Prisoner of Glory Chapter 4: Snow Stadium, a persona series fanfic

Tuesday, August 8th 20XX, Evening
Yuri's Castle, Sapporo Jail

Sumire, or "Violet" as she called herself in the Metaverse, never thought she would ever find herself in that other world once again. As far as she knew, it had vanished completely upon the defeat of Dr. Maruki, half a year ago. Were it not for the warning she had received last night from Lavenza, she would have been freaking out at that very moment. However, the sensation of entering the Metaverse was unmistakable. She could feel her body and mind's abilities sharpen as they adjusted to the cognitive world, and the bond with her Persona, Cendrillon, was clearer than ever. Instantly, she put herself on guard.

So too, it seemed, did the ruler of this "Palace", as she assumed it to be. Upon crossing over to this other world, Sumire's clothes instantly changed into the black leotard, jacket, and thigh-high boots of her Phantom Thief attire, a change that meant the "Ruler" of this "Palace" automatically considered her a threat. The timing of this transformation was inconvenient; in contrast to the warm Hokkaido summer of the real world, this version of Sapporo was in the midst of a frigid blizzard. She hugged herself and shivered while the bitingly cold winds nipped at her exposed thighs. Willing herself to move on, she stood behind the edge of the concrete wall and peeked out. In a sense, she was still looking upon the Toyohira Arena, but not as she knew it. While the Castle took the basic form of the real-world stadium, it looked as if it had been carved entirely from ice. Where the main arena should have been, however, stood a tower of a modern, swooping design. Violet counted four floors above the base, and saw what looked like a giant bird cage crowning it at the top. Cautiously, she stepped out and ran towards the entrance. On her way, she saw what looked like two searchlights with machine guns attached to them, but thankfully they appeared to be switched off. Even if they weren't, the raging blizzard was likely to shield the sight of her from any surveillance mechanisms.

The doors were unlocked, but required much force in order to push open. Inside, the air felt no less chilly, but at least the wind and snow were no longer an issue. Closing the doors behind her, Violet scanned her surroundings. As outside, the interior of this arena was made up solely of shiny blue ice. She gently scraped a foot alongside the glacial floor, and found to her relief that it was not slippery, but still especially cold. That's when she noticed she was no longer wearing her boots, but toe socks that covered only a small portion of her feet. Upon setting foot into the ersatz stadium, Violet's attire had changed yet again, into the dress leotard she wore for rhythmic gymnastics competitions. To her shock, she discovered that her weapons - a rapier and a hunting rifle, had also disappeared, but her mask was still present on her face. At the very least, she was still able to defend herself using her Persona's magic, but that was limited by her mental stamina, so she had to avoid confrontations unless absolutely necessary.

Despite the altered appearance of the stadium, its layout was just as Violet remembered. The entrance lobby opened out into two hallways. One, on the left, led to the sub-arena, and the other, on the right, led to the main arena. Making a logical guess, she started by heading down the right-hand hall, taking cover behind every corner and ice-sculpture fixture to hide and scan for enemy Shadows. They took the forms of security guards, dogs, and even flying drones, but apart from their white face masks and the piercing red eyes beneath, they were almost entirely inky-black in appearance. Whenever she spotted a patrolling sentry, she patiently let it pass without detecting her before moving on. The passage wasn't long, but an impasse met her at the end. The entrance to the arena was blocked by a giant door made of solid, opaque ice. Violet waited for a gap in enemy patrols, and tried to push the doors open, but they were heavy and locked. After straining in vain for a little while, she noticed some text carved into the doors. It was hard to discern, but it read:

"Those who would challenge the Monarch of this Castle must defeat the three champions in gymnastic duels and present Proof of their victories."

Violet reflected on the meaning of this text. "Monarch"? "Castle"? "Proof"? I've never heard these terms before, although I could probably guess. And "gymnastic duels"? What could that be, exactly? Would it have anything to do with transforming into my leotard? Just as she finished her thought, a set of blood-curling screams echoed down the halls. That came from the side gym - oh, no! The other gymnasts! If they used EMMA too, then they're here with me! I've got to save them! With adrenaline boosting her pace, she ran back to the gym where, not even an hour ago, she had happily trained in peace.

What Violet saw as she burst into the gym terrified her. The room was swarming with even more Shadows, who circled upon the scattered gymnasts as they cried, frozen in fear. A few shadows stepped up to their prey, thrust an ethereal hand into their chest, and pulled out some sort of glowing object, which looked to her like a giant red ruby. Whatever it really was, its loss made the victim collapse onto the ground and dissipate into nothing. Oh my God, Violet said to herself, what's going on? If those aren't the real girls, then what's going to happen to them? A mental shutdown? I've got to stop them! ...But how? My weapons are gone! I still have my Persona, though… I'll just have to rely on that, and my own fists and feet, until I can find something to use!

Attempting to calm herself with a deep breath, Violet plotted her first moves. Her eyes fell upon a gang of Shadows ganging upon two of the girls, When the moment was right, she judged her distance carefully, and launched herself at the sentries in a series of handsprings. Before they could register her presence, she had stalled to a handstand on the shoulders of one Shadow, and reached forward to tear off its mask. It was stuck tight and took some force to remove, but when it finally gave, she dismounted and faced the Shadow as it recoiled in pain and dissolved, only to take the form of multiple levitating, scantily-clad women with demon-like tails and wings. Lilims… Violet said to herself with a smirk, recalling this particular breed of monster from Mementos. Just what I need for a warm-up.

While most of the Lilims closed in on Violet to fight her directly, a few hung back, raised their arms, and charged up some Mabufula spells. She knocked back the first line of Lilims with a series of kicks and flips, clearing her line of sight just in time to spot the shards of ice being cast from the back row. With lightning-fast reflexes, she jumped up high, effortlessly dodging them with a backflip, and upon landing, counterattacked by summoning her Persona. Her mask burst into harmless blue flames and vanished as Cendrillon took form behind her. Shouting a word of command, "Makouga!", the crystalline lady summoned shafts of light down from the unseen heavens, piercing many of the demonesses and burning them to ashes. The few that remained crumpled helplessly to the floor, making them easy pickings for Violet to bash their heads in with a few axe-kicks. Brilliant… she thought, smiling to herself. I've still got it!

She looked back to the girls she had just rescued. Both of them wore the navy-blue jackets of Team USA. One was a taller, older Asian whose long hair was tied in a fancy updo, and the other was a shorter, younger African with many different colors in her makeup and dreadlocked hair. The color of their eyes was an unnatural yellow, an indication that these were merely the Shadow Selves of these girls, who had taken form within the Metaverse upon entering Yuri's Keyword. Now that they were out of immediate danger, they collapsed onto their knees, but looked up at Violet, smiled, and thanked her as their bodies began to glow into a solid white light and vanish. Where they once stood, she noticed a shiny object lying on the floor: a baton attached to a chain of square steel pieces, sharpened on both sides to a razor's edge. This looks like a ribbon… she observed. I bet I can use this to fight off the other Shadows!

This attack drew the attention of the Shadows in the room to Violet, but even as the monsters bore down upon them, she did not hesitate. Fueled by her adrenaline, she ran at them head-on and, in a single smooth motion, twirled on her foot and whirled the bladed ribbon around her, slashing the first wave of Shadows. As she recovered from her rotations, she spotted trouble out of the corner of her eye. A Shadow had just taken out one girl, and was moving on to her partner, a tall and pretty blonde in a Russian team jacket. Knocking the Shadow in front of her head-over-heels with a splits-kick, she flipped back and used the momentum to bring her ribbon down upon its head, splitting it right down the middle. The monsters beside it were distracted just long enough for Violet to close the distance and cut them into oblivion. Once the girl was safe, she turned around and gasped when she saw who it was. Is that… Elena Plisetskaya? Even though they had yet to meet face-to-face in real life, Violet was well aware of Elena's reputation. I can't believe I just saved the 'golden gymnast' herself! I wonder if she can beat Yuri in the competition… Even if I don't do well myself, I'd be happy for her. Like the American couple she had rescued before, this Elena's eyes were yellow, and glistened as she smiled, thanked her with a few words of Russian, and disappeared in a burst of light.

Violet continued to make her way across the room, dodging the Shadow's attacks while searching for anyone else to save. But no matter how many creatures she took out, even more spawned in their place, crowding upon her and keeping her too busy to rescue any more innocent bystanders. Before long, she conceded that their numbers were too great for her to overcome on her own, and that she had to escape from the Metaverse before tiring herself out. Flipping over the head of a nearby shadow, Violet made a path for the gym's exit and kicked the door open, escaping into the hall. A sense of urgency overtaking her judgement, she decided to forgo searching for a smaller, safer escape, and instead retraced her steps to the main doors from where she had first entered the building.

Violet burst open the doors and recoiled as a blast of frigid air greeted her. It was a good thing it did, however, because the pause made her notice something important. In front of her, a pair of wide, bright circles traced back and forth across the snowy, brick-lined ground. She looked up, and just barely caught sight of their source: the spotlights and machine guns she had seen earlier. This time, however, the blizzard was dying down and visibility had improved, which was now a problem. Any attempt to run across their lines of sight would certainly result in her getting perforated into Swiss cheese. There were a few trees dotted around the plaza, but they were narrow and would not provide adequate cover.

Violet wanted to head back inside to find another exit to sneak out of, but when she started to turn around and look behind her, and instantly regretted it. A fresh pack of Shadows was gaining on them. There was no time left to seek out a safer escape route - she had to act fast. In an instant, Violet formulated her plan. It was risky, but she knew she wouldn't last fighting alone against so many Shadows, so she had to take her chances. Rolling out of cover, she dropped onto one knee, pulled her gun out from behind her back, and fired a shot at each of the searchlights' lenses. As soon as they went dark, she sprinted away towards the parking lot where she had entered, and would leave, the Metaverse.

From her limited viewpoint, Violet had not noticed that the guns were controlled not by other Shadows, but automatically by surveillance cameras. The sudden dousing of their spotlights, combined with darkness of the overcast evening sky, hampered the aim of the machine guns, but they still tried to track the her and unleashed torrents of lead just behind them. In one last diversionary tactic, Violet twisted around, tore off her mask, and casted another Makouga spell at the guns. Just as she hoped, the magical lights blinded the cameras long enough to give her a few precious seconds of relief from the crossfire. By the time they came back online, their target was too far away to hit with any accuracy.

Taking cover behind the giant concrete divider, Violet silently caught her breath. The pack of Shadows chasing her had just made it outside, and while she wasn't certain if they saw her hide where she was, she knew she couldn't stay put for long. That was when her attention wandered to a glowing pink circle on the ground, located roughly where she had entered the Metaverse. When she stepped inside it, a warm sensation take over her mind. A feeling of… safety. Pulling her phone out from a holster hidden beneath her jacket, she opened up EMMA and spoke the command, "Return home." EMMA registered the order with a beep and said:

"Navigation complete. Returning to your world."

Hokkaido Prefectural Sports Center, Toyohira Park

Sumire's cognition of her reality shimmered and shifted as she and her companions were warped back to their own world. When it settled into place, she found herself wearing her old clothes once again, and her heightened senses returned to their original states. The gentle air of the summer evening bathed her in much-needed warmth. Cautiously, Sumire peeked out from behind the concrete barrier. To her relief, the Toyohira Arena appeared as it should, with nary a Shadow nor gun emplacement to be seen. Relief flooding through her body, she immediately brought up her phone and made a call to the first person who came to mind.

"Moshi-moshi," went the voice of Ren Amamiya. "Sumire, is that you? What a coincidence, I was just thinking about-"

Before Ren could greet her, Sumire blurted out, "Senpai! We've got an emergency here. I think the Metaverse has come back!"

"We know. Are you okay? What happened?"

"I'm fine, for now. There's a Palace at the Toyohira Arena, the stadium where we've all been training today. The other gymnasts were in there, being attacked by Shadows. I managed to fight them off and rescue a few, but the others… I don't know how to describe it…" she trailed off.

"When the Shadows attacked those gymnasts, did they pull something out of them that looked like a big red gem?"

"Yes… that's exactly what happened. Will they be okay?"

"I've seen it before. They just had their Desires taken."

"Desires?"

"I'll explain later. Your friends are safe in the real world, but they won't be… themselves for a little while. They've been brainwashed by… whoever this town's Monarch is. Listen, how did you enter the Metaverse?"

"The last thing I remember was using EMMA. I gave it a keyword I got from Yuri."

"You mean Yuri Hikawa?"

"Yes, you know her?"

"I know of her, and I think I know what you're up against. First, we need a safe place to talk, alone. Where are you now?"

"I'm just outside the stadium." Pausing to look at her surroundings, she saw a squat, boxy structure close by. It opened to a staircase on one side, and a sign hanging from beneath its roof bore the logo of Sapporo's subway network. "There's a subway station nearby. Hold on… It says 'Toyohira Park'."

"Alright." Ren waited for Futaba to look up the subway map and give directions. "Take the line up a few stops to Suzushino. Once you reach the main crossing, turn around from the 'Nipporo' sign, go up a block, and turn left. You'll find a public bathhouse called… hang on… 'Yuki-no-Yu'. I'm with the gang; we were headed there anyway. Meet with the girls when you get there, and the rest of us will catch up."

"Thank you so much, Senpai. I'll see you guys soon!"

"Got it. Stay safe out there, okay, Sumire-chan?"

"I will. Good-bye, Senpai!" Hanging up, Sumire calmed herself with a deep breath, and disappeared down into the subway station.

AN: This is the first chapter where we get to see my new interpretation of Sapporo's Jail. Basically, it's just like the actual in-game version, but with a different castle. After all, Yuri sees the outside world as a cold one, so the snow-and-ice theme still fits. As this chapter spent more time in the oven, I added a bit of setup for the Jail's, and this story's, main gimmicks. But, I don't want to dwell on it too much just yet…!

Special thanks, as always, go to Deathmanstratos and SupremeKnight3 for editing and support. My first draft of this chapter went through some serious rewrites after discussing it with Deathman. Originally, I had Yuna join Sumire/Violet in her Metaverse excursion, and they physically brought the rescued gymnasts back to the real world with them. However, he wasn't sure about all this; while he admitted he was confused about the finer details of how the Metaverse works, he assumed the gymnasts and other innocent bystanders from that side are their Shadow Selves, not their physical bodies. After looking up that stuff on the Megami Tensei Wiki ( wiki/Shadow_Self#Persona_5_Strikers), I agreed with his suggestions, and even noted how they would make the events far less complicated.

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