Prisoner of Glory Chapter 14: The Gymnastic Gauntlet, a persona series fanfic

Chapter 14: The Gymnastic Gauntlet

Summary: The Phantom Thieves fight through Yuri's Castle, where her fourth and final guardian awaits.

Friday, August 11th 20XX, Daytime
Toyohira Stadium, Sapporo Jail

Having just opened the path leading up to the top of Yuri's Castle, the Phantom Thieves were expecting to find some sort of arena hall on the other side of the doors, but this was not the case. What they actually came across was some sort of grand ballroom of an old European, possibly Gothic, architectural style. The whole room glistened with the sheen of blue ice, so somehow it still fit in with the parts of the castle they had seen so far. It seemed quiet at first, but when they crossed the middle of the tiled floor, a pack of Shadows suddenly popped into being, led by a team of Kaiwans.

Joker racked his brain to pick out the best Persona to fight them with, and recalled past encounters when these particular Shadows used psychic attacks against them. Thus, he searched within his soul and brought forth Setanta, a recently-acquired Persona which knew nuclear-type skills. Spinning with his hoop up high and his back leg bent in an attitude position, he called out "Mafrei!" and triggered a chain of blue explosions all around the Kaiwans, stunning them and making easy targets for Sophie's ball and Violet's ribbon. Once the Shadows were all mopped up, the four of them exchanged high-fives and ventured further up the tower.

On their way through the halls, Panther caught up with the forward team and asked, "Do you mind if I take over for you now, Violet? I'm sure you could use a break before we forget."

"Certainly, Panther-senpai. Sorry if I got carried away!"

"It's nothing. That okay with you, Joker?" With their leader's consent, Violet slipped back into the safety of the shadows, letting Panther take her place. They then emerged into another grand room, where a stairway on the left side led up to a walkway along the back wall. "Wow…" Panther remarked, "It's beautiful."

"Yes," added Fox, "such a magnificent design." Their appreciation was cut short, however, when they were faced with a new pack of Shadows, including Mothmen and guards with full-sized riot shields.

"This is no time to be distracted by architecture!" Queen admonished. "There are enemies here!"

Panther recalled how vulnerable the enemy Mothmen were to bullets, and groped in vain for her missing submachine guns. "This would be so much easier if we still had our guns…" she whined.

"Or any Personas with gun skills," added Joker. "I'm afraid I'm fresh out at the moment, so we'll just have to-"

That's when he was interrupted by a tap on his shoulder. It was Skull, who pointed skyward and said, "Yo, look up." Overhead, a large chandelier hung from the ceiling. "You thinkin' what I'm thinkin', Joker?"

Joker cracked a cunning smile. "On it! Gimme a boost, Skull!" While his partner crouched and locked his hands together, palms facing up, Joker backed up a good distance away before coming at him in a running flip, bouncing off the floor on one hand while still holding his hoop in the other. As his feet landed right on Skull's makeshift springboard, his friend gave a great heave and launched him high into the air. Pulling off a few flying somersaults, Joker snatched one of the chandelier's branches, which thankfully held tight, and flipped himself over the edge to land topside. From his tall perch, he scanned the battle below, waiting for the perfect opportunity to cut the chandelier loose. He hoped his teammates would pick up on his plan, and corral as many monsters toward the center of the room as they could. Sure enough, before long, the Kaiwans and a few other Shadows were driven into the target zone, prompting Joker to slash the chandelier free with a clean cut from his bladed hoop.

Below, Skull managed to warn Sophie and Violet with a quick shout of "Back up!" The two girls backflipped out of range just in time for the glacial chandelier to crash down upon the Shadows, crushing and impaling them into oblivion. Despite the height he fell from, Joker landed safely away from the mess he made, rolling on the ground to soften his impact. He then swung his hoop to slay another stray Shadow and, caught up in the moment, followed up with a flourishing pose. Violet and Sophie applauded while Skull laughed hard and said, "Dude, that **** was cray! Way to go, my man!"

"My," beamed Violet, "you're turning out to be quite the gymnast, Senpai!"

"You looked like you were having fun," added Sophie. "Violet, is gymnastics fun for you, too?"

"Of course, Sophie-chan!" she answered as they began to head up the stairs and down the next hall. "Training and competing can be stressful sometimes, but in the end, it's what I'm passionate about."

Their chat was stopped, however, when they encountered a pile of icy stalagmites completely blocking the next door. Oracle was the first to suggest forcing their way through the impasse, volunteering Skull, but he refused. "Heck no! I don't want my hands getting stuck!"

"Guess that's not an option, then," Queen sighed, shaking her head. "Let's find another way."

With that, the team turned around and headed down a side hallway they had just passed. On their way down, Violet noticed a ledge high to the left side. "Look at that," she pointed out. "I wonder where that leads?"

"Wanna check it out?" asked Joker. When she nodded to confirm her interest, he said, "Alright. Just don't get into any fights while you're alone. Meet up with us down the hall when you're done. We'll wait for you."

"Don't underestimate my skill, Senpai!" Violet smirked, as she effortlessly flipped up onto the ledge. "I'll be careful, though. See you soon!" Then, blowing a quick kiss to her boyfriend, she disappeared down the other side, where she found herself in a secret passage. It was short, and turned out to be little more than a dead end. There was one treasure chest, which contained a stick of incense, and a door which was labeled as "Server Room", but it was locked. Feeling slightly disappointed, Violet turned around and climbed her way back into the main hall to rejoin Joker and the other Phantom Thieves. A pair of helicopter Shadows had just spotted them, along with more Kaiwans and Mothmen, and engaged them in combat.

As before, this room contained yet another chandelier, which Panther volunteered to cut down. With her lighter physique, she flew much higher up from Skull's boost, landing right on top of the chandelier without needing to pull herself up. Then, at the right moment, she slashed her perch free from the ceiling and took down the Mothmen with it, but plenty of other Shadows still remained. While Joker dealt with the remaining Kaiwans, Sophie brought down the flying Shadows with a repeated barrage of ball strikes, and Panther helped Skull clean up the other guards.

Finally, when the danger was over, Panther turned her attention to a door on the far wall, its windows glowing from the sunlight on the other side. "Hey, do you think we could reach the outside from that window?" she suggested.

They all thought about it, and agreed, with Fox answering, "Ah, if we climb out through there, we may be able to ascend the outer wall."

"Good idea," said Joker. "If we can take this all the way up to the roof, we should expect one more fight when we get there."

"Right, with the ribbon champion," said Panther. "Elena, was it?"

However, Violet's intuition gave her pause. "I'm not sure… something doesn't make sense. The three other guardians all had their Desires stolen, but I saved Elena-san's. Wouldn't that mean Yuri doesn't have control over her?"

"I think I see what you mean, but if she isn't the final guardian, who is? Or is there even a final guardian to begin with?"

"I don't know, Panther," replied Joker, "but it could be anything. Everybody heal up if you need it, and get ready!" While the frontline thieves exchanged a few healing drinks amongst themselves, Violet shared the findings from her excursion. "Is this incense?" he asked when she showed what she took from the treasure chest. "I can use this to power up one of my Personas. Great find, Violet!"

"That's not all. I saw a door to some kind of server room, but it was locked."

This caught Oracle's attention. "A server room, eh? I wonder…" mused the young hacker. If she was following any particular train of thought, she didn't share it. She simply waited with the others until, once they were all ready, they signaled Joker to open the door.

The Phantom Thieves emerged onto a promenade balcony, open to the Sapporo skyline but covered by another level above. Thankfully, no Shadows were nearby in sight, so they were able to search for a way upstairs in peace. This didn't take long, since Joker immediately spotted a few small platforms jutting from the outside wall and jumped up them. The wind was cold and strong, as Skull and Queen complained about, but they each hopped up from ledge to ledge without slipping. Once they all vaulted over the crenellations lining the top, they found themselves on a rooftop courtyard surrounded by unruly ice spires. Behind the plaza, a stately building surrounded by a giant cage-like structure towered over them. The area in front of them was deserted, save for one figure standing in the middle of the square. Assuming her to be the final guardian, Violet rushed forward to confront her. However, the person before her was not Elena Plisetskaya. Standing proud and tall in her ornate pink dress leotard, the ponytailed brunette appeared just as Violet remembered her.

"…K-Kasumi-chan?" Violet trembled, nearly buckling from the shock.

Indeed, it was her elder sister Kasumi Yoshizawa, or at least Yuri's cognition thereof, who stared at her suspiciously. "Well, look who we have here…" A smug grin grew upon her face as she taunted, "I know it's you… Sumire-neechan." Violet twitched at the mention of her real name, but said nothing in response. "Oh, don't be so surprised. That hair, that leotard, that aura of inferiority… I'd recognize my own sister anywhere!"

Violet merely swallowed her fears and plucked up enough bravado to declare, "Kasumi! I'm here for your ruler, Hikawa-san! Step aside or f-fight me!"

Kasumi just scoffed. "Go ahead and try, but you'll never beat me." She strode forward to face Violet at point-blank range. "You know why? Because it's my right as the elder sister." Violet gasped, recognizing those exact words from their last conversation, just before her death. The cognitive Kasumi had no way of knowing this, of course, but nonetheless she smirked at the reaction she had elicited. "What's the matter, Sumire-neechan? Still thinking about all the times I whipped your sorry butt in competition? Or are you still grief-stricken over the day you killed me?"

"No…" Although not apparent from behind her mask, Violet was on the verge of tears. "I never wanted you to die!"

"But you were jealous of me, weren't you? Don't try to tell me you've never envied my success and my God-given talents. Stop fighting it, Sumire-neechan. If the shoe fits…" she trailed off in a mocking, sing-songy tone.

Joker took that opportunity to try to shout some sense into his distressed teammate. "Violet! That's not the real Kasumi! That's just how Yuri remembers her! Don't let her get to you!"

Her gaze still downcast, Violet squeezed her eyes shut to stifle her tears. "You're right…" she whispered. To the cognitive Kasumi, she confronted, "…Shut up! You're not Kasumi! My real sister would never say things like that! She loved me, as I loved her. We both wanted only the best for each other. You don't know a damn thing about her!" Her voice rose with her anger, both reaching a volcanic intensity. "I challenge you to a duel!"

The cognitive Kasumi scoffed at the demand. "Is that what you want? Fine. Your skills never caught up with mine, so you've got no chance of victory. But it's only fair that I repay you for what you did to me. Her majesty Yuri's rules are still in effect, so you've got five minutes to warm up. Might as well say good-bye to your friends." Struggling to keep her rage under control, Violet merely gritted her teeth and spun around to rejoin her fellow Phantom Thieves.

Joker laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Violet…" he confided, "you don't have to go through with this. If you can't face her, we have Panther or Mona."

Violet simply brushed his hand aside, and looked intently into his eyes. "No… it's okay. I'm still the best ribbon fighter out of all of us, no offense to your friends. Besides, I have to do this for myself. This may be the last time I'll ever see my sister, so I need to know if I'm really worthy of fulfilling our promise on my own."

But Joker shook his head, smiling as he said comfortingly, "You don't have to prove anything, Violet. You're worthy to accomplish anything, as long as you work for it. But I know how much this means to you, so I won't stand in your way." Joker leaned in to give her a quick hug. "Good luck, Violet. I know you can do this."

Overcome with relief, Violet nodded and answered, "Thank you, Senpai. Now, would you care to help me stretch?"

"With pleasure," Joker declared as he knelt down on one foot. Violet asked for Skull to take the same position behind her, and with one ankle resting on each of their thighs, she sank deeper and deeper into her oversplits until her hips touched the floor. While she stretched out her trunk with alternating front and back-bends, they all discussed tactics for her upcoming duel. "Violet," Joker asked, "what do you remember about your sister's performance style?"

"Hmm…" she pondered, as she reached to grab her leg behind her and pull her body back against it. "Well, Kasumi-chan was very… bold with her routines. She added all these difficult moves and landed them perfectly every time. Even now, I don't think I can catch up to those…"

"Don't forget," advised Mona, "this is a battle, not a real routine. If our opponent prefers those kinds of big, showy moves, it does mean her attacks will be more powerful, but it also means she's more likely to slip up and shock herself!"

"Yeah, it's the rules here," Skull explained. "If you screw up, ya get shocked by your own leotard!" Violet gasped anxiously, prompting him to hastefully add, "Don't worry, it happens to them too! And besides, either way, she'll just tire herself out faster, right?"

"She's a cognition, Skull. I don't think that's an issue for her."

"Aw, man…"

Lifting herself slightly, Violet twisted around and stretched her opposite legs, remarking, "Still, I never thought I'd say this, but I'm actually glad I spent so much time pretending to be my sister!" She laughed weakly as she said this, suggesting to Joker that she was still hiding some thoughts or feelings regarding Kasumi's death. But, so as not to psych her out before the battle, he refrained from pressing the matter any further. Instead, he simply offered her a small object covered in a golden wrapper. Curious, Violet peeled off the wrapper and dropped the item onto her tongue. Its bitter taste made her grimace, but she managed not to swallow it by mistake. "Ech! What is this?"

"Cod liver oil candy," he explained. "I got some from the pharmacy down in Suzushino. It'll help recover your stamina."

Violet pouted, but as she kept on sucking on the candy, she felt a surge of energy jolt through her. With renewed vigor, she wrapped up her oversplits and spent the remainder of her warm-up time on her standing leg and body exercises. No matter how quickly or forcefully she swung her legs up and back, she maintained an awe-inspiring grace in her every movement, making Joker and the others anticipate her upcoming fight all the more eagerly. Meanwhile, amongst the other Phantom Thieves, Panther asked, "Wait, I don't understand. Why is Kasumi the final guardian? Wouldn't it be the ribbon champion from Saint Petersburg?"

"Elena?" Queen reflected back on the Core she had won, the photograph of Kasumi and Yuri together. "If I had to guess, it could be that Kasumi was the only rival Yuri will never be able to beat, now that she's passed away."

"That checks out," replied Oracle. "When I looked up Yuri's old results, she never scored higher than Kasumi. Got pretty close, though. Another few competitions and she would've done it."

Despite everyone's enthusiasm, the end of the warm-up time came so suddenly that they were all taken by surprise. Steeling her nerves, Violet walked off to take her place at the corner of the mat, with the cognitive Kasumi doing likewise. They both stood and waited in similar poses, holding down their ribbon-whips with one foot and pulling a section of it taut. At the sound of the starting tone, they each broke out into similar moves. Violet kicked her ribbon's handle up behind her, while Kasumi launched hers up in a walkover. They both spun in their step and caught their batons neatly, summoning their Personas - Kasumi's was an orange, corrupted version of Cendrillon - to cast a Brave Step spell upon themselves, before charging into battle.

Compared to the non-lethal ribbons Violet was used to, these bladed whips were heavier, less flexible, and altogether more cumbersome to wield. A lot of the typical ribbon-handling motions she knew, like tight spirals and zig-zags, were not as feasible to manage as simple swipes and wide arcs, but as long as she kept it in motion, that was enough to avoid a penalty in this event. At least I won't have to worry about knots… she told herself. She adapted her own body's movements quickly to the new apparatus, but it seemed that no matter what Violet did, Kasumi always seemed to perform it one step better than her. Whatever tricks Violet performed to charge up her spells, Kasumi's were more complex, adding an extra spin or a more difficult position. When they clashed, Kasumi's ribbon managed to out-maneuver Violet's more often than not. And although Violet's athletically honed body was agile enough to dodge most of the heavier attacks that came her way, the same was even more true of Kasumi.

At one point, Violet unleashed a Heat Wave with a penche pivot, spinning with her lower foot flat on the mat, her other leg pointing straight up, and her body level with the floor. Unfortunately, Kasumi managed to gracefully leap over the blazing shockwave and, upon landing, countered with a needlescale pivot. It was almost the same move, except her back was bent tight against her upper leg and her lower heel was lifted in rélevé. She even managed an extra revolution, spinning four times to Violet's three. The resulting Vorpal Blade struck a critical hit upon Violet, knocking her down to the floor. She managed to sit upright, so the knockout countdown did not yet start, but she still struggled to find enough strength to stand back up. Clutching the wounds on her stomach, blood soaking into the leotard beneath her arm, she gazed up helplessly as Kasumi strode up to taunt her. "Pathetic," she spat out, "why do you insist on copying my moves, my accomplishments, when you obviously don't have the talent to pull them off yourself? If you won't let me achieve my dreams of greatness, then you sure don't deserve to achieve them yourself!"

Kasumi launched her ribbon up in a back walkover, caught it just in time to twirl into a backscale pivot - yet another evolution of her earlier maneuver - and shouted, "Makouga!" As Violet squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself for her impending doom, the corrupted Cendrillon took shape to call forth a storm of light rays from the heavens. Each beam left a blindingly bright explosion as it struck the ground around her, forcing the onlooking Phantom Thieves to avert their gazes as well. Joker, in particular, feared the worst for his girlfriend's fate, so he was hesitant to reopen his eyes once the light subsided, but when he did take a peek upon the scene in front of him, his eyelids promptly shot open in shock.

Violet was still sitting in place, none the worse for wear after withstanding the blessed barrage, sheltered by her own Persona. Joker gasped wordlessly, having forgotten that Cendrillon, or rather, the real Cendrillon, was completely resistant to light-based damage. Violet's surprising survival stunned Kasumi just as much. "What the ****!?" she swore incredulously.

Her strength slowly returning, Violet shakily stood up and softly, yet spitefully, declared to her opponent, "…Heh. Now I know you're full of it, 'Kasumi'. My real sister may not have taken my struggles seriously all the time, but she would never, not in a million years, believe I wasn't worth sharing her spotlight. That was her dream! Not to compete with me! And even though she's gone, I can still grow from my mistakes, even beyond what she was capable of! …Unlike you. You're just a figment of Yuri's imagination! And I won't take any more crap from you or her! The weak, insecure Su- Violet… is dead and buried!"

Enraged at her foe's brazen resolve, the fake Kasumi roared and rushed at Violet, slashing her ribbon furiously, but Violet waved her own weapon swiftly and keenly to block her foe's every strike. It was as if her second burst of determination gave her a combat high. Kasumi's frustration grew and grew with every blocked attack, but she managed to push Violet back enough to give herself some breathing room. Taking advantage of the distance, she held a ring balance, touching her toe to the crown of her head and swinging her ribbon behind her, to charge up her next attack. That next attack came immediately as she rested the handle on top of one foot, caught it in the middle of one-handed back walkover, and summoned the ersatz Cendrillon once more for a Sword Dance attack. The glowing, ethereal swords that took form to slice and stab at Violet would certainly spell certain death if they hit their mark, especially in her injured state. But the danger only heightened Violet's senses and focus, and in a sequence of graceful rolls and leaps, she miraculously managed to dodge every single sword that came her way, even managing to counterattack with a Makouga spell in the process. In another stroke of luck, Violet's own holy magic did have an effect on Kasumi. "Heh," she smirked, "I guess you're not perfect after all, onee-san!" Kasumi bitterly swore at her would-be sister, but she ignored it and kept on fighting.

As the battle continued to drag on, Sophie shared an observation with her group on the sidelines. "I have made an observation," she said. "Since Kasumi's light magic won't work on Violet, she's been resorting to physical skills. But those use up her physical stamina, and if she cannot heal herself somehow, she will not be able to attack that way for long. Violet just needs to hold out until Kasumi reaches her limit, and then deal a final blow!"

If Kasumi realized this herself, then she sought to push that limit as far as possible. Standing in a front-split balance and twirling her ribbon behind her back, she once again focused her body to charge up her next physical attack. Violet saw this and knew she had to act fast… but how? Emptying her mind and letting her muscle memory take over, she quickly tossed the handle of her weapon behind her back while simultaneously performing an illusion turn, catching it as her head flew close to the ground. This sequence was almost too fast to follow, but by some miracle, her swiftly-swinging body cleanly dodged the blades of her own ribbon as they whipped around to slice across Kasumi's unprotected thigh and stomach. I should really thank Yuko-chan for helping me practice that move, she told herself.

With her foe recoiling in pain, Violet wasted no time following up on her successful strike. She threw her ribbon-whip high over her shoulders, and used the momentum to roll into a couple of quick back walkovers. For her part, Kasumi tumbled after her prey in a front walkover, stopping on one foot to end in a penche balance before slashing horizontally, but it was no use. Violet ended her second walkover by sliding down into a split, leaning back beneath the razor-sharp stroke to miss it by almost a hair's breadth, and countered by whipping her own apparatus in a tall vertical arc, sending the blades careening down right onto the cognition's head. An agonizing scream reverberated around the courtyard as Kasumi, a line of fresh black Shadow-blood drawn across her scalp, crumpled to the mat.

Feeling almost every possible emotion at once, Violet dared not to move from her splits as she waited through Yuri's count. She couldn't believe that she was on the cusp of winning such a difficult ordeal, but sure enough, as Yuri's voice counted up number by number, her mortally-wounded opponent was in no shape to do anything except limply roll onto her back. No matter how much she couldn't bear to stand the sight of her sister, even a facsimile thereof, in so much pain - to say nothing of the fact that she had inflicted the pain herself - it simultaneously paralyzed her with terror so that she couldn't look away. But as the Monarch's count reached its climax - "eight… nine… ten!" - the spell that bound Violet's body instantly dissipated, and she sprung to life, scrambling out of her splits and over to Kasumi's side.

Tears welling up behind her mask, Violet cradled her hands under Kasumi's head and lifted her slightly. The cognition groaned, straining to open her eyes, and spoke slowly and softly, "Im… possible… How could you… defeat me? I've never lost… a competition… to you since…"

Kasumi stopped to cough up a trickle of black Shadow-blood, allowing Violet to get a word in. "Listen, Kasumi, I'm terribly sorry you had to die…" She took a deep breath before bravely admitting, "…because of me. I never wanted you to die, of course, but… the truth is…" Then, she bent down to whisper something into the cognition's ear, unbeknownst to the other Phantom Thieves.

What Violet told Kasumi caught the cognitive sister off-guard. Her face shifted slightly to bear a sorrowful, guilty expression as she said, "S-Sumire… I'm sorry. I should've… stopped… and listened to you."

"That's okay, Kasumi-oneesan," Violet whispered, her tears now trickling freely down her face. "Th-thank you for s-saving my life. I wish it didn't have to be this way, but all I can do now is move on. I will fulfill our dreams and become an international champion… for both of us."

Kasumi gazed at her sister with misty, glistening eyes and managed a weak smile, finally telling her, "I'm proud… of you… Sumire… nee-chan. I for…give you…" And with that, the cognitive Kasumi closed her eyes and sank limply into Violet's arms for a moment, before transforming into a puddle of black ooze that dissipated quickly, leaving no trace.

Overcome with emotion, Violet simply knelt in place and began to cry. When Joker saw this, he knelt down with her and held her in a comforting hug, while the other Phantom Thieves respectfully kept their distance. A couple of minutes passed, nobody saying a word until Violet's sobs gradually faded and she whispered, "I can't believe it… I finally surpassed Kasumi-chan… but I had to kill her. Yuri was right… I am a murderer."

"No," Joker scolded, sternly but softly. "This wasn't the real Kasumi. She was just a fake, twisted by Yuri's mistaken memories. Your real sister is watching down on you from Heaven, and I know she's proud of the brave young woman you've become."

"Y-you mean it?"

Joker nodded. "Of course. That's how you won. Yuri and her fake Kasumi are stuck in the past, but you've grown. You've become stronger, more confident… and more beautiful," he added, cracking a smile from the corner of his mouth. "And now that you've surpassed your sister, you're ready to accomplish anything."

"Th-thank you, Se-senpai…" A quivering smile forming on her face, Violet let out a few more sobs and squeezed Joker tighter for a moment.

"It's okay, Violet. We're gonna change Yuri's heart, and help her grow up, too. Would you like that?"

In between sobs, Violet whimpered out an "Uh-huh."

"That's a good girl. Now let's stand up and go for it, shall we?" Blinking away tears, she opened her eyes and let Joker stand her up. The other Phantom Thieves rejoined them, and together they walked up to the icy mansion, stopping in front of the birdcage surrounding it. High above the building, they could see a giant amorphous blob of light hovering over the building.

"Is that Yuri's Treasure?" Violet asked, recalling her short experience as a Phantom Thief.

"Not exactly," corrected Mona. "That's her Desires, or rather, the desires she stole from all those people using EMMA. We still have to send Yuri a calling card before we can take them. But in order to do that, first we have to unlock this cage."

Confused, Violet asked, "What do you mean? It looks open to me."

"There's this kind of force field thingy around it," explained Skull. "To break it, we gotta find the source of Yuri's trauma, go there in the Metaverse, and beat up some warden."

"If you touch the barrier," Mona added, "it'll play back a traumatic memory from the Monarch's past. That's our clue as to where we need to reenter the Metaverse and fight the Lock Keeper. Once it's gone, we can send the calling card and go right to the treasure - I mean, Desire!"

As her friends described all this to her, Violet became overcome with curiosity. Not only did she feel compelled to rescue the gymnasts and other fans whose minds were taken over by Yuri, but she wanted to learn more about Yuri herself. Surely, she reasoned to herself, she wasn't always this… wicked. If I knew what made her this way, could I help her move past her trauma…? Aloud, she requested, "Please, let me do this," as she cautiously held a hand up in front of her to find the invisible barrier.

"Violet, no!" Skull screamed. But it was too late. A chained door suddenly appeared in front of Violet's fingers, and with it, voices rang within each of their heads. There were two voices, both of them very familiar.

The first voice belonged to Yuri herself. "What are you playing at, Sumire? First you killed Kasumi, and now you're stealing her moves?"

The second voice was, of course, Sumire's "Yuri-chan? What do you mean?"

"Kasumi died because you ran out into the street! If it wasn't for you, she'd still be alive! You killed her, Sumire!"

"Yes… but please don't misunderstand what happened. My sister only died trying to protect me. I'm terribly sorry it has to be that way, but I will not let it get me down anymore."

"Do you even realize what you've done!? Kasumi was the only friend I ever had, and you took her away from me! Without her, I'm just a freak! A ghost-girl! A loner nobody wants to be with! Kasumi and I were going to take each other all the way to the top. We were going to make Japan the new superpower of rhythmic gymnastics! And you ****ed it all up!"

All of a sudden, the real Sumire - Violet - dropped to her knees, hands pressed against her head, and screamed, "Stop! Stop it!" Luckily for her, the disembodied voices did just that.

Joker, sensing the terrible mental anguish his girlfriend was going through, rushed to her side. "Oh my God! Violet, are you okay? Talk to me, Violet!" he pleaded. Stirring softly, Violet said nothing, but her expression softened as her emotional pain subsided. "It's alright, Violet…" he swore, hugging her tightly once again. "Don't worry. Everything's gonna be alright."

"I can't believe it," Panther said morosely, "Yuri thought Sumire killed her own sister?"

"So, Yuri and Kasumi really were friends…" mused Queen.

"Violet," asked Mona, "can you remember where this took place?"

"I… I think so," Violet said weakly. "I just need a little time to…"

"It's alright, Violet," assured Joker. "You've been through a lot this trip. We'll take you back to the real world, so you can have a moment to rest before we talk about it. That alright with you?"

"Mh-hmm," she weakly nodded.

To the other Phantom Thieves, Joker turned his head and asked, "We're going back now. You guys okay with that?" The other Phantom Thieves sounded their agreement. Supporting Violet with her arm over his shoulder, he walked along with the group as they returned to the relative peace and quiet of the real world.

AN: Special thanks, as always, go to Deathmanstratos and SupremeKnight3 for editing and support. Cognitive Kasumi's personality, meanwhile, was influenced by yet another fanfiction, "The Alpha and The Omega" by intenzity9, especially in terms of her nasty, haughty arrogance, which is really more a reflection of Yuri herself in this context. As for how she knew so many details about her own death, when Yuri wasn't there to witness it? …Eh, let's just say Sumire's own cognition also influenced her somehow. It's the Metaverse; I don't have to explain it.

Sumire/Violet's abilities are based on her first awakening from October 3rd, since her conviction and self-confidence are still relatively shaky. After all, that's why her Persona reverted back from Vanadis/Ella, if you'll recall chapter 3. Kasumi's abilities, meanwhile, are taken from the berserk version of her you fight on January 9th. As for their moves, Kasumi's was inspired by Kaho Minagawa's ribbon routine from the 2015 Rhythmic Worlds qualifiers, and Violet's…? That's a surprise for later!

Edit 2021/7/16: Updated the secret passage scene to set up future events, and replaced the lock flashback based on later events written for chapter 16.