Persona 5: Crusade – Chapter 5: He Drinks Damnation

Disclaimer: This is a non-profit, fan-made story. Persona 5 belongs to Atlus, SEGA, Cloverworks, Madman Entertainment, Aniplex USA, Katsura Hashino, and Hisato Murasaki. Support the official release by buying the game, buying the manga adaptation, or watching the anime on Crunchyroll.

Tuesday, April 12th, 2016

After School

As soon as Fritz started up the navigation app, the three students noticed the world around them distort, while Akira's phone screen went fuzzy for a bit. The school itself twisted and shifted until it resembled the castle from yesterday. After taking a quick glance around to make sure they hadn't been tailed, they ran into the courtyard. Once they reached the front door, Ryuji noticed that Akira's clothes had changed.

"What's with those clothes, dude?!" Ryuji chose to focus on a completely minor detail. "You look like you got kicked out of a magic act."

"Nein," Fritz, having changed into his hussar/armor outfit, disagreed. "I'd say he looks more like an Isekai protagonist. All he needs is OP stats and a harem."

Ryuji examined his classmate. "I've gotta admit, your outfit looks kickass."

"Are you jealous, Hündin?"

Ryuji grumbled. "No, I'm not jealous."

Akira pinched the bridge of his nose. "Focus, you two."

Just then, Morgana popped out of a corner. "Hey! Stop making a commotion."

"Apologies, Morgana-chan." Fritz bowed, while Ryuji was shocked by the cat-thing's sudden appearance.

"The Shadows started acting up, so I came here wondering what it could be…" Morgana explained. "To think you guys would come back to the entrance when you barely managed to escape."

"What is this place?" Ryuji looked up at the imposing medieval structure. "Is it the school?"

"That's right." Morgana replied.

Ryuji stuttered. "But it's a castle!"

"This castle is the school," Morgana explained, "but only to this castle's ruler."

"Kamoshida-sensei views himself as a king," Fritz elaborated, "so the school distorts to reflect that view."

"Yes," Morgana was glad that Fritz caught on immediately. "It's ruled by his Shadow, because it's how his distorted heart views the school."

Ryuji thought for a second, then became frustrated. "Explain it in a way that makes sense!"

"It seems like we're in a world where someone's distorted heart can cause a place to change its shape and nature." Fritz rubbed his chin in thought. "It seems my Isekai remark was spot on."

"That doesn't clear it up at all." Ryuji folded his arms.

Morgana shook his head. "There's only so much simplification you can do for a moron."

Fritz snickered, causing Akira to give him a disapproving look. Before Ryuji could shout at the cat-thing, the quartet heard a long, drawn-out scream coming from inside the castle.

"What was that?!" Ryuji looked to Morgana.

"It must be the slaves captive here." Morgana said.

"For real?!" Ryuji was stunned. "We saw other guys held captive here yesterday."

"Yeah," Fritz agreed. "They looked like students from our school."

Morgana folded his arms, looking at the castle with disdain. "Most likely on Kamoshida's orders. It's nothing out of the ordinary; it's like that every day here. Your escape yesterday could've set him off too."

"That son of a bitch! This is bullshit!" With little to no warning, Ryuji ran at the door and began hammering on it. "You hear me, Kamoshida?!"

"Him and people five blocks away, Ryuji." Fritz dragged his classmate back.

Morgana sighed, and Ryuji turned back to him. "Hey, Monamona!"

"Morgana!"

Ryuji ignored that. "Do you know where those voices are comin' from?"

"Presumably the dungeons." Fritz interjected, while Morgana looked between them.

"You want me to take you to them?" the cat-thing asked, then shrugged. "I'll take the three of you there; we'll need Frizzy and Specs."

"Count me in." Akira said.

Morgana nodded. "All right, let's do this. Follow me!"

The three Shujin students followed Morgana to the vent they had used to escape yesterday. "Remember, not barging in through the entrance is one of the basics of phantom thievery."

"How're we supposed to know about that stuff?" Ryuji asked.

Morgana climbed into the ventilation shaft. "I'll make sure to teach you as we go. Come on, follow me!"

Ryuji stopped Akira for a second. "Really though, thanks for comin' along. I owe you big time!"

It was easy, perhaps too easy, for the group to sneak back into the dungeon. They didn't encounter any guards in the entrance hall, and Morgana led them down the spiral staircase they had used to escape last time. Once they actually entered the dungeon, however, they found their path blocked by a guard.

"Darn." Morgana cursed. "I had a feeling there would be guards here. It looks like we won't be able to avoid conflict from this point forward."

Sakamoto was nervous, but Fritz was perfectly fine. Now that he had a sword, an Oakeshott Type XIII from the looks of it, he really wanted to use it. Right now, he saw no better use than cutting these 'Shadows' to ribbons.

"I'll teach you the basics of battle right now. You had better remember all of this." Morgana continued. "As a rule of thumb, try to ambush as many enemies as you can. Attack them from behind whenever possible. You'll need to rip off their masks to momentarily break the control the Palace ruler has over them. If you succeed, the enemy will be caught off guard, allowing us to jump in for a preemptive strike."

"So we wanna ambush 'em and go for the first strike…" Sakamoto understood that much. "All right, I got it!"

"You don't have a Persona." Fritz pointed out. "You're going to be watching."

"Anyway, let's go!" Morgana said.

Akira rushed forward, jumped onto the guard's shoulders, and grabbed its mask.

"I'll reveal your true form!" he cried out, then yanked the mask off.

The guard shuddered, then transformed into a Crypt-dwelling Pyromaniac. Akira jumped back, drawing his dagger, while Fritz and Morgana flanked him. The transfer student rushed forward with a series of kicks and slices, doing decent damage. Morgana used Garu, crippling the Pyromaniac, and finished the guard off with his scimitar.

Fritz found ¥149 in the guard's remains, then waved the group forward. "Let's move on."

They made their way to the drawbridge, passing a few empty cells along the way. After crossing, Sakamoto commented on how empty the cells were, then turned to Morgana.

"Dammit, they were here before!" he said. "Where'd they go?!"

"Quiet down!" Morgana warned.

"Oh yeah, there were more of 'em further in too…!" Sakamoto took off across the drawbridge Morgana had originally helped them with.

Morgana turned to the other two students. "They might have been transferred already…"

"Transferred where?" Fritz folded his arms. "Where else would they be? The throne room? A public torture for his court?"

Just then, Sakamoto came running back. "Crap, I can hear guards comin'! Lots of 'em!"

"Back so soon?"

"Shut it!"

Morgana shushed them. "It would be a problem if they discovered us now…"

"Anyone got a cardboard box?"

Morgana ignored Fritz and walked over to a door across from one of the cells. "Let's head into this room. We should be able to hide in there until they leave."

The students followed their guide into the room, and they were rewarded with a medieval break room. There was a wooden table, surrounded by stools, directly underneath a brazier. Towards the back, Fritz swore he saw a simple cot. There was also a random assortment of furniture shoved into one of the corners.

Morgana jumped onto the table. "The Shadows probably won't come in here."

Sakamoto panted. "How can you tell?"

Fritz looked around. "Is the room special?"

"Yes," Morgana replied. "There's a lack of distortion here, meaning the ruler's control over this area is weak."

As if on que, the room shifted to look like a classroom before shifting back. Sakamoto even said so aloud to emphasize it.

"Now do you understand?" Morgana asked. "This place is another reality that the ruler's heart projects."

"This is Kamoshida's reality…?" Sakamoto shook his head. "Shit makes no sense at all!"

"One could say it's a world in which one's distorted desires have materialized." Morgana explained. "I call such a place a 'Palace'."

"A 'Palace'…?"

"This place exists because he believes that the school is his own castle." Fritz explained to Sakamoto for what felt like the fifth time. "Given how the teachers, even the principal, treat him, it isn't surprising."

"Spot on, Specs!"

"So, it became like this 'cause he just thought of it like that?!" Sakamoto asked, then scowled. "That son of a bitch!"

Morgana glanced at Sakamoto. "You must really hate this Kamoshida guy."

"Hate doesn't even cover how I feel." Sakamoto turned to Morgana. "Everything is that asshole's fault!"

Akira looked to Fritz, who shook his head. Investigating took a priority over whatever happened while Sakamoto was on the track team.

"I don't know what happened between you two," Morgana folded his arms, "but don't let your emotions get the better of you. His lackeys are everywhere inside."

"By the way," Fritz said, "what's with our outfits?"

"Yeah," Sakamoto chimed in, "I'm curious as hell about it."

"That's also because of this world." Morgana said.

Fritz paused, trying to think of how that would work. "I'm sorry, Morgana, but can you explain that in depth?"

"I know, right?" Sakamoto said.

"Anything distorts according to how a ruler pleases within his Palace. A school can turn into a castle like this, after all." Morgana explained. "In order to prevent such distortions, one must hold a powerful will of rebellion. Your appearance is a manifestation of that. It's the image of rebellion that you hold within."

Fritz looked over his outfit. From what he recalled, the cavalry arm of the Imperial German Army traced its lineage to the Teutonic Knights, who went on crusades in the Holy Land and the Baltics. It also made sense that he was dressed as a hussar, given that they would perform raids on their opponents' supply lines.

Sakamoto groaned. "I'm so fed up with all this!" He pointed to Morgana. "I'm more curious about you than their clothes! What the hell are you anyways?!"

"I'm a human—an honest-to-god human!" Morgana retorted, glaring at Sakamoto.

"You look more like a magic talking cat." Fritz said.

"This is, well…" Morgana's ears drooped. "It's because I lost my true form. I think."

"You 'think'?" Sakamoto said.

"But I do know how to regain my true form. The reason why I snuck in here was for a preliminary investigation of those means." Morgana explained, then turned away, eyes lowered. "Well, I ended up getting caught though…"

Probably embarrassed, he snapped back to his confident self. "Besides, I've been tortured by Kamoshida too! I'm gonna make him pay for sure!"

"What is this, a comic book? This is seriously crazy…" Sakamoto muttered to himself.

Morgana ignored that last part. "If we're gonna keep going, we should hurry along. I'll be counting on Frizzy's and Specs' skills. Got it, rookies?"

"You can count on me, Morgana." Akira said.

"Do you think we can get far?" Fritz asked. "Using my Persona last time was pretty exhausting."

"Don't worry, guys." Sakamoto said, digging into his bag. "I thought these might help, so…"

He pulled out a pair of model pistols. Fritz picked one up. They looked like they were modelled after the Type 54, a Chinese copy of the Soviet Tokarev TT-33 that added a mechanical safety. Fritz noticed the word 'Tkachev' stamped into one side of the slide.

"I brought these just in case!" the vulgar student, having apparently held onto them all through the school day, gave the other pistol to Akira, along with some painkillers. "It's a model gun though, so it only makes sounds!"

"Those are toys!" Morgana shouted.

"But they look totally real," Sakamoto countered, "so it'll fake 'em out, at least."

"If you were caught with these," Fritz noted, "you'd be expelled, if not arrested."

"So you were planning this from the start…" Morgana shook his head at the idiocy on display. "Well, fine. If you're ready to go, we'll resume our infiltration." He turned to Akira. "There are probably still soldiers making their rounds outside. Let's use this time to sort through our current situation."

"Well," Fritz got the ball rolling, "we have yet to see any of the other prisoners from yesterday."

"They were probably moved to another location." Morgana said.

"Where?!" Sakamoto asked. "And why?!"

"We'll find out when we find them." Fritz replied.

"The soldiers were coming this way, right?" Morgana asked. "Let's eavesdrop on the soldiers outside. We might be able to learn something from them."

Akira cracked the door a couple centimeters, allowing the soldiers' voices to come in clearly.

"Hm, I thought I just heard something move over there… Guess it was just my imagination…" One soldier said.

"And what of the slaves?" The soldier's officer said.

"They're all in the training hall." The first soldier replied. "I'd assume they're screaming in pain by now."

"Very well." The officer said. "By the way, I heard we may have intruders around. Stay on your guard."

The guards dispersed, allowing the thieves to emerge.

"Did you hear that?" Morgana asked, getting affirmative nods from Fritz and Akira.

"They said 'trainin' hall', right?" Sakamoto said.

"I think that's just a little further ahead." Morgana said. "Let's go!"

They continued retracing their steps from yesterday, but they were halted when they saw another guard blocking their way.

"Shoot." Morgana whispered. "The way to the training hall should be just past those bars…"

"Then," Fritz suggested, "we'll ambush the guard."

"'Ambush' is right." Morgana said. "If it notices you beforehand, the Palace's security level will rise."

"A-And what do we do if that happens?" Sakamoto asked. "Run away?"

"Well, the security level will go back down if we can beat more enemies without getting noticed."

"Th-That sounds, uh… complicated."

"It doesn't sound complicated to me." Fritz interjected. "If you ambush a guard, the security level can go down. If you don't, the security level will rise."

Akira ambushed the guard, causing it to transform into two Gallows-Flowers. Fritz chopped into the one on the left with his sword, causing moderate damage. Morgana cast Garu, which caused just as much damage to the one on the right. Akira used Cleave, finishing the one on the left, while the one on the right hit Morgana with a substantial physical attack. Fritz cast Diarama on their guide, who finished off the remaining Gallows-Flower with Garu. Akira found a pile of money, totaling ¥162, where the last enemy had died. The phantom thief-in-training took the time to count the money they'd accumulated fighting Shadows: ¥1,613.

Akira opened the door the soldier had been guarding, leading the group further on. The hallway they entered split into two directions: a landing with a door to the left, and a set of stairs going down to the right.

"The trainin' hall's up ahead, right?" Sakamoto asked.

"Yeah, it's a little further." Morgana said. "Make sure you watch out for any guards along the way."

Akira started with the landing on the left, but he realized that the door was locked. As such, he led the group down the stairs and around a corner. They stopped just short of turning the corner, however, when they saw a couple guards standing around.

"Hey," one of the soldiers said. "Have you seen anyone who looks like an intruder?"

"No," its partner replied. "Nobody yet…"

Meanwhile, the gang decided to hide behind a box and observe.

"Shoot…" Morgana said. "I had a feeling there would be a lot of enemies. It'd be impossible to dodge all of them…"

"Then, what do we do?" Sakamoto asked. "Should we try and take 'em down like before?"

"There's too many of them." Fritz whispered.

"Yeah," Morgana added, "and we should be conserving energy."

"I-I see…" Sakamoto hung his head, having provided nothing but toy pistols. "Sorry…"

Morgana put a hand (paw?) to his chin in thought. "Hmm. Those toys you brought look like real guns. Well, *chuckle* there is a way…"

Fritz could tell what Morgana was thinking, so he pulled out his Type 54. "Ready whenever you are, Akira."

Sakamoto was confused. "But, they're models. They don't even shoot pellets…"

The guards moved closer to their hiding spot, prompting Morgana to wave them forward. "Attack away, Frizzy Hair!"

"Leave it to me." Akira replied.

Before Sakamoto could stop him, the transfer student rushed out and unmasked the closest guard. It dissolved into a Beguiling Girl, while her partner turned into a Gallows-Flower. Fritz took aim at the Beguiling Girl and pulled the trigger eight times. The pistol shot eight 7.62mm slugs, causing the slide to lock back. The Girl fell to the ground, her wings perforated, while Fritz depressed the slide release.

"How about that?! Surprised?" Morgana gloated to the Shadows, then turned to Fritz and Akira. "Be mindful of how much ammo you have left!"

Fritz used the opportunity to hack at the Beguiling Girl with his sword, finishing her off. Akira fired five shots at the Gallows-Flower with his pistol, though one shot missed. Morgana pulled out a slingshot.

"All right, I'll show you my weapon too!" He fired five shots, damaging the Flower to the point where a well-placed Kouha finished it off.

Fritz gathered up ¥265 (¥1878) and some silk yarn. "I'm still amazed that worked."

"Whoa!" Sakamoto was stunned by how useful his toy guns turned out to be. "Did that toy gun shoot real freakin' bullets?!"

"This is a cognitive world." Morgana said. "As long as our opponent sees it as real, it becomes such. It's a good thing it's realistic-looking."

Sakamoto looked like he was going to open his mouth and express his stupidity, so Fritz stopped him. "Remember The Matrix? The whole 'your mind makes it real' thing Laurence Fishburne explained? It's basically that."

Sakamoto blinked a couple times. "…That, actually, makes sense."

"Thank you for finding a way to teach a moron, Specs." Morgana said.

"Oh, stop! You're making me blush!" Fritz replied, feigning humility at Sakamoto's expense.

"Oh, yeah!" Sakamoto stomped his foot. "Well, why do you have that slingshot?!"

"I'm no expert," Fritz said, "but I'm pretty sure you wouldn't like getting hit by a pebble, or a metal ball bearing, fired from a slingshot."

"Why was it as strong as a gun then?!" Sakamoto asked. "What about your whole cognitive whatever?!"

Morgana had no answer to that, and neither did Fritz. "Sakamoto, sometimes you should just roll with it, and accept that there may never be a good explanation."

"Setting that aside," Morgana continued on, "we should decide how we divvy up our roles in battle from here on out. Coordinating our moves will be important."

"Who should assign the roles?" Fritz asked.

"I think it should be Frizzy Hair." Morgana said. "He can order us what to do directly in battle, or he can let us decide what we do."

Fritz shrugged. "Fair enough."

After fighting a couple more enemies, and netting 298 more Yen (¥2176), the gang reached a guarded door. The fact that it was guarded made them suspect that it led to their destination.

Morgana put a paw to his chin in thought. "This might be a good time to teach you a useful technique for fighting enemies. Let's go."

Akira unmasked the guard, causing it to shift into a Beguiling Girl.

"Listen," Morgana said, "there's a distinct flow to battles. Let me show you. After all, seeing is… something?"

"Believing." Fritz added.

"Right!" Morgana smiled. "First, knock down all the enemies! Everything starts at that crucial step!"

Akira hit the Beguiling Girl with Eiha, grounding her.

"All right! Now rush on in for an All-out Attack!"

At once, Akira, Morgana, and Fritz launched into the air, cutting the Girl with their respective blades. Akira dropped to the floor, landing perfectly on his feet, and fixed his gloves.

"The show's over!"

Fritz picked up ¥184 (¥2360) and sighed at how overdramatic his leader was. "You're definitely a fan of Naruto."

"That went really well!" Morgana complimented his protege. "You're definitely fit for this. As I mentioned before, I want you to be the head of our command. You can decide when we do an All-out Attack."

"You got it." Akira replied.

Fritz opened the door, allowing the others to file in. The found another door, presumably their destination, tinged with pink lighting. There was a banner above the door which made Fritz grimace reading it aloud.

"'Kamoshida's… Training Hall… of Love'?"

Ryuji scowled. "What kind of bullshit is this?!"

Fritz shuddered. "I've got a really bad feeling about what we might stumble into."

Regardless, Akira led them through the door, down another flight of stairs, and across a bridge over a river of sewage. Across from the river were steel bars. They had begun hearing cries and screams when they first walked in, and they seemed to originate from behind the bars. Fritz walked over to them, looked through, and scowled.

"Ugh, it's—not what I thought it was, but it's disgusting nonetheless." Fritz waved them over.

There was a ledge just past the bars, with a couple people on it. Past the ledge was a pit, in which guards had tied people in gym clothes to a volleyball net and were beating them with wooden staves (probably labeled 'Volleyball Spirit'). Fritz looked as disgusted as Akira felt, while Ryuji was much more… vocal.

"Dammit! This is bullshit!" the vulgar student shouted.

Morgana stood on a nearby crate and watched for guards on their side. "How many times do I have to tell you to keep your voice down?!"

Ryuji shook his head. "But this is beyond messed up! How do I open this…?"

"You can't, and we shouldn't." Fritz said, turning to his classmate. "If the castle is how Kamoshida views the school, then these guys are how he views the volleyball team. They're not real people, just imitations of people from the real world."

"Stop…!" one of the slaves on the ledge walked over to them. "Your friend's right… If we defy him, we'll just get executed like you guys."

After he left, Ryuji muttered to himself. "So the school's a castle, and the students are slaves… It's so on point that it makes me laugh. This really is the inside of that asshole's head…!"

"Still, this is horrible." Morgana walked up to the bars, cringing. "It must mean he treats them as slaves in the real world too."

"Then, the rumors about the volleyball team are true?" Fritz muttered, scowling. "Warum sagt sie nichts?!"

"He must be abusing them on a daily basis…" Morgana observed. "There's no way they'd be so beat up normally."

"Shit, wouldn't this be somethin' to report to the police…?" Ryuji said, then pulled out his phone. "I'll use these guys as evidence."

"Yeah, that'll hold up in court." Fritz said. "A picture of students tied up in a castle, in a parallel dimension, with guys in medieval armor, accompanied by two guys dressed up like World of Warcraft rejects. Did I mention the talking cat yet?"

"Not. A. Cat."

Ryuji paused, sighed, and pocketed his phone. "Point taken. I'll just have to memorize their faces and find them at school tomorrow."

"Whatever you do is fine, but we're gonna get caught if we stand around like this." Morgana warned.

Apart from the net-beatings, the phantom-thieves in training found two more pits: in one, students were on a treadmill, being forced to run from a spiked-rolling pin of death while a jug of water was suspended in front of them; in the other, a student with dark blue hair was tied to a post while a cannon fired volleyballs at him.

"What cartoon logic does this jock operate on?" Fritz muttered to himself at the treadmill.

"Not givin' athletes water even for tough trainin' is a common thing in the real world too…" Ryuji said. "That sack of shit…! I'm gonna try and memorize all these guys' faces before we go back…"

"Oh, hey!" Fritz pointed at the student getting hit with a volleyball. "I think that's your class rep, Akira: Mishima-san."

"How can you tell?" Ryuji asked.

"Short, blue hair, getting pelted with a volleyball? Shiho's told me off for commenting on his height a few times."

"The hell is this even?! This isn't trainin' at all… It's just abuse!"

"I've always wondered, though: why's Mishima-san still on the team? Tomoe-chan could outplay him."

"Hey, are you done yet?!" Morgana grabbed their attention. "We're cutting it close here!"

"Don't freak me out like that, you goddamn moron!" Ryuji said.

"Don't call Morgana-chan a moron!" Fritz countered.

"Whatever!" Ryuji turned to Akira. "I got all of 'em!"

"Then let's stop wasting time!" Morgana led them back the way they came. "We need to scram!"

They made it back to the regular dungeons when they heard a soldier's voice. "The watch post near the training hall has ceased reporting! Chances of intruder activity are extremely high! All personnel, increase security measures!"

Across one of the drawbridges, they saw a guard take position to block them.

Morgana groaned. "We've stayed here too long… Come on, let's get out of here!"

They made their way back to the entrance hall, where Fritz felt a sense of déjà vu.

Especially since Shadow Kamoshida was there. He had three regular guards and a guard with gold armor.

Shadow Kamoshida scowled at them. "You knaves again? To think you'd make the same mistakes again. You're hopeless!"

"The school ain't your castle!" Sakamoto stepped forward. "I've memorized their faces real good. You're goin' down!"

Fritz rolled his eyes, while Shadow Kamoshida sneered. "It seems it's true when they say 'barking dogs seldom bite'. How far the star runner of the track team has fallen."

"The hell are you getting' at?!" Sakamoto asked.

"I speak of the 'Track Traitor' who acted in violence, ending his teammates' dreams." Shadow Kamoshida smirked, knowing the nerve he was about to hit. "Oh, I can only imagine the pain of the others who were dragged under with your… selfish act."

Sakamoto groaned, prompting Akira to shoot him a concerned look. "'Violence'?"

"That fight I told you about." Fritz whispered, while the king turned his attention to their leader.

"What a surprise. So you're accompanying him without knowing anything at all?" Shadow Kamoshida said. "He betrayed his teammates and crushed their hopes, yet he still carries on as carefree as ever."

"That's not true!" Sakamoto shouted.

"You've come along with this fool and are now going to end up dead." Shadow Kamoshida continued. "…How unlucky of you." He turned to his guards. "Go. Kill them all. Don't sully my castle with garbage."

The regular guards dissolved and transformed into three Dirty Two-horned Beasts. Sakamoto cursed, while Morgana pushed him out of the firing line. Unfortunately, the guards managed to surround Akira, Morgana, and Fritz.

"I'll kill you!" one of the guard Shadows shouted. "I'll kill you 'cause King Kamoshida told us! I'll kill 'cause that's what he wants!"

One of the Beasts lunged at Morgana, causing heavy damage. The other two attacked Fritz and Akira, taking out chunks of health.

Fritz gritted his teeth. "It's okay! We can handle this!"

He cast Diarama on Morgana, while Akira used Cleave on one of the Beasts, doing moderate damage. Morgana cast Dia on Akira, restoring his health.

It was, however, in vain. The three of them were knocked down by the Beasts, who shifted back into guards. Shadow Kamoshida stepped on Morgana to pin him down, while two guards each pinned Akira and Fritz down.

Morgana groaned. "You piece of—"

Shadow Kamoshida ignored him and focused on Sakamoto. "I bet you simply came here on a whim and ended up like this. Isn't that right?"

"No…" Sakamoto fell to his knees, a model shotgun falling from his bag.

"What a worthless piece of trash, getting emotional so quickly…" Shadow Kamoshida sneered. "How dare you raise your hand at me. Though it was only temporary, have you forgotten my kindness in supervising track practice?"

"Wasn't no practice—it was physical abuse!" Sakamoto fell forward, while Fritz gasped. "You just didn't like our team!"

Shadow Kamoshida scowled. "It was nothing but an eyesore! The only one who needs to achieve results is me! The coach who got fired was hopeless too… Had he not opposed me with a sound argument, I would've settled with only breaking his star's leg."

"Ach was?!" Fritz whispered, trying to shake off the guards.

"Do you need me to deal with your other leg too?" Shadow Kamoshida grinned. "The school will call it self-defense anyway!"

"Dammit… Am I gonna lose again…?" Sakamoto was whispering to himself, shaking, having lost all hope. "Not only can I not run anymore… the track team is gone too 'cause of this asshole…!"

"So that's why…" Morgana wheezed.

Shadow Kamoshida applied more pressure on Morgana's back. "Once these three are dealt with, you're next."

"Ryuji!" Morgana called out.

"Get up and fight that Arschloch!" Fritz yelled.

"Stand up for yourself!" Akira called out.

"…You're right." Sakamoto stopped shaking. "Everything that was important to me was taken by him… I'll never get 'em back…!"

"Stay there and watch." Shadow Kamoshida was dismissive. "Look on as these hopeless scum die for nothing because they sided with trash like you."

"No…" Sakamoto slowly stood. "That's what you are… All you think about is using people… You're the real scumbag, Kamoshida!"

"What are you doing?" Shadow Kamoshida looked to his guards. "Silence him!"

"Stop lookin' down on me with that stupid smile on your face!"

You made me wait quite a while.

Ryuji's head pounded, as his eyes turned a glowing yellow. Yamamoto quit struggling and watched his classmate with awe. While the former track star clutched his head in agony, falling to his knees once more, the voice continued.

You seek power, correct? Then let us form a pact.

Since your name has been disgraced already, why not hoist the flag and wreak havoc…?

Ryuji felt a mixture of bile and blood travel up his throat and drip onto the carpet.

The 'other you' who exists within desires it thus…

I am thou, thou art I…

Ryuji cried out.

There is no turning back…

The skull of rebellion is your flag henceforth!

A blue flame flashed over his face, dissipating to reveal a skull-like mask.

The golden guard was dismissive. "What can you do…? Cower in fear and watch!"

As the guard prepared to stab Akira, Ryuji reached up and yanked off his mask, blood pouring down his face. A blue pillar of flame shot up, pushing back the guards and Shadow Kamoshida.

The flame dissipated to reveal Ryuji, with his Persona behind him. Ryuji's outfit consisted of a black leather jacket, matching pants with knee pads, a red tie, combat boot, and a pair of yellow gloves. His Persona, meanwhile, was a pirate standing tall atop his ship, arm-mounted cannon at the ready.

Shadow Kamoshida shielded his eyes from the glaring light. "This one as well?!"

"Right on…" Ryuji picked up the model Remington 31, holstered it, and picked up a lead pipe that had shown up next to it. "Wassup, Persona… This effin' rocks!"

"As long as you try not to use 'gnarly'." Yamamoto got up and stood by Ryuji, with Akira and Monamona doing the same.

"Now that I got this power, it's time for payback…" Ryuji cracked his knuckles. "Yo, I'm ready… Bring it!"

The golden guard growled. "Don't mock me, you brat!

He dissolved, transforming into a War-hungry Horseman: a red-armored pikeman on horseback.

Ryuji wasn't bothered. "Blast him away… Captain Kidd!"

"What troublemakers that bother King Kamoshida with trifle matters!" the Horseman reared back, summoning two Dirty Two-horned Beasts.

"Kamoshida's cognition ain't changin', right? Then I'll act like the troublemaker I am!" Ryuji countered. "Let's do this, Captain Kidd!"

He cast Zio on the Horseman, dealing minor Electric damage. Akira used Cleave on the mounted bastard, doing just as much damage. Yamamoto emptied his gun, missing half his shots and doing minimal damage, and Monamona cast Garu, doing the same amount of damage as Akira and Ryuji.

"This guy's pretty tough." The half-German noted, as he holstered his now useless Tkachev.

The Beasts lunged at Akira and Ryuji, respectively, dealing a ton of damage to each. The Horseman jabbed at Akira, bringing his health to near zero. Yamamoto cast Diarama, bringing their leader to near-full health. Ryuji hit the Horseman with a final Zio, causing the boss to collapse in his saddle while his guards fled.

"I am… a loyal subject… of the glorious King Kamoshida…" he muttered before dissolving. "So why… have I lost…?!"

Ryuji smirked. "It just proves that Kamoshida ain't anything special."

Yamamoto brought his hands together and bowed. "You fought bravely… It's a shame that it was for Kamoshida."

While Ryuji gathered his breath after the fight, Shadow Kamoshida stood there in shock, seeing his captain dispatched by these plebs.

"How 'bout that?!" Ryuji finally said.

Morgana was stunned. "So Ryuji had the potential too…"

"I never thought he'd have any potential after last year, but here he is." Fritz looked on his classmate with admiration.

Ryuji ignored that, focusing on Shadow Kamoshida. "Even if you apologize now… I ain't forgivin' you…!"

Shadow Kamoshida regained his composure. "I told you that this is my castle. It seems you still don't understand…"

"Dear, oh dear!" from Shadow Kamoshida's left came a woman's voice, with an overexaggerated southern belle accent. "What are these ill-mannered ruffians doing in our castle?!"

Fritz looked in the direction of the voice, and saw his aunt, Rizu Yamamoto. Unlike Shadow Kamoshida, her eyes weren't glowing yellow. However, Fritz was sure that she was a shadow, given her outfit. She wore a violet-red gown, with shoulder straps, a heart-shaped cleavage window, and a slit down the side from her right hip (giving an unnecessary glimpse of a lacy black thong); she also had red stiletto-heels on.

While she walked over to Shadow Kamoshida, another shocking figure walked in from his right showed up. It was Anne, wearing a violet bikini, slippers, and (oddly enough) cat ears. Like the copy of aunt Rizu, Fritz could tell that this was also a copy based on the outfit; he didn't think Anne would be caught dead wearing something like that.

Ryuji's eyes widened. "Wha—? Takamaki?!"

"And my aunt." Fritz said, watching with disdain as the copied high school student and barista embraced Shadow Kamoshida. "They're only Kamoshida's perception of people in the real world."

Morgana was clearly excited by the entrance of Anne's copy. "Wha-What a meow-velous and beautiful girl…!"

"'Meow-velous'?" Fritz muttered.

"I dunno," Ryuji added, "Fritz's aunt does look like a MILF."

"I'm standing. Right. Here. Ryuji."

Ryuji turned back to the copy of Anne, who was cuddling up to Shadow Kamoshida. "Hey! Let go of her, you perv!"

Shadow Kamoshida just smirked and wrapped an arm around the copy of Rizu. "How many times must I tell you until you understand? This is my castle—a place in which I can do whatever I want. Everyone wishes to be loved by me." He scowled. "…That is, everyone besides slow-witted thieves like you."

Morgana looked back at his companions. "It's like Fritz said: they're beings made from Kamoshida's cognition of them!"

"Are you jealous?" Shadow Kamoshida asked.

"Jealous of your blow-up dolls?" Fritz said, then put a hand to his chin in mock thought. "Nope. Can't say that I am."

Shadow Kamoshida glared at him. "Well, I'm not surprised. Women aren't drawn to problematic punks like you."

A trio of guards popped up between them and the Shadow copies.

"Clean up this trash!"

Fritz gave Morgana a sideways glance. "Morgana-chan! Escape Plan Apfel!"

Morgana had no idea what he just said, but, playing along, pulled out a cartoonish-looking bomb. It exploded, creating a thick smoke that allowed them to escape from Shadow Kamoshida's men.

They stopped outside the ventilation shaft, coughing and panting.

"Damn, Fritz." Ryuji coughed. "Think you coulda given me a little more warnin'?"

"I thought I did Ryu…ji." Fritz slowly stopped, realizing how they were talking. "Look, Ryuji, I would like to apologize for how I've been treating you this past year."

Ryuji scratched the back of his head. "It's all right. I was an asshole, too."

"At least you two made up now." Akira commented. "I was getting tired of breaking up fights."

Ryuji snickered, then looked down at his outfit. "Anyway, I don't remember changin' into this!"

"It looks good on you." Akira gave a thumbs up.

Fritz did so as well. "It 'suits' you."

Ryuji cocked an eyebrow. "Should I be happy about that?"

"Take it however you want." Fritz said, smirking. "Right now, let's get as far away from here as possible."

"So what's goin' on?" Ryuji asked Morgana. "I'm completely lost, man…!"

"I told you before." Morgana folded his arms. "When a Persona-user opposes a Palace's ruler and becomes a threat to them, this happens. It prevents you from being affected by distortions."

Ryuji felt his mask. "Is this… a skull?"

"Your appearance reflects your inner self." Morgana explained. "It's the rebel that slumbers within… Not that you'll get it."

Ryuji hung his head. "Nope…"

Fritz put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, it'll come one day."

Ryuji shot up. "Wait! What about Kamoshida at the real school?!"

"Relax. The Kamoshida in reality can't possibly know about what happens here." Morgana said. "A Shadow is the true self that is suppressed—a side of one's personality they don't want to see."

"So, we're okay." Fritz concluded. "Kamoshida the teacher didn't remember ordering our executions."

"All right!" Ryuji said. "Now, all we gotta do is—"

"Wait." Morgana interrupted. "I guided you as promised. It's your turn to cooperate with me."

"What would you like Morgana-chan?" Fritz asked.

"I need to erase the distortion from my body and regain my real form!" Morgana said. "That's why we must dive deep into Mementos and—"

"Whoa, what're you goin' on and on about?!" Ryuji interrupted. "We never said anything about helpin' you out."

Morgana was shocked. "Don't tell me… Are you not going to repay the hospitality I showed you?" He turned to Akira. "Especially you! You're going to up and leave, even though you're already part of my master plan?!"

"What plan?" Akira shrugged.

Morgana turned to Fritz. "How about you, Fritz?"

"Morgana, I swear upon my blade, I shall aid you after we have brought Kamoshida the Lustful to justice." Fritz kneeled down. "But, if I don't go back and clean my classroom right now, I'm going to be in detention until I graduate."

Omake

Just then, Ryuji came running back. "Crap, I can hear guards comin'! Lots of 'em!"

"Back so soon?" Fritz asked.

"Shut it!"

Morgana shushed them. "It would be a problem if they discovered us now…"

"Anyone got a cardboard box?" Fritz asked.

"Oh yeah," Morgana said. "I've got a bunch."

A quartet of guards arrived at the drawbridge, then looked around in confusion. They could have sworn that there were intruders down here.

"Hm, I thought I just heard something move over there… Guess it was just my imagination…" One soldier said.

"And what of the slaves?" The soldier's officer said.

"They're all in the training hall." The first soldier replied. "I'd assume they're screaming in pain by now."

"Very well." The officer said. "By the way, I heard we may have intruders around. Stay on your guard."

"Hey, guys!" one of the new guards, with a nametag that read 'Hello, my name is Crypt-dwelling Pyromaniac', said. "Were these boxes always here?"

The officer looked around. Sure enough, he saw four cardboard boxes. Boxes that almost certainly weren't here before… probably.

"Ehh, we don't get paid enough to worry about it." The officer concluded. "It's probably just an Incubus's drug stash."

"Hey, that's intolerance!" an intern guard said.

The officer turned to him. "You're intolerant of my intolerance!"

"I guess you're right, sir." Nametag guard said. "I mean, really, only an absolute moron would hide in a cardboard box in plain view of everyone and expect to remain hidden!"

Fritz sneezed from his box.

"Snake!" the intern guard screamed like a girl and stabbed the box that just moved… repeatedly; blood flowed freely from the holes he'd created.

"Specs?! Talk to me! Speeeeeeeeecs!" Morgana cried out.

A/N: Now that I've changed the dates to be more accurate, I'm still working on my Girls und Panzer fic. Once I post the first chapter of that story, I'll post another P5C chapter.