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"Pesona's?" Chihaya asked. "You mean like what people's personalities are like?"
"You're close, but there's more to it than that." Ren answered.
"Hold up a sec, Ren-Ren. Can I explain?" Ryuji stepped forward.
"Alright, I guess…" Their leader responded uneasily.
"Alright!" Ryuji cheered. "So, first thing you gotta know about personas is that they're all about who you are in your heart. Me? My first persona was called Captain Kidd. Like the pirate." The people gathered simply stared at Ryuji in confusion.
"I think you're skipping ahead a little, Ryuji." Ann spoke.
"Huh? So what should I start with?"
"How about our contracts." Ren suggested.
"Oh, yeah that sounds way better!" He turned back to the group and started over. "Alright, so, in order to actually use a persona, you've got to form a contract with them. You've gotta take a beating from someone or something, you know? You've gotta be put down. Face some sorta injustice. For me, I had to face what happened with that shit-rag, Kamoshida. He took away the track team, not just from me, but from everyone. The bastard broke my leg and made everyone look at me like some kind of delinquent." Ryuji balled up his fist in anger before Ann and Ren both set their hands on his shoulders. He looked at the two of them and smiled, nodding his head before continuing.
"That's when I heard him." He said. "Captain Kidd spoke to me. Said that my name was already disgraced, so I might as well let loose. There was another me deep inside that wanted that too. Then he said 'the skull of rebellion is your flag henceforth'!" He yelled theatrically.
"Oh, I get it!" Kawakami exclaimed. "Like a pirate flag, right? With a skull and crossbones?"
"Got it in one, teach!" Ryuji praised. "That's when my mask showed up. I pulled it off and summoned my persona."
"Your mask?" Hifumi questioned.
"That's right." Ren took over. "In the other world, in the Metaverse, summoning a persona requires us to rip our masks from our face. The first time is the most… intense."
"Intense is putting it quite lightly." Yusuke stated, nonchalantly shuffling through a dufflebag.
"Damn right, it is!" Ryuji said. "All that blood and fire is totally wicked, but it's hella drainin'."
"Blood and fire?" The group repeated.
"Yeah. The first time you rip off the mask… Well… Let's just say that 'rip' is far more literal than you might think. The mask might as well be attached to our faces. Afterwards though, summoning a persona isn't any more difficult than taking off a halloween mask. After you rip them off the first time, you also get covered in this blue fire that makes an outfit appear on you. The outfit is different for everyone, just like our masks. Both our masks and Phantom Thief outfits show what our inner selves believe a rebel to look like." Ann explained.
"So, your guys' masks didn't all look like his?" Iwai asked, pointing towards Yusuke who was currently eating curry with his fox mask adorning his face.
"No, all of our masks we-" Ren snapped his head back towards the artist. "Yusuke!" He yelled. "Where did you… How did… What?!"
"Are you referring to my fox mask?" He said with a subtle but prideful smile. "One of my classmates is skilled with sculpting and creating things with his hands. I asked him if he could make masks, and he obliged."
"Your classmate remade your mask?!" Futaba yelled. "Can he make mine?!"
"Yo, don't leave me out of this!" Ryuji yelled.
Yusuke turned back to his dufflebag and pulled out several more masks, handing them to each Phantom Thief. "I assisted him with each design, so there shouldn't be any major flaws besides the material, but do let me know if I need to make any alterations."
For a moment, everyone watched as the Thieves donned their masks with childlike excitement, ignoring their original purpose for being there. Ren was the only one who didn't join in; however, as Yusuke handed him his mask, a nostalgic smile spread across his face. "Alright, everyone!" He yelled, placing the mask on his face. "I know we're all excited to have a sort of memento from our time in the metaverse, but remember why we're here."
"Yes, Joker!" They all yelled.
As the rest of the Phantom Thieves settled down, Masato and Kimiko both looked at their son. Whether or not anything they were being told was true, they couldn't tell. What they could tell, however, was that their son had matured so much more than they had realized. Moreso than that, the Phantom Thieves clearly held him in high regard, following his orders as quickly as they did.
Turning back to the group that stood before them, Ren removed his mask and passed it around. "This mask is similar to the one I wore in the Metaverse. The first time I ripped it from my face, I awakened my first persona, Arsène. The representation of my rebellious spirit. He was formed from the idea of a true phantom thief. A force for good who works from the shadows. Someone who is willing to commit any sacriligious act for their own justice."
"He looked something like this." Yusuke said, pulling our a drawing of Arsène. Ren sighed heavily, knowing full well that he should be used to Yusuke's helpful eccentricity by now.
The group of people gathered around the drawing. "Maleficent aura is right!" Chihaya stated. "This thing doesn't exactly look like a hero of justice…"
Morgana began meowing with a prideful tone. The others looked to the cat and back to the Phantom Thieves for a translation.
"Oh!" Haru exclaimed. "Our apologies. I'll translate for Mona-chan. He said, 'What do you expect? We're thieves who steal hearts'." The cat meowed again, with a notable smile. "Now he says, 'It may not be a traditional sense of justice, but it's ours. We don't let society keep us down'."
"Is anyone else buying the talking cat thing or am I just that drunk?" Ohya asked, only to be answered by hesitant and somewhat embarrased nods.
The former Yakuza picked up the paper and studied the drawing. "So... this thing is one of these Persona you mentioned?" Iwai asked.
"Yep! We all got one!" Ryuji said pridefully.
"I thought you said that this one was your first. Doesn't that imply you had more?" Ohya inquired.
"Well, actually, we only ever had one at a time. Our persona's just changed as time went on cause our hearts changed too. Usually because of Ren." Makoto explained with a small blush on her cheeks. "My personas, in order, are Johanna, Anat, and Agnes."
"Mona-chan's were Zoro, Mercurias, and Diego. Mine were Milady, Astarte, and Lucy" Haru listed.
"You guys already know about Captain Kidd, but after him was Seiten Taisei and William. Ryuji said with a smug grin plastered across his face.
"For me," Yusuke began. "I started with Goemon, then Susano-o, and finally, Gorokichi."
"I'm next!" Ann cried. "I awakened to Carmen after what happened with Shiho. After that, I had Hecate and Célestine."
"Senpai helped me awaken to Cendrillon, Vanadies, and Ella." Yoshizawa said cheerfully.
"Me next! Me! Me!" Futaba pushed herself forward. "I've got Necronomicon, Prometheus, and Al Azif!"
The Phantom Thieves looked expectantly to Doctor Maruki who was simply sitting back with his coffee, enjoying their enthusiasm. "W-Wait. You want me to join?"
"Of course." Ren said, offering his hand to the councillor.
Maruki stood up and presented himself. "My first persona was Azathoth, and later, Adam Kadmon. I didn't have a third."
"Wait a second." Kawakami interjected. "I thought Doctor Maruki was a target of yours. How could he have a persona?"
"We'll explain that later. For now, let's move on." Ren explained.
"Not so fast, mister." Ohya cut in. "All of your friends here say they have three personas. What about yours?"
"You see…" His words trailed off.
"Our leader here doesn't have just three personas." Ryuji stepped forward.
"What do you mean?" Yoshida asked. "I assumed each and every one of you had developed three of them."
"Nah! Joker has way more! Like a hundred or something!"
"What?!" They all asked.
"And that's just the tip of the iceberg." Makoto began. "He could use all of them at once." She said with a dignified smile.
Ren's parents looked at him with a feeling of doubt. "Can you prove it?" Masato asked.
"How?"
"Name them. Your friends did. So you can name them too, can't you?" By this point, Masato was looking for anything he could use to point out a flaw in his son's story. As much as he loved Ren, the idea of magic worlds and inner selves was just too ridiculous for him to believe.
"Honey, his friend said he had a hundred." Kimiko defended. "You can't expect him to name that many.
"No, it's fine." Ren said. "But it's not one hundred."
"How many?" Masato asked, still refusing to believe everything they were saying. "I want to keep count."
"Two hundred and thirty four." Many jaws in the room dropped to the floor, not so much because of the fantastical number, but rather the precise number, the lack of hesitation or thought that went into saying it. "And I know every single one of their names."
He began listing off every persona that he had ever possessed, with his father making sure he never heard a single name twice. By the time he reached the fiftyith persona without stopping to think of a name, Masato stopped him. "Alright!" He said with a hand rubbing his forehead. "Alright… I believe you." He said quietly as he sat back down.
"Why, if I may ask, do you have so many compared to your friends?" Yoshida inquired.
"I'm what's known as a Wild Card. Personas are the inner reflection of ourselves, our hearts. Most people change throughout their lifetime. The difference with me is that I can change mine effectively at will."
"Remarkable." The old man smiled.
"S'that why you had such a pissed off face when Tsuda pulled a gun on the two of us, but you were calm any other time we were together?"
"Wait, what?" His mother asked. "Someone held you at gunpoint?"
"I'll explain later." He attempted to comfort her. "But yes, that's why." He said, turning back to Iwai. Magatsu-Izanagi. He's filled with rage and ready to unleash hell. I can't summon my personas in this world, but I can take on their traits. Personas involving wisdom and intelligence can be very useful when studying." He said, looking towards Kawakami. "Those involving creation are helpful when making the tools we used for our operations. And… Personas involving violence and war are great when you have to drive someone away or get ready for a fight."
"I don't mean to sound rude, but," Tae raised her hand. "Can we get to how it is that you change hearts?"