him harassing a young woman and couldn't stand for it. Really all I did was tap his shoulder. Guy must have been drunk out of his mind, because he tripped over his own two feet as he turned to face me." Sojiro shook his head. "Well I can't really fault you for wanting to help someone. I might have done the same when I was your age. Not that it matters now, the past is the past. All we can really do is learn from it. Anyway, I'll leave you to clean up." He headed downstairs as Akira unpacked the box with his belongings, and began to straighten the room up. By the time he was done, he was completely worn out, and collapsed on the bed, though he did notice the mysterious app from before had returned.
When Akira opened his eyes again, he somehow found himself on a warm cot inside a small room. As he looked around, he realized the room was a cell in some sort of prison with a blueish tint. He was still wearing the clothes he fell asleep in. He got up and walked to the bars on the cell, which were chained over and padlocked with seven locks. The sound of footsteps got his attention, as a young girl who looked to be just a bit young than him approached. She was wearing a blue dress and had a butterfly clip in her hair. She stopped in front of the cell Akira was in and motioned to the center of the prison.
There, behind a simple desk, sat an elderly man with a lanky frame, long nose, and piercing red eyes. The man regarded Akira with a wide yet somehow comforting sneer. "Trickster," the man said, "Welcome to the Velvet Room. My name is Igor, the proprietor of this establishment." "Proprietor?," Akira asked, "Velvet Room? Just what is this place?" Igor shifted his stance a little. "This is a place that exists between dreams and reality, mind and matter." "Basically," the young girl said, "You are still asleep in the real world, and are experiencing this as a dream."
"If this is a dream," Akira noted, "It's a very lucid one." "Quite the astute observation," Igor agreed, "Oh, and pardon me for not introducing my servant, Lavenza. She plays an important role in this establishment, but I shall get into that later. For now, I will say that only those who have entered a contract may enter into this place." Akira raised an eyebrow, causing Igor to chuckle. "You must understand, the Velvet Room's appearance and form are chosen by its master, the very being I serve. It is the link between my master and those he selects to defend the best in humanity."
"Okay," Akira said, a little wary, "But why a prison?" Igor shifted his stance again. "It is because you have become a prisoner of fate. The event of you being falsely labelled in reality has shepherded you onto the same path as the very city you now reside in. And that path... Shall lead to ruin. But fear not, for there is a way to save both yourself and the city and its people. You must be rehabilitated." Akira looked confused. "What do you mean by that?" "To prevent the city from crumbling under the weight of false desires," Lavenza chimed in, "Those who are choking the life from the city must be dealt with."
"You will be given more details before long," Igor assured Akira, "My other servant, Morgana, will show you the way. Now that you have started on the path of rehabilitation, your new fate will guide you to him. And once you have dealt with these demons..." He pointed to the padlocks on the cell, "Those locks will come loose, and you can stop the one who pulls the strings of these demons." Igor's grin grew wider. "As you've no doubt seen, that very being has already given you a powerful tool, which can be turned against him under the right circumstances. It is time for you to return to reality now, but I'd advise you to examine that application on your mobile device more closely." And with that, the Velvet Room faded from Akira's sight.
April 10
Nana was exploring the hallways of Shujin Academy when she saw Akira and an older gentleman step out of the principal's office. "Oh, hey Akira. Didn't expect to see you here." "Hey Nana," Akira replied. Sojiro looked at the two of them. "Well, well, not even starting classes and you already made a friend." "We met on the train here," Akira explained. He talked a little about what Principal Kobayakawa had spoken about. "I really feel for Kawakami-san," Nana said, "But given the circumstances you described, it does sound like she doesn't have much choice. I hope you won't cause too much trouble for her."
"Don't worry," Akira replied, "I know how to keep my head down." Nana nodded. "By the way, it seems there's a few sour notes going on around here. I was hoping to look into the sports clubs, but only two really exist, the track team and the volleyball team. The track team seems to be on its last legs, and I've seen members of the volleyball team with massive injuries. I don't know who their coach is, but those injuries are not consistent with training." A female teacher who had just stepped out approached the group. "You mean Suguru Kamoshida, correct?," the teacher asked, "Oh, sorry, I'm Sadayo Kawakami, the Japanese language teacher."
"This woman seems to have something important to say to me," Nana said to Akira, "I'll see you tomorrow at school." Akira nodded, and he and Sojiro headed off. Sadayo looked a little awkward, but continued what she was saying, "Anyway, I'd like to ask you to be careful what you try to spread around in this school. Kamoshida-san is well revered around here." Nana closed her eyes for a second. "Suguru Kamoshida... Oh, now I remember that name. He was an Olympic gold medalist in volleyball, was he not? Why would someone like that be teaching at a high school?"
"He was requested by Principal Kobayakawa," Sadayo explained, "He felt having a former Olympian teach here would boost the school's reputation." Nana sighed. "So often do people rely on reputation over what's really important. Oh, and I wasn't planning on spreading anything, for the record. I'm a little smarter than that. It was merely a personal observation I was sharing with a friend." She gave a quick bow. "Anyway, I should be heading home. Hope to see you tomorrow for school." Sadayo nodded weakly. "Yeah, same to you... I guess..."
As Sojiro drove Akira back to Leblanc, there was a news report of a terrible accident on the subway line, injuries everyone on board but thankfully with no fatalities and no one on the platform caught in the crash. "Man," Sojiro said, "This town is getting crazy." He sighed. "And this traffic ain't moving, either. I hope you're capable of taking the subway from now on." "So long as there are no crashes I should be good," Akira said with a nod, "By the way, why did you decide to take me in in the first place?" "You remind me a little of myself when I was your age," Sojiro said matter-of-factly, "Anyway, your first day of school is tomorrow, so don't oversleep." Akira nodded.
Meanwhile, Sae was heading for the entrance hall of the SIU when she spotted two people arguing. The young man was being rather loud and somewhat childish, while the young woman remained cool and calm. Sae recognized them as Goro Akechi and Kyoko Kirigiri respectively, expert detectives despite being in high school. "Ah, Niijima-san," Kyoko said when saw the prosecutor, "Sorry for the bickering. Akechi here was bragging about how people are calling him the second Detective Prince, and I simply stated he could never truly be as good as Naoto Shirogane."
Akechi just grumbled. "Anyway, you called us here for a case, correct? So, can we talk about it over sushi?" "Conveyor belt only," Sae said curtly. "You seem a little stressed," Kyoko noted, "Hope's Peak Academy has an Ultimate Therapist if you'd like someone to talk to, even if it's just to vent." Sae tapped her chin. "Actually, that doesn't sound like too bad an idea. I've been dealing with a lot of stress lately." Akechi sighed. 'What's with all these high and mighty Ultimates? Are they really just as good as professionals? Ah well, not my place to ask that.' He followed the two women out the door.
April 11
Akira cursed his luck that he got caught in a rainstorm without his umbrella. 'Note to self, check weather reports frequently from now on.' He finally found shelter beneath a store awning. Soon enough, he found himself joined by a young woman his own age wearing a Shujin uniform. The hood of her jacket was up, but when she took it down, Akira felt his heart skip a beat. The woman was absolutely gorgeous, with lightly blonde hair done up in pigtails, and clear blue eyes. She must have noticed him staring, because she turned to look at him and smiled softly.
Just then, a car pulled up and opened lowered its passenger-side window. Inside, Akira could observe an older man wearing a gym uniform. "Hey there," he said, "It's bad to get caught out in the rain. How about I give you a ride to school." The girl excepted, but Akira chose to decline. As they drove off, a young man ran up near Akira, a little out of breath. "Damn that Kamoshida..." "Hint of jealousy perhaps?," came Nana's voice as she approached. Akira looked at the large character-print umbrella she had. "Well, only that you don't have to worry about the rain."
Akira had been checking out the strange app, like Igor suggested. On it was a screen waiting for a name input. As Akira was about to try his own name, Nana said, "So that man in the car just now, the one that high-quality 3D got into, the was Suguru Kamoshida?" The app suddenly had Kamoshida's name on it, and the app noted, 'Candidate found'. Three more input modules appeared, one asking for a location, one asking for a distortion, whatever that meant, and one asking for a sin. Akira's thoughts then turned to the seven locks on his cell in the Velvet Room, and wondered if it had anything to do with the Seven Deadly Sins.
"That's the guy," the young man said, "Bastard does anything he wants in the school, thinks he's the king of a castle." 'Candidate found,' the app said, as the word castle appeared in the distortion slot. "Personally I blame a lust for his former glory," Nana offered, "He was a former Olympian after all." 'Candidate found,' the app chimed in, the word lust appearing in the sin slot. Akira now noticed that each time a slot was filled, the world seemed to shimmer a light violet. "It's not just lust for glory," the boy said, "Kamoshida is a pervert of the hightest degree. Every girl on the volleyball team is on his radar, as well as Takamaki-san, the girl you saw earlier."
"Speaking of names," Nana said, "I don't think we caught yours." "Oh," the boy said, "I'm Ryuji Sakamoto." Nana nodded. "I'm Nana Kasugano." "Akira Kurusu," Akira muttered, still engrossed in the app. "Hey, are you two students at Shujin Academy?," Ryuji asked, "I've never seen you before." 'Beginning navigation,' the app said, as Shujin Academy appeared in the location slot. "I'm a first year," Nana explained, "And Akira here recently transferred." Ryuji nodded in understanding. "I see. Oh, speaking of school, we should get going before we're late." The trio headed off, not realizing that they had already stepped into another reality.
Present
Sae looked at Akechi. "Are you surprised?," Sae asked, "You should have realized this ability to pass into the alternate reality known as the Metaverse is not unique to you, especially once you learned of the Phantoms." She smiled. "Joker's details in his journal describe it all. All they needed was the name of a person, what sin they had committed, what location they thought of as their territory, and what form their desires took. And without realizing it, they had gotten all four by sheer accident the first time around."
Akechi growled. Sae crossed her arms. "As for how they pull off their heists, I can't help but compare it to a more refined version of the crimes you've pulled off right under the Tokyo PD's very nose. All those mental shutdown and psychotic breakdowns. At first we wondered if they were also done by the Phantoms. But as Kyoko noted, there were enough differences that such a theory could be discarded." Sae picked up the journal and opened it. "Regardless, it's not like they had a smooth ride the entire time. Like all learning experiences, it started out pretty bumpy indeed."
She opened up a file, showing a picture of Kamoshida. "Still, once they got over the learning curve, Suguru Kamoshida proved easy pickings. He confessed to all his crimes, and from what I hear the school is better off for it. I'm curious, why wasn't he on your radar?" Akechi sighed. "I was told the academy was off-limits. That was the agreement." "So you were working for someone," Sae noted, "Regardless, at this point you and the Phantoms had not crossed paths. But since we have some time, I thought you would at least like to hear how they pulled off their first heist."
Past
"Uh," Nana said, "Did we take a wrong turn somewhere?" Akira couldn't help but blink. Standing in front of them was not a school, but a medieval style castle. Ryuji looked confused. "This is the way we always take to school... What's going on?" The city behind them looked perfectly normal, but right now they might as well have been staring at an elephant in the room. They carefully walked inside the grand hall. As they did, the room seemed to shift between the grand hall and the school's entrance hall. "Okay, that's weird," Akira noted. "Yeah, no kidding," Ryuji agreed, "What's this castle even doing here? The sign out front said Shujin Academy, right?"
"That's what I saw," Nana said. Akira nodded. "But how did the school suddenly turn into a castle?" Just then, several people dressed as medieval knights approached, carrying realistic swords and kite shields, stoic masks covering their faces. "Whoa," Nana said, "That's some impressive cosplay. You'd give the Striprism cosplay my friends did a run for their money." "Silence intruders," one knight said, bashing his shield into Ryuji and knocking him to the ground. "Gah! Nana, I don't think this is just cosplay." "Take them to the dungeon immediately," the knight said.
"Me and my big mouth," Nana said, the trio now locked inside a cell in the castle dungeons. "I think they were planning on bringing us here one way or another," Akira observed, "Also... Striprism? I didn't know you were a fan." "Yeah," Nana said, her face lighting up, "It's a series that will always bring tears to your eyes. Except for the last episode." "I always hear about that," Akira said, "What is the deal with the last episode?" Nana sighed. "It's a stupid clip-show tacked on for no other reason than to round out the number of episodes. There's no story progression, no character development, nothing. Even the producers are embarrassed they agreed to it."
"Can you guys act serious here!?," Ryuji said, "In case you've forgotten, we're trapped inside some crazy dungeon!" "Trust me," Nana said, "If I wasn't letting out my inner otaku, I'd be freaking out as much as you right now." She took a look around the cell. "Drat, no cliche hole in the masonry for us to crawl through in an attempt to escape. And making one is a waste of time since we have no way of knowing if the adjacent cells are unlocked." As she continued thinking, several knights approached. "Good news, prisoners, your sentence has been decided by King Kamoshida."
Ryuji looked shocked. "Wait... Kamoshida?" Sure enough, the man who approached them looked just like Kamoshida. Only he had burning yellow eyes, and dressed in nothing but a speedo, slippers, an ermine cape, and a simple crown. 'That's just disgusting,' Akira thought, 'But it could be worse. At least he's physically fit instead of being a fat slob.' "Well well," Kamoshida said, in a disturbingly reverbed voice, "I was told there were a few intruders lurking around this place. But to think one of them was you Sakamoto." He motioned for the guards to open the cell, and they entered, forcing the trio against the walls.
"To intrude upon my domain is a grievous sin," Kamoshida said with a smirk, "I'm afraid the penalty for that is death." "Oh please," Akira said, "I've read stories like this. Pretty much any offense against people like you is death." "And you're not one to talk about who's a sinner," Nana chimed in, "Not from the stories I've heard about you." Kamoshida just laughed. "Think what you want, but I am the king of this castle, which means what I say goes! Men!" As the guard holding Ryuji readied his sword, something seemed to trigger inside Akira.
"What's the matter...?," said a voice that sounded like a deeper version of his own, "Are you simply going to watch? Are you forsaking him to save yourself? Death awaits him, and the girl, if you do nothing. Was your previous decision a mistake then?" Akira flashed back to the day he got into this mess, and came to a decision. "No... That was no mistake." "Akira?," Nana asked, confused. Suddenly, Akira began to convulse, his eyes turning the same color as Kamoshida's, as the voice continued to speak. "Very well... I have heeded your resolve. Vow to me... I am thou, thou art I..."
Nana looked on in concern, fearing Akira was having a seizure. "Thou who are willing to perform all sacrilegious acts for thine own justice! Call upon my name, and release thy rage!" Akira threw his head back as he screamed. "Show the strength of thy will to ascertain all on thine own, though thou be chained to Hell itself!" Akira glared at Kamoshida, and called out, "That's enough!" Surprised, Kamoshida turned to Akira. "What was that...?" "King or not," Akira said, "To use your authority to do as you please... Is nothing but bullshit!"
Kamoshida scoffed. "So you desire to be killed that much...? Fine!" He motioned to knight near Akira, who bashed him with his shield. Instead of going down, however, Akira simply lost his glasses and stumbled a bit, though he was still standing. Then, in his glasses place, a bird-like domino mask appeared. Confused, he tried to take the mask off. It seemed to stick to the point where Akira literally had to rip it off him, leaving his face a bloody mess. But once he did, his eyes turned bright yellow, and there was a big grin on his face and bright blue flames erupted around him.
From the flames came a chilling laugh, reverbing across the walls, causing Kamoshida and the knights to back off a bit. When they subsided, Akira was dressed like a modern-day gentleman thief. Behind him was a humanoid horned demon, dressed like a more Victorian-style gentleman thief, including a top hat. With a flourish, the demon revealed a pair of raven wings. The force of unleashing them knocked the knights against the walls of the cell, and Kamoshida was now freaking out. "Whoa...," Nana said, clearly impressed, "It's just like an anime... Or a tokusatsu."
Akira grinned evilly as Kamoshida scrambled for the cell's entrance. "Now I understand who you are," Akira said calmly, "You are my other self... My Persona... Arsene!" "Arsene?," Ryuji asked, still a little shaken. "As in Arsene Lupin?," Nana chimed in. Kamoshida finally stood up, as did a couple of his guards. "Just who the hell are you...? Doesn't matter, I'll show you the true strength of my guards! Men, kill that one first!" The two knights erupted into red and black liquid, transforming into pumpkin's dressed in wizard robes and pointy hats, carrying lanterns.
Akira chuckled. "This is the true strength of your men? A couple of overgrown gourds? Arsene, you've seen the strength of my resolve. Now, lend me your power... So that we can shut this bastard up here and now!" Arsene chuckled as he gave a nod. He raised his hand to the first creature, and a surge of shadows erupted from beneath it, tearing into the monster and destroying it. Akira then took out a small combat knife from a holster on his trousers, and slashed at the second one. "Time to carve," he called out, reducing the creature to smoldering ashes.
The battle done, Arsene returned to being a mask on Akira's face. "Dude," Ryuji said, "What was that just now?" "I don't know exactly," Akira admitted, "But it was a rush." He then took a look at his clothes, adjusting the gloves a little. As he did, Kamoshida tried to confront him, only for Ryuji to tackle him to the ground. Nana noticed a set of keys nearby and quickly grabbed them. "Come on, let's give this king a taste of imprisonment!" The trio rushed out and locked the cell door before Kamoshida could recover.
Nana threw the keys as far away as she could as the trio hurried through the dungeons. On the way, they saw other people trapped in cells and cages. Ryuji gasped as he saw they were wearing volleyball team uniforms. As they tried to find a way out, a couple of knights ambushed them near a group of cells. "You won't be getting anywhere near the special prison," one of them said, "What can a mere thief, a vulgar ape, and a woman do anyway?" Nana's eye twitched. "So... I'm 'just a woman'...? No special reason for me being so useless... Just that I'm a woman...?"
She growled. "You stupid archaic bastards!" "That's the spirit," came a voice that sounded not unlike her own, "It seems every so often there comes a person who still can't get it through their heads that women have a lot more to offer than simply their looks. Your friends understand this, but many in society do not." Nana's eyes glowed the same yellow color Akira's had earlier. "You know you are not useless, you know you are more than a woman. Stand now beside those that can fight, and prove your skills for all!" Nana grinned. "So... I can have this power too. All right then, show me this power."
The voice chuckled. "It seems our contract is sealed. I am thou, thou art I. Show these miserable, ignorant fools just what skills you posses." On Nana's face, a gold harlequin mask appeared. Nana felt for it, then tried taking it off. She soon realized the only way for it to come off was to tear it off like Akira had. It was painful to do, but it caused Nana to erupt with the same flames of power. As they subsided, Nana was now wearing a dark brown Victorian-style coat, laden with all sorts of gear, a brown fedora hat, white gloves, and heavy combat boots. Akira couldn't help but think of a video game character.
Behind her was a green-skinned female with bright red hair, dressed in a Victorian-style men's outfit complimented with chains. Nana grinned as she hefted a large broadsword on her shoulders. "If only Brotagonist could see me now. Wish I had a camera. But first things first. Come on Sabetha, let's show these assholes what women can do!" The two guards, in defiance, shifted form into a pair of winged imp-like demons wearing codpieces. "Dude, seriously!?," Ryuji called out. "Relax," Nana said, "I've got this."
Sabetha smirked as she pointed to one of the demons, a surge of light surrounding it, blasting it to ashes. Nana then smirked as swung the heavy sword with one hand, using the momentum to slash through the second demon, destroying it. "And don't go giving me anymore crap about women being useless," Nana noted. "Whoa," Ryuji said, "So you can do this to? And you've also changed clothes." Nana looked at her new outfit. "Hmm, stylish, yet functional, just the way I prefer my outfits. Anyway, those guards were protecting this place for a reason. There may be something here we can use to escape."
They headed to the cell on the far end, where they found a small, cat-like creature wearing a bandanna and standing on its hind legs, waving at them. "Hey," the creature said in a boyish voice, "You guys aren't soldiers in this castle right? You have to let me out of here." Ryuji looked at the thing, a little shocked. "Dude, is this some cat? What's a weird thing like this doing locked up?" "Obviously he's a prisoner like we were," Nana stated, "Don't overthink it. Believe me, with how dead to rights that crazy Kamoshida had us in earlier, and how surprised he was at Akira's newfound power, do you really think he'd have set up a false prisoner ploy for us?"
Ryuji rubbed the back of his head. "I guess that's a good point. But you seem willing to trust it, or him I guess, rather easily." Nana blushed at the sight of the creature. "He's just so adorable... I can't possibly bring myself to hate such a cute little thing." The creature was taken aback by that statement. "Well... It's certainly flattering to hear you say that. Anyway, the key's right there." He pointed to the key ring, just above his reach. Akira was able to get it easily, however, and unlocked the door.
"Thank you," the creature said, "I should introduce myself. My name is Morgana. I was sent here by the proprietor of the Velvet Room to find humans capable of using Personas, and guide them in protecting this city." He took a look at Akira and Nana. "And from the look of it, it seems I've found two already. Those clothes of yours represent your inner rebel, protecting you from the corrupting influence of the immediate area. You see, this place is a distortion in reality. The one who rules this place, referred to as a Palace, has such twisted desires that this location's original form has become what you see now."
"Oh," Nana said in realization, and turned to Ryuji, "Remember how you said Kamoshida thought of himself as a king in his castle while at Shujin?" Ryuji's widened. "I get it. So somehow the school got turned into this castle because of Kamoshida." "Yes and no," Morgana noted, "Right now we're not actually in the real world. This is a mental landscape referred to as the Metaverse. It represents the thoughts and desires of every human on the planet. If you had come here prior to this Kamoshida showing up, this castle would be a perfect duplicate of the school you're familiar with."
"Okay," Ryuji said, "So how do we get back to the real world?" "We need to return to the Palace's entrance," Morgana explained, "Once there the signal on the Navigation App will be strong enough to return us to reality. I'm assuming you have that app, right?" Akira nodded, showing the app on his phone, which was currently displaying all the rooms they had been in so far. "Good," Morgana said, looking pleased, "But first things first, we need to escape this dungeon. Follow me."
He led the trio to a bust of Kamoshida next to a raised bridge. "You guys are pretty new to this business," Morgana noted, "For now I'll talk you through a few key steps. Try pulling on the jaw of this statue." Nana and Akira looked at each other before Akira pulled on the jaw. He was shocked when it gave way like a switch, triggering a mechanism and lowering the bridge. Morgana smiled. "The Palace this time is an actual castle, so we can expect archaic security systems like this."
The group hurried across the bridge, only to run into another guard. "What? The prisoners have escaped? Fools, you face me now!" The knight transformed into another pumpkin creature. The noise drew two more guards, one of whom transformed into the imp creature. The second one transformed into a female figure wearing a unitard and boots, with fairy wings. "Jeez, what's with all these crazy creatures?," Ryuji asked. "Just hang back a bit," Morgana said. He then pointed to Akira and Nana. "You two seem to know how to fight. Let me give you some extra pointers."
He concentrated, and a rather large man wearing a black uniform, black bandanna mask, black cape, and carrying a rapier appeared. "This is my Persona, Zorro. Shortly after my creation, I developed the ego necessary to summon him forth. Now then, you've noticed by now that your Personas come with a variety of skills. Each skill has a specific attribute. For combat skills, some Shadows are weak to certain attributes. Observe." Zorro swung his rapier in the familiar Z pattern, conjuring a small cyclone that tore through the pumpkin creature. It got knocked down, after which Morgana finished it off with a quick slash of his cutlass.
"That creature, who calls itself a 'Crypt-Dwelling Pyromaniac' is what's known as a Shadow. I'll explain more when we're out of danger. For now, just know Shadows like that are weak to Wind skills." He pointed to Akira. "Your Persona seems to utilize Curse skills. Try it on that one, the one calling itself a 'Beguiling Girl'. Just remove your mask. Now that you've done it once, it'll no longer cause you pain." Akira nodded, and sure enough it was easier to remove his mask. He motioned at the Beguiling Girl, and Arsene launched his attack. The surge of darkness knocked the tiny fairy to ground.
"Nice going," Morgana noted, "When you hit an enemy's weakness, but don't flat out destroy it, you can use the momentum to press the attack." Akira took out his knife and finished off the fairy with a quick strike. "Like that?," he asked. Morgana nodded. "Good. You seem to be grasping the basics." He looked to Nana. "Now it's your turn. It seems your Persona relies on Bless skills. The last Shadow refers to itself as a 'Bedside Brute', and it's weak to Bless skills. Go ahead and try it."
"Sounds fun," Nana said, and she snapped her fingers. Sabetha immediately focused her power on the Shadow, knocking it down instantly. "No mercy," Nana said, striking the creature with her broadsword. Morgana nodded, satisfied. "Seems you've got the basics down. That's good." Ryuji was really flipping out. "Okay, just what the Hell are these things! Those demons you guys can summon, and the demons you fought!" "They're not demons," Morgana said, "Although some may be based on demons. The beings we summoned are Personas. They represent our inner resolve, a mask we wear to deal with life's hardship."
"Oh boy, here comes the Jungian psychology," Nana said, "This may just go over the poor boy's head." Morgana sighed. "I guess it is a little complicated. Put simply, a Persona is who we are on the inside. The forms they take are chosen by a higher power. Any person who accepts their own inner feelings can gain a Persona. However, they cannot manifest in the real world." "That's a shame," Akira said, "What about the forms those guards took on? You called them Shadows." Morgana nodded. "They are the inner, hidden side of all humans. When a human accepts their Shadow, that Shadow turns into a Persona. Anyway, I can't spend too much time talking about it. Come on, the entrance is not far. I'll explain more there."
He led the group to a stairway that led back to the first floor. From there, he opened the closest door. Ryuji took a look around. "Dude, there's no windows in here. How are we supposed to get out?" Akira pointed up. "Through that grating." Morgana grinned. "Well spotted. You seem to have a firm grasp of the situation." Akira leapt up to the bookcase under the grate and popped the grate open. Sure enough, the vent behind it led outside. "Well done," Morgana said, "That wasn't too bad for a trial run. Seems Igor was right about you."
"Okay," Ryuji said, "You said you planned on explaining a bit more?" "As I said earlier," Morgana replied, "This Palace was formed when Kamoshida's desires became twisted and distorted. In his mind, the school he teaches at is his own personal castle." "A simple PE teacher?," Nana asked, raising an eyebrow. "The rest of the faculty must have been feeding his ego far too much," Morgana suggested, "To the point where he thinks he can get away with anything inside the school's walls. As a result, the Metaverse's version of the school transformed into this castle."
Ryuji growled. "That's so on point that it hurts. That bastard Kamoshida, just what's going on inside those walls that he's keeping hidden from others?" "That's I wanted to find out," Morgana said, "Hence the reason I was here in the first place. I never expected to get captured however. Fortunately, as far as Palace rulers go Kamoshida's a small fry." Nana then realized something. "Hey... Is time still moving normally in here?" The others gasped. "Oh shit!," Ryuji realized, "We might be late for class!" They quickly hurried away from the castle.
Present
Sae looked away for a second. "To be honest, the whole story seems a little far-fetched. A school turning into a castle. A cat that could talk and stand upright. Summoning phantoms to battle demons. But at the same time, it matches perfectly with what the police squad saw. They certainly didn't expect to see a casino in a location where just a few hours ago it had not existed." Akechi slammed his fist on the table. "Damn. So that's why they're so well-versed. They have someone who already had experience guiding them." Sae shrugged. "Seems that way. So, let's get back on track."
Past
Akira sighed. After returning to the real world, they had been approached by two police officers who noted they were late for school. After returning, they were met by Kamoshida, who seemed to have no knowledge of what had happened inside the castle. He had smugly brought up an incident involving Ryuji and the track team. Akira decided to ask Ryuji about that later. After meeting up with Kawakami, who helped him introduce himself to his class, he realized being late didn't make much of a good first impression. As he made his to the roof, where Ryuji had invited him, he ran into Nana.
"Ah," Nana said, "It seems Ryuji has invited you as well. Listen, about what happened inside the Palace. It seems some sort of destiny has conspired to bring us together as a team. Back in Akiba, when my older brother and the Akiba Freedom Fighters were protecting people from dangerous Synthisters, I could only make better gear for them. My previous status as a hikikomori had drained all my fighting skills. But now that I have this new power, I feel I can take on a Nighteater. I mean, assuming one finds its way into the Metaverse." "I'll have to ask for details later," Akira said, "But it's good to know you have my back." At that moment, he felt a new connection forming.
I am thou, thou art I...
Thou hast acquired a new vow.
It shall become the wings of rebellion
That breaketh thy chains of captivity.
With the birth of the Judgement Persona,
I have obtained the winds of blessing that
Shall lead to freedom and new power...
Judgement Rank 1-Baton Pass unlocked
"Well then," Nana said with a smile, "Now that that's sorted out, let's see what Ryuji has to say." On the roof there were several scattered desks and chairs, Ryuji sitting on one of them. "Hey, glad you guys are here." "In spite of several teachers insisting you're a bad influence," Akira noted, "Though you don't really seem like a bad guy to me." Ryuji rubbed the back of his head and smiled. "Anyway, what was that crazy castle we saw earlier? It couldn't have been a dream, could it?" "Doubt it," Nana said, "Not when the dream is so vivid, at least."
"Yeah," Akira agreed, "And me and Nana both still feel the connection to our Personas. Clearly not a dream." Ryuji nodded. "Well either way, you guys totally saved my butt back there." Nana blushed. "I didn't really do much. That's all on Akira. But from what Morgana told us, that king is how Kamoshida really acts." "There have already been some crazy rumors about him," Ryuji noted, "Hey... That gives me an idea. Morgana said that Palace thing is how Kamoshida sees the school right? Well then, wouldn't it be possible to poke around in it and find out all his dirty secrets?"
Akira and Nana looked at each other. "That does seem like the safest way," Nana noted, "And we have our Personas and those wicked cool weapons to deal with any of those guards. But what are you expecting to find?" "Remember those prisoners we saw earlier?," Ryuji asked, "I finally remembered where I'd seen them before. They're all members of the volleyball team that Kamoshida coaches." Nana nodded. "I've seen them, nursing wounds that are very inconsistent with volleyball training."
"And that's only the tip of the iceberg," Ryuji agreed, "I've seen the bastard leering at the female students. There's even been whispers of sexual harassment, but only towards the girls on the volleyball team." "One more reason not to sign up," Nana noted. "What about that girl earlier?," Akira asked, "The one who joined Kamoshida in his car." "That's the real mystery," Ryuji said, rubbing his head, "Kamoshida's just not Takamaki-san's type. It's been causing all kinds of rumors." "That girl's in my class," Akira noted, "It seems like people are already whispering."
"So," Nana said, "If we're doing this, when should we go?" Ryuji rubbed his chin. "How about tomorrow after school? I can pick up some gear and maybe some medicine that'll help along the way. Those first few guards, or Shadows I suppose, didn't seem very tough. But we don't know if stronger ones are now lurking in there looking for us." "Okay," Nana said, "We can use the Navigation App to get there. Now that I've been inside once, I have the app on my own mobile device."
That night, Akira once again woke up in the Velvet Room. "Welcome back," Lavenza said, smiling, "It seems you're making great progress." "Indeed," Igor remarked, "I wasn't expecting you to make a connection with another so soon." He seemed to contemplate for a while, but shrugged. "Still, this can only be to your benefit. Especially now that you have awakened to the power of Persona." "As you continue your rehabilitation," Lavenza added, "That power will grow even stronger." Igor nodded. "For now, however, you should get some rest. Your journey has only yet begun."
April 12
After school, as planned, the trio stood in front of the school gates. "Okay," Akira said, "Here goes..." He hit the icon for Navigation App, and the familiar violet shading permeated the area. Ryuji watched in shock as the school seemed to mutate into the castle from before. "Looks like that cat was right," Ryuji said. "Technically I'm not a cat," Morgana said as he approached, "I'm a construct made from mankind's lingering hopes." Suddenly screaming was heard from inside the castle.
"Whoa!," Ryuji called out, "What was that!?" "Probably the slaves kept here," Morgana said sadly. "You mean those prisoners from before?," Ryuji asked, "I recognized them from our school. They must gotten trapped here like we were." "Oh please," Nana said, "Like a phys ed teacher has that kinda power. And we weren't actually trapped in this world 'til those guards threw us in the dungeon." "She's right," Morgana said, "Those slaves you're hearing are just figments of Kamoshida's twisted imagination."
Akira listened to the screams for a bit. "So is it always like this?" Morgana nodded. "Though it seems he's being harsher than normal, probably due to your escape yesterday." He leapt to the open vent they escaped from yesterday. "Follow me, you guys are looking for information regarding this guy, right?" The trio nodded and hurried through the vent and returned to the dungeons. Right at the entrance, the noticed a guard with his back turned to them. "He wasn't here last time," Nana noted, "Guess Kamoshida upped the security after our escape."
"Won't be a big issue," Morgana said, "The guard hasn't seen us yet, and the Shadows have dim eyesight. These bars we're in front of might as well be a solid wall. He'll only see us if we step out in front of him. Of course, if too many guards spot us, they'll get a lot more alert. If you sneak up behind him, however, you can ambush him and pull off his mask, forcing him to reveal who he really is. That will briefly break the connection to the Palace ruler, giving you a chance to deal with him quickly."
"Okay then," Akira said as he rushed at the guard while it's back was turned. Quickly he leapt onto the guard's back and tore the mask off, revealing a Crypt-Dwelling Pyromaniac. "Can you get this one?," Akira asked Morgana. "In a heartbeat," Morgana said with a smirk, summoning Zorro to strike the Shadow with his Wind skills. The Shadow was downed, leaving it weak enough for Morgana to finish it off. "Nice," Nana said, "We keep that up and we could take out every guard here."
"Well, we could never truly clear out the Palace," Morgana said, "See, these lesser Shadows are somewhat disconnected from the people they belong to. As such, they rely on a mental projection for a physical form. It's why they appear as mythological beings. They use the collective thoughts of humanity for inspiration. Once this one recovers, it'll regain its shell and select a new form. Until then, we have a chance to move on unimpeded." They kept moving until they heard a few guards approaching from a distance. "Oh crap, we gotta hide!," Ryuji said. Morgana looked around and spotted a door that seemed to be shifting. "Perfect. Quick, in here."
They hurried inside the room. The sound of footsteps was heard outside, and though they stopped just in front of the door, it was clear the guards were more concerned with talking. "Whoa, check out this room," Ryuji said, "It looks like it's shifting between here and one of the classrooms." "This is what I like a call a Safe Room," Morgana noted, "Pretty much what it says on the tin." "So the Shadows won't come in here?," Akira asked. "Quite frankly," Morgana replied, "They can't even see the door we just walked through. This room is a place where the distortion is at its weakest. Every Palace is likely to have multiple Safe Rooms like this one."
Nana nodded. "I see. That's why its real world equivalent is a classroom. Kamoshida only teaches PE, meaning while his authority extends to the majority of the school, it's not all encompassing." "Precisely," Morgana agreed, "His jurisdiction as a teacher only extends to the class he actually teaches, and any common areas such as hallways. But he can't affect students inside classrooms where other teachers take priority, even over him." Akira pressed his ear to the door, where he could hear the guards outside. "Hey," one said, "Where are the slaves being taken?" "Down to the training hall," another said, "King Kamoshida ordered the training be doubled. Guess he's upset about those prisoners escaping."
"I'm just glad he's taking it out on them and not us," the first guard said, "Anyway, let's go down there and make sure everything's secure. We can't afford anymore incidents." The sound of the guards walking away could be heard. Once they faded, Morgana said, "I think it might be clear to continue on. We should prep ourselves before we get moving." "In that case," Ryuji said, "I think it's time I show something I got yesterday, in preparation for this." He revealed a model handgun and some painkiller medicine.
Morgana frowned. "Well, here in the Metaverse those painkillers may as well be a panacea, but they're a little redundant. I haven't showcased it yet, but Zorro has some good Healing skills. Still, it'll do in a pinch if my energy starts to run low. The real issue is the model gun. You do realize it won't do you much good since you can't fight in this world." "I suppose not," Ryuji admitted. He handed the gun to Akira. "But maybe you can get some use out of it. Of course, it only makes sounds, but that should be enough to startle a guard and create an opening."
The group headed out of the Safe Room and down the stairs. Near there, they spotted another guard. "Use caution," Morgana said, "If that Shadow spots you, Kamoshida will know about it. That'll raise the security level of the Palace. Too high, and we'll be forced out by Kamoshida's very will. He may know we're here, but right now he doesn't know exactly where in his Palace we are. So long as we keep it that way, we have the run of the place. However, it's not hopeless if the security level starts to rise. Simply defeat some guards without getting caught a second time and Kamoshida will start to lose track of us, lowering the security level."
Akira nodded. After dealing with the guard, they continued through a new door and hurried through the halls, until Akira spotted a couple of guards taking to each other. "We've received a report that some thieves may be sneaking through the castle," one said, "Several guards haven't reported in from their posts. We should expect these intruders to be armed and dangerous." "I'll have the men down here keep an eye out just in case," the other one said, "But honestly, I'm not expecting thieves to come down to the dungeon when there's better things to steal on the upper floors."
"Dealing with two guards at once could be a issue," Nana said in a hushed tone. "Then it's time to try a new tactic," Morgana said, "You remember the gun you just got? Unlike frizzy hair here, in your hands it should possess tremendous strength. Go ahead and ambush these guards, and I'll show you." "Okay," Akira said, and he quickly came up behind the guards and attacked them, causing them to reveal three Bedside Brutes. "Go ahead and fire on a target of your choice," Morgana said.
Akira aimed the handgun on the middle Shadow. To everyone's surprise, it fired off a real round and struck down the Shadow. Akira wasted no time in finishing it off. "Whoa!," Nana said, "How did that happen?" "You should have a firearm of your own from your awakening," Morgana said, "Check your equipment." Nana looked, and realized there was a handle in her jacket. When she pulled on it, she was shocked to find herself pulling out a minigun. "Oh, this kicks all kinds of ass," Nana said with a grin as the barrel rotated.
She fired on one of the remaining Shadows, finishing it off with her sword. Morgana then whipped out a slingshot and fired on the remaining Shadow, taking it out with a few quick strikes. "Dude, what the eff!?," Ryuji stuttered, "How did a model gun do all that!?" "The gun looks pretty realistic, doesn't it?," Morgana asked, "To the Shadows, it was real enough that they thought it was real. Remember this world is based on cognition, how one views things. Once the Shadows were convinced the gun was real, it could work just like a real gun."
"But where did she get her firearm?," Akira asked. "Once she knew such an attack existed," Morgana explained, "She gained the ability to do so herself, and was given a weapon based on her inner rebel." "So, I'm wielding a two-handed sword and a minigun," Nana surmised, "He's packing a combat knife and a semi-automatic. And you've got a single-handed sword... And a slingshot?" "Don't forget my form is based on cognition as well," Morgana explained, "Because I was created from hope, it doesn't matter what form my weapons take, they can still beat Shadows. And slingshots can do more damage than you'd expect."
"Those Shadows earlier were downed because of our gunfire," Akira noted, "Guess that means some Shadows are weak to firearms." "That's right," Morgana said, "Sometimes they can even be weak to physical attacks, although that's pretty rare. Anyway, as you've noticed, gunfire is a lot stronger than attacking physically, but don't rely on it unless you suspect a Shadow will be weak to that type of attack. We only have so much ammo, and once we run out, the only way to restock is to leave the Palace. Now then, let's keep moving."
They continued through the halls until they spotted a guard outside a door. "That's the only way to the training hall, I believe," Morgana noted, "But we can't get through without confronting that guard. Still, this gives us a good opportunity to discuss another useful skill. Go ahead and attack, I'll explain as we go." Akira rushed in and struck the Shadow, causing to erupt into a Beguiling Girl. "Okay," Morgana said, "First exploit the Shadow's weakness. It's alone so this will be easy." "Here goes," Akira said as he called upon Arsene, unleashing a Curse skill to down the Shadow.
"This is it!," Morgana said, "Follow my lead!" He leapt into the air, Akira and Nana following suit. Ryuji looked on in amazement as they struck the Shadow from multiple directions. As they landed, Akira took the time to adjust his gloves, a smug grin on his face. "THE SHOW'S OVER!" As they recovered, Nana noted, "Okay... That was just plain awesome! And we totally walked all over the Shadow." "That's the All-Out attack," Morgana explained, "Once we have an advantage over our enemy, we can put everything we have into finishing the job."
They moved beyond the door to a small waiting room. Hung on a banner over another door was written "Training Hall of Love". "Oh eff no!," Ryuji said angrily, "I seriously doubt anything even resembling love is going on in there!" "Let's take a closer look," Akira said. Sure enough, Ryuji's assumptions proved correct, as there were several male students tied to a volleyball net and getting spanked by guards using hazing paddles. From the looks of it, they'd been at it for hours. "Jeez...," Ryuji said, "Are we sure these guys aren't real?"
"They're merely cognitions created by the mind of the Palace ruler," Morgana replied, "But from the look of what's going on here, I'd say their real world counterparts are also being abused." "Which would account for the injuries," Akira noted, "To think this is what Kamoshida thinks of his own team." Ryuji thought for a second, then started memorizing their faces. "Maybe we can't do anything for these cognitions, or whatever they are, but we may still be able to do something in the real world. Let's keep checking out this hall."
Further in, things only seemed worse, with some students being forced to run on a treadmill that ended in a spike wall, and others simply strung up by their ankles and pelted with volleyballs. "This isn't training, this is torture," Nana noted, "How on earth is Kamoshida getting away with crap like this?" "He won't be for long," Ryuji said, "I've got all their faces. Let's get out of here before those guards spot us sneaking around." Unfortunately, as they returned to the grand hall, they got ambushed by a number of guards, as well as Kamoshida.
"Well well," the king said, "Looks like I've finally cornered you thieves. And look who's with you. The vulgar ape, Sakamoto." Ryuji just sneered. "Talk all you want, you bastard. But now we've got evidence of your crimes. Once we return to the school-" But Kamoshida just laughed. "I guess it's true when they say barking dogs seldom bite. To think you used to be the star of the track team. But then, what can one expect of the traitor who dashed the dreams of his teammates."
"I get the sneaking suspicion that's not the whole story," Akira noted, "Especially since it's coming from your mouth." Kamoshida just scoffed. "So you came here not knowing the whole story, eh? This one betrayed his entire team's dreams and crushed their hopes, all with a single act of violence." "So condescending," Nana said, "How do we know you didn't goad him into it? We saw what you're doing to your slaves down in the training room." Kamoshida just shrugged. "Well, it doesn't matter one way or another what you believe. Very soon you'll be too dead to care. Guards!"
Two of the guards erupted into four horse-like creatures with black coats and twin curved horns. "These are Dirty Two-Horned Beasts," Morgana noted, "Bad luck there's four of them. And we have no means of exploiting their weaknesses." "Worse still," Akira said, noting their formation, "They're surrounding us." The Shadows quickly attacked, knocking the three thieves to the ground. "Ha," Kamoshida, now really smug, "I should have used these guards in the first place."
He then looked to Ryuji. "And you... Seems you were just useless in the end. Just like that coach of yours. If only he was smart enough not to oppose me with a sound argument, I'd have settled with simply breaking his star runner's leg." Ryuji gasped. "Wait... Are you saying... You got our old coach fired...?" "Not only that," Kamoshida said smugly, "I made sure to disband the track team as well. The school doesn't need them anyway. Not when it has me." Ryuji growled. "You... Bastard... You took everything from me...!"
He clenched his fist. "You go around using people, and removing anything that doesn't fit in with your ideal... And you have the nerve to call me trash!?" "You made me wait quite a while," came a voice that resembled Ryuji's. In an instant, Ryuji's eyes turned yellow as he held his head in pain. "You seek power, correct? Then let us form a pact. Since your name has been disgraced already, why not hoist the flag and wreak havoc...? The 'other you' who exists within desires it thus... I am thou, thou art I... There is no turning back... The skull of rebellion is your flag henceforth!"
Sure enough, as the voice said, a black skull mask appeared on Ryuji's face. He wasted no time in prying it off, painful as it was. The flames that erupted forced the guards off Akira, Nana, and Morgana, who immediately got up. When the flames subsided, Ryuji was now wearing a black biker jacker and pants with knee pads and combat boots. Around his neck was a red ascot, and he also wore yellow gloves. Appearing behind him was a lanky humanoid with a skull for a head, wearing a classic pirate outfit including twin cutlasses on his chest, standing astride a small galleon like a surfboard, his left hand replaced by a cannon.
"Oh yeah!," Ryuji said excitedly, "Whassup Persona! This effin' rocks!" He reached into his jacket and pulled out an iron pipe and a shotgun. The guard captain was completely shocked. "This one as well...?" "Nevermind that now!," Kamoshida demanded, "Just deal with them!" The captain nodded, erupting into a red-armored warrior with a horned helmet, astride a black horse with a white mane. Ryuji grinned. "Try all you want! Now that I have this power, it's for some payback! Blast 'em away, Captain Kidd!"
The captain summoned two more Dirty Two-Horned Beasts. "Listen," Morgana said to Ryuji, "The two Shadows that were just summoned should be weak to Electric skills. And from the look of it, your Persona specializes in them." "Then what are we waiting for," Ryuji said, smirking, "Time to bring the storm!" Captain Kidd aimed his cannon at the two Shadows and fired. Sure enough, both Shadows were downed. Ryuji then bashed the captain with his pipe before blasting him with his shotgun, downing the Shadow. "Time to end this!," Ryuji said, as the four thieves struck the Shadows with an All-Out attack, ending them easily. Ryuji landed on his face, but recovered quickly and flashing a cocky grin and a rock-on hand sign. "FREAKIN' BORING!"
Kamoshida growled as his guards disappeared into ashes. "Don't get so cocky! I'm still king of this castle!" As if on cue, a familiar girl appeared, only wearing nothing but a pink bikini and cat ears. She sidled up to Kamoshida, who put his arm around her shoulder. "Wait," Ryuji said, "Is that Takamaki-san?" "Or her cognitive version," Akira noted, "Don't forget where we are." "Uh guys," Nana said, "The cat's gone speechless." Morgana was starting wide-eyed at the fake Takamaki. "Wow, what a meow-valous lady." Ryuji nearly collapsed, only helped up by Akira. "No time for daydreaming," Akira said, "Let's get out of here before he calls more guards."
As the four thieves ran out the door, Kamoshida scoffed. "Fine. Run off if you must. But the next time you come poking your noses around here, my guards will be ready for you." Outside, the group took a second to catch their breath. "Okay, that was crazy," Nana noted. "Yeah, no doubt," Ryuji noted, "But at least now I can say I'm not useless to you guys. Plus, we got some info from those dungeons. I totally remember all the faces of those slaves. All we have to do is find their real world counterparts, and we can easily expose Kamoshida."
"I doubt it will be that easy," Morgana noted, "Kamoshida wouldn't have gone this long without being exposed if he wasn't well-protected by the school. Still, if you want to give it a try, I can't stop you. But if you fail, I can offer a better alternative. For now I'll follow you back to reality." "Speaking of that," Ryuji said, "Will we be okay back in reality? I mean, yeah we got away from the Shadow Kamoshida, but the real one..." "Doesn't know what's going on here," Morgana finished, "This may be how Kamoshida views things, but he can't see into his own mental landscape."
"I see," Akira noted, "Kamoshida in reality never mentioned the execution Shadow Kamoshida tried to perform on us. He never mentioned me or Nana using Persona, and the only thing he was mad about was us being late for classes." Ryuji breathed a sigh of relief. "Which means we got to view his dirty laundry without him realizing it. Man, this gives us a big advantage. Still, if what you say is true, I hope this alternative of yours is a good one. It's only a matter of time before Kamoshida's actions causes someone to completely break." And with that, they headed out of the Metaverse.
Back in reality, the trio took a moment to catch their breath. "Hey," Ryuji said, "Where's Morgana? Didn't he say he was following us?" "I'm right here," came Morgana's voice as a black cat leapt onto a nearby trash can. It took the three friends a moment to realize it the cat that was speaking. "Morgana?," Akira asked. "That's right," the cat said, "I guess this is the form I'm taking in the real world." Nana blushed. "From cute cartoon character to cute kitty... So adorable..."
Ryuji blinked. "But... Why a cat?" "Because you guys seem to think of me as a cat," Morgana said with a reserved sigh, "I would have preferred a more human form, since I was made from the hopes of humans, but I can make do. There are worse forms I could have taken, after all." "And how is it you can talk?," Akira asked. "That's easy," Morgana said, "Since you guys have heard me talk in the Metaverse, that affected your cognition. Now when you hear me speaking to you in reality, you can understand me. Anyone else just hears a cat meowing."
Ryuji turned to Akira and Nana. "Anyway, sorry for dragging you around all that way." "It's fine," Akira said, "How are you holding up after all that?" Ryuji twirled his shoulders. "Dead tired. Between the near death experiences, and waking up to my Persona, I'm feeling beat. Still, it was worth it. Finally talking back to Kamoshida and showing him what's what, even if it was only a Shadow, was a total catharsis. And we got some major dirt on him now. We just need to convince those guys in reality to speak up. So, wanna help me out with that?" "You know it," Akira said as he high-fived Ryuji, feeling a new connection forming.
I am thou, thou art I...
Thou hast acquired a new vow.
It shall become the wings of rebellion
That breaketh thy chains of captivity.
With the birth of the Chariot Persona,
I have obtained the winds of blessing that
Shall lead to freedom and new power...
Chariot Rank 1
"By the way," Ryuji said, "I wouldn't recommend trying to lay low. You may have already noticed, but people are already taking about the fact that you have a criminal record." "Criminal record?," Nana asked, "Oh, do you the so-called assault charges. But wait, why do people already know about Akira?" Ryuji growled. "It's because of Kamoshida. Only a teacher could have spread information that fast." Akira sighed. "I think you two should the full story behind that." Ryuji nodded. "Cool. And I should also explain a few things about my past as well. How about we talk about it over lunch?" The trio walked off as Morgana looked on at them.
At the local beef bowl shop, Ryuji explained how Kamoshida had deliberately goaded Ryuji into attacking him, using the excuse of "self-defense" to break his leg and disband the track team. Meanwhile, Akira explained how the person he had supposedly assaulted was actually drunk and and stumbled on his own two feet when Akira tapped him on the shoulder. Nana didn't have as big a sordid past as the guys, though she did talk about a fight she had with a friend of her's that caused her to become a hikikomori for a while, until her older brother helped smooth everything over.
"I guess we're just a trio of misfits, huh?," Ryuji said, "Still, I never would have pegged Nana as being from Akihabara." "Don't let my looks and mannerisms fool you," Nana chimed in, "I'm still a dyed-in-the-wool otaku. I've just learned not to show it in front of strangers outside of Akiba. So, are we sure we can get some information from those students?" "I'm hoping so," Ryuji said, "Identifying them will be easy, getting them to talk's the real trick. Back in the Palace, those cognitions seemed resigned to their fate. For all we know it could be the same here, but the fact that that's only how they acted in Kamoshida's mind leaves me optimistic."
Meanwhile, Ann Takamaki, the girl Akira had seen earlier, was talking to her best friend Shiho Suzui. "I always see you with new injuries after each practice sessions," Ann said, concerned. "Yeah well," Shiho said, trying to brush it off, "Practice is pretty rough, am I right?" Ann nodded, but the look on her face said she wasn't buying it. Then another young man, Yuuki Mishima, approached the two girls. "Um... Suzui-san...? Kamoshida-san said he wanted to talk with you..." Suzui hesitated, but nodded softly. As she walked off with Yuuki, Ann watched them sadly.
That night, Akira once again found himself in the Velvet Room. "Your rehabilitation is progressing quite smoothly," Igor noted, "And you have now made a new ally. In the past, such bonds were known as Social Links. But given that you are acting as a thief in the Metaverse, I'd say a change in term is in order. What say we refer to them as... Confidants?" "Sounds appropriate," Akira agreed, "So was it your intention that my rehabilitation involve becoming a thief?" "You will soon find there is no other means to defeat the demons you are tasked with confronting," Lavenza said, "Morgana can tell you more, should you take his offer. You should also keep an eye out for others who can become Confidants."
Igor closed his eyes. "Bear in mind, that we are not encouraging the formation of superficial relationships. For your rehabilitation to be effective, you must form a ring created by those who would lend you their strength, either due to morals or faith. Each Confidant you find can offer you a talent that you simply cannot posses." He opened his eyes as he shifted his stance. "Take me for example. Ordinarily I act as a mere observer, but circumstances have forced my hand. While I cannot assist you in the real world, I can offer you a gift. The ability to influence others to stand up against oppression."
Akira looked confused. "How can you do that?" "Simple," Igor replied, "The Shadows you have seen. Their forms are borrowed from poor souls who have been down-trodden by the society they live in. But I can offer you a power that will help them remember the Persona they once were, and give strength to their other self. Once you have used this power on a suitable Shadow, I can liaison with my master and restore the freed Persona to their other self. It will only be a few, but even the smallest of pebbles can start an avalanche." Akira nodded. "That would certainly be helpful." Igor nodded in return. "Then we have a deal." Akira soon felt a new connection forming.
I am thou, thou art I...
Thou hast acquired a new vow.
It shall become the wings of rebellion
That breaketh thy chains of captivity.
With the birth of the Fool Persona,
I have obtained the winds of blessing that
Shall lead to freedom and new power...
Fool Rank 1-Wild Talk and Arcana Burst unlocked
"You will understand how this power works before long," Igor noted, "Other Confidants will provide different bonuses, each tailored to their real world skills." "Just keep in mind to increase your strength," Lavenza noted, "This power will not work on any Shadow that is stronger than you. But so long as you have this power, any Shadow you have not successfully used it on will be vulnerable to it, no matter how much damage you do to them." Akira nodded, then asked, "So, using the Metaverse is the only way to stop Kamoshida?" Igor nodded sadly. "Your friend has his heart in the right place, but sadly he will find his efforts stymied. But you'll see for yourself tomorrow. For now, you should get some rest."
April 13
The trio met up in the school gym for the volleyball rally, where several of the teachers, including Kamoshida, were up against the school volleyball team. As Nana watched Kamoshida's movements, she noted something. "His movements are a little different than his Olympic performance," she noted to Akira and Ryuji, "It's clear he hasn't passed his prime yet, but at the same time he's not showing the same sense of teamwork or sportsmanship he did back then." Just then, as if to prove her point, Kamoshida launched a big spike that sent the volleyball flying into Yuuki's face.
The trio saw Kamoshida have a look that showed it was deliberate, before putting on a facade of concern and rushing over to Yuuki, asking for the school medical staff. As the trio exited the gym, Ryuji stomped his foot. "Did you see the look on his face just then?" "I saw it," Nana said, "That jerk deliberately aimed for that boy, yet feigned concern to make it look like an accident." They headed to a secluded spot near the courtyard to talk. "Okay," Ryuji said, "I got all the names of the students we saw in the Palace. We should each take a floor and start asking questions."
Just then, Ann walked up to them. "I couldn't help but overhear. You were talking about Kamoshida?" Ryuji seemed to glare at her. "Not that it's any of your business. Just what are you here for anyway Takamaki." Ann sighed. "Just to warn you, if you're planning something against Kamoshida, no one's gonna help you..." She walked off, looking a little sad. "Well, let's decide that for ourselves," Nana said, and they split up to ask around. However, it was becoming apparent that Ann's warning was well warranted, though Akira did manage to get one lead.
"Seems a student named Mishima has been given 'special coaching' by Kamoshida," he explained, "I believe the guy in question is in my class." While the two boys went to track down Yuuki, Nana decided to track down Ann. Sure enough, she found her near the gym standing next to Shiho. "You seem adamant that we not try anything against Kamoshida," Nana said flat out, "Even in the face of evidence that's he not what he presents himself as." Ann sighed. "All the rumors you've heard. They're all true. And the worst part is, everyone knows. The teachers, the parents... And they don't lift a finger, all to preserve the school's image."
Nana scoffed. "If they want to preserve the school's image so much, they should start with its integrity. What about you? There are rumors that you're with Kamoshida, but I always take rumors with a grain of salt unless I have hard evidence." Ann just looked sad. "I'd... Rather not talk about it here." The two girls walked off, Shiho looking particularly depressed. Nana narrowed her eyes, then sent a message to her information broker, Alibaba. She had never seen Alibaba, nor did Nana know her real name, but she did know her story. Somehow, the two had bonded, likely due to their shared history as hikikomori, and Alibaba would search for any information Nana asked for.
She then rejoined Akira and Ryuji in the courtyard, both looking rather grim. "Bad news?," she asked. "Kamoshida intervened as we were trying to grill Mishima," Ryuji explained, "The only thing we learned, was that everyone knew about the physical abuse, and yet no one's doing anything. Worse still, Kamoshida's convincing the volleyball to suck it up by subtly calling them cowards for wanting to drop out of the team. Saying things like, 'You want to succeed and achieve your dreams right?' It makes me sick. Like he knows anything about the dreams of his own students. Anyway, we're not getting anywhere today. Let's see if we can get anything tomorrow."
April 14
As the trio walked back to the courtyard, they past Ann and Shiho, and Akira noted Shiho was sporting some nasty bruises. "I saw that girl yesterday," he noted, "I think she may also be suffering under Kamoshida." "I was able to get in contact with an information broker I use regularly," Nana said, "Hospital records for that girl, Shiho Suzui, and other members of the volleyball team are sporting many injuries that aren't consistent with normal volleyball training. The doctors appointed to the various also noted that the parents of these students were trying to play off the injuries as being normal, even though it was clear that wasn't the case."
"That doesn't leave us with anything," Ryuji said, beating his fist against a nearby vending machine, "None of the students are willing to talk, and the teachers and parents are all in on it?" "Calm down," Akira said, "We still have one more option. If we can't expose Kamoshida here in reality, maybe we can do something to the king and get Kamoshida to willingly confess." "Funny you should mention that," came Morgana's voice as he leapt onto a nearby table, "Sorry for not joining you earlier. It's my first time here in reality, and I wanted to get a feel for the city. Let's head to the roof, it's more private there."
The group headed up, Morgana riding in Akira's bag. Once there, Morgana gave a few details. "As I've explained, that Palace is how Kamoshida views the school. It represents his distorted desires. He doesn't know what goes on in there, but it is deeply connected to his heart. If the castle were to disappear, it would have a profound impact on him reality. Do it right, and he'll suddenly regret all of his crimes." "Whoa, for real...?," Ryuji said, "How does that work?" Morgana smiled. "I'm glad you asked. If Kamoshida's Palace were to disappear, his desires would vanish with it, but not his crimes. The weight of it would overwhelm him."
"But humans can't live without desires," Nana observed. "Correct," Morgana agreed, "Which means we can't just go around destroying the castle. Instead, we have to head straight the core of the Palace, and remove the source of Kamoshida's distorted desires. In addition, Kamoshida must understand suffering the same way his victims did, meaning at some point we'll have to confront his Shadow. It's a delicate operation, but done right, we can force him to confess to everything without putting his life at risk."
"How delicate are we talking?," Akira asked. Morgana closed his eyes. "If we somehow destroy Kamoshida's desires, it'll cause him to have a mental shutdown. He could even die. However, this is the least likely scenario. Desires are strong, so destroying one, even in the Metaverse, takes effort. Additionally, when confronting Kamoshida's Shadow, there's a good chance we'll have to fight him. However, there's something you should know. Remember how I said the lesser Shadows can reconstitute by borrowing a new physical form?"
"Sure," Ryuji said, "Wait... Don't tell me we don't have that luxury with Kamoshida's Shadow...?" "I'm afraid that's the case," Morgana replied, "Good news is, Shadows can take a great deal of punishment, and destroying one outright takes even more effort than destroying their desires. Difference is, desires have no cognition, but Shadows do. Once a Shadow thinks it could be killed, it becomes possible to kill it. Those guards will always see themselves as unkillable due to having to borrow physical forms, but Shadow Kamoshida has a physical form."
The trio sighed. "Man, you were right," Ryuji said, "This does sound like a delicate operation. Kinda like a mine field where you can see all the mines, but there's little room to maneuver through them." "Crude, but accurate," Morgana noted, "I can understand if you have second thoughts. How about I give you some to think it over? Just don't take too long. Like you said, it's only a matter of time until someone breaks. I'll meet you here tomorrow when you're done with school."
As Akira headed home, he noticed Ann just outside the subway platform. She seemed to be arguing with someone, and from the sounds of it, it was about a friend of her's, probably Shiho. "Excuse me," Akira said as Ann hung up. Ann looked at him. "You... Were you eavesdropping?" "Not intentionally," Akira said, "I only caught the tail end of that conversation. Something about a friend of yours being in trouble..." Akira looked at her. "Care to talk? Might help."
Ann looked down sadly. "I guess..." The two of them headed for a local burger joint. "I'm sure by now you've heard the rumors," Ann said dejectedly, "About Kamoshida and me..." Akira nodded. "Though I'm guessing there's no real truth to that." Ann shook her head. "Of course not. He's not even my type. The only reason I even hang out with him is for Shiho's sake. She's on the volleyball team, you see, and had a starting position in the upcoming tournament. But... Well... Kamoshida's been pressuring me in subtle ways..." Akira understood. "I knew about him abusing his students... But this just goes too far."
Ann smiled. "I've avoided given him my number for a long time, but somehow he found out about it. That was him on the other line you heard. He told to go to his place after school..." Akira frowned. There was only one thing Kamoshida could want with a demand like that. Ann started crying. "He said if I turned him down, he'd remove Shiho from her regular position... I've tried telling myself this is all for Shiho's sake, but..." "But you can't really take it anymore, can you?," Akira said, understanding in his voice. Ann suddenly broke down sobbing.
"I hate him so much!," Ann blurted out, "But Shiho's my best friend... She's all I have in that sorry excuse for a school! What should I do...?" Akira sighed. "I'm not sure I have the answer for you... Sorry." Ann wiped her eyes. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't be pushing my problems on you... It's funny, I've never opened up this to anyone." Akira smiled warmly. "Well, it's probably I'm the first person you've met who's been willing to listen." Ann smiled and giggled. "Yeah, you're probably right."
She looked at Akira. "You know, you don't seem as bad as the rumors say." "Rumors aren't a very good source of information," Akira noted, "You of all people should know that." Ann nodded. "Yeah... I should know better, shouldn't I?" She looked at Akira. "You really don't look like the sort of person who would attack someone for no reason. And... You always look so lonely... Kinda like..." "Like I don't belong anywhere?," Akira finished for her. Ann smiled. "Yeah, like that. I guess we're a lot alike. Maybe that's what makes it easy for me to talk to you."
She sighed. "I just wish there was a better way to help Shiho. If only... He would change his mind and just forget about me, and Shiho, and... Everyone..." She laughed as she sat back. "Like that could ever happen, right?" Akira thought back Morgana's advice. "You never know... It could happen." Ann giggled. "I wasn't asking for a serious response. But I do feel better now. Thank you. I'm gonna head home." "Be careful," Akira said, "And don't worry. I'm sure things will get better. If not tomorrow, then soon after." Ann smiled. "I hope so."
April 15
Akira was busy taking notes on his teacher's current lecture regarding the government, Morgana having snuck into Akira's desk. Suddenly, someone outside the classroom was yelling how someone was going to jump. Despite the teacher's best efforts, the entire classroom rushed out to the window overlooking the courtyard. Ann was shocked to see Shiho standing up there, looking ready to drop. However, as she did, something bizarre happened. She was suddenly jerked in midair, as if something had caught her, and she wound up rolling on the ground, looking slightly dazed but mostly unhurt.
Immediately an ambulance was called. The EMTs determined Shiho hadn't suffered more than a few scrapes and bruises. The real mystery was how she had gotten off so lightly. True, it was possible to survive a three-story drop, but she would have been in a coma at least. Ann offered to accompany Shiho to the hospital, while Ryuji and Akira noticed Yuuki heading off elsewhere. Nana looked on as Shiho whispered something that made her eyes go wide. As the crowd finally dispersed, Nana took a look around real quick before heading back to class herself. She spotted a few curious footprints around the courtyard, including a couple of walls.
When Nana met up with Akira and Ryuji in the courtyard later, Ryuji was livid. "Bad news?," she asked. "We finally got Yuuki to spill the beans," Akira said, "But what we heard wasn't pretty. Turns out, there's good evidence Kamoshida may have been sexually abusing Shiho." Nana clenched her fist in anger. "I got so mad I immediately rushed over to Kamoshida's office," Ryuji admitted, "I damn near hit him again, but Akira stopped me. Didn't stop Kamoshida from threatening me, him, and Mishima with expulsion come the next board meeting."
Nana raised an eyebrow. "Why Mishima?" "Oh," Ryuji said, "It turns out Kamoshida's been using Mishima as a scapegoat, leaking him classified information and forcing him to spread it around the school." Nana closed her eyes. "Oh, I see... I see... But hold on, shouldn't Shiho be able to tell someone this? I think she already told Takamaki." Ryuji stomped his foot down. "Bastard smugly said Suzui-san would never talk. As if... If that crazy event hadn't occurred, he might've had a leg to stand on. He's probably banking on Shiho being too ashamed of herself after the suicide attempt."
"It doesn't matter anyway," Akira said, "After this we can't look the other way anymore." "He's right," Ryuji said, "I was hesitant before, but now it's clear that the only way to stop Kamoshida is to go with Morgana's plan." Morgana nodded. "Good to hear. You on board too, Nana-chan?" Nana nodded. "I'm not going to let that bastard get away with driving someone to suicide." "Hey," came Ann's voice, "If you guys are planning on dealing with Kamoshida, let me in on it." The group turned to look at her. "Why so interested all of a sudden?," Ryuji asked.
"Uh, Ryuji," Nana said, "Isn't Shiho her best friend? 'Cause I think that's been established as part of her character." Ryuji slumped. "Oh... Yeah, that makes sense. Still, while we appreciate the sentiment, what we're planning on doing is something you can't get involved in. It's really dangerous." "Look," Ann said, "I know you're already on thin ice due to being expelled-" "Wait, where did you hear that?," Akira asked, "It's not even official yet." "Probably Kamoshida again," Ryuji replied, "Sorry Ann, but this really is something only we can do."
And with that, they hurried outside the school, not knowing Ann was following them. "Okay," Ryuji said, "Now I've got that Navigation App too. Are we gonna be okay using this? Any side-effects to be aware of?" "The worst symptom you'll feel is fatigue," Morgana said, "And even that fades little by little as you continue using it." "What about the search history?," Nana asked. "Unless you've already been to the Metaverse at least once, you can't access it," Morgana said, "The best hackers in the world couldn't find it because it's separated digitally." As they spoke, Ann was nearby, watching for whatever they were doing. She was completely shocked as a sudden surge of violet surrounded her.
"You guys ready to do this?," Morgana asked. Before they could answer, they were shocked by Ann calling out, "What is this!?" "What the hell?," Ryuji called out, "Takamaki?" Ann looked at the costumed trio. "Huh? Ryuji? Nana? Akira?" "How did she get in here!?," Nana asked. "I thought I wouldn't have to mention this," Morgana said, "But that app can drag in others near the user." "Explains how me and Nana got sucked in," Ryuji said, "But more importantly, Takamaki, this place is dangerous. You need to get out immediately."
Ann was too busy looking at the castle. "What is this place? I thought we were at the school!" Ryuji sighed. "Nothing for it. Come on, let's get her out of here." He and Akira each grabbed one of Ann's arms and walked back out into reality, despite her protests. "Jeez," Ryuji said, "Can't believe something like can happen. We'd better plan out where we use the app from now. We can't afford to drag innocent people into our affairs." "You said her name was Ann Takamaki, right?," Morgana said, "Lady Ann... Anyway, that little incident got the Shadows attention. They won't find us out here, so close to the edge of the distortion, but we'll need to use extra caution inside."
"Okay," Akira said, "What's our plan?" Morgana nodded. "We need to establish a route between here and the Palace's Treasure. The Treasure is the core of the Palace, and without it, the Palace will crumble. But as I've said, at some point we'll also have to confront the ruler of this Palace." "If he knows we're gunning for his Treasure," Nana said, "He'll come to us, and we can deal with it then." "Well said," Morgana noted, "Now, we need to establish code names."
"Code names?," Akira asked, confused. "We're phantom thieves now," Morgana explained, "And real phantom thieves wouldn't use their real names. Plus, there's no telling what effect yelling out our real names will have on the Palace. We may have barely dodged a bullet with your friend earlier, since we're far enough away from any Shadows that they likely didn't hear us. It's just a precaution." He turned to Akira. "So from now on, you'll be referred to as Joker." "Joker?," Akira asked. Morgana nodded. "You have exceptional skills even for a phantom thief. That makes you our trump card. Hence, Joker."
Akira, now Joker, nodded. "Yeah... I like that. Has a real... Master thief ring to it." "Okay," Ryuji said, "Let's see... Well, if I'm being honest, I really like the look of this mask. So, how does Skull sound?" Morgana nodded. "It does sound like it fits you." Skull then turned to Nana. "So how about you?" "Church," Nana said. Skull looked a little shocked. "Huh? Where did that come from?" "Unlike you two, I took the time to look up my Persona's backstory," Nana explained.
She cleared her throat. "Sabetha is a character from the works of American author Scott Lynch. A strong-willed woman, mired only by the region she lived in being patriarchal, Sabetha was being groomed as the leader of a band of thieves lead by the priest Father Chains before the main character stepped in." "Oh, I get it," Skull said, "So that's where Church comes from. That actually does sound pretty cool, and it kinda fits with your outfit." "Church it is, then," Church said with a smile, "That just leaves our feline companion."
"I technically don't need one," Morgana said, "But as phantom thieves we should all be equal." Skull thought for a second. "Then, how about Mona. It's just a shortened version of your real name, but anything else I can come up with sounds insulting." Mona nodded. "Very well then. Remember, we need to be thorough about using those code names from now on." They went back through the vent and into the castle, Skull noticing the huge number of guards in the grand hall. "Well," he said, "There's Kamoshida. But there's way too many guards between us and him."
"I have reason to suspect those thieves from before will be returning," Kamoshida said, "I want everyone to be extra observant during their patrols. As soon as you find them, execute them on the spot." "Funny," Church noted, "Here we are not three yards away from him, and he doesn't know." "All he knows is that we're here," Mona reiterated, "We just have to avoid being caught too many times. Anyway, we've pretty much covered the dungeons so I doubt the Treasure's there."
"I doubt he'd keep his treasures down there in first place," Joker noted, "Last time we were here a couple of the guards noted there were greater valuables on the upper floors." They headed in the opposite direction and opened the door slowly, noting the guard inside. "Hmm," Mona muttered, "This one's alone. Perfect time to demonstrate another useful ability. Okay, pay attention, this one needs a little talking through. First, Joker will ambush that guard. Once it's exposed, we need to exploit its weakness. Once its down, we surround it, guns drawn. But don't go All-Out on it, at least not immediately."
"There a reason not to?," Skull asked. Mona nodded. "In the past, Shadows were little more than mindless beasts. At first they would attack anyone who crossed their path. After the end of the Dark Hour incident, they became more docile, but would still go berserk in the presence of Persona users. That is until the end of the Midnight Channel incident. Now Shadows are just as sentient as their human counterparts. Which means... They can be negotiated with under the right circumstances."
"Oh, I see," Church noted, "Like if we, for example, have them dead to rights." "Exactly," Mona said, smiling, "Once we do, we can demand a ransom in exchange for releasing them. They'll back off afterward and leave us on our merry way." Skull rubbed his chin. "Ransom, huh? You mean we can get cash from them? I noticed the cash we've been getting from winning battles actually counts as real currency." "Cash, yes," Mona replied, "But also healing items. Okay, time to put theory into practice." Joker snuck up behind the guard and pulled its mask off, revealing a Beguiling Girl.
Joker quickly summoned Arsene, who fired a Curse attack to down the Shadow. The Shadow looked up to see the four thieves pointing there guns on her. "Oh crap...," she said, "Uh... I don't suppose you'd be willing to let me go...?" "Depends," Joker said, "Empty your pockets and we'll consider it." The Shadow gulped and laughed weakly. "Heh, heh... Yeah, see here's the thing... Payment's been kinda tight lately, so I kinda don't have anything on me..."
"Well shoot," Mona said, "That's a bummer." "Yeah," Joker said, "But don't worry, we'll still let you go... To Hell." The Shadow blinked for a second, and started laughing. Not a sinister laugh either, but one that almost sounded like tinkling bells. "Oh man! What's with that cheesy line!? You almost looked halfway serious when you said that!" As she laughed, something seemed to separate from her and slink off. In an instant, the Shadow stopped laughing. "Hey wait... I just remembered... I'm not a Shadow at all, I'm a Persona from the Sea of Souls. But I got separated from my other self and... Yeah, yeah! It's coming back!"
She flew up to Joker. "Sorry for the mix-up. My real name's Pixie. Now I can once again feel the connection to my other self. As thanks, I will connect her power to yours." She conjured a mask similar to Joker's own mask. "This mask represents that connection. And thank you." Pixie disappeared as the mask merged with Joker's own mask. Mona looked shocked. "Whoa, what was that just now? That Shadow was really a Persona? Sharing it's power with you? Could it be...?" "What was all that?," Skull asked, "Did Joker just get a new mask?"
Mona thought for a second. "So... It is true. Igor said you had that power. Listen up. I never thought I'd really be discussing this, but Joker is more of a trump card for us than I thought. He possess a great power called Wild Card." "Wild Card?," Church asked. "Normally a person can only have one Persona," Mona explained, "But those rare few who hold the Wild Card have the ability to use multiple Personas, due to having a deep connection to the Sea of Souls. Such people are invariably linked with the fate of humanity, and can shape it to their will. Fortunately, such people tend to be benevolent."
"I'm not sure I really get half of that," Skull admitted, "But I think the gist of it is, we just shanghaied one of Kamoshida's guards to use against him." Mona nodded. "In a nutshell. Though I'm a little concerned about the dark form that slunk away. Seems at the very least, Pixie's physical form can no longer be used by the Shadows here." Church smiled. "Sweet, that'll give us some more battle options. And if we could convince one Shadow to fight for us as a Persona, why not more?"
Just then, another guard appeared. "I thought I heard a commotion in here. So this is where you thieves were hiding." He immediately erupted into the Dirty Two-Horned Beast. "Well, here's our chance to find out," Joker said. As the two parties squared off, Joker suddenly realized he had a connection to Pixie. Smiling, he put a finger to his mask and swiped it across the front. "Pixie!" The tiny fairy appeared, smiling as it pointed a finger at the Shadow, launching a lightning spell at the it.
"Whoa, dude!," Skull said, "And here I thought lightning was my thing." "Don't worry about it," Morgana said, "With multiple Shadows it means Joker has multiple options." The Shadow had been downed, so the group once again held it up. "Damn... How could you bastards be have the upper hand when I'm the one who ambushed you?" "Don't know what to tell you, man," Joker said, "Guess luck is just on our side." The Shadow snorted, but nodded. "Yeah... You're right one that. Seems I always get the worst luck... Huh..."
The Shadow stood up, and another strange blob form scurried away from it. "Talking with you like this reminded me of something. I'm not actually a Shadow, but a Persona from the Sea of Souls. And now I remember my other self." He grinned at Joker. "My name is Bicorn. Since you helped me remember, I'll share my power with you." He offered Joker a new mask as he vanished. "Nice," Mona said, "Now we have even more options." The headed through a long hallway until they reached what looked like a servant's hall. The guards provided them with more Personas to free, Crypt-Dwelling Pyromaniac being released to become Jack-o'-Lantern, and Bedside Brute being released to become Incubus.
One last guard was pacing on the other side of a shelf of barrels. When exposed, it turned into a humanoid root with a large flower on its head, known as a Gallows Flower. Using his new skills from Jack-o'-Lantern, Joker was able to release him as well, bringing him back as Mandrake. "Okay," Joker said, "My soul's feeling kinda full." "You still haven't mastered your Wild Card yet," Mona noted, "If we free anymore Personas, you can still make a connection, but you'll have to temporarily severe one you've already made." "Temporarily?," Church asked, "As in he get it back later?"
"Don't forget Arsene is Joker's true Persona," Mona explained, "He's just borrowing the powers of the others. His Wild Card ability let's him shuffle around these borrowed powers at his leisure. In time, he can even expand his soul to use even more Personas at a time, though never more than twelve from what I hear." "And right now I can only handle six," Joker noted, "Still, this power gives us an edge. It means we can be ready no matter what comes after us." The group moved onward until they reached another Safe Room and took the chance to rest their feet.
Meanwhile, Ann opened the door to the now empty grand hall. "So this strange app does work," she muttered. She had gotten a good look at how the app worked when Ryuji tried it earlier, filling out the individual slots. "But what is this place anyway?" She looked around. As she did, several guards approached. One of them looked at her. "Princess? What are you doing here?" Ann looked confused, but she didn't have any time to think as the guards quickly escorted her elsewhere.
Inside the Safe Room, the thieves were discussing their plans going forward. As they did, Church turned her head when she heard some guards outside. "Why was the princess wandering around the grand entrance hall?," one said. "You got me," another said, "I thought we had found those intruders. Regardless, we need to take her to King Kamoshida." "That doesn't sound good," Mona said, "What here a second. I'll scout ahead and find out what's going on."
"Think Mona will be okay on his own?," Skull asked, "He's already been captured once." As if to allay his fears, Mona came rushing back in, out of breath. "This is bad! Those Shadows have your friend from before!" The three thieves became flabbergasted, Church jumping up from her seat. "Oh shit, we forgot!," she said, "Anyone who's been in the Metaverse once receives the Navigation App. Takamaki probably used it to try and follow us!" "There was a sealed door we passed on the way here," Mona said, "It's open now, and I saw those Shadows go in there. Follow me!"
Quickly making their way to the room in question, they could hear Ann's voice as she said something about touching armor. "I don't think she realized what's going on yet," Joker said, "Let's hurry and rescue her." When they entered the room, they saw a crazy sight. All around were cognitions of female volleyball team members, dressed in nothing but panties, writhing on the ground moaning. Skull shook his head. "Dude, not the fantasy I wanna live..." On the other side of the room, Ann was shackled to a wooden St. Andrew's Cross, surrounded by guards, as well as Shadow Kamoshida and the cognitive version of Ann.
Kamoshida scoffed at Ann. "You worthless guards mistook my princess for this whore. Well, I shouldn't blame you too much. There is a passing resemblance. And maybe I can even have some fun with her before her execution." Ann was freaking out. "Just what is going here!? What even is this place!? And what do you mean execution!?" "Takamaki!," Skull called out as the four thieves stepped in. Kamoshida looked at them. "Huh... Not the way I wanted to find you, but never look a gift horse in the mouth." He motioned for a guard, who held his sword close to Ann.
"You probably came here for the reason they did," he sneered, "Because of some misplaced grudge. After all, isn't it because of you that girl jumped? Because you refused to give in like a good little slave?" "You're the one who made the conscience decision to abuse Shiho, you bastard," Joker called out. Kamoshida raised an eyebrow. "Huh...? Oh wait, that I girl was just talking about." That got Ann riled. "You monster... You can't even bother to remember her name! After what you did to her!? And you have the gall to pass that off on someone else!? Now you've just pissed me off!"
"My...," came a voice that sounded like Ann's, "It's taken far too long." Ann began writhing around as her eyes turned yellow. Since she was still shackled it caused her to move in a rather suggestive manner. "Tell me... Who is going to avenge her if you don't? Forgiving him was never the option... Such is the scream of the other you that dwells within... I am thou, thou art I... We can finally forge a contract..." A tear fell down Ann's cheek as the pain began to subside, but she never felt stronger. "Yes... I hear you now. From now on, I will not hold back." As she proceeded to break the shackles, the voice continued, "There you go... Nothing can be solved by restraining yourself. Understand? Then I'll gladly lend you my strength."
A feline mask appeared on Ann's face. She immediately grabbed it and pulled it off. "Then come... Carmen!" As the familiar blue flames erupted from Ann, the others saw her new Persona. It was a female humanoid with pink skin and twin-tails, wearing a leopard mask and holding a cigarette in her mouth. Her hot pink dress revealed much of her featureless breasts, and she held it in a way that exposed part of her leg, which was stomping down on a small male figure with a valentine for a head and wearing a tuxedo, a similar figure chained to her other hand.
Ann herself was now sporting a bright red catsuit that revealed her cleavage, though more modestly than her Persona. Her gloves were a hot pink color, and she carried a chain whip and sub-machine gun. As the guards stood there, shocked, Ann took the time to kick one guard's sword out of his hand and use it slash the cognitive version of her, causing it to fade. Kamoshida, freaking out, backed off as a guard captain moved in to protect him. "You stole everything from Shiho," Ann said menacingly, "Well now, it's time for you to understand what that feels like!"
The captain looked back at Kamoshida. "My Lord, move away from here. I shall deal with these knaves." Kamoshida got up. "Don't screw this up. I'm counting on you." He ran out. Before Ann could move to follow, the captain erupted to reveal a horned demon sitting on a toilet. Ann grinned. "Don't even think you can stop me now! Me and Carmen will show you our new power together!" Carmen smirked as she swung the figure chained to her arm, causing a powerful Fire skill to down the Shadow. "We have it's weakness!," Mona realized, "Quick now's our chance!"
The five thieves went All-Out on the Shadow, destroying it. Ann twirled around before flashing a peace sign while striking a modeling pose. "OMG! WE ARE SO AWESOME!" As the Shadow dissipated, Ann collapsed. "Whew... Damn, looks like Kamoshida managed to get away." "Maybe," Church said, "But we'll get another chance." "You did great there," Joker said, "Your Persona is really strong." Ann smiled. "Thanks." She then stood up and noticed her new outfit. She freaked out again and tried to cover up with her as best as she could. "Where on earth did these clothes come from?"
"It's alright Lady Ann," Mona said, "Those are just the manifestation of your inner rebel, to protect you from the Palace's influence." Ann looked at Mona with confusion. "Huh? What's this cat-thing?" "That'd take some time to explain," Church said, "And we can't stay here. Right now you're exhausted, and Kamoshida will probably send a search party after us. Let's get back to the real world, we can explain everything there." Ann nodded. "By the way, thanks for coming to help me. And sorry for not heeding your earlier warning." Skull shrugged. "It's more our fault for not realizing you could come back in here. Come on, let's go."
Ann listened as Morgana explained everything that had been going on, and how the Metaverse worked. "I see... So in order to make Kamoshida confess to his crimes, we need to go in and steal this Treasure thing." Ryuji's eyes went wide. "Wait, you're planning on joining us?" "I don't see why she shouldn't," Akira noted, "You saw how easily she wrecked that Shadow earlier. Her power will be a great help to the team." "Besides," Nana chimed in, "She has the app like the rest of us. It's far more dangerous to let her go in on her own."
Ryuji rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, that's a good point." Ann nodded. "Thanks for understanding you guys." She looked sad. "Shiho may be doing okay, physically at least, but so long as Kamoshida keeps his smug attitude, I don't think she'll truly be okay emotionally. What even saved her in the first place?" "That's one that stumps even me," Morgana said, "I doubt it was anything Metaverse related." Ann shook her head. "Either way, I'm ready to help you guys out. I'll make Kamoshida pay for he did to Shiho." Akira smiled as he felt a new connection forming.
I am thou, thou art I...
Thou hast acquired a new vow.
It shall become the wings of rebellion
That breaketh thy chains of captivity.
With the birth of the Lovers Persona,
I have obtained the winds of blessing that
Shall lead to freedom and new power...
Lovers Rank 1-Baton Pass unlocked
After Ann shared her contact info with the others, she walked off. "Okay," Ryuji said, "One last thing to deal with. Where's Morgana staying? I mean, we know what he really is, but other people will only see him as a cat." "I guess it would be convenient to stay with one of you guys," Morgana admitted, "Well Akira, since I'm already traveling in your bag, it might as well be your place." "I suppose that can work," Akira said, "But I'm currently staying in the attic of a cafe. Still, it's livable. Not sure how I'll explain this to Sojiro, however."
As it turned out, Sojiro was surprisingly okay with Akira owning a pet, so long as he took responsibility for it. He was, however, disappointed that he couldn't Morgana personally. "That man seems nice enough," Morgana said after Sojiro brought him some tuna. "He's can be a bit stern," Akira noted, "But he is looking after me. Don't mind his earlier comments, he just concerned about cat hairs getting in the food." "Well he shouldn't worry," Morgana said, "I may have a cat's form, but I don't shed. I don't even get hairballs. Trust me, I've been in this form for a few days now."
He enjoyed the tuna laid out for him. "It's nice to know I can enjoy food in this form, however. I don't really need to, being a manifestation, but while in this form I can certainly enjoy it." "Good to know," Akira said as he sat down on his bed, "So, I've really got to ask, why were you sent to help us?" Morgana sighed. "Truth is, my goal is to find strong Persona users, teach them in the ways of the phantom thieves, and lead them down to the depths of Mementos, the source of all the distortions. I'll give you the full story of Mementos in time, but first we should focus on Kamoshida's palace."
He finished off the tuna, then cleaned off his face. "Anyway, you may or may not have noticed this, but each of us in this group has a certain archetype we adhere to. In your case, it's the quintessential gentleman thief. Able to lay out the route we take and lead us down pathways we likely never would think of otherwise. You'll receive the full potential of this ability before long. Ryuji is more like the muscle of the group. He comes off as street smart, though still a little dense sometimes, but there's no denying he's meant to bash any guard we can't bypass. I mean, his weapons are bludgeons and shotguns, for crying out loud."
He seemed to think for a bit. "As for Nana, she mentioned earlier her self-employed job as a design artist, for which she gets major paid commissions. And her outfit seems to invoke the image of a black-market dealer. So we can think of her as the procurement agent, getting us the weapons and supplies we need. Lady Ann mentioned she's a part-time model and actress, making her the con artist of the group." He smirked. "As for me, my role is rather two-fold. I'm the mastermind, giving out information regarding our surroundings, but I can also be seen as the tech expert."
"Tech expert?," Akira asked. Morgana nodded. "I have knowledge of various thief tools and other devices that we can use inside the Palaces. Physical aptitude can only get a thief so far, you see." Akira nodded. "I see, so you can show us how to make these tools." "Of course," Morgana replied, "In exchange for taking care of me here, as well as helping me reach Mementos, I'll offer you all the knowledge you need to know regarding these tools." "Seems like we have a deal then," Akira said, "I hope we work well together." Already he could feel a new connection forming.
I am thou, thou art I...
Thou hast acquired a new vow.
It shall become the wings of rebellion
That breaketh thy chains of captivity.
With the birth of the Magician Persona,
I have obtained the winds of blessing that
Shall lead to freedom and new power...
Magician Rank 1-Infiltration Tools unlocked
"But I really am surprised," Morgana admitted, "I wasn't expecting a Wild Card user to be one of the thieves I recruited. Finding one is a one-in-a-million chance, especially in a city as densely populated as this. But it works out perfectly. With your help, I'm certain we'll become a splendid team of phantom thieves." Akira smiled. "Well, we're going to have a busy couple of days ahead of us. Nana's information broker has a few leads regarding where we can get supplies for the Metaverse. But for now, I'm beat. Going through the Metaverse can really take it out of you."
April 18
The next few days saw the phantom thieves checking out a few areas for supplies. There was a doctor in Yongen-Jaya who worked in a private clinic, though Akira overheard something about her making stronger drugs than what she offered. Then there was the surly manager of an airsoft shop down Shibuya's central street. Nana was especially surprised when he agreed to make model miniguns for her, though the fact that she was offering a tidy sum likely had something to do with it.
Now Akira was speaking with the doctor, Tae Takemi, once again. After convincing her to sell him better medicines in exchange for doing clinical trials for a drug she was developing, Akira tried the first batch, only to pass out due to the strong taste. "Glad to see you're awake," Tae said, "You feeling alright?" "A little dizzy," Akira noted, "But I think the stomachache is gone." Tae chuckled. "You must have nerves of steel. Only an idiot would have drank that formula so readily."
Akira shrugged. "Well, this is for my exams, like I said." "I suppose so," Tae agreed, "Anyway, the reason you were knocked out was because of the taste. It produced a strong odor when it mixed with your gastric juices. But thanks to that, I now have some data to improve the medicine. So, regarding our agreement. As promised, I'll provide you with my more effective medications in exchange for your participation with these clinic trials. Also, both of us are under a strict non-disclosure agreement."
"Of course," Akira agreed. He didn't want anyone to find out where he getting the means to heal his teammates and himself, after all. Tae nodded. "Excellent. Looks like we have a deal then. I'll offer the medicine at a good price, and perhaps even add more options as we go along." "Certainly," Akira noted, "You still need the money to fund these trials, right? I'll see to it my study partner, Nana, keeps quiet about this as well." Tae already knew about Nana, having been introduced to her the first time she and Akira met. As the two shook hands, Akira felt a new connection forming.
I am thou, thou art I...
Thou hast acquired a new vow.
It shall become the wings of rebellion
That breaketh thy chains of captivity.
With the birth of the Death Persona,
I have obtained the winds of blessing that
Shall lead to freedom and new power...
Death Rank 1-Rejuvenation unlocked
"So," Tae said, "Will I be dealing more with you or with Nana?" "Probably both of us equally," Akira replied, "Me to further the clinical trials, and Nana to purchase the medicine we need." Tae nodded. "Well then, I'm looking forward to working with... My little guinea pig." Akira cringed as Tae smirked. "If you're able to move, you should go on home. Hopefully with your help, I can finally perfect this medicine." Akira wondered if perhaps Tae needed the medicine for someone, but decided not to pry so quickly. He simply headed back Leblanc to get some sleep.
April 19
Ryuji had earlier noticed that his bum leg was really slowing him down a little, even with the enhanced strength the Metaverse provided him. He invited Akira to train with him in a secret spot he knew around the school grounds. "This place sure does bring back memories...," Ryuji said sadly, "It just drives it home that I'm not in the same shape I used to be. I really felt the difference while we were in there, so I'm hoping that a little workout can make me more useful to the crew."
"Sounds nice," Akira said, "I'll be counting on you." Ryuji rubbed his nose. "Ha! I'll totally wreck you expectations. Uh... In a good way, of course. That said, you'll be working out alongside me. After all, how do you expect to vault over walls and other obstructions if you don't keep yourself flexible?" "Explains why you had me change into my gym uniform," Akira noted. The two of them got into a knee lift routine. By the end of it, Ryuji was nearly out of breath.
"Man," he said, panting, "My legs are feeling tight..." "Hey Ryuji," Akira said, "I remember Kamoshida bragging about how he's all the school needs, and that he disbanded the track team to ensure that." "Yeah, the track team used to be the academy's big draw," Ryuji said, "Seems that bastard intended to get rid of us right from the start. He was just trying to be subtle about it. He's have do these crazy workouts that'd be torment even for an Olympian like him, then add on more when we couldn't do them."
Akira closed his eyes. "Sounds brutal." Ryuji nodded. "To top it off, it always felt like he singling me out. He knew, right from the beginning, that I'd be the sort to fight back given the right reason. He'd cuss me out if my time dropped even a little. Then came the big one, he brought up my parents..." "What do they have to do with this?," Akira said, eyebrow raised. Ryuji sighed. "Truth is, my mom's the only one I've got right now. When my dad was around, all he did drink, or beat me or mom. Kamoshida found out somehow, and he told the whole team."
Ryuji's fist clenched. "I was so mad, I lost it and hit him. That's when he broke my leg, calling it 'self-defense'. That ain't self-defense, that's retaliation! Plus, it was clear he was just goading me. He wanted me to fight back, so he'd have the perfect excuse to shut the team down." He sighed. "But no one saw it that way, or wanted to see it that way for fear of Kamoshida. So my team labelled me as a traitor. Well, in a way they're right. My actions did cost us the championship."
"Do you ever want to go back?," Akira asked. Ryuji shook his head. "Nah, after what happened I'm pretty much done with track running." He then grinned at Akira. "And what's these tough questions anyway? You know I'm not that smart. Besides, it's all in the past now. Right now, we have a new future to build. And the first step, is getting ourselves in shape for what's to come." He and Akira high-fived, as Akira felt his bond with Ryuji grow a little deeper with this new insight.
Chariot Rank 2-Baton Pass unlocked
"By the way," Ryuji noted, "You're actually pretty good at running." "Well I'm no track star like you are," Akira admitted, "But I did get in some running practice during middle school. Though my body-type is more suited to free-running than track running." Ryuji nodded. "Makes sense. I'll have to think up some way to get a specialized workout for each of us. You, me, Nana, and Ann. Not sure how we're gonna get for Morgana, or if he even need one." The two had a good laugh before returning home.
April 20
Akira came back from one of the part-time jobs he had taken and saw Sojiro waiting for him. "Hey there," Sojiro said, "Seems like you're pretty busy. Hope you're not getting into any trouble." "I try to keep head down," Akira said. There was no need to bring up the possible expulsion because for one, it wasn't official yet, and for another, if the team's plan succeeded it wouldn't be an issue. "Good to hear," Sojiro said with a nod, "I have to report to your probation officer twice a month, so the less trouble you get into the better."
He adjusted his glasses. "Our society is kept in check by laws and authority figures, and it doesn't do anyone any good to drag other people into their problems." 'History says otherwise,' Akira thought, but didn't say anything. Suddenly Sojiro's phone rang. In a surprisingly concerned tone, he spoke into it. "What's wrong? Yeah, don't worry, I'm heading out now. Yeah, I know, the usual." Whoever Sojiro was talking to, it was clear to Akira he had a soft spot for them.
"Sorry about that," Sojiro said as he hung up, "I'm pretty busy both in work and in my private life. That's why I'd prefer it if you kept out of trouble. I'd also appreciate it if you help out here in the cafe from time to time." "Sure," Akira said, "I do owe you one for taking me in. But... I really don't know the first thing about the food here." "Not a problem," Sojiro said with a smile, "If you're willing to listen, I'll teach you how to make the perfect cup of coffee." "Sounds interesting," Akira said, thinking such a skill could useful, "I'm in." Already he could feel a new connection forming.
I am thou, thou art I...
Thou hast acquired a new vow.
It shall become the wings of rebellion
That breaketh thy chains of captivity.
With the birth of the Hierophant Persona,
I have obtained the winds of blessing that
Shall lead to freedom and new power...
Hierophant Rank 1
"I'll be counting on your help," Sojiro said, "I have to head out now. Be sure to lock up when before you get to sleep." "Got it Boss," Akira said as Sojiro left. Morgana took that moment to pop out of Akira's bag. "Seems the Chief has a soft spot on him. I wonder who he was talking to on the other line." Akira shrugged. "Couldn't say. But whoever it was they mean a great deal to him. Perhaps a family member. In any event, I think we take his advice and turn in for the night." He locked up the cafe and hurried upstairs to sleep.
April 22
Akira and Ryuji went to go train again. By the time it was over, Ryuji was feeling truly winded. "Man, is this really as far as I can push myself. I was once training for the nationals, but now I just suck balls." Suddenly, a group of male students showed up, some of them surprised to see Ryuji. "What are you think you're doing here?," one of them asked, a little irritated. Ryuji's eyes went wide. "Nakaoka? Takeishi?" "We saw you running from the window," Nakaoka said. "Don't tell me you're trying to crawl back to the track team after the stunt you pulled," Takeishi said.
"Hell no," Ryuji said, "What, do I suddenly need a reason to keep in shape?" "Doesn't matter," Nakaoka said, "Either way, we need this spot to train now that we can't use the field anymore." Takeishi nodded. "Hell, thanks to you, we don't even have a locker anymore." "Whoa, let's not get into a fight here," Akira said, noticing Ryuji's fist starting to clench. Ryuji quickly released his hand. "We weren't really fighting..." Nakaoka looked at Akira. "Hang on, aren't you that new transfer student? What are you doing hanging around Sakamoto?"
Akira shrugged. "We're good buds, that's all." Takeishi snickered. "Well be careful, he'll hit you the second he gets pissed off." "Then I'll just make sure not to piss him off," Akira said, "After all, it's not like I hold any real animosity towards him." He narrowed his eyes at this, basically implying that it was more Kamoshida's fault they were in this situation than Ryuji's. That seemed to work, until one student blurted out, "Wasn't his father the same way? I guess the apple doesn't fall from the tree."
Ryuji grimaced. "That's got nothing to do with this..." "Calm down Ryuji," Akira said, "You guys are forgetting that Ryuji's not a drunkard like his father was. Heck, he actively goes out of his way to avoid his father's lifestyle." That seemed to shut everyone up immediately. Nakaoka sighed. "Doesn't matter either way. The point is because Sakamoto chose to act out, our team's shut down. Guess you weren't the teammate I thought you were." And with that, he walked off, the others slowly following him.
Ryuji breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks for stopping me, Akira. I nearly smacked him for bringing up my dad. Guess I haven't changed much, huh?" "Least your temper's on a long fuse," Akira noted. Ryuji grinned. "Well, it kinda helped that you calmed me down. Thanks for having my back. Just hearing you talk down those guys..." Akira nodded. "They're still too afraid of Kamoshida to admit he's the real source of their troubles. Hopefully, we can put a stop to that." The two high-fived as Akira felt his bond with Ryuji grow deeper.
Chariot Rank 3-Follow Up unlocked
"Man, now I'm looking forward to teaching Kamoshida a lesson more than ever," Ryuji said, "Hopefully it'll go a long way towards mending old fences." Akira shrugged. "Well, one can only hope. Say, where did Kamoshida learn about your dad anyway?" "No idea," Ryuji said, shaking his head, "His comment came out of nowhere. Part of what caused me to snap in the first place." He sighed. "Anyway, I guess I should start looking for a new place for us to train. I'll see you later."
That evening, Akira had gotten his apron on, ready for Sojiro to teach him all about coffee making. "Alright," Sojiro said, "We'll start by hammering home the basics. You know what I'm talking about, right?" "Making coffee of course," Akira said with a nod. "Exactly," Sojiro said with a smile, "This cafe's not the busiest, but I'm very particular about what sort of coffee gets served here. I won't tolerate any half-assed jobs."
A particularly gaudy female customer spoke up. "So-chan certainly does things right with his coffee. And it goes so well with his special curry. Are you sure you can't tell me the secret behind the flavor?" Sojiro chuckled. "Sorry, but that has to stay a trade secret. Otherwise I'd be out of business. Feel free to try and guess based on the taste, however." The customer puffed up her cheeks. "How stingy... Keeping such a wonderful secret to yourself..." Still, the customer left satisfied.
Sojiro turned to Akira. "One of key things to note when running a restaurant is knowing the personalities of your customers, especially the regular ones." He heard the door open and turned to welcome the new customer, only to have his eyes go wide. Akira looked and saw a rather cheerful, but also suspicious, middle-aged man. "Hello there Sakura-san. It's been some time. I heard you opened a cafe around here, so I thought I'd drop in. Good location you picked, right by the station. Why not tell me about it, I wonder?"
Sojiro simply glared. "Your order?" The man never lost his smile, but Akira could feel the tension. "No small talk, huh? That's a bit cold. Gotta say though, the smell of this place brings back memories. I guess you're still making that curry, huh? Anyway, I just dropped in to say hello. But I'll be stopping again soon..." And with that, he left. Sojiro sighed. "How did he catch wind of this place?" "He seemed rather suspicious," Akira noted.
Sojiro smiled. "Caught that, did ya? I'm impressed. Anyway, let's not talk about that right now, you still have a thing or two to learn about coffee. You won't be helping anyone if you can't pick up the basics. Besides, the ladies love a man who knows his coffee." Akira's thoughts drifted back to Ann. He had been smitten ever since he laid eyes on her. "I definitely want the ladies to love me." Sojiro chuckled. "Good to see you pick up things quick. Just be sure to pay attention, and you'll pick it up soon enough." Akira nodded, feeling his bond with Sojiro grow deeper.
Hierophant Rank 2-Coffee Basics unlocked
Once Akira finished making his first cup, Sojiro taste-tested it. He smiled in approval. "Not half bad. You're definitely starting to grasp the basics. Keep it up and you'll become an expert barista before the end of the year, and with at least a month or two to spare." He then heard the cafe's clock going off. "Huh, that late already? Well, we'll pick this up again another time. Good night." "Night, Chief," Akira said, locking up after Sojiro before heading off to bed himself.
April 24
The newly appointed phantom thieves decided it was time to infiltrate Kamoshida's Palace. As they stood near the entrance, Skull took a look at Ann's outfit. "Damn, you really look good in that. Maybe we can somehow work that into your code name." Ann blinked. "Code name?" Joker nodded. "Mine is Joker, he's Skull, she's Church, and that's Mona." "It's a precaution we take," Mona explained, "Saying our real names while in the Palace could have unforeseen consequences."
Skull looked at Ann. "Given how cat-like your costume looks... Maybe something feline themed?" Ann thought about it. "How about... Panther? That sounds ferocious, yet also graceful. Kinda like myself." Her friends looked at each other. "You gotta admit it fits her like a glove," Church said matter-of-factly. Joker nodded. "Panther it is." Panther smiled. "Sweet. So, now we have to secure our route to the Treasure, right?" "Yep," Mona replied, "It's game time from this point forward." Just then, the group heard a young woman coughing.
Joker was shocked to see Lavenza standing there in front of a blue cell door. "Huh?," Mona said in shock, "Lavenza, what are you doing here?" "My master wishes to speak with Joker about something important," Lavenza explained,. She handed Joker a key. "Take this, and please follow me." As Joker nodded and walked through the door, Panther asked, "Is that someone you know Mona?" Mona nodded. "She's a denizen of the Velvet Room, a pocket realm that exists between reality and dreams. Anyone who has a Persona may enter, but it seems like Igor wishes to speak with Joker specifically."
Akira now stood inside the cell in the Velvet Room. "It is good to see you again," Igor said, "I apologize for the abruptness of this, but I just realized I had gone far too long without explaining Lavenza's role. You have already found the means to free Personas to return to their other selfs, courtesy of the power I have awakened within you. However, there are some Personas that have been... Undone, for lack of a better term." "It is due to the mental shutdowns going on in your world," Lavenza said, "Whoever is behind it has received instructions on how to disconnect people from their true emotions."
"And that's where Lavenza comes in," Igor said gleefully, "There is a process that exists called Fusion. You are already aware that the Wild Card let's you take the connections you have made, and sever them temporarily. When done here in the Velvet Room, Lavenza can take the residual metaphysical energy, and forge a new connection. Normally the task of Fusion falls to me, but my energies are spent simply keeping unwanted visitors out, as well as keeping an open channel to my master for the purpose of reconnecting the Personas you free or restore to their other selves."
"Allow me offer a demonstration," Lavenza said, "Right now, it is possible to fuse the Persona Saki Mitama. This is an important one, as that is the Persona of Suzui-san." Akira gasped. "But why would the person behind all this target her?" Lavenza shrugged. "Who am I to know? It does seem like a rather foolish decision. Regardless, please hand me the masks for Bicorn and Jack-o'-Lantern." Akira did so, and the two masks turned into phantasmal versions of the Personas in question. Willingly, they walked over to a pair of Versailles-style guillotines.
The Personas seemed almost calm as Lavenza threw a pair of cloaks over them. Once they were in position, Lavenza let the blades drop. The resulting blue and black energies erupted from the severed connections, reforming into a golden magatama with the pointed end facing downward, a gentle face on its widest part. "Thank you for restoring me. I'm sure my other self can now recover and tell of her plight. May your pathway be filled with great fortune." The Persona left a mask before disappearing.
Igor clapped his hands in delight. "Well done. Now your Rehabilitation has made an important leap forward. You may even use Lavenza's skills to forge stronger connections. That is your gift as a holder of the Wild Card, that you can shuffle around the Personas you have a connection to as necessary in order to become stronger and overcome greater hardships. In addition, I will unlock a power that you will find most useful. It will give you the ability to see the world through a thief's trained eye, allowing you to pinpoint valuables and hidden paths."
Fool Rank 2-Third Eye unlocked
"Is there anything else you require before you return to your heist?," Lavenza asked. Akira looked through the options he had, and choose another Fusion. This time, he sacrificed the masks for Mandrake and Pixie, allowing Lavenza to restore Genbu, a giant turtle with tusks that had a serpentine dragon for a tail. He was then able to sacrifice his two new masks, Saki Mitama and Genbu, to create Kushi Mitama, a brown magatama with the pointed end facing upward, a cocky grin on its wide part. Now satisfied, Akira returned to the Palace.
"Welcome back," Skull said as Joker emerged from the cell door, "Mona was just briefing us on the Velvet Room." "Right now," Mona said, "The Velvet Room is in a bad state. It's in danger of being merged with Mementos, the source of all these distortions. Igor is strong though. He can keep the merging at bay for as long as it takes us to reach the very depths of Mementos. Though imagine if the one behind Mementos had caught him off-guard. Anyway, we can deal with Mementos once you guys are no longer at risk of expulsion. Let's focus on Kamoshida for now."
He put his hands on his hips. "First off, there's a fun little thing we can do that will make our infiltration much easier. Remember the Safe Room we reached before needing to bail out Panther? Well, now it's marked on your Navigation App. Just click on it, and we'll be rushed straight there, bypassing both guards and any security that doesn't require disabling. That doesn't mean we shouldn't look for shortcuts whenever possible, however. Once we've stolen the Treasure, this Palace will crumble, and the Navigation App will be blocked. Which means the less ground we need to cover when escaping, the better."
"Okay," Joker said, "Let's start by heading for the last Safe Room we reached." As they headed to the Safe Room, Joker was able to use his new sixth sense to detect and swipe a few valuable items. Inside, Skull and Church checked out the haul. "Man, these might not be the Treasure we're seeking," Skull noted, "But I bet when we take them back to the real world, we can pawn them off for some quick cash." "It is a good idea to supplement our major heists with some light burglary," Mona agreed, "Especially since there will be no evidence of our actions here."
"Oh yeah," Panther said, "You said once the Palace disappears, any evidence of us being here will disappear with it." Church grinned. "Me and Joker know a good airsoft shop willing to double as a pawn shop. The items themselves are worthless to him, but he can make use of the materials they're made from." Once they rested, they headed through an earlier door they hadn't yet reached. Joker spotted a guard just beyond it, and ambushed it. The Shadow had the appearance of a young woman wearing a medieval maid from England or Scotland, with a brown dress and skirt, and a kerchief on her head. A Troublesome Maid.
Panther's Fire skills proved effective, and Joker was able to free the Persona Silky. Another guard further into the dining room had the appearance of a blue imp stuck inside on ornate vase. This one was an Apprentice in a Jug. From it, Joker freed the Persona Agathion. As the band continued through the halls, Mona noticed the Shadows were being replaced by humanoid creatures that still fit the Shadow names forced onto the Personas they freed. "This is really is like one of those tokusatsu Church mentioned," he muttered, "Putting us in the role of superheroes. Still, that's not a bad thing."
At the top of a spiral staircase, Church noticed another guard. "This one's got its back to us," she said, "I think we can ambush it from here." Mona took a look, and smiled when he saw all the seat cushions scattered across the hallway. "Actually, let's do a little more than that. This area provides a great opportunity to teach one of the more stylish phantom thief moves. First off, if you choose to use a place as cover, then it'll act as the perfect cover, allowing us to literally blend into the darkness. Shadows won't notice you even if they're right on top of you."
"That's useful," Panther said. Mona nodded. "Even better, from that vantage point you can easily ambush any guard, even from the front. Just leap out of the darkness when they least expect it, and BAM!" Skull chuckled. "Oh-ho, I like the sound of that. Let's give it a try." As instructed, Joker easily slipped into the shadow of the nearest cushion, swiftly moving from cover to cover. Right as the guard turned around, Joker leaped out and pulled off the guard's mask. This revealed a sickly green horse with bullrushes for a main whose hind legs were replaced by seaweed. A Mad Marsh Horse.
The Shadow proved weak to Electric skills, however, and Joker was able to free the Persona Kelpie. Afterward, they reached a large room with a central area cordoned off by bars. "Interesting," Mona noted, "Anything protected by such security has got to be important." Joker focused on his sixth sense, and spotted some footprints on the ground leading to a wall decoration with a ring hanging from a chain. He pulled on it, and the group heard a mechanism click. "That did something," Panther noted, "But those bars are still down." "Not for long," Joker said, as he followed another group of footprints to a second decoration.
When he pulled on this one, the bars moved up. Behind them was a large table with a map on it. As they looked at it, Skull noticed something. "This looks like a map for the castle. But it seems incomplete. It only shows a few floors." "The Treasure is likely to be in the deepest part of the Palace," Mona noted, "If this map is incomplete, there might be another map elsewhere that shows more." They hurried through until reached the upper terrace of the great hall. There were still some guards patrolling below, but Mona snickered. "These guys never look up. We should be safe up here."
"Yeah, but the door over there is locked," Church noted, "How are we moving on?" Joker noted how close the chandeliers were to each other and grinned. "We take the thieves' highway." He quickly leaped up and across the chandeliers, the others following suit. Soon enough they were on the side. Skull looked out a nearby window. "Hey, this window leads out to the Palace entrance, and there's a way for us to get up and down from here." The others looked to see he was right. "Excellent," Joker noted, "This will make a great shortcut."
Inside the next room, they found a door leading to a Safe Room and decided to take a quick rest. "Well," Mona said, "We're barely into this Palace, but at the same time we're doing pretty good." "I have something important to ask," Panther said, "You said that if the guards catch sight of us it'll raise the security level. But you guys have been ambushed up until now. Why didn't that raise the security level?" "The reason the security level rises is because Kamoshida is becoming more aware of our location in his Palace," Mona explained, "But when a guard ambushes us, Kamoshida thinks the guard has the situation under control and won't take notice of us, thinking we're as good as dealt with."
Panther nodded. "That makes sense." They left the Safe Room and headed through the other door in the room. "There seem to be more Shadows up ahead," Mona noted, "We should take note of their strength." "I can see a colored outline when I focus," Joker said, "The red ones are somewhat stronger, blue are around our strength, and yellow are weaker." "We keep hitting Shadows where they're weak and even red ones will go down easy," Skull said with a smirk. They soon reach a kitchen with a locked door, but Joker noticed the shelves could be climbed. At the top, they noticed a vent they could crawl through.
"And no looking behind you," Panther warned to the guys, causing Church to snicker. On the other end, they saw a guard watching over a treasure chest. Since the guard didn't see them, Joker was able to ambush it easily. Once the Shadow received a good beating, it dropped to its knees. "Wait... Wait... Please, spare me and I'll give you whatever you want." "Some extra cash would be nice," Joker said, "Assuming you have any." The Shadow nodded vigorously and dropped all the yen it had, before scurrying off. "Wow," Panther said, "I guess even Shadows can beg for their lives."
"They are the manifestation of human emotions," Mona noted, "When push comes to shove, and they're backed into a corner, it's very possible for them to plead. Anyway, let's empty that chest and move on." The hallway they found themselves in had the other side of the locked door earlier, the padlock used being very visible. "Here's where Mona's knowledge of tools comes into play," Joker quipped as he took out one of the lockpicks he crafted. It worked like a charm on the padlock, given them an easier path. Just ahead, they found a new Safe Room.
Skull stretched out as he sat down. "We're not doing too bad. The Shadows down here seem rather easy." "That's true, but don't get cocky," Mona agreed, "The closer we get to the Treasure, the stronger the Shadows will become. Still, it's good we're saving our strength for the real fights we'll be encountering." As they continued through the Palace, Joker found a book called "The Slave Book" in a side room. The other in the hallway lead to a series of hallways with one door sealed behind bars. There was a decoration meant to undo the seal, but Mona took a look at it.
"This indentation beneath it," he noted, "I think we need to place something inside it before we can use this." The other doors in the area had two more books that looked important, "The Queen Book", and "The King Book". The gang of thieves soon found themselves inside a large library. "Now this is interesting," Mona said, "Such a large library is bound to have a secret or two. Let's have a look around." Soon enough, Church and Panther spotted a place on the bookshelves where it looked like a book was missing. Panther frowned when she read the titles. "Geez... These are books regarding the female volleyball team members. Ugh... And he's also got one on me."
Joker took note the missing space, then got an idea. "I think the books we've picked up may go in here." He got out The Queen Book and inserted it into the slot. "Hey," Skull called out, "Take a look at this shelf. There's another book missing, and all the titles refer to the male volleyball team members. Not at all flattering, especially the one he has for me." Joker nodded and inserted The Slave Book. He walked over to another shelf with a missing book. "This one has books glorifying Kamoshida and his accomplishments," he noted. He got out the final book, The King Book, and inserted it into the slot. That caused a portion of the book shelves to slide away.
However, the scene inside was not pretty. There was another wooden St. Andrew's Cross, as well as other torture implements. And on the walls were various photographs, all of them of Shiho. "Shit...," Panther muttered. "You gonna be okay?," Joker asked, concerned. "I'll be fine," Panther said, "But this place just makes me hate Kamoshida even more." Mona looked around. "I know it's tough, Panther, but we should take a look around this place. If they took the time to hide this room, it must hold something important." Sure enough, Church found a round medal and another map on one of the shelves.
"This looks important," she noted, "I think it matches the indentation from the sealed door." "And this map has the rest of the Palace's layout," Panther said. She pointed to one room. "Look here, this tower. That seems to be the deepest part of the Palace." "Then that's where we'll find the Treasure," Mona said with a smile, "Come on, let's get moving." As Church thought, the medal allowed the thieves to open the sealed door. Down the now open hallway was another Safe Room.
Panther took the time to stretch a little, causing Joker to blush and Mona to start emitting valentines. "Snap out of it," Church said curtly, causing both of them to shake their heads, Mona's being more comical. "Man," Panther said as she sat down, "I don't know how long we've been walking, but it still feels like I haven't run out of energy." "It's probably because we've been walking in short bursts," Skull noted, "Our leg muscles have more time to rest in between runs. Anyway, how close do you think we are to the Treasure?"
"Judging from the maps we found," Mona said, "I'd said about halfway there, give or take. We keep up this pace, and we should be able to reach the Treasure by the end of the day." They headed out and reached what appeared to be a chapel of sorts, with a big statue of Kamoshida at the far end. As they looked, the chapel seemed to the gym back at the academy. "So this is the gym at school?," Panther asked. Skull frowned. "Makes sense. Kamoshida is the PE teacher and an athlete, so the gym would be like a holy place for him, where he reigns like a god."
Joker scoffed. "Well we'll soon show him that he's one god who's not above reproach. Let's take a look around, but be careful. This place is way too out in the open." Sure enough, at the far of the chapel, a guard captain suddenly appeared. "I thought it would be a good idea to wait in His Majesty's sacred chapel. And sure enough, my patience has been rewarded. Now I shall teach you thieves what it means to defy King Kamoshida." And with that, he erupted into an armored warrior carrying a short sword and sporting angel wings.
He began to charge energy into his sword. "Skull, watch it!," Joker called out. Skull quickly put his guard up, shocking the captain as he blocked the massive strike with his club. As he pushed the Shadow away from him, Church moved in and delivered a sharp blow. As the captain was reeling, Church nailed it with her minigun. "He's down! Let's finish it!" The thieves struck as one, bombarding the captain. Church took a graceful landing before straitening up and adjusting her hat, flashing a smirk. "DON'T BE SO COCKY!"
The captain's defeat caused a few more guards to appear, but the band was able to use the environment well and took the guards down one-by-one. Once the chapel was clear, Joker noticed a path leading along the rafters of the chapel. "This way," he said, leading the others across the upper paths. Making their way through the next hallway, and encountering a few guards, the path split. First Joker led the group south, where they unlocked a door that led back to the chapel, allowing another possible shortcut.
The other path led them to the roof of the castle, were they spotted the tower they were looking for. However, there were also several guards patrolling. "Well," Mona said, "We are getting closer to the Treasure. It makes sense the security would be beefed up around here. Let's just take it slow and deal with those guards one at a time." The first guard Joker ambushed turned into a armor-clad knight astride a brown horse and carrying a trident. A Brutal Cavalryman.
Luckily, with Silky's help Joker was able to down the Shadow and free the Persona Berith. Once the entire courtyard was clear, the group looked at the tower. "Front door is bound to be locked," Joker noted, "But I think I can see a way up the roof." He carefully and skillfully leaped across the various ledges, followed by his friends, until they reached a window they could climb in. The inside looked like a disaster area, whole chunks of the terrain defying gravity, or being too heavily affected by it. "Looks like the distortions are getting worse in this area," Mona noted, "We're closing in on the Treasure now. Keep sharp, people."
The terrain was tough to navigate, but they soon reached an elevator heading down to the lower floors. However, the columns were in the shape of female bodies, minus the heads or limbs, and dressed in over-sexualized volleyball uniforms. Still, they were able to head down. As they did, they ran into a guard coming up from a lower floor on another elevator. Joker took advantage of the confusion and ripped off the guard's mask. The Shadow revealed was an attractive female wearing a unitard and sporting bat-like wings. "That's a Twilight Prostitute," Mona noted. Joker was able to down the Shadow with gunfire, and afterwards successfully free the Persona Succubus.
The far end of the hallway had a gaudy picture of Kamoshida in an overly muscular state. Joker's sensed something behind it, however, and pushed on the edge to reveal it could swivel around, leading the group back to the grand hall. "Now this is a shortcut," Skull said. On either side of the staircase were chain switches that unsealed the paths to the second floor, especially the side that led out to the entrance. They then headed back up to the tower. The tower held several more guards, including one that was identical to the guard captain they fought back in the chapel, referred to as a Heavenly Punisher.
It proved weak against Skull however, allowing the Persona Archangel to be freed. Another looked like a muscular man in a leotard, with bird wings and an owl head. This was a Menacing Owlman. "I'm starting to think these Shadows have no imagination when it comes to names," Church noted. Still, Joker was able to free the Persona Andras from this Shadow. Before long, the thieves found a new Safe Room inside the tower. "Almost there you guys," Mona said, "The Treasure's so close I practically taste it. Plus, it feels as if we've freed all the Personas possible from this location, weakening Kamoshida's security force significantly."
"But we still encounter Shadows in here," Church noted, "I get the feeling there's more to them than we know." "You're right," Mona said with a nod, "I would have thought the Shadows would copy and paste the form of any Persona we freed, but instead they use different forms. Perhaps those are the forms they always had. It's possible they may be the Shadows of those connected to whatever allowed Mementos to form. Either way, it's something we can ponder later." Outside the Safe Room, Joker unlocked a door that could only be opened from that side, making one last shortcut.
The group then approached the edge of the tower, seeing a set of stairs rise up from the ground. They kept going through the tower until they reached the upper part. The distortions kept them from circling around the edge, and the walkway through the center had a swinging scythe trap. "It'd be too risky trying to time those blades," Mona noted. "Here's the mechanism for the trap," Church said, noting another bust of Kamoshida, "But it doesn't seem to work. Looks like the eyes are missing, too."
"They might be keys needed to activate the mechanism," Joker said, rubbing his chin, "But up until now we've explored the entire castle. Best guess, the keys are in the hands of the guards." "Astute observation," Mona agreed, "But I doubt we have to go back through the entire Palace to find them. The keys are for this tower, meaning they'll likely be nearby. Also, it's guaranteed they'll be entrusted to captains." "Alright then," Panther said, "Let's head back to the lower floors of the tower and see if any show up."
Sure enough, the first captain was already right there on the previous floor, talking with another guard. "We have reason to believe the thieves vexing King Kamoshida have reached the tower." "We have all forces on the lookout, captain," the guard replied, "But sadly all we've found is scattered armor. Those thieves are as dangerous as they are elusive." The captain shook his head. "His Majesty will not be pleased to hear this. Me and some of the other captains will join in the patrol. We must eliminate these thieves at once." The captain turned his back, only to get ambushed by Joker.
It turned to be a Shadow identical to the one from Ryuji's Awakening. However, it seemed to possess a weakness to Electric skills, making it easy to take down. From it, Joker picked up the plastic eyeball labelled as the "Randy Right Eye". "Ugh... Can Kamoshida be more perverted?," Church complained, "Well, at least we got one of the keys." Down one more floor, there were three more captains patrolling. "Only one of them has the key we need," Joker noted, focusing his sixth sense. With it, he could see the farthest one shimmering gold.
After sneaking over to it and ambushing it, revealing a Shadow identical to the previous one, the group defeated the captain to obtain the "Lustful Left Eye". With both keys, the thieves returned to the scythe trap and inserted the keys into the statue, pulling on the jaw to stop the trap. This allowed them to move up to the next floor. However, the staircase here seemed to be stuck. "Insolent fools," came the voice of a guard captain who appeared behind him, "Did you truly believe the way forward would simply appear on your whim?"
"Looks like one more captain wants to pick a fight," Skull noted, tapping his club against his palm. The captain scoffed. "Your insolence shall be punished. This is the price for defying King Kamoshida." And with that, he erupted into a most bizarre creature. It looked half-formed, only being a mass of goo that was somewhat phallic-shaped. "Ew," Panther said in disgust, "What sort of thing is this?" "I'm not even sure," Mona noted, "It doesn't look like any of the Personas I'm aware of. Still, it's guarding the way forward, so we need to deal with it."
Luckily, the strange Shadow spent far too much time staring at Panther, giving the team ample time to attack. Mona got in a good hit with his short sword, which he followed up with his slingshot, getting a critical. "This'll end it!" The group struck the Shadow with an All-Out attack. As Mona dropped, he landed in an archetypal evil mastermind chair and had a cigar in his hand, a devious grin on his face. "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!" Joker smirked. "If that was the price we pay, I'd say we got a discount." "Cheesy," Church noted, "But appropriate given the context."
With the guard captain defeated, the stairs leading upward were unlocked. The following hallway led past a pair of giant doors to another Safe Room. "This is it, you guys," Mona said, "We're practically right on top of the Treasure." "No doubt through those giant doors we passed," Skull noted, "What do you think's through there anyway?" Panther shrugged. "No idea, but it's a relief that we're almost done here. I can't believe we've made it all the way to the finish line in only one day." Mona nodded. "I admit I was a bit concerned, considering you're all amateurs. But you pick things up quick. I'm impressed."
As the group approached the doors, Joker noted something. "The map indicates this is the throne room, right? In that case, it might not be a wise idea to go barging in there." "Good point," Church agreed, "You think there's another way in there?" Joker looked around and spotted an open vent atop a female-shaped statue like the ones on the elevator. Panther frowned. "Do we really need to climb up the butt statue?" "Suck it up, Panther," Skull said, "Joker's right, confronting the king before we've even secured the Treasure is a bad idea"
They hurried up and found themselves on a terrace overlooking the throne room. Below, Kamoshida was angrily addressing his guards. "How is it that the best of my royal guard cannot find a ragtag group of miscreants!?" The guards were silent, as if knowing their king's question was rhetorical, or at least that he would suffer no excuses. This at least seemed to diminish Kamoshida's wrath, but it was clear he was still livid. "I want every patrol to be doubled. Every second these thieves continue to traipse about my castle is another second my anger grows." The guards saluted with their swords and hurried out.
Skull grinned. "Bastard doesn't even know we're right know we're right above him," he whispered as quietly as he could. Mona snickered. "Come on. The Treasure should be just ahead." Behind the throne room was a set of heavy wooden doors. "This looks promising," Skull said, and he and Joker pushed them open slowly. Sure enough, the room looked to be some sort of treasure storage, various gold coins, gilded statues with jewels, and other such trinkets scattered around.
"These must represent awards Kamoshida's won for his athletic prowess," Church noted. "Most likely," Skull agreed, "He's still in his prime, after all. And looks like I was right. This has got to be where the Treasure is." Panther regarded a rainbow-colored cloud floating in the air. "That's what we're looking for," Mona said. The others looked confused. "Wait," Joker said, "How can this cloud be the Treasure?" "Simple," Mona replied, "Don't forget the Treasure represent Kamoshida's distorted desires. And desires have no physical form. So, we need to change Kamoshida's cognition, and make him realize his desires are a treasure worth stealing."
"Oh, I see," Church realized, "We need to force the Treasure to materialize. So, how do we do that?" Mona grinned. "That's the fun part. We warn him. We send him a message telling him we're going to steal his heart away." Skull got up from his leaning position excitedly. "You mean we're gonna send him a calling card? Aw, that's totally something a phantom thief would do." "Told you it'd be fun," Mona said, "Anyway, now that our infiltration is secure, we should return to reality. I'll explain more there."
Infiltration Log:
o Infiltrated the castle
o Found a Safe Room
o Infiltrated West Building 2F
o Obtained the Old Castle Map
o Found a path on the chandeliers
o Found a Safe Room
o Infiltrated East Building 2F
o Infiltrated East Building 3F
o Found a Safe Room
o Solved the Library Mystery
o Infiltrated East Building Annex
o Found a Safe Room
o Infiltrated the Chapel
o Infiltrated the Central Tower
o Found a Safe Room
o Stopped the Scythes
o Infiltrated the Throne Room
o Found a Safe Room
o Infiltrated the Treasure Room
o Secured a Route to the Treasure
April 25
The next day, the crew was ready to send their calling card. "Here's a few things to note," Morgana said, "Since the card is meant to expose Kamoshida's desires, it's better if he's not the only one to see it." "Best way to do that is to make multiple copies," Ann suggested, "We can have them posted on all the bulletin boards before school starts." Morgana nodded. "That sounds good. Also, once we deliver the calling card, we'll have one day to swipe the Treasure. The effect of a calling card doesn't last long. And once it's gone, it can't be repeated."
"Leave it to me," Ryuji said, grinning, "I'll make sure to make a card that'll really drive home the message." "I'll be sure to assist," Nana offered, "That way our work will look professional and not be written off as a prank by anyone whose name is not Suguru Kamoshida." "You don't think I can do a good job?," Ryuji asked dejectedly. "I think you can do well enough to convince Kamoshida, since the card is directed at him," Nana explained, "But if the card is sloppy, someone may suspect our involvement. Especially you and Akira, since you agitated Kamoshida a few days ago."
Ryuji nodded. "Okay, got it. Kamoshida may still get a little suspicious of us, but since he's the target it shouldn't matter." Nana smiled. "Excellent. Plus this will give me some practice regarding designing business cards." As the others left, Ryuji and Nana got to work. "Start by making a rough sketch of what you want the logo to look like," Nana explained, "I'll work off that." Ryuji drew out a top hat atop a set of sinister eyes and grin, the words "Take Your Heart" written underneath. Nana looked at it. "A bit lacking, but it definitely gives me something to work with. Next, write out a basic idea of what you want the message to say. I'll see if I can't make it more eloquent."
"No problem," Ryuji said, "I got a ton of stuff I want to get off my chest." By the time he was done, Nana had touched up the logo. The hat looked far more crisp and shadowed. The grin was gone, and the eyes were replaced with a domino mask. The image was tilted to the left of the reader, a small flame coming out of the eye in the foreground. The "Take Your Heart" phrase was still there, but was now more stylized. Nana finished improving Ryuji's message, and they both had to admit it sounded good. "Now the final step," Nana said as she got out some old magazines. "In order to disguise our involvement as much as possible, we write this message out ransom style."
April 26
The next day, Ann found the entire school abuzz. Nana and Ryuji had been busy, and had made dozens of cards. The students were talking about it excitedly. Ann had to admit the design of the logo looked cool. She then read out the message. "'To Suguru Kamoshida, the royal king of lust. You have committed terrible acts of abuse against those you teach knowing they can't fight back, holding boys to standards far too difficult to achieve in a short time, and using girls as objects to sate your libido. Therefore, we have chosen to steal away your distorted desires and make you admit to your crimes with your own mouth. Be ready for us tomorrow and no later. Signed, The Phantoms.'"
Ann smiled. Nana certainly knew how to make things poetic. She walked over to where the others were standing. "Not bad, right?," Ryuji said, "Nana really took what I said and made it sound tons better. Gotta admit, the message I wrote did make it obvious that it was my speech pattern." "It's certainly got the school buzzing," Ann agreed. Akira smiled. "And here comes the real test of it's effectiveness." Kamoshida stormed up to the bulletin board, looking absolutely livid. "Who's responsible for this!? I want answers!" Morgana smirked. "A typical reaction for someone who knows what we mean by distorted desires."
Nana smiled. "Seems to have really driven the point home." Kamoshida's outburst as he angrily demanded to know who sent the cards caused the students to disperse. Kamoshida then stormed past the group, glaring at Ryuji and Akira. "Did either of you do this!? Ah, not that if matters if you did, since you'll be expelled soon enough anyway!" As the group looked at him, suddenly they found themselves in a black void, Kamoshida replaced by his Shadow self. "Come... Steal it, if you can!" At that moment, Akira looked at his phone, and saw the security level for the Palace jump all the way up 99%.
Once Kamoshida was gone, Morgana again emerged from Akira's bag. "Judging from his response, that card had a definite effect on the Palace." "But why sign the card with 'The Phantoms'?," Ann asked. "I called Akira as we were finishing up," Nana explained, "I wanted to know who we should say is going after Kamoshida. He simply said, 'The Phantoms'." "I'll explain later," Akira said, "Right now we have to nab that Treasure. After all, we only have today to pull off this heist." And with that, the group headed to the Metaverse.
Inside the Metaverse, the atmosphere around the Palace changed. The sky was bright red, a sign for danger. The large full moon set the perfect scene as the five thieves smirked. "Looks like they're waiting for us," Joker said, "Too bad, they'll never see us coming." They used the quick travel to speed through the Palace via the route they established. Up the boxes to the second floor window, down the grand hall staircase to the secret door in the painting, up the elevator to the tower and through the door near it, and up to where the throne room was. However, they were suspicious of the suddenly open doors leading to the throne room.
"No guards and no Kamoshida," Skull noted, "This doesn't sit well with me. We'd better make this heist quick." Inside the treasure room, the cloud that had been there before had turned into a massive ornamental crown laden with jewelry. "It's huge," Church said, "And kinda gaudy. Still, if this is the source of Kamoshida's desires, it's our duty to steal it away from him." "Uh guys," Skull said, "Mona's acting kinda weird." "T-Treasure...," Mona muttered, before leaping onto the crown and actually meowing like a real cat.
"Mona, that is not catnip!," Joker called out. "Don't make us get out the spray bottle!," Panther said. Mona looked at them before a second before realizing what he was doing, and jumped back to the ground. "Ah... Forgive me for displaying such an insolent sight in front of a lady..." Panther looked embarrassed, while Church got indignant. "What am I, chopped liver?" "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to insult you Church," Mona replied. "What was that anyway?," Skull asked.
Mona sighed. "I couldn't stop myself. Don't forget I was made from human hopes, and all hopes stem from desire. Thus, whenever I get close to a strong desire, even a distorted one, I go absolutely crazy." Akira sighed in frustration. "I hope you don't make this into too big a habit. Anyway, let's carry this thing outta here." The crown was so big it needed all four human thieves to carry it. "I still can't believe it's gone so well," Mona said, "I even found four Persona users quickly, one of them possessing the Wild Card. Now I know this partnership can work." Joker smiled as he felt his connection to Mona deepen.
Magician Rank 2-Baton Pass unlocked
Unfortunately, as the group was walking out, they heard a disturbingly cheerful voice calling out, "Go, go! Let's go! Ka-Mo-Shida!" Kamoshida launched a volleyball spike that knocked the crown from their hands and sent it rolling. Kamoshida leapt over the group and picked up the crown as it shrank to a more manageable size. "I won't let anyone take this crown! It is the core of my castle, the proof that I am king!" Panther glared at the sight of the cognitive version of her practically glomping Kamoshida.
Skull sneered. "Waiting around to ambush us, huh? Guess you just made it easier for us to find you." Kamoshida smirked. "You took the words right outta my mouth. Now I can dispose of you personally." Church just shook her head. "I really don't understand you, y'know? You were doing great by the school, given a chance to pass on what you've obtained to others. I'm sure the members of the volleyball team were eager to learn from a real gold medalist. Trouble was, you took it too far, for reasons I just can't fathom. To make matters worse, you take advantage of the teachers and parents turning a blind eye and started sexually harassing your female students, even driving poor Shiho to attempt suicide."
Panther chuckled. "Yeah, it's true... All of us were idiots for letting things get as far as they did." She pointed to Kamoshida. "But that doesn't excuse the actions you've taken. People don't need your permission to live their lives!" Kamoshida growled. "Don't give me that garbage! There's nothing wrong in using my gifts for my gain! I'm a cut above all other humans!" "I'll give you that first argument," Joker admitted, "But you just take and take without giving. And that negates your second argument. You're not above other humans, you're beneath them. You're just a demon abusing your power to fulfill your distorted desires."
Suddenly, the same red and black ooze from before seemed to up around Kamoshida as he chuckled. It wound up changing him into a large creature. It was a horned humanoid, with light purple skin, and four arms. His face looked like some kind of cartoon demon, and his tongue was disturbingly long. His left hands held a riding crop and golden fork. His right hands held a golden knife and a glass of wine with the cognitive Ann swimming inside it. In front of him was a dinner platter and two lit candles, the platter holding a trophy with several female lower bodies sticking out of it. Chained around him were a few figures in iron helmets. The crown that was their target was sitting on his head.
Kamoshida was now cackling madly. "I am the demon that rules this world! And I'm allowed to do whatever the hell I want!" "We'll see about that," Joker said, "Let's finish this!" Mona then spotted the crown. "He's still got the Treasure we're after! Looks like we'll have to beat him to take it back!" The group started hitting Kamoshida with every tool they had. It did decent damage, but it didn't look like he had any outstanding weakness. Kamoshida tried to retaliate with the slaves he had chained up, but they did little damage after all the thieves had been through.
After a particularly brutal blast from Skull's shotgun, Kamoshida looked winded. "Argh! I need healing!" To the thieves surprise, he dug his utensils into the trophy and ate one the female figures, restoring his health. "We'll never get anywhere as long as he can do that," Mona noted, "But maybe we can stop it by getting rid of the trophy." Joker smiled as he used Andras to weaken the trophy's defense. Then the others tarted unloading their ammo into the trophy. "Hey!," Kamoshida said angrily, "Don't touch that! It's worth more than you realize!"
Joker smirked. "Maybe to you. But to us..." He pointed his gun at it. "It's just another obstacle." He pulled the trigger, destroying the trophy and leaving Kamoshida downed. "No... This is from when I won the nationals..." But he didn't have much time to pout, as the thieves were now surrounding him, their guns drawn. He growled, "You think you can get away with doing such a thing!? Don't you know who I am!?" "Yeah," Joker said, "And it means nothing to us!" The thieves proved Joker's point by striking him from all angles.
"Damn it!," Kamoshida said as he recovered, "Just who do you bastards think you are!?" "We're getting nowhere with just brute force," Mona noted. Joker thought for a second. "Well, we came here for the Treasure. So why don't we go for that? It's right there on top of his head." "How are we supposed to get to it?," Church asked. Mona looked and saw the column near Kamoshida looked climbable and could easily let someone get above him. "We can use that to sneak up and grab it."
"Go for it Mona," Joker said, "We'll keep him busy down here." Mona nodded and started climbing up to the terrace. Church leapt at Kamoshida and delivered a few quick slashes with her broadsword. Then Skull fired a few shots from his shotgun, Panther following up with a blast from Carmen. Finally, Joker had Arsene rake his claws across Kamoshida's face. Kamoshida shook his head, then noticed something. "Wait... Isn't there one less of you?" He took a second look. "I knew it! One of you is missing!" Mona snickered from the top of the terrace. "It's already check and mate!"
Before Kamoshida could react, Mona leapt at him and successfully knocked the crown from his head. In a panic, Kamoshida dropped his tools and started flailing madly before dropping into a slump. "How... How can this be...? I'm supposed to be the king of this school... This school only exists because of me..." "This school's been here long before you," Panther said, "And it'll be here long after you." Joker walked up to Kamoshida and pointed his gun at the demon's forehead. "And now... We've stolen your lust." He fired, causing the demonic form to revert back to the normal Shadow Kamoshida.
Kamoshida was barely able to lift his upper body up. "Damn it... This is all because of those hyenas at the school... Wanting to bring more glory using the fame I'd developed from my time as an athlete... Forcing all their expectation on me..." He started crying. "I just... I just wanted to get something back from that..." Church shook her head. "You can play the victim all you want. But don't forget that you made victims out of innocent people with your actions. People who had nothing to do with the school board."
Panther sighed. "Seeing him like this right now... All my anger's turned to pity... I still can't forgive him for what he did to Shiho. But at the same time he was doing what he could to hold on to his former glory." Joker picked up the crown. "You should reflect on your actions. You were supposed to be an athlete who took to teaching, but somewhere along the line... It seems you lost sight of what that means." Kamoshida bowed his head. "You're right... I never should have taken it so far... I'll return to my other self... And repent for what I have done..." And with that, the Shadow vanished in a white light.
At that moment, the castle started to crumble. "We have to get moving," Mona said, "Now that the distortion is gone, this Palace is about to crumble." The group quickly hurried out the same way they took to get in. Once they reached the border of the distortion, they looked back to see the castle crumble away, leaving only the cognitive version of Shujin Academy. Instantly their clothes reverted back to normal, and several blobs were seen scurrying away from the area. 'The destination has been deleted,' came the response from the Navigation App. "Looks like it's mission complete," Akira said, "Let's get back to reality."
"Well," Morgana said, "Now we can't use Kamoshida's Palace to return to the Metaverse. With the Treasure gone, the Palace no longer exists." "Speaking of," Ryuji said, "What happened to the Treasure?" "It's right here," Akira said as he pulled out a gold medal from his pocket, "The crown turned into this once the Palace collapsed." Morgana nodded. "That makes sense. That medal is the source of Kamoshida's desires. To him, that medal is worth as much as the crown was."
"He was an Olympic gold medalist," Ryuji noted, "But that can't be the same medal he had, right? He still keeps all his old trophies at his house, and we've never been there. Not even in the Metaverse." "It's just a copy of the real one," Morgana reassured him, "But now that we've removed his desires, I doubt it'll mean the same to him anymore. Anyway, we should see some results immediately, but Kamoshida will likely need time to recover from our actions before he confesses. In fact, he should admit to everything on the very day he promised to have you expelled."
"Which should lead to him rescinding that decision," Akira said, "Looks like we're in the clear." Ryuji put his hands in his pockets. "Well, it's not a done deal until the board meeting, which in on May 2. Regardless, I'm beat. Dealing with battles inside the Metaverse really takes it out of a guy. Or girl." "We could all use some rest," Morgana said, "Let's get some sleep for the night. We should expect some idea of how this affected Kamoshida tomorrow." The group nodded and headed for home.
April 27
As Morgana expected, there was some evidence that Kamoshida had been deeply affected by the collapse of the Palace. For starters, he didn't seem to present at school. As Akira and Ryuji were discussing whether or not this could mean anything, they were approached by Sadayo. "Perfect timing. I'm letting you know PE is being replaced by study hall today. It seems Kamoshida-san decided to place himself under suspension for whatever reason. The principal tried to talk to him about it, but he just said he needed time to figure how he was going to apologize to the school. He also said to cancel your expulsion."
That got Ryuji's eyebrow raised. "I see... Well, thanks for letting us know." Sadayo nodded and walked off. "Well," Akira said, "At least we're no longer in trouble." Ryuji looked around. "And doesn't it seem like fewer and fewer people are talking about us and Ann? Looks like all our hard work is about to pay off." Akira nodded. "And bonus, it sounds like Kamoshida isn't suffering from a mental shutdown or psychotic breakdown. We may have just pulled this off." Ryuji nodded. "Well, we'll know for sure come the board meeting."
April 29
The last couple days of April seemed to pass by at a slow pace, which was fine for the group since they needed some de-stressing after the craziness of the Metaverse. The lesser valuables they had gotten sold for quite a good amount. Crushed shields, holey helmets, dull swords, nude candle stands, strange lanterns, as well as some pearls and a few pieces of onyx. The whole of it sold for a few thousand yen at the airsoft shop, the owner perfectly willing to take the materials off their hands. Ryuji and Akira took some of the cash and went to get ramen at Ogikubo.
"Ah! I just love the feel of this soup going down my throat!," Ryuji said with a satisfied grin. "I never knew ramen could taste so good," Akira agreed, "I think I'm in love." Ryuji nodded. "Yeah, this is the best! Ramen is life!" As they finished their bowls, Ryuji took some time to reminisce. "Y'know, me and the track team used to come out here all the time to hang out after practice. A light soup like this is perfect to re-energize your body after a long run..." "Explains why you love it so much," Akira noted, "Still thinking about the past?"
Ryuji shrugged. "I try not to, but I can't help it. I've seen Nakaoka around a few times, and it doesn't look like he's getting along with the others." Akira looked down. "That sounds rough. Are you worried about him?" "Kinda," Ryuji said with a shrug, "It just got me thinking about how all of us had to put with Kamoshida's bullshit." He sighed. "Thanks to one moment of weakness on my part, I effed up everything we were working for. Now the team doesn't even have any lockers to store their stuff, and can't use the gym for training."
He closed his eyes. "There's no place for outcast like among them. And to be honest, I wouldn't want them ending up like me to begin with." Akira snickered. "What are you talking about? You're doing great as an outcast." Ryuji blinked, then laughed. "Yeah, you're right. If I hadn't become an outcast, I wouldn't have met you and Nana. Nor would I have reconnected with Ann." He smiled. "I guess when you really think about it, trying to fit in is a real pain in the ass. I'm probably better off as an outcast." "That's the way to think," Akira said as he and Ryuji fist-bumped, their friendship growing stronger.
Chariot Rank 4-Punk Talk unlocked
"Seriously man, hanging out with this group has been a ton of fun," Ryuji said, "There's no way I'd stop now. I just wish I could help my old team out somehow. But I'd probably just eff it up again." "Depends on what sort of help they may need," Akira said, "I mean, if we get Kamoshida to change his heart, maybe we could find some way of helping the track team. Until then, we'll just have wait and see what develops." Ryuji nodded. "Yeah, if Kamoshida does cop to everything, it could relieve a ton of tension from the team." The two paid for their meal and headed back home.
April 30
As April came to a close, Akira decided it was about time to help Tae out with her clinic trials. The newly modified drug was still a bit overwhelming in the taste, and Akira had some trouble breathing. But rather than knock him out like it did last time, it merely had him feeling dazed. "This looks like a good reaction," Tae noted, "Now I'll need to check your temperature and blood pressure." Just then, a police officer barged into the office. "So you are here!," he said. Tae looked a little ticked. "And why wouldn't I be? This is my office. And in case you can't tell, I'm in the middle of an examination. May I remind you you do need a warrant before you can make any sort of investigation."
The officer scoffed. "I'm here because I received a report. I'll need to see full detailed statement regarding your medical expenses and records." He grinned smugly. "I'm guessing you didn't have the time to remove anything incriminating." His grin dropped when he saw Tae had all the papers he asked for already prepared. "I'm assuming the report came the Medical Chief of Staff? I always make sure my required documents are well sorted. And you'll note this kid is my only patient today."
The officer looked confused, causing Tae some amusement. "If you're wondering about his expenses, I'm guessing I'm under suspicion for improper billing? But without a receipt I'd say you're on a wild good chase. In short, you're being manipulated as a means of trying to get under my skin. That report is a false claim." The officer, as if desperate to get some dirt, asked Akira, "Hey, what are you in for anyway!?" "A bad heart," Akira said, "Dr. Takemi says it might stress due to college entrance exams. As you can imagine, it's a real problem for a high schooler like me."
Tae smiled. "Well, as you can plainly see, there's nothing illegal going on in this clinic. You'll note the documents I gave you shows he's been mostly buying relaxation medicine." Of course, neither Tae nor the officer knew such medicine proved effective in keeping the phantom thieves' spirit up to power their Personas, but there was no need to mention that. The officer growled, but moved to leave. "You're really infuriating, but I'd expect no less from the 'Plague'." That raised Akira's eyebrow.
Tae sighed in relief. "I am so over this." "I hear you," Akira said. That caused to smile a bit. "You know, Akira, I think we'll be getting along just fine. In case you were wondering, it was my former superior who made that false report." Akira nodded, remembering how he and Nana had overheard the conversation more than a week ago. "Sounds like he's pressuring you for something," he noted. "That's pretty much it," Tae said with a sigh, "And he's using the police to do it. Anyway, I'll also need to draw some blood to further the test results." Akira nodded, but he felt his bond with Tae deepen with this new information.
Death Rank 2
After the test was done, Akira headed back to the cafe and up to the attic. As he laid down in his bed, he looked over the journal he had been keeping at the request of Sojiro. He had even taken to writing down what was going on in the Metaverse, though it seemed Sojiro chose to dismiss that as Akira writing down his dreams. It seemed Sojiro was also willing to take action against Kamoshida if Akira hadn't already done so, since the details of the journal suggested to Sojiro that Kamoshida was planning on expelling Akira out of sheer spite. Akira smiled as he went. 'Looks like life will change, and big time.'
To be continued...
Long chapter is long. Seriously, was this a chapter or a novella? Anyway, I actually looked through some of the tropes for picaresque when trying to choose Nana's Persona. The character of Sabetha from the Gentleman Bastard series seemed to jump out at me, and it fit in perfect with the overall theme of Personas for this game. The thief outfit she has is meant to invoke the image of a smuggler, with motifs taken from games like Bloodborne, hence her Confidant ability (in-game, it would take a day to complete but halve the overall cost for the equipment). I also made sure to foreshadow a few things that Nana is going to wind up changing, such as her being in contact with Alibaba (those who have played or watched Persona 5 will know who I'm talking about). Also, for the sake of the story, I skipped over any scene that doesn't have dedicated voice acting, save for Confidant scenes. As for what saved Shiho, read Chapter 26 in Danganronpa: Anything OOO. Read and review.