FG
Fool's Gamble
Life 96
Chapter VII: A Rebellion Reborn
Façade of Judgement:
November 20th, 2016
The dim lights flickering overhead, the syringes that littered the floor shining like diamonds in the shaky focus of his waning eyes, his body hanging limp against the table as he rested his weight on it.
After all he had endured, Akira would take whatever comfort he could in such a dismal cage, let alone one he had allowed himself to walk into for a second time.
A clock was ticking somewhere, a loud intrusive sound, but it wasn't right. Too frequent, too real, closer to a heartbeat than a clock's hand, and yet Akira knew there was no clock in this room.
He had memorized every single inch of this room, there was never a clock, there was never a clock to make a noise to make him think about there never being a clock.
So what exactly had he fallen into this time? Considering he had been here before, he had left this room before, he had survived it despite all of the odds.
He couldn't be here again, not returned to the cage of his torment, the room he saw in each of his nightmares and the image that haunted his waking hours long after they had ended.
His eyes rose from the sleek surface then, his eyes meeting the steely gaze of the one card he had kept tucked away, close to his vest and hidden from sight.
The one confidant that had managed to win him his game at the final hour, the one person that was able to turn the tide in their favor.
The one person that had managed to tie their plan together, to save his life when all but certain death was assured and the Phantom Thieves were at their most threatened.
The one that allowed a dead man to walk away and finish his game, to defy the consequences of his bet and wrestle a victory from Fate itself.
Prosecutor Sae Niijima had been his Ace-In-The-Hole, and yet he knew something was wrong here, as he could tell that the woman before him was not the Gambler of Fate he once had fought, nor was she the Defender of Justice that she would become.
It was all wrong, the glare in her eyes, the cold detachment that rested there, and the fact she looked as if she couldn't care less if he died today.
The fact that the Interrogation room door was wide open was another concerning feature of this place, and yet something within him told him that it still was not an escape from this place, nor had it been the first time.
He could see nothing beyond the door, a dark and threatening void leading to nowhere at all as he eyed the empty door frame with a paranoid glare.
Akira had no idea where he was, or what exactly was out there, but he knew nothing good would come from such a malevolent entrance.
His eyes hurt just from looking at this place, everything he could name in his body hurt, all the aches so very familiar as he spent so long recovering from each of them.
He knew his injuries better than his achievements.
The sting of the injections all along his arms and neck, the broken ribs ground to dust under an officer's foot, the chip knocked clean from his perfect smile when he refused their questioning.
The blood clouding his vision from where they had swung the chair at him, his body barely blocking the blow as he lay there in agony, his hands feebly reaching out to stop the impact. The chair leg had connected with the corner of his face, the glasses his mother had once given him to help him look kinder, as was her loving dutiful way, now horribly crushed on the ground as plastic shards forced their way into his cheeks.
Akira remembered the words they said as they threw the chair aside, the first officer replacing it with his fist as Akira was lifted into the air, the man choking every single desperate gasp of breath out of him as he watched the boy struggle in his grasp.
But that was then, when he had been Joker, before everything.
He wasn't Joker anymore, and this was not his interrogation.
A chill spread across his spine as Akira's eyes began to bleed under his very touch, visions of another room running through the scarlet rain as he saw glimpses of a white room, someone else standing where Sae now sat.
A world seeming to bleed into this one, reflections and shattered glimpses darting and shifting back and forth as the interrogation room and whatever that other place was, began to form and collide in ways he couldn't handle as his mind began to bend.
With a hand to his temple, he barely noticed as his nose began to bleed as well, a stinging pain in his skull as he forced his battered eyes once more to Sae.
She was smiling, her usual stoic face replaced by the devilish one of her Shadow, only for the gold of her eyes to slowly drain away until his vision of Judgement returned fully.
And then it was gone, the world drifted to shades of gray and Sae's eyes drew him to attention, his body recoiling into position like a spring-loaded automaton, the edge of her fingers guiding his form like a conductor as he found himself swaying at her very breath, a bead of sweat dropping from his temple as her smile widened in an almost comical way.
"I see how it is… this is what the end of a hero of justice looks like? I expected more from you, Kurusu." Sae spoke coldly then, the False Igor never reaching such a level of disappointment as she did.
His body began to crack then with an otherworldly force, her fist clenching as he felt absolute and ultimate pressure piercing his mortal form, his very bones being ground by her ethereal touch.
"Sa-" Not a word could escape his lips as his jaw was forced shut, his teeth barely avoiding the tender flesh of his tongue as she merely shook a finger at his interruption.
"I still can't believe it, that after all you went through, you would end up back here…" Sae said with a twisted sense of glee as Akira's hands smashed down against the table, the handcuffs he had once been tormented with suddenly returned in a burning shade of gold as he found himself restrained and at her attention.
That smile confirmed that beyond any doubt, this was not Sae Niijima.
"I still haven't asked you enough, but the time you have left is almost over, so one last question for the road… Joker? A suggestion, you could call it." Sae said with a sharp flick of her tongue as the lights faded away around them, the table and room around them fading away as only a dark void around them remained, a noxious scarlet fog filling the abyss as he struggled to breath.
And yet, when she said that name, he felt something inside of him snap.
"I… am not Joker." Akira managed to choke out as the fog began to fizzle away around him, a breath of fresh air assaulting him viciously as he felt a familiar warmth in his bones, yet it was not the embrace of the Pillager of Twilight at his side.
"Joker, Akira Kurusu, Trickster… Whatever you may call yourself now and forever, I propose a deal, you're very familiar with them aren't you? Everyone makes a deal with you after all.
The Broken Fool, the Demiurge, the Wayward Dreamer… all sought your wisdom and support, and yet all you refused…" Sae said with a coy smile then, a hint of the iron will he knew so very well from her, bleeding through this illusion of a disguise, for he knew it was no more than a mask.
This was not his attorney, no matter how well crafted an impersonation it was, it was nothing more than a mockery.
"You throw all of your cards away Kurusu, and yet you complain that you didn't win the game? That you lost? How can you expect to win, when you throw away every route to victory?" She asked him carefully then as he felt the horrific pressure fade to an ache, his body released from its magical hold as he found himself dropped to the table that he couldn't even see, his blood pooling around him and away into the inky space around them.
"That… that wasn't winning…" He coughed out as he swore he felt a shifting feeling within his soul, something not quite right as he heard voices on the wind, a muttering of voices unfamiliar and yet all together soul stealing.
"If I chose… their way… There would be no…"
And with that, he found his strength failing him once more, his body collapsing on the table as he could only stare back at the scarlet vision of Sae, her pose reminiscent of a predator waiting for the game to end and her prey to expire.
"This deal will be the final one you receive, Kurusu. The last choice you will ever be given. Step through the door, and this all ends. No more suffering, no more impossible expectations. You can have everything you ever wanted, anything you could ever dream of. Just step through the door."
The lights returned, the puzzling realm around them twisting and warping back into the interrogation room he knew in the darkest corners of his dreams, but there was a light on out in the hallway.
And the door was still open.
"I don't believe you."
Reality
April 15th, 2016
Goro
He was a little pleased he was right, that much he would admit as Tae Takemi turned to face him, an annoyed glint in her eyes as if he was nothing more than a fly bothering her.
And yet, he kept his aim firm and concise as he enjoyed the frustration in her gaze, though her small smirk started a worry within him.
Criminals didn't often smile for no reason,
"Ah, the Detective Prince… I figured it'd be you that would find me out, I planned for this day." Takemi said with a smile as she ran a hand along the cheek of Kurusu, the other boy beginning to shake in his sleep as Goro struggled not to be distracted.
The nurse had obviously drugged Kurusu with something, most likely either a new strain of the Hate Virus, or some other compound that Goro dearly hoped he wouldn't have to deal with.
But his luck was never that good.
"I mean, it was honestly obvious." Goro said with certainty as he began to step closer to Kurusu as Takemi moved towards the windows of the office, her attention firmly off Goro as he found himself wondering what her game was here.
"A new nurse transfers to Shujin Academy with a history of experimentation and drug development, and has a motive for revenge, and it just so happens that a new virus is released on the school that could have only been made by the nurse? You knew you'd be caught, so why do any of this to begin with Takemi? Why poison Shujin Academy?" Goro asked her with a side glance as he pressed his free palm against Kurusu's chest, the other boy's shaking calming for a moment as he focused on not letting his aim waver from Takemi's back.
Steady breaths, though Kurusu had a rapid heart rate, and judging by the dark veins spreading across the boy's skin, the virus was progressing at a dangerous rate.
Goro would have to either induce regurgitation to try and purge the virus from Kurusu's system, or apprehend Takemi quickly enough that he could get the boy to Masami for treatment.
A live, viable sample of the virus would be just what they needed to synthesize an antidote.
"You may assume it's some form of petty revenge. Maybe you think I hate someone here, but that isn't the case at all Detective. I don't care about a single brat at this school, you're all just my little guinea pigs. You know, I was a famed researcher once. I was working on a serum that would eliminate anger, remove rage and hate from the Human equation. I was going to implement true, everlasting peace onto Mankind." Takemi said then with a passionate tone as she turned to him once more, a bright glow coming over her eyes as he felt how important that dream must have meant to her, though he naturally questioned the ethics of such a drug.
If you were to forcibly remove an emotion, what sort of consequences would that entail? What effect would that even have on a person, if rage was removed?
"Someone didn't want that, did they?" Goro said then with confidence as he stepped back from Kurusu, his aim steady as he once more trekked closer to Takemi, the woman merely meeting his gaze as equals as she sat at her desk with an ease that one wouldn't expect.
From the relaxed look in her eyes, you would think they were merely friends meeting for a chat, not a Detective here to arrest her.
"Funny it should be you to ask me that. I have every right to kill you where you stand, and yet, a part of me says that wouldn't be fair. You see, life is all a series of cause and effect, Akechi. You understand? Each action has a consequence. You were one such consequence, as am I. Your father made a decision, and it brought me right to you, almost poetic in a way." Takemi said then as her gaze turned dangerous, a vial of scarlet liquid in her hand as she held it to the light, a chill going over Goro's spine at the mention of his father.
He knew his father wasn't a popular man, but never had he thought he would see an enemy of his so personally, let alone find himself facing one.
"Substance 44921.2. We called it Peacezium in the lab, and we were amazed at the potential of it. It completely and totally suppressed all feelings of frustration and hatred from a person's mind. We tested it on a serial killer from America to great effect. He was a racist creature that killed with ease, and yet when we tested it on him, he treated the people he would have once killed to a steak dinner. It turned him into a completely different person…" Takemi explained then as the vial hit the light in such a way that he could almost see the cells moving through the serum, his gaze wary as he stepped closer to her, not liking what he was hearing.
While such a drug would be perfect for rehabilitation, he knew it was impossible.
You could suppress things in a person, but not completely change them in such a quick time, not without a catch.
"Why did you decide to reverse it, Takemi? Why ruin your life's work, and instead bring to life a nightmare? Why, when you strove for peace, would you manufacture chaos?" Goro asked her as he found himself by her side, the woman not even flinching at the sight of the stun gun by her side, her focus solely on her concoction of misery.
"Your father shut down my research. He said it was too vulnerable to abuse and worried about the applications of removing other emotions… He worried what an absence of love would be." Takemi said as she finally drew her eyes to him, a light shining in her eyes as if she had finally seen him for the first time, a feeling Goro that he didn't know the name of, rising up inside him as he felt something akin to horror at such an idea.
If you removed the bonds of affection and love from people…
"He was right." Goro said then, and meant it, as he had never been scared by just an idea before, but the idea of mothers choking their children to death flashed before his eyes.
What would a world without love look like? He didn't want to know.
At that sentence though, Takemi's eyes almost burned to flames as she threw herself at him in rage as he lunged to the side, the doctor going flying against the cabinets as Goro found himself slamming into one of the recovery cots.
He gave out a grunt of pain as he adjusted his eyes, his hands flying together to aim at Takemi's battered form, his hesitation fading as he made to pull the trigger on her.
He'd drag her unconscious body to the station if he had to.
"I said… I planned for this… Detective."
At that she stood, the screens behind her desk flashing to life as he noticed what seemed like vital signals of different people, some adults, some children.
Then he watched in horror as the screen zoomed out, and he saw what looked like statistics on thousands of different people, a red flag on each profile and the word 'Infected' labeled above them.
"You assumed the virus self-destructs, right? No… it just sleeps, deep inside. It waits, just like me. I'll give you a choice here, Goro Akechi…" At that, Takemi dragged herself to her feet, her hair wild and crazed as she staggered over to her desk with a sickening grin on her lips.
"I built a small feature into the virus, virtually undetectable too… If I were to only activate a simple program, then each of those viruses would activate, and stay that way."
Horror masked Goro's face then as his aim fell and he found himself almost dropping the stun gun in shock, as he noticed some of the names on the screen.
Friends of his parents, family members, even people he knew from the station along with hundreds of his classmates.
She held the lives of almost everyone he knew, and thousands more, all in the palm of her hand.
"Your choice, Detective, is simple. I walk away, and I do this again someplace else, and you get to cure this strain of the virus. You get to be the big hero and forget about me, and you ignore when I do this again. It'll be out of your jurisdiction, nice and far away, so much so you won't even hear about it." Takemi said with a stern face then, as he knew that if he took that deal, she would keep her word and abide by it.
He could tell just that much about her, that she would truly vanish, he would probably never find her again if she was truly this careful in her planning.
He probably only found her because she had planned all of this, this show was all for him, an orchestra of pain and cruelty composed in his honor.
And he felt a profound hatred for the woman before him.
"And the other choice?"
She smiled then, the vial of the virus coming into play once more as she twirled it between her fingers like it was a toy to be played with and not a fragile container of a horrible virus.
"You decide to be a fool and try to stop me. I kill all of those innocent people, and you fail your country, Akechi. You go home to your mommy and daddy, a failure who managed to catch the bad guy but let Tokyo's youth die when he could have stopped it. You would doom this city, change it's future forever all because you didn't learn to walk away…"
At that, Takemi held the vial out to him, and he knew it would be a perfect sample to reverse engineer into an antidote. With a sample that plentiful, they could probably have a serum put together by tomorrow morning if not soon.
He and Masami could work throughout the night and synthesize an antidote in mere hours.
He could cure all of those people likely within the week, stop all the unnecessary death and pain her virus would bring, save all of them.
She had truly planned this out, and had trapped him right where she wanted him.
"If I accept, you stay as far as possible from here, I never hear a word about you ever again?" Goro said with hesitation then as he eyed the vial, his veins going cold as he thought about the choice before him and what it would mean for everyone.
He could save so many people, if he just let her go, he would be the hero again.
But he never wanted to be the hero, at least not for the fame. A hero would stop her, no matter the cost. A hero wouldn't let her go just so she could do this all again, kill and torture innocents all over again. He would merely be dooming thousands of others just to try and inflate his fame and ego.
"You said you wanted to be a hero Go-chan… So, I talked to Director Mizuri, and you've been accepted into the Academy."
"But… but I'm still in school!"
"And you can do the courses after school. Juri said that if you really apply yourself, you could make Junior Detective in a year or two."
"You think I can do it, really?"
"Goro, I think you've always been meant to help people. Show them what a hero you are, do it for all of us."
"Dad… thank you."
With a breath, Goro Akechi knew what his answer would be.
"You would disappear, right?"
"That is correct, Detective."
He raised The Robin Hood once more, a newfound energy in his eyes as Goro practically growled at her, the woman's eyes returning his glare.
"Then I can't afford to let you go. I won't let you do this ever again."
With that, Takemi merely smiled as Goro felt a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, his instincts screaming at him in panic as he felt something was dearly wrong.
"I was hoping you would say that."
That wasn't Takemi's voice.
Goro turned slowly then, his fears realizing as he saw who now stood behind him.
Akira Kurusu had woken up, and judging by that grin and the blazing red eyes, a glare burning with hate and a twisted glee.
It was clear Kurusu wasn't here right now, but the virus was.
"You have no idea how long I've waited for this day… Crow."
Akira
"Believe what you want, Trickster… I don't care what you believe in, all I want to know is what your answer is, and whether this ends the way either of us hopes." Sae said with a sharp glance as Akira noticed almost what seemed like worry on her face, like she was afraid of something.
His eyes flickered to the open door, wondering if something lingered out in the hall, and whether this façade of Sae feared it to produce such worry that it pierced her mask of indifference.
Or perhaps, she feared his decision.
If so, that gave him a power in this place, and he would seize it with both hands.
"You want me to step through that door, I can tell. What is out there? What is this place, because it sure as hell isn't the TMPD..." Akira said with a sniff as he wiped the blood from his face, his face stuck in a grimace as he saw a flicker go through her gaze, the edge of her focus straying away from him.
Perhaps he had picked up a bit more from Akechi than he would admit, but Akira had always felt he would make a good detective.
"You're more perceptive than you were before, where did that keen eye go when your friends needed it, I wonder? Regardless, it does not matter one bit. You refuse, I assume?" Sae said with a raised brow as something familiar came over Akira, and he had a moment of realization then as he saw a glint of gold in her eyes, and he remembered.
And he finally put it together.
The hollow space within his chest, why this all felt so very familiar, why this imposter knew so very much about him and his most personal thoughts.
Why this all felt so wrong.
"This is my Palace, and you…" At that, Akira's eyes began to glow with a crimson shine, Sae's body freezing as he held his hand aloft, that same energy building within him as he felt a breath of life course through his body.
"Show me your true form."
Sae almost seemed to malfunction then, her eyes shocked as she began to flicker and shift before his very eyes, the Shadow morphing as he ripped its mask away from it.
And a familiar face replaced hers, golden eyes shining back at him, a twisted mask scarring the pale skin he knew so well.
He wore the Joker's coat, though in a far more gothic style, a pendant hanging from his neck that gave off a terrible feeling of wrongness within him just at the sight of it.
And the mask, a demented bastardization of the one he had once worn, darkness surrounding the hidden eye as he saw only madness within the shining orbs.
Akira was staring at his Other self, his own Shadow.
"We were always smarter than the others. I always said we could have done more with that brain, than play Phoenix Rangers with those idiots." His Shadow said in a harsh, snide way that Akira never imagined he could sound, the imposter relaxing in his seat as he even stretched in place, a calm and composed smile falling into place.
"Man, wearing Sae was so uncomfortable, but it got us here, so she had some use in the end. About that deal of ours?"
Despite the proud look on his Shadow's face, Akira knew that he held the true power here, the deck was stacked in his favor and he would take full advantage.
"That's what this is all about, isn't it? My sense of Rebellion is returning, and that scares you, doesn't it? If I walk through the door, my Palace returns and you return to power. You fear being turned back into a Persona, you don't want to fight." Akira said with a confident smirk as he stared at his shadow, his Other being thrown off guard as sudden rage set in, the Interrogation room shaking violently as the lights burnt out of their sockets and only an alarming red light filled the room.
"And you should know better than anyone that you want your Palace as well. I can step down, you can run the show in here, anything you want can happen. You and Haru can raise little Ren here, Ann and Shiho can have the life together they always dreamed of, and the Phantom Thieves never have to split up. You can all be heroes again, and you can train your son to be one as well. Don't you want to see your son inherit your mask? To see the man he'll become? I can give you all of that Akira, if you simply give in and accept your Palace." His Shadow said with a small smile then as the walls of the room began to change, images flashing across them like a projector as Akira saw the life that was on offer, the life he had always dreamt of and wished for.
The life he never thought he could have.
An older Haru, swollen and full of life as she held little Ren in her arms, Akira holding her from behind as the two looked down upon their son, another child on the way as Akira placed a kiss at the edge of his wife's neck.
Even then, she was still as beautiful as the day he had met her, and he longed to see the mother she would have been, to see their children with his own eyes.
He saw Ann and Shiho, both beginning to grey as they stood outside a modeling studio, the two of them walking with two young girls who seemed to be their entire world, the two of them smiling and laughing over something he couldn't hear as one of the girls threw her arms around Ann's legs.
And finally he saw all of them, their masks in place as they stood within a brightened version of Mementos, what could only be their grown children by their side, two generations of Phantom Thieves working together to patrol the Metaverse and protect society.
A legacy left for the next team of Thieves, masks passed from parents to their children.
And it would all be fake, even more so than Maruki's reality would have been, as this would all only exist within his own mind.
He couldn't bury himself in a delusion, as he would never step back into a lie, not so long as he took breath, so long as a spark of rebellion rested in his soul.
"What do you say, my Other? Will you allow yourself to be happy?"
And that was always the question, wasn't it?
He was a slave, but would he take emancipation? Would he break his shackles and allow himself to escape the game, once and for all?
"My life isn't mine to choose. Each of my bonds, the chains on my heart. I fought for them, I forged each and every link holding me down. I have a responsibility to each of them, one that you can't simply erase. I don't get to choose to be happy, not until I make sure they are." Akira said with a true smile then as he felt his bruises and the pain begin to fade, his handcuffs vanishing into golden ash as he stood from the table, and his shadow found himself trapped there instead.
"Akira… Think this through, you won't have a second chance here…" His shadow said with a sudden desperation as Akira just laughed in turn as he began to move towards him.
Akira began to drag the chair his shadow was bound to, the door being his goal as he dragged his shadow closer and closer to the edge of this reality.
Only to find himself blocked, a figure standing in the doorway and blocking his path, one that he had dearly hoped wouldn't walk through.
But it appears that history would be doomed to repeat itself.
The man walked into the room casually, the suitcase being laid on the table as he turned to them with a smirk, one that Akira truly hated.
"Oh, I'm sorry, was I interrupting something?"
Goro Akechi, the Black Mask, had walked into the room.
Goro
Kurusu stood there, his eyes crazed and shining as he smiled a hellish grin at him, Goro's face falling as he found himself facing off against the teen he had come here to save.
And a new addition that he hadn't seen before, a silenced service pistol in Kurusu's hand, one that would ensure no one would come to investigate… no one would find Goro's body here.
"Do you like it? My Mistress got it from one of your buddies on the force, and I'm so glad she did. It's fitting that I use this gun on you, Crow. It's the wrong room, but all of this… You and I, a gun for good measure, it's so very poetic." Kurusu said with a childish glee as he stepped closer in precise movements, the pistol aimed high as Goro calculated exactly where the impact point would be if the gun fired, along with the likelihood of a gun jam, and what his odds of survival would be.
Overall, the odds were against him, in almost every regard.
As well, he had no earthly idea what Kurusu was talking about, or why he was calling him a bird, as he had never met the other boy before.
Yet, someone stirred inside of Goro when Kurusu said that word.
When Akira said Crow, something inside Goro responded, and it confused the hell out of him.
Did he know Kurusu somehow? And why did he feel lik-
"Then… perhaps 'Karasu' will be best for me. You know, like a raven."
"What, are your clothes all black or something?"
"No, I got the perfect name. Crow. Your eyes are better than all of ours, and you like shiny things."
"Really, that's your best argument for the name? And what do you mean, I like shiny things?"
"Well, his briefcase is really shiny…"
Goro found himself taking gasping breaths as he heard voices within his mind, so familiar and yet they were tearing him apart from the inside out, those voices… that name… What did he know?
Did he forget something?
"What's wrong, Crow? Feeling a bit woozy? I felt that way too, when you stepped into the room. I felt betrayed, to be honest, even though I saw it coming a mile away… I felt betrayed, that you would sacrifice everyone, all for nothing…" Kurusu said with a melancholy glint to his eyes then as he stepped closer, the pistol never wavering from Goro's head as the detective tried to quell the rampaging thoughts consuming his mind.
Neither even noticed as Tae Takemi walked clean out of the room, a smile on her lips as the two boys stared right at each other, a meeting of equals in an unlikely place.
"I… betrayed no one… Why do you call me… Crow?" Goro asked through gritted teeth as he pulled himself back to his feet, the Robin Hood feeling like a boulder in his hand as he slowly raised it to face off against his fellow student, an otherworldly exhaustion falling over him as he struggled just to keep awake.
"Because no matter how much you refuse it, how much you hate it, it'll always be the name written deep inside you, Crow. No matter how many deaths, how many realities, that name will always stick with you." Kurusu said with a dark whisper as he stepped closer then, the pistol being lifted a final time as he stood right before Goro then, the barrel resting right against his forehead as Goro felt the cold of the steel pierce through the veil of pain and confusion.
"You're speaking… nonsense. I'm not… I'm…" Goro tried to fight back against it all, only to find something slowly breaking apart within him as he felt an odd sense of clarity fall over him, his eyes softening as he looked past Kur-Akira.
"You won't shoot me." He said with confidence then as Akira's eyes bulged, a shocked look on his face as he began to laugh aloud, the boy's grin ripping his face apart as he eyed the detective with a twisted glee.
"You know nothing about me, Crow, and yet I know so much about you… But I believe we've reached the end of this game of ours.
What was it you said, once before? You said it so strongly, so… passionately…"
Goro took a breath then as he smiled a sad grin, ready to see if he was right, one last time.
If his gamble would pay off.
"Oh yes, how could I forget… Case closed... This is how your justice ends."
And Kurusu pulled the trigger.
Akira
"What a fortunate turn of events, the two of us reunited like this. I must say, I did miss you, Joker." His cognition of Goro Akechi said with a sharp smile as he strolled into the interrogation room, Akira's Shadow relaxing in an instance as Akira found himself facing not just one, but two demons of his past.
"I'm not Joker, not anymore." Akira said with fierce resolve as his shadow merely laughed at him in turn.
"Oh, he was talking to me. After all, I am Joker. You're just an afterthought Trickster, what remains of who I used to be."
With that, the handcuffs broke around his shadow's wrists as his other self stood, the shadow and cognition standing side by side as they both turned their attention to him, a single entity designed to destroy his rebellion.
"Now then, Kurusu, you no longer have a choice. Walk into the hall, and embrace your Palace, or you will die in it." Cognitive Akechi said with a harsh edge as he pulled free from his coat a silenced pistol, the same model he had used in this room before, the model that had featured so strongly in Akira's nightmares in the weeks after.
"I won't do it. I won't accept any of this." Akira said with a cold eye then as he stood before the both of them, that familiar energy building up inside him as he felt the outlines of his mask begin to form, the familiar weight falling on his nose as he felt a presence by his side that he knew was his new self.
"I won't give in."
With that, the eyes of his shadow burned into flame as his form shifted and warped, a twisted creature taking it's place and roaring in rage.
It looked like Arsène, but like the Pillager had been tortured in Hell's darkest dungeons for eons, ruined and corrupted by a hellish influence.
Demonic horns and wings ripped through Arsène's pale and ruined flesh, scars and chains littering his form as the Shadow stepped into the light, a living effigy of pain and suffering made manifest.
It's eyes blazed with unholy hellfire as Akira found a black, threadbare coat forming on his shoulders, though no more of an ensemble appeared on him, his mask still just out of reach.
But something else did come to him, a flash of golden light blinding him as a familiar shape formed in his hands.
Fleurs du Mal R, the battle-axe he had forged for Haru, and the one he had reclaimed until she could wield it once more.
And now it had come to him in his moment of need, and he would not allow this specter of his heart to ruin his last chance at salvation.
He would not fall here, he would not surrender, as he faced off against not only the phantom of his once enemy, but a twisted reflection of himself.
And he was ready for them, the axe raised aloft as he saw his own eyes reflected in the blade, and his soul roared with righteous energy as he charged towards his Shadow with a war cry composed of every single emotion that was warring within him.
In that moment, with his mask blinking into life around him, every part of Akira Kurusu was in sync.
He had finally reclaimed his spirit of rebellion.
"It's showtime!"
Akira had wondered how fighting his own Shadow would be, but it was as if his Shadow has defaulted to the command of the cognition of his once enemy, Akechi commanding Arsène like a puppet master with strings, the shadow falling into line as the Black Mask fell into place around the cognition.
The familiar beaked helmet and scarlet eyes lit up Akira's sight as he held the axe aloft, the metal reflecting yet another blast of energy as this horrid specter of his former Persona relentlessly surged onward.
"Eigaon!" The Black Mask cried out yet again as Akira found himself diving out of the way of the curse, the edge of his coat catching the dark flames and causing an embrace of heat to wash over him in a hellish blaze.
"You're so persistent Kurusu, do you really think you can escape? You made this place, it knows everything about you, including how to keep you contained." The Black Mask laughed out maliciously, Akira hurrying to beat out the flames on his form, his skin charred and cracked as he felt the toll this assault was playing on his body.
Less than half of his health points remained, if he had to take a guess, but without a Navigator he couldn't be sure exactly how much fight was left in him.
All he could do was swing and strike at them until he couldn't anymore, his resolve fully absolute as he made a promise to himself then.
That he would die in his own Palace before he would allow his desires to be distorted again, destroy his Shadow before he would allow it to control him again.
"It is funny, I never expected your own Shadow to be so very helpful, nor for it to take such an interesting form. A dark reflection of all that you stood for, a demon that desires death, rather than a thief that strives for justice.
"Magatsu-Arsène, the Pillager of Calamity. What interesting creatures rest in your soul, Kurusu..." The Black Mask said with a sharp grimace as the insectoid eyes of Arsène began to glow a threatening red, and Akira realized no longer was the Pillager a reflection of himself, for even he had fallen to corruption.
"That beast is not me, just a shadow twisted into a joke. You are not me!" Akira called out in outrage as he ducked under the next curse, the edge of the axe coming forth and biting into Magatsu-Arsène's rancid flesh with a splash of red, the twisted Pillager merely growling in pain as it's former master fought against it for dominance.
"Once there was a time that those words would doom you, the point of no return. Now, there is no point in refusing the truth Kurusu. You are the embodiment of your pain, you are the Composer of Suffering. You doomed each of your friends to suffer, just as Magatsu-Arsène shall doom the world. We've reached the end of this game, you and I." The Black Mask waxed poetic as Akira kept on the move, a barrage of curses striking the ground behind him like gunfire as he barely avoided them, his breath caught in his throat as no matter where he went, the unending assault continued.
And then Akira tripped, stopped for just a moment, took a breath that lasted a second too long.
And a storm of curses slammed into his chest, burning red spears of shadow impaled in his flesh as he felt his body begin to shut down and blood seep forward.
A darkness was setting in, as Magatsu-Arsène vanished into a dark mask held by his enemy, the Black Mask just stepping closer with a grin on his sharp lips as he did.
The Cognition just threw the mask aside, the last remnant of Arsène abandoned to the shadows as the Black Mask thrust a hand into his armor, and pulled out a familiar pistol.
A Silenced Service 1911, the same model Goro Akechi had used to kill Kunikazu Okumura, and had used when he attempted to kill him before.
And once again, history repeated itself.
Akira, trapped and exhausted, his mask broken at his side as he was left to the mercy of the traitor.
The Black Mask, proud and vile, a gun to Akira's hand and just waiting to be fired.
There would be no miraculous escape here, there was no master plan that would allow him to walk away while leaving his enemy oblivious.
And the Black Mask knew that.
"I said it before, back when you played such a childish trick on me, and I'll say it again Kurusu."
Akira looked up then, his bleeding eyes locking onto the Black Mask's blood colored ones, and he knew that the game was over.
"I had thought it so fitting at the time, and it fits even better here and now. Goodbye Kurusu, this is how your justice ends."
Akira's eyes fell closed then as he felt the press of the steel against his forehead, his thoughts far and distant as he let out a desperate prayer.
And the Black Mask pulled the trigger.
At the same time that both Wild Cards were set to meet their ends at each other's hands, two bullets of great importance in two separate realities.
Both fools came to the same realization.
That one can not change the world if they are dead, and that rebellion…
Rebellion is eternal.
Will you really allow your second chance to pass you by like that, alone and frightened?
You who have surpassed all expectations, who thrived by proving the impossible, are willing to concede defeat to such a poor demise?
"No."
All that remains is your will, all else has been stripped away in your rebirth, is your will alone enough to drive you onward? To win this game? Do you believe you have the strength to temper through the flames?
The pursuit of knowledge, of the truth, is a noble one that you have sought since you could walk. Is the path of the righteous hero worth sacrificing your own life? Is the right thing more important than you are?
"Yes."
Your will alone is enough, is that correct? Would you stare down tyrants and gods with just a steely gaze, expecting them to fall before you with the slightest effort? Reality is not so fortunate, but you know that already, as you chose for it to be this way.
Are you prepared for the trial you shall undertake? For the pain you will no doubt find?
You would sacrifice yourself, for the sake of everyone else, even people you have never and will never meet? Why must your soul hang in the balance to save all of theirs, why must your mind be the only one capable of seeing the obvious and righting such a grievous wrong?
You would really give up everything, just to save people that will never thank you?
"Yes."
Then your will and desire for justice truly is greater than I had foreseen.
I offer you this contract Trickster, to aid and guide you through this new game of yours, and to reach the conclusion you so dearly seek.
You were cheated of my aid once before, but never again.
I shall be the wings at your back, the fire beneath your eyes as we strike out at Fate itself, our game our own.
Do you bind yourself by these words, pledge yourself to this oath, forevermore?
You truly see such little worth in yourself? I guess you really are a hero, albeit a foolish one.
Nevertheless, I shall allow your suicidal antics, and pledge to you a contract for my services.
I shall be the eyes you never knew you were missing, the vision and truth to guide you through the gloom.
Never again will you be in the dark, kept numb and dull to the truth, unaware of who is really watching you.
Do you bind yourself by these words, pledge yourself to this oath, forevermore?
Yes.
Then the contract is struck, and you shall know power beyond your understanding, and the chance to force Fate itself to bend to your wills, to truly avert the coming ruin.
The truth will set you free of your heartache, and you will triumph over this unjust game.
Reach out, and embrace this feeling, for it will serve you well.
Take hold of it, and awaken.
Just as the barrels ignited, and both Akira Kurusu and Goro Akechi should have died, reality shuddered and came to a crawl, a burning fire igniting inside both of them as they screamed into the face of Death itself.
And despite the fact that the Detective still lingered in reality, the lines between worlds were far weaker than they should have been.
A mask now graced his face, sharp and elegant, a white beacon illuminated by his crimson eyes.
Another rested on his counterpart's face, Akira finding himself with a darkened mask of ill intent, a cold storm billowing behind him as the very nature of his Palace began to freeze over.
Even the whites of his eyes were left shadowed by the darkness surrounding them.
As one, they both found themselves taking a hold of their masks, both of then overcome with a primal and painful desire to tear it away.
And so they did, a wave of crimson escaping them both as a surge of pain burned through them, and their respective worlds were filled with sound as an explosion of energy was let out.
A single word on both of their lips, said together like a memory echoed across two souls, a word so enriched and engrained in their reality that just the mere utterance of it shook the foundations of the world itself.
"Persona!"
Akira knew the name of the being within him, the mask fitting his face like the last never had, his white mask having felt like an extension of his soul.
But this mask… it felt like him, condensed and reduced down to the most basic form of himself, but not a single part of him sacrificed to make it whole.
It was dark as well, like holding a living shadow in his hands as he felt the sheer cold radiating off it like a chilling spirit.
It felt just right on him.
And he saw that shadowy being, the new reflection of his heart, a man in scarlet, a chilling grin that would terrify even the most hardened of warriors.
His new Persona, a being that ruled Hell, rather than one that had suffered in it.
And a feeling, almost ominous, in the pit of his stomach as if he had summoned forth something beyond his understanding.
Not even when he had called forth Satanael, the Fallen One, had he felt this overwhelming feeling of power, like he had chained a lease onto a train and was merely being pulled away.
And yet, he felt no fear, just the pressure against his skin.
He imagined this was what it felt to own a nuclear weapon, all that power and heat, all in the palm of your hand.
With a hellish grin of his own, and a flick of his wrist, Akira took hold of the link between him and the entity, compelling it into motion as the Black Mask readied himself for retaliation.
But Akira wasn't standing down, never again.
He would strike back.
"Erase him from my sight, Mephisto!"
And the crossroads demon struck, and the Black Mask was no more as Mephisto tore the cognition's head clean from his body in a single motion, a flash of blood being all that showed the Persona had moved at all.
With the final instrument of his imprisonment gone, his Palace finally began to crumble, and Akira woke up.
Goro didn't understand what was going on, or why a mask had formed across his face, but he knew he had to tear the offending veil away.
And so he did, screaming through the unholy pain as he tore the cover from his soul and felt the embrace of his true self, though he understood none of what was happening to him.
He barely noticed as his coat grew and lightened, the corners of his mind tightening and a powerful presence settled in the back of his mind, a wealth of knowledge unfolding before his eyes as he felt the pressure of a thousand cases on his shoulders.
And he knew the name of the one within, of the… Persona, that he had awakened.
His eyes were opened.
He had half feared it would be Robin Hood, his childhood having been spent idolizing the heroic outlaw, and yet now he found something entirely different awaiting him.
And he would not turn it away, even as Kurusu recovered from the kick Goro had given, the gun going flying from the other boy's hands as a blazing fire formed within him, and Goro set it free as soon as it started burning.
A figure in a long coat appeared before him, a downcast cap hiding their features as only an intrigued set of blue eyes remained, an aura of mystery and danger following the being like flies.
And yet, Goro knew who this was, as well as he knew himself.
It was his other self, his… Persona.
And he would not allow himself to die when he had just found the means to ensure he succeeded.
He would not surrender.
"Snap him out of it, Hoʊmz!"
And the two collided against one another, and the world around them fell apart as they both found themselves adrift in a shapeless void, only their respective Personas there to greet them as they drifted through boundless space.
And then, it was all gone, and the two stood together in the nurse's office, all violent drive having vanished in an instant and Goro noticed an interesting look to Kurusu's eyes as they faded back to grey, the crimson disappearing almost instantly as calm composure fell over Akira.
The two stared at each for several minutes before Akira finally broke the silence, the boy confused and anxious as he began to rub at the back of his neck.
Their masks shone in direct contrast, as did their understandings of the situation, Akira merely finding himself confused and struggling to piece together what was going on.
"So, nice mask."
Author's Note:
By the way, the Persona 2 arc will feature a M/M relationship, most of you can probably guess who. Just a warning to any that may find themselves offended.
They can fuck off.
Also, just as Arsène was a Persona based on Arsène Lupin, Hoʊmz is a Persona based on Sherlock Holmes, which I felt was a more fitting Persona for a more serious and logical Goro, one who actually takes being a detective seriously.
Hope everyone's have a good time, just starting Strikers and bought Resident Evil Village.
Can't wait to meet my new Vampire Dommy Mommy.