A/N: Oops, one big fight scene. Anyways, this is very much all original writing and none of it is taken from the game script. So take what you will with that…
Also, I forgot to mention that Akira would also be using Persona from the Jester Arcana that I created. And the fact that I'm telling you this also gives away that some are gonna debut right now, but whatever…
Enjoy, or not… I'm not your dad.
Day: April 18th: Monday
Time: Afterschool
Location: Kamoshida's Castle
The king gazed upon the intruders with an evil smile that curled to his ears. He walked to the railing, leaning forward as his guards began to crowd around them.
"So you lot have not only invaded my castle, damaged my belongings, and disrespected my name… you went as far as to snoop around my past." He listed in a vicious tone, "Execution is too good for you. Capture them and sent the to the torture chambers!"
Skull scoffed at his threats, hand hovering over his mask. "Please, we've kicked your ass plenty of times!"
With a wave of his hand, Kamoshida called for his guards to attack. They all exploded into the familiar red and black mess, forming four archangels and as well one other that they haven't seen before. An anthropomorphic red fox clad in knightly attire, a sword in his hand and a thick tome attached to the side of his belt.
"For King Kamoshida's glory, we will punish you!" The fox knight announced with his sword raised. "But… You four go first!"
The archangels jetted towards the thieves, sending orbs of fluorescent purple towards them. The five narrowly avoided the bombardment with a sudden roll forward. Joker tore off his mask, summoning the persona Agathion.
"Go down!" He ordered, his persona sent a Zio blast that struck one of the angels. Skull backed him up and sent one of his own, also knocking it out.
But before they could both knock down another, they felt their bodies began sluggish and their sight weakened. This caused their shots to miss. The angels retaliated, sending Psi attacks that hit them with ease.
"Hahaha! Behold the great power that milord has bestowed onto me!" The fox shadow behind them teased after hitting them both with Sukunda.
"Stop hiding and get in there!" Kamoshida ordered, to which the shadow flinched at his harsh tone.
"B-But I'm more of a supporting man…"
"NOW!" At his king's orders, the shadow rushed into the fight. Arms flailing as he gripped onto his sword.
"Alright then, let's go!" Ghost grumbled as he summoned his persona while Mona healed Joker and Skull. Despite his persona's low strength, he was confident he could take on a scaredy-cat like that shadow.
He was wrong. As the shadow had struck his persona down with a Cleave attack. As Ghost heaved for air, the shadow began to chuckle at the rush he was feeling.
"Ohohoho! Now that felt good!" It bared its teeth as he readied an attack. With a raise of his hand, he called forth pillars of light that flowed onto each of the thieves‒ hitting them hard. "Fall to my whim!"
"Damn furry bastard!" Skull cursed as he summoned Captain Kidd. The pirate aimed his arm cannon to the fox that zipped around, however he was still under the effects of the Sukunda spell- causing him to miss.
The shadow hit his persona with a Cleave attack, causing Skull to hold his chest in pain. He backpedaled to the rest of the thieves, where Joker handed him a bottle of painkillers. As Morgana summoned Zorro to create a Garu blast that disoriented the shadows.
"Can you still fight?" Joker asked Skull, to which he immediately bobbed his head at.
"Hell yeah, I can! One bad hit won't knock me down!"
Joker smiled at his friend's tenacity, "Well alright then, I need you to take care of those Archangels. Panther, Mona, that fox shadow seems to be the boss of this fight‒ So I need to be backed up while I'm trying to find its weakness. And Ghost, help Skull take down those angels‒ I know you can't use electricity spells but make sure Skull's tough enough to take down four of them."
With those orders, they headed off into position. Though Ghost was a bit hesitant with his role, as all he would be doing is support‒ as if he were a footnote in the plan, the team in general… But this wasn't the time for moaning, he had to fill his role right now!
With a couple tosses of smoke bombs, the team were to disorient the shadows further‒ splitting off into groups. Ghost immediately summoned his persona and casted a Rakukaja spell that kept Skull's defenses up as he took on four Archangels. Meanwhile, Joker called faced off the fox knight with Panther and Mona at his side.
"Come! Jack!" He shouted as he tore off his mask. The persona he summoned was a pale faced boy in simple village clothing and large brimmed hat upon his head. He sat upon a large beanstalk with his feet dangling, in his hands was a drawstring bag.
The boy opened it up and casted a spell from it, using Sukunda on the fox shadow. And then tossed a single bean that hit him with a Bufu spell, which covered him in a blanket of ice.
"Time for a nap, big guy!" Panther called out as she followed up with a Dormina spell. Bubbles floated around the larger shadow, causing it to nod off into sleep.
"Zorro! Follow up!" Mona called forth his burly persona to summon sharp gales that struck the fox shadow.
After its rude awakening, the large shadow let out a growl as it raised its blade. Behind him was his king, spitting at the weak results he's given out so far. The shadow shook with anger as it stared down its enemies, it let out roar as a red aura sparked from its body. The violently shook the room with its voice as it seethed with impatient anger.
"Damn thieves! Die! Die! Die!" It screeched as it sent out slashes of light towards the five.
Due to their close proximity‒ Joker, Mona, and Panther were sent to the ground with a direct hit. Ghost and Skull quickly jumped at the sight of the attack. Ghost avoided it however Skull was unlucky due to his fatigue after killing all of the archangels.
The king laughed as he saw Ghost kneeling before his knocked down allies. He had no means of healing them in this state, so he was left panicking as he tried to help their two healers stand up. Kamoshida walked down from the staircase to stand above the five intruders. He looked down to Ghost with his signature shit-eating grin.
"Now isn't this just funny, Watanabe…" He laughed as he saw him tremor beneath him. "I knew you were always the high energy type, but I thought you would have thrown in the towel sooner…"
"What…?" Kyotaro muttered as the king moved over to Akira, planting a foot on his back.
"Let's face it, kid. Whenever I looked at you funny, you were always on the verge of pissing yourself." Kamoshida amusedly said, "I would have assumed you would have fallen in line with the other slaves, be a sponsor for the volleyball team with that uncle's of yours back account, and join me as like… a squire or something. But no… You had to associate with these lot."
Kyotaro was left speechless as Kamoshida continued, digging his foot onto Akira's back. "...Trash that won't stay in the gutter. I could have given you something in that… pathetic little life of yours. The attention you so wanted, those little pranks of yours were just desperate calls for some spotlight on you. It's honestly sad…"
"S-Shut… Shut up..." He said in a barely audible voice.
"Oh? Still can't say anything?" Kamoshida pointed an ear to him in amusement, "Yeah, no matter what clothes you're wearing or whatever scum you hang around. You'll always be a pest that hides away when things get dangerous."
Kyotaro wanted to punch him, no… he wanted to gut him. But no matter how angry he felt, he was right… He was just a coward that hid away when things got too much. Despite those smiles and jokes, he was just a fucking coward! He let them down… Ann, Ryuji, Morgana, Akira.
He let them down because he was too weak to do anything…
"Shut… Shut up!" Akira shouted, "Kyotaro, don't listen to what he's saying. Ever since I got here, you've been behind me no matter what situation. You didn't benefit from it, but you did it. If that isn't brave then‒ Kgh!"
Kamoshida stomped on his back as he spat in disgust, "Enough of the cheesy speeches. And you Watanabe, why don't you just run on home‒"
"Shut up… And let go my friends… Or I'll rip you apart..." Tension began to grow in the air as Kyotaro seethed out. Everyone in the room turned to him, raising his head with sharp eyes.
His once blank white eyes, now burning with a sickly gold.
...
"Hehehe... Hahahaha.. Now I see you." Kyotaro's head convulsed to the side as if a bullet had passed through it. He began to move closer to Kamoshida, who slowly back pedaled in response. Kyotaro's hand went for his mask as he moved forward like a broken puppet."You finally have found your drive. Moving past acts such as hiding away from tyrants such as he."
With a painful tear, Kyotaro tossed off his mask. Blood seeped from his visage, yet he uttered no sign of pain. Kamoshida hobbled away at the sight of it, his fellow thieves began to pick themselves up as they saw Kyotaro's mysterious persona emerge. The black flames surrounding it shifted to a brilliant blue, its chains whipping like serpents.
"Now… Let's finally forge our contract," From his persona's head, arose two large eyes that burned with an orange glow. Kyotaro grabbed onto one of the chains, his face blank as he looked to Kamoshida. "I am thou, thou art I! Let no chain‒ No Hell, bind thou! Call thine name, and unleash thy inner strength!"
"You got it…" Before Kyotaro pulled the chain to snap it loose, he called out with all the energy in his voice. "Come! SCARAMOUCHE!"
His persona exploded into a pillar of blue flame, absorbing him in its blast. From these flames, peeked out an ivory white face with large orange eyes that had purple paint outlining it. The creature swiped away the flames, revealing it's lanky form along with Kyotaro before it.
The persona, Scaramouche, was a tall figure with a resemblance to a clown. Its outfit was predominantly white with black stripes. It had pleated collars around it's wrists and neck. From the back of its head was a large tuft of coiffed light black hair that had a faint resemblance to devil horns.
"His persona changed!" Panther gaped as they all witnessed Kyotaro's gangly spirit.
Morgana shook his head at that, "No, it didn't change… This is it's true form!"
"I am the Master of Illusions‒ Scaramouche!" It announced in an echoey voice,"As decreed by my user, I will defend his companions no matter what challenge is before me!"
Kamoshida jumped backwards, looking to his last guard captain. The fox shadow cowering after seeing the display. He shouted, "What are you standing there for?! Kill him!"
The fox nodded as it gripped its blade, "W-Well, I will gladly fight any challenge for my king!"
Kyotaro gave an unimpressed sniff at the sight of it, "Well, we're in for a real battle. Let's go, Scaramouche!"
The shadow made an attempt to Cleave its head, only for the persona to swipe away at its hilt and countered. Scaramouche raised its legs and attacked with Lunge, sending the shadow slamming against the wall.
"Man, that rocks!" Skull cheered after seeing that bout.
"It's not staying down though," Morgana interjected as he saw the shadow pick itself up. The cat quickly called forth Zorro, healing the other four thieves. "Let's help kill that thing before it goes super again."
"Right! Here's something to help!" Skull rushed over to Ghost's side, summoning his own Persona. The pirate zapped the shadow with a blast before calling forth a Tarukaja spell that strengthened his friend's power.
"Thanks!" Ghost rubbed his nose before commanding his persona once more. "Hey, Panther! Get ready!"
Scaramouche grabbed the shadow by the face, slammed it back against the wall, and dragged it across its bricked surface with the added strength boost. With a snap toss, Ghost chucked it towards Panther's direction in a parabola.
"Alright!" She cheered as she called forth Carmen, her persona launched a spark of fire that caused the shadow to violently convulse in midair. The fox knight began to fall. Panther calling out, "Mona, your turn!"
"You got it, Lady Ann!" Zorro emerged with his sword gripped. He drew out green bursts of air that rocketed the shadow in an upward arc once more. "Joker, go!"
"Ravage them, Arsene!" Joker's persona flexed its wings as it sent an Eiha attack, blasting the shadow with streams of dark energy.
The shadow collapsed onto the ground, its form still intact even after the smack down it had received. Fumes rose from its body as it stared down the thieves. Its voice returning to its threatening tone, "No more playing… Time to DIE!"
The shadow bursted with red energy, infusing itself with the same power as before. The thieves braced themselves as it stared them down.
"Joker! When you hit it with a Curse spell, it seemed to have done the most damage!" Morgana called out, Joker nodding in response.
"Got it! Arsene!" Joker attempted to call his persona once more, only to be met with nothing. He widened in shock, realizing what happened. "Damn it! I'm out of energy!"
"Yeah, me too…" Panther admitted, noticing her sluggishness. "Exploring the palace must have been too exhausting for us!"
With that opportunity available, the shadow rushed in. Its sword raised its blade to strike down the thieves. But before it could bring it down, Ghost called his persona once more to catch it.
"Grgh… Huh, didn't think that would work." He gave strained laughter as he attempted to wrestle the blade out of the shadows grip. It seemed that Scaramouche was still too weak to be able to pull something like that off. He turned to his friends, "Guys? A little help?"
Immediately, the four of them began unloading bullets onto the shadow. The fox knight began swatting them away like bees, backpedaling as they emptied their guns.
"Damn! This guy's tough!" Skull groaned after seeing it witness it go through hell yet still walk.
"No doubt, us seeing Kamoshida's memories must have affected it." Morgana clenched his tiny paw. "And no one else can use Curse spells…"
"Just stay behind me!" Ghost shouted, "I haven't been much in a fight so far, so let me make it up to you! I'll throw everything I have at this bastard!"
As Ghost stared down the shadow, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to his side to see Joker, giving a proud smile as he nodded his head. "You got this…"
Ghost blinked in slight surprise before nodding in gratitude for the support. With his friends by his side, he couldn't let them down.
But as he turned to face his opponent once more, he noticed how the world around him began to change. His vision blurred as his sight dulled in color, turning to a faintly gray.
During this strange scene playing out before him, a light began to grow before him. Once it formed, it revealed itself to be a familiar looking mask. A white domino mask with a bird design and back accents. It was Akira's mask…
It gravitated towards him, Kyotaro instinctively grabbed it. As he held onto it, something he heard before had rang in his mind.
That is the result of your special ability known as 'The Doppelganger'. A skill similar to your companion's, known as 'The Wildcard'.
This was his power… The power of The Doppelganger.
"What the‒" Ghost turned to see Joker's reaction once he realized what was in his hands. "When… How?"
He simply smirked in response, walking forward as he held near his face. "I'm borrowing this… Scaramouche! Paradigm Shift!"
His persona exuded a burst of tension once Ghost placed the copy of Joker's mask against his face‒ causing it to explode into flames. Scaramouche hovered in the air as swirls of blue embers began to absorb him. After it fully enveloped him, the Persona swatted away the fire and revealed its new form.
Scaramouche's once ivory face, became an light ebony that highlighted its glowing eyes that burned with a gold. The paint on its face changed to scarlet. It retained its black stripes while its predominantly white body had been changed to red.
"Alright, this is where we end it!" Ghost roared.
The thieves were stunned at their teammate's persona.
"No way!" Skull exclaimed, "He can change personas too?! How's that fair?!"
Mona shook his head, still keeping his sight on what was before him. "No… He doesn't have multiple personas… His persona changed arcanas!"
Panther followed that line of thought, "Yeah! And now he looks kinda like Arsene…"
Joker looked back to Ghost. Initially stunned at his ability, but now he grinned at the strength he carried with him. "Send it home, partner."
"You got it!" Ghost snapped his fingers, calling for Scaramouche to go on the attack. "Ravage them! Eiha!"
The shadow charged forth once again, readying a Cleave attack. Its body faltered in its final rush. Scaramouche opened his palms, building up Curse energy as it stared down its charging opponent. The two collided; the shadow narrowly missed Scaramouche's neck while the clown went in for the kill.
One hand sent out a blast through its chest, the other gripped onto its face. And with its already weakened state, the fox knight dissipated away.
Ghost let out heavy breaths after everything that's happened. The palace exploration, his Persona revealing itself, and that power he showed off. He looked up to Scaramouche, floating above him as he was joined by his friends. His persona lowered itself, disappearing once it drew close to him. His mask returned on his face after it did.
"Man, you kicked some serious ass!" Skull patted Ghost on the back. "You killed it like a badass!"
"Thanks man, but I just finished it off after you guys weakened it." Ghost nodded with very little movement. His eyes looked around the room with no sign of the king. "Where… where did Kamoshida go? Aw, man… Did he tail it again?"
"Lets not worry about that now." Joker reassured as he began leading to the door, "We should head back."
TAKE YOUR TIME
"Man… Even in the real world, I'm still tired." Ryuji sighed as he stretched out his strained arms.
"Let's just head home for today," Akira recommended, "We'll discuss what to do next, tomorrow. Everyone seems waaay too tired to function properly, and I honestly just want to sleep…"
"Yeah, I get you." Kyotaro nodded along as he felt a pain in his stomach, "Urgh, man… Is awakening your Persona supposed to make you hungry because my stomach is tearing me from the inside out."
Ryuji stepped up, "Hey then how about we head out to grab some food? My treat… is what I would say if I had enough cash…"
"I'll pass," Ann yawned, "I just want to head home and take a bath."
"Yeah, I get the feeling." Akira nodded in agreement.
Kyotaro shrugged as Ryuji bumped his fist, "Well, I am hungry and happen to have my wallet on me. So why not?"
"Sweet! I got a special place in my mind!" Ryuji grinned in excitement.
"...It's the beef bowl shop, isn't‒"
"‒Yeah, it's the beef bowl shop."
TAKE YOUR TIME
The two were in the midst of inhaling the food, discussing today's matters during a very busy hour of the shop.
"Sho… That power allows you to copy other arcanas?" Ryuji asked in between bites. "Man, so how powerful did you feel using Akira's?"
"Not much," Kyotaro shrugged. "It didn't feel like I was getting that much stronger, It did feel different that much for certain."
Ryuji took a large gulp before continuing to gush, "But man, imagine if all of us could change our Persona? Kamoshida would have been screwed over already. I'm kinda jealous of you and Akira."
"Why me?" Kyotaro asked, "Dude, you've been kicking ass since you got your Persona. I got mine before you and it took me until now to contribute something to the team."
"Nah, don't go beatin' yourself up." Ryuji shook his head, "You can be kinda annoyin' sometimes but you ain't bringin' anyone down. Hell, you just might be one of our strongest members now!"
"Thanks… I guess," Kyotaro tried his best to ignore that last part. Still, he was grateful for his kind words. "Hey… Back in the castle, when we saw Kamoshida's memories, what do you think of it? You're not discouraged or anything?"
Ryuji scoffed, "Don't care if he was a decent person at some point. Because all he's done is ruin people's lives, not us ours but everyone at Shujin. If anything, seeing all that just makes me even more raring to get him."
"Good," Kyotaro smiled at his determination. He let out a chuckle seeing Ryuji Sakamoto, a guy who wanted to clock him in the First year‒ be so open with him. "I would have never thought that we'd be talking like this as… well."
"Friends?" Ryuji threw out with a grin.
"Yeah, friends…"
I am Thou, Thou Art I...
Thou hast opened thine heart to a fellow outcast seeking to free thy selves from captivity
Let thy comrade's mask be a wellspring of strength and guidance
And thou shall serve as a guardian for thine comrades in return
With the advent of the Chariot Arcana,
I have obtained a new power that will breaketh thy chains and will lead to tranquility
The Chariot… Ryuji has lent me his power.
"Hey, I'll be relyin' on you a lot more when we head back in." Ryuji pointed to him, a grin still on his face. "If you're usin' our powers, then you can at least take a bit more of workload."
Kyotaro thought for a moment, before nodding his head in acceptance. "Fair enough, I'll bring my A game next time then."
"Good to hear," Ryuji said before looking out the window to see the sun waning. "Man, dark already?! Uh, let's hurry up and eat! I don't wanna be out too late."
With that, the two rapidly tossed steak and rice in their mouth before heading home. Where they waited for their next move.
TAKE YOUR TIME
Well done, you have fully awakened your persona and have discovered the power of the Doppelganger. Thus you march on with your journey. But… There is still much for you to grow.
Thanks and all, but what exactly were those weird things that popped into my mind?
Those are the bonds that you build with your fellow rebels. The power of the Doppelganger relies on such bonds, using forms similar to their personas. And by building these bonds, does your own persona grow in strength.
I see… But that feels like an artificial friendship…
No, not quite. You see, your power can not draw on such a selfish nature. As your fellow rebels open their hearts to you, you open your heart to them in return. It is by no means a false relationship.
If that is the case, then I'm glad.
Well, it would seem my time with you is over for now. I can no longer be with you on this journey, as I have taught you all you need to know. Establish new bonds with your fellow rebels, then may they guide you to your destination. May we meet again, in the coming future…
A/N: ONE LONG RAMBLE IN BOUND.
The two new Personas are Jack, named after Jack and The Beanstalk, and Reynard, named after Reynard The Fox. I honestly didn't put much effort in incorporating their history into the Persona design so don't expect anything deeper in my shallow research of wikipedia.
You'll be seeing more of the Jester Arcana soon, that much I can say.
As for Kyotaro's persona, I had juggled between several decisions when I first created the story. Until I landed on Scaramouche‒ because I was just really into Bohemian Rhapsody at the time. But I think it works well for Kyotaro. Sorry it took so long to get here...
The power of the Doppelganger came to me when I gave Kyotaro the Jester Arcana. I didn't want to give him the Wild Card since that seemed like an easy choice, but I wanted his powers to have something more than the standard.
As for the Doppelganger's implementation, let me explain‒ When copying an arcana, Kyotaro won't be stronger than the original Persona. His moveset will change to one similar to that of say Captain Kidd along with his stats. But he won't have Zionga while Kidd has Zio and he won't be as physically strong as Ryuji. Lucky for me, I'm not making a game so I don't have to worry about balancing too much! Woo!
As for the Red shadow thing, I needed an excuse to drag out the fight so that Kyotaro could showcase his power. I'll try not to have him overtake the spotlight unless it's important for his character. And because of my choice, I'll be incorporating Red Shadows into my story. So I hope you're looking forward to that.
Sorry for the ramble, just had to make sure there wasn't confusion.
Also, hey there Nynebreaker… Here's the answer to your question, 11 chapters later. Hope you haven't dipped yet...