Gods are beings of true power with incomprehensible goals and ideals to the mortal mind. They may interact with mortals however they desire. Inherently gods are prideful beings whether they want to admit it or not. This has led us to the present where two inherently prideful beings faceoff after the conclusion of the latest game of their bet. The game they play is neither one of sport or camaraderie but one of ideals. They play the game of fate on a chosen Wildcard and set them on a Journey to see if they can overcome their bestial human nature and become enlightened with both sides aiding and throwing obstacles in the other's way on route to completion of the current Journey. The latest Journey has concluded with both disputing the end of the Journey with neither one conceding their stance on the true winner of this Journey.
"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN THIS ENDS IN YOUR VICTORY I CLEARLY WON THIS!" shrieked a chorus of shrieking faces upon a formless entity of tentacles in a blank space of reality only reachable to the current occupants.
"It is as I say it is my victory because you have decided to cheat and swing this Journey into your favor." replied A Man with an eerie calm about him but a hint of aggression and hate in his tone and a glare on his pale face with a dangerous glint in his brown pupiless eyes hidden behind his mask with the left side consisting of that of a butterfly. Said man was wearing a suit with a black shirt and tie under his white blazer that complimented his white pants and black dress shoes and was wearing his jet black hair up in a ponytail with a perpetually gentle smile on his pale face with the smile currently not reaching his eyes.
"WE NEVER SET GROUND RULES IN OUR BET WHY SHOULD WE START NOW BESIDES IT'S YOUR FAULT FOR NOT NOTICING YOUR OWN CREATION GOING MISSING RIGHT FROM UNDER YOUR NOSE." The shambling mass of chaos chorused while facing down the masked deity in front of its form.
"That is the very point I am trying to make you dare interfere and not only kill but impersonate, my creation is not only a con in our bet but a personal attack I will not take lightly." The Masked Man argued with aggression filtering through his calm and serene voice.
"EVEN IF I DID CHEAT YOUR TRICKSTER STILL LOST IN THE END EVEN WHEN I STILL PROVIDED HIM WITH YOUR PERSONAS THAT YOU INSIST ON GIVING YOUR WILDCARDS." The Chorus of Voices moaned while the mass of chaos shifted threateningly towards the masked deity.
The Masked Man paused for a moment in thought and a moment later he came to a conclusion that resulted in his gentle smile reaching his eyes for the first time in the conversation with the mass of flesh and darkness in front of him. "I have the perfect idea to solve our current impasse Nyarlathotep." Intoned The Masked Man with a hint of mirth now present in his tone of speech. "We will start a new Journey with the same Wildcard since I believe he can reach the end of this Journey now that it will be free of your cheating ways. We shall put this Wildcard and a fellow past Wildcard of my choice together as insurance in a new world together and will be pitted against what you throw at them however, this time there would be none of your influence on the Velvet Room, or any of its attendants or residents. Other than that we may play this game as normal, oh and i'll let you have fun as you once did in Sumaru City with you influencing the world to help you achieve ruin upon my wildcards, but I shall have the ability to designate multiple wildcards in a single Journey along with the two I already have in mind, what do you say?"
The now named Nyarlethothep stopped it's advancement to the Masked Man and froze. "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA THAT HAS TO BE THE MOST ENTERTAINING THING YOU'VE PROPOSITIONED IN THIS BET OF OURS I CAN'T HELP BUT TAKE YOU UP ON YOUR OFFER PHILEMON. bellowed Nyarlathotep. "HOWEVER I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO CREATE MORE THAN THE TWO WILDCARDS YOU SPOKE OF AT FIRST, BUT TO BALANCE IT OUT I WILL ALLOW YOU TO HELP YOUR WILDCARDS IN ANY WAY YOU SEEM FIT THAT WOULDN'T MAKE THIS GAME BETWEEN US UNFAIR AND JUST BECAUSE YOU AMUSED ME SO I WILL EXTEND THE SAME COURTESY UPON YOU WITH MY INFLUENCE UPON THIS NEW WORLD." groaned Nyarlathotep and it's many voices akin to excitement among the chaos of its voice.
The now revealed Philemon smiled with him appearing to be pleased with how his resolution has solved his problem with his unfair defeat in this latest Journey. Philemon then answered, "I can accept those conditions, and now that we have solved our problem I will go and gather my wildcards in preparation for their new Journey at hand." With his piece said Philemon then did a flourish with his hands and brought them to his waist while he bowed to Nyarlathotep in front of him and disappeared from the once shared space between two battling deities in a bet on the perseverance and enlightenment of humanity.
The now alone Nyarlethothep existed in the empty space of reality and launched a cacophony of laughter from its many faces, "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA PHILEMON YOU FOOL YOU HAVE LEFT ME TO MOLD THIS NEW WORLD TO MY LIKING. DON'T WORRY THOUGH I LIKE MAKING THINGS INTERESTING I'LL MAKE THIS WORLD ON THE SURFACE ONE OF HEROICS AND RIGHTEOUSNESS BASED ON THE WORLD WE'VE BEEN USING BUT DON'T WORRY I'LL BE SURE TO BRAND THE UNDERBELLY OF THIS WORLD WITH MY OWN TASTE OF CHAOS AND DARKNESS. LET'S SEE HOW YOUR WILDCARDS WILL DEAL WITH THE MERGING OF THE GOOD AND BAD IN SOCIETY AND SEE IF THEY CAN EVEN SPOT THE LIGHT AT THE END TO THIS JOURNEY. AHAHAHAHAHAHA" Nyarlethothep continued it's torturous cackle of laughter as it shaped this new world on the structure of the old one and introduced the curveball it planed to throw into this Journey consisting of Quirks, Heroes, Villains, and Demons.
~~Line Skip~~
Akira Kurusu was an ordinary person. As ordinary as anyone else in the world. Goals for the future and a life ahead of him however, he was stuck as a pawn in a chess match between two gods with his future stripped away to play in this game of humanity between two otherworldly powers that he would have no hope of conceptualizing on his own with how they stole his future away from him. This has led to him having his future put in tatters with him gaining a criminal record in the hyper indoctrinated strictness that is his home country of Japan. This led him down a road of sorrow and pain where he would get abandoned by all he held dear from his friends at school to his own parents. This led him to being kicked out of his home and shipped off to Tokyo to do soul searching and amend for his crimes. When he arrived at his new home he was met with a crass and forward man who voiced his displeasure with being stuck with him for his school year. He would then meet his Homeroom Teacher and Principal and have a noose wrapped around his neck while at school to articulate that this is his last chance at redemption.
Akria looked at this year with bleak optimism of making it through the year as long as he kept his head down; however, that was never going to happen from the start since he was already on this forced ride of changed fate. He would come upon a world of Palaces, Demons, and the key to his future the power of Persona. He would live a life of power, skulduggery, and the ability to change the hearts of those who are menaces and criminals to society to help reform humanity.
Akira would meet those along his Journey that would help him get rid of the iredeemable in society and help find himself again after him burying his uniqueness in the storm that was his probation. This has culminated in Akira and his band of thieves finding the culprit of all the wrongdoing that has happened to him and caused him to start this Journey, the false god of humanity Yaldabaoth.
~~Line Skip~~
"THIS IS WHAT YOUR ENTIRE JOURNEY HAS ACCUMULATED TO TRICKSTER, YOU BEING LED TO RUIN AND BEING DEFEATED BY ME, THIS NEW PERSONA OF YOURS CHANGES LITTLE." boomed the static crackle of Yaldabaoth's voice emanating from his mouthless figure towering above the clouds and the collection of prone thieves among a platform with a Persona the same height of the false god adorned with a waist coat and a red sash with six strikingly beautiful pitch black bat wings staring back defiantly against the self proclaimed god with a gun whose barrel was as long as their bodies pointed at the false god. Among the group one figure stood above the rest a lanky teenager with curly hair with a butterfly mask with his clothing consisting of a black ankle length tailcoat, a high neck waistcoat with gold accents, black pants, and striking red figure was none other than the leader of the Phantom Theives that he commanded Akira or as his current alias as leader Joker
Joker was staring down the face of death with the collection of all his confidants' power and emotion behind him culminating into a single bullet loaded and ready to head straight for Yaldaboath. Joker stood with his gun pointed at the False God and uttered one word with the malice of the collective acclimation of emotions from humanity, "Begone." Then there was the sound of a large gun going off and serene silence as the bullet traveled towards Yaldabaoth.
The bullet passed through Yaldabaoth's head with his head becoming a clear window to the other side with his face becoming shredded because of the bullet traveling through. As the thieves sat in shocked silence they started to celebrate with them congratulating their leader Joker on ending that fake god of a tyrant.
The world then froze as it was chilled to the bone because of a familiar static voice coming back and voicing its displeasure. "DID YOU REALLY THINK YOU COULD RID OF ME THAT EASY OR DID YOU FORGET WHO GIFTED YOU WITH THE POWER OF PERSONA." Yaldaboth's head then reformed as if the bullet never happened to strike him. Before the thieves could recuperate Yaldabaoth then sprouted four arms each carrying an item which consisted of a bell, book, sword, and gun. He then gathered energy into said items and started to make a red and black ball of pure energy in front of his figure and spoke to the thieves, "I WAS THE ONE IN CONTROL OF THIS GAME ALL ALONG YOU HAD NO CHANCE BUT TO RUN HEADFIRST STRAIGHT INTO RUIN BROUGHT ABOUT BY MY HANDS. NOW I'LL PUT YOU IN YOUR PLACE AND ERADICATE YOU FROM THIS WORLD AND CONTROL THE COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUS OF HUMANITY FOR THE BETTER OF ITSELF. I WILL RULE WHERE NO FAMINE, WAR, OR DISEASE WILL JEOPARDIZE IT. BESIDES ME RULING OVER HUMANITY AND PROTECTING THEM IS WORTH THEIR FREEWILL BEING FORFEIT, NOW PHANTOM THIEVES DIE ALONG WITH YOUR PITIFUL IDEALS OF REBELLION AND SUCCUMB TO RUIN."
Joker watched on with unbridled fear as he saw his death fast approaching he looked around in a panic trying to get Satanael to shoot again but he was frozen in place staring straight at Joker with a blank look with fear shining through his Personas red eyes. Joker then began to panic and summon any Persona to get him out of this situation and stop Yaldaboath and save him and his band of thieves. As Joker was trying to summon his Personas he was distracted by the panicked screams of his downed teammates for him to save them. Joker began to hyperventilate in panic as none of his Personas answered his call; it was as if his Sea of Souls froze over with all his Personas stuck in his situation fearfully staring down death.
Yaldaboath released his attack and Joker felt unrivaled pain and anguish as his body began to tear and shred apart as the attack connected he was stuck taking the damage as he heard the anguished screams of his teammates around him. Tears leaked through Joker's eyes and immediately evaporated because of the energy surrounding him. While Joker was trying to voice his anguish through cries of pain and tears his eyes we're being gouged out from the cacophony of energy siphoning his life away and Joker began his strangled cries of help as his throat felt like it was slowly being torn open by a starving dog looking for food and found it's first meal via Jokers throat.
The last thing Joker thought of before his life was ended was to go back and stop his friends from sharing the same fate as him and to one day get revenge on this god for twisting the path of his faith down a road of depression, anguish, and ruin towards an undefeatable enemy along with the deaths of all the people he held dear and the enslavement of humanity. With that Akira's, Joker's, and The Phantom Thieves story came to an end with humanity becoming puppets to a false god and a group of thieves being forgotten to the world.
~~Line Skip~~
Akira woke with a start taking in his surroundings of a black empty void while trying to process how he's still alive after he clearly remembers dying to Yaldabaoth. Suddenly a voice rang out behind Akira which caused him to twist his floating body around to address the Masked Man speaking to him, "I can answer all your questions trickster. I am Philemon and I brought you here to offer you a second chance at life. You were slain in your final battle on your Journey to rehabilitation. However your Journey is a bet between me and another deity and he cheated to gain the advantage by impersonating the entity you know as Igor. Me and it had an argument on who won this Journey and we have come to an agreement to have a rematch of sorts and I'm offering you to be a part of it and redeem your loss."
Akira sat in silence and he is usually a calm and collected person but as he processed the information he snapped and exploded with a besital cry directed towards Philemon "WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN BET, IS MY LIFE SOME KIND OF GAME TO BE PLAYED WITH FOR YOU AND THIS OTHER GODS AMUSEMENT. THE WHOLE REASON I REBELLED AGAINST YALDABAOTH WAS TO RETAIN MINE AND THE REST OF HUMANITIES FREEDOM BUT YOU'RE TELLING ME IT DIDN'T MATTER ANYWAYS BECAUSE WE'RE ALL PAWNS IN THIS SHITY GAME BETWEEN TWO BETTING GODS." Philemon stared at Akira with his same unmoving smile but now held a dangerous glint in his eyes that chilled Akira to his core and made his rebellious soul question going against the entity in front of him.
"Stop your insolence child. I am giving you a second chance at life, you need to treat me with more respect before I choose a different candidate. If you win this time on your second Journey I will restore your friends and remove that false God in your world and return the status quo." calmly spoke Philemon as he stared at Akira with an unwavering gaze waiting for Akira to calm down so he can continue. Akira's eyes slightly widened in fear as he stuttered out his answer, "I-i'm s-sorry i'll listen before I jump to conclusions." Even when Akira was shipped to his new school he was never this meek and he never stuttered even when he stared down Yaldabaoth but this being in front of his striked fear to his core and gave him this primal urge to run despite knowing there would be no escape from this being who could outclass him and Yaldaboath without putting in any effort.
"As I was saying before you interrupted me, You will be placed on a second Journey to take down the evil hidden in this new world. You will be sent with one fellow Wildcard who I will bring in now that will help you on your Journey, oh and don't talk when I invite him because he hasn't figured out he's helping yet." Philenon voiced with a hint of amusement in his voice while he turned from looking at Akira who was in shock and wonder at there being another Wildcard and getting to meet and team up with one, meanwhile Philenon held his hand out and a brilliant flash of light shone for a few seconds before it slowly disappeared and in place of the bright light was a boy the same age as Akira with blue hair and a school uniform Akira didn't recognize and what appears to be a dated MP3 player around his neck like a necklace with the headphones resting on his shoulders.
~~Line Skip~~
Minato Arisato was a boy born with a tragic fate planted on him from the moment he was born. He was meant to be put on this game between deity's as he was conceived and had all of his free choice stripped from him before he was officially in the world what cruel fate to befall this hapless bystander in this bet between gods. What followed after the Sisters of Fate strung his fate and decided it's cutoff point was a life filled with misery and despair.
As a tender young kid into his first few years of life learning of the world was struck with tragedy that broke and molded him into the person he is now. Minato was the sole survivor of a car accident that killed both of his parents in front of him. Little did this little kid now it was his fate to meet the two beings who caused the incident, the Personification of Death, Thanatos and Aigis a living andorid made to hunt down Thanatos and any other Shadows created from the entity who is hellbent on having humanity fall Death's mother and Goddess of Darkness Nyx. Aigis defeated Thanatos but he escaped by hiding in the nearest body he could find which happened to be our Wildcard and recently traumatized child Minato Arisato.
Minato led a life of indifference and apathy the worst of it would result in Minato not caring for his life coasting through life as he cared so little about the world around him he couldn't care if he lived or died living as though he was a lifeless husk on autopilot. After his parents dying this led to him being bounced in and out of the orphanage system going in and out of homes of people giving up on him after his constant apathy unnerved each family that took him in to try and give him the family he never had. Minato would continue to bounce around the system until he got an invite to go to Gekkoukan High School after getting invited by the Kirijo group who ran the school.
Minato entered the Dorm and met with everyone staying in the dorm coming to form the group S.E.E.S with his fellow dormates. This evolved into him and his dormates unlocking their Personas and defeating Arcana based Shadows during each full moon. This led to S.E.E.S coming together as a group of misfits. They barely got along with them being constantly at odds but having to work together out of necessity yet despite this Minato was able to call them family having to deal with all the ups and downs that came with them. This was able to get Minato to ever so slightly open up and become less apathetic.
This all culminated in Minato and the rest of S.E.E.S battling Nyx on the top of shadow filled Tartarus to get to Nyx after they defeated all of the Arcana shadows and fought through the floors of the endless Hell that is Tartarus.
The final battle with Nyx ended in Minato outclassing his opponent and achieving the Universe Arcana and became the Messiah for the world to help save them from the Great Fall which is Nyx taking over the world and stripping mankind of all it's free will and turn everyone into lifeless apathetic husk of humans like what Minato once was when he viewed the world as such back before he went on his Journey and met S.E.E.S. However in order to completely save humanity he had to sacrifice himself and be entombed in stone and become the Great Seal to prevent Nyx and her son Erberus to merge and bring about the Great Fall.
Minato then made the ultimate sacrifice and put humanity's future before his future. A person who until a year earlier couldn't care about if he lived or died put his life that now brought meaning after the needs of humanity first. This led to the world retaining their freewill with the noteworthy sacrifice of one person who would never be mentioned in the history books who is to spend the rest of eternity as the barrier keeping Humanity from falling because of his unbreakable hope for humanity that made him the perfect seal for humanity.
As years passed and Minato long forgot how long it's been not being able to tell the flow of time from his timeless prison called the Great Seal. Day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year time continued with ruthless aggression not waiting for Minato and left him stranded to protect Humanity for the rest of existence. After dealing with another attack from Erberus Minato started to feel his conscious fade again for the upteenth time since becoming the Great Seal. Little did Minato know this would be the last time he would be the Great Seal and start a new Journey with a fellow Wildcard.
~~Line Skip~~
Minato awoke with a start in panic looking around for Erberus fearing he finally broke through the seal because of the recovery of his consciousness. However he stood dumbfounded after looking around and only noticing a Black haired boy in a Tailcoat along with a floating man in a half butterfly mask.
He stood in confusion wondering what happened to him being the seal before his thoughts were interrupted by the Masked Man, "Wildcard you're probably wondering why you're here and I am here to answer your questions and ask for a favor. I have pulled you from being the catalyst for the Great Seal and have pulled you here, but don't worry I have made it so the seal will survive without you without your world succumbing to the Great Fall." answered Philemon to ease Minato's roaming thoughts of disaster.
Minato carefully thought out his next thoughts to not anger the entity in front of him that clearly outclassed him if it was able to retrieve him from the Great Seal and make it so it didn't need a human offering to keep it functioning and preventing the Great Fall. "So what am I here for that caused you to remove me from the Great Seal and ask for my help Masked Kami-San." questioned Minato in his usual apathetic and monotone voice.
"Ah, where are my manners you may call me Philemon the god who guides you Wildcards through your Journeys." answered Philemon Minato widened his eyes in shock while he looked over and saw the other person here sputter in shock. "Okay he's just in the dark as I am about our situation right now it seems." thought Minato as he looked back towards Philemon to listen to the rest of what he had to say.
Philemon gestured towards Akira while looking at Minato and explained the delicacies of their upcoming joint Journey, "You are both to be transported into a new world and to prevent ruin from consuming this new world. You will both have access to your Personas as Wildcards and keep all your previously gathered Personas however, both of you summon Personas in different ways so to counteract that I will give both of you the power to summon your Personas through either method to help prevent you from not being able to help one another if put in a tough situation, also you will be able to use your Personas in the physical world on this Journey. Next all your Personas besides your starting Personas are unsummonable." This brought shock upon Minato and Akira as they started to question the sanity of their current company after being told they're keeping their Personas but are unable to summon them.
As both of them were starting to rethink going on this new Journey Philemon suddenly interrupted their thoughts, "If you two will let me finish I would get to how you will gain access to use of your other Personas." Both Wildcards stopped and stared at Philenom, Akira for forgetting he could read his mind and Minato for finding out he could read their minds. "Since Akira is the main Wildcard on this Journey your Personas will revolve around him. As you cultivate more of your Social Links in this new world you will unlock corresponding Personas according to the Social Link they are attached to. This also means that Minato has to support you on your Journey or else he will be left without the power to help you on your Journey. Both of you will also keep the equipment you both had equipped during both of your last fights and Minato since I know you're gonna ask if you help Akira with his Journey you will be able to live in this new world while I keep your old world secured and safe from the Great Seal, and before you ask I am unable to send you back to your world because I took a piece of your soul and left it in the seal then healed your soul and the one in the Great Seal to support you not being there so if I were to send you back it would cause a paradox and end the world you're trying to save."
Philenom then gave a pause in his explanation and looked over the pair of Wildcards in front of him expectantly with his same perpetual gentle smile which left them in confusion at what he paused for. "Any questions before I send you two off into this new world?" asked Philenom with amusement slightly coloring his tone. Minato perked up and asked, "Will we be sent with our equipment or will we have to find or look for them." Philenom's perked up as if realizing he forgot something important, "Ah, yes I will make Velvet Room especially for the two of you that will combine your residents and layout together into one velvet room so you two can both have a place to feel at home in this new world along with a safehouse of sorts. Any questions from you Akira before I ship you two off?" Akira perked up and asked a question that's been bothering him, "Will the metaverse exist in this new world or will everything be in the physical world."
The smile on Philenom's face faltered ever so slightly to the trained eye despite that it went unnoticed by the people reading Wildcards. Philenom then proceeded to explain the situation, "To answer your question the world and how you will be put into the world is completely unknown to me I may have left too hastily and went to pick you two up and left the creation of this new world to the other deity." Both Wildcards wanted to voice their concerns but as Philenom finished his statement they felt this overwhelming sense of dread overcome them as they thought about even approaching the subject with the deity standing over them and instead confirmed their readiness with both giving determined nods of their heads after Philemon finished speaking.
"Wonderful glad to see questions are over time to send the two of you into this new world." stated Philenom, as he brought his arm out and upturned his hand to have his palm facing upward which resulted in a bright light culminating from his palm. Philenom then threw the light in his palm to the side of him and the light formed into the outline of a door. Philenom gave a flourish with his hands to the door which directed both Wildcards to start walking through the door but as they walked through their vision started to swim as they started to lose consciousness but heard one last piece of advice until their awakening, "One last piece of advice those around you even if they don't end up being social links on your Journey could become important I wouldn't put it past that disgrace of a deity to up the ante in this Journey so acquire all the help you can get. Also Minato i'm afraid i'm gonna have to strip you of the Universe Arcana since you're not the main Wildcard anymore. And farewell Wildcards may you find your worth in the Waking World."
~~Line Skip~~
Akira regained his consciousness to the sound of crying with him feeling as if he was floating back in the empty world where he met Philemon. The world was black around him and he couldn't see and had a hard time opening his eyes as if his eyes were glued shut. However he finally mustered enough willpower to open them and look around to his shock he was in the arms of what appeared to be a nun with them forcing a spoon full of mush into his mouth. "Come on Aki, eat up so you can become a big boy so you can have fun with all your siblings." the Middle Aged Nun said with a kind smile. The woman forced the food into his mouth which caused him to unwillingly cry as Akira was trying to process him crying while being reborn as a newborn he looked around and saw a nun holding a baby in her arms which has the same silver eyes and blue tuft of hair that graced Minato. Said baby was staring back at his crying form with apathetic eyes with not a sound coming from him which only confirmed his suspicions and in this moment only three words could Akira think of in this moment.
What
The
Fuck
A/N- So this is my first story ever and i'm happy to receive criticism and i'd appreciate any kind of review. It will be positive or negative as long as it's constructive. I honestly don't know where I want to take this story since it's my first one but if I see enough people like it hopefully I'll get the motivation to continue working on this. Don't expect me to be consistent since I constantly procrastinate. Also when Persona 5R comes out i'm definitely not gonna write since i'm gonna be primarily gonna be playing that but it might help make me write more after I beat the game since i'm gonna fall in love with Persona all over again. I do want to continue this story and I'll take suggestions for who you want to be Social Links since I can't fit everyone into them obviously but even though Social Links will be important it's not gonna dominate who Akira and Minato spend time with since there's so many interesting characters in My Hero Socials are mainly gonna be used to flesh out side characters who don't get as much spotlight with only 2 at most 3 used on main characters since they get enough characterization. Anyways, everyone take care and stay safe especially now during this whole Corona crisis.
Cheers-Roll