Summary: It's been two months since Yaldabaoth and Maruki's defeat and Ren is now released from prison and reunited with Morgana and the Phantom Thieves when at the stroke of midnight, a wounded girl with naginata appears being chased by a shadow and with her arrival comes a familiar tower and a new battle…One that will call upon old faces. Let the Game begin anew. P3/P3P/P4:G/P5:R crossover
Pairings: Ren/Ann/Makoto, Ryuji/Haru, Futaba/Yusuke, Sumire/Minako and many more!
Rating: T-M
Disclaimer (Ryuji): Fuck off. He doesn't own Persona ya dinks!
Persona 5: The Darkest Hour
Chapter One: Reunion
[Opening Scene: Café LeBlanc (Nighttime)
Theme of Relaxation: Break it Down [Elp Version] from Persona 5]
"I can't believe you all did that for me," Ren said with a touched tone.
It had been two hours since Ren and Morgana returned from their respective tortures, Ren in prison and Morgana from nothingness, and Ren was now sitting in a booth with his closest friends.
No, Ren couldn't call them that anymore.
He was with his family.
"Well, hell, we had to do something. It was bullshit that you were trapped in there for saving the fucking world twice," Ryuji said with a grin.
"You guys did great. There is so much I want to say, but…The words just come out," Ren said with a shaky voice, trying to keep the tears at bay.
"Dude, we're family," Ryuji said.
"Quite. Family should be willing to do anything for one another," Yusuke said.
"And now, with you and Morgana back, we are whole once more," Haru happily said as Morgana purred under her hand.
"I wonder where Sumire is," Ren said with a frown, remembering the red-haired girl.
"She was supposed to be here by now. Her train was running late earlier, so she might show up a little later," Futaba explained.
"Hopefully, she gets here safely," Ren sighed out.
During his adventure, he and Sumire had grown as close as siblings, much like he and Futaba had, and he hoped to see her before he was set to go home in a few weeks.
"Alright, gang, I'm heading out," Sojiro said. "Ren, you know what to do."
"Of course, Boss," Ren said with a smile.
"And hey…Welcome back," Sojiro said with a warm smile before he looked to Ohya and said, "Well, let's get going."
"Hehehe. Have fun, kids!" Ohya said as she and Sojiro left the café.
"I still can't believe they somehow got together," Ren said with a chuckle. "But I think it's a good fit."
"Oh yeah, she's over our house all the time nowadays," Futaba said. "It's uber gross too, but I'm happy as well."
Ren smiled at this.
From what his friends explained, many of his confidants had managed to meet during their mission to free him from prison. Sojiro and Ohya had met during her investigation in clearing Ren's name, but during the actual celebration party, Kawakami and Toranosuke and Chihaya and Iwai silently slipped out together.
And from the sounds of the faint laughter with Sae and Tae at the bar, they were hitting it off.
"It seems that even with your return, more hearts are finding one another," Yusuke said with a proud smile on his face.
"Aww, shucks guys," Ren said. "So, other than trying to clear my name, what's been going on with you guys?"
"Same old, same old, really," Ryuji said. "School has been abuzz about you being the leader of the Phantom Thieves and have been wanting you to come back."
"Of course. Now that they know, they probably want you to steal the hearts of others," Ann said with a roll of her eyes.
"It's fine, but hey, it could be worse," Ren said with a shrug.
"Do not jinx us, Ren," Morgana whined.
"Makoto," Sae's voice rang out, which caused the group to turn to her. "I am heading home. I'm pretty sure you want to stay here, so I won't stop you, but please be careful."
"Understood. You do the same," Makoto said.
Sae looked at Ren and said, "And welcome back, Ren. You were missed."
"Thank you for everything, Sae," Ren said with a bow of his head.
Sae waved it off and said, "After saving us all? I should bow to all of you. You guys have a good night."
"You too!" The rest of the group exclaimed.
"I should get going as well," Tae said with a stretched as well. "Catch you later, guinea pig. And welcome back."
"Thanks, Doc," Ren said with a smile.
"Tae-san, do you live close by? Perhaps I can give you a ride home," Sae offered.
"I'd like that," Tae replied as the two walked through the door.
Suddenly, Ryuji and Futaba smirked as they looked at Makoto. "Interesting…." The two said in unison.
Makoto blinked and asked, "What?"
"They hit it off fairly well…She's even taking her home," Ryuji said.
"Could love be in the air for our resident Prosecutor?" Futaba asked.
Makoto blinked. "L-Love? Sister? I-I admittedly don't even think she can fit that into her schedule…" Makoto stammered out.
"Let's not read too much into it," Haru said softly.
"Besides, if something does happen, I'd be happy," Makoto said. "She seems so lonely sometimes. Even if she's eased up on her work a bit since she reconciled with her shadow self."
"True, let's-" Ren was interrupted by Morgana suddenly changing into his Metaverse form.
(Theme of Ill-Surprise: Desire from Persona 5)
"What the hell?!" Ryuji shouted in alarm. "Yo Morgana, what the hell was that?!"
"I-I don't know. This wasn't supposed to happen again!" Morgana said. "The Metaverse is gone, remember?!"
Futaba opened her mouth to respond before the group began to feel this familiar energy wash over them, and they all found themselves back in their Phantom Thief gear. "Oh no…" Makoto whispered in shock.
"What the fuck is happening?" Ryuji asked as he stared at his gloves and clothing.
"How peculiar. The Metaverse was destroyed when we defeated Yaldabaoth and Maruki, and yet it feels like we are in it once again," Yusuke said as he observed his gloved right hand curiously.
Two terrified screams rang out from outside of the Café. Moments later, Sae and Tae rushed back into the café.
"What happened?!" Ren asked as he stood up.
"We were walking to my car when the sky became dark green, and this large tower appeared out of nowhere!" Tae exclaimed with a shocked tone.
"Tower?" Ren repeated.
He looked to his team and quickly ran into the door and saw a large glowing tower that seemed to stretch to the moon in the sky.
"What the fuck?" Ryuji whispered.
"This seems familiar," Yusuke said.
"It does?!" Futaba exclaimed.
"Yes. When I was very young, I remember one night, I had woken up due to a nightmare. I went to get some water when I saw this very image. I thought nothing of it at the time, but looking at it now, it looks familiar," Yusuke said.
"But it looks far away," Makoto said.
"Oracle, are you able to find out what it is?" Ren asked with a stern voice.
"Whoa, back to codenames? It looks like you haven't lost a step leader," Morgana said with a toothy grin.
"I can try Joker…Prometheus!" Futaba shouted. Nothing happened at first until she slowly began to float into the air before being encased in her persona.
"W-What in the world?!" Sae exclaimed in horror.
"Whoa…That is so badass," Tae said excitedly.
"So we can still summon our personas…." Haru murmured.
"We got it back, guys! The Phantom Thieves are officially back!" Ryuji exclaimed with a leap of excitement. "Man, did I miss our personas!"
"Skull, this is not the time for excitement…" Ren said before he added with a smirk, "At least not yet."
"Yes, leader," Ryuji said with a grin.
"Whoa…This shit is uber cool!" Futaba's voice rang out from around them. "This place is called Tartarus…But that's all I can…Wait! A load of shadows heading this way. And it looks like the shadows are chasing someone!"
"Whoa, shadows! Outside of the Metaverse?!" Ann exclaimed.
"Sister, Takemi-san, you two need to return into the café this instant!" Makoto said.
"A-And leave you all to fight these "Shadows" alone? There is no way in hell," Sae said firmly.
"Sister, this is what we do," Makoto said. "We can fight them using our Personas. You guys can't. You need to get back in there and now."
"I think she's right, prosecutor," Tae said. "They'll be back."
"Fine," Sae relented. "But if you aren't back here in twenty minutes, I will come after you," Sae warned.
"Understood," Makoto said with a bow of her head.
"Alright guys, I know it's been a while, but it's time to mission up. Codenames only," Joker ordered.
"Understood, Joker…It sounds nice to say that again," Fox said.
"Yahoo! Let's go kick some ass," Skull exclaimed.
"Let us go forth and defeat those cruel shadows," Noir stated, also excited.
"You guys won't have to go forth anywhere. It seems the person is coming here!" Oracle shouted.
It was then the group heard it.
The sound of footsteps slamming into the pavement repeatedly, followed by the familiar groans and growls of the shadows. "It's coming from down the street," Oracle announced. "To our left."
"Stand your guard," Joker commanded.
It was then two teenagers who came skidding into view into the alleyway.
The teenager was a pale-skinned girl with auburn hair, styled in a high ponytail, along with silver barrettes and striking red eyes.
And she wore what looked to be a school uniform.
It was a black knee-high black dress and a long-sleeved black jacket with a zipper on the jacket's left side with an unfamiliar emblem on it and a red armband on the left upper arm.
The girl had a large red ribbon tied around the white collar of her button-down white shirt, a white gun holster around her waist, long white socks, and brown shoes.
But what wasn't appealing was she had blood falling down the right side of her face, and she had a worn-looking Naginata in her right arm.
And behind her was a shadow, which looked to be an inky black blob with multiple hands coming out with a blue mask on its face.
"That's fucking gross, man," Skull said.
"That is how a shadow looks," Mona said. "Not like the knights in Kamoshida's palace or the security guards in Madarame's. These are their natural states."
It was then they saw her trip and fall to the ground.
"Fuck! Let's go!" Joker said before he dashed forward with his team following him.
[Scene Change: Shibuya (?)
Theme of Ill-Surprise: Desire from Persona 5]
The girl looked behind her in terror as the large shadow skittered against the ground after her. She was so exhausted. She had no idea where she was or when she was. She had woken up to this shadow trying to kill her.
And so she fought. She fought as hard as she could, but this shadow was mighty. More powerful than what she had faced just a few nights prior. Wounded, she did the only thing she could do, and so she ran.
She ran down the coffin-filled streets from the shadow until she reached this alleyway, but she then tripped on the ground and skidded to a stop, her weapon and Evoker skidding beneath a car.
She turned around and saw the shadow leap into the air with a deep roar, and all she could do was close her eyes.
"Arsène, Eigaon!" A voice shouted from above her.
With a burst of familiar ethereal blue light, a wave of dark and red energy shot past her head and slammed into the shadow, which caused it to slam into the ground and skid to a stop.
She looked up to see six figures leap above the car that sat behind and land in front of them. If she weren't so delirious from the pain and exhaustion, she would have thought they looked pretty neat in their outfits.
It was then a seventh shadow leaped over the car and landed in front of the group in a crouch.
The shadow rose and let out a screech before it exploded, revealing the Declarer of Anguish, the angel known as Gabriel.
And that was when she fell unconscious.
Captain Blues: And that is the end of this chapter? Interested? I sure hope so. I really hope you guys enjoy it because I would love to continue it so until the next time…
Ren: Time to stop the show!